And as we see ourselves freed from all ill in Christ, so for all good : see it in him first, and conveyed by him to us. Whatsoever he hath, I shall have. He is risen and ascended ; I shall therefore rise and ascend, and sit at the right hand of God for ever with him : ' We shall be for ever with the Lord.' Let us see our riches in him. He is rich first as the head or first fruits, and then we as the lump afterwards. The first fruits were sanctified, and then the lump. The first fruits are glorious, and then the rest after. Whatsoever we look for in ourselves, see it in him first ; and then the consideration of a Christian condition is a comfortable con- sideration. Take a Christian in all conditions whatsoever. If he be poor, Christ was poor for him, that his poverty might not be a curse to him. If he be poor, Christ was rich to make him rich in the best riches, and to take the sting out of poverty, and to turn it to his good. If he be abased, Christ was abased for him to sanctify his abasement. Let us labour to see the curse taken away in everything, and not only so, but to see a blessing in all, being made ours ; and then it will be a comfortable consideration.
Obj. But it may be objected, We see no such thing ; we see Christians are as poor as others.
Ans. The best riches of a Christian are unseen. They are unknown men ; as we say of a rich man that makes no show of his riches, he is an unknown man. It is said of Christ, ' All the riches of wisdom are hid in
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Christ,' Col. ii. 3. That that is hidden is not seen. So the riches of a Christian they arc hidden. As Christ was rich when he was upon earth ; he was rich in his Father's love and in all graces, but it was a hidden riches ; they took him to be a poor ordinary man. So a Christian he is a hidden man ; his riches are hid ; he hath an excellent life, but it is a hidden life. * Our Ufe is hid with Christ in God,' Col. iii. 3. It is not obvious to the eye of the world, nor to himself ofttimcs in the time of desertion and temptation.
Olij. But you will say. For outward things we sec Christians are poor now, as there were poor Christians in St Paul's time.
Avs. It is no great matter. The riches we have especially by Christ are spiritual, in grace here and glory hereafter. He came to redeem our souls here from sin and misery ; and he will hereafter come to redeem our bodies and invest them into the glory that we have title to now by him.
Yet also for outward things a Christian is rich. Though they be not the main, yet they are the viaticum, provision in his journey ; and he shall have enough to bring him to heaven. ' Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's will to give you a kingdom,' Luke xii. 32. Surely if he will give them a kingdom, they shall not want daily bread ; upon seeking the king- dom of God, these things shall be cast in unto them.
Again, put case a Christian be poor, he is rich in Christ, and he bears the purse. What if a child have no money in his purse, his father pro- vides all necessaries for him. He is rich as long as his father is rich. And can we be poor as long as Christ is rich, being so near us, being our head ? We shall want nothing that is needful ; and when it is not needful and for our good, we were better be without it.
Again, he must needs be rich whose poverty and crosses are made riches to him. God never takes away or withholds outward blessings from his children, but he makes it up in better, in inward. They gain by all their losses, and grow rich by their wants. For how many are there in the world that had not been so rich in grace, if they had had abundance of earthly things ? So that though they be poor in the world, they are rich to God, rich in grace, ' rich in faith,' as St James saith, James ii. 5. The greatest grievances and ills in the world turn to a Christian's [benefit] : sickness and shame and death. The Spirit of God is like the stone that men talk so of, that turns all into gold. It teacheth us to make a spiritual use, and to extract comfort out of everything. The worst things we can sufier in the world, ' All things are ours,' as I said before, even Satan him- self. The Spirit of God helps us to make good use of his temptations, to cleave faster to the fountain of good.
Again, though a Christian be poor, yet he hath rich promises ; and faith puts those promises in suit, and presseth God with them. If a man have bonds and obligations of a rich man, he thinks himself as rich as those bonds amount to. There is no Christian but hath a rich faith, and rich promises from God ; and when he stirs up his faith, he can put those pro- mises in suit (if it be not his own fault) in all his necessities. Therefore a Christian cannot be so poor as to be miserable. I know flesh and blood measureth riches after another manner. But is not he richer that hath a fountain than he that hath but a cistern ? A man that is not a Christian, though he be never so rich, he hath but a cistern ; his riches are but few ; they are soon searched. But a Christian, though he be poor, his riches are unsearchable. Another man, though he be a monarch, his riches may be reckoned and cast up ; it is but a cistern, and such riches as he cannot