Luke xii. 2d, 21. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
HEAR we the voice of a gloomy enthusiast, a deluded bigot, or an imperious tyrant ? Are these reproachful menaces the wild effusions of intemperate zeal? No: the text presents to us the just expressions of Jehovah's indignation. Covetousness, in whomso- ever found, cannot fail of provoking his utter abhor- rence. A young man had applied to Jesus to procure him an equitable share of his paternal inheritance ; our Lord declined any interference, as foreign from the purposes of his mission; and, knowing the dis- position which had assumed the garb of equity, reproved ita. The parable before us was spoken to enforce that reproof ; and the address of God to the character there delineated, strongly intimated the danger to which the youth himself was exposed. There are, alas ! too many still who are actuated by similar principles b. For their conviction we shall inquire,
a ver. 13—15. b Ezek. xxxiii. 31.
I. What were the grounds of God's indignation against the Rich Man ?
No evil could attach to the Rich Man on account of the fruitfulness of his ground : nor was he alto- gether to be blamed for devising prudent means of securing his property. He should indeed have remem- bered, that there were objects enough around him whose want should be supplied from his super- fluities0: but his offence principally consisted in two things —
1. An idolatrous regard to the world —
[He imagined that the world was capable of rendering him happy, and that the enjoyment of it would be permanent for many years'1. But what could be more absurd than such expectations as these ? Can affluence secure freedom from pain either of body or of mind ? Can it ward off personal afflic- tions, or compose domestic troubles ? Is there more real happiness in palaces than in the humble cottage ? Does not the experience of Solomon attest the reverse of this e? and has not our Lord himself affirmed the samef? But, if wealth were capable of making us happy, can we secure the conti- nuance of it a single day ? Are not all exposed to such calamities as reduced Job to poverty g ? Is not the instability of riches declared in the strongest termsh? or, if they were more stable, can we prolong our own lives ? Has not the voice of Inspiration warned us against any such vain idea'? And did not the event manifest the folly of the Rich Man's expectations*? Well then might God address him by that humiliating appellation l ; well might he deride his fruitless anxieties, and delusive hopes"1; and justly did he cut him off as a warning to others,]
2. An utter disregard of God —
[Amidst his prospects of carnal happiness he had no thoughts of God. He addressed his soul as though it had no existence beyond the body, nor any capacity superior to the beasts. Had he regarded God, how different would his speech have been ! ' Soul, thou hast hitherto been too solicitous
c It was wrong therefore to think of treasuring tip " all his fruits:" perhaps too there was too much anxiety implied in, " What shall I do ? "
d ver. 19. e Eccl. ii. 11.- f ver. 15.
B Job i. 13—19. h Prov. xxiii. 5. * Jam. iv. 13— 15.
k " This night," &c. ] " Thou fool"
m " Whose shall those things be" &c.