Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 5.djvu/76

70 under the cloak of a visible and passable profession of religion, than by this; and therefore Christ having warned us against coveting the praise of men, proceeds next to warn us against coveting the wealth of the world; in this also we must take heed, lest we be as the hypocrites are, and do as they do: the fundamental error that they are guilty of is, that they choose the world for their reward; we must therefore take heed of hypocrisy and worldly-mindedness, in the choice we make of our treasure, our end, and our masters.

I. In choosing the treasure we lay up. Something or other every man has which he makes his treasure, his portion which his heart is upon, to which he carries all he can get, and which he depends upon for futurity. It is that good, that chief good, which Solomon speaks of with such an emphasis, Eccl. 2. 3. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing, which it has a complacency and confidence in above other things. Now Christ designs not to deprive us of our treasure, but to direct us in the choice of it; and here we have,

1. A good caution against making the things that are seen, that are temporal, our best things, and placing our happiness in them. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth. Christ's disciples had left all to follow him, let them still keep in the same good mind. A treasure is an abundance of something that is in itself, at least in our opinion, precious and valuable, and likely to stand us in stead hereafter. Now we must not lay up our treasures on earth, that is, (1.) We must not count these things the best things, not the most valuable in themselves, nor the most serviceable to us: we must not call them glory, as Laban's sons did, but see and own that they have no glory in comparison with the glory that excelleth. (2.) We must not covet an abundance of these things, nor be still grasping at more and more of them, and adding to them, as men do to that which is their treasure, as never knowing when we have enough. (3.) We must not confide in them for futurity, to be our security and supply in time to come; we must not say to the gold, Thou art my hope. (4.) We must not content ourselves with them, as all we need or desire: we must be content with a little for our passage, but not with all for our portion. These things must not be made our consolation, (Luke 6. 24.) our good things, Luke 16. 25. Let us consider we are laying lip, not for our posterity in this world, but for ourselves in the other world. We are put to our choice, and made in a manner our own carvers; that is ours which we lay up for ourselves. It concerns thee to choose wisely, for thou art choosing for thyself, and shalt have as thou choosest. If we know and consider ourselves what we are, what we are made for, how large our capacities are, and how long our continuance, and that our souls are ourselves, we shall see it a foolish thing to lay up our treasure on earth.

Here is a good reason given why we should not look upon any thing on earth as our treasure, because it is liable to loss and decay: [1.] From corruption within. That which is treasure upon earth moth and rust doth corrupt. If the treasure be laid up in fine clothes, the moth frets them, and they are gone and spoiled insensiblv, when we thought them most securely laid up. If it be in corn or other eatables, as his was who had his barns full, (Luke 12. 16, 17.) rust (so we read it) corrupts that: βρῶσις—eating, eaten by men, for as goods are increased, they are increased that eat them; (Eccl. 5. 11.) eaten by mice or other vermin; manna itself bred worms; or if it grows mouldy and musty; is struck, or smutted, or blasted; fruits soon rot. Or, if we understand it of silver and gold, they tarnish and canker; they grow less with using, and grow worse with keeping; (Jam. 5. 2, 3.) the rust and the moth breed in the metal itself and in the garment itself. Note, Worldly riches have in themselves a principle of corruption and decay; they wither of themselves and make themselves wings. [2.] From violence without. Thieves break through and steal. Every hand of violence will be aiming at the house where the treasure is laid up; nor can any thing be laid up so safe, but we may be spoiled of it. Nunquam ego fortunae credidi, etiam si videretur pacem agere; omnia illa quae in me indulgentissime confrrebat, pecuniam, honores, gloriam, eo loco posui, unde posset ea, sine metu meo, repetere—I never reposed confidence in fortune, even if she seemed propitious: whatever were the favours which her bounty bestowed, whether wealth, honours, or glory, I so disposed of them that it was in her power to recall them without occasioning me any alarm. Seneca ''Consol. ad Helv''. It is folly to make that our treasure which we may so easily be robbed of.

Good counsel2. Good counsel (as per 1811 London edition) [sic], to make the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen that are eternal, our best things, and to place our happiness in them. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Note, (1.) There are treasures in heaven, as sure as there are on this earth; and those in heaven are the only true treasures, the riches and glories and pleasures that are at God's right hand, which those that are sanctified truly arrive at, when they come to be sanctified perfectly. (2.) It is our wisdom to lay up our treasure in those treasures; to give all diligence to make sure our title to eternal life through Jesus Christ, and to depend upon that as our happiness, and look upon all things here below with a holy contempt, as not worthy to be compared with it. We must firmly believe there is such a happiness, and resolve to be content with that, and to be content with nothing short of it. If we thus make those treasures ours, they are laid up, and we may trust God to keep them safe for us; thither let us then refer all our designs, and extend all our desires; thither let us send before our best effects and best affections. Let us not burden ourselves with the cash of this world, which will but load and defile us, and be liable to sink us, but lay up in store good securities. The promises are bills of exchange, by which all true believers return their treasure to heaven, payable in the future state: and thus we must make that sure that will be made sure. (3.) It is a great encouragement to us to lay up our treasure in heaven, that there it is safe; it will not decay of itself, no moth nor rust will corrupt it; nor can we be by force or fraud deprived of it; thieves do not break through and steal. It is a happiness above and beyond the changes and chances of time, an inheritance incorruptible.

3. A good reason why we should thus choose, and an evidence that we have done so, (v. 21.) Where your treasure is, on earth or in heaven, there will your heart be. We are therefore concerned to be right and wise in the choice of our treasure, because the temper of our minds, and consequently the tenor of our lives, will be accordingly either carnal or spiritual, earthly or heavenly. The heart follows the treasure, as the needle follows the loadstone, or the sunflower the sun. Where the treasure is, there the value and esteem is; there the love and affection is, Col. 3. 2. That way the desires and pursuits go, thitherward the aims and intents are levelled, and all is done with that in view. Where the treasure is, there our cares and fears are, lest we come short of it; about that we are more solicitous; there our hope and trust is; (Prov. 18. 10, 11.) there our joys and delights will be; (Ps. 119. 111.) and there our thoughts will be; there the inward thought will be, the first thought, the free thought, the fixed thought, the frequent, the familiar thought The heart is God's due, (Prov. 23. 26.) and, that he may have it, our