A Christian Directory Volume I Part 58

[237] Isa. iii.

[238] Rom. iii. 19, 20, 23, 27; iv. 2; Cor. i. 29; Eph. ii. 9.

[239] Luke xxii. 26; Mark x. 44; ix. 35, 36; 2 Tim. ii. 24.

[240] 1 Pet. v. 6; Lam. iii. 29; ii. 19; Amos iii. 8; 1 Pet. v. 5; Jam. iv. 6; Dan. v. 22; 2 Chron. x.x.xiv. 27.

[241] See an excellent Tract. de Divitiis, ascribed to Sixt. 3. in Bibl. Pat. (though accused of Pelagianism.)

[242] Phil. iii. 7-9; Jam. i. 10; Phil. iv. 11; 1 Tim. vi. 8; Prov.

xxiii. 4, "Labour not to be rich."

[243] Luke xiv. 26, 33.

[244] Matt. vi. 19-21, 33; John vi. 27; Luke xii. 19, 20; xviii. 22, 23.

[245] Ephes. v. 5; Col. iii. 5; James iv. 4.

[246] Rom. xiii. 14; Matt. vi. 19; 1 Tim. iii. 8; Phil. iii. 19; Ezek.

x.x.xiii. 31; Jer. ix. 23.

[247] Job i. 21.

[248] 1 Tim. vi. 17, 18; Mal. iii. 8, 9; Judg. vii. 21.

[249] Duae res maxime homines ad maleficium impellunt, luxuries et avaritia. Cic. 1. ad Heren. Corrupti sunt depravatique mores admiratione divitiarum. Idem. 2. Offic. Nihil est tam sanctum quod non violari, nihil tam munitum quod non expugnari pecunia possit. Cicero 2. in Verrem. When Alexander sent Phocion a hundred talents, he asked, Why he rather sent it to him than all the rest of the Athenians? He answered, Because he took him to be the only honest man in Athens: whereupon Phocion returned it to him again, entreating him to give him leave to be honest still.

[250] It was one of Chilon's sayings, Lapideis cotibus aurum examinari: auro autem bonorum malorumque hominum mentem cujusmodi sit comprobari: i. e. As the touchstone trieth gold, so gold trieth men's minds, whether they be good or bad. Laertius in Chil. p. 43.

[251] Luke xviii. 11-13; Matt. vi. 16, 18.

[252] Luke xii. 48; xvi. 9, 10; Matt. xxv.; 2 Cor. viii. 14, 15.

[253] Nullius rei eget qui virtutum dives est: quarum indigentia vere miseros, ac proinde misericordiae egentissimos facit. Petrarch. Dial.

44. li. 2.

[254] Diis maxime propinquus qui minimis egeat. Socrat. in Laert.

[255] 1 Cor. vii. 31.

[256] Remember Gehazi, Achan, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira, Demetrius, Demas. Jer. vi. 13; viii. 10. Maxime vituperanda est avaritia senilis.

Quid enim absurdius quam quo minus vitae restat, eo plus viatici quaerere? Cicero in Cat. Maj.

[257] Prov. xi. 4, "Riches profit not in the day of wrath."

[258] Jer. xvii. 11; Jam. v. 1-3.

[259] Chilon in Laert. p. 43. d.a.m.num potius quam turpe lucrum eligendum; nam id semel tantum dolori esse, hoc semper.

[260] Socrates dixit, Opes et n.o.bilitates, non solum nihil in se habere honestatis, verum et omne malum ex eis oboriri. Laert in Socrat.

[261] Prov. iii. 14; 1 Tim. vi. 5, 6.

[262] Lege Petrarchae lepidam historiam de avaro filio et liberali patre. Dial. 13. li. 2.

[263] Saith Plutarch, de tranquillit. anim. Alexander wept because he was not lord of the world; when Crates, having but a wallet and a threadbare cloak, spent his whole life in mirth and joy, as if it had been a continual festival holiday.

[264] Psal. x.x.xvii. 16; Prov. xvi. 8.

[265] Chrysostom saith, his enemies charged him with many crimes, but never with covetousness or wantonness. And so it was with Christ and his enemies.

[266] Et sicut in patria Deus est speculum in quo relucent creaturae; sic e converso in via, creaturae sunt speculum quo creator videtur.

Paul. Scaliger in Ep. Cath. 1. 14. Thess. 123. p. 689.

[267] Even Dionysius the tyrant was bountiful to philosophers. To Plato he gave above fourscore talents, Laert. in Platone, and much to Aristippus and many more, and he offered much to many philosophers that refused it. And so did Crsus.

[268] Matt. x. 30; Luke xii. 7.

[269] Look upon the face of the calamitous world, and inquire into the causes of all the oppressions, rapines, cruelties, and inhumanity which have made men so like to devils: look into the corrupted, lacerated churches, and inquire into the cause of their contentions, divisions, usurpations, malignity, and cruelty against each other: and you will find that pride and worldliness are the causes of all. When men of a proud and worldly mind have by fraud, and friends.h.i.+p, and simony usurped the pastors.h.i.+p of the churches, according to their minds and ends, they turn it into a malignant domination, and the carnal, worldly part of the church, is the great enemy and persecutor of the spiritual part; and the fleshly hypocrite, as Cain against Abel, is filled with envy against the serious believer, even out of the bitter displeasure of his mind, that his deceitful sacrifice is less respected. What covetousness hath done to the advancement of the pretended holy catholic church of Rome, I will give you now, but in the words of an abbot and chronicler of their own, Abbas Urspergens. Chron. p. 321. Vix remansit aliquis episcopatus, sive dignitas ecclesiastica, vel etiam parochialis ecclesia, quae non fierit litigiosa, et Romam deduceretur ipsa causa, sed non manu vacua. Gaude mater nostra Roma, quoniam aperiuntur cataractae thesaurorum in terra, ut ad te confluant rivi et aggeres nummorum in magna copia. Laetare super iniquitate filiorum hominum; quoniam in recompensationem tantorum malorum, datur tibi pretium. Jocundare super adjutrice tua discordia; quid erupit de puteo infernalis abyssi, ut acc.u.mulentur tibi multa pecuniarum praemia. Habes quod semper sitisti; decanta Cantic.u.m, quia per malitiam hominum non per tuam religionem, orbem vicisti. Ad te trahit homines, non ipsorum devotio, aut pura conscientia, sed scelerum multiplicium perpetratio, et litium decisio, pretio comparata.

Fortun. Galindas speaking of pope Paul the fifth, his love to the Jesuits for helping him to money, saith, Adeo praestat acquirendarum pecuniarum quam animarum studiosum et peritum esse, apud illos, qui c.u.m animarum Christi sanguine redemptarum, in se curam receperint, vel quid anima sit nesciunt, vel non pluris animam hominis quam piscis faciunt: quod credo suum officium Piscatum quendam esse aliquando per strepitum inaudierint: quibus propterea gratior fuerit, qui animam auri c.u.m Paracelso, quam animam Saxoniae Electoris invenisse nuntiet.

Arcan. Soci. Jesu, p. 46.

Lege ibid. instruct. secret. de Jesuitarum praxi.

Et Joh. Sarisbur. lib. vii. c. 21. de Monach. Potentiores et ditiores favore vel mercede recepta facilius (absolutione) exonerant, et peccatis alienis humeros supponentes, jubent abire in tunicas et vestes pullas, quicquid illi se commisisse deplorant--Si eis obloqueris, religionis inimicus, et veritatis diceris impugnator.

[270] Matt. vi. 24; xiii. 22; Luke xvi. 13, 14; xiv. 33; xviii. 22, 23; Matt. vi. 19-21; 1 Tim. vi. 6-8; 1 John ii. 15; Prov. xxviii. 9; xviii. 8; James iv. 3; Prov. xxviii. 20, "He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent."

[271] Jam. v. 1-5; 1 John iii. 17.

[272] 2 Tim. iv. 10.

[273] 1 Tim. vi. 17-19.

[274] Christ's sheep-mark is plainest on the sheep that are shorn.

When the fleece groweth long the mark wears out.

[275] Pecunia apud eum nunquam mansisse probatur, nisi forte tali hora offeratur, quando sol diei explicans cursum, nocturnis tenebris daret loc.u.m. Victor. Ut. de Eugen. Episc. Cath. Plato compareth our life to a game at tables. We may wish for a good throw, but whatever it be, we must play it as well as we can. Plutarch. de Tranquil. Anim.

[276] Socrates, Saepe c.u.m eorum quae publice vendebantur mult.i.tudinem intueretur, sec.u.m ista volvebat, Quam multis ipse non egeo? Laert. in Socr. Pecuniam perdidisti? Bene, si te illa non perdidit: quod jam multis possessoribus suis fecit. Gaude tibi ablatum unde infici posses, teque illaesum inter pericula transivisse. Petrarch. 1. ii. dial. 13.

[277] Si organum inhabitanti animo sufficiens fuerit, satis est virium. Corpus namque propter animi servitium fecisse naturam, nemo tam corporis servus est, qui nesciat. Id si proprio munere fungitur, quid accusas, seu quid amplius requiras? Petrarch, li. ii. dial. 2.

Veres corporis sunt vires carceris, ut Petrarch, li. i. dial. 5. What mean you to make your prison so strong? said Pluto to one that over-pampered his flesh. Mars. Ficin. in Vita Plat.

[278] He is a good christian, that remotely and ultimately referreth all the creatures unto G.o.d, and eateth, and drinketh, &c. more to fit him for G.o.d's service, than to please the flesh. But it is much more than this which the creature was appointed for; even for a present communication of the sense of the goodness of G.o.d unto the heart. As the musician that toucheth but the keys of his harpsichord or organ, causeth that sweet, harmonious sound, which we hear from the strings that are touched within; so G.o.d ordained the order, beauty, sweetness, &c. of the creature, to touch the sense with such a pleasure, as should suddenly touch the inward sense with an answerable delight in G.o.d, who is the giver of the life of every creature. But, alas! where is the christian that doth thus eat and drink, and thus take pleasure in all his mercies?

When contrarily our hearts are commonly so diverted from G.o.d by the creature, that so much delight as we find in it, so much we lose of our delight in G.o.d, yea, of our regard and remembrance of him.