to be in the condition of Beggars our selves or to have crowds of Beggars always at our doors the best is to be capable of releiving a few and not to stand in want of releif from any He that can dispense his own Charity sometimes and is never forc't to crave it from others may very well sit down with satisfaction The Third thing is to shew wherein the Profitableness of Wisdom and an Inheritance together does appear This may be open'd distinctly under two Branches First It is very manifest that an Inheritance is profitable with Wisdom The Crown of the wise sayes Solomon is their Riches i. e. They are a singular ornament and advantage to them And that in two respects First Riches add a Reputation to what men say and do The World will have no regard to them that sit at the Footstool If real worth have not the accession of outward things to recommend it it is as nothing to the generality of Men. Eccles 9.16 The poor mans Wisdom is despised and his words are not heard Solomon was the more famous for his wisdom because he was a Prince his prudence was the more extolled because his person was in honour Prov. 19.7 If a poor man pursues even his Friends with words they seldom prevail and upon Strangers much less An Inheritance will procure us some Credit and Esteem and by that means our words and actions will have the greater acceptance and success Secondly Riches give Men the Opportunity of serving God and their Generation better than others They may be made the instruments of advancing God's name promoting his interest and of doing much good to others as well as helps in the working out of our own Salvation When wisdom is without a competency of Wealth 't is a great inconvenience and obstruction to the exercise of several Graces and discharge of several duties which would be profitable not only to our selves but to the Publick There may be pious inclinations and desires but the mans wings are clipt and his hands tyed from executing of them as the Apostle said in another case to will is present with me but how to perform that which I would Rom. 7.18 I find not The narrowness of a mans Estate does of-often hinder the discovery of the largeness of his Heart Secondly It is much more manifest that wisdom is very beneficial with an Inheritance Nabal a rich Fool was an unsociable Churl and the burden of the Earth though his belly was filled with considerable Treasures yet his Heart being hid from understanding it almost unfitted him to live among Mankind Two Things will evince this more particularly First Wisdom prevents the mischief which Riches alone might do How often are they hurtful to the Owners as well as to others when Folly is with them Eccles 5.13 As when they make Men arrogant and High-minded or vain and wanton or sensual and Earthly What ill effects do they produce when they encourage Men to oppress and wrong their Inferiours when they become instruments of cruelty to pierce the hearts and to grind the faces of the poor Then it must be acknowledged that they are like heavy talents which weigh Men down the sooner to Hell and sink them the deeper in it 2 Sam. 18.9 Or like Absalom's hair which proved the means of his death while he was seemingly lifted nearer towards Heaven Holy wisdom is the only powerful remedy against all such fatal abuses of our Temporal good things Secondly As wisedome keeps them from being mischeivous so it makes them positively useful Wisdom is profitable to direct Eccles 10.10 it teaches Men how to employ their wealth in the best and most advantagious manner and to lay it out so as to receive their own again with the most plentiful increase by a kind of sacred Vsury It shews Men how to turn their riches into a Treasure which can neither be lost nor corrupted to exchange their Silver and Gold for a Crown of Life and an eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Christian wisdom does indeed consecrate that to God which corrupt Nature would sacrifice to the Devil and writes Holiness to the Lord upon those Estates which might otherwise be fram'd into weapons of unrighteousness The flesh is very apt to manage them against God but Grace renders them serviceable for him Then may the brother of low degree rejoyce in being exalted Jam. 1.9 and apply that part of Jobs Thanksgiving very justly to his own case The Lord hath given blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1.21 The Fourth and last Thing is to make some Application of the present Truth It is improvable two ways First By way of Confutation and Reproof Two Things may be instanc'd in which fall under the Edge of this Doctrine First It confutes that Popish principle which magnifies voluntary poverty It is beside my purpose here to insist upon the Juggle and the Cheat which there is commonly in this for under the Veil and Cloak of pretended Mortification to the World they not onely subsist by Idleness but many times raise unseen Estates nor does it concern me now to lay open the absurd contradiction which there is in this to some of their other receiv'd opinions as particularly that outward grandeur and prosperity is a mark of the true Church but upon this occasion which the Text fairly gives I would only intimate how false and unagreeable it is to the Scripture-account Voluntary poverty is not only against the Dictate of Nature because it is the chusing of a real evil but against the stream of the Word of God. It is an excluding of our selves from the benefit of all those promises which perhaps God might think good for us to reap As that the Righteous shall inherit the Land Psal 37.29 and the meek shall inherit the Earth Matth. 5.5 It is to make our selves such a Curse as wicked Men are often threatned to be as to be cloathed with rags reduced to a morsel of bread c. If it be reckon'd as one of the Characters tho' not an essential one of a good man that he leaves an Inheritance to his Childrens Children Prov. 13.22 it cannot be our duty to cast it away from us and thereby to deprive them of the hopeful reversion as well as our selves of the comfortable possession Riches are not things so utterly inconsistent with Salvation as that they must be necessarily relinquish't and renounc't in order to it Secondly It reproves that too general practise on the other hand of over-valuing a Temporal Estate even to the contempt of Religion It is a very easie and common mistake to set an extravagant price upon the good things of this Life and at the same time to disparage and think meanly of what is infinitely better When Men put the World in their hearts a Title of Honour shall be preferr'd to the New Name and to be clad in Scarlet shall be
the glorified in Heaven nor take away from the misery of the damned in Hell. They profit not in the day of wrath Prov. 11.4 they will neither prevent nor alter the sentence at the particular or universal judgment The rust of mens Silver and Gold may eat their Flesh like Fire Jam. 5.3 but nothing is sufficient to purchase them so much as a drop of water The substance which we leave behind us does then perish to us in respect of its Vse and however serviceable or helpful it may be to those that survive it is utterly insignificant to them that are departed The Observation which the words thus explain'd do offer to our further Thoughts is this That Doct. Holy Wisdom with a competent Inheritance is a very profitable good In the handling of this I shall endeavour four Things First To shew wherein Holy Wisdom ought chiefly to discover it self Secondly What may be justly accounted a competent Inheritance Thirdly How the Profitableness of both together does appear Lastly Apply the whole The first thing is to shew wherein holy spiritual wisdom must be cheifly exercis'd and acted There are Eight remarkable instances or discoveries of it which all persons should look to First a regular and seasonable performance of duties Many actions which as to the Matter of them hath been good for want of Christian wisdom have lost much of their beauty through the ill management of their particular circumstances The ordering and disposing of good actions well is a great thing in Religion We may say of a work done aswell as of a Word spoken in due season how good is it Prov. 15.23 This adds a goodnesse to it which if done at another less convenient time it would not have We should learn to put every thing into method which our Hand findeth to do That all our Duties may fall in their proper place one after another and not one disturb or hinder another As God appoints a time to every purpose so should we Eccl. 3.1 and such a time as is most fit and agreeable to it Secondly A careful avoiding or vigorous resisting of temptations Many temptations may be avoided by a prudent care and by circumspect walking which is a great evidence of wisdom see that ye walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise sayes the Apostle Eph. 5.15 And this we are obliged to that we may not sin against our own prayers for if we pray that God would not lead us into temptation 't is but reasonable that we should not foolishy run into it our selves We may shun a multitude of entangling snares if we tread with CAution And those temptations which are avoidable should be vigorously withstood we must not yeild or comply with them in the least but after the most steady resolute manner oppose our selves to their first assaults This is the way to come off with victory and keep our consciences pure Without doing so we give great advantages to Satan and it will be impossible to escape or overcome the various difficulties which beset us in every condition of life Thirdly A meek and patient bearing of afflictions Much wisdom is seen in this for it is the grossest folly in the world to make our load at any time the greater by uneasie strugglings under it A great deal of the art and mystery of practical Christianity lyes in suffering according to the will of God. 1 Pet. 4.19 All that are afflicted do not suffer so they suffer indeed what God in his providence thinks fit to inflict and they cannot do otherwise but they do not suffer as God in his word is pleased to direct many suffer according to the disposing will of God who in their sufferings regard not his commanding will. In the most prosperous state there oftentimes happens a mixture of disappointments and losses and personal evills if we are freed from Publick ones which one who is truly and savingly wise will quietly and calmly undergo whereas 't is one of the Characters of a Fool Prov. 14.16 to Rage We cannot make our case the better by fretting and striving against God but shall certainly make it worse Fourthly A diligent improving of mercies for the Glory of God and good of our Brethren This is surest course of thriving in this world and laying up a good foundation for the next The rule of the Gospel does not bind any to wast and consume their Estates by an imprudent Prodigality for this is not to honour God but yet it warns them against a base and sinful Covetousness in Hording up of what they are called to Lay out The Charitable man is wise for himself when the wretched niggard is only wise for a doubtful posterity And is there not more wisdom in scattering upon Earth that we may reap in Heaven than in gathering for we know not whom Is it not better to make to our selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness than to leave it perhaps to such Luke 16.9 who may curse our memory while they rejoyce in our labour When God gives us richly to enjoy 't is no sign of discretion for us to give sparingly If we believe the Scripture Confirm'd by the Experience of many this is more likely to impair our wealth than to increase it There is that withholdeth more than is meet Prov. 11.24 25. and it tendeth to poverty Whereas the liberal soul shall be made fat The bountiful giver wisely prevents what the sordid worldling fears Fifthly a Curbing and restraining of our affections and appetites to lawful things It is unsafe and therefore an unwise thing to go to the utmost bounds of what we may do Solomon tells us in this Book which is the memorial of his Repentance that whatsoever his eyes desired he kept not from them chap. 2.10 and he withheld not his heart from any joy For ought we know the taking of so great a liberty might be an Introduction to his fall because the passage is quick and easie many times from lawful fruitions to unlawful sensualities Mortification and Self-denyal should not be strange things to us the more we indulge our flesh the more insolent and unruly it will be and that which it seems now modestly to crave hereafter it may imperiously command T is best always to abridge our selves a little even of innocent enjoyments and delights lest at length our Back or our Belly should come to be our God Isa 46.6 and we lavish gold out of the bag as much upon our lusts as they whom the Prophet speaks of did upon their Idols Sixthly A continual watching over our sences and strict Government of our Tongues 'T is a main branch of holy wisdom to make and keep a Covenant with our eyes and ears Job 31.1 that they may not betray us into sin on a sudden and before we are aware They prove two often In lets to the Devil and out lets to abundance of corruption if they are not
will make us miscarry in the best From hence the Wise Man seems to take the occasion of recommending Wisdom in this place ver 11. Four Questions are necessary to be resolved in the Opening of the Words I. What is meant by Wisdom here Ans In three things 1. 1 King. 4.29 It does not signifie such a largeness of heart as Solomon himself had who could search into the Nature and Reason of things beyond any that were before him Gen. 2.19 20. Adam onely excepted who gave names to every Creature Such a comprehensive Mind and vast understanding was Gods peculiar Gift to him and besides it must be owned that the great Intellectual Abilities of others many times prove their Snare and they go to Hell with such extraordinary Light. 1 Cor. 1.26 The Apostle says that Not many wise men after the flesh are called persons of the meanest parts do very commonly go into the kingdom of God before the learned 2. The Holy Ghost here does not mean that Skill and Prudence which is exercis'd in the getting increasing or preserving of Estates Luk. 16.8 So the children of this world are wise in their generation and usually prosper most with it 'T is true a fit measure of such Wisdom is very necessary in the managing of every ones particular Employment and Vocation it 's no prejudice to a Good Man that he guides his affairs with discretion Psal 112.5 but a part of his just commendation for else by his ignorance and folly he may soon ruine himself and all that belong to him But men may be thus Wise and yet be Miserable And therefore 3. The Wisdom here meant is no other than serious Religion This is the most general sense of the word in the Holy Scripture and more particularly in the Books of this Inspired Author All other Wisdom is insignificant without this and this of it self is useful to the best purposes We learn from Moses Deut. 4.6 that those Nations which keep and do the commandments of God are indeed a wise and understanding people Job mentions it as Gods immediate saying to Man Behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom c. Job 28.28 And the Psalmist agrees with both in telling us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom c. Psal 111.10 Wicked Men whatever other Qualifications and Endowments they may have which are valuable in their kind must be look'd upon as the Real Fools in Israel We cannot judge any one truly wise who wants Grace whereby to serve God and his Generation II. What are we to understand by an Inheritance in this place Answ In two things 1. It must not be restrained literally and strictly to such an Estate onely as descends upon us from others by Legal right or by their free and Arbitrary Bounty the Inheritance here intended may be gotten by a mans own industry and Care though Relatives and Friends may have left him as little in the World as they carried out of it 2. Therefore it must be taken in the largest sense to signifie a moderate share of worldly or Temporal possessions whatsoever will comfortably maintain and support us in this life And this is exprest by an Inheritance because that is accounted the best the most solid and Real Estate But there is no mention of any limited quantity because God gives to every one a portion of such good things according as he pleaseth and Grace will teach us the improvement of a Lesser portion when Lust will abuse a Greater III. What is the meaning of the Conjunction of these Two Wisdom is good with an Inheritance Answ In Three things 1. It must not be understood so as if Wisdom were not good without an Inheritance A man rich toward God is safe and happy though he be poor in this World. Grace is a good treasure in the Heart though God do cut us short in things that are without which concern the body It is not absolutely and indispensibly necessary to our main and principal blessedness Prov. 30.8 that we should be fed with food convenient for us if we have necessary food that will suffice though it conduce very much to our present well being 2. The meaning is not that Wisdom and an inheritance are equally good The Holy Ghost does not design to set these two upon one Level for an Inheritance is not to be compared with wisdom but wisdom ought to be preferred to the largest Inheritances in the World. My fruit is better than Gold Prov. 8.19 yea than fine Gold and my Revenue than choice Silver Solomon puts them in the ballances together and shews us which weighs most in the words following the Text. Wisdom is a defence and money is a defence but the excellency of knowledge is that it giveth Life to them that have it verse 12. 3. Therefore the scope and sense of this passage is that when wisdom is join'd with an Inheritance by the Spirit of God and an Inheritance with wisdom by the Providence of God 't is best for the person himself and for all those who are within his influence and reach They are neither of them so good when they are divided and apart as when they happen to be linkt in the same hand 'T is an happy dispensation when like righteousness and peace Psal 85.10 they kiss each other for their Union is both most beautiful and most advantagious IV. Why is the profit of these two limited to them that see the Sun Answ The wise man does plainly intend by that expression such as are alive upon the Earth for it is during this mortal life alone that we either enjoy or need the benefit of that glorious Luminary there is no Sun or Moon Rev. 21.23 which shines to the inhabitants of the next World. But two things seem to be especially hinted by this clause here 1. That Our time of service ends at death We must work the works of God while it is day John 9.4 all our opportunities of working cease when the night comes Solomon admonishes us in this Book to set about our duty with all possible diligence because there is no knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave c. 9.10 whither we go Our works indeed are said to follow us Rev. 14.13 when we dye in the Lord because then we shall be finally recompenced according to them but to speak properly all that we do for God for our own Souls or those that are our Contemporaries it must be done on this side of Eternity That which is neglected now cannot be performed hereafter 2. No Earthly things can be of any advantage to us beyond the present Life Therefore they are called this Worlds goods 1 John 3.17 1 Tim. 6.7 As we brought them not into the World with us so neither can we carry them out and if we could they would avail us nothing they cannot add to the happiness of