Courtiers bestow most of your time about but if ever this advice of our Saviours were more seasonable thē other questionles it is now whē charitie is growne so colde that it is even as hard to finde true friends as true faith on earth because we are they on whom the end of the world is come 2 Tim. 3. 2. in which saith Saint Paul Men shall be lovers of their owne selves therefore Facite vobis amicos Make you friends Now if ever Davids Salvum Psal 12. 1. me fac Helpe Lord helpe may be sung most seasonablie For there is scarce one godlie man left the faithfull are all minished from among the children of men they talke of vanitie everie one with his neighbour Verse 2. they flatter with their lippes and dissemble with their double heart saith the Translation but that is very short Leu veleu is the originall they dissemble with a heart and a heart as if now men had two hearts one in their bodies to treasure up their meanings for themselves and another in their tongues to deceive others therefore I say unto you Make you friends I am sure you have Enemies enough you should make you friends The Divell first hee is your grand Enemie and you are oftentimes quasi in faucibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even in the jawes of that roaring Lion which goeth about seeking stil whom he may devoure then Make you friends He is the Prince of this world able enough to doe you mischiefe yea and Legion too manie waies he hath to undermine to overthrow you therefore I say Make you friends Then your flesh which you beare about you and so pamper everie day as if shee were one of your best friends is your close Enemie too take heede of her nay there 's a traitour at home your owne heart like a snake in thy bosome is deceitfull above all things and desperately wicked who can know it 〈…〉 17. 9. Jer. 17. 9. And therefore Make you friends Againe If ye love me saith 〈…〉 15. 19 our Saviour and if yee love one another the world will hate you too Then make you friends Nay there are whole armies of pettie Enemies which serve under these grand ones but I cannot stand to muster them up now you know them your selves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Look about you Heb. 3. 12 beware of them Make you friends When a mans waies please the Lord he maketh even his Enemies to become his friends Prov. 16. 7. Prov. 16. 7 And certainlie as it is a great argument of Gods favour so it is an high point of Christian policie for a man to make his enemies to become his friends Surelie your riches if they be the riches of unrighteousnesse as for the most part they are they are your foes For it is verie hard saith our Saviour for a man that is laden with them to enter into the Kingdome of God Oh therefore my deare brethren I say unto you now be wise even when you may Make you friends of the unrighteous Mammon that your enemies even they which of themselves would presse you downe into that bottomlesse pit may be by you so well imployed now that they may hereafter receive you into everlasting habitations Facite vobis amicos Make you friends You say verie well it is very good counsel that you give we are willing to follow it but who are those friends you so commend unto us These friends of ours saith one are the comfortable thoughts Theophylact in loc which shall be in our mindes at the houre of death for the right bestowing of the riches which God had lent us here Vt quando pusillo animo simus When wee should with the terror of death be amazed or as the word is in the Text Quum defecerimus when our bodies are even now falling to the earth frō whence they came these good and happie thoughts of ours as our best friends may waite upon our soules into their everlasting habitations To this end Saint Chrysostome in one of his Homilies excellentlie compares well-doing Hom. 7. de paenitens here to Noahs Dove in Gen. 8. 11. Shee goes forth from Gen. 8. 11. Noah whilest the waters are on the face of the whole earth but in the Evening she returnes and loe an Olive leafe in her mouth Even so saith hee while a man lives here he is tumbled and tossed in the Sea of this world veluti dolorum diluvio circundatum even ready to be swallowed up but yet in the end of his dayes at his death his well-doing his innocency instar columbae like an harmlesse dove commeth home to him with an Olive branch in her mouth bringing the peace of God and the peace of a good conscience cheering up his drooping soule with some such friendly and comfortable thought as this Thou hast kept thine Innocency and taken heed to the thing that was right and I have brought thee peace at the Psa 37. 38 last Saint Ambrose makes the Lib. 7. in Luc. cap. ult tom 5. friends that are here commended unto us to be the holy Angels of God in Heaven for those we make our friends too saith he when out of the bowells of compassion we bestow any thing to relieve the necessitie of our poore brethren here belowe Saint Augustine will have De Verb. Dom. Ser. 14. these friends of ours to be Sancti Dei the Saints of God who are made our friends likewise by works of mercie towards our brethren The Saints here and the Saints above the Saints here wee make our friends when they seeing our good workes doe glorifie Mat. 5. 16. our Father which is in heaven when they are led on by our good example to doe good to others and the Saints above likewise who by the good they did here have already eased themselves of that heavie burthen which might have pressed them downwards and velut pennati with the silver wings of faith and devotion are gone up to heaven where they expect and desire us the members of the Church militant to dwell with them in everlasting habitations Lastlie Amici the friends spoken of here in the Text are saith Haymo Pauperes the poore on earth quos Deus permisit egere ad illorum purgationem et nostram probationem Whom almighty God hath suffered to be in want here for the trial of their patience and the exercise of our charitie And this way indeed runnes the streame of the moderne Interpreters But me thinks without wrong to anie wee may be bolde to joyne all these together and shold we leave out any of these wee might peradventure misse our best friends when wee have most neede of them and certainlie by workes of mercie by deedes of charitie to the poore we indeare them all unto us wee make them all our friends our owne Thoughts become friendlie unto us the holie Angels in heaven the blessed Saints of God the
with labour keepe them with feare and lose them with griefe so that to speake truly saith he all riches are the riches of iniquitie unlesse they be those unestimable riches of grace here and of glorie hereafter And doubtlesse it was as the Disciples called it an hard saying of our Saviours in the Gospell that it was as easie for a Camell to goe through the eye of a needle as for a rich man to enter into the Kingdome Heaven and yet so it is because In eis constituunt spem atque coptam suae beatitudinis When men are growne rich they thinke of no other happinesse at all but say in their hearts Tush wee shall never doe amisse Will you see how this conceit transports a good man a Saint a man after Gods owne heart King David himselfe is carried away with this consideration Ego dixi I said Non movebor in aeternum I shall never be moved but marke when it was that he said so In abundantiâ meâ I said in my prosperity I shall never be mooved Psal 30. 7. Most excellentlie Psal 30. 7. therefore doth our Leiturgie teach us to pray In all time of our wealth in the houre of death and in the day of Judgement good Lord deliver us In our wealth a man would think there were not so much neede of prayer but Call upon mee in the time of trouble O yes in our wealth speciallie are wee to pray to God that we be not puffed up In all time of our wealth good Lord deliver us When men are underpropt as it were with wealth they thinke heaven and earth shall sooner perish than they want anie thing And if good men bee manie times so carried away it is no marvell to heare the Foole in the 12. of this Gospell thus cheering up himselfe with Eate drinke be merrie and live Luke 12. 20. at ease Why so Thou hast enough laid up in store for many yeares Riches unrighteous riches are deceivable and draw away the mindes of the best since man is apt to say to his golde Thou art my hope and to his wedge In thee is my confidence But what is this saith holie Job than by setting up a god below to denie that God Iob 31. 28. who is above Admirable therefore is the counsell of King David Psal 62. 10. Trust not in oppression and if Riches increase set not your hearts upon them And verie agreeable is it with this advice of our Saviours here Make ye friends of your unrighteous Mammon Well the counsell is good that you give but how must I doe it In briefe Thou must first competentlie provide for thine owne Hee that provideth not for his owne and namelie for them of his familie is saith Saint Paul worse than an Infidel and he hath denied the faith Then give almes to thy poore Brethren not onelie of thy superfluitie but even borrowing somewhat of thy necessitie visite the fatherles and the widdowes in their adversitie cloathe the naked give meate to the hungrie drinke to the thirstie comfort the sicke harbour the harbourlesse do good to all speciallie to those that are of the houshold of faith There are some saith Haymo who fouly mistaking the meaning of this Text thinke they are here by our Saviour Christ advised onely to give almes of that part of their substance which they know they have unjustlie gotten and this thinke they must needes bee the readie way to make them friends of their unrighteous Mammon as if God would ever endure the taking away from others to give unto him who hath so strictly commanded us to give to others nothing but what is our owne Indeede an almes of another mans goods is even as acceptable to God as the price of an harlot or a dead dogge If therfore thou hast wronged anie man if thou bee able make him restitution Non dimittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum 〈◊〉 Otherwise your corrupt riches your moth-eaten garments your cankered golde and silver nay the verie rust of them shall one day witnesse against you Jam. 5. Iam. 5. 2 3. 2 3. If I have done any man wrong saith the good Convert I will restore him fourefold but that is not all See saith Saint Augustine how he runnes how he speedes to make him friends of his unrighteous Mammon Festinans descendit he comes downe quickly Verse 5. dimidia substantiarum mearum and one halfe of my goods I give to the poore it was good Zaccheus the Arch-Publican in the 19. of this Gospell verse Verse 8. 8. But what Would you have mee give away my riches to make me friends will the man of this world say Surelie that is an ill exchange and I like it not I know well enough that so long as I have riches I shall have friends or if I have not the matter is not great for so long as I keepe my riches by mee they who would be mine enemies shall bee able to doe me no hurt Wise Salomon saith That Riches gather many friends when the poore is separated from Prov. 19. 4. his neighbour Prov. 19. 4. And againe Riches are a strong itty to the owners of them Prov. 18. 11. What neede I then goe 18. 11. about to make mee better friends of my riches who methinkes are my good friends alreadie May not a man safelie thinke you say unto this wise worldling as once Joab did unto David Thou lovest thine enemies and hatest thy friends 2 Sam 19. 2 Sam. 19 6. 6. Thy riches thinke as thou wilt they are thine enemies I have seene saith the Preacher Eccles 5. 12 Riches reserved to Eccles 5. 1◠the owner thereof for his hurt So reserved that they perish by evill travaile for hee getteth a sonne and in his hand is nothing As if hee should have said I have observed a worldlie man to wearie himselfe and his thoughts to rise earlie and goe to bed late and eate the bread of care all his dayes to scrape Riches together and when all is done leave them to a sonne that through excesse and riot dies a beggar and there 's an end Had it not beene farre better for this man to have made him friends of his riches and with part of his riches have purchased for him and his the prayers of the poore which would have followed him to everlasting habitations For one word of instruction If the Mammon of this world be so unrighteous if Riches be so full of iniquitie I beseech you Brethren doe you your selves judge whither these men are transported who adventure their honours their reputations their honesties their lives nay their verie soules too that they may be rich Si possunt rectè si non quocunque modo rem If they may be rich fairelie well and good if not they will doe or suffer anie thing swallow a bribe cozen a widdow defraud orphanes drinke the verie blood of the labourers for their wine and the teares of
the oppressed for their drinke deteine the hirelings wages and as the Prophets phrase is Sell the poore for shooes and the needy for a peece of bread Is not this thinke you farre from Facite vobis amicos Make you friends of your unrighteous Mammon Iudge againe I pray you your selves how they follow Christs sweete counsell here in my text who Ahab-like are ever sicke of the next field and have never elbow roome enough so long as anie poore Naboth dwelleth neere them nothing they possesse is worth the having if they have not all But above all thinke what shal become of those men who insteede of releeving the poore robbe the Spittle taking from them what others have alreadie given them Of this sort are those Executours and Overseers who being put in trust with the estates and portions of poore widdowes and fatherlesse children doe by some tricke in law or craftie distinction of their owne cozen and deceive them Such againe are they who take away from the poore what the law hath given in pios usus and mingle it with their owne Doe not these and such as they purchase to themselves the fearefull curses of the afflicted poore insteede of making them friends of the Mammon of iniquity I beseech you men of the world you that leane so stronglie on your God Mammon What is he in whom you trust Is he anie other than as Paracelsus saith of the Divell a beggarly spirit What can hee doe for you Can he make you honest wise healthie Can he make you live more merrilie feede more heartilie sleepe more quietlie Can he prevent care sicknesse sorrow death and thâ— paines of hell after death Or rather doth he not bring and cause all these If hee could be friend you so I should not blame you much to fall downe and worship him but if as the truth is hee rather bring all then otherwise then mee thinkes admirable is our Saviours counsell in my Text here Facite vobis amicos Make ye other friends make ye friends of your riches of iniquitie Bestow the superfluitie of your goods on the poore Honour the Lord with your substance Prov. 3. 9 And great shall Prov. 3. 9. be your reward in heaven Matth. Mat. 6. 6. 6. 6. That good Martyr Saint Laurenie being asked by Decius Caesar saith Lyra what hee had Lyra. done with the great treasure of the Church which was left by Sixtus his Predecessour made him this answere That it was safe enough for hee had sent it to heaven above by the hands of the poore on earth And our owne Warrham once Arch-bishop of Canterbury being on his death-bed sent his steward to see what store of coyne was remaining in his coffers he returning brought him word that there was either verie little or none at all for indeede the good man being a most charitable Prelate had given all away before the Bishop tolde his servant Nimirum sic oportuit When could I die better than when I am so even with the world Oh couldest thou doe so Lay up thy golde thy treasures thy garments there neither could theeves steale them from thee nor rust nor vermine consume them And thus thou maist doe if thou bestow them on the poore they will carrie them to heaven for thee and there thou shalt be sure one day to finde them againe Had that foolish rich man in the 12 of this Gospell found out this Luke 12. 18. way hee would have had roome enough to bestow his corne had his croppe beene farre greater than it was for of everie emptie bellie of his poore neighbour hee might have made a new little Barne wherein hee might have laid up part of his store In one word If thou wantest earthly riches saith Saint Jerome seeke not to get them by evill meanes if God hath already blessed thee with them send them before thee to heaven by thy good deedes The Saints of God are like Dorcas Acts 9. 36. Rich in good workes and almes which they doe not which they talke of not which they intend to doe not which they leave to be done by others but which they doe themselves they be their owne Executors Hee that gives nothing in his life time because hee meanes to leave all to good uses at his death is much like to him in the Poet that threw his apples to the hogges because he could not eate them himselfe I would not be mistaken I doe not I dare not speciallie in such an age as this speake against charitable deedes be they done in what kinde soever but I presse this point the rather to call to your remembrance how manie well intended great gifts thus given have miscarried and come to nothing See our owne Annales and you shall finde them onely recorded and passed over with this colde Close It was an ample and a large gift had it beene performed accordingly But I goe on Saint Gregorie in an Homilie of his as if he would directlie crosse that of holie Job Nothing brought wee into this world neither shall wee carrie anie thing out of it falleth upon this meditation That although wee brought nothing into the world yet it is possible for us to carrie something out of it How so Thus saith he If we hearken to the voice of the poore whilest we live and faile not to relieve them when they aske we carrie so much of our wealth with us hence as we gave away here Largiendo servamus quae servando amittimus What we give away so we keepe for our selves and what with a close hand wee keepe that wee lose for ever And another of the Ancients tells us but I tremble to repeate it that the purple glutton in this Gospell is in hell Non quia abstulerat aliena sed quia non donarat sua Not for taking anie thing from the poore but because hee relieved not their wants He would not heare the crie of the poore beggar on earth how should he look to be heard himself being below How could he that was mercilesse to others expect to receive mercie or thinke that Abraham or the Saints could be his friends in another world who had never taken anie the least care whilest he was in this to make him friends of his Mammon of iniquitie To conclude this point Oh let not those that drinke wine in bowles and stretch themselves on beds of yvorie forget the afflictions of poore Joseph Amos 6. 6. It is Amos 6. 6. yours that are rich and for my part I come not hither to denie it you to eate the fat and drinke the sweete but then you must remember also to send part to them for whom nothing is prepared Nehem. 8. 10. And this is Nehem. 8. 10. the verie next way I know for you in the midst of your mirth to make you friends of your unrighteous Mammon But the sonnes of men although they be manie times most unreasonable themselves yet they will alwayes expect