before the best of goods; even sin itself, with all the miseries that attend it, before holiness and that eternal happiness which is promised to it! And all for nothing else but the love of a little pelf and trash, which hath no other worth but what our own distracted fancies put upon it.

And if the love of money be the root of so many sins of omission, how many sins of commission must needs sprout from it? Indeed they are so many, that it would be an endless thing to reckon them all up; and therefore I shall not undertake it, but shall mention only such of them as every one, upon the first reading, shall acknowledge to be the cursed offspring of this one fruitful and big-bellied sin of covetousness, or the love of money; of which Cicero observes, that nullum est officium tam sanctum atque solemne, quod non avaritia comminuere atque violare soleat.' So we may say on the other side too, that there is no sin so great and horrid, but covetousness will sometimes put men upon it.

Is idolatry a sin? Yea certainly, one of the greatest that any man can be guilty of; and yet nothing can be more plain, than that covetousness, wheresoever it comes, draws it along with it, insomuch that every covetous man is asserted by God himself to be an idolater, and covetousness to be idolatry itself. And the reason is plain; for what is idolatry, but to give that worship to a creature which is due only unto God? But what higher acts of worship can we perform to God, than to love him, and

"There is no duty, however holy and sacred, which avarice does not weaken and violate."

2 Eph. v. 5.

3 Col. iii. 5.

to trust in him, which it is certain every covetous man gives to his money, and therefore covetousness is called philarguria, the love of money.' And we cannot but be all sensible what trust and confidence men are wont to repose in their estates and incomes. But such will say, we do not fall down before our money, nor pray unto it; but they trust on it, and that is infinitely more than bare praying to it: and though they do not bow down before it in their bodies, yet they make all the faculties of their souls to bow down and stoop unto it; they love and desire it; they rejoice and delight in having of it; they are grieved and troubled for nothing so much as the parting with it; nor fear any thing so much as the losing of it.

But they will say again, we do not sacrifice to our bags, nor burn incense to our estates; we never did nor intend to offer so much as a lamb or calf unto it! It is true, they do not; but they offer that which is far better, they offer the poor to it, suffering them to perish with hunger, thirst, and cold, rather than relieve them with that necessary maintenance which God has put into their hands for them they offer their own bodies to it, exposing them to heats and colds, to dangers and hazards both by sea and land, and all for money; yea, they offer their own souls to it likewise, as a whole burnt-offering, giving them to lie scorching in hell flames to eternity, and that upon no other account but to get money. And tell me which are the greatest fools, and most odious idolaters, such as offer beasts to the sun and flames, or such as offer themselves both soul and body to dirt and clay? We cannot but all acknowledge the latter to be far the worse, and by consequence the covet

ous man to be the greatest idolater in the world, and that too only because he is a covetous man.

Moreover, is not extortion and oppression a sin ? And yet we all know that it is the love of money that is the only cause of it. Is not strife and contention a sin? whence comes it but from our lusting after money? Is not perjury a sin? Is not corruption of justice a sin? Is not cheating and cozenage a sin? Is not pride and haughtiness a sin? Is not unrighteous dealing betwixt man and man a sin? Is not theft and robbery a sin? Is not treason and rebellion a sin? Are not all these sins, and great ones too? But whence spring these poisonous fruits into the lives of men, but from the bitter roots of covetousness in their hearts? It is the love of money that makes these sins to rise amongst us: it is this that makes men forswear themselves, and cozen others; it is this that oft-times makes fathers ruin their children, and children to long for the death of their fathers; it is this that makes neighbours go to law, and brethren themselves to be at variance; it is this that makes men strive to over-reach each other, and to blind the eyes of those they deal with; it is this that hath caused some to murder others, and others to destroy themselves. What shall I say more? There is no impiety that can be committed against God, nor injury that can be offered unto men, but the love of money hath been the cause of it in others, and will be so in us, unless it be timely prevented, and therefore it may well be termed the 'root' of all the evil of sin.

And it being the root from whence all the evil of

1 James, iv. 1.

sin springs, it must needs be the root of all the evil of punishment and misery too, misery and punishment being the necessary consequent of sin. Indeed this sin carries its misery along with it, as Seneca himself saw by the mere light of nature, saying, Nulla avaritia sine poena est, quamvis satis sit ipsa poenarum : No avarice is without punishnishment, though it be itself punishment enough." For what a torment is it for a man to be always thirsty, and never able to quench his thirst? Yet this is the misery of every covetous man, whose thirst after money can never be satisfied, and who is desirous of having more, that he can never enjoy with comfort what he hath, loving money so well, that he grudgeth himself the use of it. Hence, the aforesaid author observed, that in nullum' avarus bonus est, in seipsum pessimus. The covetous man is good to none, but worst to himself." And as this is the natural consequent of this sin in itself, so it is the ordinary punishment that God inflicts upon men for it, not suffering them to take any pleasure in the use of what they love. And besides that, what cares and fears, what labours and travels, what dangers and hazards doth the love of money put men upon? How do they rack their brains and break their rest to get it; and when it is gotten, what fears are they always in, lest they should lose it again? What grief and trouble do the poor wretches undergo for every petty loss that befals them? so that every covetous man is not only miserable, but therefore miserable because covetous.

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But if their misery be so great in this life, how

1 Eccl. vi. 1. 2.

2

great will it be in that to come? Concerning which there are two things to be observed: first, that the very having of riches makes it very difficult to get to heaven.1 Hence Agur was afraid of them. Neither do we ever read of any of the patriarchs, prophets, or the saints recorded in Scripture, to have been guilty of this sin, unless Baruch, who was reproved for it."

4

And as the having of money makes it difficult to get to heaven, so the loving of it makes it impossible to keep out of hell. For so long as man is covetous, he is liable to every temptation, ready to catch at every bait that the devil throws before him; so that he is led by him as he pleaseth, till at length he be utterly destroyed. And therefore the same apostle elsewhere tells us, that the covetous have no inheritance in the kingdom of God, but the wrath of God will most certainly fall upon them. But the wrath of God is the greatest evil of punishment that it is possible for men to bear: indeed it is that which once being incensed makes hell fire. And yet we see that the heat of our love to money will enkindle the flames of God's wrath against us; yea, and such flames too as will never be quenched. And so for the little seeming transient pleasure they take in getting, or keeping money now, they must live in misery and contempt, in shame and torment for evermore.

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Thus, now we see that love of money will not only put us upon the evil of sin, but it will also bring the evil of punishment upon us, both which

1 Matt. xix. 23, 24, 25; Luke, xvi. 19, 22.

2 Prov. xxx. 8. 3 Jer. xiv. 5. 4 1 Tim. vi. 9.

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Eph. v. 5, 6. 6 Mark, ix. 44.