Book I, Part 2, Chapter 12. The eleventh privilege of Virtue, which consists in the Care God takes to supply the temporal JVecessities of the Just

1. All we have hitherto treated of are the spiritual favors which are bestowed on the followers of virtue in this life, besides the everlasting glory which is laid up for them in the next. These benefits were all promised them at our Saviour's coming into the world, as all the prophecies in the Holy Scriptures testify ; for which reason he is justly styled the Saviour of the world, because it is by him we obtain true salvation, which is, grace, wisdom, peace, victory, and dominion over our passions, the consolations of the Holy Ghost, the riches of hope, and, in fine, all other benefits requisite for obtaining this salvation, of which the prophet has said, " Israel has been saved by the Lord with an eternal salvation;" Isa. xiv. 17.

But, if there be any person so carnal as to have a greater love for the goods of the flesh, than for those of the spirit, as the Jews had, we will not differ on this account, for he shall herein find more satisfaction, as to this part, than he can possibly wish. For what else could the wise man mean, when, speaking of true wisdom, in which the perfection of virtue consists, he says, " Length of days is at her right hand, and riches and glory at her left"? Prov. hi. 16. So that she holds these two sorts of goods in her hands, inviting men with one of them to the enjoyment of eternal blessings, and with the other to search after temporal. Do not imagine that God starves those who serve him, or that he is so careless as to feed the very ant and worms of the earth, and sutler them to want. If you will not believe me, read the sixth chapter of St. Matthew, and there you will see what earnest and security he has given you. " Behold the fowls of the air," says our Saviour, u for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into their barns, and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Of how much more value are you than they ?" Matt. vi. 26. A little after he concludes thus : " Do not, therefore, be solicitous, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what clothes shall we put on ? for the heathens trouble themselves about all these things. Do you, therefore, seek first the kingdom of God, and these things shall be given to you." ver. 31, 32, 33. It is for this reason particularly that the holy psalmist, observing that this alone was a sufficient motive to make men submit to one another, invites us to serve God, saying, " Fear the Lord, all you his saints ; because those that fear him want for nothing. The rich have been in want, and have suffered hunger; but- those that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any thing that is good." Ps. xxxiii. 10, 11.

This is so certain, that the same prophet adds in another psalm, " I have been young, but now I am old ; yet I never saw the just man forsaken, nor his seed begging bread ;" Ps. xxxvi. 25.

2. If you would be better informed of the share the just have in this promise, hear what God himself says in the book of Deuteronomy (ch. xxviii. 1 — 12), to those that keep his commandments : " If you will hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to do and keep all his commandments, which I command thee this day, the Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations that are on the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee ; yet so if thou hear his precepts. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the droves of thy herd, and the folds of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy barns, and blessed thy stores. Blessed shalt thou be coming in and going out. The Lord shall cause thy enemies that rise up against thee to fall down before thy face : one way shall they come out against thee, and seven ways shall they flee before thee. The Lord will send forth a blessing upon thy storehouses, and upon all the works of thy hands : and will bless thee in the land that thou shalt receive. The Lord will raise thee up to be a holy people to himself, as he swore to thee : if thou keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all the people of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is invocated upon thee, and they shall fear thee. The. Lord will make thee abound with all goods, with the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy cattle, with the fruit of thy land, which the Lord swore to thy fathers that he would give thee. The Lord will open his excellent treasure, the heaven, that it may give rain in due season : and he will bless all the works of thy hands." These are the words of God himself, delivered by his prophet. Tell me now, after all this, are the treasures of both the Indies to be compared with such infinite blessings as these are?

3. But supposing the promise of temporal blessings was made to the Jews, rather than Christians, because the Almighty, by Ezekiel (ch. xxxiv. xxxvi.), promises to enrich these with other kind of goods of greater value, to wit, those of grace and glory ; yet as God, in the carnal law, did not cease to give spiritual goods to those Jews that were virtuous, so neither will he refuse to give temporal blessings to good Christians in the spiritual law, and that with the addition of two extraordinary advantages, of Thich the wicked have not the least knowledge. The one is, that he gives them these sort of blessings like an experienced physician, according to their several necessities, that they may serve to support and not to puff them up. The wicked know nothing at all of this, for they heap up all they can, without considering that superfluity of temporal goods is no less prejudicial to the welfare of our soul, than superfluity of meats is to the health of the body. For, though a man cannot naturally live without eating, yet to eat too much impairs the health, and though man's life is in his blood, yet too much of it quite chokes him up. The other advantage is, that with less noise he gives them much more content and satisfaction, which is the end of men's seeking after temporal riches, than the others can purchase with all their labor ; because whatsoever God can do by the means of second causes, he can do by himself much more perfectly. It is what he has done to all the saints, in whose name St. Paul spoke, when he said, "As having nothing, and yet possessing all things" (2 Cor. vi. 10) ; because we are as content with the little we have, as if we were lords of all the world. Travellers endeavor to carry what money they have in gold, because they can carry much more, and with less burden ; so the Almighty provides for those who love him, by giving them a lighter burden, but much more of joy, ease and satisfaction. Thus the just travel in this life naked and contented, poor and rich, whilst the wicked wallow in their riches, and yet die for hunger. And though, like Tantalus, they are up to their very chin in water, yet they cannot quench their thirst.

4. For this and such like reasons, Moses so earnestly recommended the keeping of the law of God, desiring it should be our whole study and care, as well knowing that all happiness consists in the fulfilling thereof. " Lay up these words of mine/' says he, "in thy heart; teach them to thy children, and meditate upon them as thou sittest in thy house, and as thou art upon journeys, when thou goest to bed, and when thou risest again. And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and keep them always be-^ fore thy eyes, and write them over thy porch and over the door of thy house, that by this means thy days may be multiplied, and those of thy posterity, in the land which God shall give thee;" vi. 6, 7, 8, &c. What was it, O holy prophet, that you saw, what did you find in the keeping of God's commandments, that should make you recommend them so earnestly to others ? You, without doubt, understood the inestimable value of this good, as being so great a prophet, and privy to the divine counsels : you knew that all kinds of goods whatever, present and to come, temporal and eternal, spiritual and corporal, were contained in and depended on this, and that if we complied with this obligation, we should satisfy all the rest : you knew very well that he who made it his business to do the will of God, should never lose his labor, because the doing of this was pruning his vine, watering his garden, increasing his estate, and looking after all his affairs, much better than he could do it himself, because it laid an obligation on God to do it for him. For the condition of the treaty, which

God has made with man is, that whilst man is busy about keeping of God's law, God should be busy about looking after man's concerns. And there is no fear of the contract being broken on God's side. On the contrary, if man prove a faithful servant, God will still show himself a better master. This is that one thino- which our Saviour said was necessary, to wit, the knowing Itnd the loving of God. For he that knows how to please God, is secure from all the rest. " Piety," says St. Paul, " is profitable for all things, because all the promises, both of this life and the life to come, are for it ;" 1 Tim. iv. 8. You see here how plainly the apostle promises to piety, which is the worship of God, not only the goods of the next, but those of this life too, as far as they contribute to the gaining of eternal happiness, and yet man is not excused on this account from labor, or from complying with the obligations of his state or calling as far as he is able.

§ I. Of the Poverty of the Wicked. — 5. If any one desires to know what poverty, what afflictions and calamities are laid up for the wicked, let him but read the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, and he will there see such things as will astonish and affright him: where, amongst many other dreadful threats, Moses delivers these most terrifying words from the mouth of God : "If thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep, and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I have commanded thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field. Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be in coming in, and cursed going out. The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a rebuke upon all the works which thou shalt do ; until he consume and destroy thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou hast forsaken me. May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee out of the land which thou shalt go in to possess. May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want, with the fever and with the cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air, and with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish. Be the heaven that is over thee of brass ; and the ground thou treadest on of iron. The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed. The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies ; one way mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the earth. And be thy carcass meat for all the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away. The Lord 24 Q2 strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the itch; so that thou canst not be healed. The Lord strike thee with madness and blindness, and fury of mind, and mayst thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to grope in the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayst thou at all times suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou have no one to deliver thee. Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst thou build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayst thou plant a vineyard, and not gather the vintage thereof. May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof. May thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee. May thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people, thy eyes looking on and languishing at the sight of them all the day, and may there be no strength in thy hand. May a people, which thou knowest not, eat the fruit of thy land, and all thy labors; and mayst thou always suffer oppression, and be crushed at all times. And be astonished at the terror of those things which thy eyes shall see. May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees and in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of thy foot to the top of thy head. The Lord shall bring thee and thy king, whom thou shalt have appointed over thee, into a nation which thou and thy fathers know not ; and there thou shalt serve strange gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt be lost as a proverb and a by-word to all people among whom the Lord shall bring thee in." Deut. xxviii. 15 — 38. In fine, after a great many other curses, and those very dreadful ones, he adds further : " All these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and overtake thee till thou perish : because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God, and didst not keep his commandments and ceremonies which he commanded thee. And they shall be as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy seed forever. Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things. Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord shall send upon thee, in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things ; and he shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee. The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that flieth swiftly; whose tongue thou canst not understand : a most insolent nation, that will show no regard to the ancient, nor have pity on the infant, and will devour the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine, nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor flocks of sheep : until he destroy thee, and consume thee in all thy cities, and thy strong and high walls be brought down, therein thou trustedst in all thy land. Thou shalt be beseiged within thy gates, in all thy land, which the Lord thy God will give thee ; and thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee." Ibid. ver. 45 — 54. These threats and curses are all taken out of the Holy Scriptures, where you may find many more which I here omit to relate ; but whoever reads them with attention, will meet with such dreadful things as cannot but astonish him. Then, perhaps, he will open his eyes, and begin to have some knowledge of the rigor of God's justice and of the malice of sin, together with the extreme hatred he bears it, as appears by the terrible punishments he inflicts on it in this life, by which men may conjecture what a sinner is to expect in the next. Besides he will pity the insensibility and misery of the wicked,, who are so blind as not to see the dreadful punishments that are reserved for them.

6. Do not persuade yourself, that these threats are only empty words, but consider that they are rather a prophecy of those misfortunes which have since happened to that people : for during the reign of Acham, king of Israel, the king of Syria's army having besieged them in Samaria, we read that men were forced to eat pigeon's dung, which was sold at a great price. Nay, they were reduced at last to such extremities, that mothers devoured their own children ; 4 Kings vi. And Josephus tells us, they were brought to the same misery again in the siege of Jerusalem ; Jos. L. 7. There is scarce any body but has heard of the captivity of this people, with the utter subversion of the whole kingdom: for ten tribes of them were carried away into perpetual captivity by the king of Assyria, and never returned home again : and the two which remained were quite destroyed a great while after, by the Roman army, who took many of them prisoners ; but the number of these that were slain or died during the siege was far greater, according to the relation of the same historian.

7. Let no man deceive himself by imagining, that all these calamities concerned none but this people ; for they belonged to all those in general, who, professing to serve God, nevertheless contemn and violate his law : it is what he himself assures us of by his prophet Amos, saying, "Was it not I that brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Palestines out of Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene ? Behold the eyes of the Lord are over the kingdoms, which commit sin, for to destroy and blot them out of the face of the earth." Amos ix. 7, 8. By this he gives us to understand, that all these changes of the kingdoms and states, as the destroying of some and the establishing of others, are the effects of sin. And if any one doubts wThether

188 the sinner's GUirE.

this concerns us or no, let -him search into the histories of past ages, and he will find, that God Almighty deals after the same manner with all the wicked, but particularly with those who have known the true law and yet have not observed it. He will there see that a great part of Europe, Africa and Asia, which was formerly full of Christian churches, is now in the hands of heathens and barbarians ; he will see what calamities the church has suffered from the Goths, the Huns and the Vandals, who, in St. Augustine's time, laid all the countries of Africa waste, sparing neither man, woman, nor child, old or young. And at the same time, all the country of Dalmatia and the neighboring towns were so ruined by those barbarians, that, as St. Jerome, who was himself of that country, says, " Whosoever passed through it could see nothing but heaven and earth, so universal was the desolation ;" S. Hier. in c. 1. Sophon. All this serves to inform us, that virtue and true devotion not only assist us, in order to obtain the eternal goods, but also to settle us in the possession of the temporal. Wherefore, let the consideration of this, and all those other advantages virtue has, serve to make an impression on our hearts, and excite them to the love of that which delivers us from so great evils, and procures us such mighty benefits.