Rank and Riches
“Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness That, I
may cause those that love me to inherit substance: and I will fill their treasures.” — viii. 18, 21.
SDOM from above cries in the gate, and enters into coinpetition with the world’s most powerful attractions. In the matters of rank and riches, the two strong cords by which the ambitious are led, the two reciprocally supporting rails on which the train of ambition ever runs, — even in these matters that seem the peculiar province of an earthly crown, the Prince of Peace comes forth with loud challenge and conspicuous rivalry. Titles of honour! their real glory depends on the height and purity of the fountain whence they flow. They have often been the gift of profligate princes, and the rewards of successful crime. At the best the fountain is low and muddy: the streams, if looked at in the light of day, are tinged and sluggish. Thus saith the Lord, “Honour is with me;” and He who saith it is the King of glory. To be adopted into the family of God, — to be the son or daughter of the Lord Almighty, — this is honour. High born! we are all low born, until we are born again, and then we are the children of a King.
The riches which this King gives to support the dignity of his nobles are expressly called “durable riches.” This is spoken to place them in specific contrast with those riches that make themselves wings and fly away. They are also said to be coupled with righteousness for company. Surely the Spirit who dictates this word knows what is in man, and the wealth which man toils for. Its two grand defects — the two worms that gnaw its yet living body — are the unrighteousness that tinges a part of it, and the uncertainty that cleaves to it all. The riches which the King of saints imparts along with the patent of nobility to support its dignity withal, are linked to righteousness, and last for ever. Anointed by the Spirit, they are secure from both the rust spots that eat into the heart of the world’s wealth; pure and imperishable, they have been by a double metaphor called “the silvef springs of grace, and the golden springs of glory.”
The Lord will cause those that love him to “inherit substance.” Here is a withering glance from the countenance of the Truth himself at the cheat which the world practises upon its dupes. Those who are rich in grace inherit substance; this is obliquely to say that those who give themselves to the pursuit of wealth are chasing a shadow. They are ever grasping at it; and it is ever gliding from their grasp. Such is the dance through which Mammon leads his misers. It is kept up throughout all life’s vain show, until the dancers drop into the grave, and disappear in its darkness. They who seek the substance shall find it; and as to the amount of their gain, the promise is precise — “I will fill their treasures.” This is a great promise: it is made in a kingly style: there is no limit. It will take much to fill these treasures; for the capacity of the human spirit is very large. God moulded man after his own image, and when the creature is empty, nothing short of his Maker will fill him again. Although a man should gain the whole world, his appetite would not be perceptibly diminished: the void would be as great and the craving as keen as ever. Handfuls are gotten on the ground, but a soulful is not to be had except in Christ. “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete (that is, full) in him.” Hear ye him: “I will fill their treasures.” “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”