Sidenote: 1 S. Pet. iii. 3, 4.
1. WHEN we lately pointed out, taking our theme from the epistle of
the Apostle Paul, that every wise man is free, we seemed to have fallen
into philosophical discussion. But afterwards, in reading the epistle
of the Apostle Peter, I perceived that every wise man is also rich:
and this he says without distinction of sex, for he writes that all
a woman’s ornaments consist in a virtuous life, not in costly jewels,
_Whose adorning_, he says, _is not that outward adorning of plaiting
the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but the
hidden man of the heart_.
2. Here then are two things, both that there is a man within the man,
and that he is rich who seeks not for himself the enjoyment of any
riches. And he has well said, _the man of the heart_, in that the whole
man of wisdom is hidden, as is wisdom itself, which is not seen but
understood. No one before Peter used such an expression as, _the man
of the heart_; for the outward man consists of many members, but the
inward man of the heart is entirely full of wisdom, full of grace, full
of beauty.
Sidenote: 1 S. Pet. iii. 4.
3. _In that_, he says, _which is not corruptible, even the ornament of
a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price_.
And he is truly rich, who can appear rich in the sight of God, in whose
sight the earth is small, the world itself is narrow, but God considers
him only to be rich who is rich for eternity, who lays up the fruit
not of riches, but of virtues. And who is rich before God but that meek
and quiet spirit which is never corrupted? Does not he appear to you to
be rich, who possesses peace of mind and the tranquillity of rest? who
desires nothing, is not tossed by the storms of lust, despises not old
things, seeks not new, so as by his constant desire to become poor in
the midst of riches?
Sidenote: Phil. iv. 7.
Sidenote: Prov. xxviii. 10.
4. That peace is truly rich, which _passeth all understanding_. Peace
is rich, modesty is rich, faith is rich, for _to the faithful the whole
world is a possession_. Simplicity is rich, for there are also the
riches of simplicity; for she scrutinizes nothing, has no mean, no
suspicious, no deceitful thoughts, but pours herself forth with pure
affection.
Sidenote: Job v. 17–24.
Sidenote: Gen. xxvii. 37.
Sidenote: Job v. 26.
5. Goodness too is rich, and if a man preserve it he is fed by the
riches of the heavenly inheritance. To quote also the more ancient
examples of Scripture, _Happy_, it is said, _is the man whom God
correcteth_. Therefore _despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty
... in famine He shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the
power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue;
... the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee, and thou shalt
know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace._ For the vices of this
flesh being subdued, and those passions which are wont to war against
the soul, your tabernacle shall be undisturbed, your house without
offence, your seed shall not fail, your posterity shall be as the smell
of a fruitful field, your burial as the harvest. For while others are
looking for theirs to fail, the heap of your corn will be carried ripe
into the heavenly garners.
Sidenote: Ps. xxxvii. 26.
6. Fit it is that the righteous ever lendeth, while the wicked man
is in want. He lendeth justice, he lendeth the commandments of God
to the poor and needy; but the fool does not possess even that which
he believes himself to possess. Do you suppose that he can be said
to possess, who brooding over his treasure night and day, is troubled
by covetous and wretched anxiety? Such a one truly wants; although to
others he appears rich, to himself he is poor, because he who is still
grasping after more and desiring more uses not that which he possesses.
For where there are no bounds to desire, what profit can there be in
riches? No man is rich who cannot carry away with him that which he
has, for that which is left behind, is not our own but another’s.
Sidenote: Gen. v. 24.
Sidenote: Wisd. iv. 11.
Sidenote: 2 Kings ii. 11.
Sidenote: 1 Kings xvii. 9.
Sidenote: 2 Kings i. 14.
Sidenote: Ib. ii. 8.
7. Enoch was rich who carried away with him that which he had, and laid
up all the riches of his goodness in the heavenly treasure-house; he
was _taken away lest that wickedness should alter his understanding_.
Elias was rich, who riding in a chariot of fire carried the treasures
of his virtues up to the heavenly mansions. Not small were the riches
he left to his heir, and yet he himself did not lose them. Who would
have called him poor even then, when being himself in need of the
sustenance of daily food, he was sent to the widow that he might be
nourished by her, when at his voice the heaven was shut and opened,
when at his word the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil failed not for
three years, but overflowed; when it was replenished not diminished by
use? Who would call him poor at whose word there came fire down from
heaven, whom the river impassible by others could not retard, retiring
back to its source that the prophet might pass over dry-shod?
Sidenote: Job xx. 15.
Sidenote: Prov. xii. 12.
Sidenote: Ps. xcii. 11.
8. Ancient history tells us of two neighbours, king Ahab and the poor
Naboth; which of these do we believe to be the richer, which the
poorer? The one, endowed with the royal support of riches, insatiable
and not to be replenished with wealth, coveted the little vineyard of
the poor man; the other, despising in his mind the golden fortunes of
kings, and imperial treasures, was content with his own vines. Does not
he appear richer and more kingly, who was sufficient to himself, and
controlled his own desires, coveting nothing that belonged to another?
Does not he, on the other hand, appear most needy, in whose eyes his
own gold was accounted vile, and another man’s vine precious. But learn
for what reason he was most needy: because _riches unjustly gotten are
vomited up again_, but _the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit, and
flourishes like a palm-tree_.
Sidenote: Ps. xxxvii. 35, 36.
Sidenote: Ps. xxxiv. 10. LXX, Vulg.
9. Is not he more needy than the poor man, who passeth away like a
shadow? To-day the ungodly is in great power, to-morrow he is not, and
his place can no more be found. But what is it to be rich, unless it
be to abound? But who abounds whose mind is contracted, and therefore
straightened, and what abundance can there be in straits? He therefore
is not rich who does not abound. Wherefore David says well, _The rich
lack and suffer hunger_; for although they possessed the treasures
of the Divine Scriptures, they still lacked in that they did not
understand, and hungered in that they tasted not the food of spiritual
grace.
Sidenote: S. Matt. v. 3.
Sidenote: Rom. xi. 33.
Sidenote: Ps. cxix. 14.
Sidenote: Deut. xxxiii. 23.
Sidenote: Ib. 23.
10. Nothing can therefore be richer than the temper of the wise man,
nothing poorer than that of the fool. For since the kingdom of God
belongs to the poor, what can be richer? And therefore the Apostle
says well, _O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God_! Well also David, who _had as great delight in the way of
the heavenly testimonies as in all manner of riches_. And Moses says
expressly, _Naphtali, satisfied with favour_. Now Naphtali means when
translated, ‘abundance’ or ‘increase.’ So that to be satisfied and
to abound go together, but where there is the hunger of desire and
insatiable lust, there truly is poverty. But since scarcely any desire
of money or of this world can be satisfied, it is added, _full with
blessing_.
Sidenote: 1 S. Pet. iii. 3.
11. It is in accordance with these principles that the Apostle Peter
has declared that the ornament of women consists not in gold and silver
and apparel, but in the secret and hidden man of the heart. Wherefore
let no woman put off the dress of piety, the ornament of grace, the
inheritance of eternal life.
Farewell: love me, for I love you.
LETTER XXXIX.
A.D. 387.
S. AMBROSE in this Letter seeks to rouse Faustinus from
excessive grief for his sister’s death, first on the ground of
duty towards the children left to his care and protection, and
then on the higher ground of submission to the Divine will, and
realization of Christian hopes.