that they need no comfort.  And therefore it is not for their sakes that I speak of all this, saving that it may serve them for counsel toward the perceiving of their own foolish misery, through the help of God’s grace, beginning to shine upon them again.  But there are very good folk and virtuous who are in the daylight of grace, and yet the devil tempteth them busily to such fleshly delight.  And since they see plenty of worldly substance fall unto them, and feel the devil in like wise busily tempt them to set their hearts upon it, they are sore troubled therewith.  And they begin to fear thereby that they are not with God in the light but with this devil that the prophet calleth Negotium—­that is to say, Business—­walking about in the two times of darknesses.

Howbeit, as I said before of those good folk and gracious who are in the worldly wealth of great power and authority and thereby fear the devil’s arrow of pride, so say I now here again of these who stand in dread of fleshly foul sin and covetousness:  they do well to stand ever in moderate fear, lest with waxing over-bold and setting the thing over-light, they might peradventure mishap to fall in thereto.  Yet, since they are but tempted with it and follow it not, to vex and trouble themselves sorely with the fear of loss of God’s favour is without necessity and not always without peril.  For, as I said before, it withdraweth the mind of a man far from the spiritual consolation of the good hope that he should have in God’s help.  And as for those temptations, as long as he who is tempted followeth them not, the fight against them serveth him for matter of merit and reward in heaven, if he not only flee the deed, the consent, and the delectation, but also (so far as he conveniently can) flee from all occasions of them.

And this point is in those fleshly temptations a thing easy to perceive and plain enough.  But in worldly business pertaining unto covetousness the thing is somewhat more dark and there is more difficulty in the perceiving.  And very great troublous fear of it doth often arise in the hearts of very good folk, when the world falleth fast unto them, because of the sore words and terrible threats that God in holy scripture speaketh against those who are rich.  As, where St. Paul saith, “They that will be rich fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil.”  And where our Saviour saith himself, “It is more easy for a camel”—­or, as some say, “for a great cable rope,” for “camelus” so signifieth in the Greek tongue—­“to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

No marvel, now, if good folk who fear God take occasion of great dread at so dreadful words, when they see the worldly goods fall to them.  And some stand in doubt whether it be lawful for them to keep any goods or not.  But evermore, in all those places of scripture, the having of the worldly goods is not the thing that is rebuked and threatened, but the affection that the haver unlawfully beareth to them.  For where St. Paul saith, “they that will be made rich,” he speaketh not of the having but of the will and desire and affection to have, and the longing for it.  For that cannot be lightly without sin.  For the thing that folk sore long for, they will make many shifts to get and jeopard themselves for.