Love of God includes an Act of the Understanding a transcendent esteem of his Favour Thy loving-kindness is better than Life it inspires the Soul with ardent desires after him My Soul follows hard after thee it produces the most joyful satisfaction in Communion with him The Thoughts of God are unspeakably precious and sweet the Ordinances the blessed Means of conveying his Grace are highly valued and Sin that displeases and separates from God is hated as the greatest Evil. Now the Soul must be refined to a heavenly temper to some degrees of Angelical Purity before 't is capable of Light to see his spiritual Excellencies and Love to enjoy them And if the Soul does not make the Body Heavenly and Spiritual the Body will make the Soul Earthly and Fleshly From hence it is that the affluence of things pleasing to the Senses fastens the carnal Heart to the World as its Happiness and Heaven it darkens the Mind and vitiates the Affections that the Soul can neither taste nor see how good the Lord is 'T is the universal Character of Men in the carnal State they are lovers of Pleasure more than lovers of God And a remisser degree of Love is comparative Hatred A Sin of astonishing guilt and not less odious to God and damning in its Nature tho little observed and resented by carnal Men for the highest dishonour of God is complicated with disobedience in it A Sin that deserves and inflicts the sorest Punishment for God alone whose goodness is infinite can make us perfectly and eternally happy and the spiritual separation from him is such an unvaluable loss that when truly understood is the foundation of the heaviest sorrow 3. The Fear of God is a most distant affection from the Heart of the foolish Sinner in his Prosperity The Fear of Reverence and the awful esteem of God that proceeds from the reflection upon his glorious greatness is a grace that remains in Heaven the Angels in all their bright degrees of Excellence cover their faces before his Throne The fear of Circumspection that restrains from displeasing him upon the account of his Justice and Power is a proper Affection to Men in the present state The Blessed in Heaven are above this Fear being confirm'd in a state of unchangeable perfection and felicity the Damned in Hell are below this Fear in that no change can make their Condition worse but 't is most useful and congruous in this middle state This Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom the first and chiefest part of it in respect of Order and Dignity For the true Notion of Wisdom consists in the foresight of Evils in the choice and use of effectual means to avoid it and it is the best Wisdom that avoids the greatest Danger This Fear is the Principle of Conversion from Sin to Holiness exciting us to make God our Friend who is so dreadful an Adversary so Holy and Just that he will not connive at Sin and spare the Guilty and Impenitent and so powerful that with one stroke he can utterly destroy his most stubborn Enemies Carnal Security is directly opposite to this Fear of God and nothing does more harden and fortify Men in Security than a prosperous State The Voluptuous and Sensual are without apprehension of Danger till imminent and in their view Because they have no changes therefore they fear not God Uninterrupted Prosperity tempted them to Atheistical Security and as none are sollicitous and in anxiety lest the Sun whose presence is the support and beauty of the World should not arise in the morning because its regular course is establish'd and constant and it would be a Miracle contravening the Order of Nature if it should be stop'd Thus the long enjoyment of Plenty and Ease and Peace renders Men constantly secure and fearless as if the tenor of their Prosperity were invariable and no evil could disturb it or at least they will set back the expectation of Evil at a great distance like those prophane Scorners mentioned by the Prophet They say the Vision he sees is for many days to come he pro phesies of the times afar off and with a brutish stupidity slight the Divine Threatnings And from hence it follows that none are so rebelliously and boldly disobedient as the prosperous Sinner which is the fourth thing to be considered 4. Entire Obedience is due to the Supreme Lawgiver who is able to save and destroy for ever yet he is mercifully inclin'd to pardon the Infirmities of Men and greater Sins retracted by Repentance There are Sins of Ignorance when a Man dashes blindfold against the Law and of suddain surreption when there is no time to deliberate and for recollection and the best are not exempted here from Sins of this nature there are Sins of deadly malignity when Men are careless of God's Commands and indulge their Lusts tho not without some remorse But the prosperous Sinner is usually most presumptuous he sins with a high hand and incurrs a greater guilt and shall be exposed to greater punishment When the Fear of God is extinguish'd Luxury takes the Reins and breaks through the Hedg of the Law without feeling the wounding Thorns the fearful Threatnings in it and drives on through all the degrees of Sin 'T is the aggravation of the Israelites Ingratitude Jesurun waxed fat and kicked and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation They were like Beasts high fed that become fierce and untractable will endure no Yoke upon them The prosperous Sinner securely despises the Commands of God and by an implicit Blasphemy dares his offended Omnipotence as if he were stronger than the Lord. He concludes his safety from his present success and says in his heart I shall have peace tho I walk in the imagination of mine heart and add sin to sin The Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord shall smoke against that Man to his destruction 3. Prosperity exposes dangerously to the tempting Power of Satan whose Subtilty Malice and Diligence is always exercised in training Men to Perdition His destructive Power cannot make immediate impressions on the Soul but he tempts by Objects without and the Affections within the World and the Flesh that are in combination with him He is accordingly stiled the God of this World as he reigns in the Men of the World by using the things of the World to obtain and establish his Kingdom He blinds their eyes by glittering Temptations deceives and surprizes them by his Fallacies And altho 't is difficult to conceive and unfold his internal Agency and pernicious Operations and 't is certain he cannot make a forcible entry into the Soul and tempt with prevalency and success without the consent of the Will yet we are told that he is a prime Mover in the sins of Men. He entred into Judas and by putting a lustre on the Silver exciting his covetous desires prevail'd with him to betray the Lord of Glory He
Heaven to save the World and when the Cross with its Infamy and horrour was in his view he avowed his Heavenly Kingdom And all those who suffer with him for his Truth and in conformity to his Pattern with his Meekness and Patience his Charity and Constancy shall reign with him And what is more powerful for the consolation and establishment of Christians than that their Sufferings for Christ shall end in Glory This is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith This did Miracles in the first Ages of the Church conquering all that was terrible to Flesh and Blood The Heathens despised the Hopes of Christians as wretched Illusions and with impious scorn upbraided them for their constancy under Persecutions Where is the God that can raise the dead and not rescue the living Unbelief is blind and cannot see beyond this World to the Eternal State But Faith in the blessed Redeemer opens a Prospect into the World to come so full of Glory that no Person that has an understanding and will to discourse and choose if he stedfastly believes it but must despise all the Evils that the wit and strength of Persecutors can inflict in comparison of it I reckon saith the Apostle that the sufferings of the present Life in all their kinds and degrees are not to be compared with the Glory that shall be reveal'd Inlightned Christians esteemed their Sufferings for the Cause of God no Arguments of his Weakness but his Wisdom to exercise and try their Loyalty and cordial Obedience before he rewarded them and had reason to admire his Providence not to suspect his Power and Love They knew that the power of Tyrants could only reach the Body the vile frail and mortal part of Man but the precious Soul was entirely exempted from their rage and Faith assur'd them of a glorious Resurrection after Death The Body of a Martyr shall be revived as a Phaenix out of its Ashes when the Body of a Persecutor shall be quickned as a Serpent out of a Dunghil the one to be glorified the other tormented for ever The belief of this made them extremely valiant in the face of all their threatning cruel Enemies But the evil Heart of unbelief causes a departure from the living God He that suspects God's fidelity in his Promises will suspend his own Nature will shrink at the first sight of imminent Dangers An Infidel that lives as if he were all Body and no immortal Soul judges the loss of the present Life and the comforts of it as his utter undoing and total perishing He has an appearance of reason to secure his present Possessions what-ever becomes of Religion for he expects no future Good that will infinitely more than countervail his present loss And that Prosperity inclines Men to Atheism and Infidelity has been proved before 2. The Love of God inspires Believers with a heavenly Fortitude to endure the worst Evils that may befal them for his sake Perfect Love casts out Fear keeps its Supremacy inviolate in the midst of the greatest Dangers Love is an active invincible Affection as strong as Death that none can vanquish The Love of God is a never-dying Flame in the Hearts of the Saints because it depends upon the unchangeable Love of God to them We love him because he first loved us Love esteems God as the greatest Reward A Saint does not so much love God for Heaven tho a place of inconceivable Glory as Heaven for God because he there reveals his Perfections to his People This Holy Love makes the Christians faithful and obsequious to Christ and to prefer his Honour incomparably before the present World The Martyrs of the divinest Courage were animated by this holy Affection they loved not their lives unto the death but chearfully offered them as a Sacrifice to his praise Love kindled in them a sacred Vehemence in despising all the glittering temptations of the World Love inspir'd them with a victorious Patience to blunt the edg of Cruelty They never repented the choice of his Religion but rejoiced when his Glory was set forth by their Ignominy and when their love to Christ appear'd in its radiancy and vigor through their Sufferings Love is the Principle of Constancy by which Religion reigns on Earth and is crown'd in Heaven On the contrary when Riches Honours and Pleasures are the Idols of Mens Heads and Hearts the chief Objects of their esteem and affections they will sacrifice their Souls rather than lose the World their dear Felicity Therefore St. John earnestly dehorts Christians Love not the World neither the things that are in the World If any Man love the World the love of the Father is not in him they are utterly inconsistent partly because the Heart cannot be entirely set upon contrary Objects and partly because love to the one requires what is directly contrary to love to the other From hence St. James vehemently upbraids carnal Professors Ye Adulterers and Adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the World is enmity with God Whosoever therefore will be a Friend of the World is the Enemy of God The World is the powerful Star whose Aspect he regards and tho with the dishonour and displeasure of God he will by irreligious compliance secure his temporal Interests The pure refined Truth of the Gospel that has past the fiery Trial he will corrupt and embase by carnal temperaments the precious Truth so dearly bought by the Blood of the Martyrs he will vilely sell for the things of this World Nay of a Professor he will by degrees turn Persecutor of those who stedfastly own the Truth The love of the World so strangely inchants infects the Mind that a false Religion which a Man did abhor from yet when recommended by secular Advantages will appear tolerable then eligible then necessary and consequently the divine Truth must be supprest that contradicts it There are such frequent Examples of this in every Age that to insist upon many particular Instances were to tell great numbers of the dead to prove that Men are mortal The Young Man that so earnestly addrest himself to Christ for his direction how to obtain Eternal Life when commanded to give all his Estate to the Poor and to follow Christ he would not gain at so dear a rate Celestial Treasures but went away sorrowful Whereupon our Saviour declares with solemnity to his Disciples Verily I say unto you that a rich Man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven We read of two Tribes of the Israelites that chose their Inheritance on this side Jordan and would not have a share in the Land of Canaan thus the earthly-minded prefer the present World the Object of their choice and love before the heavenly Canaan The Ecclesiastical Historian relates that in the time of Persecution by Decius the rich Men among the Christians were most easily and miserably foil'd the love of the World was a dangerous earnest in
natural Inchantment makes an exorbitant Figure a Dwarf to appear a Giant Now as Pride is the usual Concomitant of Prosperity so there is no Passion so inseparable from Pride and so proper to it as Anger By Pride comes Contention 't is the observation of the wisest Man confirm'd by universal Experience Pride makes Men imperious and impatient boisterous and stormy against all that offend them Pride Anger and Revenge like Serpents twine and wreath about one another Pride interprets an Offence as an high Contempt and raises Anger and Anger provok'd takes proportionable revenge to the conceived Injury We have a Tragical Instance of this recorded in Scripture * Hazael when foretold by the mourning Prophet that he would stain himself with the Innocent Blood of the Israelites slay their young Men with the Sword and dash their Children and rip up their Women with Child He startled at it as an execrable Cruelty And Hazael said But what is thy Servant a Dog that he should do this great thing And Elisha answered The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be King over Syria When advanc'd to empire he devested humanity Pride armed with Power is furious at opposition and the flaming Passion like a frightful Comet presages and produces terrible Effects Thus 't is evident how the Lusts of the Flesh are fomented by Prosperity 2. Prosperity inclines Sinners to an impious neglect of God that is a Sin of the highest Nature and prolifick of innumerable Evils All Sin is an irregularity either in the excess or the defective Extreme either in overvaluing and loving the Creature or in the disesteem and indifference to the Creator and Prosperity increases the aversion of the carnal Heart from God in the same degrees as it strengthens the propensity to the World For the opening this it will be necessary to consider the essential and eternal Respects due from the reasonable Creature to God And they are four comprehensive of all the rest 1. A solemn thankful recognition of him as the Author of our Beings and all the Comforts we enjoy 2. Supreme love to him 3. An humble fear of his Displeasure 4. Entire obedience to his Will As in this regular Universe every kind of being has its proper End so it cannot be denied without the most evident absurdity that God in all these respects is the chief End of Man 1. A solemn thankful recognition of God as the Author of our Beings and all our Comforts is continually due to him The neglect of this is so contumelious to the Majesty and Glory of God and so contrary to those most binding Obligations to his Mercy and Goodness that 't is an Offence infinitely provoking In every Transgression the authority of the Lawgiver is despised but this immediatly reflects dishonour upon the Deity As a common Felony is a breach of the King's Laws but Treason not only violates his Laws but strikes immediatly at his Person and Dignity Now Prosperity inclines sensual Persons to this wretched neglect of God The World with all its desirable things has the Dominion and full Possession of the Understandings Memories and Hearts of Men and serious Thoughts with warm Affections towards God are banish'd from them 'T is the Character of a Wicked Person but most proper to him in his Prosperity God is not in all his thoughts Of this Impiety there are several Degrees the highest is explicit Atheism a disbelief of God and his Providence of his Being and Bounty and this is sometimes occasioned by plentiful Prosperity And the Consequences are Pride that blasts the Mind as it were with Lightning and Confidence in the things of this World Of this we have astonishing Instances in the Scripture Nebuchadnezzar transported in a vain-glorious flush of Joy at the view of his magnificent Works breaks forth in those lofty insolent Expressions Is not this great Babel that I have built for the House of my Kingdom by the might of my Power and the honour of my Majesty as if he had been raised by his own power and did not owe his Greatness to the King of Heaven Thus 't is charg'd against the Prince of Tyrus Thy Heart is lifted up because of thy Riches and thou hast said I am a God and sit in the Seat of God and thou sets thine Heart as the Heart of God He presum'd that his Throne for Glory and Stability was like the Divine Kingdom that cannot be shaken and forgot that he was a frail Man in a mutable World Plentiful Prosperity is so strong a Temptation to Atheism that a wise and holy Saint earnestly deprecated it as a pernicious Snare Give me not Riches lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord The Carnal Heart in the full fruition of the World is apt to ascribe all to the course of Nature or to humane Contrivance and Endeavours without any serious acknowledgment of the Divine Liberality and Beneficence Prodigious Ingratitude and equal Folly As if one should imagine that a Fountain of Water had not its original from the Sea but from the Marble Stones through which it immediatly and visibly springs Or as if it were requisite the Hand of the Giver should be as visible as his Gifts Now altho few arrive to this heighth of Impiety in actual Thoughts and open Words yet prosperous Sinners are always guilty of an interpretative and virtual denial of God they have not a solemn grateful remembrance of their Benefactor and his Benefits and a due sense of their dependance upon him It was the wise and holy Counsel of Moses to Israel When they should be possest of Canaan a place full of delight and profit * When thou shalt have eaten and art full then beware lest thou forget the Lord. The Caution so enforc'd intimates a sinful disposition in the carnal Heart in Prosperity to neglect God There may be a notional remembrance of him in the Mind a naked ascription of all good things to his Providence a complemental visit in exterior Worship yet without an inward cordial sense of our dear Obligations for his most free Favours The Apostle charges the Rich in this World not to trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God So foolishly are Men prone to depend for protection reputation and provision of all things upon their Estates as if they were unconsumable and neglect God their Rock who is the alone sufficient Foundation of all our Hopes and Comfort 2. Supreme Love to God is an indispensable Duty from Men upon the account of his most amiable Excellencies and Benefits Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy Heart with all thy Soul with all thy Strength and with all thy Mind this is the first and great Commandment and consequently a coldness and indifferency to God much more a strong aversion from him is a sin of the most heinous nature now Prosperity has a special malignity to disincline the Heart from God The supreme
their Hearts are apt to reply as the Priests did to Judas What is that to us see ye to it The Terrors of the Lord no more affect them than Thunder does the Deaf or Lightning the Blind In short tho charged and adjured by all the Threatnings of the Law and the neglected Gospel tho intreated by all the precious Promises of Mercy they continue hardned in their voluptuous sins they despise the eternal Rewards of Holiness and Wickedness as incredible and impertinent and Ministers as men of vain talk and imaginations For the Infidel Senses are not affected with things future and Sinners whilst prosperous are under their Dominion 3. Suppose in preaching the Word a sharp ray of Truth darts through the deep and setled darkness of the Heart yet 't is soon dampt and without saving effect upon Sinners in their Prosperity They may be terrified but are not subdued by the Armour of Light for they presently take sanctuary in the World to escape the strokes of it The carnal Passions dare not appear before such Objects as awaken the Conscience the Senses strongly apply the Mind to things that touch them the Fancy is the spring of of distraction in the thoughts and these reign in their full power in prosperous Sinners so that they do not by serious consideration apply things of eternal consequence to themselves The Heart of Man with difficulty changes its end the outward actions may be suspended or over-ruled for a time but the love that is natural and predominant in the Heart to the present World cannot be purified and raised to Heaven without the Divine efficacy of the Word applied by most solemn and frequent thoughts How plain and convincing are the words of our Saviour What will it profit a Man if he gain the whole World and lose his own Soul But how few in hearing them have found their Souls that were lost in the corrupting Vanities of this World The most seem not to know they have immortal Souls whilst they live as if they had none The Reason is they will not consider duly their unvaluable worth and the woful folly in neglecting them When the Bird often straggles from the Nest the Eggs are chil'd and unprolific for want of its warming incubation Divine Truths are without life and vigour when they only lie in the memory without serious and frequent reflections on them Many are enlightned but not affected or affected but not resolved or resolved but their resolutions are not prevailing and permanent because the Word does not sink into their Minds by deep consideration 2. The other external means of recovering a Sinner from the snares of Death is private admonition either authoritative or meerly charitative by shewing him his Sins and the fearful Consequences that attend them The neglect of this Duty is a sign and effect of the greatest hatred as the command of it implies Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy heart and suffer Sin to lie upon him The performance of it with prudence and meekness with dear and earnest love has a special advantage and efficacy being directly applied to the Person whose Soul is concern'd The Reproofs of a Preacher are levell'd in common against the Sins of Men but not applied in particular to every Sinner 'T is the Office of Conscience to bring home to every Man's Bosom what is proper to his Case and singularly to observe in himself what is spoken in the general But in private Admonition the Superior or Friend supplies the part of Conscience And in this sense wo be to him that is alone that wants a faithful Friend to supply the Duty of Conscience either to preserve him from falling into Sin or to raise him when down Now a prosperous Sinner is most unlikely to receive the Benefit design'd by admonition If the Patient does not assist the Cure by receiving holy Counsels with humility respect and thankfulness they prove ineffectual and much more if they be rejected with aversness and contempt When a Superiour like a Father that holds a Child over a Pit to make him fear where there is danger with solemnity admonishes him of his Guilt and approaching Judgments he is apt to slite his Person as censorious and his Admonition as impertinent When a Friend by faithful reproof endeavours to save his Soul from Sin and Hell he entertains his Reproof with scorn or with conviction and indignation Thus the wise observer of Men declares the careless wretched disposition of Sinners in their Prosperity by their sorrowful reflections in Adversity Thou shalt mourn at the last when thy Flesh and thy Body are consumed and say How have I hated Instruction and my Heart despised reproof And have not obeyed the Voice of my Teachers nor inclined mine Ear to them that instructed me Instruction to prevent Sin Reproof to correct Sin were disregarded with an implicit hatred or rejected with absolute and express hatred To conclude this part of the Argument Experience sadly proves that Sinners are never reclaimed from their stubborn Folly but by sharp Afflictions They will not believe the evil of Sin till by a real and sensible conviction they take a measure of the Evil they have done by the Evil they suffer Affliction tames the stubborn heart and makes it humble and relenting Even Pharaoh that was a bold Atheist in his Prosperity and stood upon high terms with Moses saying Who is the Lord that I should obey him yet was an humble Suppliant in his Distress And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them I have sinned the Lord is righteous and I and my People are wicked Intreat the Lord that there be no more mighty Thundrings and Hail This is set forth in a true and lively comparison by the Prophet Jeremy As a wild Ass used to the Wilderness that snuffs up the Wind at her pleasure in her occasion who can turn her away When fir'd with Lust she ranges about swiftly without a Rider to guide and a Curb to restrain her All they that seek her will not weary themselves but in her mouth they shall find her 'T is in vain to pursue her then but when she is bagg'd and heavy they will tame her Thus when Sinners are prosperous the call of God and Conscience and of Teachers do not stop them in their voluptuous course but affliction confines and reduces them to obedience 5. Prosperity renders Men averse from suffering for the sake of Christ when they are called to give testimony to his Truth and support his Cause Self-denial with respect to the present Life and all the Ornaments Comforts and Endearments of it is absolutely necessary by the Law of Christianity when the preserving of it is contrary to the Glory of Christ and inconsistent with our Duty to him Then said Jesus to his Disciples If any Man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me The Cross implies all kinds
their Hearts of their revolting back to Pagan Idolatry and the Bondage of Satan And in the time of the Arian Persecution how many who by their Titles and Office were specially obliged to be valiant for the Truth and to contend earnestly for the Faith yet did accommodate their Profession to their aspiring Ambition and greedy Avarice The Standard of their Religion was the pitch of the State they had a politick Faith and appear'd either Orthodox or Arian as the publick Favour shin'd upon Truth or Heresy They rob'd our Saviour of the Honour of his Deity O astonishment rather than part with their beloved Dignities and Riches So powerful are humane Respects in those who mind earthly things Great force is requisite to pluck up a Tree that has its Roots spread and deeply fastned in the Earth and it cannot be so entirely separated but that part of the Roots will be broken thus when the Affections are deeply set in the World and by Pleasures and Riches fastned to it how hardly is it rent from it every Fibre of the Heart is broken with sorrow As Lot's Wife when by an Angel forc'd out of Sodom yet cast a lingring affectionate look after it and was turn'd into a Pillar of Salt The Separation is as bitter as the Possession is sweet and none are more unwillingly divorc'd from the World than those who enjoy the confluence of earthly happiness Now when secular Interest outweighs Duty when apparent Danger induces to deny the Truth of Christ how terrible and unavoidable will be the punishment of that disloyalty Our Saviour's threatning is universal Whosoever shall deny me before Men him will I deny before my Father which is in Heaven A most righteous and dreadful retribution They denied him as their Lord and he denies them as his Servants They usurp'd the Title of Christians the Relation of his Disciples and in the last Day he will publickly disown them When that sad Sentence shall come from their Judg Depart ye cursed I know you not what confusion what anguish will seize upon them They shall be banish'd from his glorious Kingdom excommunicated from his blessed Society and tormented with the rebellious Angels for ever 'T is true this universal and peremptory Threatning must be understood with an exception of those who after their falling away are restor'd by Repentance Sometimes a Christian that has deliberately and entirely devoted himself to Christ that has sincerely resolved rather to part with his Life than that for which Life is worthy the enjoying yet by strong temptations has been faint-hearted and denied the Truth like one that disannuls in the heighth of a Fever the Will he made in his composed Mind but afterward such have resumed new courage and have by enduring the sharpest Sufferings confirm'd the Truth and ascended to Heaven in a fiery Chariot Lastly The Prosperity of Sinners is the great temptation to delay repentance till their state is desperate Nothing fills Hell with so many lost Souls as the putting off Repentance till hereafter How many Diseases would be cur'd in time if they threatned present Death but their Malignity being of a slow operation they are despised as not worth the trouble of a Cure till they are desperate 'T is in Spiritual Diseases as 't is in those of the Body for Sin that is a sickness unto Death might be prevented by speedy Repentance but many not apprehending present Danger neglect the precious Remedy till they are desperately ruin'd To day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts The Command respects the Season as well as the Duty As our Obedience must be entire without reserves so it must be present without delay even in our early Age and continued in the whole tenor of our Life The Worm of Conscience sometimes nips Security and there is a strange union of Contrarieties in the Breast of a Sinner that makes him inexcusable and incurable He complains of the bondage to his Lusts yet takes pleasure in it he is convinc'd 't wil be destructive yet voluntarily continues in that sweet captivity If Conscience be troublesome he pacifies it with an intention to reform hereafter and thinks that a future Repentance will be sufficient to prepare for a future Judgment And none are so easily and willingly deceived to their everlasting ruin by this pretence as those who enjoy the present World Prosperity makes them forgetful of the Grave and humane Vicissitudes and hardens them in deep Security 'T was the Divine Prayer of Moses So teach us to number our days as to apply our hearts unto Wisdom implying that the great Cause of Mens destructive folly is from not reflecting upon the shortness and uncertainty of their Time here Death is certain to the Old and Life uncertain to the Young There are many back Doors to the Grave and Men are led surprisingly thither The time of their residence here is fixed by the Divine Determination and concealed from their Eyes How many in their Youth and Prosperity have presum'd upon a long Life yet unexpectedly have returned to their Earth as a Wall covered with Ivy that falls on a suddain with its green Ornaments by its weight and weakness The Hour of Death is the hour of mens Destiny for ever There is no space of Repentance in the interval between Death and Judgment but the Soul immediately after its departure receives a decisive irrevocable Doom that is in part executed and shall be publick and entirely executed at the last Day Yet Men boldly venture to continue in their pleasant Sins upon the forlorn hope of a Season to repent hereafter Astonishing enormous Folly as if they were assured of Time and the Divine Grace And thus 't is fully proved how fatal and destructive Prosperity is to the Wicked The second thing to be consider'd is the Folly of prosperous Sinners Folly is the Cause of their abusing Prosperity and the Effect of their Prosperity abused The most proper Notion of Folly is that the Understanding mistakes in judging and comparing things from whence the Will slides into Error and makes an unworthy choice And according to the weight and consequence of things the more remarkable is the degree of Folly in not discerning their Differences Now when Men value and are delighted in temporal Prosperity as their Happiness and Heaven with its Glory Joys is neglected and vilified in the comparison 't is Folly above all wonder Folly of so rare and singular a Nature that if the judicative Faculty were not corrupted it were impossible they should be guilty of it This will appear by considering the essential and inseparable Properties of Man's Felicity 't is perfective and satisfying of Man in his supream Faculties 1. The perfection of Man does principally consist in the excellencies of his spiritual immortal part As in the various kinds of Creatures there is something that is their proper Excellency for which they were made and accordingly are valued as
enquiry For what End am I created for what do I consume my Time If my Endeavours are all for the Earth what remains for Heaven what do I prepare what shall attend me what shall I meet in the next State How long will it be before I must leave this visible World and after the irrevocable step into the next immediately appear before the inlightned Tribunal of God whose Judgment is so strict that the Righteous are scarely saved and so heavy that the strongest Sinners cannot endure Can the World prevent my doom to Hell or release me from it Will the remembrance of the Enjoyments here afford any refreshment in Everlasting Burnings By such sad and frequent Soliloquies the vicious sensual Affections are eradicated and the Heart is transplanted from Earth to Heaven If Men would wisely ponder things if Conscience the sincere and unsuspected Judg did hold the Ballance and put into one Scale the Glory the Riches and Pleasures of this World and into the other the Promises that belong to Godliness here and hereafter how despicably light will they be found 'T was truly said that false Scarlet appears with lustre till compared with the Rich and True so the fictitious Felicity of this World is very specious and ravishes the Minds of Men till compared with Coelestial Felicity Worldly Honour is counterfeit because 't is no certain Argument of inherent worth Vain-glory and real Infamy often meet in the same Person yet 't is admir'd and ambitiously sought till compar'd with the Honour of the Saints What is a Reputation and Honour with the Worms and Moles of the Earth compared with the Honour that comes from the esteem of God and Angels and other blessed Spirits above who incomparably exceed all Mortals in number and infinitely in understanding What is a vanishing shadow of Reputation against an eternal inestimable weight of Glory What are the Riches of this World Gold and Silver and Jewels for gaining of which so many lose their Souls but vile trash compared with the sacred Treasures of Heaven the Graces of the Saints What are the empty delights of the Senses compared with the Peace of Conscience and Joy in the Holy Ghost that can sweeten all our Sorrows here and the fulness of Joy that springs from God's Presence in Heaven If Men would make judicious Comparisons their Affections would cool towards perishing Vanities But they will only look upon what is pleasant and attractive in the World without regarding its miserable Defects without considering what is infinitely better and most worthy of their ardent desires and vigorous endeavours They are so pleas'd with their Error so ingaged in the sweet captivity of the World that they cannot extricate themselves if they would because they will not if they could 2. 'T is a culpable and guilty Folly When Children prefer things of Lustre before things of Value their childish Toys before real Treasures when they chuse a little present Enjoyment before a future Good that is incomparably better their Folly is innocent because Reason cannot display its operations in them But when Men who are capable to distinguish between the things that are seen and temporal and the things that are not seen and eternal when they sottishly prefer sensible things before Spiritual notwithstanding the vast difference between them both in the quality and duration their choice is so criminal as deserves an everlasting Hell If Esau had been a Child when he sold his Birthright for a Mess of Pottage his folly had been excused for he was compelled by hunger and the glorious dignity of the Birthright was disproportionate to his Appetite and Understanding but in his mature Age when capable to understand his Interest to part with so sacred and precious an advantage for a little sensual satisfaction was so profane an Act that he was justly deprived of the Divine Blessing that was annext to the Birthright That Beasts are wholly led by their sensual Appetities is natural and regular their voracity and crueâ—ty folly and filthiness envy and fury are not vicious passions because Sense is the superior Faculty in them But when Men are so brutish that the Objects that please their Eyes and carnal Senses are the only Attractives of their affections 't is unnatural and monstrous because Reason should have the supremacy in them If a Woman remain in a single state she has power over her Actions and may freely govern her self but if married is subordinate to her Husband and disobedience to his Authority and prudent Counsels is culpable The Body considered as the Seat of the Senses has natural Appetites and might enjoy what is suitable to them according to their capacity but united with an immortal Spirit that is stampt with the living Image of God its desires must be limited and directed by the Mind and the pleasing of Sense in Actions forbidden by the Mind is rebellion against the ruling Faculty If one be under a Disease that Wine inflames and increases and the Physician forbids it as deadly yet the Patient will judg only by his Pallate whether Wine be good for him were it not a kind of brutishness worthy of the Evil that attends it Such perverse Folly are Men guilty of in their sensual Satisfactions whereby the Soul is unspeakably wronged and God highly dishonoured who has given to Man a more excellent Spirit than to the Fowls of the Air that he may judg of things not as they appear but as they are 3. 'T is the most ignominious Folly Shame arises from the sense of a debased Excellence the Understanding is the most excellent Faculty in Man and nothing brings a greater disreputation to him than when he is deceived by the ignorance or inconsiderateness of his Mind And the delusion is most shameful in matters of great moment Now for a Man to exchange his Soul that is of Angelical Eminence for transitory Vanities O folly how enormous how astonishing The Lord Jesus who as the Creator and Redeemer of Souls perfectly knew their Worth puts the Question so as to imply the strongest denial What is a Man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul The vanity of the Purchase and the value of the Loss is such that no Man conscious of his Immortality in the next state but must acknowledg that he is an infinite loser and prodigious Fool that gains the World by the loss of his Soul 'T is said of the ancient Germans that in their Commerce with the Romans receiving Silver for their Amber that has no virtue but to draw Straws to it they were amazed at the price And certainly the great Tempter cannot but wonder at the foolish exchange that Men make in giving their immortal Souls to him for perishing Vanities and having this scornful advantage will much more upbraid them hereafter than ever he allur'd them here The shame that attends this Folly is sometimes felt
Disease but modestly infinuates the Danger to those that are about the sick Person The good God can do all things he can revive the almost spent and expiring O pray for him 'T is advice given by a skilful Herbalist that particular care is necessary in planting the Seed of the Cardus for if they are not set upright they degenerate and produce a wild Herb. The Gospel is compar'd to Seed and if the conditional promises of Pardon and Salvation are not received in the Heart aright if the comfort of them be not applied according to the Qualifications that are requisite to give us an interest in them they produce a vain Presumption a false Hope a delusive Peace instead of an unfeigned Faith a purifying Hope a solid Peace God declares it with the most sacred solemnity As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the Wicked if the carnal Heart like the Devil who abus'd Scripture by leaving out part of it shall not consider what follows but that the Wicked turn from his way and live but shall harden and fortifie it self in Sin with hopes of impunity God will rejoice in their just destruction He tells us that a converted Sinner shall be forgiven but that conversion must be uniform and lasting If the Wicked turn from all his Sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live and not die He has promised to be found of those that seek him but we are commanded to seek the Lord whilst he may be found implying it is not in our power when we please to find him with his pardoning Mercy and assisting Grace To apply the Word of God against the Mind of God is injurious to his Honour and pernicious to deluded Souls 3. The heaviness of the Destruction will be according to the aggravation of their Sin who abuse Prosperity 1. 'T is a Sin most contrary to the acknowledged Duty of Man and unbecoming the reasonable Nature 'T is an universal concession that springs from the purest Light of Reason that we should return good for good the Heathens agreed in it To be defective in observance and thankful respects to a Benefactor is unnatural but to requite Evil for Good is so direct a violation of the ingenuous Principles of Humanity that one is prodigiously wicked in doing it he ceases to be a Man and becomes a Devil Now this black Guilt cleaves to those who abuse Prosperity The Blessings of God are strong and sweet obligations to love him yet their perverse Hearts are thereby alienated from him his Mercies engage and enable them to serve and glorify him but are used to gratify their Lusts and to make them more capable and presumptuous to offend him Prosperity makes them luxurious and secure Riches makes them sin at a higher rate the patient Providence of God that waits for their Repentance such is their desperate corruption fortifies them in their rebellion against him This was the reason of that stinging Reproach of Moses to Israel Do ye thus requite the Lord O foolish People and unwise 2. The abuse of Prosperity is most injurious and provoking to God To sin against his Law is an high affront to his Majesty but to sin against his Love and Benefits is more contumelious to him The Apostle calls it a despising of God's goodness what is more contumelious than to employ his Benefits for the pleasing our dishonourable vile Affections as the Gift of a Friend is slited that is put to a base use or as one that will not be reconciled by the Presents of a Friend despises his Gifts thus when the Favours of God do not melt the Heart into kindly resentments and endear him to us they are despised If a Favorite that were raised by a Prince to the highest Honour and Trust should betray his Magazines both Arms and Treasures to his Enemy could there be a fouler wickedness and of this heinous nature is their Wickedness who abuse the Mercies of God in the Service of Sin and implicitly betray them into the Devil's hands who maliously wars against God What a contumelious indignity heightned with the basest ingratitude was Jeroboam guilty of who chang'd the Glory of the uncorruptible God into an Image like a corruptible Beast God advanc'd him to the Throne and he deprest the Deity to the rank of stupid Calves What a hateful abuse of his Bounty was it that the Israelites turned the Jewels of Gold wherewith he inricht them by the Egyptians into a detestable Idol of such Wickededness are Men deeply guilty when the precious Blessings that God bestows upon them are made the Idols of their heads and hearts and rob him of the Honour and Love that is incommunicably due to him What can more provoke the jealous God Mercy is his dearest Glory in which he peculiarly delights 't is the Attribute of which he is most tender and the abuse of it is to stab him to the Heart From hence we may justly infer the punishment of such Sinners will be most heavy in exact proportion to their most odious ingratitude Damnation is the recompence of every impenitent Sinner and is the most fearful effect of God's Wrath. Temporal Judgments are but the smoke of his Anger the flaming Coles are in Hell But there are degrees of torment in Hell according to the number and quality of Mens Sins Those who despise the goodness of God treasure up Wrath against the day of Wrath. As they continually abuse his Bounty and Patience they increase his Vengeance which will be as terrible as his Patience was admirable The Judgment of Babylon was a strict proportion to her Luxury How much she hath glorified her self and lived deliciously so much troment and sorrow give her Justice will exact all the Arrears of abused Mercies The lovers of this World shall pass from their good Things to the Flames that live by the Breath of God's revenging Wrath. Doleful exchange an hours feeling of that Fire is more tormenting than an Ages enjoyment of this World in all its abundance is pleasing But tho the Word of God has discovered the swift and thick-coming Sorrows that shall seize upon the Wicked yet so foolish and obstinate are Sinners in Prosperity they will not be perswaded to fly from the Wrath to come The Light of Reason and Illumination of Faith is too weak to make them sensible of their Danger they will not be convinc'd till shut up in the darkness of Hell It now follows that by Application we should make this great Doctrine more useful to our selves In the general 't is of excellent use to rectify our Judgments about the Things and Men of the World The most are miserably deluded and live in a blindness so gross and misleading that they are secure when near steep ruin Asclepius being blind mournfully complain'd that he was fain to be led by
a Child but carnal Men are voluntarily guided by Sence and Fancy the false Lights that rule in Children and blindly follow without considering who is their Leader and whether they are led Or like one in a slumber is strongly affected with slight things a Scene of Fancy in a Dream transports him as a glorious Reality a prick of a Pin makes him start as fearfully as if a Viper bit him thus carnal Men are as deeply affected with temporal good and evil things as if they were Eternal wherein their Blessedness or Misery consists And there is nothing of greater use and defence to the Soul than to make a true judgment of things that greatly and nearly concern us From thence proceeds a wise Choice a well-ordered Conversation and upon it our blessed End depends For as the Rudder is to a Ship the Will is to Man if it be duly turn'd it conducts him safely to Felicity The particular just Inferences from the Doctrine are 1. Temporal Prosperity is not a certain sign of God's special Favour There are some Benefits disperst by a general Providence to all like the common Benefits of a Prince to all within his Dominions some are like special Gifts to his Favorites Of the first kind are Riches and Honours and whatever is the support or comfort of the present Life of the second are spiritual and heavenly Blessings the Graces and Comforts of the holy Spirit of God the infallible Seal of his Love to us The Psalmist prays Remember me O Lord with the favour thou bearest unto thy People O visit me with thy Salvation there is a Favour common to all Men as his Creatures and the Fruits of it are promiscuous to the Evil and the Good but the Favour from whence proceeds Grace and Glory is the priviledg of his Chosen The temporal Prosperity of the Wicked is consistent with God's Hatred When Men turn his Blessings into the fuel of their Lusts and his Patience into an advantage of sinning more securely how flourishing soever they are in the World he looks on them with an avenging Eye He hates all the workers of Iniquity His seeming connivance is no Argument that he is not highly provok'd by their Sins or that they may obtain an easy Pardon Yet this is the inward principle of the gross and outward Sins in the lives of Men tho unobserved by them As the vital Heat is not felt in the Heart that is the Cause of all the Heat that is felt in the outward parts of the Body These things hast thou done saith God to the rebellious Sinner and I kept silence that is suspended the terrible Effects of Justice thou thoughts I was altogether such a one as thy self Astonishing blindness not to discern the apparent antipathy of such Connexions As if God's forbearance of the Guilty were forgiveness and rebellion against his Commands and the love of Sin which is enmity to him were consistent with the fruition of his Favour But we have the most clear and convincing assurance God cannot be pleased with Men without their being made like him in Righteousness and true Holiness He sees and hates Sin and abhors the Sinners tho for a time they are spared Justice and Patience are his Attributes He is slow to anger and great in Power and will not acquit the Guilty He endures with much long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath till they are fitted for destruction The presumptuous Sinner that is encouraged and harden'd as if Sin were not so hateful to God because he enjoys the World in abundance and expects an easy remission at last fearfully deceives his Soul He sows the Wind and shall reap the Whirlwind 3. The Prosperity of the Wicked is so far from being a sign of God's love that it often proceeds from his deepest Displeasure 'T is a Curse candied over with a little vanishing sweetness but deadly in the Operation It makes them careless of God and their Souls of Heaven and Eternity and they become incorrigible in their perverse Wills and wicked Ways and irrecoverable in their lost State Prosperity induces Security that presages and accelerates their ruin 'T is exprest as the most fearful and sorest Judgment by the Prophet The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep an insensibleness of the worst Evils their Sins and the infinite danger that attends them This Judgment is usually inflicted from the righteous God by the prosperity of the Wicked and extreamly provokes him it being a Sin of the greatest Guilt as well as a Punishment of former high provocations 'T is a distinguishing Judgment inflicted upon his Enemies from which his Children are exempted Other Judgments that cause grief and trouble to Sinners often incline his Compassions to them but this Judgment inflames his Wrath. In short the Prosperity of the Wicked here is a fatal sign they are reserved for the severity of Justice for their abuse of the Riches of his Mercy and of all Judgments that is the most terrible that insensibly destroys and certainly brings damnation 4. From hence we are instructed to look upon Prosperous Sinners with pity not with envy and indignation They please themselves and triumph in their conceit and happiness as the Psalmist expresseth it Whilst he lived he blessed his Soul But how contrary is the Opinion of vain Men to the Judgment of Christ He pronounces and upon his Sentence depends Eternity Wo unto you that are rich for ye have received your Consolation Wo unto you that are full for ye shall hunger Wo unto you that laughnow for ye shall mourn and weep And we are told by the inspired Prophet Man that is in honour and understands not that does not consider the Vanity and frail Tenure of his present flourishing State nor his Duty and Interest to imploy his Riches Power and Greatness for securing his everlasting Feliciâ—ty is like the Beasts that perish stupid and insensible of approaching Ruin as the Beast that was to be sacrificed did not perceive that the guilding its Horns and adorning it with Garlands was a sign it was destin'd to Death They now live in ease and pleasures but they must shortly remove from their rich Possessions and splendid Palaces to the dark Regions of Woe and Death will be an entrance into endless Sorrows The laughter of Fools is like the crackling of Thorns under the Pot a short Blaze soon damp'd and extinguish'd 'T is a dreadful Imprecation of the Holy Psalmist Let their way be dark and slippery and let the Angel of the Lord persecute them To fly in the dark and in slippery places and so to fall into the Mire and Pits is a fit Emblem of their Condition who are prosperous and wicked They are hood-wink'd by Prosperity in a voluntary darkness and see not the Precipices that surround them And how slippery is their way by so numerous and insinuating Temptations how easily how frequently and dangerously do they
with God who is the Maker the Searcher and the Judg of our Hearts Therefore the Holy Psalmist calls upon his Soul and all that is within him every Faculty to unite in the Praises of God the Understanding to consider the several Arguments of Praise and Thankfulness to esteem and to admire the divine Goodness to ascribe the Glory that is due to God for his Mercies the memory to register his Benefits the Will and Affections to love him for his Mercies and above them Thankfulness implies a solemn recognition of the Mercies of God with all the Circumstances that add a lustre to them to affect us in as vigorous a manner in our Praises for the Blessings we enjoy as we are in our Prayers for what we need Not only signal Mercies but common and ordinary should be continually acknowledged by us And since our Memories are so slippery as to the retaining of Favours Injuries are inscrib'd in Marble Benefits written in Dust We should every day review the Mercies we enjoy to quicken our Praises for them and to make Impressions not soon defac'd Thankfulness implies a due valuation of God's Benefits This will be raised by considering the Author the great God the meanest Mercy from his Hand is a high Favour As the Guilt of Sin arises from the greatness of the Object tho some Sins are comparatively small yet none is in its intrinsic Nature a small Evil so tho of Mercies some are in comparison eminent and some are ordinary yet every Mercy is great with respect to the Author from whence it comes And the thankful esteem of Mercies will rise in proportion to the sense of our unworthiness A constant poverty of Spirit in reflecting upon our own vileness that there is not meerly a want of desert in us with respect to God's Blessings but a desert of his heavy Judgments will heighten our esteem of them For this end it is very useful that the Prosperous would consider those below them how many better than themselves are under oppressing Wants tormenting Pains heart-breaking Sorrows whom you may trace by their Tears every day and what free and rich Mercy is it that they enjoy the affluence of all things this distinguishing Goodness should be acknowledged with a warm rapture of affection to the Divine Benefactor To compare our selves with those that excel us in Grace will make us humble and with those who are below us in outward Blessings will make us thankful The Prosperous have special Obligations to be most conversant in this Celestial Duty there are various Graces and Duties that are only useful in this imperfect state and shall expire with us as Repentance Faith Hope Patience c. the Reward of them will be Eternal but the exercise is limited to present Life but Love and Praise remain in Heaven The Saints eternally admire love and bless God for his Mercies And the sincere and constant performance of this Duty is most pleasing to God and profitable to us for thankfulness to our blessed Benefactor engages his Heart and opens the Treasures of his Bounty more liberally to us The way to obtain new Benefits is not to suffer former Favours to be lost in ungrateful oblivion In short 't is the best and surest evidence of our thankfulness to God when his Mercies are effectual Motives to please him We cannot always make an actual commemoration of his Benefits but an habitual remembrance should ever be in our Hearts and influential in our Lives Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes saith holy David and I have walked in thy Truth unfeignedly respected all thy Commandments 4. The Fear of God and a vigilant care to avoid the Sins that so easily encompass us is necessary in Prosperity The Secure assist Satan in his War against the Soul but watchfulness disarms the Tempter Circumspection is never more a Duty than when Pleasures without and Passions within conspire to betray us 'T is useful to reflect upon the great numbers who have been corrupted and ruin'd by Prosperity that the Vices of the dead may secure the Vertues of the living The fear of God is clean effectively as it preserves from Sin 'T is Solomon's advice to young Men that enjoy the World in its Flower and in the season of their sinning that they would remember that God for all their Vanities will bring them to Judgment This Consideration will be powerful to prevent the risings of the corrupt Affections or to suppress their growth and hinder their accomplishment But with the excellently temper'd Soul an ingenuous Fear from the consideration of God's Mercies is an effectual restraint from Sin 'T is said they shall fear the Lord and his Goodness fear to offend and grieve and lose his Goodness This Fear does not infringe the comfort of the Soul but preserve and improve it Servile Fear when the Soul is afraid to burn not to sin is a judicial forc'd Impression the Character of a Slave but an ingenuous grateful Fear that springs from the sense of the Divine Goodness is a voluntary Affection becoming a Child of God and cherish'd by him The Fear of the Lord is his Treasure This watchfulness must be universal against all Temptations to which we are incident by Prosperity otherwise we shall be guilty of a like folly with those that shut and fortifie one Gate and leave the other open to the Enemy And it must be as continual as our Temptations Blessed is the Man that feareth always 5. A moderate use of worldly things is an excellent preservative from the Evil adhering to them 'T is a Divine Blessing to partake of the Gifts of God with contentment and tranquility especially 't is sweet to taste his Love in them God gives to a Man that is good in his sight Wisdom and Knowledg and Joy that is to use temperately and comfortably outward Blessings But the Flesh is the Devil's Sollicitor and perswades Men with a freer Fancy and looser Affections to enjoy the World than is consistent with the prosperity of their Souls When Diogenes observed with the many sick and languishing Persons the Hydropick Consumptive and other Diseases that came to the Temple of Esculapius for recovery and that after their Sacrifices they made a luxurious Feast he cried out Is this the way to recover Health If you were sound 't is the speedy and effectual way to bring Diseases and being diseased to bring Death to you 'T is applicable in a higher sense the intemperate use of sensual Delights weakens the Life and Vigour of the Soul in a Saint and certainly brings Death to diseased Souls that habitually indulge their corrupt Affections The Apostle saith of the licentious Woman She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives an allusion to a Torch that is consum'd by its own flames Sensual Lusts are cherish'd and pamper'd by Prosperity and the carnal Heart over-rules the whole Man Our Saviour charges his Disciples to beware of surfeiting and drunkenness The indulging