mountaine lifted up above all that men cannot look beyond it then it draws their affection up unto it Love is of the nature of Fire which is no sooner kindled but it soares upwards speedily constantly because its element is above so it is with this affection of love which is no sooner inkindled in the Soul but the sparks thereof flye upwards to that appearance of good which is above It is true these things that men vent their love upon are things upon the earth and opposed Col. 3.1 to the things that are above and to are really below but though they bee really below yet they are seemingly above because the judgement looking round about on every side can see nothing above them and therefore concludes they are the supreame good as you know it is with Children that because some Mountaines seeme to touch the Sky conclude therefore that there is nothing beyond those Mountaines so it is with worldly men who because they can see nothing beyond or above their mountaine of worldly enjoyments doe therefore conclude that there are no better things and consequently terminate their love upon them there must of necessity therefore bee a change of the judgement that this affection bee not mis-placed The mis-placing of this affection upon a wrong object is of a more hainous nature and dangerous consequence than ordinarily is imagined Men make nothing of loving the world they think it no way inconsistent with love to God But what saith the Scripture Love not the world nor the things of the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2.15 Yee adulterers and adulteresses know yee not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God Whosoever therefore will bee a friend of the world is the enemy of God Jam. 4.4 Thus the Scripture speakes in the general In particular concerning the love of riches No servant can serve two Masters for either hee will hate the one and love the other or else hee will hold to the one and despise the other yee cannot serve God and Mammon Luke 16.14 The love of mony is the root of all evil 1 Tim. 6.10 Concerning the love of Honour it tells us that many among the chief Rulers of the Jewes beleeved on Christ but because of the Pharisees they did not confesse him lest they should bee put out of the Synagogue for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God Joh. 12.42 43. That Christ denounced a woe against the Pharisees Luke 11.43 and bade the multitude and his Disciples beware of them for that they loved the uppermost roomes at Feasts and the chief seates in the Synagogues and greetings in the Markets and to bee called of men Rabbi Rabbi Matth. 23 6 7. and as for r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lovers of pleasures more than God it ranks them with the most notorious ungodly persons that are in the world 2 Tim. 3.4 that love therefore that Self bears unto these things must be denied And 2 That desire that Self hath after them Mortifie your members which are upon the earth inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousnesse which is Idolatry Colos 3.5 Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours Wife nor his Man-servant nor his Maid-servant nor his Oxe nor his Asse nor any thing that is thy Neighbours Exod. 20.17 I have coveted no mans silver or gold or apparel saith Paul Acts 20.33 I have learned in whatsoever state I am there-with to be content I know how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to bee full and to bee hungry both to abound and suffer need Phil. 4.11 12. Give mee neither poverty nor riches ſ Da mihi panem statuti mei Give me the bread of my allowance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 6 11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 2.15 feed mee with food convenient for me saith Agur Prov. 30.8 When thou sittest to eate with a Ruler consider diligently what is before thee and put a knife to thy throat if thou bee a man given to appetite bee not desirous of his dainties Eate thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye neither desire thou his dainty meats Prov 23.1 2 3 6. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himselfe with the portion of the Kings meat nor with the wine which he drank Dan. 1.8 Let us not be desirous of vain-glory provoking one another envying one another Galath 5.26 3 That delight that Self hath in them There bee many that say Who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corne and their wine increased Psal 4.6 7. Thus wee must deny that affection that Self bears to them 3 That course that Self takes for them Self rather than want any pleasure or profit or honour it hath a mind to will adventure upon t Rem Rem quocunque mode Rem is the keeping of the Worldlings Song any kind of wickednesse whatsoever cousen and cheat with Laban Gen. 29.25 steale with Achan Josh 7.21 lye with Gehezai 2 King 5.22 25. and with Ananias and Saphira Acts 5.3.8 slaunder with Ziba 2 Sam. 16.3 19.27 pervert an Ordinance and suborne false witnesses with Jezabel 1 King 21.9 rebel with Absolem 2 Sam. 15.12 set up false Worship with Jeroboam 1 King 12.28 Curse the people of God with Baalam Numb 22.21 betray Christ with Judas Matth. 26.47 and Apostatize with Demas 2 Tim. 4.10 these and such like are the wicked and ungodly courses that Self puts men into in order to the obtaining the riches and honours and delights of the world all which must bee denied if wee meane to come after Christ When Simon Magus offered a summe of mony for the gift of the Holy Ghost Peter said unto him Thy money perish with thee Acts 8.20 Moses when he was come to years refused to bee called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Aegypt Heb. 11.24 25 26. And this is required of every one in the like case wee must resolve to want every thing rather than get any thing in a sinful way For what is a man profited if hee shall gaine the whole world and lose his owne soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul Matth. 16.26 and yet how small and inconsiderable a part of the World is it for which the greatest part of men doe run the hazard of loosing their precious souls a faint breath of popular applause a penny a momentany pleasure c. but to go on As wee must deny that course that Self takes for these things
had in earthly things Therefore though God make never so great offers of other things unto him though hee tell him of grace and glory hee regards it not nay though hee offer himself unto him though hee tell him Hee will bee his exceeding great reward upon condition that hee will walke before him and bee perfect hee makes no other reckoning of it then as hee apprehends some earthly thing to bee meant by it Even as the Jews who when Christ told them Hee was the bread of God that cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world were much affected with it and said unto him Lord evermore give us this bread Joh. 6.34 But when afterwards they understood it was such bread as was to bee eaten by faith they cried out This is an hard saying who can hear it vers 60. Worldly men cannot indure to think of being happy by God alone they cannot conceive its possible that that good which is in the creatures should bee found in him without the creatures They onely judge of what is before them they apprehend no other reality and beleeve no other than what they apprehend therefore whatsoever is said of spiritualls seems a meer contradiction unto them an utter impossibility Therefore they say in their hearts There is no God no heaven no life eternal because they see not things that are invisible They wonder what men mean when they talk of being happy in a way of communion with and conformity unto God they count them a company of fools and mad men that will forgo that happiness which they might have in this present world for they know not what imaginary happiness so they judge it is in another world to come Hence they are prejudiced against the wayes of godliness and think it not onely a vain but a dangerous thing to bee Religious The name indeed of Religion sometimes serves their turn as when they live in places where it brings in gain or credit and then they make a profession but the thing it self they abominate as being the greatest let and hindrance to that wicked worldly designe of theirs which under that profession they mainly prosecute But where a profession is not of any such use and advantage they abandon that too and so become either notoriously prophane and dissolute or at best but civilly honest And thus they continue untill such time as their eyes bee opened to see into the emptiness and vanity of all things here below the word of God having no effectual operation upon them before for while they imagine their onely happiness is to bee found here they will neither bee nor do what is necessarily required in order to their finding it elsewhere It is a good signe of a mans repentance and turning to God when his judgement is rectified concerning these things that whereas before hee thought his chiefest good to bee in them hee now looks upon them as altogether destitute of it and therefore must have something better than the best of them to make him really happy as wee see in Solomon after his recovery from his fall who could then say Vanity of vanities Vanity of vanities all is vanity Eccles 1.2 And in Paul after his conversion who tells the Philippians that hee counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord for whom hee had suffered the loss of all things and did count them but dung that hee might win Christ and bee found in him Phil. 3.8 9. Such a light is set up in the soul at its first conversion as discovers unto it the excellency of those things that are spiritual and eternal in comparison of which all the outward glittering glory of temporal things is darkned so that it sees no glory in them by reason of the glory that doth excel And yet sometimes it is apt to bee misled by those false representations of these things that fancy and imagination not well governed now and then gives of them upon a shallow apprehension of a greater good in them than indeed there is taken from the senses These things are suitable unto the senses and Self a remainder whereof is in the best earnestly contends that what testimony they give of them may bee accepted The bâ—st therefore had need to bee very watchful and above all things to strengthen faith whereby they shall have an evidence of things not seen and then the things that are seen will have no such influence upon them but they shall bee inabled thereby to give a peremptory denial to whatsoever shall bee suggested by Self on their behalf which is the first thing that is here required The next is 2 That Affection that Self bears to them Set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth Col. 3.2 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts Tit. 2.11 12. In particular 1 That love that Self bears to them Self judging them to bee the chiefest good as wee shewed in the former particular loves them as the chiefest good Love is the immediate issue and natural product of the judgement no sooner doth the judgement conceive any thing to bee good but a childe of love is born presently and sucks the breasts If men judge this or that to bee good they cannot choose but bee in love with it and proportionable to the degrees of goodness that they discover in the object are the degrees of love that they bear unto the object If it bee goodness apprehended in a remiss degree the love is but a remiss love if in an intense degree the love is intense if they apprehend it to bee all in all they love it with all their hearts the understanding makes the primary discovery of the object the judgement determines concerning the goodness of it and the will takes it upon trust from the judgement Now it matters not whether it bee a real good or not if it do but appear to bee so to the judgement that is enough to draw the will after it If I bee lifted up saith Christ I will draw all men unto mee if I bee lifted up on the Cross lifted up from the Grave lifted up from earth to Heaven but especially if I bee lifted up in mens judgements if they once lift mee up above themselves above all other persons and things so as to give me the preheminence so as to make me all in all in order to the obtaining of the chief good So it is with the World if it bee lifted up in drawes all men unto it if the Devil once carry up the glory of the World to an exceeding high Mountaine and shew it from thence it drawes all men unto it This effect it had upon David when hee judged his worldly estate to bee a mountaine when hee lookt upon it as a mountaine exceeding high and strong when the world and the glory thereof appears as a
their eyes to see the danger of their present condition they resolved to cherish the light and to doe the businesse of the day but when once Religion was more generally professed in most places it begat a forme and the Daughter devoured the Mother a bare forme and outward correspondence was cryed up but the power of godlinesse was denied And as it was then so it hath been ever since and is so at this day There are very few Christians amongst Christians few yea a very inconsiderable number amongst Professors who doe in deed and in truth submit to the Lord Jesus and take his yoke upon them It is the great and maine businesse that the Ministers of the Gospel have to doe to convert men to the life and practise of Christianity the name and shaddow whereof they doe only retain this is their work as much almost here as it would be were they amongst Turks and Indians It is somewhat easie to bring men to an outward order and conformity with the rest in attending publick Ordinances generally they rush in upon them and take it as a great affront to be kept back from any but to prevaile with them out of an equal respect to all the precepts of the Gospel one as well as another without partiality to endeavour an universal Gospel-obedience throughout the whole course of their lives in all manner of conversation both towards God and man is only net impossible And no wonder seeing they think it is of no concernment either to the attaining of that good which they chiefly desire or the escaping of that evil which they mainly fear It is sufficient for the carrying on of their worldly designe which is all they aime at living amongst a people professing themselves Christians to whom the name of Heathen is abominable to take upon them the like forme of Religion that others doe but as for any thing more seeing it is of no such advantage in this World and they neither hope nor feare for any thing in the World to come they doe not regard it This is one reason why when we have done all that we can we cannot get them beyond a forme and that not the strictest neither Men will never be under the power of that the truth wherof they do not beleeve but this is not the only reason for some of them doe beleeve I meane with an Historical faith the truth of what is told them in the Gospel and yet for all that live as wretched wicked lives as if they beleeved it not the cause of it is their presumption and carnal security into which they argue themselves by a false reasoning That there is a Heaven they beleeve but they think they shall not be shut out of it and that there is a Hell but they hope they shall never come there though they walk on after the imagination of their owne heart in the allowed omission of some one or more known duties injoyned in the Scripture and commission of some one or more known sins therein forbidden yet they promise themselves peace as they Deut. 29.19 they hope they shall doe as well as others when they come to dye whatever they read or heare of in the Scripture to the contrary notwithstanding There are multitudes of these presumptuous ones amongst us and they are either openly profane such as have not escaped the pollutions of the world but tumble and wallow like Swine in the common puddle that run to all excesse of riot and declare their sin as Sodome and hide it not that let loose the reins to their lusts and run a career after the Prince of this world in the common road way that the Scripture tells them leads to Hell as open notorious drunkards swearers blasphemers raylers filthy talkers scoffers prophaners of the Lords day c. or secretly prophane such as under a garb of civility or more than ordinary profession hide the foulest wickednesse such as sin in the secret Chamber as those that are given to self-pollutions that defile themselves by themselves close Adulterers and Adulteresses that have Husbands and Wives to hide their uncleannesse close tiplers and drunkards who will now and then shoot into an Ale-house but be ordinarily drunk in their owne houses secret Dice-players and Gamesters that squander away their time and money when they are out of the Magistrates reach such as have not renounced the hidden things of dishonesty but will secretly cousen and cheat defraud and goe beyond their brethren one would wonder that any of these should entertaine one thought of entring into Heaven and that they doe not rather feare every moment least God should strike them with a Thunder-bolt into Hell but usually it is so that even such as these have as confident an expectation of happinesse in the world to come as the best ask them and they will tell you they hope to be saved as well as the proudest Precisian of you all they have it almost at the end of every sentence As I hope to be saved what it is that imboldens them in this manner and makes them thus foole-hardy may be easily imagined 1 Some confused thoughts of Gods mercy they think he that made them will not damne them they cannot imagine when it comes to be their own case that he can be so cruel to his Creatures as to torment them eternally in Hell To shew the particular workings of their thoughts here 1 They think only on his Mercy and not at all on his Justice they think hee is all mercy and love and goodnesse and the thoughts that they have of this quite swallow up all thoughts of his justice 2 They cull out many of those Scriptures that speak of the love and goodness of God as that he is love and dwels in love that he is slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and doth not willingly grieve the children of men c. 3 They argue from Gods goodnesse in this world that he will not be otherwise to them at least in the world to come he is good unto all and his tender mercies are over all his works he causeth his Sun to shine upon the just and unjust also they see that he doth not punish when provoked but is long-suffering and full of forbearance Hence 4 They think that when Ministers preach Damnation they doe but pry into Gods secrets and vent their owne passions and know not of what spirit they be of Thus they labour to secure their hearts but if this will not doe then 2 They fly to some of the Promises never minding the conditions that are annexed to them though they be Doggs yet they will be snatching at the Childrens bread And now they thinke they are well provided for they now think that they beleeve for faith is grounded upon the Promises and the Scripture saith he that beleeveth shall be saved Now come to these men after this and tell them of the threatnings why 1 They think the threanings will
many thousands that want them so that I need not fear that I shall beacast-away in the end Thus doe many self-conceited persons delude themselves vainly imagining that because of these Natural and Moral accomplishments of theirs they are made fit for society and fellowship with God O would men but seriously take notice of the conclusions that they make in their secret reflections upon themselves they would acknowledge that what they now read is true This is that and all that which bears up the spirits of many great Schollars and many of the Gallants and great ones that sit at the upper end of the world with a vaine confidence that all is well with them at present and that it shall be well with them hereafter 2 Such as presume upon Spiritual Gifts these think they have more to bee confident upon than the former for thus they plead for themselves We are inlightned not onely to see into the secrets of nature but into the more hidden mysteries of the Gospel Wee are the guides of the blinde the lights of them which are in darkness instructers of the foolish and teachers of babes in our preaching wee are sometimes sons of thunder breaking the rocks and throwing down the mountains that are before us sometimes again sons of consolation raising up the valleys Thus our Saviour brings them in pleading at the last day Lord Lord open unto us for wee have prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderfull works Matth. 7.22 To the former of these I would commend that saying of the Apostle Rom. 2.11 There is no respect of persons or d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accepting of faces with God Personal accomplishments shine with an amiable lustre in the eyes of men and do as it were captivate their affections and with a secret kinde of enchantment bewitch the lovers from themselves It is otherwise with God they work not so strongly upon his love hee sees with a clearer eye than any man in the world his eye is not terminated upon the elegancy of the outward appearance as mans is all things are naked and anatomized in his sight hee can discern a rotten carcass through a gilded superficies and see a gastly soul through a painted body When Samuel was sent to anoint David King of Israel Jesse made his sons to pass before him that hee might single out from amongst them one for the Crown and when Eliab came before him hee lookt upon him hee was taken with the comeliness of his person and the height of his stature and said surely The Lords Anointed is before me What ground had Samuel thus to conclude No other but because of the beauty of his countenance this gave him a fitness for the Crown in Samuels eye But God reproves him for it and said Look not upon his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him for the Lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart 1 Sam. 16.7 It is not the grace of beauty but the beauty of grace that affects God All other excellencies suit very well with sense but to a spiritual eye they represent no loveliness at all Suppose a man to be the Essay of Nature to whom every creature should contribute part of its perfection who hath the largest portion of intellectuals quickness of apprehension firmness of memory solidity of judgement eloquence courage wisdome and policy c. yet if hee had not grace one thing were still wanting and that the better part too all else would bee but splendidum nihil a glorious vanity God looks at the heart and hee looks at grace in the heart What ever the Cabinet bee God respects the Pearl that is in it most of all God respects the heart as it hath a new draught of his own image upon it if this be wanting though all other natural perfections be present yet there is no beauty which God respects God did not regard Absolom for his beauty nor Achitophel for his wisdome nor Dives for his honourable descent These were vile persons in Gods account And therefore you that are under this delusion I beseech you consider seriously of these things and bethink your selves of the duty of Self-denial Be content to lay your honour and glory in the dust Do not fancy your selves the onely excellent upon earth till you be Saints Do not glory in the portion you have received from nature unless you bee inriched with Grace God will not respect you for any of these things if you have no better it may be he may use you in some particular service and reward you with some temporal reward and afterwards reject you to be sure while thus hee will never give you the Kingdome of Heaven When God comes to pick and choose for the Kingdome of Heaven Not many wise not many mighty not many noble men are called Where is the wise Where is the Scribe where is the disputer of this world saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 1.20 Are not most of them this day without God inthe world Are not multitudes of them in Hell already As for those that presume upon their spiritual gifts I would wish them seriously to consider of that answer that such at the last day shall have from the Lord Matth. 7.23 Then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me yee that work iniquity Men of such excellent gifts as have been blessed to the conviction and conversion of many a soul will bee loath to suspect themselves But it will bee most dreadfull damnation after so many excellent Sermons preached and printed so many powerfully moving heart-breaking and heart-melting prayers and tears c. for any one to be damned I shall adde no more but pass on to the next particular for those that have gifts to deny Self in respect of Gifts is 3 Not to abuse them in the use of them Great is the abuse of Gifts and Self is as much seen in it as in any thing whatsoever As 1 When men exercise them about high things that are above either their own or other mens apprehensions whose information and instruction they are more especially bound to take care of 1 Their own apprehensions when they will be medling with things which either they do not understand or which cannot be understood 1 Which they do not understand when they will take upon them to determine in matters whereof they have no certain knowledge nor any wel-grounded experience It is observed of many in some particulars excellently well skill'd that they affect nothing more than to bee undertaking where they have least ability to perform as they ought And this is from 1 An eager desire of glory and that 1 In being equall to others who in some particulars do excel them They are impatient of coming short in any thing thinking it a reflection upon their own worth
more therefore to some if thus to our enemies much more therefore to our friends to our kindred to those of our owne family Wee are some way related to all men in as much as wee are all of one bloud Acts 17.26 and therefore we must love all and doe good unto all but there are some to whom wee are more especially related and those wee must love with a more especial love the nearer the relation the dearer the love and the more endearing must the expressions of it be And in this sense that particular precept to Husbands of loving their Wives Ephes 5.28 and to Wives of loving their Husbands Tit. 2.4 must bee understood To be without natural affection is made a note of the foulest wicedness not only in the Gentiles Rom. 1.31 but also in the professors of the Gospel 2 Tim. 3.3 of whom the Apostle saith that if any provide not for his owne and specially for those of his owne house hee hath denied the faith and is worse than an Infidel 1 Tim. 5.8 The Pharisees taught the people even as the Papists doe at this day that if any one Consecrated his estate to God he was exempted from his duty of releeving his poor Parents if hee could say to his Father or Mother It is Corban that is to say a gift by whatsoever thou mightest bee profited by mee then hee should bee free and they suffered him no more to doe ought for his Father or his Mother But our Saviour sharply reproved them for it telling them that they rejected the Commandement of God that they might keep their owne tradition Mar. 7.9 and that they made the Word of God of none effect through their tradition which they had delivered vers 13. therefore that must be warily understood which hee elsewhere saith If any man come to mee and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters hee cannot be my Disciple Luke 14.26 Wee see it cannot bee understood absolutely Christ means not so but only in some certaine respect when our love to them and our love to Christ are incompatible I shall thus explaine it Wee are to hate Father and Mother Wife and Children Brethren and Sisters as wee are to hate other men We are not to hate them absolutely so as in no respect to bear any love unto them for we are commanded to love them and to doe good unto them even the worst of them as I have shewed above but in some certaine respect as they are enemies to God and to our serving of God so we not only may but wee ought to hate them and in this respect David pleads it unto God as an argument of his sincerity Doe not I hate them O Lord that hate thee and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee I hate them with perfect hatred I count them mine enemies Now what follows Search me O God and know my heart try mee and know my thoughts Psal 139.21 22 23. in this respect wee are to hate our nearest relations and it is a special evidence of true love to Christ so to doe And therefore 2 Affirmatively to deny Self in respect of our Relations is 1 Not to connive at them in any way of sin if wee be Superiours It was commanded in the Law of Moses If thy Son or thy Daughter or the Wife of thy bosome intice thee secretly saying Let us goe and serve other gods which thou hast not known thou nor thy Fathers thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him neither shall thine eye pitty him neither shalt thou spare neither shalt thou conceal him but thou shalt surely kill him thine hand shall bee first upon him to put him to death and thou shalt stone him with stones that hee dye because hee hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God Deut. 13.6 11. That this for the substance of it shall bee in force in the times of the Gospel is fore-told in the Prophesie of Zechary I will cause the Prophets and the unclean spirit to passe out of the Land and it shall come to passe that when any shall yet Prophesie then his Father and his Mother that begat him shall say unto him Thou shalt not live for thou speakest lyes in the name of the Lord and his Father and his Mother that begat him shall thrust him thorow when hee prophesieth Zechary 13.2 3. A Blessing was pronounced upon the Tribe of Levi c Levitae in punitione Idololatrarum puta adorantium vitulum aureum Exod. 32.28 Non miserti sunt amicorum cognatorum ac fratrum filiorum suorum sed occiderunt eos aeque ac alios perinde ac si eos non novissent imo non vidissent aut ad spexissent A Lapide Qui certe vergem sensus Rivet in Decal 1. Tom. 1354. because in the execution of Justice upon the Idolaters Exod. 32.27 they had no respect to their nearest relations Deut. 33.8 9. And of Levi hee said Let thy Thummim and thy Urim bee with thy holy one who said unto his Father and to his Mother I have not seen him neither did hee acknowledge his Brethren nor know his owne Children Asa was commended for removing his Mother Maachah from being Queen because shee had made an Idol in a Grove 1 King 15.13 but old Eli sharply reproved and threatned with a terrible Judgement for his too much indulgence to his Sons 1 Sam. 2.27 28 29. Wherefore kick yee at my Sacrifice and at my Offering which I have commanded in my habitation and honourest thy Sons above mee to make your selves fat with the chiefest of all the Offerings of Israel my people wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy Father should walk before me for ever but now the Lord saith Be it farre from me for them that honour me I will honour and they that despise mee shall be lightly esteemed Behold the dayes come that I will cut off thine arm and the arme of thy Fathers house and there shall not be an old man in thy house vers 30 31. Hee had reproved his Sons before when their evil report was brought unto him vers 23 24. but this was not enough d Dâ—bebat eos fustâ—bus carcere coerceâ—e quia erat pater Magistratus Paraeus in Lâ—c. he was a Judge in Israel and therefore should have punished them which because hee did not being loath to crosse them therefore God threatens him in this manner here and afterwards saith concerning him Behold I will doe a thing in Israel at which both the cares of every one that heareth it shall tingle in that day I will performe against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house when I begin I will also make an end for I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which hee knoweth because his Sons made themselves
any thing wherein their owne private interest is not concerned That care more to bee great than to be good That desire the society and company of good Ministers only by that means to be the more honoured before the people 1 Sam. 15.30 That hear them gladly so long as they preach general truths but when they once come to reprove them for their Herodias the darling sin that apparently reigns in them then they cast them off it may be persecute them as Herod did John the Baptist That follow the administration of Justice only as a Trade for gain that love with shame Give yee Hos 4.18 That make use of their authority chiefly for the raising of themselves their Families and Allyes without respect to any thing but consanguinity and affinity Isa 22.25 That care not to undoe a Nation so they may set up themselves upon the ruines of it That cast off the rule of the Law and governe Arbitrarily rendring no other account of many of their actions but Sic volo sic jubeo stat pro ratione voluntas That over-awe men from their right by the fear of their authority the thing is unreasonable to bee yeelded to a most unjust thing yet being set on by some friend whom they have a mind to pleasure though they doe not peremptorily require it to be done yet they intimate so much as that they would not bee well pleased if it should not bee done which is enough to the poor oppressed Defendant searing to make so great a man his enemy against all right to part with his right That carry their Bias in their Pockets and can clap it on and take it off as may best serve their turn to play their owne game That are Willows and not Oakes that will turne with the streame which way so ever it runs That first make a necessity and then plead it as a just reason of their unreasonable undertakings That set some a work to act the part of enemies to the state purposely to betray others or to get intelligence of the enemies proceedings That help the ungodly which was the sin of Jehosaphat for which the Prophet Hanani reproved him 2 Chron. 19.2 That spare those whom God would have destroyed which was the sin of Saul for which Samuel reproved him 1 Sam. 15.17 18 19.22 and of Ahab for which one of-the Sons of the Prophets prophesied his destruction 1 King 20.42 That make good Lawes and are the first that break them themselves That doe greatly multiply to themselves silver and gold contrary to that Deut. 17.17 and their heart is lifted up above their brethren vers 20. That are as Heifers that are taught and love to tread out the corn Hos 10.11 That build up what they have destroyed and destroy what they have built up That are not a terrour to evil works but to the good contrary to that Rom. 13.3 that bear the sword in vaine contrary to that vers 4. III. Amongst Husbands That doe not love their Wives but are bitter against them Col 3.19 That doe not provide for them Exod. 21.12 That doe deale treacherously with them Mal. 2.15 That love them more than Christ Luk. 14.26 That follow their wicked counsel Gen. 3.17 That neigh after their neighbours wives Jer. 5.8 IV. Amongst Wives That doe not love their Husbands Tit. 2.4 That will not submit unto them Ephe. 5.22 Col. 3.18 Tit. 2.5 That tempt them to sin Gen. 3.6 Judg. 14.15 Job 2.9 1 King 11.3 4. That are Complotters with their Husbands in any wickednesse Acts 5.2 That encourage them to any thing that is evil 1 King 21.5 That despise them in their hearts and scoffe at them for their zeal in the wayes of God 2 Sam. 6.20 That loathe their Husbands Ezekiel 16.45 That cast their eyes upon others to lust after them Gen. 39.7 That take Strangers instead of their Husbands Prov. 7.19 V. Amongst Parents That honour their Sons above God 1 Sam. 2.29 That doe not restraine them from their sinful courses 1 Sam. 3.13 but suffer them to have their owne wills Proverbs 29.15 That doe not chasten them betimes Prov. 13.24 That let their soul spare for their crying Prov. 19.18 That mis-place their affection upon the unworthiest of their Children Gen. 25.28 That provoke them to wrath Ephes 6.4 and discourage them by their harsh and austere and unnatural carriage towards them That lay up ill-gotten goods for them Hab. 2.9 10. VI. Amongst Children That love Father and Mother more than Christ Mat. 10.37 That approve of their sins and live in the practise of them Psal 40.13 Jerem. 7.18 That preferre the Father before the Mother in their respects or the Mother before the Father honouring one and despising the other That honour them only in shew and pretence 2 Sam. 14.32 Mat. 21.28 30. but for their owne ends 2 Sam. 14.33 That set light by them Ezek. 22.7 That despise their instruction Prov. 15.5 and their commands Prov. 30.17 That despise them when they grow old Prov. 23.22 That reproach them Gen. 9.22 25. 1 Sam. 15.3 and curse them Prov. 30.11 and give them froward and perverse answers Gen. 34.29 That conceit themselves wiser than their Parents fitter to manage their place than they 2 Sam. 15.3 That upbraid them with what they have done for them Luke 15.28 That envie the expressions of their Parents love to their other Brothers or Sisters Gen. 37.4 Luke 15.28 29. That think much to relieve their Parents in their wants Mar. 7.10 11 12. Jer. 22.13 Mal. 3.5 Col. 4.1 That rob them and waste their estates Prov. 28.24 VII Amongst Masters That pinch them in their Dyet that defraud them of their Wages Gen. 31.7 That will not allow them time for Meditation and prayer in secret but call them up early to their work and as soon as they be out of their Beds set them about it That doe not instruct them in the Principles of Religion that doe not command them to serve the Lord Gen. 18.19 That doe not restraine them from prophaning the Lords Day That covet their Neighbours Man-servant or his Maid-servant and entice them away VIII Amongst Servants That are not obedient to their Masters with fear and trembling in singlenesse of their heart as unto Christ but serve them with eye-service as men-pleasers not as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men Ephes 6.5 6 7. Col. 3.22 23. That can bee content to bee subject to Masters that be good and gentle but not to the froward that cannot out of Conscience towards God endute grief suffering wrongfully that cannot when they doe well and suffer for it take it patiently Contrary to that 1 Pet. 2.18 19 20. That being reproved answer again contrary to that Tit. 2.9 That purloyn shewing no good fidelity contrary to that vers 10. That are prodigal of their Masters time but sparing of their owne will spend little or
but this is the way to bring our selves into the greatest danger of all for by this means instead of falling into the hands of man wee are in danger of falling into the hands of God and as the Apostles sayes It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Heb. 10.31 for our God is a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 Let us not then fear them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather let us fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell Let us sanctifie God in our hearts and make him our fear and our dread carefully avoiding whatsoever is displeasing in his sight and y Honzo time Deum mundum ridebis Austin then wee need not fear what men can do unto us This is the sixth particular to shew the Excellency of Self-denial The seventh Excellency of Self-denial 7 It is a Christians freedome and liberty A self-denying man is the only free man as for others of what rank or order soever they be they are all slaves There is not a selfish man in the world but is in worse than Egyptian or Turkish bondage led captive by no better than the Devil so the Apostle 2 Tim. 2.26 That they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil who are taken captive by him at his will They think themselves the only free men while they do as they please walking in the way of their heart and in the sight of their eyes but the truth is they z Those that think it their only happiness to do what they will that they might bee free cross their own desires for this is the way to make them most perfect slaves Sibs Soul-Conflict are the veriest slaves led up and down like so many brute beasts that have no dominion over their own actions Yee know saith the Apostle that yee were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb Idols even as yee were led 1 Cor. 12.2 yea they are carried unto their own destruction not considering that it is for their lives as Solomon notes of him that follows the lewd woman Hee goeth after her streightway as an Oxe goeth to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life Prov. 7.22.23 In this condition were all self-denying men till such time as they could deny themselves as Eph. 2.2 And you hath hee quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past yee walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the aire who worketh in the children of disobedience amongst whom also wee had all our conversation in time past and this was their shame because while it was thus they were the servants of sin Rom. 6.17 and of corruption 2 Pet. 2.19 and yeelded their members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity Rom. 6.19 and all this while they were free from righteousness vers 20. and this was their shame vers 21. What fruit had you in those things whereof yee are now ashamed Sin is the most shameful evil because it is the greatest debasing of Excellency and that for this reason because it brings a man into the most shameful vassallage and slavery of any thing in the world All slavery is shameful but this the most shameful because hereby the humane nature is most abused being used to a quite contrary end to that for which it was made The end of man is to glorifie God and to injoy him for ever in these two his chief good doth consist but by sin neither of these are attainable for as in sin there is no conformity unto God so there is no communion with him and therefore a sinner as he doth nothing for the glory of God so he doth nothing for his own good whatsoever he doth while he sins it is to his own hurt and the greatest hurt that a creature is capable of because the more he sins the more he deprives himself of the chief good because the more he sins the more hee deprives himself of God Now a selfish man such an one as cannot deny himself cannot cease from sin 2 Pet. 2.14 and therefore cannot cease from doing himself mischief therefore he works out his damnation in every thing that he doth destruction and misery are in all his wayes which shews that he is in the most wretched and miserable bondage of any in the world It is nothing that what he doth he doth willingly for the more willingly any one acts to his own hurt the more wretched and miserable he is as when a man cuts and wounds himself as every selfish man doth the woful effects whereof though for the present he doth not feel if free grace prevent not he will certainly rue to all eternity His heart is so set upon his sinful wayes that there is no turning him out of them neither promises on the one hand nor threatnings on the other are sufficient to reclaim him Hee feedeth of ashes a deceived heart hath turned him aside that hee cannot deliver his soul nor say Is there not a lye in my right hand Isa 44.20 Though he be convinced in his conscience as many times he is that the course he takes will be his ruine yet he is so miserably inthralled by his lusts that he cannot give over Though the Adulterer know that by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a peece of bread and that the Adulteress will hunt for the precious life that shee hath cast down many wounded yea that many strong men have been slain by her and that her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death though he know that the dead bee there and that her guests are in the depths of hell yet hee will not obey the voyce of his teachers nor incline his ear to them that instruct him to remove his way far from her and not to come nigh the door of her house but after her he goes hee goes the way to her house in the twylight in the evening in the black and dark night till strangers be filled with his wealth and his labours be in the house of a stranger till a dart strike through his liver and his flesh and his body are consumed Though the Covetous man knows that when hee dyeth hee shall carry nothing away and that his glory shall not descend after him yet how doth he labour to be rich rising up early and sitting up late and eating the bread of sorrows though he hear that Covetousness is Idolatry and that the love of the world is enmity against God and how almost an impossible thing it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdome of heaven though God himself say it he will not beleeve it he is resolved to have something of the world though he lose his soul for it
and therefore will fawn and flatter lye and dissemble couzen and cheat do any thing submit to any thing so he may but get a penny by it Who hath wo who hath sorrow who hath contentions who hath babling who hath wounds without cause who hath redness of the eyes They that tarry long at the wine saith Solomon they that go to seek mixt wine and yet the Drunkard will not beware hee looks upon the wine when it is red when it giveth his colour in the cup when it moveth it self aright though at the last it biteth like a Serpent and stingeth like an Adder His eyes behold the strange woman and his heart utters perverse things he is as hee that lyeth down in the midst of the Sea or as hee that lyeth upon the top of a Mast They have stricken mee saith hee and I was not sick they have beaten mee and I felt it not when shall I awake I will seek it yet again How miserable is the condition of these men that are made to serve in this manner to their own destruction and yet it is not by any outward force upon them onely they are drawn away of their own lust and inticed Some perceiving they have of their own wretchedness but alas they cannot help themselves they can do nothing in order to their recovery Though the most effectual means be propounded they have no heart to make use of them they are fettered with their lusts as with chains and cannot move one step in the way that leads to life Here then is the Excellency of Self-denial that by means thereof as nothing can constrain us to do any thing that is for our hurt so nothing can restrain us from doing any thing that is for our good So long as wee deny our selves neither men nor devils can stop us in our way The greatest hindrances in the way to heaven are from within if there be none from within those from without can do nothing How should this make us in love with Self-denial we prize our civil liberty why should we not prize our a Haec est absoluta libertas in seipsum habere maximam potestatem inaestimabile bonum est suum fieri Sen. Ep. 75. spiritual liberty as much any why not much more How happy do wee think our selves when without any let or hindrance wee can follow our earthly Callings and do what is of concernment to our well-being in this world Would we not be much more happy if without any let or hindrance we could follow our heavenly calling and do what is of concernment to our well-being in the world to come This is no motive to such as think it their only liberty to sin but to such as prize their spiritual and eternal good being convinced that by the free exercising of themselves unto godliness it is only attainable it will be a prevailing argument not only to begin but to continue the strictest course of Self-denial according to the precepts and practice of their Saviour The eighth Excellency of Self-denial 8 It is a Christians Sovereignty and Dominion Christians are frequently in Scripture stiled Kings and the reason is chiefly from that Sovereign Power and Dominion they have over themselves their own lusts and passions which they obtain by Self-denial For as in the Civil government of others hee hath the Royal power who hath the Negative voyce whereby hee can stop all proceedings so that nothing can bee done but according to his liking so it is in the spiritual government of ones self When a man by denying himself can hinder the out-breaking of his corruptions when by a peremptory No. he can withstand the importunity of temptations and keep in his spirit that it stir not one way or other but according to the dictates of reason rightly informed by the word hee may be truly said to reign And he reigns not only over himself but the b He is made full Lord of the four elements and constituted Emperour of the world He is in the fire of choler and not burned in the water of flegme not drowned in the aiery sanguine and yet not blown away with every blast of transient pleasure hee descends also into the sad earthy Melancholly and yet is not buried from the sight of his God Hee stills the raging of the sea bee clears up the lowring heavens and with his breath blows away the clouds Hee sports with the beasts of the earth the Lion licks his band like a Spaniel and the Serpent sleeps upon his lap and stings him not He playes with the Fowls of heaven and the birds of the aire sit singing on his fist All the Creation is before him and be calls every one of them by their proper names See the second Lash of Alazonomastix p. 183. and Mastix his Letter Sect. 11. world also for by this means hee makes every thing become tributary and work for his good not onely that which hee hath but that which hee hath not also not onely that which is for him but that which is against him too so that hee hath the most c Sibi imperare maximum est imperium Sen. Latius regnes avidum domando Spiritum quam si Libyam remotis Gadibus jungas uterque Poenus Horat. Car. l. 2. Od. 2. Serviat uni ample Dominion the most noble Empire the most glorious Monarchy of any in the world As for others they are so Kings that they are also d Refraenet prius libidines spernat voluptates iracundiam teneat coerceat avaritiam ceteras animi labes repellat tum incipiat aliis imperare cum ipse insprobissim is dominis dedecori ac turpitudini parere desierit Dum his quidem obediet non modo Rex sed liber habendus omnino non erit Cic. Parad. Roctius appellabitur Rex quam Tarquinius qui nec se nec suos regere potuit Idem 111. De Finib slaves for while they rule over other mens bodies and estates they are slaves to their own and other mens lusts and therefore to speak properly they do not reign at all being not able to rule their own spirits nor to keep under their own bodies which every self-denying man doth and therefore is not only the most glorious but indeed the only true King the consideration whereof I would offer unto those that are so ambitious of getting up into some great place of honour and command amongst men as very proper and effectual for the making them in love with Self-denial The Ninth Excellency of Self-denial 9 It is a Christians gain and advantage A self-denying man if selfish men might bee judges is the greatest loser in the world but verily hee is the greatest e A selfish man loseth by his gains but a Self-denying man gains by his losses gainer for though hee part with all it is for him that is All in All it is for the Pearle of price Matth. 13.44 for the Lord Jesus together
rule to be observed in the use of things lawful in themselves How much is expedient so far wee may go in the use of them but no further It is not enough that the things bee lawful in themselves but are they expedient are they necessary Here many persons foulely erre that care for no more but to know that such things bee lawful they will have them they will make use of them though in the use of them they bee scandalous They think because there is no hurt in them they may take liberty to satisfie their lusss in them There is much danger in this and the rather because of the pretence of liberty It was the complaint of old Licitis perimus omnes many sin exceedingly and go to hell for sinning in the use of things lawful and indifferent Though the things bee lawful in themselves yet when men shall let out their hearts inordinately upon them and spend so much time in giving themselves pleasure and contentment in them that they indispose themselves for the service of God they sin exceedingly in the use of them That which is said of the Law may bee said of sports and pleasures and other things that are indifferent The Law is good if a man use it lawfully 1 Tim. 1.8 So these are good if wee use them lawfully God hath given us liberty to use them but not to use them as wee please Brethren saith the Apostle yee have been called unto liberty onely use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh Gal. 5.13 This then shews how necessary this Direction is in order to Self-denial Wee must not onely abstain from those things that are absolutely unlawful and so deny our selves but wee must also watch over our selves in the use of those things that are lawful if wee do not the flesh that is Self will take an occasion thereby to carry us on to those things that are absolutely unlawful A man that is peremptorily bent to go to the uttermost bound would go further if hee could and oft-times by Gods permission hee doth and then hee is in thraldome for the end of our liberty is the beginning of our bondage Take heed therefore you do not too much indulge your selves in the use of things lawful Let your moderation be known unto all men the Lord is at hand It is lawful to marry to rejoyce to use this world c. But this I say brethren the time is short It remaineth that both they that have wives bee as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it 1 Cor. 7.29 The Ninth Direction 9 Take heed of being under the power of any thing This was Pauls resolution All things are lawful for mee but I will not be brought under the power of any thing 1 Cor. 6.12 Two sorts there bee that are under the power of things indifferent 1 Such as think they may not be without them but are bound in conscience alwaies to make use of them supposing that otherwise they should not stand fast in their Christian liberty and therefore will make use of them at all times and in all places and companies without any regard to the consciences of their weak brethren who are thereby offended 2 Such as think they cannot bee without them but must needs have them or else they can take no comfort or contentment in their lives There is a great deal of difference betwixt these two the former sort think they may not and so put a pretence of duty upon the use of them these think they cannot and so make it a matter of necessity It is a flattering kinde of tyranny that under pretence of necessity seizeth on such men It is true wee are made under the power of some things Lege naturae by the Law of nature but there are other things that wee are under Lege peccati mortis onely by the Law of sin and death To eat and drink and cloath our selves and now and then to recreate our selves c. These are things the Law of nature bindes us to but that wee must have meat and drink of such several sorts and cloathing of such fashions or else wee cannot enjoy our selves this is not from the Law of nature but sin It is onely from our own lusts that wee are under the power of these things And while wee cannot deny our selves in these trifles how do wee think wee shall ever bee able to deny our selves in things of greater concernment Self-denial must bee universal which cannot bee so long as wee are under the power of any thing indifferent Wee may use them but first wee must endeavour to bring them under our power Wee are never fit to use any thing that wee are slaves to Wee say of fire That it is a good servant but a bad Master so wee may truly say of these things they are good while they bee our servants but bad when they become our Masters This was one of the vanities that Solomon observed Eccles 10.7 That servants did ride upon horses and Princes walke as servants upon the earth To see beggarly rudiments beggarly elements of meats and drinks c. as the Apostle calls them be-jading Princelysouls this is not onely vanity but vexation of spirit to behold These things were made to bee our servants and wee to bee the servants of God onely but man having revolted from his Creator is become a subject nay a slave to the creatures It was the curse upon Canaan Gen. 9.25 A servant of servants shall hee bee and this curse they lye under that are servants to the creatures This is the vilest servitude that is a man may bee in other service and yet Christs free-man but so hee cannot bee in this No man can serve two Masters as Christ himself hath told us Matth. 6.24 Wee cannot serve God and Mammon The Church in the Revelation is described to bee cloathed with the Sun and having the Moon under her feet Rev. 12.1 The Moon is the emblem of all things here below and wee should labour to bee above them above them in our love and desire our delight and our conversation this is to overcome the world yea to reign over it Let us labour to bee at an indifferency for the having or wanting of these things which perish with the using I have learned in all estates to bee content saith Paul I know how to bee abased and how to abound how to bee full and to bee hungry both to abound and to suffer need Till wee learn this wee shall never bee able to deny our selves The Tenth Direction 10 Keep under your bodies This was Pauls practice 1 Cor. 9.27 So fight I not as one that beateth the ayre but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection Herein consists a principal part of
wee came off and how every one admires us how every one praiseth us c. and scarce lift up one thought to God to bless him Thus Nebuchadnezzar reflected upon his building of Babylon Is not this saith hee great Babylon that I have built 2 Wee would fain have others take notice of it as Hezekiah after his sickness would shew his Treasures Jehu would have his zeal observed the Pharisees must needs blow the Trumpet Wee have a kinde of longing that others should take notice of that which wee our selves do If we know any thing it doth us no good unless some take notice that wee are so knowing There is an itching desire in us to have every thing wee do made publick Hence are those frequent stories of our selves what wee did and what wee said 3 If others do commend us wee are tickled with delight in the hearing such discourses this is the reason of the old Proverb Obsequium amices c. flattery begets friends 4 Wee are ready to enter into the lists of contention whensoever any doth but question our worth in any particular or deny it Oh what chafing and fuming is there what arrogating expressions what disdainful language what odious comparisons and reflections Now all this would bee helped could wee walk in the sight and sense of our own nothingness then wee should bee as Peter when hee had restored the lame man Act. 2.12 3 Not to seek our selves Paul tells the Philippians that all men seek their own things and not the things of Christ that is all natural men Naturally there is such a disposition in us that wee would ingross all to our selves wee would have all the praise all the honour all the profit and advantage to our selves and wee cannot indure that any one should bee above us or before us that any ones interest should prevail besides our own And what is the reason but that wee have not learnt the lesson of our own nothingness Were wee once nothing in our own eyes wee should bee content to bee nothing in the eyes of others Could wee despise our selves wee should bee content that others should despise us Were wee but once sensible of our own unworthiness wee should not take it ill that others have so much and wee so little in all estates wee should bee content See then how useful this Direction is in order to the practice of Self-denial many a one that is convinced of this duty and hath begun the practice of it is ready to say I am fully perswaded that it is my duty to deny my self and I have made some trial of it but yet I finde nothing in the world more cross and contrary to flesh and blood I finde I cannot do it Oh! how hard is it to be contented to do good and not to be seen in it I am neglected and sleighted and I cannot bear it men do not give mee that honour and respect that is due and I cannot bee without it Oh! for any direction any help to make this duty easie and delightful to mee Why this is the Direction that I have now given you this hath been a tryed Receipt and never failed of a cure When once you are throughly sensible of your own nothingness it will bee easie to deny your selves in all these particulars If a great man come to you one whom you highly esteem and honour you can hardly deny him but if another come that is of no worth whom you do not value you can deny him with ease and make nothing of it so it is here when once you come to see your own nothingness c. And till it bee thus it will bee very irksome and tedious very hard and difficult if not impossible to deny your selves in any thing You will have such reasonings as these What such an one as I Shall I bear it to bee thus crossed thus affronted thus abused Is it fit that I should bee thus dealt with but on the contrary when you are nothing in your own eyes you will say as Mephibosheth in the like case 2 Sam. 19.28 30. That which will break a proud mans heart will not breake an humble mans sleep The Twelfth Direction 12 Study the nothingness of all worldly things This Direction is as necessary as the former for our Saviour hath said Whosoever hee bee of you that forsaketh not all that hee hath cannot bee my Disciple Luke 14.33 St. James tells us That the friendship of the world is enmity with God Jam. 4.4 St. John That if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2.15 hee divides the world and the things of the world into these three The lust of the flesh The lust of the eye And the pride of life vers 16. viz. Pleasures Profits and Honours These are the three things that worldly men lust after This is the worlds Trinity which they worship for their god and in which they place their summum bonum their chief good and happiness Till men bee throughly convinced of the nothingness of this Idol till they bee able to say of this Idol in particular as Paul doth of an Idol in general Wee know that this Idol of the world is nothing in the world they will never deny themselves nor follow Christ fully And the reason is manifest for while a man hath such a conceit of the things of this world whether pleasures profits or honours that they are the onely good things the onely necessary things that hee stands in need of to live a blessed and happy life his affections will bee so strongly carried forth after them if hee have them not that hee will not bee taken off from an inordinate pursuit after them and if hee have them hee will by no means bee perswaded to relinquish them nor ever leave off giving himself carnal contentment in the use of them for any of the great and glorious things offered him in the Gospel which hee looks upon as imaginary notions only having no truth or reality at all in them 1 Such a man will endeavour most after these things Either hee will wholly neglect all Religion or if hee take up a profession it is but for this end that hee may thereby get these things 1 Hee will wholly neglect Religion See the Parable Luke 14.18 19 20. Joh. 12.42 2 If hee take up a profession it is that by this means hee may get these things Act. 8.20 21. See Joh. 6.26 Rom. 16.18 Philip. 3.18 2 Tim. 3.2.5 So true is that Job 8.11 2 If hee have these things hee will not relinquish them either hee will not part with these things at all or else but seemingly for a time 1 Hee will not part with them at all Luke 18.23 Act. 19.25 Joh. 5.44 2 If hee part with any of them it is but for a time Matth. 13.20 21 22. 1 Tim. 5.11.2 Pet. 2.18 It is necessary therefore in order to Self-denial that your affections bee taken