a sin as is confessed of al hands to be hainous I say the name of a thing that is confessed of al hands to be hainous is given unto those things which the Holy Ghost would set forth to the ful As for example In 1 Sam. 15.23 The sin of Saul is called witchcraft Rebellion is as witchcraft Saul's sin was not wichcraft But only witchcraft was a confessed known sin To set out Saul's sin Samuel calls it so So that the greatness of the sin of Covetousness may appeare the text calls it Idolatry As if it should have been said The worship of another God provokes not God more to Jealousy then the love of the world doth And mark what he saith afterwards in vers 16. For these cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience The word is il translated disobedience for the wrath of God comes not upon al that disobey him but the word signifies upon all that are intractable upon all that wil not be perswaded and drawn from their sinning against God Why doth not the Apostle say the wrath of God will come upon the unclean Person but upon the Children that are not to be perswaded that are stubborn hearted The Reason is this because Covetousness is one of those sins which makes a man to be incapacious stout-hearted obstinate irrational and not to be subdued by any of the ordinary means 〈◊〉 which God brings mens thoughts into subjection 〈◊〉 â—â—â—self As the wise man saith concerning the 〈◊〉 that she is a deep pit and there is no perswading men from her though she lead a man like an Ox unto the shambles So the Holy Ghost saith there is no making a Covetous 〈◊〉 leave his course til the wrath of God meets with him And it s not only in that place called Idolatry but you have as ill names given it elsewhere James 4.4 You Adulterers and Adulteresses know you not that the love of the world is enmity unto God It is called Adultery And as Adultery doth break the bonds between the Husband and the Wife And as Adultery is a sin that is committed when there is no need because the party hath a remedy which God in the state of marriage hath given So the love of the world strikes at the knot at the uniting Graces Faith and Love It puts a man into a Condition wherein if in any he is capable of a divorce from God If I would say there was a possibility of a mans falling from Grace I would say so of Covetousness and Idolatry because both these are called Adultery which doth dissolve the bond What need you take care when God doth What reason have you when God makes it his work to provide for you as he doth for the Lallies of the Fields than which you are much better What reason is there then that you should set your selves to that business Is it not enough that you have God And that God wil be sure to find you all the stock that he wil have you to work withal for him It is Adultery And mark what follows The friendship of the world is enmity against God That is A Covetous man doth as it were send an Herald of Armes and bids defiance against God himself In 1 John 2.15 If a man loves the world the love of the Father is not in him Mark it As it is an unnnatural thing for the Child not to love the father that begat him so it 's an unnatural thing for a man not to love God And yet Covetousness will make a man to be so unnatural Sometimes you shal find in the spirits of good people a carelesness of God The indearedness that they had to him at another time is not to be found upon them They are not tender of his displeasure They are not desirous to live in his favor What is the Reason What is it that makes a Soul so unnatural It is because his Soul is So taken up with the things of this world And that you may yet see further the evill of this sin know that it keeps Gods love from a man For if the love of God be not in a man that loves the world then the love of God is not shed abroad in the heart of that man that loves the world For whom God loves they shall certainly love him again But above all that which is the great Motive and with which I would perswade you Is this You ought to be conformable to the wil of God Either his will or yours must rule Either he or you must be acknowledged to be the wise and right Disposer of things If there be wisdom with him and that all things are under him and his power Why are you not then contented with that which is his allowance to you It is fit the Physitian should prescribe the Dyet and not the sick person It 's sit the Master should set down how he wil keep and not the Servant how he wil be kept by the Master Conformity to the wil of God doth extend not only to spiritual things so that a man may not sin against any moral precept but unto lawful things so that a man should think it best with him according to Gods way of dispensing to him And there is no reason in the world why a man should think that he is dealt hardly with if his portion be but smal for was not the state of Jesus Christ very low He became poor he had not whereon to lay his head Were not those Princes as I may cal them that sate upon the Throne Judging the twelve Tribes of Israel I mean the Apostles and the primitive Saints Were not they in hunger and nakedness and in want of all things cloathed in Goats and Sheep Skins of whom the world was not worthy Will it not content you that you are kept in the same manner that God kept his Son while he was in the world Object You will say Therefore Jesus Christ was poor because by the want of all things he was to satisfie Answ But for whom was it that he was to satisfie was it not for you If it was for you Is there not reason that you should be contented to be poor if he please Shal the Creditor be willing that the Surety should pay his debt and shal not the Principal or he that is the Debtor be willing himself to part with that which he hath Jesus Christ It is true did merit by the want of these things But what did he merit He merits this among other things that you should be an Example that he had taken the sting and misery out of poverty and the want of all things As we are therefore tempted that God may shew that Jesus Christ conquered Satan so we are therefore poor that though our sins have robbed us yet there is no curse in our poor Estate Let me therefore for a conclusion of al at this time stir you up that you would not desire after much
their unbelief Math. 13.58 No great works The meaning of the place is this that God doth do unto men according to their Faith According to thy Faith be it unto thee Math. 9.29 As mens Faith is so shall their receiving be If their Faith be mingled with unbelief their receipt shall be but small Where there is a totall unbelief their receipt shall be nothing from God OBJECT But you wil say unto me as it is said in 2 Tim. 2.13 If we beleeve not yet he remains faithful and he cannot deny himself Answ To that I answer If we beleeve not that is if we beleeve not some particular Promise and at some particular time God will abide faithfull for if you observe the place it speaks concerning suffering times and this Promise viz That if we suffer with him we shall also raign with him A man may come to the stake and to his Grave and yet notwithstanding want a perswasion of this A man may dy by his act of affiance and yet have no perswasion of what assistance he shall have in his sufferings But if a man beleeve not that is not at al then nothing is due unto him Mark the Text again God saith he is faithfull Therefore his faithfulness supposeth his Promise And his Promise supposeth our Faith for he is ingaged to none but to them that beleeve Therefore though God abides faithfull yet the meaning is though we question this and that at this and that time yet if our hearts remain faithfull to God and his name we shall receive the things that are promised Therefore let me speak unto you and unto you especially that can settle upon any work but the work of beleeving that are easily perswaded that the Promises belong not to you nor the mercies which are saving with a small hint and insinuation you are discouraged and disheartned Let me speak unto you that are ready to deprive your selves of every sweet morsell which the hand of the Lord reaches out to you who say within your selves when I am thus and can do thus then I will beleeve and go unto Jesus Christ You must come unto this if you wil have any thing from the hand of Jesus Christ to beleeve You must lay down your reason and your sense and you must put your selves to this question Ask thy own heart whether thou wouldest have Jesus Christ or not If it would have him and the things that are his then tell it that it must beleeve for there is no way to receive but by beleeving Therefore let me give this counsell to thee Spend that time in drawing and urging thy Soul to go to Jesus Christ which thou dost in disputing thy right and title and in answering objections and doubts In stead of making out a reflect act of Faith or assurance go directly unto the Lord Jesus Christ And mark the reason of it Faith it gives a title and the possession of the inheritance It 's a receiving Now mark Be sure thar thou hast a right If thou hast a Faith that is alwaies having and craving and longing and hankering after the things of Jesus Christ it is right And again Though that every Commandment of God be to be obeyed and none ought to be more carefull of holiness than he that is justified by the righteousness of another and by the Faith of Jesus I say none ought to be more carefull of a holy life than a Beleever yet spend thy time mark what I say and thy spirits first in receiving and getting Jesus Christ Go not this way to work when thou findest thy self to be so and so then thou wilt beleeve because thou art holy therefore thou goest to Jesus Christ But go to Jesus Christ that thou maiest receive holiness from him for Faith is a receiving As eating a mans meat takes up a great deal of time yet there is no time lost because it fits a man for his work afterwards So the fitter thou wilt be to all the works of sanctification the more time thou spendest in receiving and eating of the things of Jesus Christ It is wisdom first for a man to get in a fulness afterwards to live answerable unto it Why dost thou think of thy sanctification when thou hast not received him that must make thee holy Assure thy self it cannot be but al the things thou goest about will grow dead because thou hast not wherewith to maintain them Al thy motions are but like a Wheel which is hurried by a violent motion but having no spring in its self in a little while it wil grow dead And assure thy self that thou shalt not lay a ground of Faith by doings Doings may lay a ground of assurance but not a ground of receiving or going unto Jesus Christ It is true Many things are to be done as well as beleeving when a man would receive A man must ask that he may receive John 16.24 And a man must be mortified that he may receive Ye ask and receive not because you ask to spend upon your lusts Jam. 4.3 And a man must be humble Jam. 4.6 God giveth Grace to the humble And the Ordinances must be attended even every of them for it oft times fals out that that Ordinance which is neglected is that by which God will convey himself But the Ordinances are but the Vessels in the hand of Faith they are but Buckets which Faith doth let down or but Breasts which Faith doth suck The Receiving is still by Faith Heb. 4.2 And therefore the word profited not because it was not mixed with Faith And the Text saith If they praied and beleevâ—d they should then receive It 's true there are a great many Graces that must be in the man that receives any thing from Gods hands but they are all but the attendants of Faith They are necessary unto Faith Not for reception but by way of presence As the Eye alone sees though it cannot see unless it be joyned to the other members of the body So Faith receives though it never receives but when it is joyned with other Graces Whatever Graces are required unto Faith Faith will help us unto To pray acceptably If we are to pray with humility and submission Faith will help us to it When once Faith is infused it doth dispose and inable the heart to every thing that God requires Besides you know how a man that is touched with covetousness and the love of the world wil bow down himself and deny himself much and become base that he may heap up riches together So wil a man when he hath once gotten Faith He wil pray earnestly and go from ordinance to ordinance and submit to any condition that the ordinances of Jesus Christ require at his hands that he may serve God and be saved And therefore again and again I say If you wil receive any thing you must beleeve else there is no way for it If you wil stand reasoning and disputing and debating
the more sinfulness there is in any sin the more there is of the heart in it Therefore Originall Corruption is greater than actuall sins Now Covetousness doth take up the heart As I shall shew you more by and by REASON II. Secondly The greatness of this sin appears in this that it is a sin that doth over-spread the whol man It rests not in any one part or faculty of the Soul but it doth over-spread the whole and that not only by infusion but by formall in-dwelling That is Not only doth it work upon the Soul but the whol Soul is the seat of it And therefore you shall sometimes find that it is described by the mind that it over-spreads the understanding And therefore in Phillip 3.19 they are said to mind Earthly things And sometimes by the Wil that it overspreads the wil in 1 Joh. 2.15 Men are said so to love the World as that they cannot love God himself If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him As Appetite and desire is in every part of a man There is no part of a man but hath an appetite and desire in it to its own Object So in no part of the Soul but also may be discontent which is Covetousness So that its a sin which infects from the Crown of the Head to the Sole of the Foot and there is no part free Of al the Graces that God hath bestowed upon men there are but two that are principally observed to be diffused through the the whole Soul And they are Faith and Prudence And therefore they are the most excellent Graces because they have the greatest command Of all sins there is none that have more of the old Man than Covetousness hath because it hath not only the affective part the Wil but the Consultative part the Understanding REASON III. Thirdly Covetousness appears to be a very great sin and very sinful in this that it 's directly opposite unto the common nature of Godliness and Religion Some Vices are opposite to one particular Vertue But Covetousness is opposite unto all in it 's common nature And therefore hath the greatest contrariety in it for this is the common nature of all Religion to be Heavenly and Holy And this is the Aspect or consideration of Covetousness to make a man Earthly Therefore it 's said by God himself in 1 John 2.15 That if a man loves the World the love of the Father is not in him It might have been truly said that if a man love any sin he loves not God but God will rather put that note upon the love of the World rather than upon any thing The Character is put upon Covetousness because its the most diametrically opposite unto Grace of any sin To open this a little Those things differ most which differ in kind As there is therefore an infinite and unconceivable difference and one that cannot be made up between God and us because he is of himself and we are Creatures It 's impossible that ever we should come to be Gods or God to become what we are because God and we are not of the same kind He is of himself and we are of him More plainly There is a greater difference you know between Gold and the Heavens than there is between Gold and the Earth because Gold is but a refined part of the Earth but the Heavens are of another kind of Being and Creation Things which differ in their kind differ most But now the very kind of Religion and Covetousness differs For what is Religion but a Heavenly and supernaturall thing And what is Grace but a spiritual blessing that comes down from above but Covetousness fastens a mans Soul to earthly and base things And upon this ground it is called Idolatry in Col. 3.5 Covetousness which is Idolatry It 's called so upon this ground because as the fear and love and honor of God is the Ground of all obedience so the taking of the things of this life into our choice esteem and care is the putting out and the extinguishing and eradicating of all service unto God That a man doth take for his God which he chooseth before all other things When therefore a mans heart is so set that he must have riches and the things of this life he sets up that for his God and denies obedience in whol to the true God I say Covetousness is opposite to all Religion REASON IV. Fourthly The sinfulness of it appears in this That it is the Womb and Seed of all sin Therefore in 1 John 2.16 you have it as one of the Generals or Commanders of all the sins in the world All sins are summed up either into The Lusts of the Flesh that is Luxury and pleasure The Lusts of the Eye that is Worldliness or Riches Or the Pride of life that is Honor. In 1 Tim. 6.10 The love of Money is the root of al Evill The root partly because the Devil doth ingraft every sin upon that as the stock of it and partly because it doth vertually contain al sin in it From thence Cain murders Judas betraies Christ Achan steals the Babilonish Garment Demas Apostatizeth from Religion Demas saith the Apostle hath forsaken us and cleaves unto this present World in 2 Tim. 4.10 Therefore you shal find what the Companions of Covetousness are in Rom. 1.29 Being filled with all Vnrighteousness Fornication Wickedness Covetousness Maliciousness full of Envy Murder c. And that you may not think it was the singular case of the corrupt Heathens you shall observe that wherever the Apostle speaks of Covetousnes he speaks of it as being accompanied with those sins In 1 Cor. 5.11 If any man be called a Brother who is a Fornicator a Drunkard Covetous an Idolator c. In 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Among Fornicators Idolaters effeminate persons and Theeves there are Covetous persons and Drunkards reckoned up In Colos 3.5 Fornication uncleanness inordinate affections evill Concupiscence Covetousness which is Idolatry And that the Apostle may not seem to be in a heat or passion when he doth thus describe the Companions of Covetousness you shall find that in Mark 7.22 our Lord himself saith as much From the hearts of men arise Theft Adultery and Covetousness c. And it 's worth observation That when the Evangelist Matthew doth repeat those words he leaves out Covetousness But when Mark came to add unto that which Matthew wrote which was the manner of the Evangelists to add unto others he puts in Covetousness Because whoever is Covetous hath the root of all these in him and not because whoever is Covetous doth all these things You shall find therefore in the Scripture that the way which Satan takes to destroy men is expresly set out by this of Covetousness In 2 Cor. 2.11 The Apostle speaks of the Devices of Satan And he sets forth the cunning of Satan in the beginning of the verse that he makes advantage of us
they thought the word of God dot worthy enduring the troules that it brought but the thorny ground the Covetous groud that came under Persecution Now how can it be a sign of Covetousness if they endure Persecution This is the Objection Answ First the meaning is not that they will endure any kind of Persecution but such Persecution as is against the plain and cleer points of Religion For that which the High-way ground regards not the Principles of Godliness that the other grounds suffered for and stood to But those were the Principles of Religion converting points for the Text in Matth. 13. speaks of converting points of Religion Such points which distinguish regeneracy and unregeneracy One sort of people minded not these things The other rather suffered for them than that they would part with them Rather than Demas would say the Gospel was a lie and that Jesus Christ was not God he would die presently That was so rooted in his Conscience that he would have thought himself unhappy to have given any check to it They did not come down right upon him but by cunning waies the Devil â—â—kes men by crast and not by fair strength However Demas did not love his life in this Case yet he loved his riches better than his life He cries better live not and be not than be in want When he was with Paul there was no great hazard run for it is said that Onesiphorus enquired him out and was not ashamed to walk with Paul when he had chains about him Now if men might go to men in Prison and walk up down with them in the streets there was not much hazard and danger That Demas could bear But when he must part with all the Text saith He cleaves to this present world That is such a kind of cleaving as is in the heart of God unto Christ and his people for by that word the heart of God is set out in the Scripture It signifies content and rest and ful delight and satisfaction in a thing Demas his heart was thus swallowed up in the things of this life And therefore though he could have lost his life at the first rather than to have denied the Principles of Religion yet he would rather have lost his life than endured want If when God cals for all you would spare some you are Covetous And say not that great degrees of Grace is required unto this for when the wil of God is shewed and determinately known a Saint sits down under it and quels al motions against it When a Godly man sees God wil have al he saith Thy wil be done Especially is a Godly man ready in the things of this life because at Conversion there is a mean esteem in him of the things of this life he looks not for things that are temporal but for what is eternal It is in the nature of a Beast to look after grass and the fields to live in the Air So for a Christian to have a mean esteem of this world either for his end or means He slights it for means and despiseth it 〈◊〉 his ends Look what you are when God takes away the things of this world Are your hearts in a quietness and composedness Again A man is then Covetous when he takes al opportunities of getting Again When a man is having and craving in his spirit when his praiers savors of the world like a vapor out of a Dungeon when his affections are strong in the matters of this life A mans Covetousness is not cured when his desires are hot Object Is it not lawfull for a man to desire more than he hath or so much as may Act all his parts and abilities in him Whether a mans observing what abilities he hath for publique service may not desire such a portion of this life as may Act him therein Answ Oftentimes it is not so much the love of a mans work as the love of a mans waies A man thinks he desires to love God when he loves the world The world is not worth the having You are in the world for Heaven When your thoughts are bowed down be afraid of that Trade not with those thoughts Remember Christs words Take heed and beware of Covetousness Arise ye dead and come to Judgment There is a Snare in your Calling you may be Covetous in desiring nothing but your due As this young man in my Text. FINIS Scriptures Opened in the Book of John 1.12 And Luke 12.15 Chap. Vers Page Genesis 4 14 229 42 1,2 48 Joshua 3 21 109 7 21 98 Judges 17 13 236 1 Samuel 15 23 263 1 Kings 1 17 152 2 Chronicles 30 8 125 Bzra 7 23 236 Job 27 5 46 34 36 164 Psalms 1 2 156 4 7,8 244 8 2 171 9 10 37,41 10 3 236 15 1 140 16 4 222  7 48,53   71 19 1 110 36 18 33 37 1 75,215  4 257  25 246 44 3 140 49 7 255 51 3 52 50 6,7 162 73 15 147  24 152 84 11 14 109 4 89 110 3 148 119 55 52 127 2 247 145 19 91 Proverbs 3 5 117   132 13 12 165 14 15 41 21 15 151 28 20,21 260 30 2 277 Ecclesiastes 12 1 52 Solomons Song 1 3 157 Isaiah 8 21 215 50 10 75   118 53 1 44  11 37   108 55 1 5  3 45,50 57 17 214   229   237 Jeremiah 32 40 167 Ezekiel 33 31 276 36 31 22 Hosea 6 6 250 Amos 8 5 276 Matthew 4 9 244 5 42 103 6 30 127  32 232  33 101   242 2 26 127 9 29 19,93 10 8 33  14 144  41 144 11 27 188 12 20 121 13 4 52  7 234  11 68  20 150   207  22 229   236   238  44 to 46    149   163  58 93 14 31 93   116 15 19 224  23 to 28    24 16 16 55  17 201 19 12 35 21 22 25  30,31 83 22 4 82  8 49  22 205  29 206  32 198 23 25 17 27 43 131 Mark 4 10 273 7 22 228 14 15 208 16 16 20,93   205 Luke 2 21 245 3 14 228 8 14 229 12 13 211  14 212  20 213  21 212  29 238  48 26 14 18 176 16 22,28    182 17 5 7,110   133 18 27 239 19 5,6 145 20 9 to 17    144   176 21 34 234   239   251 John 1 11 6,82   111   131  14 174  16 5,14   20,26 2 25 193 3 12 66  19 170  21 76   109  33 44 5 19 198  40 111  44 132 6 26 236  27 247  37 122   183 Â
hath for his sake Faith doth work but it is by the hand of love But now look on Faith in it self And so it s a receiving I say it is a receiving It s a having and craving grace which will alwaies be getting and wil never have enough When it is filled it is hungry and like the barren Womb and the earth and the grave it stil cries Give Give And for this you shall find the Scripture very cleer John 1.11 He came to his own and his own received him not that is they did not apply him unto themselves as the author of their salvation as the Messiah which was promised In 2 Cor. 6.1 the Apostle cals beleeving the receiving of the Grace of God When he would set forth the unbelief that is in men naturally he saith the naturall man receives not the things of God in 1 Cor. 2.14 As you have received Christ Jesus so walk in him Col. 2.6 that is answer your Faith with works let your life be answerable to your hopes and to the state you are brought into by beleeving I may quote many other expressions to shew that Faith is a receiving But these shall serve I wil only give a three fold Argument or Demonstration of it Frist All that have Faith in any degree have desires and longings after Jesus Christ and the things of him Faith it s an appetite in the new Creature whereby it craves and hungers after Jesus Christ and his benefits and therefore you shall find expresly that Faith and praying unto God or desiring after him are made all one Rom. 10.11 12 13. In verse 11. the Scripture saith Whoever beleeveth on him shall not be ashamed For marke it There is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him For whosoever shal call upon the name of the Lord shall besaved I say if you compare verse 11. with ver 12 and 13. Faith and calling on the name of the Lord are al one For the Apostle proves that there is no man that doth beleeve but he shal be saved by this That there is no man that cals on the name of the Lord but he shall be saved Those that have attained unto the greatest degrees of Faith their mouths are fullest of complaints their Souls fullest of sighings because of their wants Their praiers are Lord increase out Faith And not only so Luke 17.5 but when they have prayed they cannot be quiet until such time as they find it encreased and the fruits of it in them In Acts 26.7 it 's said that the Patriarchs hoping to come to Heaven did instantly serve God That word translated Instantly is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is they did as one doth who stretches out himself to get a thing which he hath much ado to lay hold on but had rather have than any thing that he hath in his hands Such a kind of desire was in the Patriarchs after Glory In Rom. 8.19 the Apostle tells you of an earnest expectation that is in the Creation for the manifestation of the Sons of God that they may be freed from their imperfections and be like their Head Jesus Christ Paul professeth that he desires to be with Christ Jesus that is he professeth it as one that must either have his mind or must die Those that have the least degree of Faith are alwaies craving after Jesus Christ they are never well but when they are receiving Paul in Acts 9.11 is said to pray Go saith God to Ananias unto Paul Behold he prayes He did other things besides prayer he was sensible of his sin and afflicted in his conscience for going against Jesus Christ but the Text mentions nothing but this That he praies because that was it that al the bitterness of sin was a means unto and that which he was eminent in And all that Paul desired was That God would give him Christ although he had done what he could to crucifie him again in his members As the love of the world makes a man to be scraping and gathering together by any means although it be never so vile It 's no matter what the thing be so it brings in gain to a worldly man So it is the proper work of Faith to make a man look for Jesus Christ in all Ordinances and Duties That is the penny which it sweeps the house for and searcheth every duty for Now this desire it comes from Faith For what makes any man desire but hope and the knowledge of the excellency of the things hoped for Both which comes through believing That is the first thing All that have Faith desire to receive Jesus Christ and his benefits and therefore the Act of receiving is the principal act of Faith Secondly All other Acts of Faith are subordinate to this Act of receiving and done in reference to receiying You have heard that Faith hath divers Acts. It takes Gods word and receives his Testimony even when it fees no reason to expound the thing that is spoken of but the End is that it may receive I know whom I have trusted and that he is able at that day to give unto me what I have committed to him As a man takes the word of a man to this end that he may be sure not to miss what is due to him So this man takes the word of God and the Testimony of God only in order to be made a receiver of the things promised Faith that doth unite Christ dwels in our hearts by faith but that very act of union is to this end that so all Christ may be ours Eph. 3.17 We do but touch him that so vertue may come out from him into us Faith makes a man dependant and hanging upon God but it is only that so a man may ingage the Lord to give and he may receive As a man comes to one and saith I will trust to you for such a debt at such a time that so he may see that he doth not only expect it but that he doth him double injury if he doth not give it him Faith attracts and draws but that is only that the soul may receive That is the second Reason Faith is a receiving Grace because al the Acts and Operations of it are in order to receiving Thirdly Until this act of Faith be done Faith can do nothing Nothing can be done by Faith untill such time as it doth receive Faith purifies the heart Acts 15.9 It makes the whol conversation lively We do live by the Faith of the Son of God Gal. 2.20 It makes a man overcome the world and all the corruptions that are in the world and the evill one to boot 1 John 5.4 This is the victory wherby ye overcome the world even your faith He that is born of God overcomes the wicked one But mark it As water is first put into the Cistern before it flows forth
mainly make the life of faith to be meane 1. Because its a life of dependance A man lives not of himself nor on his own but he lives upon another He eates not his own bread as I may so speak nor wears his own cloaths but what is given him And not only so but. 2. In the second place A man receives not only by faith but from hand to mouth Suppose al a man had was given him but he did receive it at once and so became master of it himself for his use and dispose of it then there were some honour in it you know The Prodigal you know prays that he may live no longer at his fathers hand but that he may have his portion and live like a man of honor upon his own But through faith we receive no more then we have need of and we have no more then we need We are fain to go to God for every penny and morsel The life of faith is often seen in prayer It is al one as I often shewed you in the scripture for a man to beleeve upon God and for a man to pray to God and for a man to live upon begging and to have no more then every day he can get as an alms or as a favor That is such a kind of life as takes away al glory and al confidence in a mans self Object But you wil say unto me That this is enough to discourage a man from any way looking after that life of faith because it is so meane Answ I answer to that in a word That there is no reason it should discourage For it is better for us a great deal considering what we are to have in this way then any other For First God wil look better to us then we can look to our selves As a bird in the Cage is more tendered and better provided for then she could be if she had her liberty in the wild waste flying up and down in the vast wilderness We live upon God but we live upon one that is bountiful and liberal and one that hath enough and one that thinks nothing too much to give to us Were our estate in our own hands we would quickly spend it or ingage and morgage it and bring our selves under wrath which now the Lord prevents Such a kind of living upon God by faith is exceeding Glorious unto God For upon this account he hath Glory that he doth provide for us al things that do belong unto life and Godliness Yea. Secondly There is a great deal of sweetness in this life As a bit you know from a Princes hand at his table hath more sweetness in it then a whole dish What ever provision we could make for our selves could not carry that refreshing to the heart which the least thing doth which we receive from God by Christ through faith For it carrys this with it The love of God in Christ the favor and loving kindness of God his wisdom which cuts out this portion for me who knows what is better for us then we can chose for our selves Lastly to say no more Though the life of faith be meane in it self yet this should encourage to it because it is so meane therefore pride is hid from your eyes There is nothing that hinders a man more from receiving from God then pride doth Jam. 4.6 He gives grace to the humble but he resists the proud There is nothing more burdensom to a Beleever than pride of heart is Pride of heart is unto the Soul of a Beleever like the swelling of a Joynt which puts to extream pain Saith the Soul in it self I have nothing and can do nothing and am nothing and yet notwithstanding I am lifted up as if I wanted in no kind As you know it is said concerning the Church of Laodicea To be poor and yet proud To borrow and yet to carry it as if we were beholden to none is as great wickedness as possibly can be before the Lord. Because all this is hindred by Faith therefore it is a great encouragement to the Life of Faith though it be a mean Life in comparison CHAP. XX. Application The Reason why Beleevers are tempted to Pride Where there is true Faith there is humility of Spirit And that is manifested in four Particulars 1 In Modesty 2 In a Sense of its own Condition before Grace 3 In an acknowledgment of all that is in a man to be from God 4 In making a man wary and faithful in the use of what he hath received USE ALL that I shall say by way of Use and so pass on unto the next is this First You may from hence see the Reason why Beleevers are so much tempted unto Pride unto Pride in thinking of themselves otherwise than is meet as the Apostle speaks unto Pride in neglecting good works as necessary unto the attaining and perfecting of Eternal Life As some that are well born and descended cannot endure to fal unto mean imployment So doth the Devil labor to put it into the hearts of Beleevers that they need not be so careful in Duty nor so strict and exact in the performance of the Law for they are the Sons of God and born unto Eternal Life as their Inheritance Now the Reason why the Devil doth labor to stir the Saints to this is Because that Pride is the most contrary unto the Life of Faith and the condition we are put into through beleeving For to see as I said now a Beggar Proud or a Servant Reign to see an Alms man who is cloathed of meer Mercy to jet and strut as if he were cloathed in Gold of his own is the most uncomly sight in the World And so uncomly do we behave our selves in the sight of God when because of the state we are in we grow proud For what have you to be proud of For there is nothing that you have but what you have received And again Hence it doth appear that where ever there is true Faith there wil be humbleness of Spirit For the Spirit is suited to the condition and life which Faith brings in from Christ but it empties the Soul of it self according as it doth bring in So much a meaner opinion a man grows into of himself as he grows more into the enjoyment of Christ There is this temper of heart in a Beleever that as he rejoyceth in this that he hath much in Gods hands to receive so also he doth walk humbly As the Apostle speaks in Phil. 2.12 13. He works out his Salvation with fear and trembling Why Because it is God that worketh in him both to will and to do And if a man would make a Judgment of himself whether he be in the Faith or not if he would discern whether he hath received Jesus Christ unto the Salvation of his Soul or not he may know it by this as soon as by any thing Doth thy Spirit grow more humble Art thou more vile
but him for when the soul hath had some experiences of God if so be that al the delights and pleasures that are in sin nay that are in holiness were set before it it would choose rather to live upon Jesus Christ then that way As the good man said when he saw David come home let him take al now the Lord my King is safe So the soul can say I have enough in him though I have nothing else and let al other things be what they wil yet through him I shal stand But at the first the Act of faith is only willing I suppose And therefore you shal find beleevers to be alwayes described that way John 8.56 Abraham saw my day afarre of He saw it by faith That is the spiritual optick which makes things farre of to be neere He saw my day afarre off and was glad As a man that sees the shoare many Leagues off at Sea where the shoare looks like a cloud One would have thought it would have made the heart of Abraham sad that the day of Christ was so farr off For hope that is deferred is the breaking of the heart saith Solomon What joy do you think would the day of Christ have been had it come upon Abraham who when he saw the breaking of it so many thousand yeares off was filled with Joy But where ever there is a sight of Christ there is joy and gladness That I bring it for Though it be at never so great a distance and never so weak a sight When the power of the Lord Jesus Christ doth prevaile it makes his people willing As it is in Psal 110.3 Therefore the Apostle saith that with the mouth a man doth confess but with the heart a man doth beleeve unto Salvation Rom. 10.10 With the heart As we use to say I am glad of it with al my heart Or you have my heart So now doth the soul say unto Jesus Christ in beleeving He is taken with the object of faith and is rejoyced So it is in Phil. 3.3 We are the Circumcision who rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh Mark it The Ministers by whom the Gospel is brought unto men are beautiful unto beleevers Rom. 10.15 How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings His meaning is As beauty wins takes affections so are our affections carried strongly unto those who are the messengers of good things by Jesus Christ If you have judged me faithful said Lydia then come into my house And if you be worthy said our Lord though you have no cloaths on your back nor penny in your purse yet you wil be welcome to them And the word of Faith which is the instrument of Faith that is now received also by a Beleever Matth. 13.44 45 46. The kingdom of God is like a man that found a Treasure in the field and he went and sold all that he might be partaker of it Every act of Faith it is done with joy and delight Therefore Faith in the generall is said to work by love and to be unfeigned 1 Tim 1.5 Out of a good Conscience and Faith unfeigned Why because it is hearty there is an affection and an affection that is real where there is true Faith 1 Thes 1.5 You received the word of God in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost And therefore you are elected of God It is therefore by cheerfulness and readiness in believing that true Faith is distinguished in Acts 2.41 As many as gladly received the word were baptized They gladly received is a note of distinction from the rest of the Auditory who received it but not with joy and gladness By it I say true Faith is distinguished and distinguished from the Faith that is in the Devils and in wicked men who are the Children of him and from that which doth arise from conviction A man may beleeve through conviction as the Devils do who finding something to be true which God hath spoken their own experience being a witness to them that God hath not failed of his word they do therfore collect that what he hath said besides shal be brought to pass But that which they do beleeve they would not beleeve There is the like Faith in the Children of Satan For as there is the same Grace in the head Christ and in his members so there is the same sinfulness and evill that is in Satan the head and Prince of wicked men in wicked men themselves While wicked men live under the preaching of the word of God they come to be convinced that there is no way of salvation but by Christ nor any course to get eternall life but by going unto him But this they like not but secretly wish that there were some other way which is evident and apparent because their hearts do withdraw through unbeliefe and depart from the living God As the Apostle speaks in Heb. 3.12 There is a going unto Christ by men as a man goes unto an enemy and sues for some favor that is in his hand to do him which he can receive no where else but yet it troubles him So now they go unto Christ but they had rather be in hard and costly working If fasting and prayer and giving all their goods to the poor would help them they would rather do it than go to Jesus Christ As wicked men do pray in afflictions but it is because they are driven to it so do they beleeve in Jesus Christ because they know no way else to go or to find relief unto themselves He that is a Beleever doth choose Jesus Christ as his way He doth choose him I say as his way or rather thus he doth like that way and approve that way Object But you wil say This can be no sign because those that were but temporary and fell away did receive the word of God with joy in Math. 13.20 Answ 1. But you must know that their receiving was not of al but of some truths of the Gospel And Secondly It was not sincere They received not the truth for the love of it for then they should have been saved 2 Thes 2.10 but they received it out of love of their lusts So far they did receive the Gospell as it might free them from Hel but not as it might sanctifie or take away from them the love of this present World for when persecution came they were by and by offended CHAP. XXII Faith accompanied with joy and delight and that 1. As an Act of the Vnderstanding 2. As an Act of the Will BUt now I shall come to speak of Faith in this point more particularly As it is a willing receiving of Jesus Christ a Receiving of him kindly and gratefully And that I may speak of it distinctly to you There is you must know a love that is ever joyned with Faith Faith works by love And that love is set upon Jesus Christ singly and alone for his
we are in love with the Lord Jesus Christ Where I say continuall means and Ordinances do but very little it is a sign that there is not only slothfulness but unwillingness that the Soul is not wrought upon effectually But then especially doth delay argue unwillingness when a man stifles and hinders the working of the means He pincheth in the pains that would deliver him of all his trouble He weakens and enervates the Arguments that are brought to perswade him to go to Jesus Christ He grows witty and wise and cunning to evade the Arguments and Reasons of the Gospel And then again is a mans delay a sign of his unwillingness when he hath it in his power to beleeve and yet doth not beleeve I say when he hath it in his power As it is a sign a man is not willing to pay his debt or to give unto the poor when he hath it by him and yet bids the poor or the debt or to come another time In all that are regenerate there is a Spirit of Faith And when they are under the means and the means do affect them it is then in their power to heleeve Naturally no man can beleeve But it is given unto them that are regenerate and they can bring that power into act when the means do work upon them As now in the hearing of a Sermon for a man to with-hold his Soul from Jesus Christ when the Ordinance presseth him yet for him to keep his heart back from going unto him that is a sign of unwillingness I wil mention but one delay more And that is when a man keeps from Jesus Christ without a Reason And let me tell you this that if once a man see his sin and his own helplessness there can be no Reason why he should keep from Jesus Christ If there be any reason It must be either in himself or in Christ If it be in himself it must be one of these two things Either the want of Grace Or the abundance of corruption and guilt that lies upon him If it be want of Grace It must be Either the totall want Or the want of some degrees The whole want of Grace that is no ground why you should not beleeve for by beleeving you receive Grace for Grace Grace is an effect of Faith It is the blessing of that seed and the Tree that grows upon that Plant. Nor can it be for want of some degree For as I told you just now There will be as much reason for a man when he hath attained to twenty degrees of Grace to stay stil til he hath attained to the last degree of Grace as there will be for him when he hath one degree to stay til he hath twenty degrees for al degrees of Grace are little enough to give Jesus Christ that respect which belongs unto him If it be not therefore the want of Grace in whole or in part that should keep a man from believing Is it the greatness of thy sins But Know that thy sins are the greater by delaies As the debt grows more by non-payment Use and Use upon Use And the wound grows the worse by not laying on the thing that may heal Is not the reason then in thee Nor in thy sins nor in thy Guilt But in Jesus Christ That it cannot be For the Bride saith come and take of the waters of life freely Revel 22.17 And what can be more said or be more desired Jesus Christ is glad when sinners come to him more glad than a godly man is of the conversion of another As in Luke 16.22.28 The Father was exceedingly rejoyced when the Prodigall came home when the elder Brother was troubled at it Rom. 10.8 The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth It is nigh unto thee that is It is throughly known As we throughly know the things that are spoken in our Ears the sound that is not far off but near Now the word is nigh unto thee even in thy mouth As a thing that is confessed by al we phrase it thus viz. that it is in every mans mouth Now it is in every mans mouth and Jesus Christ hath made it evident in his word that whosoever believs shall be saved The word is nigh thee and in thy mouth that if thou beleevest thou shalt be saved If there be any reason therefore that thou goest not unto Jesus Christ it must be thy own apprehension and thoughts For there is none in the Object Jesus Christ nor any such reason in thy self I say all the reason must be in thy own apprehension And therefore thy apprehension is such because indeed thy heart is unwilling to receive Jesus Christ Unwillingness formes and shapes and frames strange apprehensions in the Understanding As where a man doth not love he wil find occasions to be angry and Arguments as often as he thinks good to ingage and separate his affections from that thing or Person Especially Beloved where there is a feigned reason Mark what I say Where there is a feigned reason there is unwillingness to receive Jesus Christ A Lyon A Lyon saith the Sluggard is in the street Men say that they shall be refused if they go unto God by Jesus Christ for Faith You do but imagine this It 's but a feigned reason for your unwillingness for none ever went to him that received a neglectful Answer In John 6.37 Those that come unto me I will in no wise cast out Men think if they should lay hold upon Iesus Christ they should but flatter themselves presumptuously and their hearts would be hardned more It is but a feigned reason For as fire softens wax so would the love of God soften thee The apprehension of the wrath of God hardens and the apprehension of the love of God softens As men go up and down Markets and Faires and and think to do better til they have lost their opportunity So do men put off and put off to beleeve till the day of Grace be past There is as great a hazard in delay as in opposition or refusal and though it seems not unto the Conscience to be so great a sin but it is colored with modesty humility and fear yet not withstanding it is as dangerous The Lord he reads the principle from whence it comes and he judgeth of the Act acccording unto it The means continuing and the heart being stirred yet men find out some rub or other in the way somthing or other to stop and delay their course of going unto and closing with Jesus Christ It may be their ruine It is as much as if they should say They would have none of Jesus Christ nor of his salvation There are some men so foolish that they wil not send for the Physitian nor take advice til the Disease hath gotten them down and they are overcome by it and weakned and brought unto the Grave So it is a folly of Spirit that til we see all means perishing we wil
vers 21. It s said That he was not rich towards God What need you saiâ—â— our Lord take care for much when you haâ—◠〈◊〉 much time to live Take care for death and for eternity else after al your labor you shal meet with nothing but eternal misery I say the words of the Text are an answer to a harmless motion as one would think made by one that was a follower of him His motion was that Christ would do him right and arbitrate the business of difference between him and his brother about that estate which belonged to him by Inheritance As Christ refuseth the office in the 14. vers for he came into the world to help mens Souls and not to be a Judg so he therefore warns him of covetousness which would bring forth bitterness in the latter end which would make him die like a fool and hinder him from being rich towards God Al a mans riches cannot preserve his life one day and if he be not rich in God he shal die like a fool for ever and perish The Point that I shall insist upon is this Doct. That it 's the Duty of all men as they would attain to eternal life to take heed and beware of Covetousness It s the duty of all for upon one mans speaking unto Christ about his inheritance he turns his speech unto all He said unto them That is to al the Company at the thirteenth verse And it is a duty as they would attain to eternal life for to that end Jesus Christ bids them to beware of Covetousness that they might not die as a Pool doth as you have it in verse 20. Mens inordinate desires after the lawful things of this life do as well hinder them from Heaven as if they were sinfull things or gross prophaness for in the following verses of this Chapter you have the Anatomizing of a man that was dead and gone to Hell for he died like a Fool And it sheweth the Disease and Cause of the misery he was found not to live in any gross sin but only in this that he was Covetous And because the HEED cannot be too great therefore he useth two words Take heed and beware a double Caution because there is a great and double danger or as it is in the Greek See or watch to it and guard your selves against it A similitude either taken as some do conceive from mens going into the fields to gather wholsome Herbs who are very carefull least they should gather any thing that is poysonous And when they have made a confection they set it up carefully least any poyson should come into it The poyson of al a mans Spirit Duties is Covetousness And therefore he bids them to beware of it Or else it s taken from Souldiers for one of the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beware is properly a Military word As if he should have said stand Sentinell have your eyes open look this way and that way be Circumspect least the love of the world get into you fence your selves with al the whol Armor of God else you wil not be able to keep your selves from it They should do as Souldiers who do not only set Sentinels to look out but do set a Guard that they may keep the place that is in danger of the Enemy That which I shal do in the explication of the Point is to shew you I. What Covetousness is II. The Reasons why you should be so watchfull against it and heedful of it I. What Covetousness is for the great difficulty of the Point lies in the explication of what Covetousness is which may be taken two waies Either as it is a general Or as it is a special sin In generall or as it is a general sin and so it goes in a double Notion First It is a minding of Earthly things as the Apostle expresseth it in Phil. 3.19 It 's taken in generall for that evil frame of heart whereby a man when he hath once sinned desires to commit the same or another And so it is taken in Isa 57.17 For the Iniquity of his Covetousness was I wrath and I did hide my self The Hebrew word signifies any kind of desire whatsoever Not only after Riches as Covetousness is but after any thing that is unlawfull And it 's probable yea more than probable that the Holy Ghost doth so take it because he saith they did go on in the way of their own heart that is they did what they listed the more they sinned the more they had a mind to sin And the Apostle in Ephes 4.19 saith concerning some men that they did commit all sin with greediness In the Greek it is with Covetousness the Apostle there only speaks concerning the boundless appetite that is in men to do as much as they can against God The grossest sins that are contentfull and pleasurable are gainfull to them so that in the Scripture Covetousness somtimes signifies that desire of men to commit sin after they have once committed it and are left by God to take pleasure and contentment in it Secondly As it 's a general sin in that sense so also as it is an uncontentedness with a mans outward condition I say it is an uncontentedness in Heb. 13.5 it 's said Let your Conversation be without Covetousness and be content with such things as you have Uncontentedness is less than discontent For he is uncontented who is not well pleased But he is discontented who frets murmurs repines that thinks much of Gods distributions and that envies another that hath more than himself So you have it laid down in Psalm 37.1 Fret not thy self because of the wicked And by the Prophet Isaiah in Chap. 8. verse 21. where he brings in men which cannot have that liberty from their Enemies which they desire They do rage against God They do curse their Ring and their God and look upwards As a Dropsie is a thirst which is not to be quenched Drink and you are still dry So there is an evill frame of heart in men to be unsatisfied with any thing that God doth for them and that is called Covetousness Because that Covetousness is an uncontentedness with a mans outward Condition or a desire of more therefore it 's a breach of all the Commandments of the second Table by which mens outward Conditions are ordered As it is wel observed that as the first Commandment hath an influence into all the Commandments of the first Table The Love of God being the Sum of that So the last Commandment which forbids to Covet hath an influence into all the Duties of the second Table As for example In 1 Thes 4.6 the Apostle doth there call Adultery or mens lusting after their Neighbors Wives Covetousness when a man Commits Adultery he is there said to be Covetous Let no man go beyond or defraud his Brother Defraud But the word in Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Covet to be covetous You have it
Now that word in the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he will do with us as one that is Covetous The meaning is this Look as a Covetous man doth desire to be possessed of that which he hath not so doth the Devil lie at the Catch that he may seiz upon any spirit That which I bring it for is this That the Holy Ghost sets out al the devices and evill waies of Satan by this name of Coveting Because a man is as pat to sin as the Devill is to tempt And a man is made as covetous by sinning as the Devil is in his unsatisfied spirit So the greatness of the sin appears in this that it is the root of all sin and because of that it is the Cause of all sin It 's a sin that never goes alone but ingenders many others In whatever person it is it doth so If Covetousness fals upon Soldiers then in Luke 3.14 When they are not content with their wages they do violence and accuse falsly If Covetousness fals upon a Magistrate it makes him that he is partiall by Covetousness And therefore the mark of a good Magistrate is That he must fear God and have Covetousness Because Bribes blind the Eyes the Judgment If Covetousness fals upon Ministers it will in 1 Tim. 6.5 make them fall into perverse disputings for they suppose that Gain is Godliness If it fals upon an ordinary Christian there you shal find that it goes not alone neither for in Matth. 13.22 together with the deceitfulness of riches there goes the Cares as the Text saith of this life He that received seed among the thornes is he that heareth the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choak the word and he becometh unfruitfull In Luke 8.14 there is another sin ariseth from it besides unfruitfulness and that is that men take pleasure in the things of this life That which fel among thorns are they which when they have heard go forth and are choaked with Cares and Riches and pleasures of this life And that you may see how strong a vertue there is in Covetousness to bring forth these sins mark the Text. When they have heard the word they go forth that is all the reason why the word of God and all the allurements of the word of God are not able to stay the heart from these Courses A Sin may be said to bring forth or to be the cause of sin divers waies 1. As it is the Cause of Gods withdrawing Grace from a man which should keep him from future sins And Covetousness doth this In Isaiah 57.17 For the Iniquity of his Covetousness I was wroth with him and he went on in the way of his own heart He went on A speech in the Hebrew which is taken from the speech of Cain in Gen. 4.14 I shall go wandring up and down saith he and have none to protect me and therefore shall be exposed to the wrath of al men and Creatures So saith God from their Covetousness it came to pass that they went and did what they would And how came this for the Iniquity of his Covetousness I hid my self from him Gods hiding did go before their doing what they would And Gods hiding was caused by their Covetousness 2. One sin may be the cause of another because it inclines the heart to another sin And in this respect Covetousness is the root of al sin because the Divel doth graft upon such a heart what temptations he pleaseth He observed Cain was covetous and that he had a mind to be building He therefore makes him neglect the means of reconciling himself unto God for his sin against his Brother Judas was covetous and he suggests to him to betray his master Demas was an Apostate and he fel away by the meanes of covetousness as appeares by the third Ground where the seed was sowen among thornes that is the covetous heart As wood that is dry is on fire as soon as a sparkle is put to it In such a temper is the soul when it is ful of the love of earthly things I shal speak more to that afterward 3. One sin may be the cause of another because it administers matter unto another And so covetousness breeds envying and strife or dissention with others But it is said to be the root of al sin in another and higher sense and that is 4. Because it is both a Parent and a ruler of other sins It s a Parent to them Out of the bowels of Covetousness comes pride 1 Tim. 6.17 Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high minded And unbeleife But trust in the living God And neglect of religion for Covetousness is Idolatry And fraud and deceit and unquietness and hardness of heart Take heed least your hearts be hardned through the deceitfulness of riches Pharoah you know was made by nothing so stout and stubborn against the commandement of God to let the people of Israel go as by this That his profit should go he should loose the labor of so many men and so many vassals And as Covetousness is a Parent to sin So it s a Prince and Ruler over them Those sins that do respect the self same and are ruled by one another Now because that the end of Covetousness is to get to a mans self abundance Therefore Covetousness sets on work the tongue to lie the hand to defraud the understanding to plot the Judgment to suspect and doubt of God The wil to make much of al advantages of Gain Do but reckon up the children and the childrens children do but reckon up the subjects that are under this Prince Covetousness and you shal find that al the whole Catalogue of sins that can be named are one way or other either descended from or allyed unto it In 2 Cor. 2.7 Saith the Apostle Comfort them least they be swallowed up by Satan of sorrow for if you do not comfort them saith he Satan wil take advantage of us as it is translated but the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we be not Covetous or used by Satan or Satan do with us as with Covetous men What is that saith he he leads them into al kind of sin and so he would us To deny ordinances and meanes of Grace and so we should fil up our iniquity To lay down but one thing more wherein the sinfulness of it may appear And that is 5. In the baseness of it There is not a lust that doth more debase a man then Covetousness doth Therefore it s said that a man is a servant to Mammon You cannot serve God and Mammon It debaseth the soul in its nature for God Made it to look after things not seen It debaseth a mans body in its posture for God hath made it tread upon the earth out of whose bowels it came Look how unnatural it is for fowles to live in the earth So it s for the soul
but speak the word saith he and my servant shall be healed And there are some things that the Scripture saith are hard to God there is more of God required to do them than other things And some things that are but possible unto God As if he should have said It 's all that God can do If there were but a whit of less strength in him he were not able to make a man that is covetous to beleeve Give me leave to speak with reverence according to the expression His strength is matched It 's as much as he can do It is but possible to him to make a rich man that is in love with this present evil world to come to Heaven And as if the Apostle Paul could not say enough to shew the hardness of being cured of this sin you shall find him heaping up words in 1 Tim. 6.9 There are Temptations and there are Snares and there are Sorrows The word properly signifies the pains of a Woman in Travel which can neither be avoided nor prevented and are impossible to be born long And he saith they are drowned in perdition and destruction having reference unto the 18. Chapter of Matthew at the 66. verse It was a kind of death to the Assyrians to tie a Mill Stone about a mans neck and to throw him into a deep water Look how there is no hope of saving such a man so little hope there is of a covetous man Observe it he speaks rather of such a man that was covetous who had made profession of Religion and known the truth rather than any other and he saith of them That they Pierce themselves through The word signifies they do as it s said of Julius Caesar that they came about him so with Bodkins and Swords that his Body was as a Butt or Pin-cushion there was not a whole place in him he was wounded in Back and Belly in Armes and Legs and in every part there was a wound So saith the Apostle You wil be by the Cares of this world you will be run through and through and through with Cares and Sorrows And what hope is there of a man when he lives thus when sin hath such advantage of him how hard a matter is it to be cured I have bin the longer in the explication because it is the sin of the times and the sin of Professors CHAP. IV. Use 1. Follâ—◠〈◊〉 Callings Use 2. Seek the Kingdom of 〈◊〉 and his righteousness and other things shall be added Use 3. Let all your care be for eternal life to be rich in God Use 4. You shall have all the things of this life that are needfull if you wil look after Grace Godly men never want but when they cannot be content to be at God's dispose Use 5. See your life lie in Grace not in Riches USE I. FOllow your Callings For the living in a particular calling is as necessary to pluck down the rankness of a mans spirit and to make him fit to serve God I say it is as necessary in its kind as the word is in its kind There are some sins that arise from the body and diligence in a particular calling mortifies them Follow your Callings Take what providence casts upon you in them but be not sollicitous Beloved Do not care how it may be with you so you may but provide for eternity Be content with a little so you may but have Grace If you have Food and Raiment be quiet As upon a day of fast a man may eat so much as may fit him to the work so my Beloved care for no more all the time of your life than what may keep you from temptations and inable you to the work of your Calling And that work of your calling you may certainly do for God whatever your condition be Turn all your care unto this that you may treasure up riches in Heaven What matter it if you be poor or have or not have as long as you do enjoy Christ This is the great exhortation of our Lord Jesus Christ in this place That time that men spend in forecasting how they should do in ill times that time is all lost and should be spent only in this How they may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a world to come I say it is all lost 〈◊〉 use you are not able to secure those things And it 's worse than lost because it is a sin to care for to morrow Prudently dispose of what God hath given you but be not troubled though you cannot so dispose of things as to save you from evill Be not afraid of any evill that can befall you fear nothing but sin and Gods wrath It is your wisdom to do so A wise man on a Journey cares not if his lodging be hard and diet course because he is upon his way and thinks to have better at home The love of his business makes him not think of these things What is your business but to provide for Heaven What is your home but to dwell with Jesus Christ and to have Communion with him Therefore mind not other things never be troubled what you are in other respects USE II. And let me add this in the second place That the more care you take for spirituall things the more care God will take for your earthly estate Seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shal be added to you in Math. 6.33 For al these things your Heavenly Father cares for that is if you care not In Heb. 13.5 6. Let your Conversation be without Covetousness for he hath said he wil never leave you nor forsâ—ke you God enters into Bond to save that man harmless from all losses and evils in the world that does but mind the things of him He were an unjust master to set us a work and to leave us to our own finding Is it not better a great deal to be at Gods hand than at your own That he should find you than your selves Therefore speak to your hearts after this manner I cannot by my care add one Cubit to my stature and make one business go well and get in one debt and take one penny the more and get one new Customer Let me speak to you in your own language If so be that I do what I can it wil be no advantage to me in these things But if I be careful to make my peace with God to get my pardon Sealed to get my waies Sanctified God wil give me so much of these as I need he hath enough and he wil give me liberally so that I shall have no cause to complain If I have not so much as another yet notwithstanding I shall have a blessing with what I have and that will be more than anothers much If men did put themselves upon this that it is to be their care to look to their Souls and when they have used meanes for their estates and bodies to leave all to God's disposing
and did beleeve that then God would bless them How many then would give that precious time strength and Spirit which now runs out to the world unto the service of God USE III. If every one that would attain to eternall life must take heed of Covetousness Then let all your care be for eternall life to be rich in God as Christ saith in verse 21. Be rich in God that is in the things of God and in the things that are for Gods Glory God doth not call you from the world to put you upon a loss but to turn your affections upon the right Object It 's not to undo you but to make you in better things As Parents when they would wean the Child from the Nurse unto themselves they make the nurses breast black and they fear the Child So saith Christ take heed and look to your selves when he hath no other end in it but that he may have your love and you have his at length Many will say saith David in Psal 4.7.8 Who will shew us any good but saith he Thou hast put more gladness into my heart than when Corn and Wine increase As if he should have said when the Devill sees men inquiring after happiness and salvation he does shew them good he presently meets them as Abraham did the Gibeonites wih Corn and Wine the things of this life and takes off their hearts from happiness And it is so prevailing a means Math. 4.9 that he betook himself to that alone when he tempted Christ All this will I give thee When he had shewed him all the Glory of the world that is when he had made the world as glorious as possible it could be to the mind of Christ He did not do unto Christ as unto us deceive our fancies but he put the greatest Glory upon Riches that could be and then he thought that Jesus Christ would bow down to him If the Devil cannot make a man as prophane and as loose as he desires then he will make a man Religious but mingle Covetousness with it He will stir up a man as it is reported by one that writes of the walkings and apparisions of the Devill The Devil came to many a man in Luthers time and provoked them to stand for Justication and lay aside popish Religion but he told them also they should get so much by the bargain And when he mingled this Poyson with that Wine he did bring them to as much formality as they were in before in their ignorance They were as bad as before because of only their Covetousness When he hath once got a man under his power he wil make him to grind at this mil as they did Sampson Therefore the Love of the world is called in 1. Tim. 6.9 The Devils snare and bond And it is the sin of the Jews by which they were and are kept from embracing Christ They did look after an earthly Kingdom Be not hindred of true happiness by those things Barter not away your souls for an abundance of the things of this life Let not your minds run out after what you see or what is to be had besides grace and holiness and communion with God Our Lord Jesus Christ is moved to see one got into good Company here in this Chapter at the 13. verse seeming to have an inheritance here to neglect to get Salvation and Grace Grace and the favor of God are true riches and al other things are not so They are but shadows of riches and therefore called a fancy Agrippa his poâ—… and Glory is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 25. Acts 23. Though a man seem to be blessed of God when he hath this world yet it is but seemingly so And therefore the scripture calls it a fashion 1. Cor. 7.31 Rom. 12.2 The fashion of this world But there is no true goodness in riches In Luke 2.21 Saith Christ a man that treasures up for himself is not rich in God That treasures up for himself That is Riches are but a particular good that may serve a mans self but that is all it can do It makes a man leave God who is a universal good That only is true Riches which doth procure to a man all good and that nothing can do but what comes from God which is Grace USE IV. You shal have al the things of this life if you wil look after Grace Al that is needful Godliness hath the promise of this life It gives content 1 Tim. 6.6 That is as much as a man doth either need or desire if his desires be rational and spiritual It gives content The word that the Apostleuseth for content is a word that is used among Common wealths that have al things in themselves and need not other Countries Religion needs not be beholden to any estate and condition or any thing in this world for any thing that belongs to this life Godly men do never want but when they cannot be content to be at Gods dispose He wants not that is content He hath content whose wil is conformable unto God There are at the least twenty several sences of that in Psal 37.25 I never saw the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread But that which is most probable from the Context and scope of the Psalme is I never saw A righteous man 〈◊〉 it is a righteous man that doth not fret at thâ—… prosperity of wicked men Not begging bread that is in want Let any be of a liberal spirit willing to part with what God gives him when God doth cal and that man never wants Men that have dogs appetites are never satisfied When meat feeds humors then parents deny their children meat So doth God when he sees what he gives doth not work conformity to his wil. Do you mind your work and God wil care for your maintenance And you shal have spiritual things at a better rate and on easier terms then you have earthly things The paines you take for heaven shal bring you in communion with God which cannot be got by your indeavors God wil not put you to more nor so much in working for him as you put your selves to in getting the world Wicked men have been at death convinced of this Had I saith one been as good a servant to God as to the King I had been happy Yea those that know better what it is to prepare for Heaven than others do complain that they are not so carefull for spirituall things as they are for the things of this life When they go about Riches or the things that concerns Riches they are buried in the business and there their thoughts are intent but at prayer and Hearing their Thoughts are divided and their Hearts are wandering and yet still they grow in Grace Psal 127.2 It 's in vain to go to bed late or rise up early so he gives his Beloved sleep that is without this carking care he gives them sleep that sleep is a Lying in
your selves to eternal life by abundance You cannot purchase it Psal 49.7 That is a Purchase that must be let alone No man is able to give the thousand part of the purchase of it if he had all the world to give No you are not able to purchase it Covetousness breeds listlesness of spirit and a senslesness of the things that are eternal As while a man looks upon the Sun he cannot well see other things So while a man is in the Earth and darkness he cannot well bear the light of the Sun so a man whose spirit is accustomed to the care of this cannot well get his heart into converse with God Therefore set this down with your selves that abundance is rather to be feared than desired Riches are rather Pricks than Thrones rather Rocks whereon you dash your selves than any thing that will do you good to help you to the end whereunto you are designed and born withall for by God That shal suffice for this use CHAP. VI. Use 7. Mortifie your desire after Riches and abundance slay it in the first motion towards it Motives of two sorts First Such as are taken out of the Armory of Reason I. Your happiness does not lie in any thing that does belong to this life These things are for you you are their end and your end is God II. You put a greater Glory and excellency upon them than does belong to them III. Riches are not desirable 1. God hath not made them to that end to make men happy 2. Desires after them is the way to hinder the getting of them 3. The way of Gods Riches is rather casuall than as an answer to Praier 4. They will not satisfie 5. There is no pleasure in them when we have them USE VII MOrtifie therefore your desires after Riches and abundance Diet your selves in these things as your would run the Race and have the Crown In Colos 3.5 Mortifie saith the Apostle your members that are upon the Earth Fornication Vncleanness Adultery evil concupiscence and Covetousness That which I shall desire you to observe is this That the Apostle doth put a great many sins together as those which are to be slain and among them Covetousness is one He joyns it with Uncleanness Because as you are to be afraid of the first tickling to that sin so you ought to be of the first motion unto the love of the world The first motion of discontent with a mans present state should be mortified as well as the first motion to Adultery As a severe and cruell Conqueror follows his Souldiers and bids them kil and slay and not give quarter unto any but especially he names some persons which he would have them be severe against So doth the Apostle bid them to mortifie all sins but especially he names Covetousness Cease not my Beloved therefore to pursue it til you have slain it And know that you have not slain and killed it until you can delight your selves and rejoyce in your present Condition though you have but a smal portion of the things of this life Then I say Covetousness is mortified when as a man doth delight and rejoyce himself though that he hath but a very smal portion of the things of this life In Psal 37.4 saith David Delight thy self in the Lord his meaning is this Be as cheerfully pleasantly contented if you have but God as if you had together with him al the world In the outward portion that God gives you delight in God for in the verses before he had spoken of wicked men as those that flourished like a Tree in the spring and prospered and increased in al things But saith he unto the Godly delight thy self in the Lord that is though you be not so though you prosper not though you be like a Tree that is withered A mans happiness is not in abundance for a man is not one Inch nearer Heaven for al the Mountains of Gold that he hath I shall therefore now unto the putting you upon this Duty give you some motives And when I have done that some tryals The motives are of two sorts they are either such as are taken out of the Armory of Reason such as the Common light which even the Heathen had from God do afford Or else they are such as are taken out of the Scripture from supernaturall and Gracious respects First Be contented with what you have for your happiness doth not lie in abundance nor in any thing that doth belong to this life Were your happiness in riches then your desires ought to be infinite and boundless to be set upon them for themselves But if so be that you have riches you are not the better and if you want them you are not the worse Al the things of this life are for you You are their end your end is God These do not commend you unto him The Poor receive the Gospel With him it 's all one whether you be bond or free so you be in Jesus Christ and but a new Creature Take al the riches in the world together and they are not able to take away the pains and miseries of your bodies A Crown of Gold upon the head wil not keep it from aching A Scepter in the hand wil not cure the Palsie Herods Riches and Glory could not kil a Worm Much less then are they able to satisfie your Consciences or to get you favor with God Nay my Beloved let me add this that if you wil not be contented with that portion God gives you your are further off from Gods favor by them when the Apostle in Colos 3.5 had named Covetousness in verse 6. he saith For such things cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience Mark it He doth not put Uncleanness or Fornication last that so he might fasten the danger and the eminency of the wrath of God against it but he names Covetousness last and he saith For that the wrath God c. the word properly signifies a vindictive defire A hanging after ones ruine A being unsatisfied until such time as he hath destroyed As far as such a kind of affection can be attributed unto God justly so far you are to apprehend it in him against those that are Covetous And that not sometimes but alwayes for saith he the wrath of God is come or for such things the wrath of God comes He doth not say It shal come but he saith it is come I say the wrath of God is a desire of revenge and he saith not that it shal come but that it is come The sin of Covetousness is a punishment to it self brings punishments every day one on the neck of the other for saith he for this the wrath of God comes So that a mans happiness is not in riches for the desire of riches keeps a man from happiness Secondly Your desire after Riches puts a glory and excellency upon them which is not native or which belongs not to
6. In that its joy is full when it comes to know that it hath by Faith received Jesus Christ FOr the further discovery therefore of this joy and Faith wherein this willingness to beleeve and love of Christ appears I shall name these six particulars First Wherever there is true Faith in any measure the Soul doth love to hear the Doctrine of faith of Jesus Christ Of al truths that is most pleasing And most pleasing not only because it 's most profitable but because it 's most self-denying If so be the Soul would make its choice or call for any thing out of the Book of God before another it should be for somthing that laies open Christ and presseth beleeving on him How beautifull are the Feet of them that bring glad tidings Rom. 10.15 How beautifull that is they are as lovely as can be Nay so lovely as no words are able to express How beautifull The Apostle Paul did desire to know nothing among the Corinthians but Jesus Christ and him crucified 1 Cor. 2.2 that is he desired to make nothing else known And look what it was in him preaching so in every Beleever In Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the power of his Death and the vertue of his Resurrection These things a man loves and he loves to hear spoken of and discoursed of Evil men therefore do love corrupt words and unsavory language Beleevers they love to hear of Jesus Christ His name is sweet and precious Not only to hear of him as a story but as a person whereof there is need and of whom there is use and absolute necessity unto salvation First I say the heart loves to hear of Jesus Christ Acts 13.42 When the Apostle had preached in the name of Christ all that were good came to him and prayed him to preach that over the next Sabbath day or as it is in some translations between this and the next Sabbath day as the word may well be rendred And he did as you may read there As in John 6. they cryed out ever more give us this bread so the poor Soul desires to hear of that again and again When Lidia heard Paul preach Jesus Christ she attended as one that would not lose a fillable nor a word of what was spoken concerning jesus Christ Acts 16.14 How heautifull as I said before are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of peace It is good to love the Law of God which teacheth a man his duty like one that is carefull to do his masters will Psal 1.2 He meditates therein day and night But it 's a better sign for a man to love the Gospel of Jesus Christ the glad tidings of him As I shal shew you if I come to it that there is not only as great honor given unto God thereby but thereby a man if more humbled and abased in himself and made nothing than by all that obedience which the Law requires or by all that sense of misery that the Law works in us because we have not done our duty A man hath meaner thoughts of himself when he thinks he must beleeve or he cannot be saved than he hath when he thinks if he be called to an account he must needs perish because he hath transgressed Gods Law The soul loves that law which shews its own face in a glass with al its spots upon it But it loves that glass better in which it beholds the face of God For thereby it is transformed from Glory to Glory 2 Cor. 3. last Out of a spirit of indignation and wrath against a mans selfe and sin a man is glad to heare any thing that can be against himself and his sin But out of a love of Christ and out of the love of greater excellencies in Christ then is in a mans self a man is glad to heare rather of Christ then of himself his name is as ointment powred forth Cant. 1.3 There is nothing in the scripture but what is sweet and as hony But the Gospel is as the hony-comb The whole scripture is as a sugared cup But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is as the bottom of that cup. Secondly Where ever there is true faith there is a desire and longing after Faith and Jesus Christ As new borne babes as the Text saith in 1. Pet. 2.3 A desire formally O Lord said the Disciples unto Jesus Christ increase our faith O Lord that we may receive our sight For its faith alone that makes us see the things freely given us of God and to know the treasury of grace and mercy which doth and hath lain hid from eternity And so there is also a vertual desire after Christ in al beleevers They long after the meanes whereby faith is wrought If you have rasted how good the Lord is As new borne babes you wil desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby Though that a Child cannot distinguish rationally between the Milk of the breast and that which is sugared It cannot tel that this is the one and this is the other But it hath a tast by which it can and nothing pleaseth but the mothers breast The Child cannot ask for it nor describe it but you may know it loves it because it is stilled with it and quieted with it So may be the case of many a Christian He may not be able by reason or by discourse or argument to make out the desirableness of Jesus Christ above al other things the excellencies of Jesus Christ above al other waies There may be Rhetorick put upon al other things beyond al that which he can see through or put upon the things of Jesus Christ But you wil find his heart quieted with nothing but Jesus Christ Let him pray with never so much in largedness and affections let him hear with never so much understanding and live with never so much unblameableness in the world yet al this is nothing his heart is unquiet because it is not according to what the law requires And if he sees no fault in it yet there is fault which the pure eyes of God behold when he comes to look it through and through And he hath no peace but when he comes to beleeve in Jesus Christ and receive peace from him What is there in al the meanes of salvation which thou longest after What is it which thou wouldest carry home with thee Is it somthing that may draw Jesus Christ nearer to thee and make him more lovely to thee So much thou mayest conceive of hope of thy state of Salvation The Love of Jesus Chrst is described by this that nothing gives the heart so much quiet and in nothing is the heart so much taken up and contented as it is with this that Jesus Christ is the Mediator and undertaker and is the surety and doth al with the father And that It doth do al with the father by him The heart being pleased and contented argues
the desire to be after him Thirdly Where ever there is faith there is love even a high esteeme of Jesus Christ and God the father in him and a high valuation of him as one that is good and true and able and liberal Not only an acknowledgment of these vertues to be in him but an estimation of him for them And the reason is this There is no one you know can beleeve or trust another whom though he doth know to be able to discharge his promise yet he doth not esteem of No wise man you know wil trust him whom he judges to be vain and careless of his word that wil speak any thing If so be any one makes a promise and be not known to be rich and besides that to be powerful so as none can hinder him from the fulfilling of it If he be not esteemed good and liberal that wil not think much of what he parts withal We wil not trust him In faith therefore there is a love of the Glory of God And so you have it described in Rom. 4.21 That Abraham did beleeve and give Glory unto God While he was meditating on the promise and the difficulty of receiving and it came into his mind yet he said again though that I be weak yet he is able though that I be dead yet he lives for ever though that unto me there belongs no such mercy yet he is liberal Such indeed our faith in God is as our esteem is of God As our esteem is of God such is our love Where we see little of excellency there is little love where we see much there is much love It is a peece of love A duty an act of love which the soul shews unto God that it wil suffer no blame to light upon him that it wil have nothing I say nothing imputed or charged upon his account but he must stand fair and cleer and without blemish and spot in al that ever he saith and doth what ever becomes of the soul Nay saith a beleever in this case The fault is not in God but in me the reason lyes not in any want of love in him but in the folly and carelessness of my own spirit The reason why I want any thing is not because I desire any thing of God which he is not ready prepared to the doing of but it is only because I have a withdrawing heart That is the third thing Fourthly The Soul that doth willingly beleeve doth even suffer it self to be wrought upon by God if he please unto Jesus Christ It leaves it self in the hand of God to be wrought upon even as he pleaseth That whereas before it was wont to murmur and repine and think much and hardly that God would take nothing but satisfaction and be pacified by no means but by the blood of his Son Now it saith Let the Lord do with me even what he pleaseth so he will but unite me to and make me one with Jesus Christ He puts himself like Clay into the hands of him that He may frame and fashion the Spirit according to his own mind You have the expression concerning John Baptist in Math. 3. When Christ came to him to be baptized said John Do you come unto me Suffer it to be so saith Christ for so it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness and then he suffered him So the Soul is brought by God unto this to let or suffer God to confute what reasoning he pleaseth in him to suggest such apprehensions as are contrary to his own sense and imagination In John 6.53 Christ told them that if they did not eat his Flesh and drink his blood they had no share in him and the Text saith that many did murmur at the Doctrine And such is the temper of the heart of man when Christ comes to deal with him about salvation that he is offended at him at the Call he gives and is offended that he will not allow him any confidence or comfort in any thing or for any thing that he hath done Must there be so much supernaturall vertue required to obtain eternall life or it must not be had As a Patient is told by the Physitian somtimes You must so many daies take this course forbear this diet and take these bitter Pils He begins to think he is injuriously dealt withall But the Physitian tels him if you will not take this course you will die Then he lets him do what he will So the Soul saith unto Jesus Christ Lord take any course in the world with me If thou wilt have me to lie down in sorrow If thou wilt have me be without those means and refreshings that I have had heretofore If it be thy pleasure that I shall lie upon thorns in comparison of what I have done before do what thou wilt Only save me in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ As a man saith to a Physitian whom he hath a long time refused to be directed by the Counsel of saith he I do even submit my self to you prescribe what you please use your own method take what course your wisdom thinks good Let the things you give be bitter and let the things you with-hold from me be never so good as Air or food So the Soul leaves it self to Jesus Christ and lets him do with it what he will which was the case of Paul in Acts 9.6 Lord what would'st that I do Lord what wouldst thou that I do do thou have care of me for I have none of my self I give up my self to thee Fifthly The Soul is exceeding glad and refreshed when it can do any thing to take away its confidence and its support that it hath any where but only in Jesus Christ I say the Soul is glad that it hath nothing to help it but Faith and that Faith hath nothing to lean upon but only Jesus Christ When one stone is not left upon another of all that which a man hath built to rest himself in When as the pillows are pluckt from under the head and a man is left as it were dying and from under the elbow that a man hath nothing to support him yet then the Soul takes pleasure contentment There is a pleasure contentment to have all sweet morsels taken from a man that it may feed alone upon the Lord Jesus Christ when it can convince its self that in such a course there wil be no safety nor salvation found it rejoyceth exceedingly We have no confidence in the flesh Phil. 3. but rejoyce in Christ Jesus Rejoyce when we have no confidence in the flesh It is said concerning the Saints that they wash their feet in the bloud of the ungodly and when the vengeance overtakes them they say This is the man that made not God his refuge but trusted in his riches As it is in Psal 52.6.7 said of Doeg So doth the Soul Glory and insult over all its vain confidences when