most commonly the poor receiv the gospel most commonly godly men are the poorest men why in the house of the righteous is much treasure truly the riches they have are precious because they are the fruit of the promise and come in by vertue of the second Covenant and by this means they have a propriety in them that other men have not but Mr. Cartwright translates the word and it will fitly bear it In the righteous mans house there is much strength as if he had said all the care of men is to keep what they have and therefore provide to have it under locks bolts and use all ways and means to preserve it but take a godly man that hath an interest in God and is truly righteous and can say The estate that I have I have justly gotten This is a better way to preserve it then all other means in the world therefore would you preserve treasure on earth labour to get an interest in treasures in heaven And to this end make you friends of the unrighteous Mammon that you may have a greater interest in God the true treasure And for a conclusion remember this you that have not God for your treasure here you shall never have him if you have no interest in God for your treasure in this life for after this life a mans chief good doth never change What was thy treasure shall ever be so thou hast a treasure but if it be below God it shall be thy tormentor A mans eternal estate is cast here and being so that which was a mans chief good must continue so to him and therefore fear before God if thou hast not thy treasure laid up in God in this life he will never be thy treasure and reward and yet in the life to come God will be all in all and that God thou hast then no interest in for as a man sows here so shall he reap hereafter I know not what to preach to you that ought more to affect you And so much for this Exhortation Lay up treasure in Heaven There is one Use remaining of this Doctrine and t is of Consolation to all the Saints of God You have seen the misery of those that erre in their chief good Give me leave now for the comfort and support of the hearts of Gods people to shew them their happiness in this that whatever they are in this world yet in regard of their chief good they have not miscarried Oh blessed soul that hast not mis-placed thy treasure that dost not err in that which is thy chief good I confess a godly man is every way a blessed man he is blessed in regard of the pardon of his sin Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin Psal 32. 1. He is blessed in regard of the disposition of his soul Blessed are the pure in heart blessed are the meek blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness He is blessed in all the ordinances Blessed are they that dwell in thy house Matth. 5. 8. Psalm 84. 4. He is blessed in his obedience blessed are they that are undefiled in the way and walk in the Law of the Lord Psal 119. 1. Nay he is blessed in his expectations Isa 30. 8. Blessed are they that wait for him He is blessed even in affliction Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest out of thy Law Psal 94. 12. A godly man is therefore every way blessed But wherein lies the top of his blessedness the height of it lies in this he is blessed in his chief good there is the top of all his blessedness unto which all these things are but inferior and subordinate Consider I beseech you look to the Angels of glory in heaven the elect Angels they are blessed in their inward qualifications and indowments their wisdom their holiness their power their zeal they are blessed likewise in regard of their office and imployment they are principalities and powers imployed by Christ in ordering things below ministring spirits the spirit of the living Creatures is in the wheels they are blessed in their activity in those offices they go and come like lightning it s the prophets expression Ezek 1. 19. but wherein lies the top of their blessedness truly in this they have pitcht aright upon their chief good they have not erred in their treasure Nay the Lord Jesus Christ himself as Mediator he was every way blessed he is the heir of all things he is one appointed to glory and a glory suitable to the service that he did perform which neither man nor angel was able to do but wherein lies the top of the blessedness of the Mediator Psal 16. 4. The Lord is my portion saith my soul It s the Mediators speech his blessedness lay in his chief good the same thing is true of the glorified Saints in heaven the souls of just men are made perfect Reckon up what you will of the glory of the soul or the glory of the body that remains after the resurrection when they shall shine as the Sun in the kingdom of the father yet this is the top of all they have pitcht upon the right chief good On the contrary what is the miserie of the Devil and those damned spirits in hell Pray consider what I say to you t is very true there is nothing wanting to make them miserable if you look upon their sinfulness you must consider in Hell peccatum etiam habet rationem poenae and sin there is a punishment why if you consider likewise the bottomless pit the burning Lake in which they are shut up held in chains under darkness all this I say makes them miserable add to all these the worm of conscience that is ever gnawing for so t is in all those damned spirits why all this you will say must needs make them very miserable but what is the top of their miserie wherein doth that lie It lies in this I have erred in my chief good t is Chrysostoms expression concerning it put ten thousand hells together here is the worst there is none like this that I have forsaken God and God hath forsaken me I have hated God and now the Lord hates me put ten thousand hels together there is most in this here indeed doth lie the top of their miserie as this was the height of their folly But what needs so long dilating upon this you will say Why Truly because as I would speak comfort to Gods people so I would have them consider rightly of the comforts proposed for there are many grounds of comfort to the Saints and they may make use of them all and they are to do it in their season according to their order yet notwithstanding that which is the great comfort should be in the first place even in respect of taking comfort that which is the great ground of comfort that the soul
chief good therefore the soul breaths no other breath My soul pants after God gasps after God breaths after God saith David Psal 42. 1. In this the soul lives this is the breathing place of the soul Lastly here only is animae requies the rest of the soul Return unto thy rest oh my soul Psal 116. 7. Now it is only the chief good that the soul rests in this is only the object of fruition the soul is restless until it come to this but it is ever moving towards it these be the reasons why the heart of man must of necessity be where the treasure is But now the next thing is how is the heart of man carried after its treasure doth it always go after it that the heart is where the chief good is continually how is it carried after it Here give me leave to lay down six Conclusions which are of marvellous great use and great truths every one of them I shall but name them though they need a great deal of explication First the heart goeth after the treasure continually the soul of man is always active never idle and what 's the reason of all its motions truly t is well observed by the Schools that Summum bonnum est omnium operationum origo The chief good is the reason of all the motions of the soul the soul moves continually after it now from thence all motions do arise Eccles 2. 23. he speaks there of a covetous rich man whose chief good is his wealth there is his treasure his heart takes no rest at night saith he his boâ—iâ— that is necessitated to take rest but his heart is restless because still it is carried after its treasure and therefore day and night is never at rest always moving what is the reason because still it is carried after the treasure continually Secondly The heart goes after the treasure infinitely unsatiably that where a mans treasure and chief good is there the heart is never satisfied but it is going out after it without measure those that place it here below you know the expression Habbak 1. 15. they imarge their defires as hell and can never be satisfied true the chief good indeed gives measure to all subordinate things but it is without measure it self so that he that hath a treasure his heart is infinitely carried after it whether it be below or above he is never satisfied oh the infiâ—iâ—e dis-satisfaction in the soul that hath once set the Lord and chosen him for his chief good he is always growing gasping crying mourning walking after God Thirdly a mans treasure or chief good the heart takes fast hold of and possesses it for his own pray observe it there be other things indeed that the heart looks upon as other mens goods but his chief good he possesses as his own t is his own t is his treasure so observe Iob 8. 15. the place I cited before he shall not only lean upon his house but hold fast his house the Text saith take â—ow a poor covetous wretch whose money is his treasure an ambitious man his honor is his treasure take a poor proud woman and vanity in apparel is her treasure Let the judgements of God be denounced and the Ministers of God strive to take off the men they hold it fast and will not let it go they will contend for it and look upon them as the worst enemies in the world that labour to pull it from them pray observe it for in this way the heart goes out to the treasure he holds it fast and this is the true cause why conversion is a work of Almighty power because as Prosper well observes Summum bonum nemo perdit nisi volens no man loses his chief good but by his will therefore he that shall change a mans chief good must change his will which all the Angels in Heaven cannot do till God change his will he never lets go his chief good and this is the marriage of the soul that which is a mans treasure it is his marriage t is an Almighty power must break that band men are said to be married to sin upon that account Rom. 7. 5. purely because it is a mans treasure thus the heart goeth out to it the heart holds it fast take another man that makes God his Treasure and spiritual things God in Christ and what then why come temptation the man holds his treasure come desertion the man holds his treasure look to Heman Psal 88. I am free among the dead like those that lie in the grave whom thou remembrest no more yet saith he My God I cry day and night â—is God is his treasure if he lose that he is undone take God from me and I am undone or else you can never undo me the soul holds it fast he stays upon his God and leans upon his beloved this is another way how the heart goeth out to the treasure it holds it fast Fourthly if at any time the heart be shaken to its treasure and chief good it returns again shake it while you will thither it will return again take an unregenerate man and his beloved sin shakes him many times his knees shake and his bowels tremble within him yet after this the man returns to his vomit again still he returns to his treasure as the unclean spirit that goes out of the man returns so a man returns to his treasure again and so a godly man let him be by temptations shaken off from God yet notwithstanding for all that the soul returns to God again that as when you throw a bowl it may seem to run strait for a time but after the force that was put upon it is spent the biass takes it and carries it another way so it is here whiles the violence of temptation lasts the soul seems to be carried away from God but the biass of the soul takes it and carries it to the chief good again so that a godly man though his soul be shaken from God never so much hath a principle within him that reduces him again I will return to my former Husband Hos 2. 17. Somewhat will bring about the soul again as by that ordinary similitude As the needle toucht with the loadstane will come about again to its own posture so it s with the soul that hath the true touch from heaven Fifthly the change of a mans chief good is a godly mans first change t is his great change it is his chief change the great change to destruction what is that they have forsaken me as the chief good Jer. 2. 13. and digged to themselves broken Cisterns Now to return to God again is the first and chief change and that 's another reason why conversion is a work of Almighty power Who is able to exalt God in the soul as the chief good none but himself the Sctipture speaks frequently of exalting God and of the Lords exalting himself exalt thy self in thy own strength and
we shall inquire where a mans love is that by this means we may know where his heart is and I am perswaded if you take these following Rules and observe them carefully that you will not miscarry in your Judgement First Would a man know where his love is what is that he especially desires union with For amor est affectus unionis love is an affection that carries a tendency to union Now this will appear if you observe the love of God the pattern union with God was first in Gods intention because this is last in his execution the people of God in glory are brought into immediate vision of him and into the closest union with him But this being last in execution I say this was first in intention He loved them with an everlasting love that is he had intention from eâ—ernity of union with them Pray observe it there is indeed a double union with God 1. Of Dependence one is general of all the creatures and that 's a Union of dependency In him we live move and have our being Yea all the creatures have so they cannot live separate from God one moment The Angels in heaven did not this union continue they would fall to nothing immediatly there is a union of dependency but that is general and belongs to all the Creatures But there is a special Union that is peculiar to the Saints by the indwelling of God in them they dwell in God and God in them such a union as no creature in the world but a Saint hath by the elapses of God into the soul Now God loves the Saints and his love carries a tendency to union So Jesus Christ loved his people what for that he might become one with them That he that sanctifies and they that are sanctified might become one why so you will finde that the love of the people of God carries them unto union with God and Christ as the love of God and Christ carries them to union with the Saints there is indeed a natural union that is by constitution but there is a moral union by inclination by sympathy and that 's double there is a union of likeness and there is a union of fruition and enjoyment for the union that the Saints of God shall have hâ—reafter is far different from what they have here here it is of similitude there it is of enjoyment where a mans love is there is a tendency to union an inclination to union 1 Cor. 6. 17. He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit and the man that is glewed to the Lord so the word doth signifie then the man that loveth God is a man glewed to God he is united to him for union is the tendency of the heart so Sichem loved Iacobs daughter Dinah and the text saith His soul clave to her or as the Septuagint uses the same word his soul was glewed so that where a man loveth the soul goeth out to be united to that which is beloved Now if a man love God then my heart follows hard after God the soul goeth out in the pursuit of the thing beloved and all is that it may be made one with God and to this end you have two Metaphors very remarkable in the Scripture one is that of a hunter Gen. 10. 9. Nimrod was a mighty hunter Ier. 16. 16. I will bring hunters among you Prov. 23. 27. The wicked rosteth not that which he taketh in hunting What is the meaning of these expressions why they are all to set forth the pursuit of the soul after that which it loveth just as the hunter pursues the poor creature that flies so the soul what it loves it pursues and is in continual pursuit of take men that love riches and honours their souls are continually going out to union with them so a man that loves God his soul is in pursuit of God as that Hermite in a story that sometime I have read finding a great Gallant hunting in a desolate wilderness Askt him what he did there he told him He came a hunting there Et ego Deum venor meum And I said he came hither to hunt after my God t is in pursuit of my God There is another Metaphor and that is a merchandize Prov. 3. 15. the merchandize of wisdom it s spoken of trading for Christ and grace and the things of eternity he that Trades for Christ is called a Merchant man Matth. 13. 45. and so also they that trade for any earthly thing are said to be Merchants Romes merchandise you read of Rev. 18. 11. Make merchandise of souls 2. Pet. 2. 3. and of Ephraim Hos 12 7. He is a merchant what is that why the meaning is this they wholly trade for things below for as Merchant men go forth to make themselves possessors of riches make it their business so to do so it is with the soul of a man the heart is a merchant it goeth out to what it loves and never leavs till it hath possest it now I pray do you consider what is it your souls desire most what do you hunt for what do you trade in there is thy love whoever thou art if it be Jesus Christ and Communion with God and the things of eternal life if thou art in the pursuit of these constantly there is thy heart if it he after wealth and honour these thou huntest for as prey assuredly there is thy love and thy heart and thy treasure that 's the first Rule Secondly would a man know where his love is the nearer love comes to the thing beloved the swifter it moves the nearer a mans love comes to possess the thing he loves the swifter it moves yea it stretches after it then see it in worldly things or else what means that expression Psal 62. 10. If riches increase set not your hearts upon them if you want riches set not your hearts upon them take heed of that for the nearer a man comes to enjoy them the more his heart goeth out unto them and therefore covetous men the richer they are the more miserably they scrape and gape after riches and the reason is this because the nearer a mans love comes to the thing beloved the swifter it moves after it and with the greater earnestness Hab. 1. 6. There is a man that loads himself with thick clay the man hath already too much for his graces for his parts for his comforts and already too much for his accompt but yet notwithstanding the more he hath the more his heart grasps after it still thus it is with every mans love the nearer it comes to possess its object the swifter it moves after it so the Apostle speaks of spirituals Phil. 3. 13 14. Not that I have already obtained but I press hard to the mark I am in a vehement pursuit as if you could take a stone from the earth and place it in the Orb of the Sun yet the stone having a tendency downward still moves
therefore of the change of a mans treasure that is of a work of regeneration otherwise there is a treasure within an evil man out of an evil heart and there is a treasure without oh pray therefore learn from hence that there is no living in an unregenerate estate change thy treasure or otherways all thy changes will do thee no good The last Use I especially aim at see from hence the blessed and happy condition of a godly man whose treasure is in heaven he is blessed every way but especially in this his heart is in heaven his body is on earth its true and there is a two fold blessedness upon this account First let this man at any time go astray as godly men are subject to wander Oh let me not wander from thy Commandments Psal 119. 10. We all as sheep have gone astray but when they do wander there is somewhat still to reduce them their hearts will to their treasure my treasure is not below therefore my heart is not below and this is the true reason why a godly man cannot fall from grace because it is impossible to separate the heart and the treasure where the treasure is there will the heart be I will return unto my former husband as it is the misery of an ungodly man let him profess what he will his treasure will bring him back again still so it s the happiness of a godly man though he wander from God his treasure will reduce him and his heart will bring him back Secondly he is a blessed man who hath his heart always in heaven certainly he must needs be a happy man for he is a heavenly man but now a godly man whose treasure is in heaven his heart is there but why is he so happy a man whose heart is in heaven I will give you a brief account truly there are four accounts why he is so happy a man whose treasure is in heaven because his heart is there First because he is hereby made and evidenced to be a heavenly man 1 Cor. 15 48. the first man is of the earth earthly the second man is of the Lord from heaven heavenly here is the difference between all the men in the world there are some earthly and some heavenly men now this is an evidence thou art an heavenly man because thy treasure is in heaven as that wisdom that is conversant about earth is said to be earthly wisdom so that wisdom which is conversant about heaven is said to be heavenly wisdom my brethren an earthly minde is a plague an heavenly mind is a blessednes Secondly he that hath his heart in heaven is not subject to those impressions of change as the men whose hearts are set upon earth Here every thing is subject to change and we have nothing but changes Changes and War are against me saith Job but if a mans estate and condition change so his heart do not change it is no great matter my heart is not subject to change as I remember Tertullian observes of the Christians of his time Nil crus sentit in nervo si animus in coelo true indeed they were under great afflictions of body but their souls were in heaven out of danger the heart is out of danger its true of a man whose heart is in heaven and his heart is out of Gun-shot afflictions may work on the body make a change in the estate and outward condition but his heart is above and out of danger and therefore the people of God are said to be those that dwell in heaven Rev. 13. 6. they blasphemed the tabernacle of God and their names who were written in heaven the heart changes not for any evil because it s bound up in an unchangeable good Thirdly he is a happy man whose heart is in heaven because where his heart is his life will be and his conversation Phil. 3. 20 21. Our conversation is in heaven now keep thy heart above all keepings for out of it are the issues of life Prov. 4. 23 24. Therefore if a mans heart be on the earth his conversation will be below but if his heart be in heaven there his life and conversation will be now when other men are making great ado here below his heart all the while is taken up about God as his Father about Christ as Mediator the Spirit as the Comforter the Angels as his fellow Subjects the souls of just men made perfect his fellow Citizens Oh what a happy condition doth this man live in his heart being in heaven his life is there * Note this last head as an eminent seal to this tract his life and Ministry they being the last words he ever spake in the Pulpit Lastly it is a clear evidence to aman that his heart being in heaven his body shall shortly be there as Christ when he went to heaven was our better part and went to heaven as our forerunner just so the heart being in heaven the better part is there It is gone to heaven as the forerunner of the body and as Christs Ascention is an argument of our ascention so the ascention of the heart is a clear argument that the whole man shall be there where the heart is that they may be taken up together with the Lord in the clouds of heaven Oh what a Comfort is this no man is a happy man but he who hath his heart in heaven and his treasure there So much shall serve for the Application of this point and for this Text. Consider I humbly pray you what hath been said It is of great concernment and such as should have an influence into your whole lives and know this for a Conclusion the Word of God will not return to him empty and in vain though it may be spent upon you in vain June 25. 1654. Elisha his Lamentation Upon the sudden Translation of ELIJAH Opened in a SERMON At the Funeral of Mr. William Strong That eminently Faithful Servant and Minister of CHRIST By Obadiah Sedgwick B. D. and Preacher of the Gospel in Covent Garden Zach. 1. 5. And the Prophets do they live for ever Heb. 3. 7. To day if ye will hear his Voice London Printed by R. W. for Francis Tyton at the Sign of the three Daggers in Fleet-street near the Inner-Temple Gate 1656. To the Right Worshipful Colonel Boswell Henry Scobel Esq Mr. Thomas Rushall and to all the rest of the Congregation lately pertaining unto the care of that Faithful Pastor Mr. William Strong Preacher of the Gospel at Westminster Abbey YOu were pleased to put me upon that sad service of Preaching at the Funeral of your worthy and dear Pastor And shortly after that upon another service of Printing what I then had publikely Preached I confess that I never Preached a Sermon in this kind with more grief of heart and never did I discern a Sermon heard and attended with more weeping eyes certainly God had given in unto him the affections of