Element all that he possesses to supply his want and satisfy his desires is from pure Mercy and the more eminent the advantage of some is above others in this World the greater are their Receits and Obligations and who would be proud that he is in a mighty Debt rich and poor honourable and mean are distinctions among Men but in respect to God all are equally mean and low Neither do these things give any inherent worth and make Persons more acceptable to God Poor Lazarus who was a miserable Spectacle his Body corroded with Ulcers yet had a precious Soul under it the glorious Angels descended from Heaven to receive it at the point of Death and convey it to the reviving presence of God but the rich Man was cast into Hell Besides how uncertain are all the admired things of this World Is he truly rich whose whole Estate lies in a Ship abroad that is to pass through Seas exposed to Tempests and infested with Pirats and runs a double hazard of being rob'd or cast away And the Consideration thereof is a proper Argument to cause us to keep a low Mind in a high Condition 'T is the Apostle's counsel Let the rich and the great in the World rejoice in that he is made low because as the Flower of the Grass he shall pass away when the florid Beauty is displayed it presently withers How many survive their Estates and Dignities and by unforeseen Revolutions become poor and low Many that were overflowing in Riches and Pleasures are as dry and desolate as the Desart And is it not a disparagement to our Reason to admire Shadows and be proud of transient Vanities But suppose they continue with Men here can they preserve the Body from Diseases and Death or the Soul from oppressing Sorrows And is it not miserable folly to pride themselves in secular Greatness that is so insufficient to prevent the worst Evils But especially the consideration how Man is vilified by Sin should make him be abased and low in his own Eyes As that blessed Martyr Bishop Hooper says Lord I am Hell thou art Heaven I am a Sinck of Sin thou art the Fountain of Holiness And the more gracious and bountiful God is to Men the more sinful should they appear to themselves Humility discovers our native Poverty in the midst of rich Abundance our true Vileness in the midst of glittering Honours that nothing is ours but Sin and Misery and makes us say with the Spirit of that humble Saint We are less than the least of all God's Mercies Now the more of Humility the more of Heaven is in the Soul 't is that disposition that prepares it to receive the Graces and Comforts of the Spirit in an excellent degree God resists the Proud the Self-conceited and Aspiring he is at defiance with and abhors them he justly deprives them of Spiritual Treasures who value themselves and bear it high for the abundance of this World But he gives Grace to the Humble The due sense of our Wants and Unworthiness makes us fit to partake of Divine Blessings 2. A meek temper and deportment is an excellent preservative from the evil of Prosperity Humility and Meekness are always in conjunction and most amiable in the Eyes of God and Men. A meek and quiet Spirit which is in the sight of God of great price They are the brightest Jewels that adorn Humanity and shin'd so gloriously in our blessed Saviour the supream Pattern of Perfection and are propounded as signally imitable by us Learn of me for I am meek and lowly When he came in his Regal Office he is thus described Rejoice greatly O Daughter of Sion Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having Salvation lowly the Church is excited to rejoice in his mild Monarchy And Christians who in Profession are his Disciples are commanded to be gentle and to shew all meekness to all Men. This especially concerns those who are in a superior Order for Prosperity is apt to make Men insolent and intollerable and to treat with an haughty roughness those that are below them But there is nothing more becoming Men in Prosperity and Power than a sweetness of Spirit not easily provok'd by Injuries and easily pardoning them a gracious condescension exprest in Words and Actions even to all Inferiors And especially meekness is necessary in a submissive receiving Reproofs for Sin whether by the Ministry of the Word or by a faithful Friend Prosperity is never more dangerous than when Sin takes sanctuary in it when Men think Riches and Power to be a privilege to free them from sound and searching Reproof and damn themselves with less contradiction And an humble submission with respect to the Authority of God and an ingenious tractableness with respect to the sincere affection of those who are faithful in their Counsels for our Souls is an eminent instance of Meekness and preserves from the danger of Prosperity 3. Solmn and affectionate Thanksgiving to God for his Mercies sanctifies Prosperity This is the certain consequent of an humble disposition of Soul Pride smothers the Receits of God's Favours Thankfulness is the homage of Humility This is infinitely due to God who renews our Lives as often as we breath and renews his Mercies every moment yet so unjust and ungrateful are Men especially in Prosperity that they strangely neglect it From hence are those Divine Warnings so solemnly repeated to the Israelites When thou shalt have eaten and art full then beware lest thou forget the Lord. And lest when thou hast eaten and art full and hast built goodly Houses and dwelt therein then thy heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God This was the wicked effect of their Prosperity According to their pasture so were they filled they were filled and their heart was exalted therefore have they forgotten me There is a great backwardness in a carnal heart to thanksgiving for Mercies Prayer in our distress is a Work of Necessity but thankful Praise is an Act of Duty carnal Love is the cause of the one divine Love of the other Even David how ardently does he excite his Soul to the performing this Duty Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his Holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits The earnest and repeated Address to make a lively and fervent Impression upon his Soul is a tacit intimation of the drowsy negligence he found in himself This Duty is Spiritual and to be performed by the Soul that is our noble part and capable to understand our Obligations to the Divine Goodness Indeed 't is often exprest in the vocal praises of God for there is a natural correspondence between the Tongue and the Heart as between the Hand of a Clock and the Motion of the Wheels within but the chief part is performed in the Soul and is only of value and acceptance
natural Inchantment makes an exorbitant Figure a Dwarf to appear a Giant Now as Pride is the usual Concomitant of Prosperity so there is no Passion so inseparable from Pride and so proper to it as Anger By Pride comes Contention 't is the observation of the wisest Man confirm'd by universal Experience Pride makes Men imperious and impatient boisterous and stormy against all that offend them Pride Anger and Revenge like Serpents twine and wreath about one another Pride interprets an Offence as an high Contempt and raises Anger and Anger provok'd takes proportionable revenge to the conceived Injury We have a Tragical Instance of this recorded in Scripture * Hazael when foretold by the mourning Prophet that he would stain himself with the Innocent Blood of the Israelites slay their young Men with the Sword and dash their Children and rip up their Women with Child He startled at it as an execrable Cruelty And Hazael said But what is thy Servant a Dog that he should do this great thing And Elisha answered The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be King over Syria When advanc'd to empire he devested humanity Pride armed with Power is furious at opposition and the flaming Passion like a frightful Comet presages and produces terrible Effects Thus 't is evident how the Lusts of the Flesh are fomented by Prosperity 2. Prosperity inclines Sinners to an impious neglect of God that is a Sin of the highest Nature and prolifick of innumerable Evils All Sin is an irregularity either in the excess or the defective Extreme either in overvaluing and loving the Creature or in the disesteem and indifference to the Creator and Prosperity increases the aversion of the carnal Heart from God in the same degrees as it strengthens the propensity to the World For the opening this it will be necessary to consider the essential and eternal Respects due from the reasonable Creature to God And they are four comprehensive of all the rest 1. A solemn thankful recognition of him as the Author of our Beings and all the Comforts we enjoy 2. Supreme love to him 3. An humble fear of his Displeasure 4. Entire obedience to his Will As in this regular Universe every kind of being has its proper End so it cannot be denied without the most evident absurdity that God in all these respects is the chief End of Man 1. A solemn thankful recognition of God as the Author of our Beings and all our Comforts is continually due to him The neglect of this is so contumelious to the Majesty and Glory of God and so contrary to those most binding Obligations to his Mercy and Goodness that 't is an Offence infinitely provoking In every Transgression the authority of the Lawgiver is despised but this immediatly reflects dishonour upon the Deity As a common Felony is a breach of the King's Laws but Treason not only violates his Laws but strikes immediatly at his Person and Dignity Now Prosperity inclines sensual Persons to this wretched neglect of God The World with all its desirable things has the Dominion and full Possession of the Understandings Memories and Hearts of Men and serious Thoughts with warm Affections towards God are banish'd from them 'T is the Character of a Wicked Person but most proper to him in his Prosperity God is not in all his thoughts Of this Impiety there are several Degrees the highest is explicit Atheism a disbelief of God and his Providence of his Being and Bounty and this is sometimes occasioned by plentiful Prosperity And the Consequences are Pride that blasts the Mind as it were with Lightning and Confidence in the things of this World Of this we have astonishing Instances in the Scripture Nebuchadnezzar transported in a vain-glorious flush of Joy at the view of his magnificent Works breaks forth in those lofty insolent Expressions Is not this great Babel that I have built for the House of my Kingdom by the might of my Power and the honour of my Majesty as if he had been raised by his own power and did not owe his Greatness to the King of Heaven Thus 't is charg'd against the Prince of Tyrus Thy Heart is lifted up because of thy Riches and thou hast said I am a God and sit in the Seat of God and thou sets thine Heart as the Heart of God He presum'd that his Throne for Glory and Stability was like the Divine Kingdom that cannot be shaken and forgot that he was a frail Man in a mutable World Plentiful Prosperity is so strong a Temptation to Atheism that a wise and holy Saint earnestly deprecated it as a pernicious Snare Give me not Riches lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord The Carnal Heart in the full fruition of the World is apt to ascribe all to the course of Nature or to humane Contrivance and Endeavours without any serious acknowledgment of the Divine Liberality and Beneficence Prodigious Ingratitude and equal Folly As if one should imagine that a Fountain of Water had not its original from the Sea but from the Marble Stones through which it immediatly and visibly springs Or as if it were requisite the Hand of the Giver should be as visible as his Gifts Now altho few arrive to this heighth of Impiety in actual Thoughts and open Words yet prosperous Sinners are always guilty of an interpretative and virtual denial of God they have not a solemn grateful remembrance of their Benefactor and his Benefits and a due sense of their dependance upon him It was the wise and holy Counsel of Moses to Israel When they should be possest of Canaan a place full of delight and profit * When thou shalt have eaten and art full then beware lest thou forget the Lord. The Caution so enforc'd intimates a sinful disposition in the carnal Heart in Prosperity to neglect God There may be a notional remembrance of him in the Mind a naked ascription of all good things to his Providence a complemental visit in exterior Worship yet without an inward cordial sense of our dear Obligations for his most free Favours The Apostle charges the Rich in this World not to trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God So foolishly are Men prone to depend for protection reputation and provision of all things upon their Estates as if they were unconsumable and neglect God their Rock who is the alone sufficient Foundation of all our Hopes and Comfort 2. Supreme Love to God is an indispensable Duty from Men upon the account of his most amiable Excellencies and Benefits Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy Heart with all thy Soul with all thy Strength and with all thy Mind this is the first and great Commandment and consequently a coldness and indifferency to God much more a strong aversion from him is a sin of the most heinous nature now Prosperity has a special malignity to disincline the Heart from God The supreme
Love of God includes an Act of the Understanding a transcendent esteem of his Favour Thy loving-kindness is better than Life it inspires the Soul with ardent desires after him My Soul follows hard after thee it produces the most joyful satisfaction in Communion with him The Thoughts of God are unspeakably precious and sweet the Ordinances the blessed Means of conveying his Grace are highly valued and Sin that displeases and separates from God is hated as the greatest Evil. Now the Soul must be refined to a heavenly temper to some degrees of Angelical Purity before 't is capable of Light to see his spiritual Excellencies and Love to enjoy them And if the Soul does not make the Body Heavenly and Spiritual the Body will make the Soul Earthly and Fleshly From hence it is that the affluence of things pleasing to the Senses fastens the carnal Heart to the World as its Happiness and Heaven it darkens the Mind and vitiates the Affections that the Soul can neither taste nor see how good the Lord is 'T is the universal Character of Men in the carnal State they are lovers of Pleasure more than lovers of God And a remisser degree of Love is comparative Hatred A Sin of astonishing guilt and not less odious to God and damning in its Nature tho little observed and resented by carnal Men for the highest dishonour of God is complicated with disobedience in it A Sin that deserves and inflicts the sorest Punishment for God alone whose goodness is infinite can make us perfectly and eternally happy and the spiritual separation from him is such an unvaluable loss that when truly understood is the foundation of the heaviest sorrow 3. The Fear of God is a most distant affection from the Heart of the foolish Sinner in his Prosperity The Fear of Reverence and the awful esteem of God that proceeds from the reflection upon his glorious greatness is a grace that remains in Heaven the Angels in all their bright degrees of Excellence cover their faces before his Throne The fear of Circumspection that restrains from displeasing him upon the account of his Justice and Power is a proper Affection to Men in the present state The Blessed in Heaven are above this Fear being confirm'd in a state of unchangeable perfection and felicity the Damned in Hell are below this Fear in that no change can make their Condition worse but 't is most useful and congruous in this middle state This Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom the first and chiefest part of it in respect of Order and Dignity For the true Notion of Wisdom consists in the foresight of Evils in the choice and use of effectual means to avoid it and it is the best Wisdom that avoids the greatest Danger This Fear is the Principle of Conversion from Sin to Holiness exciting us to make God our Friend who is so dreadful an Adversary so Holy and Just that he will not connive at Sin and spare the Guilty and Impenitent and so powerful that with one stroke he can utterly destroy his most stubborn Enemies Carnal Security is directly opposite to this Fear of God and nothing does more harden and fortify Men in Security than a prosperous State The Voluptuous and Sensual are without apprehension of Danger till imminent and in their view Because they have no changes therefore they fear not God Uninterrupted Prosperity tempted them to Atheistical Security and as none are sollicitous and in anxiety lest the Sun whose presence is the support and beauty of the World should not arise in the morning because its regular course is establish'd and constant and it would be a Miracle contravening the Order of Nature if it should be stop'd Thus the long enjoyment of Plenty and Ease and Peace renders Men constantly secure and fearless as if the tenor of their Prosperity were invariable and no evil could disturb it or at least they will set back the expectation of Evil at a great distance like those prophane Scorners mentioned by the Prophet They say the Vision he sees is for many days to come he pro phesies of the times afar off and with a brutish stupidity slight the Divine Threatnings And from hence it follows that none are so rebelliously and boldly disobedient as the prosperous Sinner which is the fourth thing to be considered 4. Entire Obedience is due to the Supreme Lawgiver who is able to save and destroy for ever yet he is mercifully inclin'd to pardon the Infirmities of Men and greater Sins retracted by Repentance There are Sins of Ignorance when a Man dashes blindfold against the Law and of suddain surreption when there is no time to deliberate and for recollection and the best are not exempted here from Sins of this nature there are Sins of deadly malignity when Men are careless of God's Commands and indulge their Lusts tho not without some remorse But the prosperous Sinner is usually most presumptuous he sins with a high hand and incurrs a greater guilt and shall be exposed to greater punishment When the Fear of God is extinguish'd Luxury takes the Reins and breaks through the Hedg of the Law without feeling the wounding Thorns the fearful Threatnings in it and drives on through all the degrees of Sin 'T is the aggravation of the Israelites Ingratitude Jesurun waxed fat and kicked and lightly esteemed the Rock of his Salvation They were like Beasts high fed that become fierce and untractable will endure no Yoke upon them The prosperous Sinner securely despises the Commands of God and by an implicit Blasphemy dares his offended Omnipotence as if he were stronger than the Lord. He concludes his safety from his present success and says in his heart I shall have peace tho I walk in the imagination of mine heart and add sin to sin The Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord shall smoke against that Man to his destruction 3. Prosperity exposes dangerously to the tempting Power of Satan whose Subtilty Malice and Diligence is always exercised in training Men to Perdition His destructive Power cannot make immediate impressions on the Soul but he tempts by Objects without and the Affections within the World and the Flesh that are in combination with him He is accordingly stiled the God of this World as he reigns in the Men of the World by using the things of the World to obtain and establish his Kingdom He blinds their eyes by glittering Temptations deceives and surprizes them by his Fallacies And altho 't is difficult to conceive and unfold his internal Agency and pernicious Operations and 't is certain he cannot make a forcible entry into the Soul and tempt with prevalency and success without the consent of the Will yet we are told that he is a prime Mover in the sins of Men. He entred into Judas and by putting a lustre on the Silver exciting his covetous desires prevail'd with him to betray the Lord of Glory He
enquiry For what End am I created for what do I consume my Time If my Endeavours are all for the Earth what remains for Heaven what do I prepare what shall attend me what shall I meet in the next State How long will it be before I must leave this visible World and after the irrevocable step into the next immediately appear before the inlightned Tribunal of God whose Judgment is so strict that the Righteous are scarely saved and so heavy that the strongest Sinners cannot endure Can the World prevent my doom to Hell or release me from it Will the remembrance of the Enjoyments here afford any refreshment in Everlasting Burnings By such sad and frequent Soliloquies the vicious sensual Affections are eradicated and the Heart is transplanted from Earth to Heaven If Men would wisely ponder things if Conscience the sincere and unsuspected Judg did hold the Ballance and put into one Scale the Glory the Riches and Pleasures of this World and into the other the Promises that belong to Godliness here and hereafter how despicably light will they be found 'T was truly said that false Scarlet appears with lustre till compared with the Rich and True so the fictitious Felicity of this World is very specious and ravishes the Minds of Men till compared with Coelestial Felicity Worldly Honour is counterfeit because 't is no certain Argument of inherent worth Vain-glory and real Infamy often meet in the same Person yet 't is admir'd and ambitiously sought till compar'd with the Honour of the Saints What is a Reputation and Honour with the Worms and Moles of the Earth compared with the Honour that comes from the esteem of God and Angels and other blessed Spirits above who incomparably exceed all Mortals in number and infinitely in understanding What is a vanishing shadow of Reputation against an eternal inestimable weight of Glory What are the Riches of this World Gold and Silver and Jewels for gaining of which so many lose their Souls but vile trash compared with the sacred Treasures of Heaven the Graces of the Saints What are the empty delights of the Senses compared with the Peace of Conscience and Joy in the Holy Ghost that can sweeten all our Sorrows here and the fulness of Joy that springs from God's Presence in Heaven If Men would make judicious Comparisons their Affections would cool towards perishing Vanities But they will only look upon what is pleasant and attractive in the World without regarding its miserable Defects without considering what is infinitely better and most worthy of their ardent desires and vigorous endeavours They are so pleas'd with their Error so ingaged in the sweet captivity of the World that they cannot extricate themselves if they would because they will not if they could 2. 'T is a culpable and guilty Folly When Children prefer things of Lustre before things of Value their childish Toys before real Treasures when they chuse a little present Enjoyment before a future Good that is incomparably better their Folly is innocent because Reason cannot display its operations in them But when Men who are capable to distinguish between the things that are seen and temporal and the things that are not seen and eternal when they sottishly prefer sensible things before Spiritual notwithstanding the vast difference between them both in the quality and duration their choice is so criminal as deserves an everlasting Hell If Esau had been a Child when he sold his Birthright for a Mess of Pottage his folly had been excused for he was compelled by hunger and the glorious dignity of the Birthright was disproportionate to his Appetite and Understanding but in his mature Age when capable to understand his Interest to part with so sacred and precious an advantage for a little sensual satisfaction was so profane an Act that he was justly deprived of the Divine Blessing that was annext to the Birthright That Beasts are wholly led by their sensual Appetities is natural and regular their voracity and crueâ—ty folly and filthiness envy and fury are not vicious passions because Sense is the superior Faculty in them But when Men are so brutish that the Objects that please their Eyes and carnal Senses are the only Attractives of their affections 't is unnatural and monstrous because Reason should have the supremacy in them If a Woman remain in a single state she has power over her Actions and may freely govern her self but if married is subordinate to her Husband and disobedience to his Authority and prudent Counsels is culpable The Body considered as the Seat of the Senses has natural Appetites and might enjoy what is suitable to them according to their capacity but united with an immortal Spirit that is stampt with the living Image of God its desires must be limited and directed by the Mind and the pleasing of Sense in Actions forbidden by the Mind is rebellion against the ruling Faculty If one be under a Disease that Wine inflames and increases and the Physician forbids it as deadly yet the Patient will judg only by his Pallate whether Wine be good for him were it not a kind of brutishness worthy of the Evil that attends it Such perverse Folly are Men guilty of in their sensual Satisfactions whereby the Soul is unspeakably wronged and God highly dishonoured who has given to Man a more excellent Spirit than to the Fowls of the Air that he may judg of things not as they appear but as they are 3. 'T is the most ignominious Folly Shame arises from the sense of a debased Excellence the Understanding is the most excellent Faculty in Man and nothing brings a greater disreputation to him than when he is deceived by the ignorance or inconsiderateness of his Mind And the delusion is most shameful in matters of great moment Now for a Man to exchange his Soul that is of Angelical Eminence for transitory Vanities O folly how enormous how astonishing The Lord Jesus who as the Creator and Redeemer of Souls perfectly knew their Worth puts the Question so as to imply the strongest denial What is a Man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul The vanity of the Purchase and the value of the Loss is such that no Man conscious of his Immortality in the next state but must acknowledg that he is an infinite loser and prodigious Fool that gains the World by the loss of his Soul 'T is said of the ancient Germans that in their Commerce with the Romans receiving Silver for their Amber that has no virtue but to draw Straws to it they were amazed at the price And certainly the great Tempter cannot but wonder at the foolish exchange that Men make in giving their immortal Souls to him for perishing Vanities and having this scornful advantage will much more upbraid them hereafter than ever he allur'd them here The shame that attends this Folly is sometimes felt
a Child but carnal Men are voluntarily guided by Sence and Fancy the false Lights that rule in Children and blindly follow without considering who is their Leader and whether they are led Or like one in a slumber is strongly affected with slight things a Scene of Fancy in a Dream transports him as a glorious Reality a prick of a Pin makes him start as fearfully as if a Viper bit him thus carnal Men are as deeply affected with temporal good and evil things as if they were Eternal wherein their Blessedness or Misery consists And there is nothing of greater use and defence to the Soul than to make a true judgment of things that greatly and nearly concern us From thence proceeds a wise Choice a well-ordered Conversation and upon it our blessed End depends For as the Rudder is to a Ship the Will is to Man if it be duly turn'd it conducts him safely to Felicity The particular just Inferences from the Doctrine are 1. Temporal Prosperity is not a certain sign of God's special Favour There are some Benefits disperst by a general Providence to all like the common Benefits of a Prince to all within his Dominions some are like special Gifts to his Favorites Of the first kind are Riches and Honours and whatever is the support or comfort of the present Life of the second are spiritual and heavenly Blessings the Graces and Comforts of the holy Spirit of God the infallible Seal of his Love to us The Psalmist prays Remember me O Lord with the favour thou bearest unto thy People O visit me with thy Salvation there is a Favour common to all Men as his Creatures and the Fruits of it are promiscuous to the Evil and the Good but the Favour from whence proceeds Grace and Glory is the priviledg of his Chosen The temporal Prosperity of the Wicked is consistent with God's Hatred When Men turn his Blessings into the fuel of their Lusts and his Patience into an advantage of sinning more securely how flourishing soever they are in the World he looks on them with an avenging Eye He hates all the workers of Iniquity His seeming connivance is no Argument that he is not highly provok'd by their Sins or that they may obtain an easy Pardon Yet this is the inward principle of the gross and outward Sins in the lives of Men tho unobserved by them As the vital Heat is not felt in the Heart that is the Cause of all the Heat that is felt in the outward parts of the Body These things hast thou done saith God to the rebellious Sinner and I kept silence that is suspended the terrible Effects of Justice thou thoughts I was altogether such a one as thy self Astonishing blindness not to discern the apparent antipathy of such Connexions As if God's forbearance of the Guilty were forgiveness and rebellion against his Commands and the love of Sin which is enmity to him were consistent with the fruition of his Favour But we have the most clear and convincing assurance God cannot be pleased with Men without their being made like him in Righteousness and true Holiness He sees and hates Sin and abhors the Sinners tho for a time they are spared Justice and Patience are his Attributes He is slow to anger and great in Power and will not acquit the Guilty He endures with much long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath till they are fitted for destruction The presumptuous Sinner that is encouraged and harden'd as if Sin were not so hateful to God because he enjoys the World in abundance and expects an easy remission at last fearfully deceives his Soul He sows the Wind and shall reap the Whirlwind 3. The Prosperity of the Wicked is so far from being a sign of God's love that it often proceeds from his deepest Displeasure 'T is a Curse candied over with a little vanishing sweetness but deadly in the Operation It makes them careless of God and their Souls of Heaven and Eternity and they become incorrigible in their perverse Wills and wicked Ways and irrecoverable in their lost State Prosperity induces Security that presages and accelerates their ruin 'T is exprest as the most fearful and sorest Judgment by the Prophet The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep an insensibleness of the worst Evils their Sins and the infinite danger that attends them This Judgment is usually inflicted from the righteous God by the prosperity of the Wicked and extreamly provokes him it being a Sin of the greatest Guilt as well as a Punishment of former high provocations 'T is a distinguishing Judgment inflicted upon his Enemies from which his Children are exempted Other Judgments that cause grief and trouble to Sinners often incline his Compassions to them but this Judgment inflames his Wrath. In short the Prosperity of the Wicked here is a fatal sign they are reserved for the severity of Justice for their abuse of the Riches of his Mercy and of all Judgments that is the most terrible that insensibly destroys and certainly brings damnation 4. From hence we are instructed to look upon Prosperous Sinners with pity not with envy and indignation They please themselves and triumph in their conceit and happiness as the Psalmist expresseth it Whilst he lived he blessed his Soul But how contrary is the Opinion of vain Men to the Judgment of Christ He pronounces and upon his Sentence depends Eternity Wo unto you that are rich for ye have received your Consolation Wo unto you that are full for ye shall hunger Wo unto you that laughnow for ye shall mourn and weep And we are told by the inspired Prophet Man that is in honour and understands not that does not consider the Vanity and frail Tenure of his present flourishing State nor his Duty and Interest to imploy his Riches Power and Greatness for securing his everlasting Feliciâ—ty is like the Beasts that perish stupid and insensible of approaching Ruin as the Beast that was to be sacrificed did not perceive that the guilding its Horns and adorning it with Garlands was a sign it was destin'd to Death They now live in ease and pleasures but they must shortly remove from their rich Possessions and splendid Palaces to the dark Regions of Woe and Death will be an entrance into endless Sorrows The laughter of Fools is like the crackling of Thorns under the Pot a short Blaze soon damp'd and extinguish'd 'T is a dreadful Imprecation of the Holy Psalmist Let their way be dark and slippery and let the Angel of the Lord persecute them To fly in the dark and in slippery places and so to fall into the Mire and Pits is a fit Emblem of their Condition who are prosperous and wicked They are hood-wink'd by Prosperity in a voluntary darkness and see not the Precipices that surround them And how slippery is their way by so numerous and insinuating Temptations how easily how frequently and dangerously do they
with God who is the Maker the Searcher and the Judg of our Hearts Therefore the Holy Psalmist calls upon his Soul and all that is within him every Faculty to unite in the Praises of God the Understanding to consider the several Arguments of Praise and Thankfulness to esteem and to admire the divine Goodness to ascribe the Glory that is due to God for his Mercies the memory to register his Benefits the Will and Affections to love him for his Mercies and above them Thankfulness implies a solemn recognition of the Mercies of God with all the Circumstances that add a lustre to them to affect us in as vigorous a manner in our Praises for the Blessings we enjoy as we are in our Prayers for what we need Not only signal Mercies but common and ordinary should be continually acknowledged by us And since our Memories are so slippery as to the retaining of Favours Injuries are inscrib'd in Marble Benefits written in Dust We should every day review the Mercies we enjoy to quicken our Praises for them and to make Impressions not soon defac'd Thankfulness implies a due valuation of God's Benefits This will be raised by considering the Author the great God the meanest Mercy from his Hand is a high Favour As the Guilt of Sin arises from the greatness of the Object tho some Sins are comparatively small yet none is in its intrinsic Nature a small Evil so tho of Mercies some are in comparison eminent and some are ordinary yet every Mercy is great with respect to the Author from whence it comes And the thankful esteem of Mercies will rise in proportion to the sense of our unworthiness A constant poverty of Spirit in reflecting upon our own vileness that there is not meerly a want of desert in us with respect to God's Blessings but a desert of his heavy Judgments will heighten our esteem of them For this end it is very useful that the Prosperous would consider those below them how many better than themselves are under oppressing Wants tormenting Pains heart-breaking Sorrows whom you may trace by their Tears every day and what free and rich Mercy is it that they enjoy the affluence of all things this distinguishing Goodness should be acknowledged with a warm rapture of affection to the Divine Benefactor To compare our selves with those that excel us in Grace will make us humble and with those who are below us in outward Blessings will make us thankful The Prosperous have special Obligations to be most conversant in this Celestial Duty there are various Graces and Duties that are only useful in this imperfect state and shall expire with us as Repentance Faith Hope Patience c. the Reward of them will be Eternal but the exercise is limited to present Life but Love and Praise remain in Heaven The Saints eternally admire love and bless God for his Mercies And the sincere and constant performance of this Duty is most pleasing to God and profitable to us for thankfulness to our blessed Benefactor engages his Heart and opens the Treasures of his Bounty more liberally to us The way to obtain new Benefits is not to suffer former Favours to be lost in ungrateful oblivion In short 't is the best and surest evidence of our thankfulness to God when his Mercies are effectual Motives to please him We cannot always make an actual commemoration of his Benefits but an habitual remembrance should ever be in our Hearts and influential in our Lives Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes saith holy David and I have walked in thy Truth unfeignedly respected all thy Commandments 4. The Fear of God and a vigilant care to avoid the Sins that so easily encompass us is necessary in Prosperity The Secure assist Satan in his War against the Soul but watchfulness disarms the Tempter Circumspection is never more a Duty than when Pleasures without and Passions within conspire to betray us 'T is useful to reflect upon the great numbers who have been corrupted and ruin'd by Prosperity that the Vices of the dead may secure the Vertues of the living The fear of God is clean effectively as it preserves from Sin 'T is Solomon's advice to young Men that enjoy the World in its Flower and in the season of their sinning that they would remember that God for all their Vanities will bring them to Judgment This Consideration will be powerful to prevent the risings of the corrupt Affections or to suppress their growth and hinder their accomplishment But with the excellently temper'd Soul an ingenuous Fear from the consideration of God's Mercies is an effectual restraint from Sin 'T is said they shall fear the Lord and his Goodness fear to offend and grieve and lose his Goodness This Fear does not infringe the comfort of the Soul but preserve and improve it Servile Fear when the Soul is afraid to burn not to sin is a judicial forc'd Impression the Character of a Slave but an ingenuous grateful Fear that springs from the sense of the Divine Goodness is a voluntary Affection becoming a Child of God and cherish'd by him The Fear of the Lord is his Treasure This watchfulness must be universal against all Temptations to which we are incident by Prosperity otherwise we shall be guilty of a like folly with those that shut and fortifie one Gate and leave the other open to the Enemy And it must be as continual as our Temptations Blessed is the Man that feareth always 5. A moderate use of worldly things is an excellent preservative from the Evil adhering to them 'T is a Divine Blessing to partake of the Gifts of God with contentment and tranquility especially 't is sweet to taste his Love in them God gives to a Man that is good in his sight Wisdom and Knowledg and Joy that is to use temperately and comfortably outward Blessings But the Flesh is the Devil's Sollicitor and perswades Men with a freer Fancy and looser Affections to enjoy the World than is consistent with the prosperity of their Souls When Diogenes observed with the many sick and languishing Persons the Hydropick Consumptive and other Diseases that came to the Temple of Esculapius for recovery and that after their Sacrifices they made a luxurious Feast he cried out Is this the way to recover Health If you were sound 't is the speedy and effectual way to bring Diseases and being diseased to bring Death to you 'T is applicable in a higher sense the intemperate use of sensual Delights weakens the Life and Vigour of the Soul in a Saint and certainly brings Death to diseased Souls that habitually indulge their corrupt Affections The Apostle saith of the licentious Woman She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives an allusion to a Torch that is consum'd by its own flames Sensual Lusts are cherish'd and pamper'd by Prosperity and the carnal Heart over-rules the whole Man Our Saviour charges his Disciples to beware of surfeiting and drunkenness The indulging
Treasure and exceeding Joy and as soon as he begins to breath the Life of Holiness he dies to the Vanities of the World And when Prosperity alienates the heart from God 't is as surely destructive as when it draws forth the sensual Appetites into exorbitant and foul actions A Consumption kills as surely as a Calenture Those who abuse the Favours of God to impiety and luxury throw themselves headlong into the bottomless Pit and those who in their abundance are remiss and cold towards God gradually descend thither for God will not be our Joy for ever in Heaven if he be not our exceeding Joy upon the Earth But when in the midst of Prosperity the Soul is fill'd with a noble admiration of the Divine Excellencies when it tastes incomparable more sweetness in the Love of God from whence outward Blessings are derived than in the things themselves when the chief Joy arises from the contemplation of his Favour in Christ whereby we are pardon'd and preferr'd to be his Brethren Coheirs with him of the immortal and undefiled Inheritance then we know how to abound Our Saviour commands his Disciples not to rejoyce that Spirits were subject to them tho an admirable testimony of his Favour but that their Names were written in Heaven Much less should this perishing World be the matter of our Joy in comparison of our Title and the blessed hope of Heaven Spiritual Joy purifies and fortifies the Soul against the insnaring and corrupting Allurements of the World The Joy of the Lord is their strength that of which he is the Author and Object is both productive and preservative of the Vigour of the Soul to resist the Charms of the World 'T is said of Orpheus when he past by the Syrens who by their charming Voices subdued Men to sleep and then destroyed them that he played on his Harp and the sweet sound made him despise their singing and prevented the danger The Fable is fitly moralized Joy in the Lord as our Portion and that infinite sweetness that is in communion with him makes such an impression upon the Soul that the insnaring and destructive Pleasures of the World are abhorr'd in comparison with them That firm Peace and pure Joy passes the Understanding our most comprehensive Faculty whereas all the Pleasures of the World do not satisfy our Senses 7. When Riches and Power are employed for the Glory of God and the good of others they are a happy advantage to those that possess them All Benefits are virtual Obligations and the greater our Receipts are the greater our Accounts will be God has a soveraign Right in all things we have and they are not to be employed meerly for our Pleasure or Profit but according to his Will and for his Honour 'T is true he enjoys his own Eternity his own Glory and Blessedness to which there is no possibility of accession his essential Glory cannot be increas'd but his declarative Glory may be more manifested in the Eyes of Men and he strictly requires that we should use his Gifts so as to shew forth his Glory to declare how highly we value his Glory and how ardently we desire and endeavour that others should bless and praise him Thus Men in high Dignity should govern their Greatness so as to make it subservient to this blessed End that the Wisdom Power Holiness Justice and Mercy of God may be manifested in their administration And those who enjoy a present abundance should according to their capacity relieve the Wants of others The wise God has order'd several degrees in the Society of Men the Rich and Poor that the inequality may be an occasion of the exercise of Charity And 't is a special favour that he is pleased to make some his Treasurers to dispense his Benefits to his Family Whilst others can only be charitable in their compassionate Desires he gives to some an ability os diffusive Goodness and 't is Injustice mixt with foul ingratitude not to pay that Tribute of which he has appointed the Poor to be his Receivers not to abound in good Works when from his most free and special Favour he enables Men to imitate and honour him who is rich in Mercy 'T is more blessed to give than to receive The present Reward is excellent 't is our Saviour's encouragement Give Alms of such things as you have according to your Capacity and behold all things are clean unto you As under the Law by offering the first Fruits in the Temple the whole Harvest was consecrated and bless'd so by a charitable distribution the Rich have a pure and comfortable enjoyment of their Estates And the Reward hereafter will be glorious by infinite degrees exceeding the most costly and liberal Charity 'T is the Encouragement used by the Apostle Charge them that are rich in this World that they do good that they be rich in good Works ready to distribute willing to communicate laying up in store for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal Life Some by corrupt prodigality waste their Estates are profuse as the Sea some heap up Riches as the Sand and both must be responsible to the Righteous Lord who will severely call them to an account for the abuse of his Blessings But those who according to their utmost ability honour him with their Substance and by their charity and beneficence open the hearts and lips of many in thanksgivings to God shall be accepted and rewarded from the Divine Mercy Especially doing good to those whom God loves who bear his Image who are peculiarly related to him shall have an excellent Reward The Apostle tells us that some by entertaining Strangers received Angels the honour is incomparably greater that in relieving the Godly Jesus Christ the Lord of Angels is fed and cloathed in his Members And at the last Day he will publickly own those Acts of Mercy as done to himself Then he will give to the contented Poor the Crown of Patience and to the charitable Rich the Crown of Liberality In short Riches and Honour Power and Prosperity are Temptations to the Carnal that draw forth their Lusts and increase their Guilt and Misery but to wise and faithful Christians they are Talents improved for their Master's Honour and their own everlasting Good 7. A firm resolution to part with all Possessions and Dignities when God's Honour and the testimony of his Truth requires it is an excellent Antidote against the Evil of Prosperity God doth sometimes call forth his Servants to hard Trials to declare with more strength and evidence their love to his Name their zeal for advancing his Glory Satan is an irreconcileable Enemy to God and his Saints and inspires the perverted World with his own Malice against them Rage has no Reason the Jews would excommunicate the blind Man because he saw and ascribed the Glory of the Miracle to our Saviour and Lazarus must die because he was raised