suit spiritual things with spiritual and to teach though not in the enticing words of mans wisdom yet in the fullest demonstration of the Spirit He was not worn away with rust but did wear away himself with use the emanation of the Spirit filling his Cistern so as made him free to do much work in a little time * Amplissimum vitae spatium usque ad sapientiam vivere He understood well that the acceptance of our works follows upon the acceptance of our persons first and he therefore did to the admiration of them that heard him open the whole Doctrine of the Covenant through which our persons finde acceptance with God that Covenant of Grace which comprehends what ever we are either by way of blessing to expect from God or whatever we are by way of duty to return back to God again that Covenant I say did he for years together labour in the opening of had he lived to perfect and to publish it the Churches of Jesus Christ had received a much more special advantage then now I fear they can have by it but we must be content to have Elijah first taken from us before his mantle will be given us He vexed his righteous soul to see how among many professors of Religion practical Godliness did seem to wither much what truths therefore might serve best to revive encourage and put on to holiness of life or circumspect walking those to choose would he most frequently acquaint his Hearers with He judged the power of godliness to consist not so much in mens ability to Master this or the other high-towring speculative doctrine though himself was of excellent high-raised parts as in mens affectionate hearty closing with and living up to those more obvious common truths for in facili absoluto stat aeternitas Aust Enchir. that are the great necessary things on which mans everlasting happiness or misery does most depend And he would therefore therein following the direction Paul gave to Titus * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chap. 3. 8. earnestly exhort professors to be known most by their maintaining of good works and that however they might somewhat differ in matters of outward order or Church Discipline yet that they would all agree in what was more intimately consequtive to the Spiritual man A being rich in holy works * Sancta rectae vitae antistites esse The Greek word which is a military word taken from such as set themselves in the foreward o◠front of the Battel and march before for the encouragement of the rest of the army some translate it to go before others in good works Our works being the best at least most sensible evidence of our faith He laboured much that parties disagreeing a little what in that part of the circumference which concerns Ecclesiasticks might yet be one i' th center of an holy life for indeed he knew well that though Professors in matters possibly of less consequence may shew what party of Christians we side with yet holiness of life only it was that should best evince our being set apart for God He laid it much to heart to see how slightly and ungroundedly not a few of latter years since the goodness of some in power had altered the face of times so much as that godliness was no longer now a reproach or hindrance in the way of but the easiest step to preferment for one or other loaves sake only took up Religion as from the manner of their walking might be suspected He did therefore insist upon and in the course of his Ministry press those doctrines of self examination and self denial both which subjects thou mayst hereafter God willing have put into thy hands with much earnestness searching power and spiritual exactness that if there were any who profest Christianity out of Faction carrying a Pagan heart under a Christian name they might be made manifest to themselves His insight into the Gospel was wonderfully quick and singular his delight was to lead his Hearers within the vail and to shew them the glory of that one Mediator whom the Father set forth for the propitiation of our sins great was his pains in opening those Relations together with their respective vertue and influence that he stood in to his Father to Angels to all Mankinde and to the Elect in special sundry subjects and single Sermons the Author has left behinde him which will God willing be hastened into the Press what he did last does herewith come out first because indeed an imperfect Copy hereof stole forth as a spurious obtrusion upon the world Which the Authors Friends judged a great wrong unto the Publique as well as to the Author himself and for that reason therefore have put the same subject first into thine hand leaving thee to judge how much more this Edition thus publisht hath of the signature and mark of his spirit in it above what the former carried Thus much premised I shall only add by way of prayer that the Spirit of life and power who alone is able may make the price here put into thy hand very usefull for thy souls good We are accomptable not only for what we hear but for what we read and t is equally dangerous to be found among the number of them that are unprofitable Readers as to be one of those that are unprofitable Hearers Geo. Griffith Good Reader IT is usually observed that Gods children do best in their close and last farewel as natural motion is slower in the beginning and swifter in the end so are their motions more vehement and stirring towards heaven and heavenly things when their souls are ready to dislodge from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Certain I am the Scripture puts a special mark and consideration upon the last words of the Saints 2 Sam. 23. 1. Now these be the last words of David so the speeches of dying men have more weight in them for as we draw neer to eternity we grow wiser and being about to return to the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Plotin apud Ves Original Divinity as Plotinus speaketh we are more Divine And this not only when the Lord giveth his people fair warning of their approaching end but many times when death stealeth upon them unawares by a strange kinde of presage their souls have been marvellously heightned in the contemplation of eternity and wholly taken up with that blessedness into which God was about though unknown to themselves to translate them t is one of the observations of this Treatise That when the heart is in heaven the body will not be long out of it our translation is but delayed till the moneths of our purification be ended and we by growing dead to sin weary of the world are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light All this is spoken to put thee in mind that these discourses which are now put into
most odious to that man and hence it is that men have different good things because they look on things with different light and eyes one man sees things as represented by Gods Spirit another looks on things in the Devils Glass continually this is one Reason Secondly because men have different tasts and savours as well as different lights Rom. 8. 5. the Apostle saith They that are after the flesh savour the things of the flesh and they that are after the spirit savour the things of the spirit that is take spiritual things he that is after the flesh finds no more savor in them then in the white of an egg as Job speaks the sweetness of a promise is no more to him then if he suckt a dry stick he hath no savour on the other side tell him of riches and plentie and honors prophesie to him of wine and strong drink and he tasts a savour and sweetness in them he is able to rellish it and this is the true Reason why men have such different chief goods because they have different savors they can taste a sweetness in dainty meats and gorgeous apparel and in the pleasures of sin but now another man he comes to look on the word of God and he saith T is sweeter to me then the honey or the honey comb The Philosopher saith of all sensitive creatures vitam gustu ducunt they live by taste the truth is if rightly understood so do all rational creatures too live by taste one man lives the life of God Why because he tasts the things of God another man lives the life of Satan Why because he tasts the things of the devil he hath no savor no sweetness in any other thing and that 's the true reason why vain foolish people in the world run after such vanities t is because they savor no better things Thirdly men choose to themselves different good things it proceeds I say from their own choice I cannot now stand to distinguish as the Schoolmen do between Election and Volition but that 's the meaning That that men will for themselves that they choose Would you know why Israel was Gods peculiar treasure it was because God chose them himself I have chosen you to be my people So how comes it to pass that God is one mans treasure and not another one man chooses him therefore you shall find still that a man that hath made choice of God as his chief good he saith Let me enjoy God and if I have nothing else I shall be content Whom have I in heaven but thee there 's none on earth whom I desire in comparison of thee saith David The good of the Creature is not the good I choose but another man that chooses the things of this life to himself riches honours pleasures saith he Let me have abundance of all things here and though I have never any acquaintance with God all my life long Let them take ordinances and Sermons that take pleasure in them but let me enjoy my pleasures and abundance of all things here below and I can be content to be without God for ever So that if a man enjoy his chief good he is content This is the third Proposition Fourthly this chief good which every man chooses according to the light and taste he hath is in the Scripture called a mans treasure you see every man hath a chief good and every man hath his chief good in this life and every man hath his own chief good Now this chief good that every man chooses to himself that is in Scripture called his treasure and t is so upon a threefold accompt First from the preciousness of it in a mans own esteem treasures are never made up but of things precious no man speaks of treasures of dung or treasures of stones they be precious things that be a mans treasure and therefore when the Lord speaks of precious things he calls them a treasure the Lord Jesus laid up in the Gospel is called the treasure hid in the field Matth. 13. 44. And so the Gospel being a depositum laid up with those to whom the Ministry of reconciliation is committed is called a treasure in earthen vessels 2 Cor. 4. 7. So that treasure carries a preciousness with it whether it be in truth or in appearance for example take a man whose chief good is in God this is his treasure Why saith he take away God from me and I am undone So on the other side take another man that makes wealth his treasure or bravery his treasure Take these things from me and the comfort of my life is gone those that love to be alway praying or hearing I wonder what comfort they can have I would not live such a life for a world that 's the first reason why t is called a treasure for the preciousness of it Secondly t is called a treasure for its plenty for it is not a little that makes a treasure If a man have a few pieces of gold you do not say he hath a treasure no it is plenty that makes a treasure Col. 2. 3. In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge plenitudinem denotat Notes the fulness of wisdom and knowledge so that treasure carries plenty in the notion of it and it must needs be so for what ever is a mans chief good he defires appetitu infinito with an infinite appetite Take a man that makes riches his treasure and he inlarges his desires as hell and is not satisfied and a man that desires pleasures cries always as the horse-leaches daughter Give give let him glut himself to day and he is hungry to morrow Why because it his is chief good so take a man whose chief good is laid up in God though he have glorious in-comes from God he is still calling for more and more more grace from him more communion with him more consolation from the Spirit of God Why it is his chief good The Spirit says Come and the Bride says Come Thirdly t is called a mans treasure because it is that by which a man doth value himself pray mark it as look how much a man hath in his treasure so much he conceives he is worth so look what is a mans chief good by that the man doth value himself there is a rate that the world puts upon a man and a rate that the man puts upon himself a rate that the world puts upon men and they value their own as they love their own and as for those they see God hath taken out of the world they are men of no worth but there is a value and a rate that every man puts upon himself and that is by the treasure that he hath as Nebuchadnezzar said Is not this great Babel that I have built for the glory of my majesty he speaks of his Empire so Paul valued himself according to his moral righteousness and thought that should have been gain to him thus men
seeing every man hath a treasure in this life by election though not by fruition where his treasure is The next thing that now we come to is a Use of conviction Hath every man that lives in this world some treasure or something that may be called his chief good why then this will set forth the miserie the most wretched condition of all those that mis-lay their treasure misplace their chief good the Lord Jesus Christ tels you there are two sorts of men some whose treasure is laid up on earth others whose treasure is laid up in Heaven Some that have their chiefe good here below their portion in this life some it may be that have but the earnest here the first-fruits the harvest is to come now all those that are mistaken in reference to their chief good that do mis-place their treasure This doth clearly discover to them that they are in a most miserable condition and truly this is I will not say the condition of most of you here present but this is the condition of most in the world that I am sure the Scripture warrants me to say Now that I may a little heighten this conviction if the Lord please to bless it to any soul When upon examination you finde your chief good misplaced and you have not laid up your treasure where you should do there are these six considerations that should marvellously heighten it unto you First consider the Scripture doth speak of a true treasure Luke 16. 11. If you have not been faithfull in the Mammon of unrighteousness who will commit to your trust your true treasure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When I read such expressions in Scripture concerning riches and see how strangely men run after them how mad men are of them either unjustly gotten or unjustly kept or wickedly spent the Mammon of unrighteousness every way But who shall commit unto him the true treasure Now here is an opposition that clearly argues a distinction There is a treasure that is true then certainly there is a treasure that is false it behoves you then to consider have I a treasure is it true or false as to that Prov. 8. 21. Where wisdom is brought in saying He that loveth me I will cause him to inherit substance the word signifies I will cause him to inherit something that is or somewhat that hath a being what doth this argue what do other men inherit that do not love wisdom truly they inherit shadows Take all the great-landed men in the world and they inherit a shadow There is a true treasure that is substantial pray hear what the Holy Ghost saith of all your wealth you rich men Prov. 23. 5. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not what is that which is not riches betake themselves to their wings riches is said not to be why not to be it is all the being that many of you have in this world if it were not for your wealth you were no body it s the only thing you bear up your selves upon It s said not to be upon a double accompt there is no reality in them there is no stability in them both these I think the Spirit of God expresses First there is no Reality in them that is in reference to what you fancy them to be it s more fancy that makes them such things then any reality that is in the thing in it self and in that respect covetousness is idolatry riches an Idol and an Idol is nothing in the world so the Apostle saith that is it s nothing in substance so riches is nothing of that which you fancy t is not so in substance t is but so in fancy and there was never any godly man whose eyes the Lord opened to see the vanity of the creature but he saw it was his own great thoughts made these things great it s your fancy makes them idols And Secondly there is nothing of stability in them they betake themselves to their wings you think now to have them to morrow where they were to day no they take themselvs wings and are gone you have seen this in your time in hundreds of instances how mens treasures take themselves to their wings in none of these things the true treasure lies he is a miserable man therefore that doth not inherit substance but fancies Thou art a miserable man therefore that art in this mistake that 's the first Argument to enforce this conviction Secondly consider herein lyeth the great deceit of sin and Satan to deceive a man in his chief good I there is the great deceit the Apostle Heb. 3. 12 13. Speaks of the deceitfulness of sin Lest any man be hardned with the deceitfulness of sin there is in every sin a deceitfulness It works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and so the devil is said to do with the deceivableness of unrighteousness Now sin and Satan will labour to deceive you in every thing but to what end is it In ordine ad summum bonum It is in reference to your chief good there is the deceit they will deceive you in all things else but in order to your chief good for as the Spirit of God is in direction so Satan is in delusion The Spirit of God in direction he will direct a man in all his ways in every course and passage of his life but all in reference to a mans chief good and utmost end so Satan will deceive a man in every passage of his life but to what end is it that he may deceive him in that which is his chief good and in this the great malice of Satan doth appear that he will set a mans heart upon some particular good thing which the soul shall take as its chief good and embracing that shall own the Devil as God and worship him Pray consider what I say whatever Satan fixes a mans heart upon a particular good and a man makes that his chief good he owns the Devil as God and worships him as God And it is in this that Satan was a murtherer from the beginning Abbadon the destroyer the devil deceived the woman In what in her chief good and it is in this that he is the destroyer and herein lies the happiness of godly men that though Satan deceives them in many things yet in their chief good he doth never deceive them they are past that as he is never able to rob them of their chief good so he is never able to deceive them there that they are sure of therefore he can never destroy them why because in their chief good he can never deceive them able to deceive in this or that particular act they may be cheated by Satan of the exercise of this or that particular grace may be enticed to this or that sin may be cheated by men of this or that temporal good but in that which is their chief good they cannot be cheated Thirdly consider further the nature of man
doth exceedingly abhor to be deceived t is so in all your natures men do not love to be cheated for there is not only a loss in the thing but a disparagement left upon the man he is not only deceived of some good thing but he hath the blemish of a fool laid upon him because he was deceived being out-witted you use to say I had rather give away three times as much then to be cheated of a small matter now you shall finde deceit is conversant about the understanding and by this means a man is deceived through the failing of his understanding The Holy Ghost charges That no man should circumvent and over-reach his brother in bargaining men do not love to be over-reached the woman was deceived 1 Tim. 2. 14. and 2 Cor. 11. 3. The Serpent beguiled the woman out-witted over-reached but never was there such a cheat as this in the world to deceive a man in his chief good this is the great deceit you will say to give a man Brass for Gold is a great deceit for a man to take stones for bread that were a greater because there is a less similitude but to take the Creature for the Creator to set up the devil in the place of God this is the deceit of being cheated in a mans chief good there are t is true many lesser deceits of Satan he doth deceive men in this or that particular act and a man is many times deceived by Satan through the same sin when a man hath been convinc'd of a sin hath repented for it hath prayed against it cost him many tears and sighs and groans before God and he hath resolved against that sin yet a new temptation hath come the devil hath varnisht that sin over again and the man is taken with it this is a deceit in a particular act but here lies the grand deceit when a man is deceived in point of his chief good the nature of man is exceedingly against being beguiled over-reached consider further Fourthly you have the more reason to look unto it upon this account because this is the deceit that above all others Satan takes care to hide from you he would so deceive you in your chief good that you should never know it keep you under that deceit all the days of your lives There are several deceits of Satan that may be discovered to men and they may recover out of them as the Apostle 2 Tim. 2. 26. speaks of men recovering themselves out of the snare of the Devil or as the word is to come to a mans self after he hath been drunk to come into his wits again a man may do so in many things A man may see that in this or that action he erred and hath been deceived and that was not good and this was not well this a man may see and recover himself nay I think a man may go thus high a man may see the deceit of Satan his guile in reference to his darling sin that I conceive even in a state of unregeneracy a man may change his darling sin a man may have such discovery of the deceit of Satan for the unclean spirit sometimes goes out of the man in reference to particular acts a man may see himself deceived and a man may see himself quite escaped those great errors among which he lives 2 Pet. 2. 18. but in regard of a mans chief good whatever he can do to hinder a man from seeing the deceipt in his chief good he will do 2 Cor. 4. The God of this world hath blinded the eyes of them that believe not What is the devils great design upon all unregenerate men his great design is to keep them unregenerate that 's his business for never was any man converted to Christ but he did see that he had erred in his chief good for you must consider what conversion is it is a turning to God that argues a departing from God turn to the Lord therefore we are departed from him Now how is a man departed from God Why as his chief good as his utmost end and therein lies the true nature of all ungodliness I am departed from God as my chief good and have forsaken God as my utmost end when a man returns to God again what doth he do why change his chief good that place is observable Jer. 2. 13. My people have committed two evils forsaken me the fountain of living waters what is that departed from me as their chief good from whence all good flows And dig to themselves broken Cisterns that is place their chief good somewhere else that is the meaning of the Spirit of God though a man see his particular error yet in this he shall be blind the God of this world will endeavor to blind his eyes Further consider Fifthly this will be the deceit under which the greatest part of the world will perish being deceived in a mans chief good I say under this deceit the greatest part of the world will be damned for straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that enter thereat Mat. 7. 14. Now all men it is very true are carryed out after some good thing or other and that they pursue Who will shew us any good Psal 4. but there is a fourfold deceit under which about good things diligently sought the greatest part of the world will perish pray observe them carefully First men take bonum apparens pro vero that which is but a seeming good for a real and true good Secondly they take bonum particulare pro universali a particular good for an universal good that which is the chief good serves to all ends and purposes in all estates and conditions t is good every way whereas riches its true they profit against poverty but not against death and wrath honour keeps a man from disgrace but will not prevail against sin and hereby men are deceived Thirdly men take temporale pro aeterno a temporal good and they think this is an eternal good they think their riches will last for ever and that they will go down with them to the pit to bribe the flames and corrupt the Tormenter A mans chief good must last not only for this life but in the life to come Lastly they take alienum pro proprio that which is another mans good for their own I that 's the deceit The holy Ghost when he speaks of all things of this life saith If thou be not faithfull in that which is another mans Luke 16. 11. I warrant there is never a rich man here but thinks your estates are your own a Nabal may say indeed Shall I take my meat and my drink and very thing is my and my but the Spirit of God is quite contrary he saith Thou art the Steward of it for the present but t is another mans and therefore when he speaks of giving to the poor he saith withhold not from him
to whom it is due you do not think it is due it is at your own liberty now here is the deceit men take that to be their own good which is another mans this worlds good and under these four mistakes the greatest part of the world perish they take that for a true good which is but good in appearance for an universal good that is particular for an eternal that which is but temporal and that which is another mans for their own Lastly it is this which will be unto Satan matter of insultation and if thou be deceived in thy chief good it will be matter of derision to thee for ever remember that to Satan matter of insultation it is not with Cheaters as with Robbers that take goods from a man by violence but the Cheater boasts of his pranks afterwards to tell how he hath outwitted a man so it is with Satan as a deceiver and you know every prevailing is an insulting evil and Satan is the envious man there are not only from Satan cruel murtherings but there are cruel mockings I pray do but consider Isa 14. 10 11 12. there is Nebuchadnezzar the devil set the greatest good before him that this world could afford to be the great Emperor of the world and by this particular good the poor man is deceived Well he comes to Hell after all this and the spirit beneath is moved at his coming Do but see how the devil insults How art thou fallen from heaven Oh great Lucifer Son of the morning Here is a man that I cheated by varnishing over a particular good riches one by honors another by pleasures a third and it is that which will be to thee matter of derision for ever it will be too late then to say so foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee then a man must own his own shame and lie down under it and this is the great and grand deceit which men will look upon with shame and confusion of face to eternity Certainly you had need to take heed then you be not deceived in your chief good thus men are miserable whose chief good is misplaced But wherein doth their miserie lie that misplace their chief good There are six things but it would spend a days time to reckon up the misery of that man I and a day would be too little to recount the misery of that man who erres in his chiefe good errs in placing his treasure There are only six things at present I shall mention that whoever finds that his chief good is mis-placed he may consider of it and this may help towards his conversion for the change of his chief good First there is nothing good to that man who errs in his chief good it s the old rule Nil bonnm sine summo bono There is nothing good to that man who is deceived in his chief good look into Eccles 5. 3. there be riches why is not that a good thing a good thing for a man to have a great estate and a large portion but to a man that makes these his chief good there is no good in them to him There be riches kept for the hurt of the owners the man shall wish one day that he had been as poor as Lazarus when he lay at the rich mans gate the man is the worse for them he is but made rich for his hurt and the same thing is true of honors and all outward things many a man is made honorable to his hurt for if he errs in his chief good he errs in all things else Is it not a good thing to live under the means of grace the preaching of the Gospel the droppings of the Spirit of grace in the Sanctuary where he uses to work look into Heb. 6. 7 8. there is the ground that drinks in the rain and yet is nigh to cursing Why because he errs in his chief good for what fruit hath he of all these truly they all tend to no other end but to ensnare his soul to draw out his lusts to ripen his sins to hasten his ruine here is all the good the man gets by it as t is to a good man that hits right in his chief good every thing is good to him sufferings shall be good sinning good afflictions good temptations good Why every thing is sanctified to him so on the contrary to another man nothing is good to him because he errs in his chief good As t is in order of causes so t is in order of goodness too all inferior things are never good to a man without an influence of the chief good remember that is the misery of a man that mis-places his chief good his treasure if he erre in that nothing is good unto him Secondly if a man err in his chief good this will make him err in his judgement of things and persons as long as he lives that is his misery he never judges aright of things and persons the rule of every mans judgement is that which is to him his chief good now if he err in that he must needs err in his judgement both of things and persons First You shall see he errs and must needs do so in reference to things Take a man whose chief good is here below and see how he judges of things he judges sinning to be good and therefore he chooses iniquity rather then affliction Job 36. 21. he judges the praise of men better then the praise of God and therefore chooses that John 12. 43. nay he chooses things present as better then those that are to come This is the way of a man that hath his chief good here below he errs in his judgment of all things whereas now t is contrary to a man whose chief good is in heaven he saith sin is worse then death worse then Hell as Anselm once profest if hell were offered on the one side and heaven on the other with sin he would rather enter hell and account that a good exchange Mallem Gehennam intrare And so he is not praise-worthy whom men but whom the Lord commends why does one judge of things one way and another another way t is because of different chief good and as t is true of things so t is true of persons one that places his happiness here below and hath his treasure in this life he calls the proud happy judges them happy that be set up in this world Mal. 3. 15. he saith they are happy that be rich and honorable and have all things in this world in possession because t is that wherein he places his chief good Now another man that hath his treasure in heaven saith they be the godly that be the excellent ones the precious ones of the earth the Lords jewels and so they are in his account for he judges of them according to his own chief good and this is the true reason why the men of the world put darkness
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
30. 21. They shall hear a voice behinde them saying This is the way walk in it Here is the voice of the Spirit that is truth by the Spirit this reduces the man Now you go from your chief good this is not the way to heaven this shall never bring you to God they are wonderfull comforts to a godly man and there is not any thing can be spoken that is a more glorious guide and a more effectual way to reduce a man then this consideration I depart not from that which is my chief good That is the third particular Fourthly Unto a mans chief good his soul retires and from it he fetches comfort upon all occasions for he that hath made choice of the true chief good is able to say I am sure here is solid comfort which other men now cannot Prov. 18. 10 11. The rich mans wealth is his strong tower the name of the Lord is a strong tower they are put in opposition now whether do men retire in danger to their chief good the rich man to his wealth a godly man to the name of the Lord so that in every trouble every man goes out for comfort to his chief good Now a godly man is able to say in his distress T is true I have no riches to comfort me and very few friends to stand by me yet notwithstanding for all that I can retreat to my God my chief good there is comfort enough in him I have a God a Christ a Heaven a new Covenant and a new Image these I can retire to upon all occasions where I am sure there is solid comfort In this case that soul dares compare his chief good with all the men in the world at such a time no man knows but he that feels it how a soul triumphs in his chief good just as the Spouse Cant. 5. 10. My beloved is the chief among ten thousand I let all the men in the world bring out their treasure I dare compare with them for There is no rock like our rock who is a God like our God The Lord is his treasure it s a strange place Psal 44 8. 22. compare them together ver 22. For thy sake are we killed all the day long all the day long nothing but killing now what is their condition under this ver 8. We make our boast of God all the day long kill'd all day long and yet brag of God all the day long and yet this is the condition of all the Saints of God See the vanity of all other treasures when men retire to them their souls are empty but in my chief good there is solid comfort to be had whenever I retire to it Fifthly this is a very great comfort to a godly man even in the midst of all his failings Pray take notice of it and the Lord set it on upon the spirits of those to whom it belongs yet I have attained to choose God for my chief good true the best men may and must say Who hath made his heart clean and when they look back upon their ways they must acknowledge My heart hath run out inordinately sometimes to this and that creature and I have neglected to seek after him who is my chief good my treasure and for this I desire to be ashamed before him all my days yet notwithstanding my happiness is laid up in him alone there is my treasure David comforted himself thus Psal 18. 21. I have not wickedly departed from my God departed he had departed weakly nay many times departed wittingly bur wickedly I have not departed What is it now for a man to depart from God wickedly the meaning is this t is for a man to place his chief good somewhere else to go after another God as the Psalmist speaks Psalm 16. I thank God I have never done so I have chosen the Lord for my chief good and to that choice I stand though many times weakly and willingly I have departed from God yet wickedly I never did t is a great ground of comfort in the midst of all the failings of Gods people And truly there are no things in this world so great troubles to the people of God as their departings from God are they be their great troubles as I remember Chrysostom speaks of sin in reference to his accompt and he professes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my sin saith he this is death and this is Hell I sin is and therefore departing from God is their great affliction yet here is their stay and their comfort I never wickedly departed from God and I have never chosen any but thee Sixthly That which a man doth choose as his chief good here and lay up in heaven by election that he shall certainly enjoy hereafter by fruition what is here thy chosen good in election that shall be thy chief good by fruition hereafter for as Austin saith Beatitudo electione inchoatur adeptione impletur A mans blessedness begins in election here what a man chooses for his chief good shall be finished and perfected in fruition hereafter and therefore what a man chooses for his treasure in heaven that which he hath chosen he shall enjoy do you not remember the promise Gen. 15. 2. I will be thy exceeding great reward dost thou choose God for thy chief good here he will be thy rewarding God hereafter what is thy Good here bystipulation shall be thy chief good hereafter by vision fruition by union there is a mans happiness I have a chief good in heaven I am sure I shall enjoy him hereafter Lastly which is the top of blessedness he that hath laid up his chief good in heaven is happy with the same happiness that God is he is called the blessed God why wherein doth Gods blessedness consist Truly it lies in this in the enjoyment of himself his chief good lies in himself he is his own chief good for the enjoyment of himself as chief good herein lies the happiness of God then for a creature to enjoy God as his chief good so far as a creature is capable he is blessed even with the happiness of God thou dost here live the life of God and art made conformable to the Image of God thou art blessed with the happiness of God and hereafter shalt enter into the joy of thy Lord these are the particulars that are great grounds of comfort to all those that have laid up their treasure in heaven the true Treasury And so much for the first Doctrine I shall now proceed to the second general observation which is this The treasure is attractive of the heart and wheresoever a mans treasure is it will carry his heart with it For wherever the treasure is there the heart will be Four things there are which I must speak unto by way of Explication which are indeed as so many subordinate Doctrines in the Text they will all tend to the opening of this great point First to shew what is meant by
his treasure and presently hâ—s heart is changed and retires from that which before it went out unto with the greatest earnestness in the world there is the happiness of Gods people they have changed their treasure their chief good and therein lies the great change of conversion This is the first and great change when a man changes his chief good but when that is done once the soul that went out after it before now turns from that which was his chief good and persecutes that with the greatest earnestness that before he did cleave unto there be two things in conversion A version and Conversion The man turns from all treasures below take a proof for that Psal 63. 8. My heart follows hard after God said David the word is my soul cleaves after him that though I have many things that would turn me off from God yet notwithstanding my soul cleaves to him in a constant pursuit of him my soul cleaves after him There are two expressions somewhat alike one is to fulfil after God and the other is to cleave after God Numb 14. 24. Caleb had another spirit he followed God fully he fulfilled after God so t is in the Hebrew this points out the sincerity of a mans heart and to cleave after God t is spoken of the constancy of a mans pursuit the heart goes out the bent of the soul always tends that way yea he that before followed after vanity now cleaves after God what is the reason the chief good is changed And as there is conversion so there is aversion Take a man that now looks on sin as a cheat and all the comforts of the creatures to be but counterfeit and that he hath taken copper for gold all that while what then his heart turns from them with the greatest aversion that is possible you know those places I need not repeat them What have I to do any more with Idols Hos 11. 8. Say to the Idols get you hence therefore the heart is with the treasure where the treasure is there is the heart but now change the treasure and the pursuit of the heatt is changed Thus much for the demonstrations of it I hope all these things may be usefull to every understanding hearer But why is it that the heart always goeth out to the treasure that where the treasure is there the heart is why what is the cause There are six great grounds of it First because the treasure which I expound the chief good is animae pabalum the food upon which the soul feeds and if it be so no wonder the soul goeth out after it the heart cannot live without it take an unregenerate man and it is his treasure his heart feeds upon he eats the bread of wickedness and drinks the wine of violence take a godly man and he doth not labour for the meat that perisheth but for that which endures to eternal life Joh. 6. 27. This is the food his soul feeds upon and for this cause in the Scripture you have so often expressions of hungring and thirsting and you know what violent impressions those make upon the spirits of men what is all this but to let you see that the chief good is the food of the soul and therefore the heart makes after it for it cannot live without it Secondly the chief good is not only the food but animae sustentaoulum the support of the soul the soul of man without it is not able to uphold it self Psal 112. 8. David saith my heart is underpropt so Montanus renders the word suffultum est cor meum then truly the heart of man must be propt it is not able to stand of it self it must have a support and whence is that support pray look Job 8. 15. there is a man that leans upon his house what is that his hope the object of his hope he cannot stand without it support that which is his comfort in reference to eternity upon this his soul leans and so the godly Psal 73. 26. My flesh and my heart fails me but God is the strength of my heart he goes to his chief good because he cannot stand alone he must have somewhat to rest upon and that 's the reason that a rich mans wealth is said to be his strong tower it is that which defends him the heart must needs go to the treasure t is the hearts food and t is the hearts support it cannot be supported one moment without it Thirdly it is the souls delight the delight of the heart oblectamentum animae the heart of man cannot live without it long and all the delight the soul hath comes in from its chief good the chief good is the object of the highest love and of the greatest trust and t is the object of the fullest delight and therefore the soul of man must go out to its treasure because all its joy comes in by it and without delight the soul cannot live Why is Hell said to be death because there is no joy no delight why is Heaven said to be life because in thy presence is fulness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore without delight the soul cannot live Saith Austin Take away all delight and the soul dies let there be but pure darkness once and the soul cannot live Fourthly It is a mans chief good that is animae ornamentum the beauty of the soul that wherein the beauty of the soul doth lie and indeed take the soul off from this and it is naked the heart of man is naked taken off from his chief good will you but observe and see both put together Jer. 2. 33. Can amaid forget her ornaments and a bride her attire Take a poor creature all the beauty she hath lies in cloaths as I sometime told you that is like the Cinnamon Tree that hath nothing good but the Bark indeed t is true you dare not go without your ornaments to be sure whatever you forget you will not forget to make your selvs fine to deck your selves I am afraid divers of you forget most other things except that but can she why can she not there is not a natural impossibility indeed but a moral that is it wherein she glories and she cannot forget it but saith God I am your ornament your glory you ought to make me your chief good and you forget me days without number the soul goeth out to its treasure and cannot forget it for this is that wherein all its ornament and beauty lies and the truth is all the adorning of the soul comes from a mans treasure and chief good Fifthly the heart must go out to to the treasure for t is animae spiraculum this is that in which the soul breaths pray consider it we rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God saith the Apostle Rom. 5. 2. Despair is that which strangles the soul the soul lives in hope what is that hope carried after why after its