his worst Enemies his Lusts and Satan This will be amplified more in the following parts of the Discourse This being premis'd we come to shew how Prosperity abus'd is destructive to Sinners both meritoriously as it induces a deadly guilt and makes them obnoxious to the revenging Wrath of God and effectively as 't is opposite to the felicity and perfection of Man that consists in the renovation of the Image of God in the Soul and in joyful Communion with him for ever This will appear by the following Considerations 1. Prosperity is the continual Incentive of the vicious Affections the fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul that deprive it of its Beauty Order Freedom and Felicity Man is compounded of Flesh and Spirit by the one he communicates in nature with the Beasts by the other he confines with the Angels By the original Law of Union the Body was subject to the Soul and tho taken from the Earth did not oppress it and hinder its Heavenly flight The Flesh did not lust against the Spirit nor the Spirit against the Flesh. But as the motion of the two Eyes in the Head is always uniform and directed the same way so Reason and Sence accorded the Appetites were regular and concentrick with the Mind Upon this established order the internal Peace and Holiness of Man depends But by the rebellious Sin of Adam the Soul lost its regal Power and Freedom and as in the first temptation the Soul infected the Body so now the Body infects the Soul The carnal Appetite the spring of Lust and Anger that infernal pair that reigns so universally over-rules the rational Will and gives Law to Men. The love of sensual Pleasures is natural to Men as Temptations are more charming and increas'd 't is more predominant The Senses the Fancy and the Passions are in a conspiracy against the Soul and there is a continual circulation in their working they excite one another By the Sences pleasing things obtain an easy entrance into the Fancy and Fancy has a strange power to charm or terrify by false Representations it amplifies the Evil and heightens the seeming Good of things and by the inspiration of Fancy the Passions are moved and the Passions being allured bribe and seduce the Mind and draw the consent of the Will by the actual Pleasure that is mixt in the gratifying of them And as Adam lost his Innocence and Paradise by his compliance with the blandishments of his Wife so the Soul loses its purity and happiness by yielding to the Desires of the Flesh that is in conjunction with it For this reason Man in his fallen State is called Flesh as if there were no other Principle in his Nature and of his Operations The Spiritual and more noble Faculties that were made for delightful Communion with God are sunk into Carnality The description of Men in their natural State by the Apostle is a full proof of this We all had our Conversation in times past in the Lusts of the Flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the Mind 'T is observable that the lusts of the Flesh that spring from the sensual Part are drawn forth into act by the concurrent Wills of the Flesh and of the Mind The nobler Faculties the Understanding and Will are depraved and freely indulge the Carnal Appetites in their pursuit of Pleasures Prodigious degeneracy of the reasonable Creature Of this we have a resemblance in the marvellous transforming Power of Nature If a Cyon be grafted into a Tree of another kind the Fruit that grows on it will not be according to the Nature of the Stock but of the Graft that over-rules the Sap and turns it to its own quality Thus the Beast is grafted into the Man and the intellectual Powers are corrupted and carnal The Mind is employed to disguise the Ignominy and Guilt that attend the Lusts of the Flesh and the Will consents to a submission to those ignoble and unruly Appetites Man has only this privilege that he is a more ingenious Brute to spring new Pleasures to make provision for his sensual Desires and to accomplish them Now in Prosperity when the Senses are entertained with variety of alluring Objects the Fancy is more predominant and contagious It has more force vivacity and extent the more 't is conversant about sensible things And the polluted Imagination is the most active and general Principle of corrupting the Heart for the Mind transcribes a Copy of what is written in the Fancy and presents it with a false gloss to the Will that is ready to chuse what brings actual pleasure And the sensitive Affections are excited by the Fancy so that the presence of a suitable Object foments the warmth into heat and turns the heat into fire and the fire into flame And the more the carnal Affections are indulg'd the more they are inlarg'd the more importunate and head-strong they become and the Soul is utterly disabled from recovering it self from the besotted vile prostitution to the ignoble and unruly Appetites Millions had been less guilty and defiled and less miserable for ever if they had not been surrounded by pleasant Temptations and intanglements of Iniquity 2. Prosperity occasionally incenses the irascible Appetite For the usual Incentives of Anger are the crossing the Desires and Contempt and the stronger the Desires the more impatient they are to be controll'd and in proportion to the height of mind is the indignation for any contempt that is offer'd Now prosperity makes the carnal Desires more exorbitant and consequently raging when frustrated Violent burning Desires when controll'd provoke violent burning Anger and Anger inflam'd extinguishes the calm Light of Reason becomes blind and furious in revenging apprehended Injuries 'T is the Inquiry joyn'd with Conviction by St. James From whence come Wars and Fightings among you Come they not from your Lusts that war in your Members The voluptuous ambitious covetous Passions when disappointed are the common and natural Causes of all the bloody Disorders in the World The other cause of Anger is Contempt either real or suppos'd and that is more provoking to those who rais'd by Pro sperity look with a distance of Mind upon others below them Prosperity in any kind swels Men with a vain opinion of their Worth and Dignity and makes them insolent and intolerable There is a strange distemper of the Eyes in some Persons where-ever they look their own Image visibly encounters them The reason of it is assign'd by an inquiring Philosopher ' That the visive Faculty has not spirits and vigour to penetrate through the Air to see other things and the Air as a Glass makes the reflection of their own Image Thus one of a shallow and weak Understanding is continually representing to himself his own conceited Excellencies And Prosperity increases their esteem of themselves unmeasurably above their just value 'T is like a Concave Glass that breaks the Rays and dilates the visive Angle and by a
power they cannot make use of the Armor of God for their Defence and their Lusts are strong they are patient of his Drudgery constant at the Oar and faithful to their Chains And from hence 't is evident that Men are never more dangerously under the destructive power of Satan than when they enjoy Prosperity 3. Prosperity is destructive to many in that it affords them advantages to corrupt others and reciprocally exposes them to be corrupted by others Persons in Dignity Wealth and Power when depraved in their Inclinations and Actions are like publick Fountains poison'd that convey a spreading ruin abroad Their evil Example has a pernicious Influence and more commanding Efficacy as a Rule than their Laws they ordain as Rulers The Manners of Princes are as current as their Mony that being stamp'd with their Image and Superscription tho the Metal be base passes freely among the People The reason of it is evident for without the restraints of shame and fear the sensual Passions are riotous and licencious Shame is a displeasure at Evils that are attended with dishonour and infamy especially at sinful Evils that are so shameful in their own Nature that the most sordid things in comparison are less ignominious Now foul Vices when practis'd by Men of conspicuous Eminence do not seem with that turpitude and deformity as is inherent in their Nature As a muddy Vapour drawn up by the Sun and enamel'd with the Rays of Light appears amiable to the Eye not dreggy and foul as 't is in it self Innumerable miscarry by the vicious Examples of Persons in Honour for when Sins are gilded over with creditableness many think it necessary to be unholy that is truly vile that they may be fashionably noble And when those that are in Power abuse it as a privilege for licenciousness in Sin inferiors are viciously bold expecting Facility and Indulgence in the pardoning those Faults of which their Superiors are guilty And those who do not fear to be punish'd do not fear to sin Thus amongst the Heathens Lasciviousness was lawless because they ascribed their vicious Passions to their supposed Deities and did not fear their revenging Justice for what was practis'd by them Besides Prosperity exposes the Rich and Great to be more corrupted by others Servile Spirits will be cruelly obsequious to the Humors and Lusts of those upon whom they depend and the ready Instruments of accomplishing their irregular Desires 'T is their Interest to please them from whom they receive Favours and Benefits And how few have so firm a Vertue as to break the twisted Temptations of Pleasure and Profit The Rich and Great in the World are usually attended with a train of Dependents or vicious Associates whose compliance is very influential to harden a vicious Disposition into a corrupt Habit. These are underworkers to Satan the Mastertempter and feed the double Element of infernal Fire Lust and Rage in the Breasts of those with whom they converse 'T is the peculiar misery of Men in a high and flourishing Condition that they have many Flatterers and few Friends Few or none dare faithfully represent their Sins and Danger lest the sight of their Guilt in its true reflexion should offend them As Love is blind to others so especially to one's self and mercenary Wretches by the most vile flattery endeavour to make them believe of themselves what is pleasing to them to believe Such to ingratiate will commend the mere shadows of Vertue as substantial Vertue and excuse real gross Vices as but the shadows of Vice By deceitful Arts they colour and conceal the native ugliness of Sin under a thin appearance and name of Vertue The arrogant and revengeful they call generous the covetous frugal the lascivious gentile the prodigal magnificent the malicious wary and cautious the brutish and secure couragious The Conversation of such is infinitely dangerous and corrupting for under the disguise of Friendship they are the most deadly Enemies What greater danger of being poison'd can there be than when by Art the taste of Poison is taken away from the Poison and there is no suspicion of the Traitor that gives it Thus 't is further evident that Prosperity is very dangerous to the Souls of Men. 4. The Prosperity of Sinners usually renders the means of Grace ineffectual that should reclaim and reform them and consequently their Destruction is remediless The Means of Grace are Internal or External Internal the motions of the Holy Spirit and the Convictions and Excitations of Conscience External the Ministry of the Word and the Counsels of faithful Friends all which are usually made frustrate and inefficacious by the Vices and Lusts of the Prosperous 1. Prosperity makes Sinners more uncapable of receiving the heavenly Impressions of the Spirit and obstinate in resisting his gracious working The Flesh and the Spirit are contrary And accordingly as the carnal Appetite has dominion and over-rules in Men such is their opposition to his restraints from Evil or his motions to what is holy and good The sensual have not the Spirit They wilfully refuse to give admission to him when by inward impulses he sollicits them and have a stubborn and active contrariety to his Attributes and gracious Operations He is stiled the Spirit of Power and Love and a sound Mind He communicates a sacred Sovereign Vertue to the Soul whereby the irregular Passions are reduc'd to the obedience of the sanctified Mind and the reigning power of Sin is dissolv'd He is a free Spirit and restores the Soul to true and perfect Liberty by inlarging the Will and making it commensurate with the Divine Will and from hence it is the inseparable Character of a converted Person he is willing to do what God will have him do and to be what God will have him be But sensual Persons by the pleasant infusions of servility from the Tempter and carnal Objects have lost their power and desire of spiritual Liberty and resist the holy Spirit when he offers to break the Bands of their Lusts. The Spirit in converting the Soul inspires it with heavenly Love to God for the ever-satisfying beauty of his Perfections and from Love proceeds intellectual delight in communion with him in affectionate ascents to him and his gracious descents to the Soul but the Sensual are fastned in the Mire of their sordid Pleasures and can take no heavenly flight and relish no divine Comforts The Spirit produces a sound Mind to judg sincerely of things as they are And from hence the corrupting Vanities of the World lose their attractive Charms and eternal things appear in their reality and excellency and are chosen and sought with persevering diligence But the sensual Heart is a perpetual Furnace whose Smoke darkens the Mind that it cannot discover sublime and heavenly Excellencies and whose impure Heat fires the Will that 't is earnest in the pursuit of fleshly Pleasures Briefly nothing does more quench the Spirit in his
illuminating quickning and attractive Operations than Sensuality and nothing more heightens sensuality and increases the aversness of carnal Men to the holy Law of God and makes their Conversion more difficult than Prosperity Indeed the Spirit of God can by effectual Grace convert the most unprepared habituate Sinner the most obstinate Enemy of Holiness he can melt the most rocky stubborn Heart into a holy softness and compliance with its Duty for creating Power is of infallible Efficacy and there are some Objects and Miracles of Divine Grace that are the everlasting Monuments of its glorious Power in subduing the most fierce violence of rebellious Sinners But the Spirit of God does not work as natural Agents that are active to the extent of their Power The Winds blow with all their force and the Sun inlightens the Air with all its luster The holy Spirit is an intelligent and voluntary Agent whose Power in working is regulated by his Will and directed by his Wisdom There are some things repugnant to the Divine Attributes ' that 't is impossible God should do them the Apostle saith that God cannot lye for 't is contrary to his Truth one of his essential Perfections And 't is as impossible that he should do any thing unbecoming his Wisdom He threatned the sensual World My Spirit shall not always strive with Man for he is Flesh that is corrupt and indulgent to his fleshly Appetites and alway opposing and controuling the pure Motions of the Spirit We read that our Saviour could do no mighty Works in his own Country because of their unbelief Not as if their Infidelity abated his Divine Power but they were unprepared to receive benefit by them his Miracles would have been cast away upon such inconvincible Persons Who will sow the barren Sands or water dead Plants or give a rich Cordial to a furious Patient that will spill it on the ground And 't is an Act of Justice to deprive Sinners of those Inspirations which they have so long resisted Those who are tender and tractable and unfeignedly resign up themselves to his conduct in the Ways of Life shall receive more powerful Influences to perfect the blessed Work begun in them He will give more Grace to the humble But those who are so far from valuing his Graces and Comforts that should be received with the highest respect that they ungratefully despise them and rebel against his Motions and Counsels he righteously deserts St. Stephen in his Charge against the Jews to compleat the aggravation of their Sins reproaches them Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in Heart and Ears ye always resisted the Holy Ghost The obstinate Sinner rebels against his Authority and contemns his Mercy The Tempter with his Charms is presently entertain'd as the Devils easily enter'd into the Swine but the Holy Spirit with his gracious Offers is rejected Wretched Indignity rather to obey a Slave and an Enemy than the lawful Soveraign If the Saints grieve the Spirit of God by a wilful neglect of his assisting Grace and fall into presumptuous sins altho from the perfection of his Nature he is not capable of passionate grief yet he infinitely dislikes their sins And as grief when 't is oppressing causes the Spirits to retire to the Heart and Nature is as it were shut up in its springs and obstructed from communicating agility and vivacity in the ordinary operations of the senses thus the holy Spirit when grieved withdraws and there follows a disconsolate eclipse and interruption of his reviving quickning presence But the indulgent habituate Sinners provoke him finally to leave them to their own Lusts. 'T is true his deserting them is usually gradual as in a consumptive Person the stomach the colour the strength decline by degrees till Nature sinks irrecoverably under the Disease so the motions of the Spirit in those who have often repell'd them are not so frequent and vigorous as before his after calls are weaker wasting and dying every day till his total withdrawing from them How fearful and hopeless is the state of such a sinner This spiritual Judgment always proceeds from inexorable severity and ends in the eternal ruin of sinners For without the Spirit 's supernatural working they can never be renewed to Repentance never reconciled to God They may for a time live in a voluptuous course or follow the Business of the World and a little breath may separate between them and Hell but they shall at last die in their sins in an impardonable state for ever 'T is said of the Jews They rebell'd and vexed his Holy Spirit therefore he turned to be their Enemy and fought against them 2. The Convictions and Excitations of Conscience are prevented or made ineffectual by the prosperity of sinners Conscience is the applicative Mind that respects Practice it directs in our Duty both by inhibitions from what is evil and by instigations to what is good and by comparing our Actions with the Rule testifies our innocence or guilt and approves or condemns us This intellectual Ray was planted in us by the wise God in out Creation and extended to the Divine Law the Object and End of it to keep us to our Duty And since our revolt 't is being enlightned and sanctified the vital Principle of Conversion to God the powerful means of rescuing the lapsed Soul from its prostitution to the Flesh and recovering it to a temper of Purity becoming its Original Excellence and Relation to the Father of Spirits 'T is true the Love of God is the primary Rule of our Duty and the Holy Spirit is the Efficient of our Renovation but the inlightned Conscience is the immediate Rule and the immediate Mover of us to return to our Duty And if Conscience which is the Eye of the Soul be covered with a film of Ignorance if it be blear'd with the false glitterings of the World if it totally neglects its Office or makes but a cold application of saving Terrors that may controul the licentious Appetites if it be disregarded when it suggests and excites to our Duty the sinner is hardned and setled in his lost state Now Prosperity foments the sensual Affections that obscure the Light of Conscience that corrupt its Judgment that smother and suppress its Dictates or despise and slight them that 't is powerless tho constituted God's Deputy to order our Lives 1. Affected Ignorance is the usual Concomitant of sensual Lusts for the enlightned Conscience will convince and condemn Men for their Pollutions and force them here to feel the beginning of sorrows and thereby make them apprehensive what the issues and consummation will be hereafter and this will cast an aspersion of bitterness upon their sweet sins and lessen the full pleasure of them From hence our Saviour tells us Every one that loves to do Evil hates the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved that is by the instructed and awakned Conscience Men love darkness
to cover their nakedness and foul deformity They are averse from knowing their Duty and will not search lest they should discover such terrible Truths that cross their sensual Humour The Apostle foretells That Scoffers should come in the last days who are willingly ignorant of the beginning and end of the World as if there were no Divine Maker of all things who has power to destroy them and consequently no Judg to whom Men must be accountable for their disobedience to his Laws they assent to the most evident Absurdity that all things were and shall continue in the same tenor and the cause of their willing ignorance is insinuated in the Character that describes them that they might walk after their own Lusts more securely freely and joyfully 2. Sensual Lusts do not only hinder Mens search after Knowledg but obscure the Light of Conscience and corrupt its Judgment There is such an intimate Communion between the Soul and the Body that interchangably they corrupt one another the sins of the Flesh sink into the Spirit and corrupt the moral Principles from whence the sensible Conscience springs of Good and Evil. And the sins of the Spirit Infidelity Incogitancy Error Security break out in the Deeds of the Body and make the Flesh more outragious in its Desires St. Paul declares that unto the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure but even their Mind and Conscience is defiled A purged Heart is requisite for a clear Mind but where Lust dwells it taints and perverts the practical Judgment from whence so many Disorders follow in the Life The natural Conscience in many Cases in its simple judgment of things sincerely declares what is to be done and what to be avoided but when compounded and stain'd with a tincture of Sensuality it judges according to the Desires The rebellious Israesites in the Wilderness are described It is a People that do err in their Hearts the Heart was the erroneous Fountain of all their Miscarriages and forty Years instruction could do them no good Those who are given up to carnal Delights and are in a confederacy with the gross Senses even their directive and judging Faculty is carnal in its apprehensions A reprobate Mind and vile Affections are naturally and judicially the Cause and Effect of one another Even natural Truths that are plain and bright as the essential distinction between moral Good and Evil between Vertue and Vice and the belief of a Judgment to come that is inseparably connext with it yet through the perversness and crookedness of Mens Hearts are strangely darkned Men wish according to their carnal Interest and what they wish they would fain believe and as when there was no King in Israel every one did what was good in his own Eyes so if there were no after-reckoning Men would without the check of Conscience follow the Wills of the Flesh therefore they are Atheists in desire and if not scared by the pangs of a throbbing Conscience will be so in their thoughts The Heathens cancell'd the Law of Nature and transgress'd all the Rules of Duty and Decorum they securely indulg'd those Lusts that are a derogation and debasement to the reasonable Creature and make Men below Men. The reason of this prodigious degeneracy was their Manners corrupted their Minds St. Paul charges the Ephesians not to walk as the other Gentiles in the vanity of their Minds having the Understanding darkned being alienated from the Life of God through the Ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their Heart who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness A dead Conscience and a dissolute Life are inseparable And how many that are surrounded with the Celestial Beams of the Gospel are as impure and impenitent as those in the black Night of Paganism They stand at the entrance of the bottomless Pit yet do not smell the Brimstone that inrages the Fire there the flames of their Lusts have feared their Consciences to a desperate degree of hardness and insensibility Of such the Apostle speaks But these as natural brute Beasts made to be taken and destroyed speak evil of the things they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption and shall receive the Reward of Unrighteousness as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time spots they are and blemishes sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you They violated all the Prescriptions and Restraints of natural Reason they had lost all the ingenuous bashfulness of the humane Nature and pleas'd themselves in their false licentious Principles whereby they endeavoured to justify their enormous Actions and set a superficial gloss upon their foul Deformities Now a seduced and seducing Mind make the conversion of a Sinner most difficult Whilst the Judgment condemns what the Affections approve Men are not so invincibly and irrecoverably lost the inlightned Conscience is an earnest of their return to their Duty But when the Spirit is deceived the flesh always prevails and Men are most dissolute corrupt and desperately wicked Our Saviour says If the Light that is in us be Darkness how great is that Darkness how disorderly and ruinous will the course be If the Salt hath lost its savour wherewith shall it be salted If the Conscience that should be as Salt to preserve the Soul from tainting Pleasures be corrupted wherewith can it be restored 3. Fleshly Lusts smother and suppress the Dictates and Testimony of the enlightned Conscience that they are not influential upon the Life The Dictates of Conscience are in a direct Line instructing and advising Men in their Duty the Testimony is by reflexion upon their Errors from the Divine Rule and condemning them for their Guilt 1. The Dictates of the inlightned Conscience are supprest 'T is the observation of the Philosopher concerning sensual Persons that they have Reason in the Faculty and Habit but not in the Use and Exercise The practical Understanding declares our Duty that 't is absolutely necessary to obey God and Men assent to it in the general but when this Principle is to be applied to Practice in Particulars that are ungrateful to the corrupt Will Lust draws a Veil over it that it may not appear to check the sensual Inclinations Whilst the Mind seduc'd by the Senses is intent upon the pleasing Object it does not actually and strongly consider the Divine Command and Conscience is brought under the controul of the impetuous Passions The Light of Reason as well as of Divine Revelation discovers that the blessed Beginning and the happy End of Man is to be like God and to enjoy his Love but when there is a competition between his Favour and the things of the World the carnal Heart suppresses the Dictates of the Mind and makes a blindfold choice of things present and sensible as if Man were all Earth and there were no spark of Heaven within
works powerfully in the Children of Disobedience They are as it were possess'd and acted by his strong Incitations They are said to be taken captive by him at his Will 'T is an allusion to the catching of Beasts when by the address and craft of the Hunters they are drawn or urg'd into the toil prepared for them Now Prosperity furnishes him with the Materials whereof he weaves the most fatal Snares for his strength and art to destroy principally lie in specious Representations and fallacious Promises of happiness in the enjoyment of worldly things This will appear by considering 1. That pleasant Temptations are most apt to seduce the Souls of Men to ruin As in sowing the Earth when there is a congruity between the Soil and the Seed 't is nourish'd and springs up to a plentiful Harvest So when Temptations are suitable to the heart they are entertain'd with complacency and are productive of actual Sins Every Man is tempted cum effectu by Satan when he is drawn away by his own Lust and enticed the sensual Appetite is drawn forth by things grateful to it Then when Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth Sin and Sin when 't is finish'd bringeth forth Death When the Appetite has obtain'd the consent of the Will the compleat act of Sin follows and Sin habitually indulg'd ends in Death Some Temptations of Satan are of such a black Complexion and so terrible to humane Nature that the Soul resists them till by violence and restless importunity 't is overcome But by the Attractives of Pleasure he easily prevails As in cutting of ' Timber if on strikes cross the Grain there is strong resistance but if the blow follows the Vein of the Wood it easily cleaves asunder The Temptations of Riches Honour and Pleasures are so delightful that the Devil commands or perswades Men to a compliance with them Besides his malice in pleasant Temptations is less discernible and consequently Men do not by Circumspection and Prayer for Divine Grace preserve themselves from the mischief of them If we are fiercely assaulted by unnatural Temptations that cause extraordinary Agonies of Spirit we seek for supernatural Assistance and fortify our selves with holy Resolutions against the open Enemy But by the pleasures of Sin he insinuates into Mens Hearts and feeds the deadly Disease so gratefully that they discover not their danger till past recovery Therefore he destroys more by his Serpentine Suggestions by winning Charms than by fiery Rage Indeed he is never more a Devil than when he deceives and we are divinely warn'd of his Guile Devices and Wiles that we may not be surpris'd and ruin'd by our invisible Adversary 2. Plentiful Prosperity affords variety of Temptations which he makes use of to prevent the satiety and dislike that the same repeated Temptations would cause Since Man was divided from God the true Center of the Soul he breaks into a thousand irregular Desires and in the Apostle's phrase serves divers Lusts and Pleasures and the Vanities of the World do rather cloy than satisfy that which brings transporting Joy at first by continuance becomes nauseous and insipid Now the Tempter with the abundance of Prosperity so orders his temptations as to take off the weariness of one pleasure by another and keeps his Slaves in the Magical Circle of Variety As a rich Epicure provides a Universe of Luxury commands the four Elements to make a show the Earth the Air the Water of their Treasures and the Fire of its Art to dress them thereby to excite the languishing Appetite to give a relish to Intemperance and satisfy the greedy Eye as well as the blind Belly Thus Satan the Architect of Pleasure brings out of his Storehouse several kinds of delightful Temptations to reinflame the Carnal Appetite when sated without variety desire often fails the Man and Pleasure fails the Desire Voluptuaries are dissolv'd in the changing streams of Pleasure 3. Idleness that is often the concomitant of Prosperity gives him a tempting opportunity and makes Men more receptive of his temptations The Sin and Destruction of Sodom was from hence This was the Iniquity of Sodom Pride fulness of Bread and Idleness was in her and her Daughters The idle Person prevents the Devil beckens the Tempter to do his Office When the House is empty the Mind not exercis'd with better Employments and the Heart is loose and unguarded the Tempter is invited to take Possession Idleness is directly opposite to Life as well as Felicity To live is to be in action Inanimate things are only bound with a dead rest And amongst inanimate Bodies as they ascend in Perfection they are more Active The Heavens that excel in scituation and qualities all things that are without Life are in continual motion And Man's Felicity consists in the most perfect Actions of the most perfect Life in the Vision and Enjoyment of the Blessed God Now Man naturally being avers from a state contrary to Life and Felicity if he is not employed in business becoming the reasonable immortal Soul rather than languish in idleness is active in making provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof Time is tedious and that it may pass away pleasantly Men seek for Diversions that are usually either sinful in their own Nature or connext with Sins A lawful Employment is a double security against Temptations Partly Divine as it entitles us to God's Providence over us for whilst we are obeying his Command we are encouraged by his Promise that he will keep us in all our ways either prevent Temptations or afford us assistance to vanquish them And partly Natural for whilst we are diligently exercis'd in a lawful Calling the Mind is not at leisure to attend the Temptation and the Senses do not so easily admit those Objects that betray the Soul And 't is observable that God who is merciful in his Chastisements orders that fallen Man should obtain the Fruits of the Earth to support his Life by the sweat of his Brows that his uncessant Labour might preserve him from Idleness which to corrupt Nature is the seminary of so many vile Lusts. 4. As the Temptations of Prosperity make Men an easy Prey to Satan so they keep them in the most perfect and miserable bondage under his Power When he has taken hold of their Affections he leads them captive at his Will They are freely drawn by the pleasing force of his Temptations they are voluntary Slaves and in love with their Captivity 'T was the cruel and crafty advice offer'd to the Athenians to keep the subdued Inhabitants of Egina from rebelling to cut off their Thumbs that they might be uncapable to manage a Spear and by War obtain a victorious rescue from their Tyranny but be fit to pull the Oar in the Gallies 'T is an Emblem of Satan's dealing with his Slaves for by the pleasures of Sin their Hearts are weak disabled from vigorous and holy Resolutions to resist his
by Sinners in this World when they are shaken out of their stupifying slumber and fully awak'd to discover their evil Choice Thus the Apostle speaks What Fruit had you of those things whereof you are now ashamed for the end of those things is death When the memory of Sin is revived with a true judgment of it that which has Emptiness in the beginning and Death in the Issue must have Shame in the middle The Prophet tells us He that getteth Riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his days and at his end shall be a Fool. He was a Fool all along in his deceiving of others tho reputed worldly wise but in the issue when that which he gained cannot be kept and the Soul being lost can never be recovered by the conviction of his Conscience he is a Fool and reflects upon his past folly with confusion But at the last day the shame of foolish Sinners shall be displayed before the Eyes of the whole World 'T is foretold that some shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt Obscurity is the Mask of Shame but to be exposed a spectacle of Scorn before a thronged Theatre is the aggravation eminence of the Shame How confounding will the shame of Sinners be in the universal confluence of Angels and Saints and the presence of the glorious God the Judg of all the sense of their Guilt and Folly will sting them for ever 4. 'T is the most woful Folly Here such mischievous Effects proceed from it as deserve the saddest lamentation The Understanding the highest Faculty the Beauty and Excellency of Man is blinded the Will is fettered by corrupt Passions and the whole Man miserably inslaved to Satan What a spectacle of Compassion was Sampson in the slavery of the Philistines He that had been the General and Judg of Israel was deprived of his Sight and Divine Strength his warlike Hands that had been of equal power with an Army and perform'd such glorious Atchievements were imployed in turning a Mill the Work of a Beast and his Misery was pointed and made sharper by the insultation of his Enemies The true Emblem of the degenerate State of Men the Soul that was created in the Image of God and had a peaceful soveraignty over the sensual Appetites a superiority over sensible things is now inslaved and employed in the vile drudgery of Sin and become the derision of the Devils This is little thought of or lamented but therefore the more woful The loss of the Kingdom was not so dismal a Judgment to Nebuchadnezzar as the loss of his Understanding When his Reason was taken away and the Heart of a Beast was given to him 't was the lowest and saddest degradation But hereafter the misery of foolish Sinners will be extream The Apostle tells us that the love of the World causeth Men to fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts which drown Men in Destruction and Perdition The Expressions are full to exaggerate the horror of their ruines and to signify that 't is absolute and irrecoverable The Lusts of Men are equally foolish and pernicious they please themselves in the Enjoyments of the World and are secure as if bathing in the Fountains of Felicity when ready to be swallowed up in the Whirlpool of Death By sensual Vanities they are estranged from God careless of their Duty and are finally separated from his blessed Presence And as the enjoying God without a possibility of losing him is our consummate happiness so to lose him without hopes of ever enjoying him is extream misery The foolish Sinner is not affected with this now whilst he lives in pleasure he is content to be without God in the World but hereafter when he shall be deprived of these slight short-liv'd Pleasures and shall know the unvaluable loss of his Happiness Sorrows will overwhelm him for ever As it befel that Infidel in the 2 Kings 8. he saw the Plenty but was not suffered to taste of it so the damned shall see the Glory of Heaven shining in the Saints but shall not partake of it This misery will be amplified under the following Heads 3. We are to consider the Justice the certainty and the heaviness of the Destruction that shall seize on foolish Sinners that abuse Prosperity 1. To illustrate the Justice of God in their destruction I shall only insist on that Reason that is so admirably amplified in this Chapter for their conviction that is their Destruction is the Fruit of their own choice The Divine Wisdom allures and invites them by all the most tender and powerful Perswasives to forsake their ruinous Course and the Spirit of Grace should be poured upon them which is the Earnest of Glory but they would not be convinced and reformed they loved simplicity the vain volatile Pleasures of Sin though attended with Perdition They hated Knowledg Godliness though recommended by the assurance of a blessed eternal Reward therefore their Destruction is resolved into their own Choice Indeed no Man can directly and absolutely chuse Misery or reject Happiness but vertually and by real consequence the most do A Prodigal that wastes his Estate does not intentionally and deliberately chuse Poverty but thus he thinks this Expence is for my Honour this for my Pleasure and proceeding to innumerable Expences he at last becomes poor and his poverty is voluntary because 't is the issue of his voluntary exorbitant profuseness The evil of Sin though it be destructive and in that respect not eligible by Man yet 't is pleasing to his corrupt Nature and the depraved Will is so allured by the present Pleasure that it anticipates the Reflections of the Mind and chuses to gratify the Propensions of Nature with a brutish disregard of the terrible Consequences of Sin And the present disconvenience of serious Piety to the carnal Heart causes an averseness from it notwithstanding the heavenly Felicity that is promised to it Men prefer carnal Sweets before Communion with God and tho not ignorant of the Issue continue in their Sins And 't is the exactness of Justice to deprive Sinners of that blessedness which they obstinatly refus'd and to bring on them the misery they perversly chuse And when at the last Day the Son of God shall charge upon Sinners their neglect of his compassionate and repeated Calls that he often knock'd at the Door to get an entrance into their Hearts but all in vain the World was there and barr'd it against him The guilty graceless Souls will be struck with a defenceless silence not able to make a Request for Pardon but with despairing Tears must submit to their righteous Condemnation The Equity of God's Ways and the Iniquity of Mens will at the last be clear to every Eye Then all the Blessings they received will rise up in judgment against them as proofs of their Wickedness that makes them more guilty and deservedly miserable Then
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
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
the lower Appetites is natural to Men but chiefly incident to those in Prosperity The great care of such should be to use worldly things with that modesty and measure that the Divine Part the Soul may be untainted by them that it may neither overvalue nor overdelight in them The first degeneracy of Man is by sensual satisfaction This expell'd him from Paradise and keeps him out ever since The excess of Pleasures darken the Mind stupify the Conscience extinguish the radiancy and vigour of the Spirit Wine and Women take away the Heart The Apostle speaks of those who are abandon'd to Pleasures they are past feeling without a quick and tender sense of their Sin and Danger That we may not in an unlawful degree use lawful things we should always be ordered by the Principles of Fear and Restraint not indulging our selves to the utmost of what may seem allowed for to be upon the Confines of Sin exposes us to be easily overthrown by the next gust of a temptation 'T is a Divine Command that Christians should rejoice as tho they rejoiced not and buy as tho they possessed not and use the World as not abusing it A Christian should converse with the World as a carnal Person converses with Heaven he prays for spiritual Blessings with that coldness as if he had no desire to obtain them he hears the Word with that carelessness as if he had no desire to profit by it He performs other Religious Duties without a Heart as if he had no desire to be saved such an indifferency of Spirit in outward Enjoyments is our Duty and Safety 'T is a prodigious disorder and the great Cause of the Sins and Miseries of Men that their Affections are lavishly wasted upon Trifles their Love Desires and Delights are let forth in their full vigour to the Honours Riches and Pleasures of this World but are wretchedly remiss to spiritual and eternal things They would enjoy the World as their Heaven and Felicity and use God for their Necessity And thus by embracing vanishing Shadows they lose the most substantial and durable Good 'T is a Point of great wisdom to consider the several respects of temporal things as they respect our sensitive Part and the present Life and as they respect our Souls and the future State and to use them that the outward Man may be a more active and ready Instrument of the Soul in working out our own Salvation 6. Let the Favour of God and Communion with him be most precious and joyful to us in the midst of Prosperity The highest esteem and most ravishing apprehensions of God the dearest delight in him as the most excellent suitable Good and in whom the Soul has the most intimate propriety is the honour due to his incomparable Perfection The Holy Psalmist often declares his transcendent Valuation and inflamed Affection towards God How precious are thy Thoughts unto me O God! no artifice of words could fully express it how great is the sum of them If I should count them they are more in number than the Sand when I awake I am still with thee As if he breathed not oftner than he thought of God with reverence and complacency Thus also he despises all that carnal Men pursue with violent desires in comparison of God's Favour There be many that say Who will shew us any Good that is a sensual Good for nothing is pleasant to them but what appears in a fleshly fashion Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their Corn and their Wine increased The carnal Man who is a stranger to spiritual Joys has a sweeter relish of carnal things than a Saint that has a new Nature that deads the Appetite to dreggy Delights and in the Vintage and Harvest there is a Spring-tide of carnal Joy yet David feels a more inward joy and cordial contentment in the fruition of God's Favour than a natural Man has in the flower of his worldly Felicity Nay he prizes the Favour of God before Life it self which is our most precious possession in this World Thy loving kindness is better than Life therefore my lips shall praise thee Communion with God is the beginning of Heaven and differs from the fulness of Joy that is in the Divine Presence above only in the degrees and manner of Fruition As the Blushes of the Morning are the same Light with the glorious brightness of the Sun at Noon-day The natural Man is averse from this heavenly Duty and most in Prosperity 'T is the observation of holy Job They spend their days in Wealth therefore they say to the Almighty Depart from us we desire not the knowledg of thy Ways 'T is the malignant property of worldly things to deface the Notions and cause a disrelish of sublime and spiritual things The Objects that pleasantly affect the carnal Faculties draw the Soul from God This is the principal and universal temptation of the present World by the corruption of our Hearts and never so dangerous as in our Prosperity 'T is a rule in Building that chief care must be taken for the contriving of Windows for the transmission of a liberal Light to refresh the Inhabitants Now to build in a Plain where the Heavens are open on all sides and the pure Light shines 't is easy to make the House convenient but to raise a luminous Fabrick in a City thick set with Houses and straitned for room requires Art and the Building must be higher thus a Person that is surrounded with the Honours Riches and Pleasures of the World that are so apt to darken the Soul and to exclude the Influences of Heaven has need of holy Skill to preserve a free communication with God and to be always receptive of his Grace Then holy Duties should be frequent and fervent wherein the Soul ascends to God by raised desires and God descends into the Soul by the Operations of his sanctifying and comforting Spirit And as we see in Nature the Flowers of every kind open their Leaves to the rising Sun to be reviv'd with his vital Heat so we should every day open our Hearts to God in Prayer and Praises And since all his Mercies invite and conduct us to the blessed Author and temporal Benefits are sensible Arguments of his Love those who most richly enjoy them are obliged infinitely more to value and delight in the Giver than in the Gifts themselves If the Heart be set upon Riches which 't is very apt to be when they increase or upon pleasures God is neglected and vilified and tho many are not openly vicious and profane yet so pleasantly the things of the World insinuate into their Affections that they cannot taste how good the Lord is a sad indication of their unregenerate state for the Divine Nature in a Saint inclines him to God as his supream Good his only