how the covenant with his eyes is made the means to rule his thoughts. Pray with. David, "Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity "." Keep a guard upon your eyes, and ears, and taste, and touch, if you will keep a guard upon your thoughts. Let not that come into these outer parts, which you desire should go no further. Open not the door. to them, if you would not let them in.

Direct. vi. Remember how near kin the thought is to the deed; and what a tendency it hath to it.' Let Christ himself tell you, "But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment. I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." A malicious thought and a malicious deed are from the same spring, and have the same`nature only the deed is the riper serpent, and can sting another; when the thought is as the younger serpent, that hath only the venomous nature in itself. A lustful thought is from the same defiled puddle, as actual filthiness: and the thought is but the passage to the action: it is but the same sin in its minority, tending to maturity.

Direct. vII. Keep out, or quickly, cast out all inordinate passions:' for passions do violently press the thoughts, and forcibly carry them away. If anger, or grief, or fear, or any carnal love, or joy, or pleasure be admitted, they will command your thoughts to run out upon their several objects. And when you rebuke your thoughts, and call them in, they will not hear you, till you get them out of the crowd and noise of passion. As in the heat of civil wars no government is well exercised in a kingdom; and as violent storms disable the mariners to govern the ship, and save it and themselves; so passions are too stormy a region for the thoughts to be well governed in.. Till your souls be reduced to a calm condition, your thoughts will be tumultuating, and hurried that way that the tempests drive them. Till these wars be ended, your thoughts will be licentious, and partakers in the rebellion.

Direct. VIII. Keep your souls in a constant and careful obedience unto God.' Observe his law: be continually sensible that you are under his government, and awed by his

authority. Man judgeth not your thoughts: if you are subject to man only, your thoughts must be ungoverned: but the heart is the first object of God's government, and that which he principally regardeth. His laws extend to all your thoughts: and therefore if you know what obedience to God is, you must know what the obedience of your thoughts to him is: for he that obeyeth God as God, will obey him in one thing as well as another, and will obey him as the governor and judge of thoughts. The powerful, searching word of Christ is a "discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and as a two-edged sword is sharp and quick," and will "pierce" and "cut" as deep as the very "soul and spirit P." "It casteth down every imagination and bringeth into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Therefore David saith to God, "Search me O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." And you find God's laws and reproofs extending to the thoughts: "Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity"." The fool's heart-atheism is rebuked, Ps. xiv. 1. He reproveth a rebellious people, for "walking in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts." Seehow Christ openeth the heart, Matt. xv. 9. He chargeth them to "beware that there be not a thought in their wicked hearts "" against the mercy which they must shew to the poor. He detecteth the "inward thought" of the worldling, that "their houses shall continue for ever." He saith, "The thought of foolishness is sin." The old world was condemned because the "imaginations of their hearts were only evil continually." And when God calleth a sinner to conversion, he saith, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him." You see then if you are subject to God, your thoughts must be obedient.

all

Direct. IX. 'Remember God's continual presence; that your thoughts are in his sight.' He seeth every filthy

P Heb. iv. 12. 13.

s Isa. lix. 7.

* Psal. xlix. 11.

4 2 Cor. x. 5.

t Isa. lxv. 2.

y Psal. xxiv. 9.

r Psal. cxxxix. 23, 24.

u Deut. xv. 9.

* Gen. vi. 5.

a Isa. lv. 6, 7.

thought, and every covetous, and proud, and ambitious thought, and every uncharitable, malicious thought. If you be not atheists, the remembrance of this will somewhat check and control your thoughts, that God beholdeth them. "He understandeth" your "thoughts afar off"." "Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it"." "Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts d?" saith Christ.

Direct. x. Bethink you seriously what a government you would keep upon your thoughts, if they were but written on your foreheads, or seen by all that see you, yea, or but open to some person whom you reverence.' O how ashamed would you then be, that men should see your filthy thoughts, your malicious thoughts, your covetous and deceiving thoughts! And is not the eye of God ten thousand times. more to be reverenced and regarded? And is not man your god, if you are awed more by man than by God? and if the eye of man can do more to restrain you?

Direct. XI. Keep tender your consciences, that they may not be regardless or insensible of the smallest sin.' A tender conscience feareth evil or idle thoughts; and will smart in the penitent review of thoughts: but a seared conscience feeleth nothing, except some grievous, crying sins. A tender conscience obeyeth that precept, "If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth."

Direct. XII. Cast out vain and sinful thoughts in the beginning, before they settle themselves and make a dwelling of thy heart.' They are more easily and safely resisted in the entrance. Thy heart will give them rooting and grow familiar with them, if they make any stay. Besides, it shews the greater sin, because there is the less resistance, and the more consent. If the will were against them, it would not let them alone so long. Yea, and their continuance tendeth to your ruin: it is like the continuance of poison in your bowels, or fire in your thatch, or a spy in an army: as long as they stay they are working toward your greater mischief. If these flies stay long they will blow and multiply: they will make their nests, and breed their young, and you will quickly have a swarm of sins.

b Psal. cxxxix. 2.

* Prov. xxx. 32.

VOL. III.

e Prov. xxiv. 12.

d Matt, ix, 4.

N

Direct. XIII. Take heed lest any practical error corrupt your understandings: or lest you be engaged in any ill design: for these will command your thoughts into a course of sinful attendance and service to their ends.' He that erreth and thinks his sin is his virtue or his duty, will indulge the thoughts of it without control; yea, he will drive on his mind to such cogitations; and steal from the authority and Word of God, the motives and incentives of his sin. As false prophets speak against God in the name of God, and against his Word as by the pretended authority of his Word; so an erring mind will fetch its arguments from God and from the Scripture, for those sinful thoughts which are against God and Scripture. And if evil thoughts will so hardly be kept out when we plead the authority of God and his Word against them, and do the best we can to hinder them; how will they prevail when you plead the authority of God and the sacred Scriptures for them, and take it to be your duty to kindle and promote them? For instance; all the sinful thoughts by which the Roman clergy are contriving the support of their kingdom of darkness in the world, and the continuance of their tyranny in the church, are but the products of their error, which tells them that all this should be done, as pleasing to God, and profitable to the church, All the bloody thoughts of persecutors, against the church and holy ways of Christ, have been cherished by this erroneous thought. "The time cometh that whoever killeth you, will think that he doth God service; and these things they will do unto you, because they have not known the Father nor me f." All Paul's bloody contrivances and practices against the church did come from this. "I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth which thing I also did s." All the scornful and reproachful thoughts and speeches of many of the ungodly against a holy life, are hence: They think it strange that you run not with them to excess of riot, speaking evil of you." The vain babbling of hypocrites, who cheat their souls with idle lip-labour, instead of the spiritual service from the heart, and the sacrifice of fools, who offer God some outward thing, while they deny him their hearts and holy obedience, do proceed from this, that

h 1 Pet. iv. 4.

They think to be heard for their much babbling," "and they consider not that they do evil." All the self-flattery and presumption of the ungodly, and consequently, all their ungodly lives, are much from their erroneous thoughts: "He that thinketh he is something when he is nothing, deceiveth himself." O come into the light, and forsake your darkness! for sinful thoughts are like hobgoblins and hags, that fly from the light; and like worms and serpents, that creep into holes, and crawl and gender in the dark.

Direct. xiv. Remember what an opening of thoughts there will be, when you come into the light, either here by conviction, or at the furthest at the day of judgment.' Then you will be ashamed to see what filth and vanity you entertained; and with what dross and rubbish you stuffed your minds. When the light comes in, what abundance of things will you see to your astonishment, in the dungeon of your hearts, which now you take no notice of! Remember, that all your hidden thoughts must one day be brought into the open light. Say not that this is a thing impossible, because they are so numerous: for God who seeth them all at once, and causeth his sun to illuminate so many millions at once, can make you see them all at once, and yet distinctly, and see the shame and filthiness of every one of them. Direct. xv. When you find that some thoughts of sin and vanity are following you still, for all that you can do, you must not therefore plunge your souls into so much solicitousness, fear, and trouble, as may discourage and distract your mind; but wait on God in the complacential and obediential way of cure.' It is the tempter's method to keep sinners utterly careless of their thoughts, and senseless of any sin that is in them, as long as he can; and when that hope faileth him, he will labour to make a humbled, obedient soul so sensible of the sin of his thoughts, and so careful about them, as to confound him, and cast him into melancholy, discouragement, and despair; and then he will have no command of his thoughts at all; but they will be as much ungoverned another way, and feed continually upon terror. The end of this temptation is to distract you and confound you. The pretence of the tempter will be contrary to his end for while he driveth you with terrors to think of

i Matt. vi. 7.

k Eccl. v. 1.

Gal. vi. 3.