you would know whether you live by fenfe or faith? And mark what contrary answers the flesh and faith will give to it, when it comes to practice? I fay, though many fin in poverty, and in fufferings, and in disgrace, yea and by occafion of them, and by their temptations, yet no man ever finned for them: They are none of the bait that ftealed away the heart from God. Set deep upon your heart, the fenfe of the danger of a profperous state, and fear and vigilancy will help to fave

you.

Direa. 2. Imprint upon your memory the characters of this deadly fin of worldliness, that so you may not perish by it, whilft you dream that you are free from it; but may alwvies fee how far it doth prevail. Here therefore to help you, I will fet before you the characters of this fin; and I will but briefly name them, left I be tedious, because they are many.

1. The great mark of damning worldlinefs is, when God and Heaven are not loved and preferred before the pleasures, and profits, and honours of the world.

2. Another is, when the world is efteemed and ufed more for the fervice and pleasure of the flesh, than to honour God, and to do good with, and to further our falvation: When men defire great places, and riches, more to pleafe their appetites and carnal minds with, than to benefit others, or to ferve the Lord with; when they are not rich to God, but to themfelves, Luke 12. 20, 21.

3. It is a mark of fome degree of worldintis, to defire a greater measure of riches or honour, than our Spiritual work, and ends, and benefit de require: For when we are convinced that lefs is as good or better to our higheft ends, and yet we would have more; it is a fign that the reft is defined for the flesh, Rom. 13. 14. & 8.8, 9, 10, 13.

4. When our defires after worldly things are too eager and violent: when we must needs have them, and cannot be without them, 1 Tim.6. 9.

5. When our contrivances for the world are too follicitous; and our cares for it take up an undue proportion of our time, Mat. 6. 24, 25. to the end.

6. When we are impatient under want, difhonour, or dif appointments, and live in trouble and difcontent, if we want much,or have not our wills.

7.When

7. When the thoughts of the world are proportionably fo many more than our thoughts of Heaven, and our falvation, that they keep us in the neglect of the duty of Meditation,and keep empty our minds of holy things, Mat. 6. 21.

8. When it turneth our talk all towards the world, or taketh up our freeft, and our fweeteft and moft ferious words, and leaveth us to the use of seldom, dull, or formal, or affected words, about the things which should profit the foul, and glorifie our great Creator..

9. When the world incroacheth upon Gods part in our fa milies, and thrusts out prayer,or the reading of the Scriptures, or the due inftruction of children or fervants: when it cometh in upon the Lords day, when it is intruding in Gods Worship, and at Sermon or Prayer our thoughts are more pleasingly. running out after fome worldly thing, than kept in attendance upon God, Ex:k, 33. 31.

10. When worldly profperity is fo fweet to you, that it can keep you quiet under the guilt of wilful fin, and in the midft of all the dangers of your fouls. Because you have your hearts defire a while, you can forget eternity, or bear those thoughts of it with fecurity, which otherwife would amaze your fouls, Luke 12. 19, 20.

11. When the peace and pleasure which you daily live upon, is fetcht more from the world, than from God and Heaven; fo that if at any time you ask your felves the true reafon of your peace, and whence it is that you rife and lie down in quietnefs of mind, your confciences must tell you,it is not fo much from your belief of the Love of God in Chrift, nor from your hope to live in Heaven for ever, as because you feel your felf well in body, and live at cafe and profperity in the world: And when any mirth or joy poffeffeth you, you may cafily feel, that it is more from fomething which is grateful to your feth,than from the belief of everlasting glory.

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12. When you think too highly and pleatingly of the dition of the rich, and too meanly of the state of poor Believers: when you make too greet a difference between the rich and the poor, and fay to the man with the gold Ring, and the gay Apparel, Come up hither, and to the poor, Sit there at MY footstool, James 4. & 5. When you had rather be made like.

Iii

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the rich and honourable in the world, than like the poor that are more holy; and think with more delight of being like Lords or Great men in the world, than of being more like to humble heavenly Believers.

13. When you are at the heart more thankful to one that giveth you lands or money,than to God for giving you Chrift and the Scriptures, and the Means of Grace: and would be better pleafed if you were advanced or enriched by the King, than to think of being fan&ified by the Spirit of Chrift, And when you give God himself more hearty thanks for worldly than for fpiritual things.

14. When you make too much ado for the things of the world, and labour for them with inordinate induftry;or plunge your felves into unneceffary bufinefs, as one that can never have or do enough.

15. When you are too much in expecting liberality, kindneffes and gifts from others; and are too much pleafed in it; and grudge at all that goeth befide you; and think that it is mens duty to mind all your concernments, and further your commodity more than other mens.

16. When you are felfish and partial about worldly intereft, and have little fenfe of your neighbours concernments in comparison of your own. If one give never fo liberally to many others, and give nothing to you, it doth never the more con tent you, nor reconcile your mind to the charity of the giver. If one give to you, and pass by many that have more need, you love and honour the bounty which fatisficth your own defires. If you fell dear, you rejoyce; and if you buy cheap, you are glad of your good bargain, though perhaps the feller be poorer than you. He that wrongeth you, or any way hindereth your commodity, is alwaies a bad man in your cfteem: No vertue will fave him from your cenfures and reproach: But he that dealeth as hardly by your neighbour, and well with you, is a very honeft man, and worthy of your praise.

17. When you are quarrelsome for worldly things, and the love of them can at any time break your charity and peace, and make an enemy of your neereft friend; or engage you in cauflefs Law-fuits aud contentions. What abundance doth the world fet together by the cars?

18. When

18. When you can fee your poor brother or neighbour in want, and fhut up the bowels of your compaffion from him; and do little good with what God hath given you,but the flesh and felf devoureth all.

19. When you will venture upon unlawful waies of getting; or will fin for honour or commodity; or at leaft will let go your innocency and confcience, rather than lofe your profperity in the world; and will diftinguish your felves out of every danger, or coftly duty, or fuffering for righteoufnefs fake; and will prove every thing lawful, which feemeth neceffary to the profperity and fafety of the fl.h.

20. When you are more careful to provide riches and honors for your children after you, than to fave them from worldlinefs, voluptuousness and pride,and to bring them up to be the heirs of Heaven: and had rather venture their fouls in the moft dangerous temptations, than abate any of their plenty or grandure in the world.

Thefe be the plain marks of worldly minds, whatever a blinded heart may devife to hide them.

Dire&. 3. Take beed of thofe blinding pretences which worldly minds do commonly use, to flatter, deceive and undo themselves. For inftance.

1. The most common pretence is [That Gods creatures are good, and profperity isjbis blessing, and that our bodies must be chcrifhed, and that fynical and eremetical extreams and aufterities, are far from the genius of true Chriftianity.

There is truth in all this, or clfe it would not be fo fit to be made a cloak for fin by mifapplication. The world and all Gods works are good; and to the pure they are pure: to the fan&tified they are fan&ified; that is, they are devoted to the fervice of God, and used for him from whom they come: God hath given us nothing which may not be used for his service, and our falvation. No doubt but you may make you friends of the Mammon of unrighteoufnefs, to further your reception into the everlasting habitations: You may lay up a good foun. dation for the time to come; and you may fow to the Spirit, and reap in the end everlafting life, Gal. 6. You may provide you bags that wax not old you may pleafe God by the facri fices of diftributing and communicating, Heb. 13. But yet 1

must tell you, the world and all Gods creatures in it, are too good to be facrificed to the fir, and to the Devil; and not good enough to be loved and preferred before God, and your innocency and falvation.

The body must be cherished, but yet the flesh must be subdued; and if you live after it, you fhall die. Health and alacrity must be preferved, because they make you fit for duty; but wanton appetites must be restrained, and no provifion must be made for the flesh, to fatisfic its lufts (or wills) Rom. 13. 14. It must be cherished as your herse or fervant for his work, but it must not be pampered, and made unruly, or your Master. You may feek food for your neceffity and use; and ask of God your daily bread (Mattb.6. Pfal. 145.) but you may not with The Ifraelites, ask meat for your luft, as being weary of eating Manna fo long, Pfal. 78. Hurting your health by ufelefs aufterities, is not pleafing unto God: But fenfuality and fleshpleafing, and love of the world, is nevertheless abominable in his fight.

Object. 2. Necessity makes me mind the world: I have children to maintain, and am in debt, and cannot pay every one bi

own.

Arfw. Whether you have neceffity or not, you ought to labour faithfully in your callings, But no neceffity will excufe your worldly love and cares: What will the love of the world do towards the fupply of your neceflities? or what will your cager defires, and your cares do, more than the labours and quiet forecaft of one that hath a contented patient mind? Surely in reason, the less you have in the world, and the harder your condition is, the less you fhould love it, and the more you fhould abound in care and diligence, to make fure of a better world hereafter.

Object. 3. I covet no mans but my own.

Anfw. 1. Why then are you fo glad of good bargains, or of gifts? 2. But what if you do not? You covet to have more to be your own, than God allotteth you? Perhaps you have already as much as your fleth knoweth what to do with; and therefore need not covet more. But will this excufe you for loving your riches more than God? The question is not now, what you cover, but what you love. If the world hath your

bearts,