tackling, to abate thy. lusts and the provisions of them: to thy faith, to live above hope: to thy patience, “It is the Lord, let him do as seemeth good to him: " to thy thankfulness, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord." If Job should have gazed on his children or substance, he might have been swallowed up in the storm; but God was in his heart, and so the vessel was still safe. But what is it to keep the creature from the Spirit? It is, in the phrase of Scripture, "not to set the heart upon riches." 'Apponere cor,' to carry a man's heart to the creature; the prophet gives a fit expression of it, when he saith, that "the heart doth go after covetousness;" when a man makes all the motions of his soul wait upon his lusts, and drudgeth for them, and bringeth his heart to the edge of the creature. For the world doth not wound the heart; but the heart woundeth' itself upon the world. As it is not the rock alone that dasheth the ship, without its own motion, being first tossed by the wind and waves upon the rock; so it is a man's own lust which vexeth his spirit, and not the things alone which he possesseth.

Sect. 66.-To set the heart on the creature denotes three things. First, To pitch a man's thoughts and studies, to direct all the restless inquiries of his soul upon them, and the good he expects from them. This, in the Scripture, is expressed by devising ", consulting", thinking within one's self, being tossed like a meteor P with doubtfulness of mind and careful suspense, joining one's self, making provision' for lusts, &c. Secondly, To care for, to employ a man's affections of love, delight, desire upon them, to set a high price on them, and over-rate them above other things. For this cause covetous men are called idolaters; because they prefer money, as a man doth his God, before all other things. When the women would have comforted the wife of Phineas, with the birth of a son, after the captivity of the Ark, it is said, "she regarded it not ;" the text is, "she did not put her heart upon it." Though a woman rejoice when a man-child" is born, yet in comparison of the Ark,

Psal. Ixii. 10. tore ferrum. Luc.

1 Nec vulnus adactis Debetur gladiis; percussum est pecm Mic. ii. 1. n Hab. ii. 10. o Luke xii. 17, 18.

she no more regarded the joy of a son, than a man would do, if the sun should be blotted out of Heaven, and a little star put in the room. And therefore, though children be the glory of their parents, yet she professeth that there was no glory in this, to have a son and lose an Ark, a star without light, a son without service, a Levite born and no Ark to wait upon; and therefore she did not set her heart upon it. "They will not set their heart upon us," say the people to David, "for thou art worth ten thousand of us;" that is, they will no whit regard us in comparison of thee. So then a man's heart is set on the creature, when he prizeth it above other things, and declareth this estimation of his heart by those eager endeavours, with which he pursueth them as his god and idol. Thirdly, To rely upon, to put trust and affiance in the creature: and this is imported in the word, by which the prophet expresseth riches, which signifieth strength of all sorts, 'vires,' and 'propugnaculum,' the inward strength of a man, and the outward strength of munition and fortification. Therefore saith Solomon", "The rich man's wealth is his strong city:" and rich men are said to trust and glory in their riches: examples whereof the Scripture abundantly gives in Tyre, Babylon, Nineveh, Edom, Israel, &c.

a

Sect. 67.-Now a man ought not thus to set his heart on the creature; First, because of the tenderness and delicacy of the spirit, which will quickly be bruised with any thing that lies close upon it and presseth it. As men wear the softest garments next their skin, that they be not disquieted; so should we apply the tenderest things, the mercies and the worth of the blood of Christ, the promises of grace and glory, the precepts and invitations of the Spirit unto our spirits. And now as subterraneous wind or air, being pressed in by the earth, doth often beget concussions and earthquakes; so the spirit of a man, being swallowed up and quite closed in earthly things, must needs beget tremblings and distractions at last to the soul. The word here which we translate vexation, is rendered likewise by 'contritio,' a pressing, grinding, wearing away of a thing; and by 'depastio,'

* Hos. ix. 11. 2 Sam. xviii. 3. z Prov. x. 15. a Psal. xlix. 6. 1 Tim. vi. 17. b Jere. ix. 23.

man.

a feeding on a thing; which makes some render the words thus, "All is vanity, and a feeding upon wind." That as windy meats, though they fill and swell a man up, they nourish little, but turn into crudities and diseases; so the feeding upon the creature may puff up the heart, but it can bring no real satisfaction, no solid nutriment to the soul of The creature upon the spirit, is like a worm in wood, or a moth in a garment; it begets a rottenness of heart; it bites asunder the threads and sinews of the soul; and, by that means, works an inaptitude and indisposedness to any worthy service, and brings a decay upon the whole man; for cares will prevent age, and change the colour of the hair before the time, and make a man like a "silly dove, without any heart," as the prophet speaks.

Sect. 68.-Secondly, Because the strength of every man is his spirit; "Mens cujusque is est quisque." Now if the creature seize on a man's strength, it serves him as Dalilah did Samson, it will quickly let in the Philistines to vex him. Strength hath two parts or offices; passive, in undergoing and withstanding evil; and active, in doing that which belongs to a man to do. Now when the heart and spirit of a man is set upon any creature, it is weakened in both these respects :

Sect. 69.-First, It is disabled from bearing or withstanding evil. We will consider it, first, in temptations; secondly, in afflictions. First, A man who hath set his heart inordinately upon any creature, is altogether unfit to withstand any temptation. In the law, when a man had new married a wife, he was not to go to war that year, but to rejoice with his wife. One reason whereof, I suppose, was this, because when the mind is strongly set upon any one object, till the strength of that desire be abated, a man will be utterly unfit to deal with an enemy; so is it with any lust, to which a man weds himself, it altogether disables him to resist any enemy. After Hannibal's army had melted themselves at Capua with sensuality and luxury, they were quite strangers to hard service and rigid discipline, when they were again reduced unto it.

Sect. 70.-The reason hereof is: First, The subtilty of

c Hos. vii. 9. 11. d Deut. xxiv. 5.

m

k

g

e

Satan, who will be sure to proportion his temptations to the heart, and those lusts which do there predominate, setting upon men with those persuasions, wherewith he is most likely to seduce them: As the Grecians got in upon the Trojans with a gift, something which they presumed would find acceptance. The Devil dealeth as men in a siege, casts his projects and applies his batteries to the weakest and most obnoxious place. Therefore the apostle saith, that “a man is tempted, when he is led away of his own lust and enticed." The Devil will be sure to hold intelligence with a man's own lusts, to advise and sit in counsel with his own heart', to follow the tide and stream of a man's own affections in the tempting of him. Adam tempted in knowledge; Pharaoh by lying wonders; the prophet' by the pretence of an angel's speech; Ahab by the consent of false prophets; the Jews' by the temple of the Lord and carnal privileges; the Heathen by pretence of universality and antiquity. When David's heart after his adultery was set upon his own glory, more than God's, how to save his own name from reproach, we see as long as that affection prevailed against him, as long as his heart was not so throughly humbled as to take the shame of his sin to himself, to bear the indignation of the Lord, and accept of the reproach of his iniquity, he was overcome with many desperate temptations: he yields to be himself a tempter of his neighbour to unseasonable pleasures, to drunkenness and shame, to be a murderer of his faithful servant, to multiply the guilt, that he may shift off the shame of his sin, and provide for his own credit. Peter's heart was set upon his own life and safety more than the truth of Christ, or his own protestations; and Satan fitting his assault to this weakness, prevails against a rock with the breath of a woman. They that will be rich, saith the apostle", who set their hearts upon their riches, whose hearts run after their covetousness, "fall into temptation and a snare, into many foolish and hurtful lusts." Such a heart is fit for any temptation: Tempt Achan's covetous heart to sacrilege, and he will reach forth his hand to the accursed thing.

Salvi. de Guber. 1. 6.

• Jam. i. 14. f Causas corruptelarum non in illecebris, sed in bemus, & vitiositas nostra mens nostra est. h Exod. vii. 22. i1 Kings xiii. 18.

m Acts xix. 27. Acts xvii. 19.

k2 Chro. xviii. 11.

n 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10.

Tempt

cordibus ha

8 Gen. iii. 5. Jer. vii. 4.

Judas' covetous heart to treason, and he will betray the precious blood of the Son of God, which is infinitely beyond any rate of silver or gold, for a few pieces of silver, the price of a little field. Tempt Gehazi's covetous heart to multiply lie upon lie, and he will do it with ease and greediness, for a few pieces of money, and change of raiment. Tempt Saul's covetous heart with the fattest of the cattle; and he will venture on disobedience, a sin worse than witchcraft, which himself had rooted out. Tempt the covetous heart of a Judge in Israel to do injustice, and a pair of shoes shall spurn righteousness out of doors, and pervert judgment". Tempt the covetous heart of a great oppressor to blood and violence, and he will lie in wait for the life of his neighbour. Tempt the covetous heart of a proud Pharisee, or secure people, to scorn the word out of the mouth of Christ, or his Prophet, and they will easily yield to any infidelity. The like may be said of any other lust in its kind. If the heart be set on beauty, tempt the sons of God to forsake their covenant of marrying in the Lord, the Israelites to the idolatry of Baal-Peor, Samson to forsake his vow and calling; easily will all this be done, if the heart have the beauty of any creature, as a traitor in it, to let in the temptations, and to let out the lusts. How many desperate temptations doth beauty cast many men upon! Bribery, to lay down the price of a whore; gluttony and drunkenness, to inflame and ingenerate new lusts; contempt of the word and judgments of God, to smother the checks of conscience, frequenting of Satan's palaces, plays, and stews, the chapels of Hell, and nurseries of uncleanness, challenges, stabs, combats, blood, to vindicate the credit and comparisons of a strumpet's beauty, to revenge the competition of unclean corrivals. Thus will men venture as deep as Hell, to fetch fire to pour into their veins, to make their spirits fry, and their blood boil, in abhorred lust. If the heart be set on wit and pride of its own conceits, tempt the Libertines and Cyrenians to dispute against the truth, the Greeks to despise the Gospel, the wise men of the world to esteem the ordinance of God foolishness of preaching, the false teachers to foist their straw and stubble upon the founda

• Amos ii. 6. P Prov. i. 18, 19. r Luke xvi. 14. Ezek. xxxiii. 31.