1 Crassus, a very rich Roman, and a great self-seeker, for greedy desire of gold, he managed war against the Parthians, by whom both he and thirty thousand Romans were slain. And bpcause the barbarians conjectured that he made this assault upon them for their gold, therefore they melted gold, and poured it into his dead body, saying, Satura te auro, Satisfy thyself with gold. [The above was done by Orodes, who said, ' Sate thy- self now with that metal of which in life thou wert so greedy. ' — Dion. Cass. xl. 27 ; Florus, iii. 11.— G.]
120 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11.
it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and take them by violence, and houses, and take them away. So they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage,' Micah ii. 1, 2.
By these scriptures, you see that self-seekers labour like a woman in travail, but their birth proves their death, their pleasure their pain, their comforts their torment, their glory their shame, their exaltation their desolation. Loss, disgrace, trouble and shame, vexation and con- fusion, will be the certain portion of self-seekers.
When the Tartarians had taken in battle the Duke of Muscovia, they made a cup of his skull, with this inscription, 'All covet, all lose.'1
Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That self-seekers are self -losers and self -destroyers. Absalom and Judas seek themselves, and hang themselves. Saul seeks himself, and kills himself. Ahab seeks himself, and loses himself, his crown and kingdom. Pharaoh seeks himself, and overthrows him- self and his mighty army in the Red Sea. Cain sought himself, and slew two at once, his brother and his own soul. Gehazi sought change of raiment, but God changed his raiment into a leprous skin. Haman sought himself, and lost himself. The princes and presidents sought themselves, in the ruin of Daniel, but ruined themselves, their wives and children. That which self-seekers think should be a staff to sup- port them, becomes by the hand of justice an iron rod to break them ; tiiat which they would have as springs to refresh them, becomes a gulf utterly to consume them. The crosses of self seekers shall always exceed their mercies : their pain their pleasure ; their torments their comforts. Every self-seeker is a self-tormentor, a self-destroyer ; he carries a hell, an executioner, in his own bosom, &c.2
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell much upon the famous examples of those worthy saints that have denied themselves and preferred the public good before their own particular advantage.'6 As Moses, ' And the Lord said unto Moses, Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven : and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they,' Deut. ix. 14. Oh ! but this offer would not take with Moses, he being a man of a brave public spirit. It is hot in his desires and prayers that the people might be spared and pardoned ; saith he, ' Par- don, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word,' ix. 26, et seq. Ah ! should God make such an offer to many that write themselves Moses, and are called by many, Moses, I am afraid they would prefer their own advantage above the public good ; they would not care what become of the people, so they and theirs might be made great and
1 Tacitus the Roman emperor's word was, Sibi bonus, aliis malus, He that is too much for himself, fails to be good to others.
* Adam seeks himself, and loses himself, paradise, and that blessed image that God had stamped upon him. Lot seeks himself, Gen. xiii. 10, 11, and loses himself and his goods. Peter seeks to save himself, and miserably loses himself. Hezekiah, in the busi- ness of the ambassadors, seeks himself, and lost himself and his life too, had not God saved him by a miracle.
3 It is good to be of his opinion and mind, who was rather willing to beautify Italy than his own house. The ancients were wont to place the statues of their princes by their fountains, intimating they were (or at least should be) fountains of the public good.
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glorious in the world ; they would not care so they might have a Babel built for them, though it was upon the ashes and ruin of the people. Baser spirits than these are not in hell ; no, not in hell ; and I am sure there are no such spirits in heaven. Such men's hearts and principles must be changed, or they will be undone for ever. Nehemiah was a choice soul, a man of a brave public spirit, a man that spent his time, his strength, and his estate, for the good and ease of his people. 'Moreover,' saith he, 'from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall: and all my servants were gathered hither unto the work. Moreover, there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us. Now, that which was prepared for me daily was one ox, and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine : yet for all this required I not the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon the people. Think upon me, O my God, for good, accord- ing to all that I have done for this people,' Neh. v. 14-19. So Daniel was a man of a brave public spirit: 'Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom ; but they could find no occasion nor fault ; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God,' Daniel vi. 4, 5.1
Christ had a public spirit, he laid out himself, and laid down himself for a public good. Oh ! never leave looking and meditating upon these precious and sweet examples till your souls are quickened and raised up, to act for the public good, more than for your own particular advantage. Many heathens have been excellent at this.2