5. By the stream of your desires. Desires are the pulses of the soul. You may know the temper of your souls by the beating of the pulses,
388 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XXIII.
by the current and drift of your desires, as physicians judge by appetite. The saints plead their affections : Isa. xxvi. 8, ' The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.' They cannot justify their innocency, yet they plead their integrity, the vigorous bent of their souls. So the spirit of the world is known by an unsatisfied thirst, and the ravenousness of the desires, which rise with enjoyment, for still men crave more. Such a dropsy argueth a distempered soul ; the soul is transported beyond all bounds of modesty and contentment : Isa. V. 8, * Woe unto them that join house to house, and field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth.' The inordinate inclination still increaseth, and men never have enough.
6. By your grief at worldly losses and disappointments. Men lose with grief what they possess with love ; the afiliction riseth according to the degree of the affection. They that ' rejoice as though they rejoiced not, weep as if they wept not,' 1 Cor. vii. 30. Earnest affec- tion will not brook disappointment : 1 Tim. vi. 10, 'For the love of money is the root of all evil ; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.' The sorrow will be answerable to the desire. You grieve more for the loss of wealth than for the loss of God's countenance. The bridegroom is gone, and you never mourn ; but upon every worldly loss the heart is dejected. What slight thoughts have men of God! Thou art sad if thou hast lost but a ring of value, the offals of thy estate ; but God's accesses and recesses are never noted. Grief followeth love. When Jesus wept for Lazarus, the Jews said, ' Behold how he loved him ! ' John xi. 35.
7. Fear of want, or an extraordinary solicitousness about outward provisions, that is a sure note of a worldly heart. Christ was disput- ing against worldliness, and among other precepts, he saith, Luke xii. 29, ' Seek not ye what ye shall eat, nor what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind;' yu,?) fxerewpi^eaOe; be not hovering between doubts and fears. This is to take God's work out of his hand. Sus- picious fears argue too much of the spirit of the world. God would have us look no further than the present day : ' Sufficient for each day is the evil thereof,' Mat. vi. 34. God is very careful of our good. He hath made carking a sin ; he might have left it as a punishment.
8. By excessive delight in worldly comforts. A man may be worldly that is not carking and ravenous. Esau saith, ' I have enough, my brother,' Gen. xxxiii. 9. Your too much complacency is a great sin. When men are satisfied with the present portion, it is as great, if not a greater sin than to desire more : Luke xii. 19, ' Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take tliine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.' He took too great delight in his portion ; they bless them- selves in their worldly enjoyments, as if they had happiness enough : Ps. Ixii. 10, ' Trust not in oppression, become not vain in robbery : if riches increase, set not your heart upon them ;' not in point of delight and trust ; your delight should not be terminated on the creature.
9. By envying the worldly happiness that others enjoy. This is a great fault in the children of God ; you are not of this world. Though you have not such costly furniture, rare accommodations as others
VeE. 15.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 389
have, though you are not the world's fondHngs, dandled on the world's knees, you have a better portion in Christ : Ps. iv. 7, ' Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than the time when their corn and their w^ine increased.' It is a disparagement to your privileges and hopes : Ps. xvii. 14, ' From men which are thy hand, 0 Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with hid treasures : they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.' It is your time to be princes ia disguise. The less splendour in the world, the more lustre in grace. Grace would not be so eminent, if worldly glory were greater. Who that is owner of a palace would envy another a dunghill ?
{Secondly, A worldly conversation ; which is seen in two things —
1. Immoderate endeavours for the world, to the neglect of God : Luke xii. 24, ' So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God.' All things must be looked after in subordination to God. When Sarah saw Ishmael scoffing at Isaac, she thrust him out of doors. When Mammon upbraideth God, and worldly things encroach, and allow God no room but in the conscience, then we are immoderate.