2. The next particular the apostle mentions is the lusts of the eye, or covetousness. This is an evil very natural to us, and we cannot be watchful enough against the encroachments of the world. We need it in part, and we love it more than we need it. Worldliness is a branch of original sin ; it is a disease we are born with. The tenth commandment, that forbids original sin, saith, ' Thou shalt not covet.' The best find temptations this way. We are daily conversant about the things of the world, and we receive a taint from those things with which usually we converse ; we find by experience that long converse is a be- witching thing. Again, the world is a thing of present enjo}-ment ; we have the world in hand, and heaven in hope. The judgment of carnal men is quite difterent from the judgment of the word. The word of God counts the world to be but a fancy, and an apparition, and heaven to be the only substance : Prov. xxiii. 5, ' Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not ? ' It is not in comparison of better things : * And the fashion of this world passeth away,' 2 Cor, vii. 31 ; but, Prov. viii. 21, ' That I may cause those that love me to inherit sub- stance.' Heaven is the durable substance ; this is the judgment of the word, but wicked men think quite otherwise. We have sensible ex- perience of the profits of the world, and therefore we judge thus per- versely, and call it durable riches, and heaven but a mere fancy to make fools fond withal. Besides, worldliness is a serious thing ; it doth not break out into any foul act, therefore it is applauded by men : Ps. x. 3, ' The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.' We think well of it, at least we stroke it with a gentle censure. A drunkard is more liable to reproach and shame than a worldling, Worldliness is consistent with the gravity and strictness of profession ; and therefore above all corruptions it is usually found amongst them that profess religion ; but dissoluteness of luxury will not stand with that external gravity and strictness which the profession of religion requires. Licentious persons procure shame to themselves, and are publicly odious ; but now, this being a serious sin, and possibly it may win the soul from other vices, therefore we in- dulge it the more. Again, it is a cloaked sin ; the apostle speaks of ' the cloak of covetousness,' 1 Thes. ii. 5. It is a hard matter to dis- cover and find it out, there are so many evasions ; necessary providence, and provision for our families is a duty, and it is a duty enforced by
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nature and grace. Here men evade the charge of covetousness ; they think their carking is justified, as being no move than the prudent management of their affairs. But consider, it is an evil which the Lord hates. Covetousness bewrays itself by an immoderate care after the things of this life, immoderate desire, and immoderate delight.
[1,] By an immoderate care after worldly comforts. When we are so solicitous about outward supports, what we shall do, and what will become of us, that is a sure sign of a worldly heart. We dare not trust God's providence, but cark ourselves : Luke xii. 29, ' And seek ye not what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.' The word fjurj fiereoipi^eaOe signifies Do not hang like a meteor in the air, hovering between heaven and earth, between doubts and fears. This is to take God's work out of his hands, as the care of the son is a reproach of the father. It is a sign we dare not trust God's providence, but will be our own carvers ; we reprove and tax his providence as if he were not solicitous enough for us.
Object. But must we not be careful and provident ? I answer" —
(1.) Do your present work, and for the future leave it to God. God would have us look no further than the present day, provided we do not embezzle our estate by idle projects, or in carnal pleasures, or waste- ful profusion, and provided we be not negligent in our calling ; let us do our work, and let God alone for future times. It is a mercy God would have our care look no further than the present day: Mat. vi. 34, ' Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' God is very careful of man's welfare ; he hath made carking a sin, he might have left it as a punishment. Every day hath trouble enough for our exercise, and that is as much as God hath required.
(2.) It is bewrayed by an immoderate desire. The temper of the heart is very much discovered by the current and stream of the desires. As the temper of the body is known by the beating of the pulses, so is the temper of the soul by the course of the desires ; or, as physicians judge of the patient by his appetite, so may you judge of your spirits by your desires, how they are carried out, whether to heavenly things and the enjoyment of God, or to the world. A carnal frame of spirit will be known by an unsatisfied thirst, and the ravenousness of the desires, when they still increase with the enjoyment, and men crave more and more. Such a dropsy as this is argues a distempered soul, especially when the desires are 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 inclinations still increaseth, and men never have enough, as if they would grasp all, that they might be blessed alone. Alas ! those that have a heavenly frame will stand wondering that God hath given them so much in their pilgrimage ; nay, that God hath given them anything. But more especially doth this bewray lust when these desires bring the soul to that determinate resolution that this shall be the project of their lives. He that is rich hath many temptations, however wealth be gotten, or given by God ; but he that will be rich is sure to miscarry : 1 Tim. vi. 9, ' They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and