Thirdly, For the arguing work. In such a meditation as this is you must dispute and argue with the soul, that you may gain it from base and inferior objects, which would divert you from looking after the great end of your conversation, which is the glorifying and enjoy- ing of God.
Follow the method formerly prescribed by pregnant reasons, apt simili- tudes, forcible comparisons, and by holy colloquies and soliloquies.
1. By pregnant reasons. Debate thus with yourselves, Why should I look after other things, when my end is to enjoy God ? Take these reasons —
[1.] Other things cannot satisfy and yield any solid contentment to the spirit : Isa. Iv. 2, ' Wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that which satisfieth not ?' Carnal affections are most irrational ; why should I lavish away my choice respects upon those things that will do me no good ? The things of this world cloy rather than satisfy. A man is soon weary of worldly comforts, tlierefore he must have sliift and change. When we have wealth and honour, we want peace and contentment ; nay, sometimes the particular pleasure must be changed because of satiety
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and loathing which will grow upon us. A man may be weary of life itself, and it may be a burden to him, but never of the love of God ; you never heard any one complain of too much communion with God. Heavenly comforts are more lovely when they are attained than when they are desired ; one taste ravisheth, and imagination is nothing to feeling. Worldly things cannot satisfy the affections. Man's heart is made up of vast and unlimited desires, because it was made for God, and cannot be quiet till it enjoy God. He that is all-sufficient can only fill up those crannies and chinks that are in man's heart. But alas ! if they could satisfy the affections, they cannot satisfy the con- science ; they cannot calm and lull conscience asleep. There is no proportion between conscience and worldly things ; these are a covering too short for us ; there will be trouble, though we have abundance.
[2.] They are not durable and lasting. An immortal soul is for an eternal good. It is the greatest misery that can be to outlive our liappiness. We have a soul that will never perish, and why should we labour after things that perish? When the things are gone, our affection will increase our affliction ; we shall be the more troubled because we loved them so much. All things under the sun are there- fore vexation, because vanity : Eccles. i. 14, ' I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit.' That which is vain and flashy will vex the soul with disap- pointment ; we can enjoy nothing with contentment but what we enjoy with security : Isa. xl. 6, 'AH flesh is grass, and all the goodli- ness thereof is as the flower of the field.' The flower may be gone, the blustering of the wind and the scorching of the sun may soon deface the beauty and glory of the flower, and then it remains a rotten and neglected stalk : Prov. xxiii. 5, ' Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? ' The men of the world call them substance; they think they are the only things, when of all these Solomon says they are not. How fading are honours ! Haman was one day high in honour, and the next day high on the gallows. Therefore these things being so fickle and of such uncertain enjoyment, they cannot give the soul any quiet.
[3.] They are inferior, and below the soul ; they do not perfect nature, but abase it ; they suit only with the outward and baser part of man, and serve only the conveniences of the body. That which makes a man happy must be something above a man, better than him- self ; now this is beneath your souls. You would count it absurd to adorn gold with dirt, or lay on brass upon silver ; it is a stain and dis- grace, not an ornament to it. One soul is more worth than a whole world : Mat. xvi. 26, ' What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? ' God created the world only with a word, but Christ redeemed the soul with his blood and sufferings, and why should you degrade yourselves ? Heaven thought your souls worthy of the blood of Christ, and you should think them too worthy to be prosti- tuted to the world. Men do not know the worth of a soul till they come to die, and then what would a man give in exchange for his soul, to redeem his soul from the destruction of fears ? Job xxvii. 8, ' For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God
312 SERMONS UPON GENESIS XXIV. 63.
taketh away his soul ? ' Wlien God comes by a fatal stroke or a mor- tal disease to take away your soul, you will see that a soul once lost can be redeemed by no price, and how little doth the hypocrite then think of all his gain that he hath heaped together ? Oh ! then do not debase your souls. It is dishonourable among men to match beneath their birth and dignity ; oh ! why will you match your souls, that are of a heavenly original, to these base outward things?