400 SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20.
• ment of great price,' and the righteous are called ' the excellent ones of the earth,' Ps. xvi. 3, whereas the wicked are called ' vile persons,' Ps. XV. 4 ; and Prov. xii. 26, ' The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour.' He hath an heart which others have not, and a spirit to which they are strangers. And it is said of Daniel, that he had ' an excellent spirit found in him,' Dan. vi. 3. Certainly there is not such a noble spirit in the world as that of a true christian. Again, they are in emolumentum et utilitatem, for profit. These things are given*us to profit others : 2 Peter i. 8, ' If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall not be barren, nor unfruitful in the know- ledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.' Now fruitfulness is for the honour of Christ and the good of others : ' They shall make you.' A man can have no rest or peace in his soul till he be useful and fruitful ; and they cannot satisfy themselves with doing a little good, but still they must do morCj for these graces do mightily enlarge the heart of a man, that they are not satisfied unless they take all occasions of promoting the glory of God and the good of souls. Faith, working by love and hope, constraineth them.
2. They are biassed with carnal affections and inclinations, which fill their minds with vanity, or are seasoned with the wisdom of the flesh, so that all they speak and do hath a tang of it; therefore their spirits are slight, drossy, sensual. Take in all the operations of the soul, they study to please the flesh, they value all things by the interests of the flesh. But because thoughts are principally intended here as the fountain of our speeches, I shall only instance in them ; and —
[1.] I take for granted that the wisdom of the flesh is that which inclineth and disposeth us to savour and relish the pleasures, honours, and profits of the world. These are the three baits : 1 John ii. 16, * All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life ; ' and the wisdom of the flesh suiteth with them : James iii, 15, ' This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.'
[2.] The operations of our minds are either — (1.) Aojlct/jloI, dis- courses and reasonings ; (2.) Qv[irjaeL^, musings and imaginations ; or (3.) Noi]fMaTa, contrivances and devices ; and the hearts of carnal and unsanctified men are wholly taken up about these things.
(1.) Aoyiafjbol. All the debates and discourses of their minds are of no value, and tend to no serious and profitable use. Certainly men's affections have an influence upon their opinions, and their opinions have an influence upon their thoughts ; therefore those who make the flesh their principal rule and end, they have in their hearts many corrupt principles and opinions about the things of God, and against the being of God : Ps. xiv. 1, ' The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God;' that it is folly to deny present advantages for a future and unseen happiness : 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; ' that there is no profit in serving of God : Job xxi. 15, ' What is the Almighty that we should serve him ? or what profit shall we have if we pray to him ? ' that the ways of God are grievous and unequal : Ezek. xviii. 25, * Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal ; ' that they shall do well
SERMONS UPON PROVERBS X. 20. 401
"enougli : Dent. xxix. 19, ' And it come to pass, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart to add drunken- ness to thirst.' Now their minds being tainted with these conceits, their reasonings within themselves suit with them ; and though the thoughts of God sometimes rush into their minds whether they will or no, yet they are soon smothered there, and these are the thoughts where- with they secretly please themselves, and whereby their lives and actions are influenced and governed. They look upon God's glorious titles as nothing else but fine words, his providence as a thing they cannot reasonably deny ; but they resolve to stand on their own legs, and think they may serve their turn without him. They think others that pray not are as prosperous as those that do ; and filling their minds with these thoughts, certainly their hearts are nothing worth.
(2.) @v/j,i](r€i<;, for their musings ; they are admiring their own excellency, and blessing and applauding themselves in their sensual felicities which they enjoy in the world : Dan. iv. 30, ' And the king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ? ' So Ps. cxliv. 12, ' Happy is that people that is in such a case.' The covetous and ambitious find a favour in their thoughts of present wealth, riches, vainglory, applause ; the filthy and unclean in the thoughts of their brutish pleasures. A sure rule it is, the heart will be upon the treasure : Mat. vi. 21, ' For where your treasure is, there will your hearts be also.' The glutton on pleasant meat and sports. Nay, the ordinances of God cannot divert them : Ezek. xxxiii. 31, ' And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them ; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.'