[2.] As to their practice, they principally respected their profit and ease, and the commodities of the flesh ; so that if their doctrine had been true, their hearts were naught ; as if a man should intrude into the ministry, and preach truth, but for worldly ends, not to work in the Lord's vineyard, but to feed on the portion of the Levites ; or if they pretend to love God and souls, it is but a net to catch riches, honours, and pleasures.
2. The aggravations of their sin.
The first is, ' Whose god is their belly.' They did in effect set up another god, preferring the things which belong to the belly and bodily life before the honour of God. You have a like description elsewhere: Horn. xvi. 18, ' They that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.' Under the pretence of being servants of God and Christ, they opposed God and Christ. They pretend to serve Christ, and love Christ, but indeed were acted only by their own fleshly ap- petite ; temporal ease and pleasure was all they sought after, not the honour of God and salvation of souls, but the satisfying their own sin- ful inclination.
The second is, ' Whose glory is in their shame ; ' that is, that they can avoid trouble, and live a life of pomp and ease, when others are afflicted.
Here observe two things —
[1.] How much human nature is distorted and depraved. Man fallen is but the anagram of man in innocency. As in an anagram, the letters are the same, but the order is inverted, so we have the same affections that innocent Adam had, but they are misplaced ; our hatred is where our love should be, and our love where our hatred should be; and (that I may not carry the observation too far) our glory is there where our shame should be, and our shame where our glory should be ; we are bold in sinning, but ashamed of Christ and strictness. You shall have some men glory in their oaths, and a graceless grace of rash swearing. Some glory in their new-fangled apparel, which is but an ensign hung out to show the vanity of their minds. Some will glory in painting or spotting their faces, which really is their shame. Others will boast of their base and brutish lusts, which certainly are things they ought to be deeply ashamed of.
VER. 19.] SERMONS UPON PHILIPPIANS III. 133
[2.] Observe how worldliness showeth itself in all the properties of it. We read, 1 John ii. 16, 'For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.' By the lust of the flesh is meant sensual pleasures ; by the lust of the eyes, inordinate desire of riches ; by pride of life, ambition, or affectation of honour and glory. Again we read, James iii. 15, ' This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.' The wisdom which descendeth not from God is the wisdom of the flesh ; that is, earthly, such as carrieth us to the profits of the world ; sensual, to the delights of the flesh ; devilish, aspiring after greatness and esteem in the world ; for pride is ' the condemnation of the devil,' 1 Tim. iii. 6 ; that is, the sin for which the devil was condemned. So here is covetousness expressed by ' minding earthly things ; ' sensuality, ' their god is their belly ; ' pride, ' whose glory is in their shame.' The fruit whereby the devil tempted our first parents, Gen. iii. 6, was ' good for food ; ' by that he tempted the lusts of the flesh ; ' pleasant to the eyes,' and so came in the lust of the eyes ; and ' to be desired to make one wise,' and that was the pride of life, affecting a higher con- dition than that wherein God had placed them. And with these kind of weapons he sets upon the second Adam, our Lord Christ, in the wilderness, Mat. iv., tempting him to the lusts of the flesh, when he would have him ' turn stones into bread;' to the lusts of the eyes, when he ' showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ; ' to pride of life, when he persuaded him ' to cast himself down,' out of vainglory, and tempting God, to show some extraordinary miracle in his preservation. Well, then, there are more sorts of earthly-minded- ness than one. A man may love the world that is sensual, as well as a covetous muckworm, because the profits of this life are but one branch of the enticing world. Many a sense-pleaser will think that he de- spiseth wealth, because he lavisheth it out freely upon his lusts ; yet he may be earthly-minded for all that. Voluptuous living breedeth a senselessness of heavenly things, and choketh the good seed, as well as the cares of this world : Luke viii. 14, ' They go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life.' Yea, a man may love the world though he should contemn both riches and pleasures, because there is a third evil as dangerous to the spiritual life, and that is pride of life, or glorying in the flesh, or affecting credit, esteem, and reputation with men : John v. 44, ' How can ye believe, who receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only ? ' It is destructive to faith.