III. The punishment. The carnal life endeth in everlasting de- struction : ' Their end is destruction.'
1. It is good to look to the end of things. It maketh one wise : Dent xxxii. 29, ' Ob, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end ! ' Lam. i. 9, ' She remembereth not her last end, therefore she came down wonderfully ; ' Jer. xvii. 11, ' As a partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not ; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool' On the other side, Heb. xiii. 7, ' Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversations.' Oh, that we had the same thoughts now which we shall have when the end is come, when the mask is taken off, and all shows and fallacies cease, and things appear in their own colours.
2. Worldly pleasures will end in everlasting destruction : 1 Tim. \h 9, 10, « They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and
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into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruc- tion and perdition. 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 ; ' Rom. vi. 21, ' What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? For the end of these things is death ; ' ver. 23, ' For the wages of sin is death ; ' Gal. vi. 8, ' He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corrup- tion ; ' Rom. viii. 13, ' If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.' There- fore do not look what the carnal earthly life is now, but what it will be hereafter : 2 Cor. xi. 15, ' Whose end shall be according to their works/ We little think there is so much hurt, but, Rom. viii. 6, ' To be carnally-minded is death.' Now as you would avoid everlasting destruction, cherish these things.
3. The punishment is the more dreadful, to give us the more help, and the more powerful argument against these pleasing lusts. It is sweet to please the flesh, but it will cost dear. We may counterbal- ance momentary pleasures with eternal pains ; the pleasures are but for a season, but the pain is evermore. If the fearful end of this worldly course were more soundly believed or seriously considered, men would not so eagerly pursue present things. God would order it so that the joy and pain of the other world, which is matter of faith, should be greater than the comfort and pain of this world, which is matter of sense ; for things at hand would prevail with us, if things to come were not considerably greater.
Use 1. Do we mind earthly things or heavenly ? A man may speak slightly of earthly things, yet these possess our hearts and govern all our choices ; for we speak from our convictions, but live by our in- clinations ; and it is more easy to tip our tongues than change our hearts. A man may be earthly-minded yet profess the belief, hope, and desire of another world ; as the Israelites gladly would have Canaan, yet were loath to part with the garlic and onions of Egypt, or run the hazard of the wilderness. A man may be earthly-minded though he have some good affections to religion, but he hath greater and stronger to other things. The business is, which hath the mastery, and can check and control the other ? A man may love the world who doth not use ill means to get it ; but if his heart be set upon it as his portion, he is earthly-minded. You do not use unlawful means to be rich ; but are you not discontented because riches flow not in upon you ? You covet not what is unjust, but do not you crave what is superfluous ? You do not snatch at what is another's, but do you well improve your own ? Men sin in not giving what they should, as well as in getting what they should not. You are not ravenous, yet is not the gain of wealth more sweet to you than that of grace, and your desires after earthly things far greater than after God, Christ, and heaven ? You say you are only good husbands ; but while you are good husbands, are you not bad christians, neglecting religion to follow the world, scraping all you can, but doing little or nothing for God ? In short, if you would not mind earthly things —
1. Do not fix them as your scope : 1 Tim. vi. 9, ' They that ' will be rich fall into temptation and a snare,' so as to be wholly intent upon get- ting wealth. Not he that is, but he that ' will be rich.' The devil hath
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you upon the hip when you resolve to make that your scope, care, and work. Be sure the world be not your scope, but the pleasing, and glori- fying, and enjoying of God : Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple ; ' Ps. lxxiii. 25, ' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.'