‘minded ought to be peculiarly exercised.
PART II. CHAPTER XI.
The seat of spiritual mindedness in the affections—The nature and use of them—
The ways and means used by God himself to call the affections of men from the world.
In the account given at the entrance of this discourse of what it is to be spiritually minded, it was reduced under three heads:—
CHAP. XI.] HOW THE AFFECTIONS ARE CALLED FROM THE WORLD. 395
The First was, The habitual frame, disposition, and inclination of the mind in its affections.
The SECOND was, The usual exercise of the mind in its thoughts, meditations, and desires, about heavenly things.
Whereunto, THIRDLY, was added, The complacency of mind in that relish and savour which it finds in spiritual things so thought and meditated on. :
The second of these hath hitherto alone been spoken unto, as that which leads the way unto the others, and gives the most sensible evidence of the state inquired after. Therein consists the stream, which, rising in the fountain of our affections, runs into a holy rest and complacency of mind.
The first and last I shall now handle together, and therein com- prehend the account of what it is to be spiritually minded.
Spiritual affections, whereby the soul adheres unto spiritual things, taking in such a savour and relish of them as wherein it finds rest and satisfaction, is the peculiar spring and substance of our being spiritually minded. This is that which I shall now farther explain and confirm.
The great contest of heaven and earth is about the affections of the poor worm which we call man. That the world should contend for them is no wonder; it is the best that it can pretend unto. All things here below are capable of no higher ambition than to be pos- sessed of the affections of men; and, as they lie under the curse, it can do us no greater mischief than by prevailing in this design. But that the holy God should as it were engage in the contest and strive for the affections of man, is an effect of infinite condescension and grace. This he doth expressly: “ My son,” saith he, “give me thine heart,” Prov. xxiii. 26. It is our affections he asketh for, and comparatively nothing else. To be sure, he will accept of nothing from us without them; the most fat and costly sacrifice will not be accepted if it be without a heart. All the ways and methods of the dispensation of his will by his word, all the designs of his effectual grace, are suited unto and prepared for this end,—namely, to recover the affections of man unto himself. So he expresseth himself con- cerning his word: Deut. x. 12, “ And now, Israel, what doth the Lorp thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lorp thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lorp thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?” And as unto the word of his grace, he declares it unto the same purpose: chap. xxx. 6, « And the LorD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lorp thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”
And, on the other side, all the artifices of the world, all the paint
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it puts on its face, all the great promises it makes, all the false ap- pearances and attires it clothes itself withal by the help of Satan, have no other end but to draw and keep the affections of men unto itself. And if the world be preferred before God in this address which is made unto us for our affections, we shall justly perish with the world unto eternity, and be rejected by him whom we have re- jected, Prov. 1. 24-381.
Our affections are upon the matter our all. They are all we have to give or bestow; the only power of our souls whereby we may give away ourselves from ourselves and become another’s. Other faculties of our souls, even the most noble of them, are suited to re- ceive in unto our own advantage; by our affections we can give away what we are and have. Hereby we give our hearts unto God, as he requireth, Wherefore, unto him we give our affections unto whom we give our all,—ourselves and all that we have; and to whom we give them not, whatever we give, upon the matter we give nothing at all.
In what we do unto or for others, whatsoever is good, valuable, or praiseworthy in it, proceeds from the affection wherewith we do it. To do any thing for others without an animating affection, is but a contempt of them; for we judge them really unworthy that we should do any thing for them. To give to the poor upon their importunity without pity or compassion, to supply the wants of the saints without love or kindness, with other actings and duties of the like nature, are things of no value, things that recommend us neither unto God nor men. It is so in general with God and the world. Whatsoever we do in the service of God, whatever duty we perform on his command, whatever we undergo or suffer for his name’s sake, if it proceed not from the cleaving of our souls unto him by our affections, it is despised by him; he owns us not. As “if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned,” Cant. viil. 7,—it is not to be bought or purchased with riches; so if a man would give to God all the substance of his house without love, it would in like manner be despised. And however, on the other hand, we may be diligent, industrious, and sedulous, in and about the things of this world, yet if it have not our affections, we are not of the world, we belong not unto it. They are the seat of all sincerity, which is the jewel of divine and human conversation, the life and soul of every thing that is good and praiseworthy. What- ever men pretend, as their affections are, so are they. Hypocrisy is a deceitful interposition of the mind, on various reasons and pre- tences, between men’s affections and their profession, whereby a man appears to be what he isnot. Sincerity is the open avowment of the reality of men’s affections; which renders them good and useful.