Part 155

I charge, therefore, all of you, who are rich and high in this world, to watch and pray, lest ye fall by Satan’s temptation. Those especially of you, that are placed as on the pinnacle of the temple, exalted above your fellows in the church of GOD, take heed in an especial manner unto yourselves, lest by spiritual pride, vanity, or any other sin that doth most easily beset persons in such eminent stations, ye cast yourselves down. This is what Satan aims at. He strives to make us destroyers of ourselves. And he hath a particular enmity against such as you; he knows, that your name is _Legion_; and that if you cast yourselves down, he shall gain a great advantage over many others; you cannot fall alone. O that it may be said of us, as the papists used to say of _Luther_, “That _German_ beast doth not love gold.” May the fire of divine love burn up all the love of this present evil world, and pride of life, out of your hearts! This, Satan reserved for his last, as thinking it was the most powerful and prevailing temptation, “He took our LORD up into an exceeding high mountain, and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.” He cares not how high he exalts us, or how high he is obliged to bid, so he can but get our hearts divided between GOD and the world. All this will he offer to give us, if we will only fall down and worship him. Arm us, dear LORD JESUS, with thy Spirit, and help us under all such circumstances, to learn of thee, and say unto the tempter, “Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, thou shalt worship the LORD thy GOD, and him only shalt thou serve.”