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those glittering courtiers, have all felicity and blessedness; and yet they have neither gold nor silver, jewels, nor any of the beauty and glory of this world; certainly, if happiness were to be found in these things, the Lord Jesus, who is the right and royal heir of all things, would have exchanged his cradle for his crown, his birth-chamber (a stable) for a royal palace; his poverty for plenty; his despised followers for shining courtiers; and his mean provisions for the choicest delicacies, &c. Certainly happiness lies not in those things that a man may enjoy, and yet be miserable for ever.' Now' a man may be great, and graceless, with Pharaoh; honourable, and damnable, with Saul; rich, and miserable, with Dives,' &c. therefore happiness lies not in these things. Certainly happiness lies not in those things that cannot comfort a man upon a dying bed, is it honours, riches, or friends, &c. that can comfort thee when thou comest to die? Or is it not rather faith in the blood of Christ, the witness of his Spirit, the sense and feeling of his love and favour, and the hopes of eternally reigning with him. Can happiness lie in those things that cannot give us

and God is only such a good, and such a good can only satisfy the soul of man."

Philosophers could say,

"That he was never a happy man, that might afterwards become miserable."

Gregory the great used to say, "He is poor whose soul is void of grace, not whose coffers are empty of money."

health, strength, or ease, a good night's rest, an hour's sleep, or a good appetite. Why, all the honours, riches and delights of this world cannot give us these poor things; therefore, certainly happiness lies not in the enjoyment of them, &c. And surely happiness is not to be found in these things that cannot satisfy the souls of men: now none of these things can satisfy the soul. He that loveth silver, shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase; this is also vanity,' said the wise man. * The barren womb, the horse-leech's daughter, hell and the grave, will as soon be satisfied, as the soul of man will by the enjoyment of any worldly good. Some one thing or other will be for ever wanting to that soul that hath nothing but outward good to live upon. You may as soon fill a bag with wisdom, a chest with virtue, or a circle with a triangle, as the heart of man with any thing here below. A man may have enough of the world to sink him, but he can never have enough to satisfy him, &c.

Rem. 8. Solemnly consider the dignity of the soul. Oh, the soul of man is more worth than a thousand worlds; we cannot abase it mere than by letting it dote upon a little shining earth, a little painted beauty, and fading glory, when it is capable of union with Christ, communion with God, and of enjoying the eternal vision.

The reasonable soul may be busied about other things, but it cannot be filled with them.

Seneca could say, 'I am too great, and born to greater things, than that I should be a slave to my body. Oh! do you say, my soul is too great, and born to greater things than that I should confine it to the heap of white and yellow earth.

I have been longer upon the remedies that may help us against this dangerous device of Satan, because he doth usually more hurt to the souls of men by this, than by all other devices. For a close, I wish, as once Chrysostom did, that that sentence, Eccl. ii 11. (Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do; and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun,') were engraven on the door-posts into which you enter, on the tables where you sit, on the dishes out of which you eat, on the cups out of which you drink, on the bedsteads where you lie, on the walls of the house where you dwell, on the garments which you wear, on the heads of the horses on which you ride, and on the foreheads of all them whom you meet, that your souls may not, by the beauty and glory of the world, be kept from those holy and heavenly services, in which you may be blessed while you live, and happy when you die; that you may breathe out your last into his bosom who lives for ever, and who will make them happy for ever that prefer Christ's spirituals and eternals, above all temporal, transitory things.

CHAPTER II.

The second Device that Satan hath to draw souls from holy duties, and keep them from religious services, is,

BY presenting to them the danger, losses, and sufferings that attend the performance of such religious services. By this device Satan kept those that believed on Christ, from confessing him, in John xii. 42. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also, many believed on him ; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue." I would walk in all the ways of God, and give up myself to the strictest way of holiness; but I am afraid dangers and losses will attend me on the one hand, and likely many sufferings on the other, saith many a man. Oh! how should we set ourselves against this temptation and device of Satan.-Now the remedies against this device of Satan, are these that follow:

Remedy 1. Against this device of Satan, consider, that all the troubles and afflictions that you meet with in a way of righteousness, shall never hurt nor harm you. And who is he that shall harm you, if you be followers of that

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which is good?'* saith the apostle, i. e. 'none shall harm you.' Natural conscience cannot but do homage to the image of God, stamped upon the natures, words, works, and lives of the godly; as we may see in the carriage of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius towards Daniel. All afflictions and troubles which attend men in a way of righteousness, can never rob them of their treasure, their jewels; they may rob them of some outward things, but their treasures are the presence and favour of God, union and communion with God, pardon of sin, joy of the Spirit, peace of conscience; these are jewels none can give but Christ, nor can any take away but him. Now, why should a gracious soul keep from a way of holiness, because of afflictions? when no afflictions can strip him of his heavenly jewels, his holy ornaments, nor rob him of his safety here, nor his happiness and glory hereafter. Why should that man be afraid, or troubled for storms at sea, whose treasures are sure in a friend's hand upon land? Why, a believer's treasure is always safe in the hands of Christ; his life, his soul, his grace, his comfort, and his

"No body is properly hurt but by himself," and his own fault.

Gordius, that blessed martyr, accounted it no loss to him to suffer many kinds of tortures; he saith, tortures are but tradings with God for glory. The greater the combat is, the greater is the following reward.

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