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and to many the greatest part of the time that remains from these, is spent in labouring and providing for those. Look on the employments of most men; all the labour of the husbandmen in the country, and tradesmen in the city, the multitude of shops and callings, what is the end of them all, but the interest and service of the body? and in all these the immortal soul is drawn down to drudge for the mortal body, the house of clay wherein it dwells. And in the sense of this, those souls that truly know and consider themselves in this condition, do often groan under the burden and desire of the day of their deliverance. But the service of the flesh in the inordinate lusts of it, is a point of far baser slavery and indignity to the soul, and doth not only divert it from spiritual things for the time, but habitually indisposes it to every spiritual work, and makes it earthly and sensual, and so unfits it for heavenly things where these lusts, or any one of them have dominion, the soul cannot at all perform any good; neither pray, nor hear, nor read the word aright: and in as far as any of them prevail upon the soul of a child of God, they do disjoint and disable it for holy things.

Although they be not of the grossest kind of lusts, but such things as are scarce taken notice of in a man, either by others, or by his own conscience, some irregular desires or entanglements of the heart, yet these little foxes will destroy the vines", they will prey upon the graces of a christian, and keep them very low therefore it concerns us much to study our hearts, and be exact in calling to account the several affections that are in them; otherwise, even such as are called of God, and have obtained mercy (for such the apostle speaks to) may have such lusts within them, as will much abate the flourishing of their graces, and the spiritual beauty of the soul.

The godly know it well in their sad experience, that their own hearts do often deceive them, har

z Cant. ii. 15.

bouring and hiding such things as deprive them much of that liveliness of grace, and those comforts of the Holy Ghost that otherwise they would be very likely to attain unto.

This warring against the soul, which expresses the mischief and hurtfulness of them, hath this under it, that these lusts, as breaches of God's law, do subject the soul to his wrath. So that by this the Apostle might well urge his point. Besides, that these lusts are unworthy of you: the truth is, if you christians serve your lusts, you kill your souls2.

Consider when men are on their death-beds, and near their entering into eternity, what they then think of all their toiling in the earth, and serving of their own hearts and lusts in any kind; when they see that of all these ways, nothing remains to them, but the guiltiness of their sin, and the accusations of conscience, and the wrath of God.

Oh! that you would be persuaded to esteem your precious souls, and not wound them as you do, buț war for them, against all those lusts that war against them. The soul of a christian is doubly precious, being, besides its natural excellency, ennobled by grace, and so twice descended of Heaven; and therefore it deserves better usage than to be turned into a scullion, to serve the flesh. The service of Jesus Christ is that which only fits it; it is only honourable for the soul to serve so high a lord, and its service is only due to him that bought it at so high a rate.

Ver. 12. Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may, by your good works which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

THESE two things that a natural man makes least account of, are of all things in highest regard with a christian, his own soul, and God's glory; so

Rom. viii. 13.

that there be no stronger persuasives to him in any thing than the interest of these two; and by these the apostle urgeth his present exhortation to holiness and blamelessness of life: for the substance of his advice or request in this and the former verse is the same; a truly honest conversation is only that which is spiritual, not defiled with the carnal lusts and pollutions of the world.

The abstaining from those lusts doth indeed comprehend not only the rule of outward carriage, but the inward temper of the mind; whereas this honest conversation doth more expressly concern our external deportment amongst men, as it is added, honest among the Gentiles; and so tending to the glory of God. So that these two are inseparably to be regarded, the inward disposition of our hearts, and the outward conversation and course of our lives.

I shall speak to the former first, as the spring of the latter, Keep thine heart with all diligence. For all depends upon that; for from thence are the issues of life. And if so, then the regulating of the tongue, and eyes, and feet, and all will fol low, as there it follows: Put away from thee a froward mouth. That the impure streams may cease from running, the corrupt spring must be dried up. Men may convey them away in a close and concealed manner, making them run, as it were under ground, as they do filth under vaults and in ditches, sentinas cloacas; but till the heart bẹ renewed and purged from base lusts, it will still be sending forth some way or other, the streams of iniquity. As a fountain swelleth out, or casteth forth her waters incessantly, so she casteth out her wick edness, says the prophet, of that very people and city that was called holy, by reason of the ordinances of God and profession of the true religion that was amongst them: and therefore it is the same prophet's advice from the Lord, wash thine heart, O Jerusalem; how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

b Prov. iv. 23. c v. 24. d Jer. vi. 7. • Jer, iv. 14,

This is the true method, according to our Saviour's doctrine, make the tree good, and then the fruits will be good; not till then: For who can gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles'? Some good outward actions avail nothing, the soul being unrenewed; as you may stick some figs, or hang some clusters of grapes upon a thorn-bush, but they cannot grow upon it.

In this men deceive themselves, even such as have some thoughts of amendment; when they fall into sin, and are reproved for it, they say and possibly think so too, "I will take heed to myself, I will "be guilty of this no more;" and because they go no deeper, they are many of them ensnared in the same kind again. But however, if they do never commit that same sin, they do but change it for some other; as a current of waters, if you stop their passage one way, they rest not till they find another. The conversation can never be uniformly and entirely good, till the frame of the heart, the affections and desires that lodge in it, be changed. It is naturally an evil treasure of impure lusts, and must in some kind vent and spend what it hath within. It is to begin with the wrong end of your work to rectify the outside first, to smooth the conversation, and not first of all purge the heart. Evil affections are the source of evil speeches and actions. Whence arestrifes and fightings? (says St. James,) Are they not from your lusts which war in your members? Unquiet unruly lusts within are the cause of the unquietnesses and contentions abroad in the world. One man will have his corrupt will, and another his, and thus they shock and justle one another; aud by the cross encounters of their purposes, as flints meeting, they strike out these sparks that set all on fire.

So then, according to the order of the Apostle's exhortation, the only true principle of all good and christian conversation in the world, is the mortifying of all earthly and sinful lusts in the heart. While they have possession of the heart, they do Matth. vii. 16, 17.

Ja. iv. 1.

it

clog it, and straiten it towards God and his ways; cannot walk constantly in them; but when the heart is freed from them, it is enlarged; and so, (as David speaks) the man is fitted not only to walk, but to run the way of God's commandments". And without this freeing of the heart, a man will be at the best very uneven and incongruous in his ways; in one step like a christian, and in another like a worldling; which is an unpleasant and unprofitable way, not according to that word', Thou hast set my feet as hinds feet; set them even, as the word is, not only swift, but straight and even; and that is the thing here required, that the whole course and revolution of a christian's life be like himself: And that it may be so, the whole body of sin, and all the members of it, all the deceitful lusts must be crucified.

In the words there are three things; 1. One point of a christian's ordinary entertainment in the world is, to be evil spoken of; 2. Their good use of that evil, to do the better for it; 3. The good end and certain effect of their so doing, the glory of God.

I. One part of a christian's ordinary treatment in this world, Whereas they speak against you as evil doers.] This is in general the disease of man's corrupt nature, and argues much the baseness and depravedness of it: This propension to evil speaking one of another, either blotting the best actions with misconstructions, or taking doubtful things by the left ear, not chusing the most favourable, but, on the contrary, the very harshest sense that can be put upon them. Some men take more pleasure in the narrow eying of the true and real faults of men, and then speak of them with a kind of delight. All these kind of evil speakings are such fruits as spring from that bitter root of pride and self-love, which is naturally deep fastened in every man's heart: But besides this general bent to evil speaking, there is a particular malice in the world against those that are born of God, which must have vent in calumnies iPsal. xviii. 33.

Psal. cxix. 32.