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cious; I am there as a green olive tree. Besides what ho pour hath the Lord provided for us in that other world of fouls? If a man were going to be crowned, and fome as he goes along contemns him, and vilifies him, what cares he for that? He knows that within a few days he shall be honoured by thofe that now reproach him; if we believe there are fuch things to come, that we shall fit with Christ and judge the angels, and judge the reprobates, why fhould we be troubled at what they fay? it will not be long but they shall be forced to call us, The blessed of the Lord, and the bleffings of the whole world. It will not be long but Chrift will bring forth our righteousness as the light, and fet all straight, which flanderous tongues have now made crooked.

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5. Make our moan unto God, and lay our cafe before him. Thus when Rabshakeh reviled God, and the people of God, Hezekiah fpread the letter before God, and made his moan there. This was the practice of Job and David, My friends fcorn me, faith Job, but mine eyes pour out tears unto God,' Job xvi. 20. And hold not thy peace, O God of my praise, faith David, for the mouth of the wicked, and the mouth of the deceitful are open. 'ed against me, they have spoken against me with a lying tongue, they have compaffed me about with words of hatred, they are my adverfaries,—but I give myself unto prayer,' q. d. For my part, I go for help to my God; others have evil thoughts to help them, and run to this and that witness to feek help for themfelves, but I give myself unto prayer, I cry unto the Lord, and he thall fend from heaven, and fave me from the reproach of him ⚫ that would swallow me up. Selah,' Pfal. cix 1, 2, 3, 4. 6. Return good for evil, as occafion and providence offers itself. " 1 Being reviled, we blefs, faith Paul, being * perfecuted, we fuffer it, being defamed, we intreat,' 1 Cor. iv. 12, 13. Thus if we can pray for our reproachers, and defire good for them, and be ready to offer any offices of love, and refpect, and kindness unto them, and fo heap coals of fire upon them, there is a great fign of grace, and we have made a good progrefs in God's way. It was Chrift's own command to his apoftles, Blefs the

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that curfe you, pray for them that defpitefully afe you, that ye may be the children of your Father,' Matth. v. 444, 45. Why were they not children before? Yes, but this declares it; now God owns them for his children. And certainly if we behave ourselves thus, we may have the comfort of this, that our reproaches come to us as to God's people, we are the children of God.

17. It our perfecutions be in deed, as to imprisonment, lols of goods, exile, or death, then practise these roles [ have elf where laid down, z. in Self-denial, and Saints Sufferings.

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SECT. IV.

Of Satan's Temptations by the Flesh.

ATAN's next affaults, we call temptations, which are by the flesh, our own lufts, or concupifcence; not bat that Satan can tempt us by himself, and fo can we; he can tempt us, and we not join with him; and we Can tempt ourselves, and Satan not join with us; but most times our temptations are mixt, he and we concur, and make one acts of tempting; and herein either Satan begins to us, and we pledge him, or we begin to him, and he joins with us. When we by difcontent or inward motion expose ourselves to temptation, then we begin to him; but when Satan doth make the offer, by moving the fancy with thoughts within, or by propofing fome object with ont, then doth he begin to us. Thefe ways are ordinary, and it is but rare that the devil will not interpofe. Hence Paul fpeaking of the married, he bids them not to be long afunder, but come together again, left Satan tempt them for their incontinency, 2 Cor. vii. 6. Why was there not Beth and blood in them, corrupt affections, and natural concupifcence enough to difpofe them to lufts, and to make them incontinent? Yes, but they wrestle not against fleth and blood, but against principalities and powers. The devil puts in, even in thofe very things wherein flesh and blood doth affail us allo; as we have temptations within, fo the devil without fharpens thofe temptations, and gives them points, and makes them taking, and mingles and joins himself with the temptation.

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SECT, V.

Of Temptations in respect of our natural difpofitions. OW these temptations are infinite, and past my re counting; yet that I may reduce them into fome method, they have either a refpect to our natural dif pofitions, to our outward conditious, or to our spiritual, eftates.

1. Satan hath an eye to our difpofitions, he obferves th what fins we are most inclined by our nature, temper, and bodily conflitution, and to thofe he inclines us, thruiting, us, as it were down the hill, where we are apt to rua head-long of our own accord, for example, if he find a man ambitiously effected, then he covers his hook with the bait of honour; or if he find a man addicted to voluptaoufn is, then he covers At with the bait of pleatures; or if be dads a man given to covetousness, then he lays for him a golden aut, or he makes a breach in his heart with a golden builet.

In this cafe, it is the Chriftian's beft fkill, as foon as may be, to observe his own nature, temper, and difpofi frum, and to find out what fin he is most prone to; I mag call it his bofom in, his beloved fin, his darling pleasure, his minion delight; curtainly this is Satan's frongeft hold, his tower of greateft confidence and fecurity. Oh how it cleaves and fticks to the foul! Oh what a deal ado must the belt faints have with Satan and this fin, before it be killed?

In fome this fin is worldlinefs, wantonnels, pride, paf fion; in other it may be drunkennefs, gluttony, gaming, fcurril jetting, obftinate infatiableness in allowed recreati ans, or the like. I cannot speak to every of these, for fo would the work fwell under hand, yet to fome I dare not but fpeak and Oh that it may be with fruit and profit, both to others and my own foul.

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SECT. VI.

Of Satan's Temptations to Worldinefs.. OME fouls the devil tempts to worldilnefs; he feas them prone to it, and he fets it on, and drives it for wards. But how does he that? I answer,

1. He fometimes fets the very image and reprefentations

of the world's glory before men's eyes, and fo he tempts them. Thus I am fure he dealt with Chrift, He herved him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, Mat. iv. 6. i. e. He offered the images fenfibly and actually, after a wonderful and strange manner, making those images to appear to his fenfes. This is not ordinary, but this, no question, is in Satan's power. If a man by this art can reprefent to the fenfes, in a glafs, any perfon or thing, by which he that fees not the thing itfelt, difcern. eth a notable image of it; how much more may we think that Satan by his art can reprefent to the fenes the images of things not prefent?

2. He fometimes fets the very world itself, or the things of the world before mens eyes, and fo he tempts them. Thus he fet the Babylonifh garment in the eye of Achan, and Naboth's vineyard in the eye of Ahab, and Bathsheba the wife of Uriah, in the eye of David; and then according to the proverb, He comes to the fea by the river, to the heart by the eye; and indeed, what poison is there al moft that he doth not convey into our fouls by this very paffage? Our eyes are his spokesmen to our hearts; firft we fee, and then we covet and defire the world, and hereupon covetoufness is called by the apostle, the luft of the eye, 1 John ii. 16.

3. He fometimes, and moft ufually works upon the i magination, affections, and confequently upon the will. And indeed, an eafy thing it is for him to move them all, when they are all fo willing to receive his suggestions, and of themselves urge the foul to yield to his temptations. This made the apoftle to fay, They that will be rich, fall into temptations and fnares,-for the defire of money is the root of all evil, 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. Satan fees before hand, there's a man resolved that he will be rich, and therefore Satan needs not strive against the ftream, let him but use the tide of fuch a man's will, and he may carry him fwiftly into a fea of fin, They that will be rich fall (without pulling, even as the stone that defcends naturally downwards) into temptations and fnares.

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SECT. VII.

Of wrestling with Satan to overcome this Sin. TOW if this be thy darling fin, then wrestle thus, 1. Confider worldlinefs is extreamly fertile of ill; what frauds, what deceits, what perjuries, what cruelties, what hatereds, what murders, what villanies have been exercised for the nourishing of this luft? other fins have their aggravations, but this is the moft earthly of all other, and in fome refpect the most unworthy a man; why, man hath a foul, which is a sparkle of heaven and for him to employ it in no other fervice but meerly to an heart worm, to creep in and upon the ground, this must needs be a very great evil,

2. Confider worldlinefs is attended with manifold forrows. As, 1. It is full of cares. 2. It is full of foares; Grins are in gold, bird lime in filver, faith an antient. 3. It is full of labours, men toil all day, and they cannot rest by night; the fear of lofing pierceth as much as the pain of getting, and there is no end of their travel. 4. It is full of trouble of conscience, and flashes of hell-fire.

It may be the devil for a while may conceal these griefs; it is faid that he fhewed Chrift the kingdoms of the world, ⚫ and the glory of them, Mat. iv. 8. only the glory: He fhewed the pleasure, but not the punishment; he fhewed the gain, but not the pain; now we knowing this craft, must labour in these temptations to see that which the devil hides, and to apprehend the fearful after-claps, Oh let us Jabour to fee Jael's nail, as well as her milk, the bees fting, as well as her honey, the faakes poifon, as well as her beauty and embraces: That speech of Abner is true of the world, Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the ⚫ latter end? 2 Sam. ii. 26. Oh let this be confidered feriously!

3. Confider A man's life fand not in the abundance of the things that he poffeffeth, Luke ii. 15. A man's life, i. e. the good, and happinefs, and comfort of his life, is not in riches, but in God that fills them. And hence we fay that the true enjoyment of riches is the portion of God's people, and not of the wicked; they may have them, but they do not truly enjoy them; the devil encourageth them

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