458 Hon' may we cure Di firaótions Serm. 19. though little of f ncerity in them that fay to their lufts as Abraham to Gen,12.5. his Servants, * Tarry here while Igo yonder and Worfhip, or as they fay, the Serpent layeth afide her poyfon when the goeth to drink : When man goeth CO God he fhould leave his lulls behind him, riot for a while, And with an intent to entertain them again, but for ever : However this argueth fome reverence of God,and fenfe of the weight of holy duties, but when we bring them along with us, it is a fign we little mind the work we go about. 3. It is a iritu d difeafe; the foul hash its difea fes as well as the body; the unfleady roaving of the mind,or the diflurbance of vain and imperti- nent thoughts is one of thofe difeafcs : Shall I call it a fpiritssal madnefs, or feavor, or /bilking pa/fie, or all thefe ? You know mad men make fe_ veral relations, and rove from one thing to another, and are gone off from a Sentence ere they have well begun it : Our thoughts are as flippe. ry and inconjif ent as theirfpeeches, therefore what is this but the frenzy . of the foul ? What mad Creatures would we feem to be if dl our thoughts were patent,or an invifible notary were lurking in our hearts to write them down ?We run from Object CO Objec`i in a moment, and one thought looks like a meer flranger upon another, we wander and run thorough all the World in an in(tant ; Oh, who can count the number - lefs operations and workings of our mind in one duty ! What imperti- nent Excurfons have we from things good co lawful, from lawful to finful, from ordinarily finful CO down -right blafphemesu.Shoul d any one of us, after he hath been fome time exercifed in duty, go afide and write down his thoughts,and the many interlinings of his own prayers, he would (land amazed at the madnefs and light difcurrency of his own Imaginations. Or ihaIl I call it the feavorifh deflemper of the foul ? e/fgri fomnia is a Proverb; in feavors men have a thou!and fancies and fwimming top in their dreams, and juft fo it is with our fouls in Gods Worfhip : We bring that curfe upon usrpiritually which corporally God threat ned to bring upon the 7ews, j will fcatter you to the ends of the eartb.W_ fcatter our thoughts hither and thither without any confif}er.ty , the heart in regard of this roving madnéfs is like a runnagate Servant, who when he bath left his Matter, wandreth up and down, and knoweth rot where CO fix ; or like thofe that are full of diftraditig bufinefs, that cannot make a fet meal, but take their diet byfnatches. 4. It argueth the /ors and non - acceptance of our Prayers; you are ir: danger to lofe your Worfhip, at leaft fo much of it as you do not attend upon; and truly to a man that knows the value of that kind of trafïick, this
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