On e& Excellency of the Soul. 36 Mailers, Mt either bee with he the one, and leve the ether, or elfe hee will held to the one, and defp fe the ether, yèe mo- wer ferve God ami Mammon, faith Chrift : You cannot think to have your hearts fet upon the world, and your gain, and yet fer'the Lord; but if your hearts bee fet fo upon your eflates,'you will make bold with God, you will venture up- on the waits of fin, for the gaining of the things of this world; but mark, The Pharifees alfo who were covetous, heard all thefe things, and they derided him; the word in EKtiµuKf fV.. the Greek is, They blew their nofes at him; as a man when °V auTev hee fcorns and derides another, bee will flew it by his nofe; fo they in a kinde of fpeaking in their nofe, in a jeering, fcorning way, they derided jefus Chrifl, that talk'd after this fafhion , What, that a man cannot ferve God and Mammon too, that a man cannot look after the things of the world, and the things of God too: Carnal hearts, they do hear things in Religion, as unfavoury things, whofe hearts are after the things of the world. And fo not onely for Riches, but for thy Credit: Haft thou not often ventured to lye, to fave thy credit in something , and haft been more troubledwhen thou hail been difcovered in any thing that makes againft thy credit, and efleem, than in the fin that thou haft committed againfi God ? Now by fuch kinde of evidences it is clear, that men injoy the world in fuch a way, as wherein they are like to lofe their fouls to all eter- nity= and now, Oh do but look upon your eflates that you have, and do but think wha .they colt you, and little corn- fort you will have in them.It is obferved of David,when hee did long for the waters of the Well of Bethlehem, and there were menventured their lives to get him the water; when it came to him, hee would not drink of it, Oh it is the price of blood ! fo when thou lookefh upon thy eftate, and fitteft at thy table, and feeft that thou hail more there than other men, and looked into thy Chet, and there thou haft plenty of Garments, and thy children are fine and brave, and the like; thefe are pretty things for a while to pleafe the fancy with, I but what do they colt ? as hee that would reckon Z z his
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