T'he Vanity of the World. gives himfelf to the Devil for Vantage. This is the very Root of all that Injnfl:ic c, and Rapine, and Oppreffion, and Violen ce that is to be f01md among Men. Th ey :ill ftrive and tug, who fhall get moft of this Earth from on e another; and Iofc Heaven and their own Confciences in the fcuf fi.e. This is it that makes Men fo oft fhift their Sails, that they may run before eve ry Wind that blows. If Times grow rou gh and tempcftnons, and they muft throw over board, either their Ga~n or their Godlincfs; this perfuades them to make fui pwrcck .of Faith and a good Confcicnce, only that they may bear up in this World, tho' they link hereafter. Now, what deplo~ rablc Folly is this! When thy Confcie ncc is difqnietcd ·with the tormenting r eview of paft Crimes, what will all thy ill-go tten Wealth avail thee? Thou wilt the n with extre.1m horrour caft thy Eyes upon al l thy Treafures of wickcdncfs, when Confciencc fuall tell thee, Thou haft not o nly trcafnr'd up them, but Wrath too ;:~gainft the Day of Wrath. Fifihty; \Vhat defperate Folly is it to purchafe a vain WOrld, with the lofs of our precious Souls! So our Saviaur, Math. 16. 26. What is a Man profited if hcjludlgain tl1c whole ~Vurld ltnd loft hi.: own Soul? or what jlJa!l a Man give in c:1:changc for hM S,ul? 0 think what great lofers they muft needs be, who lofe their Souls to ga in the World , and mufl: at laft lofc the World too, toget her with their Souls! This is the only thing that damns Men, that they prefer the Pleafi1res, Honours, Profits, :md pitiful Nothings of this World, before their pre cious and i1Timortal Souls, which arc more worth than ten thoufand Worlds. What is this but a fl:upidity as grofs as that of the old Heathens, to make a vile Wo rm our qod, :md facrifice an Ox to it; or a Mon Iter our God, and facrifice a Man t o it? Think how dreadful and grating wi!l he the reflex ions of Worldlings in Hell, to confider that there they mufi: lie and burn to Eternity, for their inordinate love to that World, of whkh they have no thing · left them befides the bitter remembra nce. \\That will it then avail them th at they have Jived here in Eafe and Delights, wh en all their Mirth Ihall be turned into Groan<; and Howlings? What will all their Treafures and Ricl1es avail them, when thefc Jhall be melted down about them, to encreafe t heir Torment? Believe it, 'tis fad to be left to the convitl:ion of that Day, when the Vanity of Earth Ihall appear in the Torments of Hell . Be perfuaded the refore, as you have renounced it, in all its Pomps and Vanities, when you gave u p your Names to Chriftianity, fo to re nounce it like\Vife in yom Lives; habituall y, a t all times, by fitting loofe from it, and living above it; and aCtually1 whenfoever God calls for any of your temporal Enjoyments, that is, when you cannot kee p them without wounding your Confci ences, and hazarding your Souls. Thirdly; Another Ufe may be this, If the Wor ld be thus vain and empty, why then Jboufd we pride our felves in, or p rize our felvcs by any poor enjoyments of it? How foolifh is lt to account thy felf a better Man than another, only becanfc thy Dunghil is :I little bigger than his! Thefe things are not at all to be reckoned into the value and worth of a Man: they are all without thee, and concern thee no mor e thart fine CJ~aths do the Health or Strength Of the Body. 'Tis \:Vealth indeed that makes .:1\l t he noifeand buftle in the World, and challengeth all th~ refped and honour to it fclf; and the ignorant Vulgar, whofe Eyes .:1re dazled wtth Pomp and Br avery, pay it with a fi:upid and aftonifh'd Reve rence. Yet know', that it is but thy Sil ks an~l Velvet, thy·L1nds or thy Retirtbe and Senrants, they venerate, not thee: and if thou think'Il: othenvife, thou art as ju fl:ly ridiculous, as that Afs in the Apo logue, that grew very gravely proud, and to ok ftate \.Yhen the People fell profi:rate before him, adoring not him but the Idol )le c arried. . · Thofe thin~s which belong to l!fl'e 1perfetl:ion of a Man, are all within hi rh: Knowledge, and Wtfdom, and Temperance, a ferene Mind and calm Affetl:ions, an i nflexible Vertue, and a Soul confrant and tru e to it felf in all Occurrences. Give m~ fuch an one that can ftand firm and unfhaken upon his own Bafis, when the whole World totters; that knows what is jnft and ho neft , and dares do it; that isMafl:er of h is own Paffions, and fcorns to be a Slave to ano ther's; :li.1ch an one in his Rags and Pov erty, is a far better Man than thofc gay thing s, who owe all their Parts, and Wifdom, antl Vertuel to their Rentals, and whofe Tenants and Stewards bring them in the yearly Rcv.enuc of their Reputation. But the n fuppofe this cxce~len~ I?erfon h;dowed \'~.'ith Divme Grace, and the true Fear and Lpve of God, and thts wt\1 exalt hm1 a hove the highe~ and grcateft 9f other Men, a.s far as th ey themfelves are abOve the vi left of Beafts; Soiamrm tells us, Prov. 10. zo. That the Err!rt r;f tbr w'irktd i1 little worrb; it is of
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