The Excel/my of Heavenly Trea[ares. them from another, and they are never certain in any Man's poffeffion mot$1 and ru.ft corrupt: them, and thit".Jts they break through and fteal ; and therefo;e lay no~ up y_our Treafure ~er~; there is another Treafury for you to ftore up your good things m, and that IS w Heaven, a fure and fafe place, where no Corruption doth infect, nor no Violence intrude; therefore lay up your Trcafure there: L~ty up yout Trea{ure in Heaven. And thus you have the Scope of our Saviour in thefe words. In the words themfelves you have, I. A Comma11d or Exhortation; and that is, to lay up'Trcafitre in Hea'Ven. II. You have the Enfotccment of this Command; and that is from a double reafon. ( I . J From the Security of that 'Treafure that is laid up in Heaven; it is there fafe and free from all danger, that it could not be, were it any where clfe depofi~ tcd. All Hurt and Dan~er that can befal a Man's Treafure, proceeds either, . l· From in~a~·d Pr.inciples of Corruption, that do of themfclves caufc decay in Jt.. A;nd thu~ 1t 1s w1t? all. Earthly Treafures; they are of themfelves fading and penfhmg; Riches -penfu With the uling, they rot out and wear away while we are ufing them; afi Earthly Manna, the fweet and lufcious things of this World breed Worms, that eat upon and devour them : All the Riches and Treafnres of the World have Rufl, that attends on them, and confumes both them and their beauty and fubfi:ance; bur; now Spiritual Manna never turns i.uo ~VormJ; 'Treafure laid up in Heaven is never eaten withRuft j No, faith Chrift~ there r~ft .doth mt corrupt; that 1s, they are free and fafe from all m ward Decays and Penfhmg, from their own inward Principle and Nature. And, 2. 'fre-furc may be unfafe, as from an inward Principle, that may corrupt ' fo alfo from outward Accidents, that may confume them: And thus we fee often~ times it comes to pafs. Sometimes, Firjl, lnfenftbly, ' through a fecret blall:ning Curfe of God, wall:ing them by little and little, and unperceived Decays, that while we hold them in our Hands, and look upon them, then they p<erHh; and this is here compared to the eating of a Moth; a Moth makes not a fudden rent in a Garment, but fpoils it by unfeen de· grees: So fares icoftentimas:,.with the things of this World; if they be;;: not torn and rent from us, yet are they Moth~eaten Comforts ; the Moth is got into them,· and defrroys them unperceivably. ::1 And fometimes, Secondly, by fudden Violence, compared here to Thieves break· ing through and ftealing good things and Treafure away. An unexpeCted turn of Providence doth at once many times fnatch away all that Men here prize and fet their Hearts on, and then where is their Treafure? ln Hof. ~· we find God threat, ning both thefe ways to deftroy Ephraim, in V er. 11. I will he unto Ephraim, faith God, .u a moth; and to the Houfe of Judah a; yoUennt[s. That is, the Lord would confume them (ilently and unperceivably, as a Moth eats out in the fpotsof aGar~ rnent. And V er. 14· I will be unto Ephraim M a Lion, and tU a young Lion unto the Houfe of Judah, and J, tVtrJ J, will teat and go away ; I will take away, ;md 11one JhaU refcue. That is, 1 wi\1 deftroy him by a violent and fudden deftruB:ion. · But now Treafurcs laid up in Heaven they are fecured both from infenfible Decays; and alfo from fudden Violence; fecured bqth from the corruption of the Moth, and from the ftealing of the Thief: lt is rich and fure Treafurc that is laid up there, and now is the time of your laying up: Some few years hence, and it cannot be long fi.rfi:, but you fhall have the[eTreaJUrcs opened to you, and you let in, to fee hoYf rich you are; and you will find it augmented above what you could believe, there IS not the leaft of all th:1t you have laid up, loft or diminifhed, and then you will wonder and queftion with your felves who laid up this and that part of your 'Trca{ure: You will then ask, Is this Glory mine, and that Glory mine ? This Throne an~ that Brightnefs, this Diamond and thofe Stars, this Robe and that Sunbeam, aU this pr~· cious and unc11nceivable Treafure, are they mine? 1 cannot remember that ever ll~1d up fo much and fuel\ precious 'Treafure; my Faith fometimes pry'd through a crevtfe into this Treafure, and it told me, there were great and glorious things ftored up ; and it told me alfo., that they did belong to me; but, 0 my dim-fighted Grace, that could not difcover to me the one half of that Glory wherein I am now lolt and [wallowed up. Thus a Chriftian will then admire how he came by fo .ptuch Treafurc, when he comes to the 'poifeffion and enjoymcnl of it. Ther.e IS
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