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is without ftain, was never put to any but a facred ufe. It was then a theatre of divine glory, as indeed it is still; but not a scene of human guilt, as it is now. It was intended for a place of trial, however, in which man was left to the freedom of his own will; and therefore it was capable of being abufed. Thence came that facrilegious attachment to the world, from which it is fo much our intereit to be effectually delivered. But to explain this matter a little more at large, the world must be crucified to the believer in the following refpects; which, though I confefs they all come at laft to the fame thing, yet I think it is proper and necefiary to mention diftinctly.

1. is it is the subject and occasion of, or a temptation to sin. It is very plain, that however taultlefs and excellent the whole works of nature and providence are in them. felves, from the corruption of our nature they become the food of carnal affection, the fuel of concupifcence. The very liberality of Providence, and rich provifion made for the fupply of our wants and the gratification of our appetites, becomes a temptation to grofs fenfuality, and criminal indulgence. This is well defcribed by the apoftie John, 1 Ep. ii. 16. "For all that is in the world, "the luit of the fiefh, and the luft of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." In this view, we ought to hold it in the utmost abhorrence. But how is this to be done? By feriously confidering the unhappy and powerful influence it hath in foliciting us to evil. inftead of being taken with its charms, we ought to dread their force, we ought to be fenfible how unequal we are to the conflict, and how unable, without fuperior ftrength, to keep ourselves from its pollution.

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When we fee perfons in honor and power, and are tempted to envy their diftinguifhed rank in life, we ought to confider how naturally exaltation tends to intoxicate the mind, how few are able to bear honor or reputation with humility, and how little reafon we have to confide in our own fteadiness and refolution. When we fee the fplendor of a rich and affluent ftate, we ought to confider the ftrong temptation which commonly arifes from riches, to contempt of God, oppreffion of others, fenfuality of temper,

and forgetfulness of eternity. Suffer me, on this fubject, to make every man his own reprover. How few are there in a rich and affluent ftate, whofe conduct in the application of riches you can wholly approve! Are you not conftantly blaming them for covetoufnefs and oppreffion on the one hand, or prodigality on the other? How is it, then, that you entertain no fufpicion that you yourselves would be led aftray by the fame means? Is not this a ftrange infatuation, and blindness to divine truth, even where every word of the Spirit of God is ratified by daily experience?

When we fee and are tempted to envy the votaries of pleasure, those who live delicately and fare fumptuously every day, we ought to confider, what a dangerous enfnaring thing appetite is, how it steals upon men insensibly, and at last enslaves them abfolutely; how hard it is for the most cautious to fet proper bounds to it, as well as how dreadful and fatal the exceffive indulgence of it. To crucify the world, then, as a temptation to fin, is not to confider its charms by themselves, but always in connection with their probable effects. This feems to have fuggefted the wife and well-conceived prayer of the prophet Agur, Prov. xxx. 7, 8, 9. "Two things have I required "of thee, deny me them not before I die. Remove far "from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty_nor "riches, feed me with food convenient for me left I be "full, and deny thee, and fay, Who is the Lord? or left "I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in "vain." On the fame thing is founded the advice of Solomon, with regard to the fin of fenfuality: Proverbs xxiii. 31. "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, "when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth it"felf aright."

2. The world must be crucified to the believer, as it would be his supreme felicity and chief good. This is no otherwise to be diftinguifhed from the former confideration, than as the general course and stream of our affections differs from particular acts of tranfgreffion. It is very neceffary, however, to attend to it; for there are many under the habitual government of a worldly mind, who do

not think themfelves, and who perhaps are not juftly charge. able with grofs acts of irregularity and excefs. I bleed inwardly to think, how many of the ordinary professors of religion are here included. How many are there, who, if confcience would be faithful, muft confefs, that the favor of God, his worthip, his fabbaths, his people, are not their fupreme delight! Yet that this is effential to real religion, or rather is the fubftance of all true religion, I think we have repeated affurances in the holy fcriptures. It is plain from the language of the Pfalmift, Pfal. lxxiii. 25: "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I defire befides thee." the fum of the moral law, Luke x. 27. "the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy "foul, and with all thy ftrength, and with all thy mind; "and thy neighbor as thyfelf;" as alfo from that trying paffage, Matth. x. 37. "He that loveth father or mother "more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth "fon or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me."

It is plain from "Thou fhalt love

Take heed then, my brethren, to this important truth. If the world would keep its diflance, fo to fpeak, it might be efteemed, and ufed, in its proper place, and to its pro per end; but if it will needs pretend to be what it is not, and to promife what it cannot give, we must take it for a deceiver, and hold it in deteftation. Your Maker formed you for his own glory: He must be the reft and confo lation of your fouls, or they never fhall have reft; he must be their happiness, or they fhall be iniferable for ever. But if the world would seem to be your home, if it promiseth you content and fatisfaction, if the poffeffion of it is the ultimate end at which you aspire, so that you do not heartily, and with affection, look any further, it is ufurping its Creator's throne; and therefore down with the idol; and tread it in the duft.

Is not this the great queftion with regard to us all, Whether the objects of faith, or of fenfe, things present or things to come, God or the world, has the poffeffion of our hearts? A believer who will thankfully receive and use the bleffings of a prefent world for their proper end, will notwithflanding hold it, and all its poffeffions, in the high

eft degree of contempt, when compared with the one thing needful. He will fay, from the bottom of his heart, in the presence of an all feeing God, "Lord, let we never have my portion in this world only. The glory of a throne, "the most inexhauftible mines of gold and filver, without "thy favor, I would not only despise, but abhor."

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Whence arifes this difpofition in the believer? From a conviction of the unfatisfying nature of all earthly enjoyments; from an inward perfuafion of this truth, That "the world, in its best state, is altogether vanity;" from a sense of the infinite difproportion between the poffeffion of the creature, and the favor of the Creator; but, above all, from a deep and abiding conviction of the precariousness and uncertainty of all earthly things. However undeniable it is, that the fashion of this world passeth away, few there are who live under the ftrong and lively practical impreffion of it. The deceived hearts of finners.believe the contrary. How well are they defcribed by the Pfalmift, Pfal. xlix. 11, 12, 13. “Their inward thought "is, that their houfes fhall continue for ever, and their t dwelling-places to all generations; they call their lands "after their own names. Nevertheless, man being in "honor, abideth not: he is like the beafts that pe"rifh. This their way is their folly; yet their poste

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rity approve of their fayings!" One would think, nothing more fhould be neceffary to crucify the world, than to reflect upon the many defcriptions given us in the word of God of its uncertain duration; Pfal. xxxvii. 35, 36. "I have feen the wicked in great power; and

spreading himself like a green bay-tree. Yet he passed 66 away, and lo, he was not; yea, I fought him, but he "could not be found." If. xl. 6. " And the voice faid, “Cry. And he said, What fhall I cry? All flesh is grass, "and all the goodlinefs thereof is as the flower of the field." I fhall only add our Lord's defcription of the fudden call of a wordly man to death and judgment; Luke xii. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. "And he fpake a parable unto them, ་ faying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, faying, "What shall I do, because I have no room where to be "ftow my fruits? And he faid, This will Ldo; I will VOL. I. 4 A

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pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will "I beflow all my fruits, and my goods. And I will fay "to my foul, Soul, thou haft much goods laid up for many

years; take thine eafe, eat, drink, and be merry. But "God faid unto him, Thou fool, this night thy foul fhall "be required of thee; then whofe fhall thofe things be "which thou haft provided? So is he that layeth up trea"fure for himself, and is not rich towards God."

3. The world must be crucified, as it pretends to be necessary to our felicity. This is chiefly directed againft those who love the world to excefs, though at the fame time they at leaft pretend to love God more. They seem to have chofen God as their fupreme; but it does not ap pear, that they have chofen him as their fufficient portion. The world ftill bulks fo much in their eye, that they know no happiness or comfort of which it makes not a part. They fee, or think they fee, the infufficiency of the world, without the favor of God, as a refuge when the world fails; but they can no more reft fatisfied in God without the world, than in the world without God. I have no doubt, you will be fenfible there are many amongst us in this condition: nay, I am afraid there will be not a few within themselves fecretly juftifying this character and conduct. They will fay, 'Is it poffible to deny, that the • world is neceffary to us while we continue here? is it not 'fo to you as well as to us? and therefore why fhould it 'not be regarded in this light?'

To all fuch I anfwer, The world, in a certain proportion, is indeed neceffary to us; but this proportion is not to be ascertained by us. It must be left to the difpofal of infinite wifdom, without any conditions. When there is a divorce or feparation between the believer and the world, it is entire and complete, without referve or limitation. He gives up all as the object of carnal affection, that he may receive again, for a nobler purpose, that measure which seems neceffary to the fanctified will of God. He is just in the fituation of a man who, having contracted obligations which he is unable to difcharge, has furrendered his all into the hands of another; and has no further ufe of what was formerly his own, than as much, or as

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