Chapter 11. Spiritual Mindedness In The Affections.
CHAPTER 11. SPIRITUAL MINDEDNESS IN THE
AFFECTIONS.
The seat of spiritual mindedness in the affections — The nature and use of them — The ways and means used by God himself to call the affections of men away from the world.
IN the account given at the entrance of this discourse, of what it means to be spiritually minded, it was reduced to three heads:
The FIRST was, The habitual frame, disposition, and inclination of the mind in its affections.
The SECOND was, The usual exercise of the mind in its thoughts, meditations, and desires, about heavenly things.
To these was added, THIRDLY, The complacency of mind in that relish and savor which it finds in spiritual things that are thus thought and meditated on.
Up to here, only the second of these has been spoken to, as that which leads the way to the others, and gives the most tangible evidence of the state inquired about. In this consists the stream which, rising in the fountain of our affections, runs into a holy rest and complacency of mind.
I will now handle the first and last together, and in so doing, comprehend the account of what it means to be spiritually minded:
Spiritual affections, by which the soul adheres to spiritual things, taking in such a savor and relish of them that it finds rest and satisfaction in them, is the peculiar spring and substance of our being spiritually minded.
This is what I will now further explain and confirm.
The great contest of heaven and earth is about the affections of the poor worm which we call Man. It is no wonder that the world contends for these affections; it is the best that it can pretend to. All things here below are capable of no higher ambition than to be possessed by the affections of men — and as they lie under the curse, it can do us no greater mischief than by prevailing in this design. But that the holy God should, as it were, engage in the contest and strive for the affections of man, is an effect of infinite condescension and grace. He does this expressly: "My son," he says, "give me your
heart," Pro 23.26. It is our affections that He asks for, and comparatively nothing else. To be sure, He will accept nothing from us without them; the richest and costliest sacrifice will not be accepted if it is without a heart. All the ways and methods of the dispensation of His will by his word, all the designs of his effectual grace, are suited to and prepared for this end — namely, to recover the affections of man to Himself. So he expresses himself concerning his word:
Deu 10:12, "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul?"
And as for the word of his grace, he declares it to the same purpose:
Deu 30.6, "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul."
And, on the other side, all the artifices of the world, all the paint it puts on its face, all the great promises it makes, and the false appearances and attires that it clothes itself with by the help of Satan, have no other end than to draw and keep the affections of men to itself. And if the world is preferred before God in this address which is made to us for our affections, we will justly perish with the world unto eternity, and be rejected by Him whom we have rejected,
Pro 1.24-31.73
Our affections on the matter, are our all. They are all we have to give or bestow; the only power of our souls by which we may give ourselves away and become another's. Other faculties of our souls, even the noblest of them, are suited to receive to our own advantage; but by our affections, we can give away what we are and have.
Hereby we give our hearts to God, as he requires. Therefore, the one to whom we give our affections, we give our all — ourselves and all that we have; and to whom we don't give them, whatever we may give, we give nothing at all upon the matter.
In what we do to or for others, whatever is good, valuable, or praiseworthy in it, proceeds from the affection with which we do it.
To do anything for others without an animating affection, is but contempt for them; for we judge them really unworthy of doing
anything for them. To give to the poor upon their importunity, without pity or compassion, to supply the wants of the saints without love or kindness, with other actings and duties of a like nature, are things of no value, things that recommend us neither to God nor to men. It is so in general with God and the world. Whatever we do in the service of God, whatever duty we perform on his command, whatever we undergo or suffer for his name's sake, if it doesn't proceed from the clinging of our souls to him by our affections, it is despised by him; he will not own us. It is as "if a man gave all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly despised," Song
8.7 — it is not to be bought or purchased with riches; so if a man would give to God all the substance of his house without love, it would in like manner be despised. However, on the other hand, we may be diligent, industrious, and sedulous, in and about the things of this world, and yet if it doesn't have our affections, we are not of the world, we don't belong to it. The affections are the seat of all sincerity, which is the jewel of divine and human conversation, the life and soul of everything that is good and praiseworthy. Whatever men pretend, as their affections are, so are they. Hypocrisy is a deceitful interposition of the mind, upon various reasons and pretenses, between men's affections and their profession, by which a man appears to be what he is not. Sincerity is the open declaration of the reality of men's affections, which renders them good and useful.
Affections in the soul are like the helm in the ship; if it is laid hold on by a skillful hand, he turns the whole vessel whichever way he pleases. If God has the powerful hand of his grace upon our affections, he turns our souls to a compliance with his institutions and instructions, in mercy, afflictions, trials, and all sorts of providences, and holds them firm against all winds and storms of temptation, so that they will not rush them into pernicious dangers.
Only such a soul is tractable and pliable to all the intimations of God's will.
All others are stubborn and obstinate, hard-hearted and far from righteousness. And when the world has a hand on our affections, it turns the mind, with the whole industry of the soul, to its interest and concerns. It is in vain to contend with anything that has the power of our affections at its disposal; it will prevail in the end.
On all these considerations it is of the highest importance to rightly consider how things are stated in our affections, and what the prevailing bent of them is. "Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend," says the wise man, Pro 27.17. Every man has his edge, which may be sharpened by outward helps and advantages. The predominant inclination of a man's affections is his edge. However that is set, so he cuts and works; he is sharp and keen in that, but blunt to all other things.
Now, because it must be that our affections are either spiritual or earthly in a prevailing degree, either God has our hearts, or the world does. Thus, our edge is either towards heaven or things here below. Before I give an account of the nature and operations of spiritual affections, I will consider and propose some of those arguments and motives which God is pleased to make use of to call our affections away from the desirable things of this world. For as they are weighty and cogent, and cannot be neglected without the greatest contempt of divine wisdom and goodness, they will serve to press and enforce those arguments and motives that are proposed to us to set our affections on things that are above — which is to be spiritually minded.
First, God has, in all manner of instances, poured contempt on the things of this world, in comparison to things spiritual and heavenly.
All things here below were at first made beautiful and in order, and were declared by God himself to be exceedingly good, and that was not only in their being and nature, but in the use for which they were designed. They were then desirable to men, and the enjoyment of them would have been a blessing, without danger or temptation; for they were the ordinance of God to lead us to the knowledge of him and love to him. But since the entrance of sin, by which the world fell under the curse and into the power of Satan, the things of the world, in Satan's management, have become effectual means to draw the heart and affections away from God. For it is the world and the things of the world, as summed up by the apostle in 1Joh 2.15,16,74 that strive for our affections, to be their sole objects. Sin and Satan but woo on behalf of the world, to take our affections away from God.
By these things, the god of this world blinds the eyes of those who do not believe. And the principal way by which he works in them, is by promises of satisfaction for all the lusts of the minds of men, with a
proposal of whatever is dreadful and terrible in the lack of them.
Being now in this state and condition, and used to this end through the craft of Satan and the folly of the minds of men, God has shown by various instances, that they are all vain, empty, unsatisfactory, and in every way to be despised in comparison to things eternal:
1. He did it most eminently and signally in the life, death, and cross of Christ. What can be seen or found in this world, after the Son of God has spent his life in it, having nowhere to lay his head, and after he went out of it on the cross? Had there been anything of real worth in things here below, certainly he would have enjoyed it. If not crowns and empires, which were all in his power, then those goods and possessions which men of sober reasonings and moderate affections esteem a good living. But things were disposed quite otherwise, to manifest that there is nothing of value or use in these things, except to support nature so as to perform our service to God.
In this, they are serviceable unto eternity. Christ never attained, he never enjoyed, more than daily supplies of bread out of the stores of providence; and this alone is what he instructed us to pray for, Mat
6.11. In his cross the world proclaimed all its good qualities and all its powers; and to those who believe, it has given its naked face to view and contemplate — nor is the world now one jot more seemly than it was when it had gotten Christ on the cross. Hence comes that inference and conclusion of the apostle in Gal 6.14, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified to me, and I to the world;" Gal 65.14 — in other words, "Since I have believed, since I have had a sense of the power and virtue of the cross of Christ, I am done with all things in this world; it is a dead thing to me, nor do I have any affection for it."
This is what made the difference between the promises of the Old Covenant and the New. For many of the Old were about temporal things, the good things of this world and this life; while those of the New are mostly of things spiritual and eternal. God would not call the church entirely away from a regard for these things, until he had given a sufficient demonstration of their emptiness, vanity, and insufficiency, in the cross of Christ, 2Cor 4.16-18. 75
Where to so fast, my friend? What is the meaning of this rising so early and going to bed late, eating the bread of carefulness? Why this diligence, why these contrivances, why these savings and hoardings
of riches and wealth? To what end is all this care and counsel?
"Alas!" says one, "it is to get enough in and of this world for me and my children — to prefer them, to raise an estate for them which, if not so great as others, may yet be sufficient to give them some satisfaction in their lives and some reputation in the world." These are fair pretenses; nor would I ever discourage any from the exercise of industry in their lawful callings. Yet I know that with many, this is but a pretense and covering for a shameful engagement of their affections to the world. Therefore, in all these things, be persuaded sometimes to have an eye to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Heb 12.2 Behold how he is set before us in the gospel: poor, despised, reproached, persecuted, nailed to the cross, and all by this world. Whatever your designs and aims, let his cross continually interpose between your affections and this world.
If you are believers, your hopes are within a few days to be with him forevermore. You must give an account of yourselves to Him, and what you have done in this world. Will it be acceptable to Him to declare what you have saved of this world, what you have gained, what you have preserved and embraced yourselves in, and what you have left behind you? Was this any part of his employment and business in this world? Has he left us an example for any such course? That's why no man can set his affections on things here below, who has any regard for the pattern of Christ, or is in any measure influenced by the power and efficacy of his cross. "My love is crucified," said a holy martyr of old.76 The one whom his soul loved was crucified, and in Him his own love for all things here below was crucified. Do you, by contrast, find your affections ready to be engaged to, or too entangled with the things of this world? Are your desires of increasing them, your hopes of keeping them, your fears of losing them, your love for them and delight in them, operative in your minds, possessing your thoughts and influencing your conversations? Turn aside a little while, and by faith contemplate the life and death of the Son of God. It will be a blessed mirror where you may see what contemptible things they are which you perplex yourselves about. Oh, that any of us should love or esteem the things of this world — the power, riches, goods, or reputation of it — who have a spiritual view of them in the cross of Christ!
Maybe it will be said that the circumstances mentioned were necessary to the Lord Christ, with respect to the especial work he had to do as the Savior and Redeemer of the church. And therefore it doesn't follow that we should be poor and lack all things, as he did. I confess it doesn't; and therefore all along I make an allowance for honest industry in our callings. But what does follow unavoidably from this, is that what he forewent and trampled on for our sake, should not be the object of our affections; nor can such affections prevail in us if he dwells in our hearts by faith.
2. He has done the same in his dealings with the apostles, and generally with all who have been most dear to him and instrumental to the interest of his glory in the world, especially since life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel. He had great work to do by the apostles, and it was of the greatest use to his interest, and kingdom. Laying the foundations of the glorious kingdom of Christ in the world was committed to them. Who wouldn't think that he would provide for them, if not principalities or popedoms, at least archbishoprics and bishoprics, with other good ecclesiastical dignities and preferments? By these they might have been made fit to converse with princes, and been freed from the contempt of the vulgar. But Infinite Wisdom otherwise disposed of them and their concerns in this world. For God was pleased to exercise them with the common afflictions and calamities of this life, which he makes use of to reduce the sweetness of present enjoyments; so they lived and died in a condition of poverty, distress, persecution, and reproach. God presented them as examples for other ends — namely, of light, grace, zeal, and holiness in their lives — so as to manifest of how little concern the abundance of all things here below is to our own blessedness, or to an interest in his love; and also that the lack of them all may consist with the highest participation in His love and favor:
1Cor 4.9, 11-13, "I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as appointed to death; for we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men... Even to this present hour, we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being
defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things to this day."
And if the consideration of this has no weight with others, undoubtedly it ought to be so with those who are called to preach the gospel, and are the successors to the apostles. There can be nothing more uncouth, absurd, and shameful, nothing more opposite to the intimation of the wisdom and will of God in his dealings with those first and most honorable dispensers of it, than for such persons to seek and follow greedily after secular advantages in worldly power, riches, wealth, and honor. Hence, in former ages there was an endeavor to separate those persons who were by any means dedicated to the ministry of the gospel, from all secular dignities and revenues. Indeed, some maintained that they were to enjoy nothing of their own, but were to live on alms or the free contributions of the people. But this was quickly condemned as heresy, by Wycliffe and others. Another sort said they would pretend to this only for themselves, and would not oblige others to the same rule. This produced swarms of begging friars, whom those of the church who were in possession of wealth and power, thought it fitting to laugh at, and let alone. In recent years, this contest is at an end. The clergy have happily gotten the victory, and esteem that all is due them that they can obtain by any means; nor is there any greater crime than for a man to be otherwise minded. But these things are not our present concern. From the beginning it was not so; it is good if men, in this way, are able to maintain the frame of mind inquired after, which is life and peace.
3. God continues to cast contempt on these things, by always giving incomparably the greatest portion of them to the vilest men, His own avowed enemies. This was a temptation under the old covenant, but is highly instructive under the new. None will judge those things to be of real value which a wise man daily throws to swine, making little or no use of them in his family. Those monsters of men, Nero and Heliogabalus,77 had more interest in and more power over the things of this world, than the best of men ever had — such villains in nature, so pernicious to human society, that their not-being was in the interest of mankind; yet more of the world was poured on them than they knew either how to enjoy, possess, use, or abuse. Look at all the principal treasures and powers of this world that was in the hand of
one of these monsters, and there disposed of by divine providence, and you may see at what rate God values them.
In our own day, the greatest, most noble, wealthy, and fruitful parts of the earth are given to the great Turk, with some other eastern potentates, either Mohammedans or Pagans, who are prepared for eternal destruction. If we look nearer to home, we may see in whose hands is the power of the chief nations of Europe, and to what end it is used. The utmost of what some Christian professors among ourselves are intent and designing upon, as that which would render them wondrously happy in their own apprehensions — if you put hundreds of them together, it would not match the waste made by those forementioned beasts every day.
Doesn't God proclaim in this, that the things of this world are not to be valued or esteemed? If they were so, and had a real worth in themselves, would the holy and righteous God so distribute them?
Most of those whom he loves, who enjoy his favor, not only have comparatively the least share of them, but are exercised with all the evils that the destitution and lack of them can be accompanied with.
In the meantime, His open and avowed enemies have more than they know what to do with. Who would set his heart and affections on those things which God pours into the bosoms of the vilest men, to be a snare to them here and an aggravation of their condemnation forever? It seems that you may go and take the world, and take the curse, death, and hell along with it; but "what will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Mat 16.26 What can any man do upon considering this — who wouldn't forego all his [earthly] hopes and expectations from God — but retreat to the faith of things spiritual and eternal, as containing an excellency in them which is incomparably above all that he enjoyed here below?
4. God continues to give perpetual instances of their uncertainty and unsatisfactoriness, in the utter disappointment of men who have had expectations from them. The ways of doing this are so varied, and the instances so multiplied, that most men in the world
— unless they are like the fool in the Gospel, Luk 12.19f who told his soul to take its ease for many years, because his barns were full — live in perpetual fears and apprehensions that they will quickly lose whatever they enjoy, or are under the power of stupid security. There
is such an account of this consideration, given by the wise man, that nothing can be added to it, and no reason or experience can contradict it (Ecclesiastes 2).78 By these and like ways, God casts contempt on all things here below, revealing the folly and falseness of the promises which the world uses to allure our affections to itself.
This, therefore, is to be laid as the foundation in all our considerations of what or whom we will cling to by our affections: that God has not only declared the insufficiency of these things to give us that rest and happiness which we seek, but has also poured contempt on them in his holy, wise disposal of them in the world.
Secondly, God has added to their vanity by shortening the lives of men, reducing their continuance in this world to so short and uncertain a season that it is impossible to take any solid satisfaction in what they enjoy here below. So it is expressed by the psalmist,
"Behold, you have made my days as a hand-breadth; and my age is as nothing before you." Psa 39.5 Hence he draws two conclusions:
1. That "every man in his best state is altogether vanity," Psa 39.5.
2. That "every man walks in a vain show (as a shadow); surely they are disquieted in vain; he heaps up riches, and doesn't know who will gather them," Psa 39.6.
The uncertainty and shortness of the lives of men render all their endeavors and contrivances about earthly things both vain and foolish. When men lived eight or nine hundred years, they had opportunity to suck out all the sweetness that was in creaturecomforts, to make large provisions of them, and to have long projections about them. But when they did, they all resulted in that violence, oppression, and wickedness, which brought the flood on the world of ungodly men. And it still so abides. The more of and the longer men enjoy these things without the sovereign preservative of grace, the more they will abound in sin and provocation of God. But God has reduced the life of man to the small pittance of seventy years, casting whatever may fall out from a longer continuance, into travail and sorrow. Besides, for most that space is shortened by various and innumerable incidences and occasions. Therefore, in these seventy years, consider how long it is before men begin to have a taste or gusto of the things of this life — how many things fall cross to it, to make us weary of them before the end of our days; how few
among us (not one in a thousand) attain that age; what is the uncertainty of men continuing their lives till the next day — and we will see that the holy, wise God has left no such season for their enjoyment, that might put a high value on them. And when, on the other hand, it is remembered that this man, who is of such short continuance in this world, is yet made for eternity — whether eternal blessedness or misery, which state depends wholly on his interest on things above, and setting his affections on them — they must forfeit all their reason, as well as bid defiance to the grace of God, who give these up to things below.
Thirdly, God has openly and fully declared the danger in these things, as to their enjoyment and use. And yet what multitudes of souls miscarry by an inordinate adherence to them! For they are the matter of those temptations by which the souls of men are ruined forever — the fuel that supplies the fire of their lusts, until they are consumed by it.
Men under the power of spiritual convictions don't fall into sin, don't fail eternally, except by the means of temptation; that is the mire in which this rush (this plant) grows. Others, who live and die in the madness and wildness of nature, without any restraint in their minds from the power of convictions — they need no external temptations, but only opportunities to exert their lusts. But for those who are by any means convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment, so as to order their lives with respect to the sense they have of them — they don't fall into actual sin except upon temptations. Whatever it is which prevails with, causes, and occasions a convinced person to sin, that is temptation. Therefore, this is the great means of the ruin of the souls of men.
Now, though there are many principles of temptation, many causes that actually concur to its efficacy — such as sin, Satan, and other men — yet the matter of almost all ruinous temptations is taken from this world, and the things of this world. From there Satan takes all his darts; from there evil men derive all the ways and means by which they corrupt others; and from there is taken all the fuel of sin and lust. And adding to this evil, all that is in the world contributes its utmost to this. "All that is in the world" is "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," 1Joh 2:16.
[What is a temptation] is not a direct, formal enumeration of the things that are in the world, nor a distribution of them under several heads, but it is from the principal lusts of the minds of men, to which all things in the world are subservient. Therefore, not only the matter of all temptations is taken from the world, but everything that is in the world is apt and fit to be abused to that end. For it would be easy to show that there is nothing desirable or valuable in this whole world, that is not reducible to its subservience to one of these lusts, and applicable to the interest and service of temptations and sins.
When men hear of these things, they are apt to say, "Let the dream be for those who are openly wicked, and the interpretation of it for those who are profligate in sin." It may be that this is so for unclean persons, drunkards, oppressors, proud, ambitious persons. But as to themselves (they say), they use the things of this world with a due moderation, so that they are not a snare to them! But they must own that for whatever end they are used, if the affections of men are set upon them, one way or another, there is nothing in the world that is not a snare and temptation. However, we should be very careful how we adhere to or undervalue that which is the cause and means of the ruin of multitudes of souls. God designs by the warnings given to us about the use of means, to teach us the vanity and danger of fixing our affections on things below.
Fourthly, Things are so ordered in the holy, wise dispensation of God's providence, that it requires much spiritual wisdom to distinguish between the use and the abuse of these things — between a lawful care about them, and an inordinate clinging to them. Few rightly distinguish here; and therefore many will find their great mistake in these things at the last day. [For] the disappointments that they will fall under — as to what concerns their earthly enjoyments, and the use of what they were entrusted with — see Mat
25.34, to the end of the chapter. 79
It is granted that there is a lawful use of these things, a lawful care and industry about them. So too it is acknowledged, and cannot be denied, that there is an abuse of them, springing from an inordinate love and clinging to them. But here men deceive themselves, taking their measures by the most crooked, uncertain rules. Some make
their own inclinations the rule and measure of what is lawful and allowable; some take the example of others; some, the course of the world; some, their own real or pretended necessities. They confess there is an inordinate love of those things, and an abuse of them, in excesses of various sorts, which the Scripture plainly affirms, and which experience openly testifies to. But as to their own state and circumstances, their care, love, and industry are all allowable (of course). What influences all these persons is self-love, which inveterate, corrupt affections and false reasonings apply to these occasions.
Hence we have men approving of themselves as just stewards of their enjoyments, while others judge them to be hard, covetous, and earthly-minded, in no way laying out what they are entrusted with to the glory of God in any due proportion. Others also don't think amiss of themselves in this kind, who live in palpable excesses, either of pride of life, or sensual pleasures, vain apparel, or the like. So, in particular, most men in their feastings and entertainments, walk in direct contempt of the rule which our Savior gives in that case, Luk
14.12-14,80 and yet approve themselves in it.
But what if any of us are mistaken in our rule and its application to our conditions? Men at sea may have a fair gale of wind by which they may sail freely and smoothly for a time; and yet, instead of being brought into a port by it, they are at last tossed onto destructive shelves or rocks. What if that which we esteem to be allowable love, care, and industry, proved to be the fruit of earthly affections, inordinate and predominant in us? What if we miss in our measures, and that which we approve of in ourselves, were to be disapproved of by God? We are cast forever; we belong to the world; and we will perish with the world.
It may be said, "If it is so difficult to distinguish between these things — namely, the lawful use of things here below, and their abuse; the allowable industry about them, and the inordinate love of them — knowledge of which our eternal condition depends on, it is impossible for men not to spend their time in solicitous anxiety, not knowing if they have rightly discharged their duty."
Ans. 1. I press these things no further at present, than to allow how dangerous a thing it is for anyone to incline in his affections for the
things of this world, in which an excess is ruinous and hardly discoverable. Surely no wise man would freely and frequently venture to the edge of such a precipice. He will be jealous of his measures, lest they not hold by the rule of the word. A due sense of it is the best preservative of the soul from clinging inordinately to things below. And when God in any instance, by afflictions or otherwise, shows believers their transgression in this, and how they have exceeded, Job 36.8,9, 81 it makes them careful for the future.
They will now or never be diligent, lest they fall under the peremptory rule, do not love the world, 1Joh 2.15.
Ans. 2. When the soul is upright and sincere, there is no need in this case for any more solicitousness or anxiety of mind than there is with other duties; but when it is biased and acted by self-love, and its stronger inclinations to things present, it is impossible for men to enjoy solid peace, or be free from severe reflections on them by their own consciences, in those seasons in which they are awakened to their duty and the consideration of their state; nor do I have anything to offer for their relief. With others it is not so. And therefore I will so far digress in this place, as to give some directions to those who, in sincerity, would be satisfied in this lawful use and enjoyment of earthly things, so as not to adhere to them with inordinate affection:
1. Remember always, that you are not proprietors or absolute possessors of those things, but only stewards of them. With respect to men, you are or may be upright proprietors of what you enjoy; but with respect to Him who is the great possessor of heaven and earth, you are but stewards. We are to give an account of this stewardship, as we are taught in the parable, Luk 16.1, 2.82 This rule always attended to, will be a blessed guide in all instances and occasions of duty.
But if a man is left in trust with houses and large possessions, as a steward for the right lord, owner, and proprietor of them, if he falls into a pleasing dream that they are all his own, and uses them accordingly, it will be a woeful surprise for him when he is called to account for all that he has received and laid out, whether he wishes or not, and when indeed he has nothing to pay. It will scarce be otherwise with those at the Great Day who forget the trust which is
committed to them, and suppose they may do what they will with what they call their own.
2. There is nothing, in the ways of getting, enjoying, or using of these things, that doesn't give its own evidence to spiritual wisdom, whether it is within the bounds of duty or not. Men are not lightly deceived in this, except when they are evidently under the power of corrupt affections, or won't attend at all to themselves and the language of their own consciences. It is a man's own fault if he doesn't know what he exceeds in.
A due examination of ourselves in the sight of God, with respect to these things, the frame and actings of our minds in them, will greatly check our corrupt inclinations and reveal the folly of those reasonings by which we deceive ourselves into the love of earthly things, or justify ourselves in it, and bring to light the secret principle of self-love, which is the root of all this evil.
3. If you want to be able to make a right judgment in this case, be sure you have another object for your affections, which has a predominant interest in your minds, and which will evidence itself to have this on all occasions. However observant a man may be of himself as to all outward duties required of him with respect to these earthly things, let him be liberal in the disposal of them on all occasions; let him be watchful against all intemperance and excesses in the use of them. Yet, if he doesn't have another object for his affections, which has a prevailing influence on them — if they are not set upon the things above, one way or the other, then it is the world that possesses his heart: for the affections of our minds will and must be placed chiefly on things below or things above. There will be a predominant love in us. And therefore, even if all our actions testify to another frame, if God and the things of God are not the principal object of our affections, one way or the other, we belong to the world. This is what is taught so expressly by our Savior,
Luk 16.9-13, "And I say to you, Make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; so that, when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the
true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. you cannot serve both God and mammon."
4. Labor continually to mortify your affections to the things of this world. In the state of corrupted nature, they are set and fixed on them. Nor will any reasonings or considerations effectually divert or remove them in a due manner, unless they are mortified to the world by the cross of Christ. Whatever change is otherwise wrought in them, it will be of no advantage to us. It is mortification alone that will take them away from earthly things, to the glory of God. Hence the apostle, having thus charged us, "Set your affection on things above, and not on things on the earth," Col 3,2, adds this as the only way and means to do so: "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth," verse 5. Let no man think that his affections will fall away from earthly things of their own accord. Their keenness and sharpness may be abated in many things by the decay of their natural powers in age and the like; they may be accompanied by frequent disappointments, by sicknesses, pains, and afflictions, as we will see; they may be willing for a reallocation of earthly enjoyments, so as to have the reputation of being mortified (i.e., to still cling to the world, but under another form and appearance); or they may be so startled by convictions, as to gladly do many things that belong to another frame. But on one pretense or other, under one appearance or other, they will forever adhere or cling to earthly things, unless they are mortified to them through faith in the blood and cross of Christ, Gal
6.14.83 Whatever thoughts you may have of yourselves in this matter, unless you have the experience of a work of mortification on your affections, you can have no refreshing ground of assurance that you are spiritually minded in anything.
5. In all the instances of duty belonging to your stewardship of earthly things, attend diligently to the rule of the word. Without this, the grace exhorted to may be abused. Of old, under a pretense of a relinquishing the things of this world, because of the danger in adhering to them, their own superstition and the craft of other men prevailed with many to part with all they had, to serve others who were no better, and perhaps not so good as themselves.84 This evil
wholly arose from lack of attendance to the rule of truth, which gives no such direction in ordinary cases. But not much is seen these days of an excess in this kind. On the other hand, in all instances of duties of this nature, most men's minds are habitually influenced with pretenses, reasonings, and considerations that tip the scales, as to what they ought to do in this duty, proportionally, on the side of the world. To be safe, you must, in all instances of duty — as in works of charity, piety, and compassion — give authority in and over your souls to the rule of the word. Let neither self, nor unbelief, nor the custom and example of others, be heard to speak; but let the rule alone be attended to, and yield obedience to what that says.
Unless these things are found in us, none of us — no man living, if it is not so with him — can have any refreshing evidence or assurance that he is not under the power of an inordinate, or even predominant love for this world.
And indeed, to add a little more on the occasion of this digression, it is a sad thing to have this exception made against the state of any man on just grounds, "Yes, but he loves the world." He is sober and industrious, he is constant in duties of religion; it may be, he is an earnest preacher of them; a man of sound principles, and blameless as to the excesses of life — "but he loves the world!" The question is,
How does this appear? It may be, that what you say is but one of those evil surmises which all things are filled with. Therefore, I'm not speaking at all to countenance the rash judging of others, which none are more prone to do than those who, one way or other, are eminently guilty themselves. I would rather have every man judge himself, so that none of us are condemned by the Lord. If notwithstanding the things mentioned, any of us center in self, which is supplied and filled with the world — if we prefer self above all other things, and aim at the satisfaction of self in whatever we do good or bad, and are useless to the only good and blessed end of these earthly things, in supplying the wants of others according to the proportions with which we are entrusted — it is to be feared that the world and the things in it have the principal interest in our affections.
And the danger is still greater for those who divert to the other extreme. Such are those who, in the pride of life, vanity in apparel, excess in drinking, pampering the flesh every day, tread close on the
heels of the world, if not fully keeping company with it. It is altogether in vain for such persons to countenance themselves with an appearance of other graces in them, or the sedulous performance of other duties. This one rule will eternally prevail against them: "If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1Joh 2.15
And by the way, let men take heed how they walk in any instance against the known judgment and practice of the wiser or more experienced sort of Christians; this would be to their regret and sorrow, if not to their offense and scandal. And let them not walk in any way to which they might win the consent of their own light and conscience, by reasonings and considerations that carry no weight in the balance of the sanctuary. It is this way and not otherwise with all those who, under a profession of religion, indulge excesses in which they are conformed to the world.
Fifthly, God makes a hedge against the excess of the affections of rational men who are in any way enlightened as to the things of this world, by suffering men generally to carry on the use of them, and be carried by the abuse of them, into actings so filthy, so abominable, so ridiculous, as reason itself cannot help but abhor. Men transform themselves by them into beasts and monsters, as might be manifested by all sorts of instances. Hence the wise man prayed against riches, lest he not be able to manage the temptations with which they are accompanied, Pro 30.8,9.
Lastly, To close this matter, and show us what we are to expect in case we set our affections on things here below, and thereby give them a predominant interest in our hearts, God has positively determined and declared that if this is so, he will have nothing to do with us, nor will He accept those affections which we pretend we can and do spare for Him and spiritual things. Some may say or think, "If we abstain from open sins, if we abhor the lewdness and uncleanness of men in the world, if we are constant in religious duties, and give ourselves up to walk after the strictest sort in religion, like Paul in his
Pharisaism, may we not find acceptance with God, even if our hearts cling inordinately to the things of this world?" I say, God has peremptorily determined the contrary. And if other arguments will not prevail with us, he leaves us at last to this, "Go, love the world and the things of the world; but know assuredly that you do it to the eternal loss of your souls." (see 1Joh 2.15; Jas 4.4)
I have given these few instances of the arguments and motives by which God is pleased to deter us from fixing our affections on things here below; and most of them are only those that He makes use of in the administration of his providence. There are two other heads of things that offer themselves for our consideration:
1. The ways, means, arguments, and enticements, which the world makes use of to draw, keep, and secure the affections of men to itself.
2. The secret, powerful efficacy of grace, in taking the heart away from these things, and turning and drawing it to God, with the arguments and motives that the Holy Spirit makes use of in and by the word to this end.
In these we must show what is the act of conquering grace, by which the heart is finally prevailed on to choose and adhere to God in immutable love. But these things cannot be handled in any measure, according to their nature and importance, without such lengthy discourse as I cannot divert to here. I will therefore proceed to what is the proper and peculiar subject before us.