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allay the Thirft of the Soul: fo that let the World flow in ever fo faft upon us, our Defires will still run faster, and fly either above or beyond them; and therefore our Wisdom will be either to bound or fix them upon higher and better things.

3. To learn this Leffon of Contentment, we must subdue all Pride and Haughtiness of Mind; for he that is highly opinionated of himself, will think he hath not what he deferves, and that will put him upon defiring more, still repining at his own, and envying another's Lot: whereas he that thinks as meanly as he ought of himself, will find that he deferves nothing, and that he lives only upon Alms and Bounty, and that will make him thankful and content with any thing.

4. To be content with our Condition, we must diligently imploy ourselves in that Place and Calling wherein God hath fet us; for that will fecure us God's Bleffing upon our Endeavours, and that will bring us Content: The Blessing of God (faith Solomon) maketh rich, and bringeth no Sorrow with it. He who hath that, is rich in any Condition, and cannot lack a Competence. 'Tis Idleness that brings Want, and that gives way to covetous and envious Thoughts; which Industry in Bufinefs chases away, and leaves no leifure or occafion to attend to.

5. To be content with our Eftate, we must take care to live within the bounds of it; for he that goes beyond it, will neceffarily run into those Debts that lead to unavoidable Dangers and Discontents: and therefore Frugality, Temperance and Honefty in our dealing have been ever found excellent Helps to Contentment, there being a Bleffing annex'd to these things, that brings Peace to the Mind, and Profperity to our Affairs; whereas Unthrift and Dishonefty are evermore attended with a Curfe, which difquiets the Mind, waftes the Subftance, and lays a Foundation for all kind of Misery and Trouble.

6. To get and preferve a contented Mind, we must look more to thofe that are below, than those that are above us ; the Splendor of Greatnefs is apt to dazzle the Eye, and to create Envy and Difcontent. He that gazeth too much upon the Wealth, Honour and Power of fuch as are above him, will be eafily induc'd to admire their Happiness, and to murmur at his own meaner Condition; whereas he that looks below him, and confiders how many want the good things which he enjoys, will learn to be content and

thankful

Part II. thankful with his own Portion. And therefore to be easy and fatisfy'd with thy Lot, fuffer not thy Fancy to run fo much upon the Glory and Greatnefs of the World, as upon the Cares and Troubles that attend them. Confider that Nature is contented with a little, and Grace with lefs: He that lives by the Neceffities of Nature, can scarce be poor, for these are few and eafily fupply'd; but he that lives by the Cravings of a carnal and fenfual Appetite, can never be rich, for thefe multiply Wants, and make artificial Neceffities, and to give way to thefe, is to drive Contentment from us: For which reason, we should learn to bound our Defires, and confine them within the Compass of our own Eftate, knowing that our Life confifteth not in the abundance of the things that we poffefs, and that Contentment is more rarely found in a fplendid Fortune, than in moderate and humble one.

Laftly, to attain this Grace of Contentment, we must learn to fix our Truft and Dependence upon God, who hath promis'd never to leave or forfake us; he alone is allfufficient, and able to fatisfy the Cravings of our Souls, and fupply the Wants and Neceffities of our Bodies. As for all other things, they leave us deftitute when we have moft need of them; they ftand us in no ftead in the time of Sickness, the hour of Death, or the Day of Judgment; and afford not the leaft Dram of Comfort when we want the higheft Cordials: 'tis God only that is our futable and sufficient Portion; and therefore the Apostle wills us not to trust in uncertain Riches, but in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy.

Thus I have given you a brief account of what is requir'd, and what is forbidden in this and all the other Commandments; the ferious confideration whereof may teach us to end as we began, with an Admiration of the Excellency and Extent of the Divine Law, which (as the Pfalmift tells us) is exceeding broad, both in the Latitude of its Precepts and Prohibitions: and therefore with him too we ought to make it the Subject of our daily Study and Meditation.

For a close of all, Let us (as the Wife-Man directs us) bear the Conclufion of the whole matter, Fear God and keep his Commandments, for this is the whole of Man; Eccl. 12. 13.

This is the whole Duty of Man, which our Saviour hath compriz'd in the Love of God and our Neighbour; and this is the whole Happiness of Man, which will confift in the confant Exercise and Perfection of both. DIS

DISCOURSE XXIV.

ECCLES. xii. 13.

Let us hear the Conclufion of the whole Matter, Fear God and keep his Commandments, for this is the whole Duty of Man.

T

HE next Question in the Catechifm, that follows the Commandments, is, What doft thou chiefly learn. by these Commandments?

The Anfwer whereunto is, I learn two things, my Duty towards God, and my Duty towards my Neighbour.

For the Explication of this Queftion and Anfwer, I have made choice of thefe words of Solomon, Let us hear, &c. where the Wife-Man, to fummon our Attention,

ter.

1. Calls upon us to hear the Conclufion of the whole Mat

2. He fums up our Duty to God, in the Fear of him; and our Duty to our Neighbour, in keeping his Commandments. And,

3. Declares of these two, That they are the whole of Man. 1. I fay, the Wife-Man to fummon our Attention, here calls upon us to hear the Conclufion of the whole Matter.

Solomon is, in the beginning of this Book, call'd the Preacher, and this Book of Ecclefiaftes is the Sermon he preach'd to Mankind. The Text he preach'd upon is in the 2d Verfe of the 1ft Chapter, Vanity of Vanities (faith the Preacher) all is Vanity: which words contain the true and fevere Judgment he pafs'd upon all things under the Sun, which he pronounces to be not only vain, but even Vanity itfelf; yea, to fhew the Greatnefs of their Vanity, he ftyles them Vanity of Vanities: which he doubles and trebles, to fet forth the infinite and exceffive Vanity of them.

This, in the following part of the Sermon, he proves by many Arguments, and confirms it to us in all the Parts and Inftances of earthly Felicity; particularly in the three great Idols of the World, Riches, and Honours, and Plea

fures :

Part II. fures: all which he found by his own Experience to be not only Vanity, but Vexation of Spirit.

As for Riches, he had Wealth as plentiful as the Stones in the Street, 1 Kings 18. 27. and fo could want no Advantages to try Experiments of them: He had likewife Wifdom as large as the Sand of the Sea, 1 Kings 4. 29. and fo was abundantly able to draw Conclufions from them and yet when he had ranfack'd the whole World, to find what Happinefs all the Wealth and Riches of it could af ford, he return'd difappointed, and was forc'd to pronounce of it all, This is alfo Vanity and Vexation of Spirit.

As for the Honours of the World of which he had as large a Share as any Mortal, he declares them to be but a Shadow, a Vapour, a Wind that paffeth away and cometh not again; yea, Nothing, less than Nothing and Vanity.

For the Pleafures of the World, of which he had the freeft and fulleft Enjoyment that ever any had, he pronounces of them, that they are all no better than Madness and Folly: I faid of Laughter (faith he) that it is mad, and of Mirth, what is it? Ch. 2. ver. 2. meaning, that they were fo extremely vain, that he could find nothing in them. And thus, having run thro' the feveral Scenes of earthly Felicity, and fully try'd and confider'd all things that the World is wont to prize and perfue for Happiness, in this laft Chapter he draws to a Conclufion, ending as he began, with Vanity of Vanities (faith the Preacher) all is Vanity, Ver. 8. And then for a clofe of all, wills us to hear the Conclufion of the whole Matter, Fear God, and keep bis Commandments, for this is the whole of Man: where he exempts the Fear of God, and Obedience to his Laws, from that Vanity under which he had concluded all other things; and intimates, that nothing but this can give us any true Content and Happiness. And this will lead me, as both the Text and Catechifm direct, to confider our Duty to God, and our Duty to our Neighbour; the one being compriz'd in the Fear of God, the other in keeping his Commandments. I begin,

First, with the Fear of God, which Solomon ftyles, The Beginning of Wisdom; and this we fhall find to comprize all the Commandments of the firft Table, which relate more immediately to our Duty to God.

But what is this Fear of God that directs us in all our Duty and Demeanour towards him? In anfwering to which, I

fay,

527 fay, 'tis fuch an aweful Apprehenfion and Regard of the Divine Majefty, arifing from a fenfe of his infinite Power, Juftice and Omniprefence, as makes us careful not to offend him. Where I ftyle it,

1. An aweful Apprehenfion and Regard of the Divine Majefty: This fhews the Seat of it, which is within. As all Paffions are feated in the Soul; fo this religious Fear is more especially rooted in the Heart, and refides in a Mind poffefs'd with a holy Awe and Dread of a supreme Being. Again,

2. This holy Awe is faid to proceed from a fenfe of the Divine Juftice, Power and Omniprefence; and this fhews us the Rife of this religious Fear, which fprings from an Apprehenfion of thofe Attributes of God, which are apt to trike the Mind with a Fear and Dread of him for his Juftice will not fuffer him to acquit the Guilty, his Power is able to inflict the foreft Punishments, and his Omniprefence makes him privy to all our Actions, so that nothing can efcape him. And,

:

Laftly, "Tis faid to be fuch an aweful Regard of the Divine Majefty, as keeps us from offending him: This fhews us the Effect of this Divine Fear, which is to make us careful to please him by obferving his Laws, and fearful of difpleafing him by any breach of them; fo the Wife-Man tells us, The Fear of the Lord is to depart from Evil, Prov. 16. 17. And the Pfalmift, Stand in awe and fin not, Pfal. 4. 4. where ftanding in awe is prefcrib'd as the means to prevent finning against him. He that feareth another, whom he knows able to hurt him, will beware of provoking him; and if we fear God from a fenfe of his Power, we fhall take care how we offend him. For this reafon it is that the Fear of God is fo often enjoin'd in Holy Scripture, Fear the Lord, all ye bis Saints, faith holy David, Pfal. 34. 9. And elsewhere, Serve the Lord with Fear, and rejoice before bim with Trembling. A good Man is defcrib'd to be one that feareth God, and efcheweth Evil; whereas a wicked Perfon is faid to be one, that hath no Fear of God before his Eyes: The former is reftrain'd by the Fear of God from doing Evil; the latter, having caft off all Awe and Dread of him, hath no check to keep him from the vileft Enormities. Thus we fee fomething of the Nature and Effects of this Fear of God, and what a Curb it is to refrain us from all finful Practices: We are now farther to confider it as a brief Summary or Compendium of our Duty to God;

and

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