A09965:37
Four godly and learned treatises Entitled, I. A remedy against covetousness. II. An elegant…Foure godly and learned treatises Intituled, I. A remedy against covetousnesse. II. An elegant…
Four godly and learned treatises Entitled, I. A remedy against covetousness. II. An elegant and lively description of spiritual death and life. III. The doctrine of self-denial. IV. Upon the sacrament of the Lords Supper. Delivered in sundry sermons, by that late famous preacher, and worthy instrument of Gods glory, John Preston, Doctor of Divinity, chaplain in ordinary to his Majesty; master of Emanuel College, and sometime preacher of Lincolns Inn.Foure godly and learned treatises Intituled, I. A remedy against covetousnesse. II. An elegant and lively description of spirituall death and life. III. The doctrine of selfe-deniall. IV. Vpon the sacrament of the Lords Supper. Delivered in sundry sermons, by that late famous preacher, and worthy instrument of Gods glory, Iohn Preston, Doctor of Divinitie, chaplaine in ordinarie to his Majestie; master of Emanuel Colledge, and sometime preacher of Lincolnes Inne.
London: printed by Thomas for Michael Sparke, 1633
COLLOS. 3.5. And Covetousness which is Idolatry.COLLOS. 3.5. And Covetousnesse which is Idolatrie.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First, if ye go another way to work, believe all ye see, and seek comfort in the creature; consider ye shall loose your labour. It is not in the power of the creature to yield ye any comfort; if ye busy your selves in seeking any comfort from it, ye walk in a vain shadow: Psal. 39.6. Surely every man walketh in a vain shadow, surely they are all disquieted ⟨p. 12⟩in vain: He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them: If we look comfort from riches, we look it but from a shadow, all our labour is in vain. There is a shadow of the Almighty in which some men walk,1 where they shall be sure to find this comfort: Others there are that walk in the shadow of the creature, in the vanity of their minds, seeking comfort from it; those who thus walk shall be deceived. A shadow though it seem to be something, yet it is nothing; it may seem to have the lineaments of a man or some other body, yet it is nothing: So these outward things may seem to have something in them, but yet indeed they have nothing; those who seek for comfort in them commit two evils, Jerem. 2.13. They forsake God the fountain of living waters, and dig unto themselves pits which will hold no water. God having all comforts in him, comforts never failing; because there is a spring of comfort in him, yet we forsake him, and dig to our selves pits, which if they have any water it is but borrowed, and not continuing; and that water which they have is none of the best, it is muddy and will not always continue▪ wherefore pitch your affections on the true substantial good, not on vanities: If we see a man come to an orchard full of goodly fruits and he should catch only at the shadow of them, nettling his hands, and spending his labour ⟨p. 13⟩in vain, we would account him either a fool or a mad-man; yet we in the clear Sun-shine of the Gospel, (such is our madness) do catch and seek after shadows with trouble of mind and sorrow of heart, neglecting the substance.