A cabinet of choice jewels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain…A cabinet of choice jevvels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain…

Fourthly, There is never an Hypocrite in the world that makes God, or Christ, or holiness, or his doing, or receiving good in his station, relation or generation; his grand end, his highest end, his ultimate end of living in the world; pleasures, profits and honours, are the Hypocrites all he aims at in this world; they are his Trinity which he adores and serves,¹ and sacrificeth himself unto; an Hypocrite's ends are corrupt and selfish. God may possibly be at the higher end of his work, but self is at the further end; for he that was never truly cast out of himself,² can have no higher end than himself. An Hypocrite is all for his own glory, he acts for himself, and from himself; so I may have the profit, the credit, the glory, the applause, come of God's glory what will; this is the language of an unsound heart. An Hypocrite will seem to be very godly when he can make a gain of godliness, he will seem to be very holy when holiness is the way to outward greatness and happiness; but this religious wickedness will double damn the Hypocrite at last. Self-ends are the operative ingredients in all an Hypocrite does, self is the chief Engine, self is the great wheel that sets all an hypocrites wheels a going. When hypocrites take up Religion,³ 'tis only to serve their own turns, to bring about their own carnal ends; they serve not the Lord, but their own bellies; they use Religion only as a stream to turn about their own Mill, and the more neatly to effect their own carnal projects. Simon Magus will needs be baptized, and he is very desirous to have power to give the holy Ghost to others; but his aim being only to get a name,⁴ and to get money, Peter tells him to his face, that his heart was not right in the sight of God. No man can go higher than his principles, and therefore an hypocrite having no higher principles than himself, all he does must needs be terminated in himself. Look, as all the Rivers that come from the Sea, do return back again to the Sea from whence they come, so all those duties which arise from a mans self, must needs centre in a mans self. An hypocrite always makes himself the end of all his service;