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…

but let such hypocrites know, that though their profession be never so glorious, and their duties never so abundant, yet ⟨p. 295⟩their ends being selfish and carnal, all their pretensions and performances are but beautiful abominations in the sight of God. An hypocrite has always a squint eye, and squint eyed aims, and squint eyed ends in all he does.¹ Balaam spake very religiously, and he multiplied Altars and sacrifices; but the thing he had in his eye was the wages of unrighteousness. Jehu destroyed bloody Ahab's house, he executed the vengeance of God upon that wicked family; he readily,² resolutely and effectually destroyed all the worshippers of Baal, but his ends were to secure the Kingdom to him and his. Ahab and the Ninevites fasted in sackcloth, but it was merely that they might not feel the heavy judgments that they feared would overtake them. The Jews in Babylon fasted and mourned,³ and mourned and fasted seventy years, but it was more to get off their chains than their sins, it was more to be rid of their captivity than it was to be rid of their iniquity. Look, as the Eagle hath an eye upon her prey when she flies highest, so these Jews in all their fasting, praying, mourning, they had only an eye to their own ease, deliverance, freedom, &c. in all their Religious duties they were acted from evil principles, and carried on by self-respects; and therefore Daniel denies, that in all that seventy years captivity they had prayed to any purpose. All this is come upon us, ⁴yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth. It is the end that dignifies or debaseth the action, that rectifies it or adulterates it, that sets a crown of honour, or a crown of shame upon the head of it. He that commonly, habitually, in all his duties and services, proposes to himself no higher ends than the praises of men, or rewards of men, or the stopping the mouth of natural conscience, or only to avoid a smarting rod, or merely to secure himself from wrath to come, he is an hypocrite. The ends of a mans actions are always a great discovery either of sincerity or hypocrisy. Look, as great gifts, not sweetened with sincerity, are no ornaments to us; so great infirmities not soured with hypocrisy, are no great deformities to us.