The monster of sinful self-seeking, anatomized together with a description of the heavenly and…The monster of sinful self-seeking, anatomizd together with a description of the heavenly and…

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, CHRISTOPHER PACK, Lord Major, AND The Right Worshipful Aldermen of the famous City of London.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, CHRISTOPHER PACK, Lord Major, AND The Right VVorshipfull Aldermen of the famous City of London.

RIGHT HONOURABLE,

This ensuing Sermon was ordered by you to be printed, it hath stuck long in the birth, by reason of multitude of intervening impediments: Now at last it is come into the world, and is ¹here humbly presented to you, as an expression of that respect and service which I acknowledge to be due, and shall ever be ready to pay. The subject matter of it is to discover and Anatomize that ugly and deformed Monster of sinful self-seeking, and •o show the sinfulness and cursedness of it. There are two Cities (saith Austin) The City of God, and the City of the Devil: The City of God is begun and built up by the love of God, and increaseth, even to the hatred of our selves; but the City of the Devil, begins from the love of our selves, and increaseth, even to the hatred of God, by the contempt of our brethren; for he that hateth and contemneth his brother, will in a little while hate and contemn God. It cannot be denied, (no not by one made up of Charity) that there are many Citizens of this City of the Devil. Many who instead of loving God, to the contempt of themselves, love themselves to the contempt of ⟨image 4⟩God: Many who seek their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ', or which is as bad, if not worse, who seek their own, under the hypocritical pretence of seeking the things of Christ. It is reported of Cnidius a great Architectist, who building a sumptuous Watch-Tower for the King of Egypt (to discover the dangerous rocks by night to his Mariners) caused his own name to be engraved upon a stone in the wall in great letters, and afterwards covered it with Lime and Mortar, and upon the outside wrote the name of the King of Egypt in Golden Characters, as pretending that all was done for his glory and honour: But herein was his cunning, he knew that the water in a little time would consume the plastering (as it did) and then his name and memory should abide & continue to after Generations. There are many such in this Nation, who in their outward discourse and carriage, pretend to seek only the glory of God, the good of his Church, and the happiness of the State. But if we had a window to look into their hearts, we should find nothing there written, but self-love and self-seeking. My care hath been in the following discourse, to set out the greatness and grievousness of this sin, and how destructive it is both to Church and Common-wealth.