The vanity of thoughts discovered with their danger and cure. By ThoThe vanity of thovghts discovered with their danger and cvre. By Tho

many good thoughts and motions may pass, as Strangers through a bad ⟨p. 6⟩mans heart; and so likewise multitudes of vain thoughts may make a thorough-fare of a believers heart, and disturb him in good duties, by knockings and interruptions, and breakings in upon the heart of a good man; but still they lodge not there; are not fostered, harboured.

many good thoughts and motions may passe, as Strangers thorow a bad ⟨p. 6⟩mans heart; and so likewise multitudes of vaine thoughts may make a thorow-fare of a beleevers heart, and disturbe him in good duties, by knockings and interruptions, and breakings in upon the heart of a good man; but still they lodge not there; are not fostered, harboured.

My scope in our ordinary course is, to discover the wickedness and vanity of the heart by nature: in the heart we are yet but in the upper parts of it, the understanding, and the defilements thereof, which are to be washed out of it, and the next defilement, which in my broken order ⟨p. 7⟩I mean to handle, is that which is here specified, the vanity of your thoughts: for the discovery sake of which only, I chose this Text, as my ground; That is it, therefore, which I will chiefly insist upon. A subject which, I confess, would prove of all else the vastest. To make an exact particular discovery of the vanities in our thoughts, to travel over the whole Creation, and to take a survey, and give an account of all that vanity abounds in all the creatures, was (as you know) the task of the wisest of men, Solomon; the flower of his studies ⟨p. 8⟩and labours: But the vanity of our thoughts, are as multiplied much in us; this little world affords more varieties of vanities, than the Great. Our thoughts made the creatures subject to vanity,