Device (1). His first device to destroy the great and honourable of
the earth is, By working them to make it their business to seek themselves, to seek: how to greaten themselves, to raise themselves, to enrich themselves, to secure themselves, &c., as you may see in Pharaoh, Ahab, Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Absalom, Joab, Haman, &e! But were the Scripture silent, our own experiences do abundantly evidence this way and method of Satan to destroy the great and the honourable; to bury their names in the dust, and their souls in hell, by drawing them wholly to mind themselves, and ouly to mind themselves, and in all things to mind themselves, and always to mind themselves. All) saith the apostle, mind themselves,” Philip. ii. 21. All comparatively, in respect of the paucity of others, that let fall their private interests, and drown all self-respects in the glory of God and the public good, &eNow the remedies against this device are these,
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That self-seeking is « sin that will pul men upon « world of sins, upon sins not only against the luw of God, the rules of the gospel, but that ave against the very laws of nature, that ave so much darkened by the fall of man. It puts the Pharisees upon opposing Christ, and Judas upon betraying Christ, and Pilate upon condemning Christ. It puts Gehazi upon lying, and Balaam upon cursing, and Saul and Absalom upon plotting David’s ruin. It put Pharaoh and Haman upon contriving ways to destroy those Jews that God did purpose to save by his mighty arm. 1t puts men upon using wicked balances, and the bag of deceitful weights. It puts men upon ways of oppression, and selling the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes,” &e., Amos ii. 6. I know not any sin in the world but this sin of self-seeking will put men upon it, though it be their eternal loss.
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, Lhut self-seeking doth exceedingly abase a man. It strips him of all his royalty and glory. Of a lord it makes a man become a servant to the creature, ay, often to the worst of creatures; yea, a slave to slaves, as you may see in Judas, Demas, Balaam, and the Scribes and Pharisees.3 Self-seekers bow down to the creatures, as Gideon’s many thousands bowed down to the waters. Self-seeking will make a man say anything, do anything, and be anything, to please the lusts of others, and to get advantages upon others. Self-seeking transforms a man into all shapes and forms; now it makes a man appear as an angel of light, anon as an angel of darkness Now selfscekers are seemingly for God, anon they are openly against God; now you shall have them crying, Hosanna in the highest,” and anon, Crucify him, crucify him;’ now you shall have them build with the saints, and anon you shall have them plotting the overthrow of the saints, as those sclf-seekers did in Ezra and Nehemiab’s time. Self seekers are the basest of all persons, There 1s no service so base, so
poor, so low, but they will bow to it. They cannot look neither above, nor beyond their own lusts, and the enjoyment of the creature, Rom. 1. 25. These are the prime and ultimate objects of their intendments. It is said of Tiberius, that whilst Augustus ruled, he was no way tainted in his reputation, and that while Drusus and Germanicus were alive, he feigned those virtues which he had not, to maintain a good opinion of himself in the hearts of the people; but after he had got himself out of the reach of contradiction and controlment, there was no fact in which he was not faulty, no crime to which he was not accessory.” My prayer shall be, that Tiberius his spirit may not be found in any of our rulers, lest it prove their ruin, as 1t did his; and that wherever it is, it may be detected, loathed, and ejected, that so neither the state nor souls may be ruined by it, &e.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly To dwell upon those dreadful curses and woes that are from heaven denounced against self-seekers. Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth,” Isa. v. 8. So Habakkuk, 11. 6, 9-12, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his, and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay I” Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity I’ The materials of the house built up by oppression shall come as joint witnesses. The stones of the wall shall cry, Lord, we were built up by blood and violence; and the beam shall answer, True, Lord, even so itis.” The stones shall cry, Vengeance, Lord! upon these self-seekers! and the beam shall answer, Woe to him, because he built his house with blood! So Isaiah, Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; to turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the tatherless,” Isa. x. 1, 2. So Amos, ‘ Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came; that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the middle of the stall; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the afflictions of Joseph,” Amos vi. 1, 3-6. So Micah, Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because
it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and take them by violence, and houses, and take them away. So they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage,” Micah 1. 1, 2.
By these scriptures, you see that self-seekers labour like a woman in travail, but their birth proves their death, their pleasure their pain, their comforts their torment, their glory their shame, their exaltation their desolation. Loss, disgrace, trouble and shame, vexation and con- fusion, will be the certain portion of self-seekers.
When the Tartarians had taken in battle the Duke of Muscovia, they made a cup of his skull, with this inscription, All covet, all lose. Remedy (4). The fourth remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That self-seekers ave self-losers and self-destroyers. i Absalom and Judas seek themselves, and hang themselves. Saul seeks himself, and kills himself. Ahab seeks himself, and loses himself, his crown and kingdom. Pharaoh seeks himself, and overthrows himself and his mighty army in the Red Sea. Cain sought himself, and slew two at once, his brother and his own soul. Gehazi sought change of raiment, but God changed his raiment into a leprous skin. Haman sought himself, and lost himself. The princes and presidents sought themselves, in the ruin of Daniel, but ruined themselves, their wives and children. That which self-seekers think should be a staff to support them, becomes by the hand of justice an iron rod to break them; that which they would have as springs to refresh them, becomes a gulf utterly to consume them. The crosses of self seekers shall always exceed their mercies: their pain their pleasure; their torments their h comforts. Every self-seeker is a self-tormentor, a self-destroyer; he carries a hell, an executioner, in his own bosom, &c.2
Remedy (5). The fifth remedy against this device of Satan is, To dwell much upon the famous examples of those worthy suints that have denied themselves and preferred the public good before their own particular advantage As Moses, And the Lord said unto Moses, Let me alone, that 1 may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they,” Deut. ix. 14. Oh! but this offer would not take with Moses, he being a man of a brave public spirit. It 1s hot in his desires and prayers that the people might be spared and pardoned; saith he, ‘ Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people, unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word,” ix. 26, ef seq. Ah! should God make such an offer to many that write themselves Moses, and are called by many, Moses, I am afraid they would prefer their own advantage above the public good; they would not care what become of the people, so they and theirs might be made great and
glorious in the world; they would not care so they might have a Babel built for them, though it was upon the ashes and ruin of the people. Baser spirits than these are not in hell; no, not in hell; and I am sure there are no such spirits in heaven. Such men’s hearts and principles must be changed, or they will be undone for ever. Nehemiah was a choice soul, a man of a brave public spirit, a man that spent his time, his strength, and his estate, for the good and ease of his people. Moreover,” saith he, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall: and all my servants were gathered hither unto the work. Moreover, there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us. Now, that which was prepared for me daily was one ox, and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this required I not the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon the people. Think upon me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people; Neh. v. 14-19. So Daniel was a man of a brave public spirit: Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God,” Daniel vi. 4, 5.1
Christ had a public spirit, he laid out himself, and laid down himself for a public good. Oh! never leave looking and meditating upon these precious and sweet examples till your souls are quickened and raised up, to act for the public good, more than for your own particular advantage. Many heathens have been excellent at this.?
Macrobius writes of Augustus Ceasar, in whose time Christ was born, that he carried such an entire and fatherly affection to the commonwealth, that he called it filiam suam, his own daughter; and therefore refused to be called Dominus, the lord or master of his country, and would only be called Pater patric, father of his country, because he governed it not by fear, per timorem, sed per amorem, but by love; the senate and the people of Rome jointly saluting him by the name of Pater patric, father of his country. The people very much lamented his death, using that speech, Would he had never been born, or never died.”
So Marcus Regulus, to save his country from ruin, exposed himself to the greatest sufferings that the malice and rage of his enemies could inflict.
So Titus and Aristides, and many others, have been famous for their preferring the public good above their own advantage. My prayer is,
and shall be, that all our rulers may be so spirited by God, that they may be willing to be anything, to be nothing, to deny themselves, and to trample their sinful selves under feet, in order to the honour of Godand a public good; that so neither saints nor heathens may be witnesses agalast them in that day, wherein the hearts and practices of all the rulers mn the world shall be open and bare before him that judges the world in righteousness and judgment.
Remedy (6). The sixth remedy against this device of Satan is, seriously to consider, That self is w great let to divine things; therefore the prophets and apostles were usually carried out of themselves, when they had: the clearest, choicest, highest, und most glorious visions. Selt-seeking blinds the soul that it cannot see a beauty in Christ, nor an excellency in holiness; it distempers the palate that a man cannot taste sweetness in the word of God, norin the ways of God, nor in the society of the people of God. It shuts the hand against all the soul-enriching offers of Christ; it hardens the heart against all the knocks and entreaties of Christ; it makes the soul as an empty vine, and as a barren wilderness: “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit to himself,’ Hosea x. 1. There is nothing that speaks a man to be more empty and void of God, Christ, and grace, than self-seeking. The Pharisees were great self-seekers, and great undervaluers of Christ, his word and Spirit. There is not a greater hindrance to all the duties of piety than selfsecking. Oh! this is that that keeps many a soul from looking after God aud the precious things of eternity. They cannot wait on God, nor act for God, nor abide in those ways wherein they might meet with God, by reason of self. Self-seeking is that which puts many a man upon neglecting and slighting the things of his peace. Self-seekers will neither go into heaven themselves, nor suffer others to enter, that are ready to take the kingdom by violence, as you may see in the Scribes ‘ and Pharisees. Oh! but a gracious spirit is acted quite other ways, as you may see in that sweet scripture, Cant. vii. 13, “At our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O beloved.” All the church hath and is, is only for him, Let others bear fruit to themselves, and lay up for themselves, gracious spirits will hide for Christ and lay up for Christ.! All the divine endeavours and i productions of saints fall into God’s bosom, and empty themselves into his lap. As Christ lays up his merits for them, his graces for them, his comforts for them, his crown for them, so they lay up all their fruits, and all their loves, all their graces, and all their experiences, and all their services, only for him who is the soul of their comforts, and the crown and top of all their royalty and glory, &c.