upon one another; unless we turn away our eyes from vanity, we shall soon contract a deadness of heart. Nothing causeth it so much as an inordinate liberty in carnal vanities; when our affections are alive to other things, they are dead to God, therefore the less we let loose our hearts to these things, the more lively and cheerful in the work of obedience. On the other side, the more the vigour of grace is renewed, and the habits of it quickened into actual exercise, the more is sin mortified and subdued. Sin dieth, and our senses are restored to their proper use. These two requests are fitly joined.

Let us consider them asunder.

1. "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity." There observe, (1.) The object, "vanity." (2.) The faculty," mine eyes." (3.) The act of grace desired, the removing of this faculty from this object.

1st, The object, "vanity." Thereby is meant carnal and worldly things, worldly pleasures, worldly honour, worldly profits, all these are called "vanity," because they have no solid happiness in them, and do so easily fade and perish. Thus it is said, "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain" (Prov. xxxi. 30). The same is true of any other transporting object: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" (Eccl. i. 2); and, "Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity; for vanity shall be his recompence" (Job xv. 31). The creature was made subject to vanity" (Rom. viii. 20). By vanity there is understood the vain things of the world, which do so often deceive us as to the happiness they promise.

66

2ndly, The faculty is mentioned, "the eye;" it is employed and commanded by the heart; but this enkindleth new flames there, and as it is set awork by it, so it sets the heart awork again. It is the instrument of increasing sin in us.

3rdly, The act, turn away." Our evil delight is too apt to fix it, and become a snare to us, till God cureth both heart and sense by grace. He prayeth not from beholding it altogether, but from beholding as a snare.

DOCTRINE. It concerneth those that would walk with God, to have their eyes turned away from worldly things. I shall give you the meaning in these propositions.

66

1. He that would be quickened, carried out with life and vigour in the ways of God, must first be mortified, die unto sin. The Apostle there speaks of the fruit of Christ's death; being dead unto sin before he can live to God (1 Pet. ii. 24). David first maketh it his request, Turn away mine eyes," then " quicken." Many would fain live with Christ, but first they must learn to die unto sin. It is impossible for sin and grace to live in the same subject.

2. One great means of mortification is guarding the senses; eyes, and ears, and taste, and touch, that they may not betray the heart. I put it so general because the man of God that is so solicitous about his eyes, would not be careless of his ears and other senses. We must watch on all sides; when an assault is made on all sides, if one gate open it is as good as all were. The senses are the cinque-ports by which sin is let out and taken in. The ingress and egress of sin is by the senses, and much of our danger lieth there, partly because there are so many objects that suit with our distempers, that do by them insinuate themselves into the soul, and therefore things long since seemingly dead will soon revive again, and recover life and strength. There is no means to keep the heart unless we keep the eye; and partly because in every creature Satan hath laid a snare for us, to steal away our hearts and affections from God:

partly because the senses are so ready to receive these objects from without to wound the heart, for they are as the heart is; if the heart be poisoned with sin, and become a servant to it, so are the senses of our bodies weapons of unrighteousness (Rom. vi. 13). Objects have an impression upon them answerable to the temper and the affections of the soul, and what it desireth they pitch upon, and therefore if we let the senses wander, the heart will take fire presently; and if we do not stop evil at the beginning, but let it alone to take head, we cannot stop it when we would, nor repress the motions of it from flying abroad.

3. Above all senses the eye must be guarded :—

(1.) Because it is the noblest sense given us for high uses. There is not only a natural use to inform us of things profitable, and hurtful for the outward man, but a spiritual use to set before us those objects that may stir us and raise our minds to heavenly thoughts and meditations. For, by beholding the perfection of the creatures, we may admire the more eminent perfection of him that made them. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work" (Psalm xix. 1). And, "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained" (Psalm viii. 3). David, when he walked abroad in a moon-shining night, he admires the glory of the moon and stars; the moon and stars are mentioned because it was a night meditation, his heart was set awork by his eyes. "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead," &c. (Rom. i. 20.) The perfections of the creatures are to draw us to God, and their imperfections and defects to drive us from themselves. The eye as it is used will either be a help or a snare, either it will let in the sparks of temptation, or enkindle the fire of true devotion. These are the windows which God hath placed in the top of the building, that man from thence may contemplate God's works, and take a prospect of Heaven, the place of our eternal residence. Os homini sublime dedit; God made man with an erect countenance, not groveling on the earth, but looking up to Heaven, and viewing the glorious mansions above.

66

(2.) Because they have a great influence upon the heart, either as to good or evil, but chiefly to evil. In this corrupt state of man, ir tẽ ỏpřiv yiverai rò ¿pãv, by looking we come to liking, and are brought inordinately to effect what we do behold: "That ye seek not after your own heart, and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring" (Numb. xv. 39). If my steps hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after mine eyes" (Job xxxi. 7). These are the spies of the heart, brokers to bring it and the temptation together; the eye seeth and then by gazing the heart lusteth, and the body acteth the transgression. It is more dangerous to see evil than to hear it, the impression is greater; the relation of anything doth not affect us so much as the sight of it. Those that hear of the fury of wars, and firing of houses; ravishing of virgins; killing and wounding of men, and the like, cannot have so deep a sense of those things as they that see it. The sight of Heaven works more than the report of it, as in Paul, when he had a sight of these things he was in an extasy. The look doth immediately work on the heart. Well then, it is dangerous to fix the eye on enticing objects; for it exciteth more than hearsay.

(3.) The eye must be looked to, because it hath been the window by which Satan hath crept in, and all manner of poison conveyed to the soul.

I shall prove it, (1.) Doctrinally. (2.) Historically. First, I shall give you doctrinal assertions; the eye hath been the inlet of all sin; as uncleanness : "Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls" &c. (2 Peter iii. 4); in the original it is "eyes full of the adulteress," and the eye enkindles impure flames in the heart. “Lust not after her beauty in thy heart, neither let her take thee with her eye-lids" (Prov.vi. 25). Gazing on the beauty of women enkindleth foul flames within the breast, and we feel strange transports of soul when we give way to it. The evil heart is in its element when it is thus. Then coveteousness gets into the heart by the eye: " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, if any man love the word, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John ii. 15). And therefore the Apostle, when he maketh a division of sin, he saith: "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world." Because the mind is so secretly enchanted with the love of those things it beholds, and are represented to it by the external senses; and: "There is no end of all his labour" (Eccl. iv. 8), neither is his eye satisfied with riches; that insatiable thirst is enkindled in the soul by beholding the splendour of outward things, it is born and bred, and fed by it, and the heart is secretly enchanted with a love to it, and therefore we must have more of it. Again, drunkenness: "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright" (Prov. xxiii. 3); that is so as to entice the heart to crave more and more till it cometh to excess. So envy: "Is thine eye evil, because I am good ?" (Matt. xx. 15.) The more they see and wishly behold the flourishing of others, the more is their evil disposition nourished. Secondly, historical instances. Let me begin with the first transgression. It is said: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof," &c. (Gen. iii. 6). She was first corrupted in her sense; gazing on the fruit with delight that was the first sin, before eating. The Devil tempted Christ, when he sought to corrupt the second Adam. "He taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them" (Matt. iv. 8). He knew the best way to work was by sight, aud though he could not prevail against Christ, he took that way that was most accommodate to his purpose, and afterward what an account have we in Scripture how many were wounded by their eyes? The Devil knoweth that is the next way to work upon the heart. So Potiphar's wife: " And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, lie with me" (Gen. xxxix. 7). There the mischief began, she pleased herself with looking on the Hebrew servant. So Achan: "When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them," &c. (Josh. vii. 21). First saw, then coveted, then took, and then hid, and then Israel falls before the Philistines, and he is attached by loss and brought to judgment. So Shechem and Dinah: "And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her" (Gen. xxxiv. 2). Seeing always cometh between the sense and the heart. So of Sampson: "Sampson went to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her" (Judges xvi. 1). So David was ensnared by looking on Bathsheba: "And it came to pass in

an evening-tide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house; and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon" (2 Sam. xi. 2). That fired his heart, and brought such mischiefs upon him. Naboth's vineyard was hard by Ahab's palace (1 King. xxi. 1); it was ever in his eye, and therefore he is troubled and falls sick for it. So, how many may thus complain that their souls have been by their eyes betrayed. As Jacob's sheep, by looking on the rods, brought forth young ones coloured by the rods, so our actions receive that from the objects, we take in by the

senses.

senses.

USE I.—The first use is to reprove those that are so careless of their When they are left at random, they soon prove the ruin of the soul. Solomon giveth us the reason of his folly and warping from God: "Whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them" (Eccles. iv. 10). I kept not mine eyes from any toy; those men lie under the power of sin that let the boat run with the stream, and never use any restraint, they are wafted down apace into the gulf of destruction. Those open the gates to the enemy, and give them free entertainment. A man that is careless of his senses is like a city without walls, that lies open to all comers. The heart is a thoroughfare for sin and temptations, but because most men, yea, good men, have and may miscarry this way, whereby great mischiefs may come upon them, let me produce some considerations that they may see their folly that let their hearts run at random.

1. Foul sinners are awakened, which we thought long since laid asleep, when we let the object strike too freely upon the soul. Who would have thought that David's heart should have been fired by a look? It is dangerous to dally with temptations, and to think no great harm will come of it, stones running down hill are not easily stopped, so here when we yield a little to Satan's temptations, he carries us away by force, we cannot stop when we please.

2. Evil thoughts will be begotten in us, and they make us culpable before God, though they break not out into sinful acts. Looking causeth lusting, and that is adultery before God: "But I say unto you, whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matt. v. 28). Christ came to restore the law to its spiritual sense. The Pharisees did not think the law broken but by outward, gross acts, and actual defilement, but Christ showeth that a wanton look is adultery, an envious look murders the heart, consenteth to sin though the body

acts it not.

3. By leaving the senses without a guard, evil dispositions are impressed upon us secretly, though we are not aware of any sensible disorder for the present, the heart groweth vain and carnal by letting loose the eye to vanity. Job doth not only take notice of his eyes when they did stir up carnal thoughts for the present, but saith: "If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after my eyes" (Job. xxxi. 7); he speaks twice of the disorders of his eyes; the heart may be corrupted by the eye, and therefore it concerns you to set a guard upon the senses: "Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee" (Prov. iv. 25). Let us mind our business, which is to go to Heaven, whereas, by gazing and wandering, the heart comes to be enchanted with earthly things.

4. By wandering and letting loose the eye, the heart is distracted in

duty. Distraction in duty, it is a great and usual evil, and one cause of it is the curiosity of the senses; how often do we mingle sulphur with our incense, and come to worship God having our hearts to the ends of the earth? Men let loose their eyes, and then away goes their hearts, and therefore, as Solomon saith: "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God" (Eccl. v. 1). Many come hither merely to see and to be seen, and to display their vanity by their vain attire. How many are there that let loose their eyes to vanity when they should give up their ears to the counsel of God? Some dress up themselves in such vain attire and indecent fashions to draw the eyes of others to gaze upon them, this is a great affront to God's worship. Solomon saith: "The eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth" (Prov. xvii. 24). One cause of distraction is the curiosity of the senses, our eyes run to and fro, and then our hearts wander and rove from the business we are about; it is a strange constancy and fixedness that is spoken of the priests at Jerusalem, that when Faustus, Cornelius, and Furius, and Fabius, broke into the city with their troops, and rushed into the temple ready to kill them, yet they went on with the rites of the temple, as if there had been no such things. And strange is that other instance of the Spartan youth, that held the censer to Alexander, while he offered sacrifice, a coal lighting upon his arm, he suffered it to burn there rather than by any crying out of his would disturb that worship: these instances are a shame to Christians that we do no more fix our hearts when we are in the service of God.

USE II.—The second use is to press us to this piece of mortification, even" to turn away your eyes from beholding vanity." To help you in it you must,

1. Take Job's course: "I made a covenant with my eyes” (Job. xxxi. 1). Job and his eyes were in covenant, there was a covenant between heart and eyes; eyes be you faithful to my soul, that there be nothing that may stir up carnal and impure thoughts, that there be no unclean objects that may fire my heart. Oh, the foolhardiness of this age! Some will smile at this kind of discipline, to be so strict and precise. Why! is sin grown less dangerous, or is man's nature more wise and strong, or are we better fortified against temptations? Are our hearts in a better posture than the servants of God of old? Surely not, and therefore set a watch upon your eyes that sin break not in upon your heart.

2. Consider the vanity of the things we dote upon and take in by the eyes. So saith David: "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity," they are poor, vain, perishing things, yet they suit too well with our senses. And consider what Solomon saith of these things: "Wilt thou set thine heart upon that which is not?" We inflame our heart with these things, and lust putteth a lovely face upon the objects, that suiteth with it, but alas! what are they, whatever they seem to the beholder? It is but vanity: man flattereth himself" in a vain show" (Psalm xxxix. 6). All the splendour and beauty of it is but vain: "The fashion of this world passeth away" (1 Cor. vii. 31), it is but an empty thing, flying bubbles; though the world is of some use to us in our pilgrimage, yet poor things they are, as that for them we should neglect our duty to God, and grow less lively therein, or have our hearts withdrawn from God. It is the temptation that maketh them seem comely. When these alluring vanities are before our eyes, lust puts a gloss upon them, but consider what they are indeed, and