solution of the contrary. Where you have, 1. The terms of detestation and renunciation, "God forbid," or, "be it far from me." 2. The thing detested and renounced, viz. To glory in any thing save the cross of Christ. His own positive profession containeth, 1. His resolution to glory in the cross of Christ. 2. The effects of the cross of Christ upon his soul; which being contrary to the disposition, and doctrine, and endeavour of the false teachers, is added as a reason of his abhorring their ways, and as the ground or principle of his contrary course: "Hereby the world is crucified to him, and he to the world."

The difficulties in the words being not great, I shall take leave to be briefer in their explication. The verb kavyaolaι, signifieth not only external boasting, but first internal confidence and acquiescence. By "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ," we are to understand both his cross as suffered by him, and as considered by us, and as imitated by us, or the cross we suffer in conformity to him: for I see no reason to take it in a more restrained sense.

By" the world," is meant, the whole inferior creation, or all that is objected to our sense, or is the bait or provision for the flesh, or by the tempter is put in competition with God: both the things and the men the world.

To have "the world crucified to him," doth signify, 1. That it is killed, and so disabled from doing him any deadly harm, or from being able to steal away his affections, as it doth theirs that are unsanctified. 2. That he esteemeth it but as a dead and contemptible thing. So that this phrase, expresseth both its disabling, and his positive contempt of it.

The other phrase, that Paul was "crucified to the world," doth signify on the other side, 1. That his estimation and affections were as dead to it; that is, he had no more esteem of it, or love to it, nor did he further mind or regard it, (so far as he was sanctified) than a dead man would do. 2. It signifieth that he was also contemned by worldly men, and looked on as his crucified Lord was, whom he preached.

This is said to be done "by Christ," or "by his cross;" for the relative may relate to either antecedent. But I should rather refer it to the latter, though in sense the difference is small; because the one is implied in the other.

The further explication of the nature of this crucifixion, and the influence that Christ and his cross have thereunto,

and how they are the causes of it, must be further spoke to, in the handling of the doctrines, which are as follow:

Doct. I. The carnal glorying of worldly professors, is a thing detested and renounced by the saints.

Doct. II. A crucified Christ, or Christ and his cross, is the glorying of the saints.

Doct. III. The world is crucified to the saints, and they to the world.

Doct. IV. It is by a crucified Christ, or by Christ and his cross, that this is done.

But because our limited time will not allow us to handle each of these distinctly, I shall reduce them all to one general Doctrine, which is the sense of the text.

Doct. The world is crucified to the saints, and the saints are crucified to the world, by the cross of Christ; and therefore in it alone must they glory, abhorring the glory of carnal men.

The method which I shall observe, as fittest for your edification in handling this doctrine, is this:

I. I shall more fully shew you negatively what it is not, and affirmatively what it is, to have the world crucified to us, and to be crucified to the world.

II. I shall shew you how this is wrought by the cross of Christ.

is.

III. I shall give you the reasons,
the reasons, which

prove that so it

IV. I shall give you the reasons why it must be so.

V. I shall make application of this first part of the Doctrine. And then handle the latter part as time shall permit.

I. There are few doctrines of faith, or ways of holiness, but have their extremes, which men will reel into from side to side, when few will consist in the sacred mean. The purblind world cannot cut by so small a thread, as the word of God directeth them to do, and as all must do, that will be conducted into truth. We have much ado to take men off these vanities; but yet when many of them are convinced, and see that the world must be cast aside, they mistake the nature of holy mortification, and embrace instead of it some superstitious and cynical conceits; in which they are as fast bemired almost as they were before.

1. I shall therefore first tell you what is not the crucifixion which we are to treat of.

1. It is not to think that the world is indeed nothing; and that in a proper sense our life is but a dream : nor yet sceptically to take the being and modes of all things as uncertain. Nor to imagine that sense is so far fallible, that a man of sound sense and understanding, may not be sure of the objects conveniently presented to his sense. There still re

maineth one argument which the sceptics were never able to confute, but will make them at any time to yield the cause; even to scourge them, as fools, till they are sure to feel it. But we have few of these to deal with; the scepticism of our times being restrained to those things which more closely concern the matter of salvation.

2. Nor is it any part of the meaning of this text, that we should entertain a low and base esteem of the world, or any thing therein, as in its natural state considered, it is the work of God. For though man be eminently created in his image, yet all his works are like him in their measure, and therefore have all an excellency to be admired. It cannot be that Infinite Wisdom can make any thing which shall not have some impressions and demonstrations thereof. Nor can Goodness make any thing but what is good. And never did the Almighty make any thing that is absolutely contemptible; nor any thing so mean, which can be done by any other without him; so far inimitable is he in the smallest of his works. Nor did he ever make any thing in vain; but those things which seem small and useless to us, have an unsearchable excellency and usefulness which we know not of. If the unskilful have the modesty to believe that the smallest string in an instrument of music, and the smallest pin in a watch, have their use, though he know not of it, we have great reason to think as modestly of the frame of all the works of God. And those things that in themselves considered are small, yet respectively and virtually may be very great. The heart may do more to the preservation of life, than a part much bigger; and the eye may see more than all the rest of the body besides. And the order, location and respects of several parts, doth give them such an admirable usefulness and excellency, which none can know that seeth not the whole frame.

Yea, our own selves, souls or bodies, considered as the workmanship of God, must not be thought or spoke contemptibly of. For so by all that we say against the work,

we do but reproach and dishonour the workman. In all our self-accusations and condemnations, we must take heed of accusing or condemning our Creator. Our naturals therefore must be honoured, while our corrupt morals are vilified. We must disgrace nothing that is of God, but only that which may be truly called our own; nor in the accusation of our own, must we by reflections and consequences accuse that which is God's, as if the fault in the original were his. By giving us our natural freewill, which is a self-determining power, he made us capable of having somewhat in morality which we may too justly call our own; and our loss and want of moral freedom, (which is but our right dispositions and inclinations) were not to be charged ultimately on ourselves, if the foresaid natural freedom did not make us capable of such a culpability. It is a strange way that some men have devised, of magnifying the Creator by vilifying his works and it is a strange conceit that all the praise that is given to the creature is taken from God: they would not do so by man: the praise of a house is taken to be no dishonour to the carpenter; nor the commendation of a watch a dishonour to the watchmaker. God did not dishonour himself, when he said, his works in the beginning were all good: he would never have been a Creator, if all the good which he made and communicated had been to his dishonour: when there was nothing but himself in being, there was nothing but himself to be commended; but doubtless, God intended his glory by his works; and all that is in them proceeding from himself, the praise of them redoundeth to himself. In a word, we must be very careful of God's interest in his creatures, and take heed of any such contempt or vilifying of them, which may reflect upon himself.

3. The crucifying of the world to us, doth not consist in our looking upon it as a useless thing, or laying it aside as to all spiritual improvement. No; so far is this from being any part of our duty, that it is none of the least of our sins; the creature was the first book that ever God did make for us, in which we might read his blessed perfections: and the perverting it to another use, with the neglect of this, was man's first sin. As it was the great work of the Redeemer, to bring us back to God that made us, and restore us to his favour, so also to restore us to a capacity of serving him,

even in that employment which he appointed to us in our innocency; which was to see God in the face of his creatures, and there to love and honour him, and by them to serve him. Though this be not our highest felicity, yet it is the way thereto; till we come to see face to face, we must be glad to see the face of God in the glass of his works. But of this we have more to say anon in the application.

7

Our crucifying of or to the world, requireth not any secession from the world, nor a withdrawing ourselves from the society of men, nor the casting away the property or possession of the necessaries which we possess. It is an easier thing to throw away our master's talents, than faithfully to improve them. The Papists glory in the holiness of their church, because they have many among them that have vowed never to marry, and have no property in lands or houses, and have separated themselves into a monastical society: a high commendation to their church, when men must be sainted with them, if they will do no mischief, though they make themselves useless to the rest of the world. The servant that hid his talent in a napkin, was condemned by Christ as wicked and slothful; and shall he be commended by us for extraordinarily devout? Will you reward that servant that will lock, up himself in his chamber, or hide his head in a hole, when he should be busy at your work? Or will you reward that soldier that will withdraw from the army into a corner, when he should be fighting? The world swarms on every side with multitudes of ignorant and impenitent sinners, whose miserable condition crieth loud for some relief, to all that are any way able to relieve them. And these religious monks make haste from among them, and leave them to themselves to sink or swim, and they think this cruelty to be the top of piety. Unworthy is that man to live on the earth, that liveth only to himself, and communicateth not the gifts of God to others. And yet do these idle, unprofitable drones esteem their course the life of perfection. When we must charge through the thickest of our enemies, and bear all the unthankful requitals of the world, and undergo their scorns and persecutions, these wary soldiers can look to their skin, and get out of the reach of such encounters; and when they have done, imagine that they have got the victory. To live to ourselves, were it never so spiritually, is far unlike the life of a Chris