On the Government of the Thoughts. Preached before the UNIVERSITY of PROVERBS IV. 23. Keep thy Heart with all Diligence: For out of it are the Iffues of Life. T HE Meaning of which Words SER. IX. is Keep a ftrict Guard over the Workings of your Mind, your Thoughts and Inclinations, of which the Heart is commonly fuppofed to be the Seat: For your Life and Conversation will be conformable to the main Current of your Thoughts and Defires. All Sin confeffedly confifting in the Will; he, that wills the Commiffion of a wicked Action, is as guilty before God, SER. IX. who feeth in Secret, as if he had actually committed the Fact. For what should hinder the Man, who deliberately indulges finful Thoughts, from reducing them to Practice? It is not the Fear of God: For then he would not have given an uncon-. troled Loose to his Thoughts, awed by that Being, who is of too difcerning Eyes not to behold the Impurity of his Heart, and of too pure Eyes to behold it with Pleasure No: It was another Principle that reftrained him, a Fear of what the World would fay. A Conduct highly affrontive this! To be Fool-hardy towards God, and a Coward towards Man; to brave the Almighty Difpleasure of his Maker, and yet dread the impotent Cenfures of the World. The Soul is ever bufy and at work: There is no Paufe, no Sufpenfion of Thought; at least while we are awake. Think we muf-But what to think uponwhat Track to pursue, instead of giving ourfelves an unconfined Range, in that wide and spacious Field of Thinking, which opens itself to us on every Hand This ought to be our Study, and fhall be my prefent Enquiry. Suffer I. To enquire how far we have or may have a Command over our Thoughts, and confequently how far we are accountable for them. II. To lay down fome Directions for the Government of our Thoughts. I. I am to enquire how far we have or may have a Command over our Thoughts, and confequently how far we are accountable for them. ift, It is impoffible to hinder irregular, fantaftick, evil Thoughts from rifing up in our Minds. All Thoughts, like ill Company, will be fometimes obtruding and forcing themselves upon us: But then we may chufe, whether we will cultivate a Familiarity and intimate Acquaintance with them: We may do as we pleafe, whether we will give them a friendly Entertainment; or on the other Hand, difmifs. thefe audacious and impertinent Intruders, with this fignificant Rebuke; "Away from ME, ye wicked Thoughts, I will keep the Commandments of God." SER. IX. SER. IX. 2dly, It is not in our Power to prevent Diftractions, Interruption, and Avocation of Thought, even in our religious Addreffes to God. While the Soul is immersed in Matter, will be sometimes too languid to raise it's Thoughts, or too volatile to fix them fteadily upon God. God. This is our Frailty, our Misfortune, but will not be imputed to us as a Sin, provided we strive against it: And when we have done all we can, we have done all we ought. For this Reason, as foon as we enter the Sanctuary, we fhould beg the Affiftance of God's Spirit, that our Thoughts may be fixed: That we may be collected in ourselves, and ferve God with that undivided Attention, which is due from a Creature to his Creator; as knowing, that it is ridiculous to expect God will hear us, when we really do not hear ourselves; which is the Cafe, when our Lips move as it were mechanically, but our Minds are absent and inattentive. It was with this View, that in the ancient Greek Liturgies, the Deacon was ordered to cry aloud, ἐκτενῶς δεηθῶμεν, Let us pray fervently; and again, fome Time after, ERTEVES pov, let us pray more fervently. And * See Bifse's Beauty of Holiness. * it would be well, if we would make this ufe SBR. IX. of that exhortatory Admonition, which oc curs fa often in our Liturgy, viz. "Let us pray :" And which was inferted with this Defign, among others, to rally our undif ciplined Thoughts, to recal our ftraggling Ideas, and to put us in Mind, that we ought to be praying with an Affectionate Application. 3dly, Our Thoughts are not abfolutely free, juft after we have received fome confiderable Lofs or Difafter. All that we can do, is to take Care, that we do not give up our Mind a Prey to Melancholy, and willfully indulge our Sorrows; which is the Cafe of many, even under imaginary Grievances. They will fupinely fit in a penfive Pofture, with folded Arms, brooding over their Woes, till they imagine themselves the Confines of another World; or, upon if they be of a religious Turn, they fhalk fancy, that the Arrows of the Almighty are within them, the Poison whereof drinketh up their Spirits. Their Reafon fhall be either entirely fufpended, or only employed to dwell upon and heighten those darkfom Ideas, the Imagery of a Melancholic Fancy, |