How Faith Quenches The ‘Lust of The Eyes.’

1. Faith persuades the soul of God's fatherly care and providence over it.And where this breast-work is raised the soul is safe so long as it keeps within its line.  ‘Oh!’ saith Satan, ‘if thou wouldst but venture on a lie—make bold a little with God in such a com­mand—this wedge of gold is thine, and that advan­tage will accrue to thy estate.’  Now faith will teach the soul to reply, ‘I am well provided for already, Sa­tan; I need not thy pension; why should I play the thief for that which, if good, God hath promised to give?’  ‘Let your con­versation be without covetous­ness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,’ Heb. 13:5.  How canst thou want, O my soul, that by the promise hast command of God's purse?  Let him that is ‘without God in the world’ shift and shirk by his wits; do thou live by thy faith.
2. Faith teaches the soul that the creature’s com­fort and content comes not from abundance but God’s blessing.And to gain the world by a sin is not the road that leads to God’s blessing.  ‘A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent,’ Prov. 28:20.  ‘Shouldst thou,’ saith faith, ‘heap up the world's goods in an evil way, thou art never the nearer to the content thou ex­pectest.’  It is hard to steal one's meat and then crave a blessing on it at God’s hands.  What thou gettest by sin Satan cannot give thee quiet possession of, nor discharge those suits which God will surely com­mence against thee.
3. Faith advanceth the soul to higher projects than to seek the things of this life.It discover a world beyond the moon—and there lies faith’s merchandise —leaving the colliers of this world to load themselves with clay and coals, while it trades for grace and glory.  Faith fetcheth its riches from on far.  Saul did not more willingly leave seeking his father’s asses when he heard of a kingdom, than the believing soul leaves proling for the earth now it hears of Christ and heaven, Ps. 39:6, 7.  We find, ver. 6, holy David brand­ing the men of the world for folly, that they troubled themselves so much for naught: ‘Surely,’ saith he, ‘they are disquieted in vain; he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.’  And, ver. 7, we have him with a holy disdain turning his back upon the world as not worth his pains: ‘And now, Lord, what wait I for?’  As if he had said, Is this the portion I could be content to sit down with?—to sit upon a greater heap of riches than my neighbour hath?  ‘My hope is in thee; deliver me from all my transgressions,’ ver. 8.  Every one as they like.  Let them that love the world take the world; but, Lord, pay not my portion in gold or silver, but in pardon of sin.  This I wait for.  Abraham, he by faith had so low an esteem of this world's treasure that he left his own country to live here a stranger, in hope of ‘a better,’ Heb. 11:16.

           Third Dart of pleasing temptations.  ‘The pride of life.’  There is an itch of pride in man’s heart after the gaudy honours of the world; and this itch of man’s proud flesh the devil labours to scratch and ir­ritate by suitable proffers.  And when the temptation without and lust within meet, then it works to pur­pose.  Balaam loved the way that led to court; and therefore spurs on his conscience—that boggled more than the ass he rode on—till the blood came.  The Jews when convinced of Christ’s person and doctrine, yet were such slaves to their honour and credit, that they part with Christ rather than hazard that.  ‘For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God,’ John 12:43.  Now faith quenches this temptation, and, with a holy scorn, disdains that all the prefer­ment the world hath to heap on him should be a bribe for the least sin.  ‘By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,’ Heb. 11:24, though by this adoption he might have been heir, for aught we know, of the crown; yet this he threw at his heels.  It is not said, ‘he did not seek to be the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,’ though that would have sounded a high commenda­tion, having so fair an opportunity.  Some would not have scrupled a little court flattery, thereby to have cologued From Webster’s.         — SDB themselves into further favour—having so fair a stock in the king's heart to set up with.  But, it is said that he ‘refused to be called’ by this name. Honour came trouling in upon him, as water at a flowing tide.  Now, to stand against this flood of pre­ferment, and no breach made in his heart to entertain it—this was admirable indeed.  Nay, he did not refuse this preferment for any principality that he hoped for elsewhere.  He forsook not one court to go to another, but to join with a beggarly reproached peo­ple.  Yea, by rejecting their favour he incurred the wrath of the king.  Yet faith carried him through all those heights and depths of favour and disgrace, honour and dishonour; and truly, wherever this grace is—allowing for its strength and weakness—it will do the like.  We find, Heb. 11:33, how Samuel and the prophets ‘through faith subdued kingdoms.’  This, sure, is not only meant of the conquest of the sword —though some of them performed honourable achievements that way—but also by despising the honour and preferments of them.  This indeed many of the prophets are famous for; and in particular Samuel, who, at God's command, gave away a king­dom from his own house and family by anointing Saul, though himself at present had possession of the chief's magistrate’s chair.  And others, ver. 37, we read, ‘were tempted;’ that is, when ready to suffer, were offered great preferments if they would bend to the times by receding a little from the bold profession of their faith; but they chose rather the flames of martyr­dom than the favour of princes on those terms.  But, more particularly to show you how faith quenches this temptation.