27. God hath hid in the earth, gold, silver, and precious stones, to teach us to tread under our feet the riches and pomps of the world. But he hath lifted up to the highest heaven, our spiritual treasures, and our immortal crowns, that we may place there our hearts, and most ardent affections. He would have us imitate the prophet David, who during his flight, and the cruel persecutions which he suffered, which had been promised to him, and of which he had received the unction from Samuel. He would have us behave like those true Israelites, who, when they were captives in Babylon, had always their hearts and affections in Jerusalem, and made it the only subject of their joy in the midst of all their sorrows, Psal. cxxxvii. Thus we, who are wandering up and down in this miserable wilderness, and who live in the world as in another Babylon, in a kind of captivity, ought to comfort ourselves, and rejoice in expectation of the heavenly kingdom, which hath been prepared for us from all eternity, and whereof the Holy Spirit is the true unction, which hath confirmed to us the promise, and given the earnest of it. The eye of our faith should be always fixed upon the Jerusalem above, which is the mother of us all, Gal. iv. 26, and the place of our eternal rest. To this the Apostle exhorts us in these divine words, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth: for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God, Col. iii. 1, 2, 3.

28. When men are going to reside in another country, where their money is not current, they furnish themselves betimes with bills of exchange, and find the means to receive it in other coin. Therefore, seeing that nei

ther gold, nor silver, nor precious stones will pass current in heaven, the place of our eternal abode, let us send thither betimes all our riches and treasures, as it were by way of bills of exchange; and that we may intrust them in safety, with the assurance of a notable gain, and a lawful usury, let us put them into the hands of God himself, who will restore them to us an hundred fold in his kingdom. Let us distribute them to the poo who are the members of Christ's mystical body, and this blessed Saviour will reward us as if they had been given to his own person. You that are in so much fear to lose your money, get such purses as will never decay, and make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations, Luke xvi. 9.

29. Lastly, as the children of Israel, when they had tasted of the land of Canaan, most ardently desired to enjoy such a noble and delicious country, and their abode in the wilderness became still more tedious and insupportable; so we, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, Rom. viii. 23; and the foretaste of paradise, must aspire with all our hearts to the heavenly Canaan, and sigh without ceasing, for its unspeakable delight. All the pleasures of the world should seem insipid to

us,

and its greatest sweets be turned into bitterness; so

that we may often pray with David, Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people : O visit me with thy salvation: That I may see the good of thy chosen, that Imay rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory in thine inheritance, Psal. cvi. 4, 5.

To conclude this discourse, since we have here no continuing city, but that we seek for one to come, Heb. xiii. 14; since we know not the hour when God will

please to take us out of the world, to introduce us into his holy Jerusalem, let us take heed to ourselves, lest at any time our hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day comes upon us unawares, Luke xxi. 34. And as the Apostles left their nets to follow Jesus Christ, Matth. iv; so let us leave the vain cares, the groundless fears, and the deceitful hopes, that entangle our souls, that when it shall please God to call us, we may be ready to answer his heavenly call. Let us accustom ourselves betimes to will what God willeth, and to obey him without reluctance. Let us cast all our cares upon God, 2 Pet. v. 7. and rely upon his wise and fatherly providence. Let us look with contempt upon the world, its vain pomps, and perishable riches; and esteem nothing upon the earth, nor aught that man is able to procure for us, in comparison of the blessed hope which we have in heaven, Tit. ii. 13; and the precious gift which God hath reserved for us, 2 Tim. ii. Let us prefer Job's dunghill and ashes to the proud throne and vast empire of Nebuchadnezzar. Let us esteem the beggary of poor Lazarus, more happy than the wanton abundance of the rich glutton; and let us engrave in our hearts this blessed saying of the Son of God, What is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? Luke ix. 25. Let us have always before our eyes the image of that rich worldling, who had heaped up many goods for himself, but was not rich in the sight of God. Let us remember what he said unto his soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, Luke xii. 19; and let what God said unto him sound always in our ears, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be requir

ed of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Instead of contriving how to enlarge our barns and granaries, and to increase our revenues and treasures, let us endeavour to set bounds to our desires, and be content with such things as we have, Heb. xiii. 5. Seeing we have but a breath in our nostrils, and that we are clothed with a mortal body, let us not entertain such distant designs, nor suffer our covetings to be immortal. Let us always, and in every place, be ready to put an end to our labours, and to lay the last stone on our building; or rather, let us be always in a disposition to loose the bands of this earthly tabernacle. Let us willingly break all the ties that attach us to this miserable world, that when death comes, it may have nothing to do but cut the last string, by which our soul is naturally united to this languishing body. Let our affections take root in heaven, that where our treasure is, our hearts may be there also, Matth. vi. 21. Let us not slumber with the foolish virgins, Matth. xxv; but having our loins girded about, and our lights burning, Luke xii. 35, let us be prepared at every moment, to go to meet our heavenly Spouse, and follow him into the marriage-chamber. Let us be like a ship at anchor, ready to sail with the first fair wind; or as a soldier, completely armed, that only waits for the day of battle, and holds himself always in readiness to mount his horse, that he may march into the field at the first sound of the trumpet. Let us send betimes all our most precious jewels into the most glorious palace of eternity, that our bag and baggage being already gone, we may have nothing to do but to take our last farewell. If any consideration of flesh and blood stops us, let us break asunder all these bands by the strength of Christ, the Cap

tain of our salvation, our Nazarenism; that is to say, by the virtue of God's Holy Spirit, which he hath been graciously pleased to vouchsafe us. And if the persons whom we love and cherish the most tenderly, or even those whom we esteem the most, or those to whom we owe the greatest reverence and honour, should labour to estrange our affections, and deliver us from our holy resolution, by mean and earthly considerations, let us say to them, in the words of our Saviour to Mary Magdalen, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, John xx. 17. Stop not my course, for I have already hold of the prize, the promised crown. In short, as the Father of the faithful loosed the ram, whose horns were caught in a thicket, and offered it up for a burnt-offering unto God, Gen. xxii; so let us free our minds from all worldly cares, and carnal affections; let us offer them up to God a burnt-offering of a sweet smelling savour, as an holy and living sacrifice, Rom. xii. 1; which burns in the ardent flames of zeal and charity, yet is never consumed.

When the Christian is thus prepared, he will not fear death, but will say to it with an assured counténance,-Come when thou wilt, O death, I desire no delay, for it is a long time since I have settled all my affairs, and have waited for thee with intrepidity. The principal part of myself is not here below; my heart is already ravished into heaven, where God expects me with open arms. Therefore, notwithstanding the fearful darkness that surrounds me, and the design that thou hast to destroy me, I will follow thee as courageously, and with as much joy, as St. Peter did the angel of light, that threw open before him the gates of his prison, Acts xii.