7. By this you may judge of the state of your souls, whether you have grace or not, by your earnest pursuit after the heavenly kingdom. Grace infuseth a spirit of activi- ty into a person ; grace doth not lie dormant in the soul ; it is not a sleepy habit, but it makes a Christian like a seraphim, swift and winged in his heavenly motion ; grace is like a fire, it makes one burn in love to God ; and, the more he loves him, the more he presseth forward to heaven, where he may fully enjoy him. Hope is an active grace, it is called " a lively hope," 1 Pet. i. 3. Hope is like the spring in the watch, it sets all the wheels of the soul a running ; hope of a crop makes the husbandman sow his seed ; hope of victory makes the soldier fight ; and a true hope of glory makes a Christian vigorously pursue glorv. Here is a spiritual touch-stone to try our grace by : if we have the anointing of the Spirit, it will oil the wheels of our endeavour, and make us lively in our pursuit after the hea- venly kingdom. No sooner had Paul grace infused, but presently, " Behold, he })rays," Acts ix. 11. The affections are by divines called " the feet of the soul :" if these feet move not towards heaven, it is because there is no life.
8. Your labour for heaAen is not lost ; perhaps you may think it is Aain that you have served God ; but know that your pains are not lost. The seed is cast into the earth, and it dies, yet at last it brings forth a plen- tiful cro]) : so your labours seem to be fruit- less, but at last they bring you to a king- dom. Who would not work hard for one hour, when, for that hour's work, he should, be a king as long as he lived ? And let me tell yon, the more labour you have put forth for the kingdom of heaven, the more degrees of glory }'ou shall have. As there are de^
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grces of torment in hell, Mat. xxili. 14., so of glory in heaven. " As one star differs from aiiotfier in ji^lory," so shall one saint, 1 Cor. XV. 41. Though every vessel of mer- cy shall be full, yet one vessel may liold more than another. Sueh as have done more work for (j«>(i, sliall have more glory in the heavenly kingdom. Could we hear the saints departed speaking to us from hea- ven, sure they would speak after this man- ner; were we to leave heaven a while and live on the earth again, we would do God a thousand times more service than ever we did ; we would pray with more life, act with more zeal ; for now we see, the more hath been our labour, the greater is our reward in heaven.
9. While we are labouring for the king-' dom, God will help us, Ezck. xxxvi. 27., " I will put ' my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.' " Tlie promise encourageth us, and God's Spirit enableth us. A master gives his servant work to do, but he cannot give him strength to work ; but God, as he cuts us out work, 60 he gives us strength, Ps. Ixxxvi. 16., *' Give thy strength unto thy servant." God not only gives us a crown when we have done running, but gives us legs to' run ; he gives exciting, assisting grace, — lex juhet, gratia juvat^ — the Spirit helping us in our work for heaven, makes it easy. If the load- stone draw the iron, it is not hard for the iron to move : if God's Spirit draw the heart, now it moves towards heaven with facility and alacrity.
10. The more pains we have taken for heaven, the sweeter heaven will be when we come there. As when an husbandman hath been grafting trees, or setting flowers in his garden, it is pleasant to review and look over his labours, so, when in heaven we shall remember our former zeal and ear- nestness for the kingdom, it will sweeten heaven, and add to the joy of it. For a Christian to think, such a day I spent in examining my heart, — such a day I was weeping for sin, — when others were at their sport, I was at prayer, and now, have 1 lost any thing by my devotion ? My tears are wiped away, and the Avine of j)a- radise clieers my heart ; I now enjoy him whom my soul loves ; I am possessed of a
kingdom ; my labour is over, but my joy remains.
11. If you do not take pains for the king- dom of heaven now, there will be nothing to be done for your souls after death ; this is the only fit season for working, and if this season be lost, the kingdom is forfeited, Eccles. ix. 10., " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest." It was a saying of Charles V., " I have spent my trea- sure, but that I may recover again ; I have lost my health, but that I may have again ; but I have lost a great many brave soldiers, but them I can never have again." So other temporal blessings may be lost and recover- ed again ; but if the term of life, wherein you should work for heaven, be once lost, it is past all recovery, you can never have another season again for your souls.