[3.] It maketh us upright and sincere ; looking asquint on secular rewards is the cause of all our declinings : Mat. vi. 2, [xiadov a-nk-yovai,
352 AX EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, \YeR. 21.
' they have their reward.' i Hired servants do not look for the inheri- tance, and therefore must have pay in hand ; if they may have the world and live in honour and pleasure, they will discharge God from all other promises. A sincere man maketh God his pa}Tnaster, and that chiefly in the other world, Col. iii. 24 ; we have a master good enough in him, we need not look for pay elsewhere.
[4.] It supporteth us under those difficulties and afflictions which are wont to befall us in a course of godhness. We can counterbalance what we feel with what we expect ; we feel nothing but trouble, and that which we expect is life and glory, Rom. viii. 18, 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18. In this respect hope is called an ' anchor,' Heb. vi. 19. In the stormy gusts of temptation it stayeth the soul, ' which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entereth into that which is within the veil.' It is a weighty anchor, that will not bow or break ; and the ground is good ; it ' entereth into that within the veil,' and therefore, though tempests arise, it will keep us from floating and dash- ing against the rocks. Again it is called a helmet : Eph. vi. 17, ' The helmet of salvation ;' so 1 Thes, v. 8. The helmet is lor the head in conflicts. As long as we can lift up our heads and look to heaven, we are safe.
[5.] It helpeth us to resist temptations. Sin maketh many pro- mises, and prevaileth by carnal hope. Balaam was enticed by pro- mises to curse God's people. Babylon's fornications are presented in a golden cup. Men are corrupted with promises of preferment and greatness and present accommodations. Now hope sets promise against promise, heaven against earth, ' pleasures at God's right hand ' against carnal delights and ' taking our fill of loves ; ' as one nail driveth out another, so doth hope defeat the promises of the world by propounding the promises of God.
Let us now apply this : —
Use 1. It informeth us that we may look for the reward without sin. Those men would be wiser than God that deny us a liberty to make use of the Sphit's motives, they begrudge God's bounty. To what end should the Lord propound rewards, but that we should close with them by faith ? Graces may be exercised about their j^roper objects without sin ; it requireth some faith to aim at ' things not seen ; ' the world is drowned in sense and j)resent satisfactions. They are merce- naries that must have pay in hand ; their souls droop and languish if they do not meet with credit, applause, and profit ; they make man their paymaster. They have the spirit of a servant that prefer present wages before the inheritance ; but to do all upon the encouragements of ' the mercy of Jesus Christ unto eternal life ' argueth grace. It was a relief to the soul of Christ to think of the reward, Heb. xii. 2. Christ, as man, was to have rational comforts and human encouragements. That is sinful indeed when we would have the reward but neglect the work ; when we would be merrcenaii but not operarii, we sever the reward from the duty, and, like Ephraim, are ' wflling to tread the corn,' but ' not break the clods,' Hosea x. 11. Again, we look amiss upon the reward when we have a carnal notion of heaven ; as some Jews looked for a carnal Messiah, so do some Christians for a carnal
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heaven, for base pleasure and fleshly delights, for a Turkish paradise. Such kind of hopes debase the heart ; or else when we look for it as merited by us, as if we could challenge it by our works, then we are mercenaiies indeed ; it is here ' looking for the mercy of Jesus Christ,' &c.
Again, our own happiness must not be our last end. There is a personal happiness that results to us from the enjoyment of God. Now, the glory of God must be preferred before it.
Use 2, If you would persevere in the love of God and a good frame of heart, revive your hopes, and set the soul a-looking and a-longing for eternal life. If we ' keep the rejoicing of our hope firm to the end,' then we are safe, Heb. iii. 6. Courtiers are more polite in their man- ners than ordinary subjects, because they are more in their prince's eye and company. The oftener we are in God"s court the more holy. Well, then, be as much as you can in actual expectation of this blessedness. To this end —
1. Believe it. Tiiere is a mist upon eternity to a carnal heart. They are led by sense and reason, and believe no more than is evident to a natural principle ; but now ' faith is the evidence of things not seen,' Heb. xi. 1. Fancy and nature cannot outsee time, and look be- yond death. Faith holdeth the candle to hope, and then we have a prospect into the other world, and can see a happy estate to come.