288 sermons upon psalm cxix. [Ser. CLXXXVIII.
4. The state and condition of the present world; it is called, Gal. i. 4, ' The present world.' The pleasures of it are mere dreams and shadows, and the evils of it are many and real. God's children are pilgrims here, and hardly get leave to pass through ; as Israel could not get leave to pass through Edom. Sometimes they meet with such bitter and grievous persecutions, which make them weary of their lives ; as Elijah requested for himself that he might die, 1 Kings ix. 4, or as the spirits of the Israelites were filled with anguish because of their hard taskmasters. God will give his people rest hereafter, but before the rest cometh they are sorely troubled : 1 Thes. i. 6, 7, ' And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that ye were en- samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.' Nay, the company that we go with to heaven are apt to fall out by the way, and to deal perversely one with another, unministering, unchurching, unchristianing one another, impaling, enclosing the common salvation, and jostling one another out of the way to heaven ; so that the church, which should be terrible like an army with banners, marching to heaven in order in one whole body, is like an army in rout, and most are forced to get home in straggling parties. Now every tender soul should long for God's salvation, to get up to that council of souls who with perfect harmony are lauding and praising God for evermore, Heb. xii. 23.
Use 1. To reprove them that are loath to leave this woful life, and do not long and prepare for a better. God driveth us out of the world, as he did Lot out of Sodom, yet we are loath to depart ; as if it were better to be miserable, apart from God and Christ, than happy with them. Surely they are far from the spirit of true Christians who would live always here, at home in the world, and cannot endure to think of a remove. There are two causes of this — (1.) An unmor- tified heart ; (2.) An unsettled conscience.
1. An unmortified heart ; they are not yet weaned from the world, their hearts are set upon satisfying the vile lusts of the body ; carry it as if their portion lay in this world, Ps. xvii. 14 ; sucking yet upon the world's dug ; they have no longing nor desire for that happiness and glory which God hath provided for them that love him ; they desire no other portion than what they have in hand.
2. And the other cause is an unsettled conscience. Some fear the state of the other world rather than desire it and long for it. There are two degrees — not knowing for certain it shall go well with us, and not knowing for certain but that it shall go ill with us ; both sup- press this desire, especially the latter.
Use 2. To rouse up our languid and cold affections, that they may more earnestly be carried out after heavenly things ; that we may seek after them with more fervency, and constancy, and self-denial.
The motives to press us are these : —
1. God giveth heaven to none but to those that look and long for it. Men may go to hell against their wills, but none go to heaven against their wills. In a punishment there is a force offered to us, but not in a reward. We suffer what we would not, as Christ saith to Peter, ' Another shall gird thee, and cany thee whither thou wouldst not,'
VER. 174.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CX1X. 289
John xxi. 18. But happiness must be embraced, pursued, and sought after. Well, then, let the concernments of the other world more take up our hearts and minds, and stand as at heaven's gate, expecting when God will open the door and call you in : Christ will appear to them that look for him, Heb. ix. 28.
2. The children of God long to see God in his ordinances: Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of God all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple;' and Ps. xlii. 2, 4 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : when shall I come and appear before God ? ' Ps. lxiii. 1, 2, '0 God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.' Now if there be so great and longing a desire to see the glory of the Lord in a glass, wherein so little of his glory is seen, with any comfort and satisfaction, how much more to see him immediately face to face ! If a glimpse be so comfortable, what will the immediate vision of God then be ? Surely if this be salvation, every one of us should long for this sal- vation.