2. When we believe it, let us look for it and long for it, and live in the hopeful expectation of this blessed time, when all these things shall be accomplished. Therefore, if we believe such a thing, we must long for it, and live in the hope of it : Titus ii. 13, ' Looking for the blessed hope.' Hope showeth itself —
(] .) Partly by frequent and serious thoughts and delightful medi- tations of the thing lioped for. Thoughts are the spies and messengers of hope ; it sendetli them into the land of promise, to bring the soul tidings thence. It is impossible a man can hope for anything but he will be thinking of it, for it is the nature of this affection to set the mind a-work, and to preoccupy and forestall the contentments we expect before they come by serious contemplations, and feast the soul with images and suppositions of things to come, as if they were already present. So should we demean ourselves as if the judgment were set, and the judge upon his white throne, and we heard him blessing and cursing, absolving and condemning. The heart will be where the treasure is. Mat. vi. 18. As if we saw Christ with his faithful ones about him. If a beggar were adopted to the succession of a crown, he would please himself in thinking of the happiness, honour, and pleasure of the kingly estate. If you did hope to be coheirs with Christ, or to inherit the kingdom prepared for you, you would think of it more than you do. Our musings discover the temper of our hearts. A carnal heart is always thinking of building barns, advancing the family liigher, our worldly increase : Luke xii. 18, " I will pull down my barns, and build bigger, and bestow my fruits.' And those in James iv. 13, ' To-morrow we will go to such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain.' It is usual with men to
54 SERMONS UPON MATTHEW XXV. [SeR. XXL
feed themselves with the pleasure of their hopes ; as young heirs spend upon their estate before the}^ possess it.
(2.) By hearty groans, sighs, and longings: Rom. viii. 23, *We groan in ourselves.' They have had a taste of the clusters of Canaan in private justification ; they can never be soon enough with Christ : when shall it once be ? They are still looking out, and the nearer to enjoyment the more impatient of the want : ' The earnest expectation of the creature,' Rom. viii. 19. Stretching out the head to see if they can spy a thing a great way off ; as Judges v., ' She looked through the lattice : why is his chariot so long a-coming ? ' They would have a fuller draught of consolation, more access to him, and communion with him.
(3.) By lively tastes and feelings. It is called a lively hope, 1 Peter i. 3 ; not a living hope only, but lively ; because it quickens the heart, and filleth it with a solid joy, Rom. v. 2; 1 Peter i. 8. Where we have such a fruition, the very looking and longing giveth us a taste.
3. This hope should put us upon serious diligence and earnest pursuit after this blessedness, 1 Peter i. 13. Partly as it purgeth the heart from lusts : 1 John iii. 3, ' He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself as Christ is pure.' These are the months of our purification, wherein we are made meet to be partakers of the saints in light ; we are a-preparing for heaven, as that is prepared for us, and it is a lively exi)ectation which produceth this. That puts us upon mortification and diligence in cleansing the soul, that we may be counted worthy to stand before the Son of God. Partly as it withdraweth our hearts from present things, and minding earthly things : ' But our conver- sation is in heaven,' Phil. iii. 18-21. A man that is always looking and longing for the world to come, the present world is nullified to him, and he hath a mean esteem of all secular interests and content- ments in comparison of those other which his soul looketh after ; as a man looking upon the sun cannot see an object less glorious. On the contrary, our overprizing secular contentments necessarily breedeth an undervaluing of matters heavenly ; and those that have so great a relish for the world and the delights of the flesh, they know not what eternal life meaneth. The Israelites longed for the flesh-pots of Egypt before they tasted the clusters of Canaan ; by faith Moses refused the honours and pleasures of Pharaoh's court. We cannot value real happiness till we are brought to contemn earthly happiness. Partly as it urgeth to care and diligence, and constancy in obedience. This is the spring that sets all the wheels a-going : Phil. iii. 13, ' I press towards the mark, because of the high prize of our. calling.' What is the reason christians are so earnest and serious ? There is an excellent glory set before them ; the race is not for trifles. We want vigour, and find such a tediousness in the Lord's work, because we do not think of the kingdom of heaven prepared for us, 2 Cor. viii. 8, 9 ; 1 Cor. xv. 53, 'We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord : wherefore we labour, that whether we are present or absent, we may be accepted of him.' If it be tedious to us to be at work for God, this tediousness will not consist with the cheerful remembrance of that great blessedness which