Fifthly, Improve it to the vanquishing of temptations.
1. Those which arise from the delights of sense, or the pleasures, honours, and profits of the world. The proper notion of a christian is that of a stranger and pilgrim, and the duty of strangers and pilgrims
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450 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SeR. III.
is to ' abstain from fleshly lusts,' 1 Pet^r ii. 11. And the force and strength of it ariseth from our confidence in the promises, Heb. xi. 13. The great use of faith is to teach us to reject those sordid and be- witching pleasures which would withdraw us from looking after those pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore — those deceitful riches which would beguile us of the better and enduring substance, those slippery and vanishing honours which would bereave us of the glory from whence we shall never be degraded ; to beget a holy weanedness and moderation in us to all these things.
Use 2. To comfort and support us under all the afSictions and sor- rows of the present life, of what nature soever they be. (1.) Against all fears, Luke xii. 32. We must look for haixlships here in the world, but all will be made up when we get home to Grod ; therefore bear up with a generous confidence. (2.) When pained in sickness, and full of the restless weariness of the flesh, consider, I shall shortly be in heaven, and there everlastingly at ease: Ps. Ixxiii. 26, ' My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.' (3.) Against imprisonment. When shut up in a strait, nasty room, oh, what a comfort is it to consider I shall be with Christ ! ' In my Father's house are many mansions,' John xiv. 2. (4.) Against loss of fading riches : Heb. x. 34, ' That took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.' My solid estate lieth elsewhere, out of the reach of thieves and flames. (5.) Against loss of love and respect from men. If we shall everlastingly enjoy the love of God, nothing should trouble us, Rom. viii. 37, 38. Nay, at length we shall meet all the holy ones of God, Heb. xi. 13, and shall all join in concert there. There is no pride or envy to divide us, or to make us contemn one another ; but love and charity reigneth so that the good of every one is the good of all, and the good of all the good of every one. They all make up one body, and have one heart and one soul and one God, who is all in all. (6.) Against persecution: Mat. v. 11, 12, ' Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Eejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven ; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you;' and 1 Thes. i. 6, 7, ' Having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.' (7.) Against exile. When cast out of cities, towns, driven from house and home, consider. We shall abide with Christ for ever. (8.) Against death of friends, 1 Thes. iv. 14-18. He concludeth, ' Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.' They are not genuine comforts of Chris- tianity which are not fetched from the world to come. (9.) Against sin. It. is our trouble here, it must be mortified. . There it will be nullified ; our inheritance is incorruptible and undefiled, and fadeth not away, 1 Peter i. 4. Our carnality will be for ever gone, our temptations will be over ; there is no serpent in the upper paradise. (10.) Against spiritual wants. There all desires will be accomplished, our expectations fully satisfied, and the soul tilled up with all the ful- ness of God. And lastly. Against death, which is the last enemy. This Christ hath conquered, and will conquer for you : 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57, ' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law ; but
VeB. 2.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. 451
thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Death is yours : 1 Cor. iii. 22, ' All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours ; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.'
SERMON IV.
For in this ive groan, earnesUy desiring to be clothed upon loith out house which is from heaven. — 2 Cor. v. 2.
In the former verse the apostle had asserted his confidence of a blessed estate, both in his own name and the name of other believers. Now he speaketh of his readiness to enter into it, or his desire of getting out of this life, that he might enjoy this immortality and blessedness ; for in this ive groan. In this, iv tovtw, or in the meantime. In the words observe — •
1. The greatness of the affection here mentioned, expressed by the words o-Teya^ojuez/, tue groan ; by which he meaneth not the groans which come from sorrow, but from desire and hope. 2dly, The other word is iin-rroOovvre';, not desiring only, but earnestly desiring.