4. The three theological graces imply it, — faith, hope, and love ; therefore we must seek and earnestly desire it. These graces, 1 Cor. xiii. 13, ' Faith, hope, and charity ;' and 1 Thes. v. 8.
[1.] Faith. They that believe that there is another sort of life inhnitely more desirable than that which we now enjoy, will find their affections stirred towards it, for sound persuasion showeth itself in answerable affections, Heb. xi. 13. If we did believe that •when this earthly clay-house is dissolved there were a building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, we would groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with that house. For a christian, while out of heaven, is out of his proper place. ' Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God ' are joined together, 2 Peter iii. 12. The one word implieth faith, and the other desire ; surely men do not believe eternal blessedness, who are coldly affected towards it. For an estate so blessed, if it were soundly believed, it would be earnestly desired.
[2.] Love. They that love Christ will long to be with him : Phil. i. 23, ' I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ,' &c. That Christ is there is the great motive to draw our hearts thither : Col. iii. 1, ' If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.' Love desireth the nearest union with the party loved. Is Jesus Christ the beloved of our souls ? Are we espoused to him as to one husband ? 2 Cor. xi. 2. Do we desire to meet him, and dehght in his presence in his ordinances here ? Surely then we would desire to be with him hereafter ; for love doth always desire the nearest conjunction, the fullest fruition, and the
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closest communion. The absence of our best friend would be troublesome to us, therefore we would groan, and desire earnestly to be there where he is, to behold his glory. How can we love him, when we are so contentedly pleased to be long from him ?
[3.] Hope. That is a desirous expectation, made up of looking and longing, and showing itself in hearty groans after, as well as delightful foretastes of, the blessedness expected. AVhat you hope for will be all your desire. This estate is a good absent, possible, but diffi- cult to be obtained ; as it is good, it is the object of love ; as absent and future, of desire ; as possible, we look for it as desirable, we groan after it. Well, therefore, hope hath a great influence upon these affectionate breathings after heaven and happiness, when joined with earnest expectation, Phil. i. 20.
5. The Holy Ghost stirreth up in us these groans, or a fervent desire, partly by revealing the object in such a lively manner as it can- not otherwise be seen, Eph. i. 17, 18 ; 1 Cor. ii. 22. Partly by his secret influences, as he stirreth up holy ardours in prayer, Eom. viii. 25, 26. Unutterable groans after happiness. He that imprinteth the firm persuasion doth also imprint the desires of these things in our hearts.
6. All the ordinances of the gospel serve to awaken these desires and longings in us, and to raise up our affections towards heavenly things. The word is our charter for heaven, or God's testament, wherein such rich legacies are bequeathed to us, that every time we read it, or hear it, or meditate upon it, we may get a step higher, and advance nearer heaven. The promises of the word tend to this, 2 Peter V. 4 ; so do the precepts, to put us in the way everlasting, Ps. cxix. 96. All God's commandments have an eternal influence. So for prayer, in company or alone, it is but to raise and act those heavenly desires. There we groan and long in the Lord's Supper for new wine in our Father's kingdom, to put an heavenly relish upon our hearts. All is done in formality and with hypocrisy, if it doth not promote these ends.
7. These desires are necessary, because of their effect. If we do not desire, we will not labour and suffer trouble and reproach and per- secution. What maketh the christian so industrious, so patient, so self-denying, so watchful ? Only because he breatheth after heaven with so much earnestness. Desires are the vigorous bent of the soul, that bear us out in all difficulties. The soul leaneth that way, its desires carry it. If they be weak and feeble, they are controlled with .every lust, abated u})on every difficulty ; the desire of the other world beareth us out in the midst of the temptations of this world ; other- wise a man is soon put out of the humour, brought under the power of present things. Whatever it is that gets your heart, that will command you. Foolish and hurtful lusts drown and sink you into a base spirit, 1 Tim. vi. 9, that all the counsel that can be used will not reclaim you. But if you be groaning and longing for and desiring the happiness of another world, you have a victory over temptations, you have overcome the world, for you regard it then only as your passage ; you cannot settle here.