6. You may try your assent to the promises by the adventures you make upon God's word. The promises are so many bills and bonds which God hath taken upon himself. Now what will you venture upon the warrant and encouragement the word gives ? Certainly he that will venture nothing thereupon doth not believe what God hath said, ' Whoso shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man confess before the angels of God ; but, he that denieth me before men, I will deny him before my Father, and before his holy angels,' Luke xii. 8, 9. Can you adventure upon Christ's word to confess him, though you should deny your present interest? so Luke ix. 24, ' Wliosoever shall save his lite shall lose it ; but whosoever will lose his
VeR. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XT. 367
life for mj sake, tlie same shall find it.' Now urge tlie soul with this promise, Can I be willing to fall a sacrifice upon the interest of religion upon such a hope, or quit temporal conveniences for the enduring substance ? Now lest your heart should deceive you, because every one is not called to suffer, and resolution in cold blood may faint when they come to trial, therefore look to such things as are of present use and experience. Practise upon that promise ; Luke xii. 33, ' Sell all that you have, and give alms : provide yourselves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens which faileth not.' Now say, What have I ventured upon this promise ? can I look upon no estate so sure as that which is trusted in Christ's hands ? Do I indeed count this the best way to entail a blessing upon me and my children and family afterwards, not to purchase house to house, and field to field, but to found a covenant interest, and lay up a treasure for tliem in Christ's hands, by a large, liberal, and free distribution to the poor? But if this seems hard though it be a clear precejjt in the gospel, and everywhere we are called upon to lend unto the Lord, what lusts can you renounce upon the security of eternal life ? Practise upon that promise : Kom. viii. 13, ' If we live after the flesh, we shall die ; but if we througli the Spirit mortify the deeds of tlie body, we shall live.' Now am I willing to undergo the severities and tedious hardships of a christian life? to be much in mortifying and subduing my flesh ? Can I yield to this upon these hopes ? do I look upon it as better to take pains than suffei- pains, to be held with cords of duty than chains of darkness, and run the hazard of being separated for ever from the presence of the Lord ? Certainly, when you can neither renounce lusts nor quit interest, nor make any spiritual adventures, you do but look upon the gospel as a fable. What have we ventured upon those bonds God hath given us, and those obligations he hath taken upon himself, that he will bless us if we will yield to these and these conditions ? All promises imply some duty ; it is improbable we should believe them if we will under- go no hazard for them.
7. You may know whether you have this faith, which evidenceth things to come, and find out the weakness or strength of it by observing the great disproportion that is in your affections to things of sense, and things of faith. It is true, a christian is not all spirit, and therefore sensible things work more with the present state of men than things spiritual. But yet certainly in a child of God, one that believes, that hath the evidence of things not seen, there will be some suitableness. We are diverted from looking after things to come as long as we have carnal comforts to stop the mouth of conscience. But did we soundly believe the truth and worth of the great mysteries of salvation, surely we would learn more to despise temporal tilings in comparison of eternal. Therefore examine a little the affections and dis- positions of your souls as to things present and things to come, temporal things and eternal. Examine a carnal man by his esteem ; he is sensible of the sweetness of outward comforts, but hath no taste and savour of things that are to come. The former insinuate themselves nto his heart with a great deal of satisfaction ; he is moved and affected with them — ' Who will show us any good ? ' Ps. iv. 6. Carnal pleasures tickle him with a great deal of delight, but he hath no taste of communion with
368 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XF. [SeR. V.