(7.) A stranger that hath a journey to go would pass over it as soon as he can ; and so we, who have a journey to heaven desire to be dis- solved : Phil. i. 23, ' Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better.' It is the joy of their souls to think to be at home with Christ.
(8.) A stranger buyeth not such things as he cannot carry with him ; he doth not buy trees, house, household stuff, but jewels and pearls, and such things as are portable. So such things as we can carry with us to heaven should take up our time and care. Piety and godliness outlives the grave ; our wealth doth not follow us but our works follow us ; and therefore our great care should be to get the jewels of the covenant, the graces of God's Spirit, those things that will abide with us.
(9.) A stranger's heart is in his country ; so is a saint's : Phil. iii. 20, TO iroXiTei'/xa rj/icbv — ' Our conversation is in heaven ; ' these are his thoughts, thither he is drawing home his trade; so is a christian drawing his heart heavenward : heaven is his home, this life is but the Avay. But now when men lavish out their respects by wholesale upon
256 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. XLIT.
the world, and can scarce retail a thought on heaven, they are not l^assengers but inhabitants ; here the)' are at home.
(10.) A stranger is inquisitive after the way, fearing lest he should go amiss ; so is a christian : Ps. cxix. 19, ' I am a stranger in the earth, hide not thy commandments from me.' We need direction in a strange place ; there are so many byways in the world that we may soon mis- carry, and be led by our own lusts, or the suggestions of others, into such ways and practices as God doth not allow.
(11.) A stranger provides for his return, as a merchant that he may return richly laden. When you send a child for breeding beyond the seas, he taketh care that when he returns he may return as a man accomplished, so as to please his father. So we must appear before God in Sion ; what manner of persons ought we to be ? Let us return from our travel well provided.
[2.] It carryeth some resemblance with Israel's travelling in the wilderness, when they came out of Egypt to go into the land of Canaan. They were brought out of Egypt, and we are taken out of the power of darkness : Col. i. 13, ' Who hath delivered us from the power of dark- ness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.' They had the law given them in the wilderness, and God's word is our light during our pilgrimage : Ps. cxix. 105, ' Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.' They were fed with manna from heaven, and we have Christ, who is hidden manna, the bread that came down from heaven : John vi. 31, 32, 'Our fathers did eat manna, in the wilderness, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.' They were guided by the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, which never forsook them till they came to Canaan, and we are under God's providence and fatherly care : Ps. Ixxiii. 24, ' Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory.' In the wilderness they were troubled with fiery serpents as we are with fleshly lusts : 1 Peter ii. 11, ' Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, that war against your souls.' Then Amalek rose up against them, and smote their rear, and we have our i)ersecutors and oppressors in the world : 2 Tim. iii. 12, ' Yea and all that Avill live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.' The clusters of grapes and excellent fruits of Canaan were brought to them in the wilderness, and we have the first-fruits of the Spirit : Kom. viii. 23, ' And not only they, but oui-- selves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even Ave ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.' We have the beginnings of heaven during our pilgrim- age, grace, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Ghost ; these fruits are brought as a taste of the goodness of the land, and as a pledge of their interest in it. By the cluster of grapes God gave them livery and seizin of Canaan , so by the first-fruits of the Spirit we have a taste and earnest of the heavenly state. Moses brought them to the borders of Canaan, but Joshua led them into the land, as Jesus leadeth us into heaven. Good works are the way, but not the cause of entrance.
2. What are the inferences of duty that may be drawn hence.
Vers. 9, 10.] sermons upon Hebrews xi. 257
[1.] We learn to mortify fleshly lusts, because these weaken our desires of heaven, and hinder us in our journey. This is the apostle's inference : 1 Peter ii. 11, ' Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.' If we were not pilgrims bound for another world, it were more tolerable to gratify the senses, and to give contentment to every carnal desire ; but we are in a journey, and therefore should mortify fleshly lusts. Brutish affections are all for the present, and weaken our desires of things to come ; like the flesh-pots of Egypt, they make us forget heaven, and forget home. They distract the mind, and draw it another way, that it is cumbered with much serving ; as it was said of Martha, Luke X. 40, ' Martha was cumbered about much serving.' The soul must have some oblectation and delight ; love cannot remain idle. When the pipes leak, the course of the stream is diverted. And as they distract, so they load and clog the soul ; we feel no more weight than a bird under her feathers, but indeed they are the soul's load : Heb. xii. 1, ' Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.' Immoderate and carnal affections, like a weight, press the soul downward : 2 Tim. iii. 6, ' They lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.' Fishes feel no weight, though they swim ever so low in the waters ; heavy bodies are never heavy in their 2)roper places. A man that hath set up his rest here doth not feel lust to be a weight and load to him ; but to one that looketh towards heaven they are burdensome, as a clog to his soul, that depresseth him in all his heavenly flights and motions. And they do not only distract and clog, but they distemper the soul. The racers were dieted for the Isthmic games : 1 Cor. ix. 25, ' Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.' So saith the apostle, ' I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection,' ver. 27. Lusts put us quite out of temper for a heavenly journey. Therefore as strangers and pilgrims you must mortify fleshly lusts by prayer, watchfulness, beating down the body, cutting off the provisions of the flesh, and the like means.