[2.] Do not embroil yourselves in the cares of this world. God is called a stranger and a wayfaring man when he seems not to administer to the wants and necessities of his people : Jer. xiv. 8, ' Why shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night ? ' Do not entangle yourselves in worldly pur- suits and practices ; your abode is here but for a time, and you know not how soon you may be called hence : 1 Cor. vii. 29-31, ' The time is short : it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none, and they that weep as though they wept not, and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they possessed not, and they that use this world as not abusing it ; for the fashion of this world passeth away.' Use the world as if you used it not. You do not stay but lodge here, therefore use the things of the world as passengers do things in an inn ; they use them as being willing and ready to leave them the next morning. Who would trouble himself to hang his room in an inn for a night ? We are strangers, and our days are but as a shadow, and to-morrow we must
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258 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. XLII.
be gone ; and therefore, though we may follow our callings with cheer- fnlness and diligence, yet we should not make Avorldly gain our business. You make the world your home when the heart is filled with sins and the head with cares, and all to grow great, and shine in pomp and pleasure. A pilgrim doth not make purchases in a foreign country, but he is contented with a viaticum, so much as will serve him in his journey ; but when men join field to field as if they would shine alone, it is a sign they make this their home. Follow your calHngs, and be content with God's allowance, — it is enough to make your journey comfortable, — and let not these things take up your heart as if here were your rest ; use them as an instrument of piety and charity, as a help to a better life ; delight in them only as a help to the journey, then they will not prove a hindrance. We cannot get out of the world when we please, we are tenants at will to God, l)ut let us get the world out of us : and so shall we do if we use it as if we used it not, when we do not make the world our end, our rest, our main work, but only mind it in a subordination to a better life. .When we make it our end by an irregular aim, our work by an intemperate use, our rest by an immoderate delight, we are at home ; God may keep heaven to himself for us. God in mercy appoints us callings to busy our minds as a fit <liversion after worship ; — sins settle in us by idleness, as wheat grows musty in the garner if it be not turned and stirred ; — and as a means of our su])port and usefulness : Eph. iv. 28, ' Let liim that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.' But if we labour in them with other ends, we seek not another country, even heaven, and are contented with our pilgrimage.
[3.] Mind home more. We should always be winding up our afi"ections, as those that keep clocks ; the weiglits run down of their own accord, but we wind them up morning and evening: Ps. xxv. 1, ^ Unto thee, 0 Lord, do I lift up my soul.' Some there are who may despise the profits of this world, but they are not heavenly ; they lose something, but they find notliing in the room of it. If we are pilgrims, we should seek a city that is to come : Heb. xiii. 14, ' For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come ; ' that is, in our desires, thoughts, endeavours, and groans after it : Ps. cxx. 5, ' Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesecli, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.' Daily desires and groans are the saint's harbingers, which are sent into heaven before us ; and by this means we tell God that we would be at home. Therefore you should be ever setting of your minds this way ; some time should be redeemed for this purpose every day, that we may stir up our affections and serious thoughts to converse with God. We have no help else against the snares of the world ; it is an infectious air, and we had need take cordials and antidotes : 2 Peter i. 4, ' Where- by are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.' This refresheth the divine nature in us, and keepeth our hopes alive. There are a great many temptations in the world through lust, and it is needful, as well as sweet and pleasant, to have our thoughts upon heaven.