Secondly, To show the influence that faith has hereupon — •
1. It looks for better things that are to come, and so we can the bet- ter part with these things. It does exercise the mind about greater things, such as Christ's coming to judgment, and eternal glory and blessedness.
[1.] Faith makes the soul to reflect upon the day of Christ's coming ; it is very notable that this is one great principle of, and a great help to, self-denial, to reflect upon the great day, when all things shall be reviewed, and when it shall be clearly discerned what is glorious and what is base. Our Lord tells his discij)les. Mat. xvi. 24-27, ' If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.' What is that? It is to abridge ourselves of those conveniences that are grateful to the flesh. Now there are three things that we highly prize — life, wealth, and honour ; and Christ accordingly propounds three maxims of self-denial to suit this treble interest. Life, which makes us capable of the enjoy- ment of all other good things ; and as to this, our Lord tells us, ver.
25, ' Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.' Then for wealth he tells us. ver,
26, ' For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? ' Then for honour, ver. 27, ' For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels.' Why does he mention the glory of the Father ? You are dazzled with outward splendour, you stand upon honour and acceptation with men ; but the Son of man shall come in the glory of his leather, ' and then he will re- ward every man according to his works ; ' those that have confessed him before men, he will confess them before his Father in heaven. Oh, what honour will it then be to be one of Christ's train, when he comes in the glory of his Father, and all his mighty angels ! it will be greater honour than to have lived in the courts of princes. Christ, in the fulness of his glory, will acknowledge and own such before God and the world, and he shall then be admired in such, 2 Thes. i. 10. When David was crowned in Hebron, those six hundred despicable men which followed him were made captains of hundreds, and captains of thousands. So
VeR. 24.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 435
those that are not ashamed to make profession of his name, when he comes in the ,2;lory of his Fatlier, then they will have honour and glory enough. Now this is that which faith pitches upon, and so de- feats the present temptation.
[2.] Faith pitches upon the eternal fruition of God in heaven. God hath greater things for us than we can quit for his sake. What is worldly honour in comparison of that glory, honour, and immortality ■which Christ hath provided for us ? Worldly honour is a poor thing, it must he left on this side the grave ; and when you are laid in the dust, you will be no more in remembrance than others that have been before you, as to men. Here we are going to the grave, only some are going the higher' and some the lower walk, but there they all meet : Job iii. 19, ' The small and the great are there.' Within a little while small and great, master and servant, must meet in the grave, and the world will think as meanly of you as you have done of others. Within a little while the honourable and base will lie under the ground which all trample upon, but there will be an ever- lasting distinction between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean, between a believer and an unbeliever, between the carnal and the sanctified. It will not be a pin to choose within a little while, what part we have acted in the world, whether we have been rich or poor, high or low ; but much will lie upon this, whether we have kept a good conscience, whether we have been sincere with God, for they shall have ' a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,' 2 Cor. iv. 17. Well then, faith pitcheth upon this eternal glory, and com- pares it with this poor, vanisliing happiness which men enjoy here, that shine in the greatest glory. The most shining glory will be soon burnt out into a snufF ; and if it be not extinguished by a churly blast, it will at length consume of itself. JSTow these things are very great in themselves, the glory wherein Christ shall come, and the glory he will put upon his followers ; and if we could apprehend them by faith, they would mightily work upon us ; for though they be afar otf, faith makes things exist in our mind, as if we were possessed of them, and saw the Lord Christ in his glory, distributing glory to his followers. Therefore in the first verse, * Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.' The great reason why the glory of the world prevails with us is because it is present, and matter of sense. Now to counterbalance the temptation, faith looks upon these glorious things as sure and near, and so it works upon us. You must take in both, for though a thing be never so great and sure, yet if it be at a distance, it will not work. As a star in the heavens, though it be a vast globe of light that is bigger than this earth, yet it seems to us but a little spangle because of the distance. It is so with the mind as with the eye ; an evil at a dis- tance doth not work : Amos vi. 3, ' Ye put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to draw near.' And a good thing at a dis- tance doth not shine with such glory into the soul. But faith shows it is a thing will soon come about ; it will not be long ere all this pageantry of the world will be over and taken down, and the Lord Jesus will come in all his glory, to distribute honours and rewards to those that have been faithful to him.