Here, that you may be possessed of the true spirit of Christianity —
1. I shall a little open the nature of our esteem of Christ.
2. I shall show why Christ must be thus esteemed, that the worst things that can happen in our case should be more to us than the best things of the world.
First, How Christ must be esteemed ; not only speculatively, but practically.
1. Speculatively. A man may be easily persuaded that God is the chiefest good, that his favour is our only happiness, and the fruition of him our ultimate blessedness, that there is no enjoyment of him but by Christ, and that upon this account Christ should be dear and precious to us. A man may be easily persuaded of all this, but all that see the truth do not presently embrace it, and carry themselves accordingly. We often approve in our judgments those things which we do not follow in our practice : Rom. ii. 18, ' Thou knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent ; ' and yet they had no mind to embrace them, for he tells us there, they had but /x6p(f)coaiv Ti]<i
464 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. LXI
yvcoaeo)^, a cold form of knowledge. A man is not constituted good by liis opinions, but by his affections. The opinions of many carnal men are right, but their affections incUne them to other things ; and therefore this is not enough to have a speculative esteem or a bare approbation. 2. Practically.
[1.] God must be owned as our felicity, not only by the esteem of our judgments, but the choice of our wills, and a thorough resolution to seek him above all as our only hope and happiness. Therefore it is not enough to think that surely this is a truth that the favour of God is better than life, that all the v.'orld cannot countervail the loss of it ; but we must resolve so to live that we may seek after the favour of God in Christ whatever it cost us, and determine with ourselves, and bind it upon our hearts : Ps. Ixxiii. 28, ' It is good for me to draw near to God.' This must be my care and my business, or I am imdone for ever. We must choose the better part as well as approve of it. Mary is commended for that ; Luke x. 42, ' Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.'
[2.] Not only must this esteem be seen in our resolution, or in the choice of our wills, but in our practice, and the constant and uniform business of our lives and actions ; we must show that we prefer Christ above other things. Our esteem must be verified and made good in two cases : in actual trials, and in the constant course of our lives.
(1 .) In actual trials, when we are put to the proof of it, which we esteem most. We must be prepared to lose all for Christ ; that is common to all christians, to be martyrs in preparation of heart ; but when we are actually called thereunto, we must not shift and wriggle, and distinguish ourselves out of our duty, but plainly let go all rather than be unfaithful to Christ. Paul, in that place quoted but now, Phil. iii. 8, he doth not only say, rjyovfjiat irdvTa ^v/xiav, ' I count all but loss,' but ra nravra i^7]/jbi,co6r]v, ' I have suffered the loss of all things.' He proves the sincerity of his purpose and esteem by his actual self-denial. He had lost the favour of his friends,_his honour in his country, and all things which might be dear to him in the flesh, that he might become a christian. He did not only account all things nothing worth, and to be despised for Christ, and profess that he should take it contentedly if he were stripped of all for his sake— such expressions might seem only brags when temptation is at a distance ; no, but he really suffered the loss of all, and was hungry, naked, scourged, imprisoned, and went often in danger of life, and at length, actually laid it down ; he quitted his honour and credit with his countrymen, and great acquaintance among the Pharisees, who before had a high esteem of him. So Moses here actually refused the plea- sures, honours, and profits of the world — the honours which so many greedily catch at, and the pleasiu'es which secretly enchant the hejirts of men, and entice them from God, and cause them to neglect God and forget their souls ; and the tieasures of the earth, which worldly men so much affect, were no other but trash and dung to him, com- pared with the reproach of Christ. Thus must all do when God comes to try us ; not only make liberal offers to God, when we hope
VeR. 26.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 465
he will not take us at our word, or because there is no visible danger, or probability that our resignation will cost us anything, as men will make a liberal offer to a friend to do him a courtesy when they think he will not take it ; no, but we must carry all our temporal felicity in our hands, as ready to give it up whenever God demands it ; when the Lord in his providence calls us to disgraceful sufferings, we must willingly undergo them.