II. For the second branch, ' To lay hold upon the hope that is set
SERMONS UPON HEBllEWS VI. IS. 339
before us,' and you must repeat the word flying or running again. Here is another metaphor implied. The apostle having spoken of flj'ing, alludeth not only to the city of refuge, but to that speed and haste men make in a race to take hold of the prize ; for he speaks of laying hold of a hope set before them (the word Kparrjcrat signifies to seize upon it), and ver. 20, of a ' forerunner ' that is entered before us. 1. What is this hope ? Hope is put for the thing hoped for, heaven with all the glory thereof ; for it is a hope ' that lies within the veil,' ver. 19, or a hope ' laid up for us in heaven,' Col. i. 5. Mark the double end of him that cometh unto Christ, refuge and salvation ; for in Christ there is not only deliverance from pursuing wrath, but eternal life to be found ; first we fly from deserved wrath, then we take hold of undeserved glory. This is more easy of the two : Kom. v. 10, 11, ' For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son ; much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.' The greatest brunt is at first, because of the great fear upon us to fly from wrath ; then we encourage ourselves to take hold of eternal life. In the temporal refuges they had security, but not possessions, there was no heritage there ; but here we are not only secured against the avenger of blood, but we are called to great and glorious hopes. Our privileges in Christ are not only privative, but positive ; Cant, ii. 3, ' I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.' Christ is not only a shady tree, to aff"ord a cool and wholesome shade to shelter us from the scorchings of the sun, but a fruitful tree ; we are not only sheltered from wrath, but called to eat of the apples of paradise. In the covenant of grace God doth not only enter into a league with us, that he will not hurt us, but he openeth all his treasure to us. So Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, ' The Lord God is a sun and a shield.^ We are not only pardoned, hwi restored to favours and friendship. It is much to us to be delivered from the terrors of hell, but more to be made heirs of eternal life. The prodigal only looked for a pardon, Luke xv. 19, ' Make me as one of thy hired servants,' and the father bringeth forth the robe, the ring, and the fatted calf. Oh ! that we, that have deserved to be in the bottom of hell, should find a place in the heart and bosom of God ! Let us enlarge our expec- tations according to the extent of Christ's mercy. Here is pardon and glory ; heaven is more credible than pardon : Kom. v. 10, ' Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.' It is harder to get a guilty sinner pardoned than a pardoned sinner glorified. And let us answer the divine mercy, to be not only negative, but positive in our obedience. Many please themselves in an abstinence from gross sins, but do not care to maintain communion with God : Ps. i. 1, 2, ' Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful ; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night' They are not scorners, wicked enemies and drunkards, but there is no savour of religion upon their hearts. Do they delight in the law of the Lord ? Do they meditate on it, and make it their study ? To leave sin is but the first degree, there must be something more.
S40 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS YI. ]8.
2. Why is this hope said to he set hefore us ?
I answer —
[1.] To note the divine institution of this reward ; it is not devised hy ourselves, but appointed by God. The hypocrite's hope is compared to the spider's web, Job viii. 14, which is a poor slender thing, woven out of her own bowels, and it is gone by the fii-st turn of a besom ; so is the hypocrite's hope a fancy, a slender imagination, or a rash and unadvised confidence, which comes to nothing.
[2.] It is proposed and set before us for our encouragement. As it is said of Christ, Heb. xii. 2, ' For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, and despised the shame ; ' that is, for the joy that was propounded to him. Well, then, it is a real hope, and a hope offered to us, and laid before us.
[3,] What is it to run to take hold of the hope set before us ? Sometimes it implieth a challenging it as ours ; asl Tim. vi. 19, ' That they may lay hold on eternal life.' Here it signifies holding fast, never to let this hope go. It implieth diligence of pursuit, perseverance to the end, and all this upon christian encouragement.