II. The motive, ' And thou shalt have treasure in heaven.' Thou shalt not part with thy goods, so much as change them for those that are incomparably better.
1. Tliere is a reward for those that are faithful to the laws of Christ, and Avilliug to lay out their estates for him ; it is not cast away, but well bestowed ; they sow their seed here, they shall have their harvest hereafter. The poor cannot recompense thee, and therefore God will : Luke xiv. 14, ' Thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, but thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.' A cup of cold water is a small thing, yet it shall not want its reward : Mat. X. 42, ' And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.'
2. This reward is propounded to encourage us. Christ not only instructs us by commands, but allures us by promises. There is a dis- pute whether we may look to the reward. I say not only we may, but we must ; the oftener we look to heaven, the better we shall forego present things.
8. Our reward in heaven is called ' treasure,' something that is not only answerable to what we quit for Christ, but it far exceeds it. It is called, Eph. i 18, ' The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.' We shall have true riches instead of transitory, which we cannot long keep, and eternal riches that will ever last. Our treasure in heaven is more precious and more certain : Mat. vi. 19, 20, ' Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal ; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth cor- rupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.'
4. This reward is not only in this life, but in the life to come. The worldling is ' rich in this world,' 1 Tim. vi. 17. The believer hath treasure in heaven. Let gentiles seek earthly things, that have not a right to heavenly. Bracelets of copper, glass beads, and little bells, and such like trifles are valued by rude barbarians, that are contemptible with us. The use and valuation of earthly things in the world to come ceaseth, it only holdeth on this side the grave ; and therefore the great
VOL. XVI. 2 H
482 SERMONS UPON MARK X. 17-27- [SeR. VII.
business of christians should be to make over their estates into heaven, that they might receive it by exchange there ; for though the use of it ceaseth on the other side of the grave, yet we may have the comfort of it for everlasting.
SEKMON VII.
And come, take U2^ the cross, cind folloio me. — Makk x. 21.
Secondly, Having done with the particular precept, I come to the general precept given to this young man, ' Come, take up the cross, and follow me.' The duty that is enjoined is double — the one an help to the other, and the one necessarily follows the other, ' Take up the cross, and follow me.' Whoever follows Christ must prepare his shoulders for the cross, for without taking up the cross we shall never follow Christ to any purpose. ' Take up the cross ; * it is an allusion to the punishments that were in use when Christ lived in the world ; the malefactors bore their own cross to the place of execution, and then they were nailed to it alive ; so let him reckon upon that, he must bear his cross. ' And follow me ; ' there is a twofold following of Christ — special and general.
1. Special, as those disciples that were his menial servants, of his own family, trained up for the ministry ; these did follow Christ up and down, because they were chosen witnesses, and were to be conscious and privy unto all his actions, that they might better give an account of them to the world : Acts i. 21, 22, ' Wherefore, of those which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.' And so ' follow me' is. Come, take lot and share with me, abide with me, be my disciple.
2. The phrase bears a more general sense : John xii. 26, ' If any man serve me, let him follow me ; ' and so to follow Christ is either to take his direction or imitate his example.
[1.] When we take his direction. We are said to follow Christ when we take him for our Lord and master, and live according to his holy doctrine. As they that have such a one for their master in any sect of philosophy are said to follow him, so they that take Christ for their teacher, as the great prophet of the church, herein they follow him : Mat. xvii. 5, ' Hear ye him.'