2. The persons are not fit. Our souls are not yet purified enough to see God : Mat. v. 8, ' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God ; ' 1 John iii. 3, ' Every man that hath this hope, purifieth himself as he is pure.' Till sin be wholly done away, which will not be till death, we are not meet for his presence. When Christ will present us to God, he will present us faultless, Jude 25. Our bodies also are not fit till we have passed the gulf of death, and all of Adam be left buried in the grave. Old bottles cannot bear this new wine. A natural creature is not capable of the glorious presence of God, and cannot endure the splendour of it : Mat. xvii. 16, ' They fell on their faces, and were sore afraid.' Upon any manifestation of God the saints hid themselves, as Elijah wrapt his face in a mantle. Moses trembled exceedingly when God gave the law.
3. The time is not fit. We must be some time upon our trial before vol. xx. s
274 SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. [SeR. IX.
we enter upon our final estate. God governeth now not in a way of sense, but faith ; we are justified by faith, live by faith, walk by faith, not by sight. Now the state of faith requireth that God's manner of dispensation should neither be too sensible and clear, nor too obscure and dark. It is fit Christ should be admired now in the graces, but then only in the glory of his people : 1 Peter iv. 4, ' Wherein they think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speak- ing evil of you.' Eoom must be left for trial : James i. 12, ' Blessed is the man that endureth temptation ; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.' Kooni for faith and patience : Heb. vi. 12, ' That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.'
SEKMON IX.
When lie shall come to be glorified in his saints, &c. — 2 Thes. i. 10.
Use 1. To wean us from the vain glory of the world. Surely if there be such great glory provided for us, we should patiently suffer present ignominy and contempt. God's people here are usually a despised people, partly because they make such conscience of obeying an unseen God, and seem altogether to depend upon an unseen happiness, which, because it is future, and lieth in another world, we must shoot the gulf of death before we attain it. Now this seemeth folly to the carnal and sensual world : 1 Cor. ii. 14, ' The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned ; ' and 1 Peter iv. 4, * They think it strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot.' Partly because many times they are chastened and afflicted. Now an afflicted people are usually a despised people : Ps. cxxiii. 4, ' Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.' They that are proud, and live a life of pomp and ease, and have all things ^ flowing in upon them according to their own will, contemn and slight others, and take no notice of their burdens, unless it be to increase them ; they pour vinegar on the wounds which they should heal : Job xii. 5, ' He that is ready to slip with his foot is as a lamp despised in the thoughts of him that is at ease.' While we are burning lamps, shining in riches, and greatness, and power, and friendships, and interests in the world, we shall have enough to look after us ; but when a snuff is ready to go out, every one holds their nose at it. So it is with those that fall under the displeasure of the times. Partly because of the many reproaches whereby they are misrepresented to the world : Luke vi. 22, ' Their name is cast forth as evil.' Elijah was thought the troubler of Israel, and Christ an impostor, and Stephen a blasphemer. Now though this be grievous (for nature
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bath a very tender sense and feeling of contempt), yet this should not discourage us in the ways of God, because it is a privilege to be worthy of the world's hatred. Gratias ago Deo meo, quod dignus sum quern mundus oderit — Jerome. I thank God that I am worthy of the world's hatred. If they slight you that slight God and Christ and their own salvation, why should you be troubled ? Besides, our self-love is too great, when we are so tender of suffering a little disgrace and contempt for Christ's sake, who suffered so many and great indignities for us : Isa. liii. 3, ' He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief ; ' Heb. xii. 2, ' Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.' No ; resolve to be yet more vile, 2 Sam. vi. 22, and base in your own eyes, and the eyes of the world. And again, till we are contented with the glory that cometh from God only, we are unfit for Christianity : John v. 44, ' How can ye believe, that seek honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only ? ' John xii. 42, 43, ' Many believed on him, but because of the pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue : for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.' It is not enough to deny pleasures and riches, but we must be dead to honour, credit, and reputation, which is the hardest point of self-denial. But the great reason is that of the text, the honour Christ will put upon us at the last day is so great, that all other things should be lessened in our opinion and estimation of them : i\d^ta-Tov, 1 Cor. iv. 3, ' With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you,' or of man's judgment, avOpwtrivqs rj/xepas. Man's day should be as nothing to us when we consider Christ's day. Well, then, since there is such a glorious estate reserved for us, let us not seek the vain glory of this world ; we need not look asquint, or seek out for another paymaster than Christ. They are approved whom the Lord com- mendeth, 2 Cor. x. 18. The more despised in the world for righteous- ness' sake, the more honourable with God. If they could hinder your esteem with him, it were another matter. No ; they will ever be of great account in heaven that keep their garments unspotted from the world. Let us but wait the time, and they that are contemptible in the world shall be glorified even to admiration.