2. The necessity of this hope, which is twofold —
[1.] To support us under our difficulties ; how else could we subsist under the manifold troubles of the present life ? Hope is compared in scripture to two things — a helmet and an anchor. Both signify the great use and service of it, as to the encountering our present troubles. As you would not go to sea without an anchor, nor to war without a helmet, so you cannot live in the present world without hope : 1 Thes. v. 8, ' Take to you the helmet of salvation, which is hope.' Among the pieces of the spiritual armour, faith is compared to a shield, which covereth the whole body, but hope to a helmet, which covereth the head. This makes a believer hold up his head in all straits and diffi- culties. The policy of the devil is to darken or weaken the hope of eternal life, and then he knows he shall the sooner overcome us. Therefore the care of a christian should be to keep on his helmet, to keep the hopes of his blessed estate lively and fresh, and this will make him bold and undaunted in all oppositions and troubles. Again, it is compared to an anchor : Heb. vi. 19, ' Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.' As the anchor holds a ship in a tempest, so doth this hope keep the mind in a constant temper amidst the stormy gusts of temptations. Oh, how would a christian be tossed up and down, and dashed against the rocks, if he were without his anchor ! He that knoweth not what shall become of his soul when he dieth, whether he shall go to heaven or hell, cannot endure great afflictions with patience and comfort, but he that knoweth death to be the worst that can befall him in the most troublesome times, can possess his soul in patience ; he knoweth what he is born to, and what he shall enjoy when he comes home to God, and therefore his heart is calmed and quieted within him.
[2.] To quicken our diligence, and put life into our endeavours and resolutions, that we may not faint in the way to heaven : Acts xxiv. 16, ' Herein ' (or hereupon ; upon what ? upon this encouragement) ' I have hope towards God, that there shall be a resurrection both of the just
474 SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. [SER. IV.
and unjust.' So Acts xxvi. 6, 7, ' Unto which promise our twelve tribes, serving God instantly day and night, hope to come.' Certainly the happiness is so great, that it deserves our best labours ; and so sure, that our labour will not be in vain in the Lord ; and so near, that it is but a little striving more, and looking longer, and we shall obtain : therefore surely we should follow our work close, night and day. All the world is led by hope; it is the great principle which sets every one a-work in his vocation and calling. The merchant trades in hope, the husbandman ploughs in hope, and the soldier fights in hope. Why doth the merchant travel to and fro, and run through all the known parts of the world? Hope of gain invites him, and the improvement of his stock by traffic with several nations. Why doth the husbandman till the ground, and continue his labours with such diligence and assiduity, in heats and cold, by night and by day, in showers and fair weather, and so carefully ply his business in all seasons ? The harvest, and the hope of a good crop, wherewith he and his family may be sustained, engageth him. What allureth the soldier to the burden and toil of war, to expose himself to the long watches of the night, the wounds and death of the camp, and the manifold inconveniencies of that sort of life ? Hope of prey and booty, or of honour and reputation over- cometh all. So what sets the christian a-work, notwithstanding the difficulties which attend his service, the temptations which assault his constancy, the calamities which attend his profession, but only hope ? You see to what to turn your eye, and direct your pursuit ; it is the everlasting fruition of the ever-blessed God. Those that do not look for any great matter, no wonder if their endeavours be remiss and sluggish : 2 Peter iii. 14, ' Wherefore, beloved, seeing you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.' No labour and care can be too much to approve ourselves to God, to get the soul to be without spot, and the life without blame, that we may be every way qualified, and found of him in peace, and so admitted into the joy of our Lord.
Secondly, This hope : it is not said he that hath hope in him, but he that hath this hope ; it is not a sensual enjoyment which is pro- pounded as our blessedness, but seeing God as he is, and being like him ; if our hearts be set upon the vision and likeness of God, we will be purifying ourselves more and more. It is not a sensual paradise, but a pure sinless state. All religions propound a hope, but none such a hope as the christian religion doth : so pure, so sublime, so adequate and full to the wants and desires of the creature. Mahomet, like a man absolutely engulphed in the dissoluteness of the flesh, did accordingly propound a suitable happiness to his followers. He telleth them of a paradise watered with fair and delight- ful fountains, which shall flow as gently as if they were of liquid crystal; and that they shall repose themselves under the shadow of stately thick-leaved trees, which of their own motion shall entwine themselves into pleasant bowers ; where they shall eat all sorts of delicious fruits in their season, and be recreated with the melody of birds warbling among their branches ; where they shall be attired with magnificent apparel, bedecked with jewels and pearls, and have wives transcendently beautiful, and be feasted with rich banquets and