ingly. He weaned his affections from his native country; he would not be tempted to stay in fruitful Egypt any longer than his necessities required; neither his own, nor his wife's great age hindered him from depending upon the promises of God; and God rewarded his faith, and answered the desires of his heart.

Why now, good Christians, we have the word of the Son of God for it, that in a short time, when this mortal shall have put on immortality, we shall be as happy as the angels of God,

Then we shall be amazed at the madness of those who preferred a temporal gain, or pleasure, or honour, to the glories of heaven, which will last for ever.

And oh! that Christians would but lay this seriously to heart, before it is too late; that they would behave themselves as strangers and pilgrims in this world, and look upon the next as the place where true joys are to be found. Then should we not be tempted with earthly pleasures, nor doat upon the things now, which we shall then despise and abhor; and be astonished that creatures made for, and having the promise of eternal happiness, if they will but in good earnest strive for it, should yet choose eternal death, rather than renounce a present, short, unsatisfactory enjoyment.

We find by sad experience, that not only the enjoyment, but the very desire of the good things of this world, do very much indispose and hinder us from pursuing the prize of our high calling, with that earnestness which it deserves How hardly (saith our Lord) shall they that

have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven. For they have so many and strong tempta tions to love this world, and set up their rest here, that the happiness of the world to come finds no place in their thoughts.

Happy then are they, who have seen the vanity of this world, and have so long considered the blessings of the world to come, that faith has made those blessings present to them; and they see and feel (what others laugh at them for) that for the joys of heaven, though at a distance, one ought to part with any satisfaction upon earth.

III. Thirdly; A firm belief of the conse quences of the resurrection will very much help us to run with patience the race that is set before us: That is, it will help us to perform all those duties of christianity, which are absolutely necessary to fit us for heaven. For if we believe that God is a rewarder of such as diligently seek him; if we are thoroughly convinced of this, and that the reward we expect will be inconceivably great; then shall we apply ourselves to the obtaining it, like men that are really in earnest, with unwearied diligence.

And truly, there is need of a right understanding of these things, of a firm faith, and very lively hopes, and most glorious promises, to make us go through so many Christian duties, which are so uneasy to flesh and blood, and yet are indispensably necessary to eternal happiness.

For my part, I should be at a loss for arguments to persuade a man, either to watch, or pray, or to deny himself, or to be in charity with all men, if I could not first convince him, that

ne will be the greatest gainer by doing these things; particularly, that he has the promise of a most glorious reward; that he has many and powerful enemies that envy him such a reward, and will not fail to divert him from pursuing it, if he be not very watchful over himself; that God will give him all the assistance that is necessary, provided he prays for it with the seriousness of one that is in good earnest; that the life and joys of heaven will be quite of another kind. than those which we are naturally fond of here; that therefore we must wean our affections from sensual pleasures, bring ourselves by degrees to follow the will of God with readiness and satisfaction, whenever we know it; this being one of the duties, and the delight of the inhabitants of heaven:-In short, that we must use some self-denial to effect this, and to alter the bent of our inclinations, or else we shall never be happy as we hope to be.

Lastly; if I could convince him, that in heaven there is no sourness of temper, no selfish ends, no jarring or undermining one another, no jealousy and suspicion; that such evil dis positions as these will render a man utterly incapable of heaven, where all the inhabitants live in good understanding with one another, and in the strictest bonds of love, rejoicing in one another's happiness, and praising God for his goodness to others as well as to themselves..

When a man is once convinced of this, then he will see how necessary that charity is, which the gospel requires, to help us to get rid in time

of such evil affections and habits, as, if not cured here, will most surely hinder us of the happiness we expect there.

And seeing the reasonableness of these duties, and how absolutely necessary they are, to make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, a Christian will set about them in good earnest, as he hopes for salvation: at least, if this will not prevail with us to do so, nothing else will. St. Paul therefore concludes all his discourse of the resurrection, and everlasting life after death, with these words: Be ye therefore stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord; intimating that the serious belief of an immortal happiness will keep us stedfast in the faith, notwithstanding the troubles we meet with; unmoved by the temptations of the world; always abounding in the work of the Lord; that is, doing the duties of christianity with patience and joy in the Holy Ghost.

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And now, good Christians, you see, first, how much it concerns every body who professes to believe the resurrection of the body, and an everlasting life after death, so to order his life in this world, that in the next he may be happy.

Consider, secondly, whence you have this assurance of immortal happiness. It is not from conjecture, not from the vain and weak reasonings of men like ourselves, but from the mouth of the Son of God. It is he who tells us, that the children of the resurrection shall never die, but shall be equal to the angels.

→ 1 Cor. XV.

But then observe, thirdly, that the same God of truth, who gives us this comfortable hope, assures us, at the same time, that there is something to be done on our part, in order to obtain it. It is not every one who professes to believe these things, that shall be happy as the angels, but they that shall be worthy; that is, they who through faith in the promises of God have been encouraged to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope which God has given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.

So that the belief of a resurrection, and an everlasting life, will easily be perceived to be of little use or comfort to one who will not be persuaded to prepare for it.

For, fourthly, as death puts the righteous into a state of endless happiness, which truth we very readily close with, so does it send the wicked into a condition miserable beyond expression, which we believe with some difficulty; and yet we are assured of both these truths by the same God of Truth, that if either hopes or fears will prevail upon us, we may not want motives to work out our salvation.

Lastly; let us seriously consider, that whether we believe, or do not believe, these things, that will not make them true or false: the counsels of God must stand; and if he has declared that he will raise us up at the last day, and judge every man according to his works done in the body; if he has, of his infinite mercy, appointed a place and state of happiness for the righteous,