LIFE OF t'AITn. 425 which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal ; but the things which are not seen are eternal ;" 2 Cor. iv. 1¢ l8. (6.) Lastly, let this move you to live by a foreseeing faith, that it is of necessity to your salvation. Believing heaven must prepare you for it before you can enjoy it. Believing hell is necessary to prevent it; Mark xvi. 16. John iii. 18. 36. "The just shall live by faith'; but if any.man draw back, (or be lifted up,) the Lord will have no pleasure in him ; " Heb. x. 38. Hab. ii. 4. " Take heed that therebe not in anyof you an evil heart of un- belief, to depart from the living God ;" Heb. iii. 12. " And be not of them that draw back to perdition, but of them that believe . to the saving of the soul ;" Heb. x. 39. It is God that saith, " They shall all be damned that believed.not the truth, but had pleasure in únrighteousness;" 2 Thess. ii. 10-12. May I now, in the conclusion, more particularly exhort you, 1. That you will live upon things foreseen. 2. That you will promote this life of faith is others, according to your several ca- pacities. - Princes and nobles live not always : you are not the rulers of the unmovable kingdom; bin of a boat that is in a hasty stream, or a ship under sail that will speed both pilot and passengers to the shore. ' Dixi, estis 'Dii: ut moriemini ut hommes.' It was not the least or worst of kings that said, " I am a stranger upon earth ; Psal. cxix. 19. ' Vermis sum, non homo r' " I am a worm, and no man ;" Psal. xxii. 6. You are the greater worms, and we the little ones: but we must all say with Job, " The grave is our house, and we must make our beds in darkness: cor- ruption is our father, and the worm our mother and our sister;" Job xvii.13, 14. The inexorable leveler is ready at yo,ur backs . to convince you; by irresistible argument, that dust you are, and to dust' you shall return. Heaven shouldbe as desirable, and hell as terrible, to you as to, others. No man will fear you after death ; much less will Christ be afraid to judge you ; Luke xix. 27. As the kingdoms and glory of the world were contemned by him in the hour of his temptation, so are they inconsiderable to procure his approbation. Trust not therefore to uncertain riches: value them but as they will prove at last. As you stand on higher ground than others, it is meet that you should see further. The greater are your advantages, the wiser and better you should be ; and therefore shouldbetter perceive the difference between things temporal and eternal. It is always dark where these glow -worms shine, and where a rotten post doth seem a fire. Your difficulties also shouldexcite you : you must go as through VOL. H. 54
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