The Helmet of Salvation. 43 9 manner ofteacher comparable to him. Therefore I fay, mix with thy htipe a certain fear, and be fo far from a carnalprcfumption, as that thou maintain in thy felf a holy fear of falling,for it hath focome to pafs,that SaintPaul indeed was,what !wwas not, ofa perfecutor he became an Apoftle ; hope lies there-away : but 7udda waswhat hedidnot appear tobe,antl of anApofllebecame an Apoftate ; fear lies ti ere-away. And thou that hopettthat of a perfecutor, thou maift turn an Apoftle ; fear left by, falhngaway,thoumaift of an Apoftic become an Apoftate, a perfecutor. I will nor ftand upon thcfe things any longer. I have miffed three, the fourth Conclufion is; that, Hope in this life is not Onlyfor the thiegi ofthis life, d.Conclufion. hope is not Ifinthii life onljwehave hope,then are wessifereble; libeihould have 1 d, ifin for the things this lifeonly,for the prefent,wc had hope;andthat the endof all our hope, and all our 01'105 lift. delire, were fixed upon the prefent world, then were we poorChriftians moftmife- rable : for none in the world aremore dcfpifed, contemned, (corned ; nonemore affliEted, troubled, grieved in their fouls for their fins than they ; always followed with outward fights, withinward frights, whenother men enjoy the world atwill ; fo that the fcopeof this Scripture is to fay, that not for this life Only have we hope in Chrift ; that is the very meaning ; that the godly, the fethful, the hopeful, they save northeir portion in this life ; eve knowwhen this earthly tabernacle is dilelved, , Cor. t. t. we have et building madewith God, a houfenot made with hands, eternalin the heavens: wholebuilderandmaker is the Lord; fo1pcaks the Apoffle to theCorinths. As for this life,ifwe fhould lay the foundation ofour hope here: alas,they might rue their mifcrable cafe that fo do ; they might hang down theirheads, that arc godly, with flame and griefenough to themlelves, but it is here they fct up their hope,here they have hope,but it is hope here for anotherlife ;it is upon other things that their hope isfixed then are herebelow ; it is for things that they look for; it is not for things that they fee, for hope thatfeeth is not' ace hope, but ifwe with patience waitfor the thingsthat are notfeen, this is hope, faith the Apoltle, Rom. S. So that this is a veryplain cafc,andmight be furthercleared,and declared tous from the praftice,and commonopinion ofall the SaintsofGodin all Ages,howthey have hoped, and how that their hope was in God ; that they fhould fee the Lord, but where? in the Landofthe Living: here they have a fight too, but thechiefeft hope ison the.Promife, and that is not for the things of this life only, but for the life to come ; Re that putteth his trail in me(hallpeels the Land, and(hall inherit my holy [fa;7. ii mountains ; theirhope is intheend,thatis of thofe things that they !hall attain inthe endof this life. Theconfidcration ofthisPoint, that hope it is not onlyfor the things of this life; may teach us to contend again(( death it fclf, which is one of the ((rouge(( tempra. tions again!( hope, as I touched before, and tó contemn dud dèfpifeall the thingsof this life. It teacheth aman to ftrlve and wreftle,and contend again[( death ? becaufe though tift re a man do die, yet it (hall not hinder his hope; it (half not hinder him from that he hopeth to attain. Death is the greateft amazement a man can meet withal in the World, but what cart Death do ? well may it take away from a man his life, but it cannot takeaway from him liislove ; well may ittake await from him the a &ion of his hope here, it (hall ceafe, but it (hall never take away fromhim the objet ofhis hope,that which he hopethfor,it (hall continue; well may it help him to it,but it can never hinder him from it ; here is then comfort and courage inthe very hour, and power ofdeath. ì. A matt learneth here to contemn, and'to defpife the thinsof this life,fpecially Vfe a. if they be lath manner of things as will come in cotnparifonwith theirbetters,tvhen baler things will compare with better things in this kind ofeomparifon now i ratans hope lhould take him oft, andnot fo much as fuffer him to lean to anykind of reafoning that is made against his hope; Hope biddethhimnot to (tuft, not tó look to any thing that is in this life, becaufe it doth not at ail concern that hick ii L 1I the
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