8o The Çhrifian Life, á Life of Faith. Vol. L from the Wrath which is to come, and endeavour to efcape the Damnation ofHell? Are the flight and tranfitory Enjoyments of this World, worth fo much Thought and Care ? And is an Eternal Inheritance in the Heavens, nót worth the looking after ? As there is no Proportion betwixt the Things which are Temporal and the Things which are Eternal, fo we ought in all Reafon to be infinitely more con- cern'd for the one than for theother. Theproper Inference from all this Difcourfe is, That we would endeavour to ftrengthen in our felves this great Principle of a Chriftian Life, the Belief of another World, by reprefenting to our felves all thofe Arguments and Confidera- tions which may confirm us in this Perfwafion. Themore reafonable our Faith is, and the furer Grounds it is built upon, the more firm it will abide, when it comes to the Trial, againft all the Impreffions of Temptations, and Affaults of Perfecution. If our Faith of another World be only a ftrong Imagination ofthefe Things, fo f on as Tribulation arifeth, it will wither ; becaufe it bath no Root in itfelt Upon this account the Apoftle fo often exhorts Chriftians, to endeavour to be eflablifhed in the Truth, to be rooted andgrounded in the Faith, that when Perfecution comes, they may continue ftedfalt and unmoveable. This Firmnefs of our Belief will have a great Influence upon our Lives : If we be fiedfäft and unmoveable in our Perfwafionof thefe Things, we (hall be abundant in the Work of the Lord. The Apoftle joins thefe together, r Cor. a 5. 58. Wherefore, my be- loved Brethren, be ye ftedfaft and unmoveable, always abounding in the Work of the Lord, forafmuch as ye know your Labour (hall not be in vain in the Lord Stedfafl and unmoveable, in what ? In the Belief of ablefledRefurreftion ; which the more firmly any Man believes, the more alive and induftrious will he be in the Work and Service of God. And that our Faith may have a confiant and powerful Influence upon our Lives, we fhould frequently revolve in our Minds the Thoughts ofanother World, and of that vaft Eternity which we (hall fhortly launch into. The great Dif. advantage of the Arguments fetch'd from another World, is this, That thefe Things are at a çliftance from us, and not fenfible to us, and therefore we are not apt to be fo affefted with them ; Prefent and Senfible Things weigh down all other Confiderations. And therefore to balance this Difadvantage, we fhould often have thefe Thoughts in our Minds, and inculcate upon our felves the Cer- tainty of thefe Things, and the infinite Concernment of them ; we fhould, reafon thus with our felves; If thefe Things be true, and will certainly be, why fhould they not be to me, as if they were aftually prefent? Why fhould ndt I always live, as ifHeaven were open to my View, and Ifaw yefus ftanding at the Right- handofGod, with Crowns ofGlory in his Hands, ready to be fet upon the Heads of all thofe who continue faithful and obedient to him ? And why fhould I not be as much afraid to commit any Sin, as if Hell were naked befbre'me, and I faw the aftonifhing Miferies ofthe Damned ? Thus we fhould, by frequent Meditation, reprefent thefe great Things to our felves, and bring them nearer to our Minds, and oppofe to the prefent Temptations of Senfe, the great and endlefs Happinefs and Mifery of the other World. And if ' we would but thus exercife our felves about the Things which are notfeen, and makeEternity familiar to our felves, by a frequent Meditation ofit, we fhould be very little moved with prefent and fenfible.Things; we fhould walk and live by Faith, as the Men ofthe Worlddo by Senfe, and be more ferious and earneft in the Purfuit of our great and everlafting Intereft, than they are in the Purfuit of Senfual Enjoyments, and fhould make it the great Bufinefs of this Prefent and Temporal Life, to fecure a Future and Eternal Happinefs. SERMONI
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