18 INWARD WITNESS TO CHRISTIANITY. breaking in upon their souls, purified, refined them, and made auchan alteration in them,that the world beheld, and wereamazed at the surprising change. They thought it strange that the christians would not run to the same excess of riot; 1 Pet. iv. 4. Theywere astonished to see a. drunkard at once turn sober and temperate ; a lewd unclean wretch, byhearingthegospel, become a professor and an example of chastity; a cruel and passionate temper madecalm, and kind, and forgiving ; a swine forsake the mire, and put on the natureof a cleanly animal ; a dog or a lion changed into a lamb. This wroughtconvictionwith power: This was miracle and demonstration; this witnessed the truth and divinity of the gospel of Christ beyond all contradictions or doubts. II. A contempt of this world, is another part of holiness, and of heaven; a sacred disregard of temporal things raised by the sightof things eternal. If we look upwards to heaven, we shall behold there all the inhabitants looking down with a sacred contempt upon the trifles, amusements,, businesses, and cares of this present life, that engross our affections, awaken our desires, fill our hearts with pleasure or pain, and our fleshwith constant labour. Withwhat holy scorn do you think those souls, whoare dismissed from flesh, look down upon the hurries and bustles of this present state, in which we are engaged? They dwell in the full sight of those glories which they hoped for here on earth, and their intimate acquaintance with the pleasures of that upper world, and the divine sensations that areraised in them there, make them con- temn all the pleasures of this state, and every thingbelowheaven. This is a part of eternal life, this belongs in somedegree to every believer ; for he is not a believer that is not got above this world in a good measure.; he is not a christian, who is not weaned, in some degree, from this world: For this is our victory, whereby we overcome the world, 'even our faith. He that is born of God overcomes the world ; he that believes in Jesus, is born of God ; I John v.1, 4. Whence the argument is plain, he [that believes in-Jesus the Son of God, overcomes this present world. And; where christianity is raised to a good degree of life and power in the soul, there we see thechristiangotnear to heaven : he is, as it were, a fellow for angels, a fit companion for the spirits ofthe just made perfect. The affairs of this lifeare beneathhis best, desires and his hopes ; he engages his hand in them so far, as God his Father appoints his duty ; but he longs for theupper world, where his hopes are gone before: " When shall I be entirely dismissed from this labour Ad toil? The gaudy pleasures this world enter - tains me with, are no entertainments to me; I amweaned from them, I am born from above." This is the languageof thatfaith that overcomes the world: And faith, where it is wrought in truth
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