think? If he thinks at all, he must conclude, either that God made him to disappoint him, or that there are other better objects on which he ought to set his affections: and if there are such objects, then there is in man an appetite toward them; for where there is no appetite, there can be no enjoyment. But earthly things, when they are abused, have this unhappy effect, that they spoil the taste: and therefore it is said, that if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. It is wisely represented to us in the parable, that they whose affections were engaged by worldly occupations, partook not of that heavenly feast, which was provided for them: but the halt, the lame, and the blind, being disengaged from the world, were ready for the enjoyment of superior pleasures. And every wise man will endeavour to keep himself in this state of disengagement: he will be thankful to God for any of those losses or disappointments, which serve to remove the mists that are before the eyes of great men, and busy men, and men of pleasure. So long as his mind hath the use of its sight, he will consider every thing in this life under that relation which it bears to eternity: and this will at once lessen the value of such things as have their end as well as their beginning in this life. As often as he looks forward to eternity, he will wish to secure himself a portion there; and with this view he will attend to the methods proposed to him in divine Revelation. He will seek for such information, as shall not only improve his head but purify his heart: for the word of God cannot make us wise unto salvation, but as it makes us in the end partakers of it. He will consider his actions, as the only sure evidences of his affections; for all but idiots act upon such principles as they have, whether good or bad; and

therefore the affections of all men are distinguished by their fruits.

Though the things above, of which the text speaks, are not really present to us in themselves, they are present to us in their influences; and in some respect they are also present as the reward of those that seek them. How much pleasure does the miser conceive, in his own imagination, only by contemplating that treasure, which he never uses! Surely then, the Christian may feast his mind with the contemplation of that heavenly treasure, which will be sure not to disappoint him. While his body is circumscribed by this world, and under the dominion of the elements, his heart may be where his treasure is; and thus he may anticipate the joys of heaven, before he is put into actual possession of them. His present enjoyment is in his hope; one of the greatest pleasures in the world indeed, so great a pleasure, that some have supposed all the happiness of man to consist in it.

They have discovered, that the affections of men are alive and active, so long as they are kept in expectation; but dead and flat when they have nothing more to look for: and, on this ground, they have affirmed that human happiness is nothing but expectation: a sort of chace, whose pleasure is not in the end, but in the pursuit. If this be so, then the vicissitudes of human life, are one continued series of deception; and no hope is worth entertaining, but the hope of heaven; the only hope that will not make us ashamed at last. It is true, that if we are never so sharp-sighted, all our contemplation will not give us an adequate conception of the things above. We are told, they are such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive them but it is sufficient for us to know,

that they have this one property of lasting for ever. If we remove our affections from the happiness of this world, because we cannot be sure of it; it is a good reason for setting our affections on things above, because they afford that happiness which cannot be taken away from us: and which will probably be advancing by steps unknown to us, through all the ages of eternity.

We may form some conjecture concerning the sufficiency and fulness of this happiness, by considering the power of that God who has engaged himself to make us happy. If we look around us, we are astonished at the manifestations of his power and wisdom; and cannot but see, how the elements work together for the benefit and support of this habitable world. Hence it may be concluded, that he who hath made his sun to rise upon us in this lower state of our existence, can bring us, in his own good time, to that unspeakable brightness, in comparison of which, the sun himself shall disappear, as the stars are drowned in the light of the morning. For God himself, the fountain of uncreated light, shall enlighten that kingdom, which hath been prepared for us from the beginning of the world. It is said of the new Jerusalem, that the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God doth enlighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

If we consider the structure of an human body; how the eye is exquisitely framed to receive the impressions of the light; the ear to be sensible of sounds; and the skill with which all the organs of circulation and the several instruments of motion are adapted to the kind of life for which the body is now prepared; we can never doubt, but that the same wis

dom, which even in this fallen state, hath so prepared us for all the functions of this present life, will, in the regeneration of things, fit us in like manner with higher and more perfect faculties for the enjoyment of that life which we have in expectation. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: human nature, with its present weakness, could enjoy nothing amidst that glorious light, which would dazzle and confound all its powers: and therefore, as the Scripture hath greatly expressed it, mortality must first be swallowed up of life, before we can be capable of enjoying the presence of God, and the glorious scenes of the invisible world.

The man who can raise his mind to the contemplation of these things, will not be mortified when he withdraws himself from the gratifications of sin: for he will find himself above them. A man of years feels no uneasiness because he is without the toys and rattles with which children are delighted: their treasure consists in these little things, and their hearts are full of them: but men of skill and science are delighted with what children cannot comprehend. There is just the same difference between the man of pleasure and the man of devotion: the one is a child all his life long: the other is rational and manly in the choice of his objects; which in their nature, are alone worthy of his attention, and capable of satisfying all the highest affections of the mind and understanding. God hath so ordained, that what is our duty is also our present interest and satisfaction; I mean, the interest of our better part. The good man, by his alliance to God, is certainly more happy, as well as more honourable, than he that is allied only to the world; allowing him to be connected with what we usually look upon as the higher part of it.

Should we not think and feel ourselves abundantly happier in the court of Solomon, partakers of his wisdom and splendour, than if we belonged to the train of an Indian prince, who is a black and a savage? Infinitely greater is the difference between the felicity of those who attend upon God, and those who are confined to the pleasures of sense. The eyes of the swine are invincibly directed to the earth, and his neck is inflexible: but man has a countenance directed toward the heaven; and the smallest star that is visible in the firmament, is incomparably brighter than all the diamonds and gold of the earth, even when human art has united and polished them to the greatest advantage. As the glories of the heaven are more excellent than the splendour of the earth, so is the contemplation of heavenly things better than the enjoyment of earthly. The astronomer, who measures the courses of the stars, and observes all the appearances of the sun, is employed more to his own satisfaction, than the wretch who dwells in the bottom of a mine, and is digging there by the light of a taper, in danger of being overwhelmed with the ragged vault that hangs over his head; or stifled with poisonous damps and vapours. In a word, the greater and better the objects are, of which we are in pursuit, the higher is the satisfaction afforded by them. The angel is happier than the man, because he has greater things before him: and by parity of reason, the Christian is happier than the man of sensuality. If angels are spectators of what passes here below, how must they look down with pity and contempt on the childish agitations of human affections? on the elevations of pride, the uneasiness of ambition, the misery of covetousness, the rage of envy, the torment of lust, the noise of drunkenness, and the foolish ex