1 SERMON XVI. ON SPIRITUAL MINDEDNESS. Coloss. iii. 1—3. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. THE spiritual nature of the Christian Religion forms a very strong presumption in favour of its Divine original. The principles it inculcates are not those of this world: the consolation and peace it affords do not arise from worldly sources; the hopes it sets before us, and the rewards it promises, refer to a future state. The desire of applause, the sense of honour, ambition, and the hope of temporal advancement-motives which are naturally very powerful, and which form the chief springs of action in other systems of religion-it rejects as unworthy of the Christian purity. Our Lord thus described the character of his religion; "My kingdom is not of this world." Its maxims and views are not such as naturally occur to the world: nor are they VOL. II. 44 suited to those whose attention is engrossed by worldly affairs. We therefore frequently find, in the writings of the Apostles, cautions respecting our use of this world: they continually impress on their disciples a fear and jealousy of its influence. Their converts were often reminded that the eager pursuit of earthly things, and the spirit and temper of the world, were inconsistent with that frame of mind which is essential to the Christian character. They were commanded "not to love the world, nor the things of the world." They were taught to rank the world among the principal enemies of Christ, with the flesh and the devil. St. Paul, when speaking of those hypocrites whose unholy conduct he could not mention without tears, who were the "enemies of the Cross of Christ," whose "God was their belly," whose "glory was in their shame," thus concludes the description: "they mind earthly things; for," adds the Apostle, "our conversation is in heaven." This abstractedness from the world and from worldly maxims, which the Gospel has required, has necessarily given great offence to those whose cares and pursuits are wholly of a temporal kind. They have accordingly represented heavenly mindedness as incompatible with the present state of man, as inconsistent with that degree of attention to earthly affairs which is indispensable for conducting the business of life; as incapacitating those who are under its influence for an active and energetic discharge of the duties of their station; and as encouraging an inactive and speculative devotion, neither honourable to God nor agreeable to right reason. To ascertain what foundation there is for this charge, let us first inquire what are the dispositions forbidden by the Christian religion, and what is the temper required of a Christian: "Set your affection," says the Apostle, "on things above, not on things on the earth:" and, secondly, let us consider whether this temper is consistent with a due attention to the business of the world. 1. Set not your affection on things on the earth. We cannot suppose that the Apostle intended, by this precept, to prohibit every degree of attention to secular affairs. It was the universal law of the Creator, that "by the sweat of his brow man should eat bread;" and God has expressly allowed to us six out of every seven days for this purpose, thus permitting these pursuits by his word, and rendering them necessary by his providence in the very constitution of the world. And the Gospel, so far from introducing a new law to dispense with these occupations, has declared the neglect of them criminal. Idleness is a sin ever followed by its natural punishment; and this punishment the Gospel confirms: "If any man will not work, neither let him eat." Jesus Christ himself laboured with his own hands. The Apostles, though set apart to be preachers of the Gospel, set an example of secular industry to the flock whom they instructed. Further, the precepts cannot be meant to prohibit a degree of earnestness and attention while we are engaged in our necessary business. To insure success in our lawful callings, a considerable measure of care and forethought is absolutely necessary. Consequences must be anticipated, circumstances weighed, plans deliberately framed, inconveniences guarded against, and opportunities watched: to neglect such precautions is to discard the use of that prudence and wisdom which God has given us. Strenuous exertions are also frequently essential in worldly affairs, and especially in extraordinary or difficult conjunctures; and without a certain degree of activity, and energy, even the ordinary business of life cannot be conducted with effect. The voice of nature and the language of Scripture do not contradict each other. The course of nature has rendered labour indispensable, and the commands of Scripture require us not to be slothful in business. I will go further, and say, that not only is an indolent inattention to our proper avoca tions not warranted in Scripture, but is productive of the worst consequences to the soul: it is the very nurse of sin, and the inlet to temptation. I will add yet more: an assiduous and uniform care to discharge with fidelity and diligence the various duties of our station is even a necessary qualification for that heavenly mindedness which the text requires. Neither are we to conceive that our deadness to the world, and to the things of it, implies an indifference to all the pleasures of life-to such gratifications as arise from the enjoyment of the works of creation, from the intercourse of friendship, from the indulgence of the social feelings in our domestic relations. In these and similar cases, heavenly mindedness will promote that very disposition. This is most favourable to the production of legitimate pleasure; and in this, as in the former instance, the language of nature and of Scripture are in perfect harmony. What then does the precept of the text forbid? It forbids us to set our affections upon the things on the earth. We are not to make these our chief pursuit; to seek them with our utmost eagerness; to be inordinately elated when we are successful in obtaining them, and exceedingly depressed when we lose them. Our happiness must not consist in these things. Though earthly blessings may be lawfully enjoyed, they must still hold a subordinate station in our esteem. The chief place must be allowed to things infinitely more important. It is the degree of attachment, then, to earthly things which is culpable: it is the preference given to them above those which are eternal. The crime does not consist in loving them, but in loving them better than spiritual blessings. Nor is it the particular nature of the objects of our affection which in every case renders our attachment culpable. They may be innocent in themselves, they may be lawful, and it may even be blameable not to feel some regard for them; but the prohibition is directed against undue love for them, against the preference of them to better things, against the devotion of the best affections of the heart to them, against that worldly mindedness which robs God of the glory due to him, disqualifies the mind for enjoyments of a purer kind, and casts a degree of contempt on Christ and upon all the glorious blessings which he has purchased. We cannot serve God and mammon. The truth of this maxim is established by every day's experience. The mind which esteems the possession of earthly bliss as its chief good-which is absorbed in secular cares, which finds all its pleasures in worldly prosperity, and all its sorrows in the loss or the absence of temporal enjoyments-is incapacitated not only by want of time and leisure, but by its very nature for those pursuits which the Gospel requires. What impression can spiritual ideas make upon a mind sunk in carnal things? What relish for a happiness pure and holy, such a happiness as proceeds from the knowledge of God and the exercise of holy affections towards Him, can be felt by a heart absorbed in the cares and gratifications of earth? There must be a suitableness and correspondence between the mind and the objects which give it pleasure; and what concord can exist between Christ and Belial? What agreement between spiritual enjoyments and a worldly frame? No: to value the blessings which the Gospel offers; the blessings of communion and fellowship with the Father and the Son; to look forward with lively joy towards the happiness of heaven, and be engaged in the holy employments which the Gospel enjoins; in the mortification of sin, in seeking the increase of grace in the heart; this requires a disposition peculiar to itself-views and maxims, hopes and desires, pleasures and pains of a nature very different from those of the world-affections set upon things above, and not things on the earth. True religion, as described in the Gospel, supposes the frame of mind which I have described to have been produced by a sound judgment and enlightened understanding, perceiving the superior value of eternal |