which we plan scheme after scheme, and pursue folly after folly; that it will make us less extravagant in our joy when we are prosperous, and less depressed under adversity; that it will moderate our eagerness in business, and render us less anxious to grasp at every offered or imagined advantage, I readily allow. And allowing this, what is the amount of the evil, considered even in a temporal view? An inordinate haste to be rich, or, in other words, an intemperate love of earthly things, is a far more frequent source of failure than of success. But if we consider the question in a moral light, it will appear that an excessive attachment to the world is the very bane of virtue. It is this disposition which in a thousand instances has produced and cherished a ruinous spirit of luxury and dissipation. It is this which either instigates dishonesty and fraud, or palliates or conceals their guilt. It is this which, taking another turn, stifles every generous emotion of the mind, and locks up every noble feeling in covetousness. It is this which leaves no time or inclination for prayer or self examination, or serious reflection: which incapacitates the mind for love to God, reverence for his authority, submission to his will, and every serious desire for conformity to his image; and it is this which renders the cup of misery doubly bitter, and unfits us for bearing with temper and cheerfulness the various trials and misfortunes to which we are subject.

Where, then is the evil of correcting such a disposition? Could I call before you but a few of that vast multitude, who having sacrificed their health, their reputation, their peace and their comfort to the world, at length devoted to the same idol their lives, and even their immortal souls, they should be my witnesses; they should, in the most affecting terms, dictated by the remembrance of bitter sufferings, repeat the exhortation, "Set not your affection on things on the earth."

I am not afraid also to allow, that heavenly-mindedness would have a considerable effect in unfitting a

person for entering with spirit into many of the diversions and gaities of the age. Nor can I think that this would prove an irreparable injury to the happiness of mankind, when I observe that those enjoyments which arise from the tender relations of domestic life -enjoyments which God has given to man as his proper pleasures-might increase in proportion as the love of dissipation declined; that intellectual and moral improvements; and, above all, the pleasures of a purer kind, similar to those of the blessed spirits above, might be substituted for these frivolous gratifications.

I will further allow, that the degree of heavenly mindedness which the Scripture inculcates would have some tendency to disqualify us for an indiscriminate enjoyment of the society of the world, for the strain of conversation which prevails in some companies, for the scenes which give them delight, for the spirit of flattery and insincerity which prevails in them, for the schemes which they form, and the mirth in which they indulge. For these things a Christian would be but ill prepared by his previous prayers, by his deep sense of the vanity of the world, and of the importance of time. He might be grave; and, though his heart overflowed with benevolence, he might in such society be esteemed morose; and both he and they would perceive that there was no mutual sympathy of tastes or habits. But what would he lose by this? He would enjoy an intimate society with the virtuous and excellent of the earth-a society which, founded upon the basis of truth and righteousness, would continually be more and more firmly established and cemented. He would be joined in one spirit to the holy church throughout the world, to the Prophets and Apostles, and to Jesus Christ his Lord.

I have thus allowed that a spirit of heavenly mindedness would, in a certain degree, disqualify a man for the world. It might undoubtedly hinder him from raising himself to so great a degree of wealth, honour, or reputation as he otherwise might attain; but I must

at the same time insist, that it would by no means prevent a due and proper attention to the necessary business of life.

Heavenly mindedness consists in a strong attachment to God, and to spiritual objects. But it is not every strong passion or desire which unfits men for the business of life. Consider, for instance the love which God hath implanted in the breast of a parent for his children;-a love which all parents will feel to be supreme; a love for which great sacrifices will be made, great anxieties often endured, and by which the schemes and plans of life will be greatly regulated. This is a natural and most powerful passion, which yet is not inconsistent with a due attention to the affairs of life, but rather promotes activity and diligence; while it inspires prudence. Heavenly mindedness will possess a similar influence. Reverence for the will of God will produce effects at least as considerable as parental love. It will make us regard the diligent and skilful discharge of our worldly business as a solemn duty. God has placed us in our stations: he has required from us fidelity in them: nor can I form an idea of any real heavenenly mindedness which does not produce ready and cheerful obedience. Here, then, is the difference: it is in the motive, rather than the outward conduct, by which the Christian is distinguished from other men. The latter is diligent and active from a temporal and sordid self-interest: he whose affections are principally set on another world, acts with no less resolution, and with equal energy, but from juster views. His principle is permanent and consistent: it accompanies him through all the stages of life, and in all its various employments: it gives to his conduct in the secular affairs of his station, a character of stedfastness and firmness which can be derived from no lower motive.

Indeed, we want not numerous examples to prove that every just and honourable station in life may be filled with propriety and dignity by men of a heavenly mind. I need not refer to ancient times; to Daniel, the VOL. II.

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man greatly beloved by God, and the prophet of the Most High, who was at the same time the minister of a vast empire for four successive reigns. We have more recent and familiar proofs, that the greatest eminence in commerce, in medicine, in law, and even in the profession of arms, may consist with the deepest and most habitual devotion: witness the names of Barnard, of Boerhave, of Hale, and of Gardiner.

The influence which heavenly mindedness will also produce upon the social relations is worthy of remark. It does not unfit the Christian for them: it does not render him austere and rigid, or harden him against the tenderness of friendship and domestic affection. No: though he is afraid to idolize any creature; though he watches over his parental and conjugal feelings, lest they should draw aside his heart from submission to the will of God, or supreme regard to his authority; yet he does indulge them with gratitude and with fervour. He receives every comfort as from God's hand, and enjoys it as the fruit of his bounty. Still it is his unceasing care, that, by all the blessings which surround him, he may be led to shew forth the praise of his Supreme Benefactor, not with his lips only, but in his life.

"Set," therefore, "your affection on things above."

To enforce this exhortation, the Apostle refers to that argument which is among the most efficacious with Christians: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God: for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." That is, If you are risen indeed with Christ; if you are so united to him, and as it were incorporated with him, that he is become your life, the principle and source of your spiritual existence: if your interests are so identified with his, that because he lives you shall live also, because he was raised from the dead you shall be raised also; then it becomes your duty to carry still further the relation and union which you bear to him. You must be with

him in spirit. He is risen to a world of glory, and you must dwell with him in spirit in that world of glory also. Your life is to be bound up in his-you must live only in him: therefore, since he has left this evil world, and has left it desolate by his absence, you must be widowed to it: you must consider yourself as dead here: there is nothing in this barren scene which should afford you solid pleasure, now that your Lord is departed. Your life is now hid, or laid up, with Christ: there all your hopes are fixed, there all your happiness is reposed. Set your affection, therefore, on things above-on that blessed place where is to be found the beloved Object of your hopes and affections, who hath redeemed your souls and delivered you from eternal death. Let your affections often soar upwards, and contemplate the glory of that kingdom in which he reigns, the happiness of those who dwell with him, the excellence and purity of those who with him are made perfect. Anticipate in joyful prospect the day when you shall yourselves be raised to the same place whither your Saviour has gone before; where you shall see Him "whom having not seen you love, and in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Anticipate by faith the time when you shall enjoy the full completion of his great salvation; when every taint and blot of sin will be perfectly removed; when every excellence will be implanted in the soul; when every evil will be annihilated; when every obstacle between you and the full enjoyment of the Divine Presence will be taken away; when you shall fall down before him, with all the redeemed of God, and cast your crowns at his feet, and say, with unutterable fervour and joy, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory and blessing."

See, my brethren, how ardently the Apostles fixed their thoughts upon Jesus Christ, how they identified themselves with him, how from him they derived all