THE great Error that all Mankind are prone to, and which indeed ruins the larger Part of the World, is their placing their Happiness in this Earth. The great Realities of ano­ther World, strike their Minds but weakly, and appear at a wide Distance, and a strange Uncertainty to their unbelieving Hearts. But the Things present, and that are seen, the Objects that we converse with eve­ry Day, make a deep Impression upon us. We fancy they are solid, and would fain believe they are lasting; nor do we care to detect their Falshood and Treachery; their Vanity and Emptiness. We have never been in the other World; and therefore we don't know how to reallize the Existence of it: It appears to us a Novelty and a Dream. But the Earth we converse with every [Page 6]Day; we live upon it, and it is the constant Object of all our Senses. We have been a long Time used to it; and the very first Impressions of our Infancy, have preju­diced us in its Favour. But the news of another World, comes to us by hear-say; and after we have been first at­tached to this Earth, by our Sight and Familiarity. But above all, our Fall from GOD has brought a Cloud upon our Minds as to spiritual Matters, and rendered our Appetites after carnal Things raging and impetuous. We all need then the Address of the Text, Set your Af­fection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth. They are the Words of an Apostle; they are then weighty and solemn: But they are the Words of the HOLY GHOST in the inspired Apostle; they come then armed with divine Authority and Command, with the Power and Name of GOD. They are very plain and easy to be understood; and no Subtlety or Artifice can obscure or elude the Evidence of the sacred Law. They are agreeable to the Maxims of eternal Reason; and they are expressed in a very forcible and emphatical Manner. To render it beyond all Doubt or Hesitation, the Phrase runs both Negative and Positive. Set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth. All the Circumstances tend to demand our most awaken­ed Attention, and ready Obedience.

The DOCTRINE of the Words is this.

DOCT. It is the great Duty of Christians, to withdraw their Affections from the Things of the Earth, and fix them on the Things of Heaven.

In handling this Doctrine, need I go about to prove to you,

1. That the human Soul has in it many Affections?

This you feel in your selves; and your own Hearts, and your own Experience are beforehand with me. [Page 7]You are all conscious to the Passions and Appetites of your own Minds. You know that you love and hate; desire and abhor; rejoice and grieve, hope and fear. That you have such Things as the Lan­guage of Scripture and Philosophy and common Life, call Affections, is a self-evident Proposition, and can need no Proof. To pretend a Demonstration of it, would only be to obscure it. I shall drop this then, and pursue another, alas! that it is so plain a Pro­position.

II. Our Affections are naturally set on the Things of Earth.

We need such a Call as this of my Text, Set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth. The Matter of Fact is plain in our selves, and has been so through all the Generations of Men, that this Earth strangely allures and engrosses our Affections. We feel in our Hearts a prevailing. Fondness to the Things we possess, and a prevailing Desire to those we expect. And we see the Case is the same with all about us, who are earnest to get and to keep the vain Treasures of the Earth: And it has been so from the first Ages even until now. All the Children of Men are born the Slaves of this World; and its Empire is universal and continuing, like that of Death. It has reigned o­ver all Men from Adam even until now. If the Mat­ter of Fact is so plain then, what are the Reasons? How comes it to pass that our Affections are so linked to earthly and mortal Things? Alas, it is easily and sadly accounted for. Our Fall from GOD has corrupted our Taste, and blinded our Understand­ings, and brought us into this deluded and bewildered Condition. Adam, our first Father, sat his Affecti­ons on the Things below; and now the just Judg­ment of GOD has left us his Offspring to do so too. He was led away by his Senses to forget the Things which were above, and disbelieve and diso­bey [Page 8]his GOD. The forbidden Tree allured his Sight, and appeared fair to look upon: It tempted his Palate; and appeared good for Food: It excited his Desire, and raised his Ambition: A Tree to be desired to make one wise: So he took the Fruit of it, and did eat. Gen. iii. 6. Thus were our first Parents led away, and ever since then, the guilty Progeny have been cheated by their Senses to place their Affection on earthly Things. The holy GOD immediately withdrew the Restraints of his SPIRIT, and gave up the Race to follow the Senses which they chose to follow. And now, the Fetters are made strong upon many Accounts.

For Instance, Earthly Things are the first we converse with; and as they are beforehand with our Reason, they insi­nuate themselves into our Affections, before we are aware of their Treachery and Falshood. The Child learns to gratify his Senses before he comes to exer­cise his Reason; and the first Impression is the deep­est, and lasts the longest. His first Acquaintance is with earthly Things; and therefore his Affections are placed upon them, before Reason can set a Guard upon his Mind.

And as we converse first with earthly Things, so we do it constantly; and this is another Reason why our Affections are fixed upon them. Earthly Things are sensible Things, and familiar to our Eyes every Day: And constant Familiarity begets Love. 'Tis a sufficient Reason how we come to prefer the Things of Earth, before Things above: Because Things temporal are seen, but Things eternal are invisible. Things unseen, are the Objects of our Faith; but the Things of this World, are the Ob­jects of Sight and Sense. Faith is the Evidence of Things not seen; the Substance of Things hoped for. But the Things below strike us more immediately; they bribe our Senses, and captivate our Souls. Hence [Page 9]'tis that we seek the Things which are below, and not the Things which are above. And need the Warning and Exhortation of the Text; Set your Af­fections on Things above, not on Things on the Earth.

The very Expression of the Text insinuates the Ten­dency of our Minds to earthly Things, and the Dif­ficulty to transfer them to heavenly. 'Tis because one is below, the other above. 'Tis like panting up Hill, or sliding gently down. The Things of Hea­ven are above, and we rise to them with Pains and Labour; but the Things on Earth are about us, and beneath us, and we may sit still, or sink down and enjoy them. So that in every Light the Propositi­on appears evident, that our Affections are naturally set on Things below, and not on Things above.

III. 'Tis our Duty to set our Affection on Things above, and not on Things on the Earth.

'Tis our Duty for so has the Command of GOD made it. The Will of GOD is the Rule of our Duty. Whatever he enjoins immediately becomes our Duty. 'Tis enough to enforce our Obedience and Compliance, that GOD has given his Orders, and declared this to be his Will. A Thing may on other Accounts be our Wisdom, and our Inte­rest, our Honour and Safety, but 'tis the Command of GOD alone that can make it our Duty.

And besure this is the Case here: For GOD has commanded it at our Hands, that we set our Affections on the Things above, and not on the Things below. This is the great Design of the Law of God, to take our Affections off from Earth, and draw them up to Heaven. In the New-Testament this Matter is more fully explained, and more frequently and more strongly inculcated. Here we are instructed, I. John ii. 15, 16, 17. Love not the World, neither the Things that are in the World; if any Man love the World, the Love of the Father is not in him. For [Page 10] all that is in the World, the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eye, and the Pride of Life, is not of the Father, but is of the World. And the World pass­eth away, and the Lust thereof; but he that doeth the Will of GOD abideth for ever. 'Tis the Will of GOD then, that we set not our Affections on the Things of the World; and 'tis then our Duty not to do it. Rom. xii. 2. Be not conformed to this World; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your Mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and ac­ceptable, and perfect Will of GOD. It is impossible to obey GOD; to comply with the Will of GOD, without proclaiming War with the World; with­out weaning our Affections and withdrawing our Friendship from it. James iv. 4. Know ye not that the Friendship of the World is enmity with GOD? Whosoever therefore will be a Friend of the World is an Enemy of GOD. Thus the New-Testament, which has more fully brought Life and Immortality to Light, is, you see, full of the Matter.

But the Old-Testament is not without sufficient Indi­cations of this too; and tends to lead our Affections from the Things of Earth to those of Heaven. Indeed the Promises of the Old-Testament, do for the most part refer literally to the Land of Cana­an: But they were ultimately regarded by the wise and good Men of those Days, to signify the Bles­sings of the heavenly World. Hence the believing ancient Patriarchs, all along professed that they were but Strangers and Pilgrims here, that they sought a better Country, that is, an heavenly. They looked upon the earthly Canaan, but as a Type of the heavenly; and applied the Promises in the Letter temporal, to Things spiritual and eternal. And this is the Spirit that breathes in the pious Patriarchs till the coming of their blessed SAVIOUR, whom they all regarded and lived upon in the Prospects of Faith. They all believed a future World; a State of Re­compence, and eternal Rewards: And they withdrew their Affections from the Things below, and placed [Page 11]them on those greater above. Is not this the Lan­guage of Moses, when he chose rather to suffer Af­fliction with the People of GOD, than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season? Is not this the Con­solation of Job, when I know (says he) that my Re­deemer liveth, and though after may Skin, Worms destroy this Body, yet in my Flesh shall I see GOD? Is not this the Insinuation of the Psalmist, when he speaks of the Men of this World, who have their Portion only in this Life: And what else could comfort him when he walk'd through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, but that he knew for him to die would be Gain. Even Balaam himself, when he came to have his Eyes open, could wish to die the Death of the Righteous, con­vinced that the Day of his Death was better than the Day of his Birth. So that upon the whole, all the sacred Pages represent this blessed Truth to us, that there is a Reality in the Things above; that GOD therefore calls us to set our Affections on those Things, and not on Things on the Earth: And that ac­cordingly this has been the Practice of good Men in all Ages, who have so understood the Duty and so perform'd it.

Set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth. This does not forbid us having an Affecti­on for the Things below; but indulging an inordi­nate Affection. We may have an Affection for earthly Things, but we must not set them, must not six them upon these Things; must not set our Af­fection; not all of them as ONE; not wholly upon earthly Things. We may desire worldly Good; but not too vehemently; but it must be with profound Submission. We may love and be glad of our out­ward Blessings; but it must be a subordinate Affec­tion, we must set loose by them, and be willing to part with them. We must set a much higher Value upon the Things above; and look upon them to be by far better. This is the State of the Case: You may have an Affection for the good Things in [Page 12]the World but you must no set your Affection on these lower Things, but on Things above.

It were high Ingratitude in us, to have no Re­gard at all for the good Things which a bounte­ous GOD, on this Earth gives us. 'Tis he that bestows on us, our Riches, and our Relatives; our Health, and our Life; and it were Disrespect to the Giver to disrelish the Gifts. So an absent Friend sends us Tokens of his Friendship, by which we should remember him: As it would be strange that those Marks of Affection should be lov'd in­stead of our Friend to the Prejudice of our Fond­ness for him, so it would be base and ungrateful not to esteem the Tokens and remember our Friend by them. Let us relish the Creature for GOD's Sake then, and there will be no Danger of an inordinate Affection.

Some have made strange Work with a Passage in the New-Testament, where our SAVIOUR tells the young Man in the Gospel, Sell all thou hast and give it unto the Poor, as though this were a Command that reached unto every Christian, and a Rule to hold universally as a Criterion to try our Love to the World by. 'Tis a Wonder such Genius's for Exposition have not commented on that Passage in the Old-Testament, where Abraham is commanded to sacrifice Isaac; and demonstrated that a Man could not be a true Believer who did not destroy his Chil­dren for Burnt-Offerings; for the Ground for both is pretty near the same. In one Case and the other, GOD gave a particular Command to try the Truth of Grace in the Heart of a particular Person, and all the Difference was, one stood the Trial, as every good Man would, and the other sunk under it, as would be the Case of every Hypocrite. And had the young Man in the Gospel with the sincere unrelucting Heart of Abraham, given up his Possessions, no one can say how far they might have been given back again to him, as Isaac was to Abraham, or [Page 13]as Job's Estate was doubled. However that may be, all we can infer from both the Stories is this, That if GOD does really call for all our outward good Things, a good Man so loves his GOD, that he would make a ready Surrender of them: And not that he is now oblig'd either to slay his Son, or give away all his Estate. It is plain this cannot be the Meaning in the latter Case, because it is a Duty im­possible to be perform'd: For how could every Man sell all his Estate and give it to the Poor? Where would be the Poor to receive it! 'Twould indeed serve to level all Mankind, destroy all Order, and break up the Community: As though we should contrive that the Body natural should be all Hand, or all Eye: And then where were the Hearing and the Taste?

And yet, after all, nothing is more certain than this Truth, that the Man who has ever felt what a Work of Grace upon the Soul means, loves his GOD and his SAVIOUR beyond any Creature. And if he does not sell all he has and give it to the Poor, 'tis purely because he knows it would not please GOD; and if he sacrifices not his only Son, 'tis purely because GOD requires it not, but forbids it.

But would you know whither this be the real Prin­ciple of your Actions, and not the governing Love of the Idol-Creature, the best Way of discovering the Matter, will be, not to try your selves in Instances, where, as GOD has not commanded, so has no where promis'd to assist you: But to examine, do you with­out Reluctance comply where his Commands are plain. 'Twas that young Man's Duty to sell all. He cou'd not do it: 'Tis plain he was not a sanctified Man. 'Twas Abraham's Duty to sacrifice Isaac: He set about it immediately: 'Tis plain he was truly faith­ful. Neither of these are Commands to you. So that if you are not assisted to do Things which are not your Duty, you have no need of Discourage­ment at the Reluctance. The Rule is, Do you do [Page 14]what is your Duty? Do you chearfully give GOD his Dues out of your Estates? Do you give up this Part of your Gains with a peculiar Pleasure, and far from any Regret? If you have the Testimony of your Consciences here, you may be sure that as your future Days so your Strength shall be. And your whole Estate, or your only Son you shall be enabled to part with, if ever GOD really demands them. GOD will either keep you from the Temp­tation, or make Way for your Escape, —All our Projections about future Tryals proceed from our vain Confidence as though our Strength was our own. — Take no Thought for the morrow, but do the Du­ty of the Day, and that is all GOD requires.

Thus I have briefly explain'd and evinc'd the Duty to you; and I come now to improve and apply it.

Be exhorted, my beloved brethren, to set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth.

Consider,

I. CHRIST is above. Is not this a sufficient Rea­son why you should place your Affection there. Who is worthy of all your Love but he? The Creatures you are so fond of, were made by him, and derive all that is lovely in them from him. And if from his Fulness they have all received all their Graces, how superiour must his Fulness be? Besure then, if we are apt to set our Affections on Things below, we have infinitely higher Reason to set them on Things above; for CHRIST is there in his more abundant Glory. And so says the Apostle, in the preceeding Context, Seek those Things which are above, where CHRIST sitteth on the right Hand of GOD. CHRIST is above; and the right Hand of GOD is above; is not this then a Place worthy your Desire and Choice? At his right Hand are Pleasures for ever­more.

[Page 15] 2. Set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth: For ye are dead, says the Context: Ye are dead? What a Shock does it give to our Security in earthly Enjoyments? We set our Affections on Things below: Alas! we must presently be summon'd by Death to leave them all. So certain is it that we must die away from them, that it may be pronounced, we are already dead. Death has passed upon all Men, in that all have sinned. In the Day thou eatest thou shalt surely die. It proved true, because in that same Day the Sen­tence took Place, and we became liable to Death: Dead in Law. Ye are dead then. 'Tis as certain you must be so, as if you were already dead. Set not then your Affection on the Things below. When GOD requires your Soul, whose shall all these Things be?

But besure this is not the principal Intention of the Text, when it says, Ye are dead, therefore set your Affection on the Things above, not on Things on the Earth. Ye are dead: that is, the corrupt Principle in you is dead. The reigning Power of your Lusts is dead; your inordinate Passions and Appetites are mortified and dead. You are dead to this World. By the Cross of CHRIST the World is crucified unto me, and I unto the World. And now why should you revive the Dead Affections, and set them on Things below? Having escaped the Pollution of the World through Lust, why should you be again taken and entangled therein? Re­member how the World treated your blessed SAVIOUR, and let the Cross of CHRIST crucify the World to you. Let the Remembrance of his Sufferings wean you from the execrable Place.

3. But says the Text, Your Life is hid with CHRIST in GOD. Is CHRIST your Life; the vital Principle of Thought and Action in you? Besure we should have our Hearts and Affections where our Life is. Where should Life be, but it the Heart? the Seat of the Affections? Now [Page 16]CHRIST our Life is above, on the Throne, and in the Bosom of GOD. Our Affections should be there too then: Our Life is hid with CHRIST in GOD. Your Life is hid indeed; but this Way you may discover it to others, by your Indifference to the Things of this World, and your Ardor to those of another. Your Life is hid; laid up out of Sight. But O realize it; Look for a future Life. Remember this is not your Rest, why then should should you terminate your Affection here?

4. Another Motive in the Context, is, If ye then be risen with CHRIST, set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth. If we were al­ways to live among such Objects and Enjoyments, it were more excusable should they seize our Affecti­ons; but when we expect so different a Resurrecti­on-State, what Madness is it, to circumscribe our Acquaintance in such narrow Limits? We are made for the Resurrection-World, widely different from the present Scene of Things; why then should we learn to love those short-liv'd Objects, and neglect the future and eternal ones? CHRIST is risen: No Truth is more capable of Proof than this. And we are risen with CHRIST, we shall as surely rise, as if we were already risen. For if the Dead rise not, then is not CHRIST raised. — we are risen in Type, in Earnest and Pledge. 'Tis Folly then, 'tis the great­est Folly, to set our Affections on the World of Death, when we are made for the quite different Resurrection-World. Nay, but further, Ye are risen with CHRIST: It signifies a spiritual Resurrection. A Resurrection from a Death in Sin, and a Resto­ration to the Life of Holiness. Here now is the Ar­gument, If ye then be risen with CHRIST, set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth. If you have experienced this blessed Resurrection with CHRIST; if you have been renewed, and brought into the Life of GOD, Oh feed the divine Life, and cherish it; by no Means stifle it by an inor­dinate [Page 17]Affection to the grosser Things below. This Principle of Life in you, like a Flame, tends up­wards: You smother it when you set your Affecti­on on the Things below. 'Tis worse in you to do so than for others: For the natural Man cannot discern to do at all otherwise. It is better not to have known and felt the Power of the Truth, than after that to disobey it, and love the Things contrary to it.

5. Another Motive in the Context is, when CHRIST who is our Life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in Glory; mortify therefore your Members, which are upon the Earth. Set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth. The second Ap­pearance of CHRIST, and the Rewards which he will then bestow on his Faithful, are a sufficient Reason why we should set our Affections and Expectations on Things future and above. CHRIST will appear the second Time: Behold he comes, and his Reward is with him. He will give the Crown of Righteousness in that Day. Wherefore, forgetting the Things which are behind, and calling our Affections back from them, let us reach forth to those Things which are before, and press towards the Mark for this Prize. The Account we are to give to CHRIST our Judge, this methinks is a most awakening Motive to set loose by the Things of this World, and set our Affection on the Things above. The Glory that we shall receive from CHRIST our Judge, this methinks should raise our Expectati­ons, and attract our Desires and fix our Affections; for when CHRIST who is our Life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in Glory. My Brethren, are we not ambitious of this Honour? Do we not long for this Glory? Is it not enough to call up and fire all our Affections? Are the Things below worthy to be Rivals here? Are they, think you, worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed? Think on the Appearance of CHRIST; on the Glory of CHRIST; and that you shall appear with him in Glory; and see if this has not a pre­vailing [Page 18]Charm to draw your Affection from the Things below, and set them on Things above. If this will not do, consider,

6. The Wrath of GOD cometh on the Children of Disobedience. So says the Context very emphatically: Ver. 6. If your Affections are let loose upon the Things below, they will lead you on to all excess of Uncleanness, for which Things sake the Wrath of GOD cometh on the Children of Disobedience. And is not here fair Warning against inordinate Affection? The Wrath of GOD, is it, do you suppose, a light Matter? Can you easily bear it? Dare you confront it with an intreped Air? Can you resist, or can you escape? Nay, be not deceived, GOD is not mocked: It is indeed a fear­ful Thing to fall into the Hands of the living GOD. Can thy Heart endure, or can thy Hands be strong in the Day when he shall rise up in his Vengeance and Flame! And this will be the amazing Danger, and this the swift Destruction that shall pour upon the Head of those, who seek earthly Things and neglect heavenly. The Things on the Earth are dying Creatures; and those who set their Affection on them, go down to the Dead: What wonder then, that they should be gathered with the Congregation of the dead? GOD commands you to set your Affection on Things above, and not on Things on the Earth; You disobey GOD, and you set up Creatures in the Throne of GOD, when you let your Love loose be­low Him. And will not this justly provoke GOD? For this Cause the Wrath of GOD cometh on the Children of Disobedience.—Thus far I have confin'd my self only to the Motives of the Apostle in the Context.

7. And to conclude, Set your Affection on Things above, not on Things on the Earth: For the Things on Earth are temporal, but the Things above are eternal. This is the great and finishing Stroke of all: And though this Motive is not expressed in the Context, [Page 19]yet it is implied in it, and urged in innumerable other Places. The Things in this World are fading, tran­sitory and perishing. Why should we set our Eyes then, upon that which is not; or presently will not be. Look upon the Things you are so fond of, in this Light, and see how worthless they are of your warm Affection. You have an Affection to Wealth and Plenty; you look with Joy upon your large Pos­sessions, and let your Wishes loose for more. Alas, Riches take themselves Wings, and flee away as the Eagles towards Heaven. You have an Affection to the Plea­sures of Sense and of Sin, and are very loath to with­draw your Desire and Choice. Alas, the Pleasures of Sin are but for a Season. You are fond of worldly Fame and Honour, and pant after Dignities and a great Name. Alas, Man being in Honour abideth not. You feel a glowing Affection to your Relatives, and your Heart beats with the Ardors of Love and Friendship. Alas, Lover and Friend must for sake you, and your Ac­quaintance retire into Darkness. You desire long Life, and love many Days that you may see Good. Alas, If by reason of Strength you should reach fourscore Years, yet, —'tis soon cut off, and we flee away. Thus you see how very temporary, how vanishing and transient are all Things here below! But now set your Affection on the Things above, and they will last boundless as your Wishes, and immortal as your Souls. The Riches there, are durable Riches. The Pleasures are Pleasures forevermore. The Honours are, Salvation by CHRIST with eternal Glory. The Inheritance is incorruptible, un­defiled, and fadeth not away. The Companions die no more: Death is swallowed up in Victory; there shall be no more Death: And so shall we all be forever with the Lord. The Rewards are an everlasting Crown, and Life eternal.

And now, who would not try to set their Affecti­ons on Things above, and not on Things on the Earth? Who would not take Pains for the new Nature, that he might do this? Though you go through Diffi­culty [Page 20]and Labour in this great Work, and meet with many Oppositions, Temptations and Afflictions in it, yet remember and take Encouragement from that Word of GOD, which I leave with you, and conclude, II. Cor. iv. 17, 18. For our light Affliction which is but for a Moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory; while we look not at the Things which are seen, but at the Things which are not seen; for the Things which are seen, are temporal, but the Things, which are not seen, are eternal.