e suffering for
sin hereafter is to suffer for it here. Sorrow here or misery
hereafter; they cannot escape one or the other.

Not for any worldly reason, then, not on any presumptuous or
unbelieving motive, does the Christian desire leisure and retirement
for his last years. Nay, he will be content to do without these
blessings, and the highest Christian of all is he whose heart is so
stayed on God, that he does not wish or need it; whose heart is so set
on things above, that things below as little excite, agitate, unsettle,
distress, and seduce him, as they stop the course of nature, as they
stop the sun and moon, or change summer and winter. Such were the
Apostles, who, as the heavenly bodies, went out "to all lands," full of
business, and yet full too of sweet harmony, even to the ends of the
earth. Their calling was heavenly, but their work was earthly; they
were in labour and trouble till the last; yet consider how calmly St.
Paul and St. Peter write in their last days. St. John, on the other
hand, was allowed in a great measure, to retire from the cares of his
pastoral charge, and such, I say, will be the natural wish of every
religious man, whether his ministry be spiritual or secular; but, not
in order to _begin_ to fix his mind on God, but merely because, though
he may contemplate God as truly and be as holy in heart in active
business as in quiet, still it is more becoming and suitable to meet
the stroke of death (if it be allowed us) silently, collectedly,
solemnly, than in a crowd and a tumult. And hence it is, among other
reasons, that we pray in the Litany to be delivered "from _sudden_
death."

On the whole, then, what I have said comes to this, that whereas Adam
was sentenced to labour as a punishment, Christ has by His coming
sanctified it as a means of grace and a sacrifice of thanksgiving, a
sacrifice cheerfully to be offered up to the Father in His name.

It is very easy to speak and teach this, difficult to do it; very
difficult to steer between the two evils,--to use this world as not
abusing it, to be active and diligent in this world's affairs, yet not
for this world's sake, but for God's sake. It requires the greater
effort for a minister of Christ to speak of it, for this reason;
because he is not called upon in the same sense in which others are to
practise the duty. He is not called, as his people are, to the
professions, the pursuits, and cares of this world; his work is
heavenl