be cast into Hell And if thy right Hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell THese Words relate either to all the Precepts that go before or to the Command or Prohibition immediately preceding either to all the Rules and Lessons and Vertues which we have already treated of such as Humility Meekness Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness purity of Heart Peaceableness and Peace-making exceeding the Scribes and Pharisees in Righteousness leading an Exemplary Life c. or to the Law and Command which prohibits harbouring Adulterous and impure Desires Intentions and Lusts even that whosoever tooketh on a Woman to Lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart The Words of the Text are Metaphorical or Hyperbolical to be sure cannot be understood in a literal Sense for though it hath happen'd so and Providence sometimes hath so ordered it for reasons great and weighty that some good Men have had their right Eyes pulck'd out by others and their right Hands cut off by Enemies by Tyrants and Persecutors yet to think that Christ would command his Followers to pluck out their own right Eye and cut off their own right Hand be Butchers and Executioners upon themselves practise that Inhumanity upon their own Bodies and go beyond the Priests of Baal who only cut and hackt their Flesh till the Blood gush'd out this seems not at all agreeable with the design of him who came to save that which was lost and hath charged us not to hate our own Flesh but to cherish it as a Servant that the Soul may be the better for those kind Usages shewn to her Minister And therefore the meaning of our Saviour must needs be this If thy right Eye offend thee or if thy right Hand offend thee i. e. If these parts of thy Body administer occasion to Sin if looking upon an Object or touching it causes or is apt to cause evil Thoughts and impure Desires Lusts and Designs within thee pluck out and cut off the Occasions of that Evil. Forbear looking that way as much as if thine Eyes were pluckt out and avoid touching that Object as much as if thy Hands were cut off it is better for thee that thou enter into Life with one Eye or maimed or that one of thy Members should perish i. e. It s better for thee that thou shouldest miss that Satisfaction which thine Eye gave thee and thy Hand prompted thee to than with that Satisfaction to be cast into Hell So that these Words are a Metaphor taken from Surgeons who in a Gangrene cut off a Limb a Hand or Foot or an Arm to preserve the other Parts and cause one to perish that the other may continue whole and untainted This is at least part of our Saviours meaning here But as I told you the Words relate not only to unlawful Lust shewing how that is to be cured but to all the preceding Precepts and Vertues and therefore something more must be intended by them and that you may see the full extent of them I shall comprehend it as near as I can in these three Propositions I. Vertue and Watchfulness against Sin is of that mighty Consequence that if it were not otherwise Attainable it were worth loseing an Eye or a Limb to get it rather than be cast into Hell for want of it II. To attain to a truly Spiritual Life or to root up Habits of Sin if gentler Means will not do a Christian must apply himself to a more painful Discipline III. To avoid or to be rid of unlawful Lust whether Adulterous or other impure Desires a Christian must give not the least Encouragement to the Sin by Actions that feed it nor cherish any thing that provokes to it I. Vertue and Watchfulness against Sin is of that mighty Consequence that if it were not otherwise Attainable it were worth loseing an Eye or a Limb to get it rather than be cast into Hell for want of it This is as little as we can draw from our Saviour's words and there is none so weak but will be able to inferr from them that so much at least is supposed in these Expressions If thy right Eye or thy right Hand offend thee c. Whatever Opinion the World may have of Vertue and Watchfulness against all sorts of Sin God hath other thoughts of it and judges the Attainment so necessary that he holds it Advisable rather to endure any thing and to run any Hazard of the Body than go without it And indeed all wise and good Men who have any lively Apprehensions of the reason of the Thing are and have been of the same Opinion not only Christians but even the Heathen Philosophers had an Insight into this Truth There is a remarkable saying of Seneca to this Purpose Projice quae Cor tuum laniant quae si aliter extrahi nequirent Cor ipsum cum illis evellendum erat i. e. Throw away those base Lusts which war against thy Soul which if there were no other way to cure it were worth pulling out the very Heart with them Nay some of these Philosophers have actually deprived themselves of the use of some considerable Members of their Bodies for the study of Philosophy and its hard if the study of Piety should not deserve as much if it were so that it were to be procured no other way Vertue and Watchfulness against Sins are of infinitely greater Value than all outward Advantages whatsoever and since we ordinarily part with things of a lesser for those of greater worth seems it to you so hard a Bargain to part with an Eye or Limb for a greater Blessing The loss of an Eye or Limb is nothing to the loss of a Soul He that loses either of these if he be Vertuous and Holy and Watchful against Sin may yet enter into Life but he that is destitute of this Watchfulness can never enter in with all his Parts about him The loss of an Eye or Limb cannot hurt the Soul for all that loss the Soul may be Happy and Blessed and Glorious and a Favourite of Heaven and he that loses an Eye or a Limb upon the account of Righteousness shall have that Eye or that Limb restored to him in a more splendid manner in the Resurrection of the Just so that he shall be no loser by it whereas he that is a stranger to this Watchfulness here can never have it restored to him in the last Day for as the Tree falls so it shall lie and he that continues filthy here shall continue so till Dooms-day Add to all this that Hell is so tremendous a Torment that if a Man had any lively Notions of it he would suffer any thing rather the Rack the Gibbet the Wheel and the Bull of Phalaris than venture falling into that Misery I grant very few Men
such as Fasting Severities doing things irksome troublesome and uneasie to the Body great self-denials in Dyet in Apparel in Company in Talking in Mirth and Recreation large Alms doing much good c. These strangely advance a spiritual Life especially if joined with those I call gentler Means and as painful as this may seem to Flesh and Blood at first the Discipline will become sweet and easie when the Soul perceives the glorious Effects of it And O! that you would but try and venture upon this severe Course There are Treasures in it of Joy of Comfort and Satisfaction and you will find how your Sins will abate how your Corruptions will decrease and your evil Inclinations will become less troublesome you 'll find how everything will thrive under it and what a strengthening it will be to your Faith and Hope and Love and Charity and how all these Graces will grow and swell and become large and fruitful Some of you I am confident have been striving against Lust and other Sins you have pray'd you have resolved you have meditated c. Yet you find you fall into the same Sins again Here must be some fault either your Prayers are not fervent or your Resolutions are not strong enough or some more painful Discipline must be used some Austerities whereby the Body is subjugated and made obedient to the Spirit for the more the Body is pinch'd and denied in its Satisfactions the better doth the Soul thrive I grant these Austerities have been abused by Pharisees and by some Votaries of the Church of Rome into Superstition so is Wine and stronger Spirits which make some drunk but are a Cordial to others but a modest and humble use of them cannot but be very beneficial in order to the Life we speak of This is a very tempting Subject and I could dwell upon it a little longer but that I have something more to explain viz. the III. Proposition That to avoid or to be rid of unlawful Lust or adulterous and impure Desires Wishes and Inclinations a Christian must not give the least Encouragement to the Sin by Actions which will feed it nor cherish any thing that will provoke to it And of this Nature is the right Eye in the Text and the right Hand the one by looking the other by touch or contrectation These must be forborn and totally abandoned where they are apt to cause the least disorder in the Mind for these are the Fewel that feed the impure Fire and it stands to reason the Youngster that feeds his Eyes with the charming Looks of the Minion or Idol he adores and puts his Hand into the Bosom of his Mistress may as well hope to cure himself of a Fever by a Draught of cold Water as cure himself of his Lust by that means Though Marriage be the great Remedy against Adultery Fornication and all other unlawful Lusts and Desires of the Flesh and a Remedy prescribed by God himself yet all Persons are not under those Circumstances which may make a Married state fit for them Some though they have not made a Vow yet are resolved or minded to continue in a Virgin State and to imitate the Great Apostle and High Priest of their Profession Christ Jesus as in the Primitive Church thousands of Men and Women made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. that they might attend the Lord without distraction and be able to do more good they denied themselves not only in all sinful Lusts but in Marriage too not out of any ill Opinion of that State but by way of Mortification and voluntary Abstinence and because they thought a single Life spent in the Service of God and in doing good a higher degree of Christian Perfection Others are under the Yoak of Service and tyed by the Law of the Land and their own Indentures and Oaths and Promises not to Marry before the time of their Service be ended Others there are whom Poverty and want of means to maintain a Family keeps from entring into that Condition and others for other Reasons are obliged to abstain from it Now all such Persons may justly be supposed to be liable to Temptations of unlawful Lusts and therefore such may stand in need of Counsel and Advice how to keep themselves Chast and Innocent from the Garment spotted by the Flesh. Nay there is Chastity to be observed in a Married State Adulterous Lusts and Desires are dangerous as the fall of a Thunderbolt and burn into the nethermost Hell And such also fall under the direction of Preservatives These Preservatives are various and they either regard the Mind or the Actions As they have respect to the Mind Consideration I mean that which is serious and attentive must be used and a Christian must take time to ponder and reflect how great how dreadful how heinous how dangerous the Sins of Adultery Fornication Lasciviousness and Uncleanness are for they exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven alienate the Love and Favour of God from the Offender and kindle his Everlasting Wrath and Indignation Galat. v. 19 20 21. Besides he that commits Fornication Sins against his own Body he is injurious to that Body which was purchased and bought for Christ's Service makes a Beth-aven a House of Impiety of that which should be a Bethel a House of God and violates the Sanctity of that Tabernacle which was dedicated to the Worship of him who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity makes the Members of Christ the Members of a Harlot and profanes the Temple of the Holy Ghost for so his Body is and for that use it was intended as we see 1 Cor. vi 17 18. Not to mention how by these Sins of Impurity the Understanding is darken'd the Light of God is obscured and the Life of Religion turned out of doors how Adultery was punish'd with Death by the Law of Moses as much as Murther which shews the heinousness of the Offence and what Judgments have been inflicted on Men and Nations from time to time even in this present Life as fore-runners of greater Plagues in another World such Topicks the Understanding must six upon and except this be done all other Means and Preservatives will be in vain for if these Sins be shun'd it must be upon rational Grounds and its impossible the dread of these Sins should be Rational except the Mind takes these Arguments into Consideration The things that are to be done in order to be rid of these unlawful and forbidden Lusts and joined with these Considerations are these following 1. We know how much Idleness and want of Employment helps to feed these Lusts and therefore this must be watch'd against it was this which precipitated the Inhabitants of Sodom into those Lusts which procured their Ruin and Destruction Ezech. xvi 49 2. Drunkenness and Gluttony and Pampering the Body do manifestly administer Fewel to the Flame and therefore these must be renounced Jer. v. 7 3. Whatsoever feeds the
is not that a motive to go on from Vertue to Vertue In Temporals a little Gain tempts you to aim at a greater He that is easie desires to be easier He that is rich desires to be richer not that I approve of this desire but this is the Temper of Mankind Nay in some cases it may be lawful but here I am sure it 's necessary True Goodness is comfortable even in the lowest degree of it Comfort is the natural result of it and therefore I say having already felt and received something of Satisfaction from those small beginnings of Goodness which you allow are in you is not this an Encouragement to go on to a higher pitch Are you afraid of too much Comfort Or is that you have felt so contemptible that you despise all that you can promise your selves for the future If it were little or no bigger than Elijah's Cloud no bigger than a Mans hand that 's a very pregnant Reason why you should endeavour to enlarge and make it greater There is scarce a vicious Man but hath something of Goodness that lies mingled with all his filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and behold even that grain of Gold as little as it is supports the Wretch against all the Terrors of his Conscience and keeps him from sinking under the load and burthen of his Sin I do not tell you how justly but of the matter of fact and the use I make of it is this If so small a quantity of Goodness is so great a Cordial what must a greater Portion and proportion be This is an Eternal Rule True Vertue causes Sweetness for all her Paths are Peace and that sweetness we taste is a just incentive to long for a greater degree as a Person that tasting of a Dish agreeable to his Pallate desires a fuller Enjoyment of it and thus we give People opportunity to see what we do which brings in the second Proposition II. Our good Works cannot be said to shine except Men see them Let your Light shine that Men may see your good Works When Men see that you are Compassionate and tender-hearted officious and kind and faithful and willing to help and that you love your Neighbours as your selves When they see That you are just in all your Dealings just to your Word just to your Promises just in your Traffick and Commerce and faithful in all you undertake when they see that evil Company cannot draw you to unlawful Games or to Intemperance in Eating and Drinking or to mispending your Time and that you are resolute to obey God more than Man when they see you make Conscience of what Christ Commands and that you express your love to God in such Acts as Flesh and Blood are against and your carnal Interest would hinder you from when they see that pleasing God is the work of your Life and that you can comfort your selves in your Tribulations with the things that are not seen and that you are not fond of the great things of this World but modest and temperate and sober and thankful for the Mercies you enjoy In this case your good Works do shine indeed and Men see them and is not this a more glorious sight than to see Croesus in his Throne or Cleopatra in her Vessel richly guilt and her Sails of Silk or Solomon in all his Glory For what was all that Glory but Paint and shew which perished But good Works are lasting Beauties they tarnish not they fade not they follow the Votary after Death go along with him to Heaven for their good Works follow them Rev. xiv 13 And there is reserv'd for them an Inheritance undefiled and incorruptible You are to convince the World that you are fully resolved to enjoy the Pleasures at the right hand of God but how will you convince them except they see you fight the good sight and resist Temptations and do as the Primitive Saints did Is that convincing them when they see you do things and venture on Actions which God protests shall exclude you from the Kingdom of Heaven Your good Works must be seen else you have reason to suspect them of Sophistication It is impossible to be truly Religious and to hide it from Men if we live among Men We may as well keep Fire from casting a heat as Goodness from being seen if it be genuine An invisible Religion is no Religion for Religion is nothing but Love even a fervent Love which will discover its Motions and its Flames and all Waters cannot quench them and Men cannot but perceive it If there appears nothing without nothing that looks like Love or Religion if nothing is to be seen all is but a Pretence and the Treasures we boast of imaginary and no better than the Riches Men think they are possessed of in a Dream when Fancy is playing in a slumber There is no doubt on 't if good Works are to be seen Men will behold them and take notice of them which calls us to consider the third Proposition III. If our good Works be any way considerable Men will take notice of them This is also limited here That others may see your good Works for this is grounded upon a Supposition for they will certainly observe and take notice No doubt they will not only those who have been enlightned and have tasted of the good Gift of God but even those who are Strangers to the Life of God Even a Herod will take notice of St. John's Austerity and Integrity and a Festus an Agrippa of St. Paul's Zeal and a Heathen Centurion of the admirable Behaviour of Jesus of Nazareth for Men have Reason and are inquisitive and will compare Actions with the Rules they have heard of most Men know more than they do and most Men give a shrew'd guess at the right way to Salvation and can tell whether such and such Endeavours are agreeable to the Path of Life and will take notice whether they be or not But except these good Works be considerable few Men will think them worth their Cognisance and that which will make them so are these six Ingredients 1. Great Patience under Injuries This looks very magnificent in the Eyes of Men of Judgment David's being unconcerned at Shimei's reviling the Apostles entreating when they were defamed St. Stephen's Praying for his Enemies when they stoned him this makes Men stare when Injuries cannot discompose us and Affronts cannot make us step out of the Road of Patience and we can bare up under Contempt and Dishonour without Grief or Passion or Revenge and look to the Example of Jesus and like him return Blessings for Cursings this even astonishes carnal Men and to be sure must look lovely in the Eyes of good Men. 2. Great Acts of Charity such Acts especially as those of Christ to Malchus who came to apprehend him and whose Ear he cured and such as we read of in Ecclesiastical History of the Christians of old who did good to those
Principles and went astray from the center of his Happiness No doubt Antiquity is venerable but it must be in a good Cause and where Truth and that join together the Argument is perswasive and may be call'd invincible But a thing is not therefore true because it is antient nor doth it command Assent because of its uncommon Pedigree Sin and Error lose little of their Deformity by appealing to antient Times and an Error is so much the worse by how much it defends it self by the Practice of former Ages Idolatry and all the Vices in the World may shelter themselves under this Roof and there is no Villany so great but Men may find a President two or three thousand Years ago The Priests of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus called the Wicker-image of that Goddess 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fallen down from Jupiter meerly because it was antient and the Temple having been seven times ruin'd and built up again and this Image still preserved was to them an Argument that this Worship must be lawful Indeed at this rate a Man might even defend Sodomy with the Romish Archbishop Joannes Casa because it was practised in the Cities which God destroyed with Fire and Brimstone and the Jews would have had a good Plea for their Adoration of the Queen of Heaven because their Fathers had been used to it This very Argument makes the Allegations of the Roman Church from Antiquity ridiculous and they might as well espouse the Heresies of Ebian and Cerinthus because they lived in and about the Age of the holy Apostles When God hath given a Standard of Truth that must be the Rule whereby Truth and Error must be concluded and when that saith a thing is true it is not its being revived or taught but Yesterday that can make it false and whatever is contrary to that Form of sound Words must be Erroneous and False though it were as old as the Rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram The Worship of Images is not therefore lawful because Irene a superstitious Woman 900 Years ago got a company of illiterate and passionate Men together who decreed it in a Council nor is Sedition and Disobedience to Magistrates therefore justifiable because Gregory II. Pope of Rome in the eighth Century shook off the Authority of Leo Isaurus his Emperor And therefore let none of you plead for any Sin because it is the fashion nor allow themselves in Actions offensive to God's Holiness because it hath been the Custom of the Country to do so for many Ages This will be but a poor defence in the last Day to alledge that you follow'd the sinful Practices of your Ancestors or to say it was unmannerly to depart from that which was done before you for many Generations To be sure Men were good before they were bad and there was a Golden Age before that of Iron took place in the World and therefore if Antiquity be a motive nothing can challenge your Embraces more than Righteousness and dominion over your Appetite and Passions for that was in the World before Mankind knew what it was to depart from the living God Murder is as antient as the time of Cain yet no civiliz'd Nation under the cope of Heaven will allow of it because of its Antiquity So far from it that in all Countries it is order'd to be punish'd with the Death of the insolent Creature Which calls me to the II. Observation That Murder is a Crime which a Magistrate must by no means suffer to go unpunished for it hath been said Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment The Substance of this hath been said by Almighty God as well as by them of old time and so far as God hath said it it is a Law unalterable Murder is a truly crying Sin for the Voice of thy Brother's Blood crys unto me from the ground saith God Gen. IV. 10 This is a Crime which Nature it self trembles at and yet we see there are Wretches and Monsters who can steel and harden their Consciences against the Horror of it But God thunders against it from Heaven and because the Crime is so great he hath made a Law and given it to all Mankind That whoso sheds Mans Blood by Man i. e. by the Magistrates shall his Blood be shed Gen. ix 6 Nay if a wild Beast tears a Man who is going about his lawful Occasions in pieces though an irrational Creature God will strike that Beast dead because it kill'd Sanctius his Animal a nobler and more sacred Fabrick So tender is God of the Life of Man nor would he suffer his Tabernacle or Sanctuary to be a refuge for such a barbarous Wretch The Horns of the Altar could not save the Offender and from the very Temple he was to be dragg'd to the Gallows or place of Execution The whole Country comes to be defiled by the horrid Crime where it goes unpunish'd and that Magistrate makes his Soul black with Guilt that connives at the inhumane Action or out of respect to Greatness or Rank or Quality pardons the intollerable Extravagance Where this remains unpunish'd when known a Nation falls under the Curse of God and whatever Judgments befal them an Ounce of the unpunish'd Murder as the Jews say of the Sin of the Golden Calf may be said to be an Ingredient of their Calamity We have a Distinction in our Law betwixt Mans-Slaughter and Murder A Distinction which I wish did not too often cover that Bloody Crime which ought to be avenged by publick Justice The Word of God knows no such Distinction and tho' it provides for Chance-medly and gives pardon to the Man that unawares and without any intent to kill proves the occasion of another's Death yet this is nothing to that Act which Wrath and Anger whether sudden or premeditate doth produce to the Horror of the Creation Neither doth the Law of the Gospel nor the Law of Moses in this case before us reverse the Law of Nature and God is so resolute that the Magistrate shall punish such Offenders with Death that where they do not himself sometimes takes the Sword in hand and executes the presumptuous Destroyer of his Image Nay many times makes the Wretch that did the Fact and escapes the Magistrates Sword his own Executioner Alphonsus Diazius a Spaniard and a Roman Catholick having kill'd his own Natural Brother for turning Protestant for which he receiv'd the Praises and Applauses of considerable Men in the Church of Rome haunted and hunted at last by the Furies of his own Conscience desperately hang'd himself at Trent de callo Mulae suae saith the Historian upon the Neck of his own Mule It 's true there are those who guilty of such Crimes do yet escape the revenging Arm of God and Man here but the more terrible will be their Cup of trembling hereafter and God lets some like stall'd Oxen grow fat on this side the Grave that
kindness O Lord toward them that fear thee and put their trust in thee before the Sons of Men They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy House and thou shalt make them drink of the Rivers of thy pleasure for with thee is the Fountain of Life and in thy Light we shall see Light This must needs be a very comfortable Consideration to all that by patient continuance in Well-doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality Rain and Sun-shine and the common Blessings of this Life are not the proper Rewards God intends you These are Mercies design'd chiefly for his Slaves and meaner Servants They are greater richer and nobler Blessings that are appointed for his Friends and Children Eye hath not seen and Ear hath not heard and Heart cannot conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him Grieve not ye in whom the fruits of the Spirit do appear that God doth not give you the Blessings of his Left-hand the Blessings of Men who have their portion in this Life If he should put you off with these you would be miserable The Joys above the triumphs of Paradise the felicity of Angels the festivals of Heaven the eternal Enjoyments of God the everlasting rest the endless beatitude in your Father's House These are the Portions of his Children This World indeed is inhabited by his Friends but the greater part of those who dwell in the Earth are his Enemies Among these good Men live as Strangers and Pilgrims but they are higher larger and loftier Mansions that are prepared for them and when their Earthly House of this Tabernacle shall be dissolv'd there will fall to their share a building of God a House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens SERMON XXXVII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 46 47. For if you love them which love you what Reward have you Do not even the Publicans the same And if ye salute your Brethren only what do you more than others Do not even the Publicans so LAws are best understood by the Preamble because that gives an account of the occasion to these Words by the preceding Among the Rules of Holy Living prescrib'd by our Saviour to his Disciples in this Chapter that of loving our Enemies blessing them that curse us and doing good to them that hate us and praying for them which despitefully use us is most remarkable He was sensible Flesh and Blood would raise Objections against this Duty and therefore he backs it with Arguments great and powerful to let us see how equitable and reasonable it is In the preceding Verse he sets before us the Example of God who receives greater Affronts and Injuries and Abuses from sinful Men than one Man can possible receive from another And yet as ill as that Supream Being is used he lets his Sun rise upon the Evil and the Good and sends Rain upon the Just and Unjust The next Motive is taken from the nature of the Christian Discipline which transcends all other Religions in the World and whose very design it is to raise Men above the common level of Nature and Education and consequently requires greater degrees of Love and Goodness to Men than natural Men Heathens and Sinners and Publicans usually pay for if ye love them which love you what Reward have ye do not even the Publicans the same and if ye salute your Brethren only what do ye more than others do not even the Publicans so The Publicans here mention'd were Persons that sate at the receipt of Custom or receiv'd the Customs due to the Roman Emperors in Palestinae from Commodities Imported or Exported Such a one was Matthew the Writer of this Gospel Matth. ix 9 and Zachaeus Luk. xix 2 i. e. before they were Converted for though Tertullian will not allow that any Jews were Custom-House Men or would suffer themselves to be employ'd in the receipt of Customs yet that in this Point he is under a very great Mistake is evident from the Examples of Matthew and Zacchaeus who were both Jews and of the Stock of Abraham Mar. ii 14 Luk. xix 9 It 's possible there might not be so many Jews of that Profession as there were Greeks or Romans yet that even the Jews did sometimes court and accept of these Employments and personally discharg'd them what has been alledg'd is as good as Demonstration These Publicans were properly Gatherers or Receivers of the Customs or a kind of Under-farmers For the Roman Government under which the Jews at this Time were used to let the Customs of the several Countries under their Dominion to Farm or to be farmed by the Noblemen Knights and Gentlemen of Rome These undertook to pay the Government a certain Summ for the Customs of such a Country And these Farmers had Officers under them who either farmed the Customs of them again or were at the trouble of Gathering and Receiving them whereby they had great Opportunities and were under very great Temptations to Cheat and Exact upon the Merchants and others they had to deal with and such were the Publicans in the Text. And therefore they were commonly look'd upon as Extortioners Unjust Unrighteous and Oppressors and among the Jews particularly they had so ill a name that they were called Sinners by way of eminency and a Heathen and a Publican were with them convertible Terms Nay the Pharisees seem'd to exclude them from all hopes of Salvation which was one great reason I suppose why many of them I mean of these Publicans did so readily close and join with Christ when he preach'd to them Repentance and offer'd them the Kingdom of Heaven But though they were guilty of great Oppression and Extortion and false Accusation and lived by it and by that means lay expos'd to other Vices as one Sin seldom goes alone yet they were not so bad those who were Jews especially as to neglect the common Duties of Religion or the ordinary Offices of Civility and Humanity which makes our Saviour say and affirm that they loved those who were loving and friendly to them and saluted those who were their Brethren and Acquaintance and were civil to Men of their own Religion This being premised the Observations the Text affords may be reduc'd to these three Propositions I. Even wicked Men do and may perform the common Duties of Religion and Morality II. Those who would be Christians indeed must do more than Carnal Men in Matters of Religion and Morality III. If they do not they have no Reward I begin with the first which imports that even wicked Men do and may perform the common Duties of Religion and Morality a truth plainly intimated in the Text for the Publicans were Men wicked and scandalous who got their Livelihood by Cheating Lying Defrauding False-accusation c. It 's true there lay no necessity upon them to do so for St. John the Baptist told some of them who came to him for Advice that they might continue in their Calling provided they
you do not heartily believe an eternal Reward What! Believe it and do nothing for it Yes something ye do as much as some of your indifferent Neighbours do but that 's the very thing Christ finds fault with because you stop there where Men of no great sence of Religion stop It 's true all the doing in the World cannot deserve this everlasting Reward but since doing more than Publicans and Sinners is the Condition to which God hath annex'd this eternal Reward will you neglect the Condition without which you cannot be sure of that Reward 4. When in the last Day ye shall see those excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven who were loath to step farther than their Friends and Acquaintance in the way to Happiness those particularly who thought it sufficient to be kind only to those who were kind to them Will not you wish that you had done more than they But what will Wishes signifie in that Day when the time of Sowing and Planting and Working is past Now you have an opportunity of shewing your extraordinary Zeal and Love and Fervour and Charity and endeavours to do more than others Lay hold and remember we entreat you in Christ's stead to lay hold on the present opportunity and let the eternal Reward tempt you the Reward invisible indeed but as sure as certain as infallible as the Great God who hath promised it Say not this doing more than others is an endless thing for at this rate we must do more than every Man we see or hear of or converse withal a thing enough to make a Man distracted with Religion No my Friends there is no danger of that the Persons beyond whom you are to go are chiefly carnal careless indifferent Men who have a low Opinion of Religion and do no more in these Matters than is consistent with their Interest and Honour and Reputation and Ease and Temper and Profit and Sensual Pleasures Cross your selves in all these and do more than Flesh and Blood and Nature and Custom and Education would prompt you to and as you excel others in Temporal and Spiritual Advantages labour still to do more than they especially where you see they are defective and let all be done according to the Directions of the Text and this Chapter not ceasing to implore God's powerful Arm and the Time will come when you shall Sing and Triumph and Rejoyce more than others and when others shall be Judged Disgraced Despised and Rejected you will sit on Thrones judging the Tribes of Israel Amen SERMON XXXVIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 46 47. For if ye love them which love you what Reward have you Do not even the Publicans the same And if ye salute your Brethren only what do you more than others Do not even the Publicans so I Thought I had done with these Words but upon a review of the Text there appear several Things which will require our farther Disquisition and Examination Our Saviour's principal Design in these Words I think I have sufficiently explain'd in the last Discourse his principal Design I say which is to shew that in Matters of Love Charity Kindness and Civility we are to do more than others more than Heathens and Infidels more than Carnal Men and according to the Rules and Measures of Analogy I extended the Command to other Collateral Duties of Religion and Morality But I find that while I have pressed doing more than others I have forgot to urge some of you at least to do so much as others and while I have taught you to go beyond Publicans and Carnal Men I have overlook'd the Duties and good things suppos'd in the Text to be in Publicans and Carnal Men which are loving those that love them and being kind and civil and courteous to those who are so to them and doing good to those who do good to them Indeed to recommend to you such Duties as these seems to be a thing altogether needless and superfluous as needless as to teach People to Trade one with another or to Eat when they are Hungry or to Drink when they are Dry. But if we look abroad and consider the Christian World as it appears to us now we shall find that even these lesser Duties are trampled upon as well as the greater and as impossible as it may seem to be not to love those who love us it will appear from the sequel that there are not a few even among our selves Christians such as they are who break through the Obligation of this Duty and may be justly charged with wilful Omission and Neglect even of these common Offices which Nature Custom and Education teaches Indeed it is a great disparagement to our Religion at least to the Professors of it that they who for the time they have lived in the Church should be able to digest the strongest Meat should stand in need of Milk the those who should be able to teach others should have occasion or lie under a necessity to be taught the common Principles of Heathen Divinity But so it is and to that pass are things come that we are forced to teach People the first Rudiments of natural Theology so incapable or so unfit are many to be instructed in the higher Lessons of Christianity To love and do good to those who love and do good to us is a pure natural Principle and it looks a little impertinent to prove the necessity of it because it is a Point all Men take for granted yet that I may not seem to leave out any thing that should have been said and for your fuller Conviction and Satisfaction I shall I. Consider the reasonableness of this Principle II. Enquire what Persons they are who act against this natural Principle III. Examine what it is that makes Men sink so low beneath Publicans and Heathens and act against this Principle of Nature 1. The Reasonableness of this Principle of loving and doing good to those who love and do good to us And it will appear from the following Particulars 1. Not to love those that love us or not to be civil kind and courteous to those who are so to us tends to the Ruine and Destruction of Humane Society Mutual and reciprocal Kindnesses are the Solder of Humane Life and without these the World would soon become a Habitation of Savages Trade and Commerce would quickly cease and the Condition of Mankind like the Leviathan's state of Nature become a state of perpetual War This would encrease Animosities and set at variance Father and Son and the Daughter against her Mother and the Daughter-in-law against her Mother-in-law and open a gap to infinite Quarrels and Dissentions for as nothing sowres our Spirits more than Unkindnesses from those whom we have been kind to so if this proceeded to an universal Custom Love and Charity would be destroy'd aud with that the Peace and Order of Common-wealths or Kingdoms This would alienate Mens Affections one from another and this would