the more it must needs love and delight in him Likeness is the greatest indearment of Love and the most natural Foundation of Delight and Complacency We see this in all the Orders of Being and in all the Degrees of Life In the Sympathetic Associations of Vegetables in the Voluntary Consortings of Animals and in the chosen Friendships of Men. But most of all may this be seen in God himself What is it but the most perfect Likeness and Conformity of Essences Understandings and Wills that renders the Sacred Persons of the mysterious and adorable Trinity so infinitely lovely and agreeable to each other This was that which made the Father say of the Son This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased because he saw there the Brightness of his glory and the express image of his person And upon this is founded that mutual Delight which the other Sacred Persons enjoy from each other That therefore which makes the Persons of the Holy Trinity delight in one another must needs make the pure Soul delight in the Holy Trinity A pure Soul cannot but delight in a pure God and the purer she is the more she will love and delight in him Purity of Heart does even here Anticipate much more then will it hereafter increase the Joys of Heaven It remains therefore that having this excellent Hope we study to purifie our selves even as God is pure and so endeavour to resemble and transcribe the Divine Perfections here that we may contemplate them with the greater Complacency and Delight hereafter To which purpose let us now and always Pray in the Words of our Holy and Devout Church O God make clean our hearts within us And take not thy Holy Spirit from us Amen Discourse the Seventh Matth. V. ver ix Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be call'd the Children of God THE Words very well become the Mouth of him that spake them who was himself the greatest Peace-maker in the World He made Peace in Heaven by the Blood of his Cross and endeavoured to promote it on Earth He first reconciled God to Man and then tried to reconcile Men to one another He chose to be born in the most quiet and peaceful state of the Roman Empire when Augustus in token of an Universal Peace had shut up the Mystical Gates of Janus his Temple And when he came into the World his Proclamation by the Angels was Peace and when he was to leave the World the same was his Legacy Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you The Order of his whole Life was a constant Compliance with the Peace of the State whereof he gave two signal Instances in paying Tribute when not obliged and in forbidding resistance of the Officer that seized him and his Last Prayer was for the Peace and Unity of the Church And now since by this great Love and Study of Peace he shew'd himself to be the Genuine Son of God who is styled the God of Peace he might with the better Decorum make the same Disposition of Mind the Measure and Argument of our filial relation to him as he does when he tells us Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God By Peace-Makers here I suppose is meant not only those that interpose as Moderators to compose Feuds and Quarrels tho' that be the more immediate Sense of the Word but more generally those that are peaceably affected and that shew this their Peaceable Disposition either by living quietly and inoffensively or by endeavouring to maintain Peace where it is or to restore it where it is interrupted The first of these Degrees of Peaceableness consists in a meer Negative the two last are of a positive Nature and consequently of a greater Excellence But the most excellent of all is the last it being for the most part not only a thankless but an odious difficult and hazardous Undertaking to bring them nearer together whom Anger has set at a distance 'T is like the business of a Fire-quencher who tho' he may with plying of Engins and great adoe rescue the Pile of Building from the devouring Flames yet his Eyes will be sure to smart with the Smoke Now this Peace in the not violating preserving or restoring of which this peaceable-mindedness is concern'd may be either private Peace between Man and Man or public Peace between Societies of Men. Again public Peace is distinguishable according to the general Distribution of Human Society into Civil and Ecclesiastic that of the State and that of the Church The former concerns Men not only as subjected to Government or as under this or that particular Form of Government but also as Men and consequently all Men. For even the state of Nature antecedently to all Human Conventions and Constitutions as has been abundantly proved against the Author of the Leviathan is not a state of War but of Peace The later respects only those who are Members of the Christian Church whereof Christ Jesus is the Head and subject to that Spiritual Government whereof he is the Author The former kind of publick Peace is opposed to War and seditious Practices the later to Schisms and Divisions The way being thus far clear'd by pointing out the general Degrees of Peaceableness and the general kinds of Peace we may now with the less intanglement proceed to fix the Subject and Order of the following Discourse And here I do not intend a Casuistical Tract by entring upon that long beaten Common-place concerning our Obligation to Peace and the Measures of observing it with reference either to Church or State For besides that this has been the constant Theme of almost every Casuist and that 't is impossible to say any thing more than All or better than Some have already said upon it I further think that the thing is of it self plain enough and that were it not for the perversness of some Men rather than for any obscurity in the Duty there needed not have been any other Measure given in this matter than that General one of the Apostle If it be possible as much as lies in you live peaceably with all men For when 't is inquired How far we are obliged to Peace in the State or Peace in the Church The Answer is plain and ready from hence That we are obliged to both as far as is Possible and as much as in us lies and that Nothing less than Absolute and Evident Necessity can justifie either War in the State or Separation in the Church Which one Rule if well heeded and practised the Condition of the World would be much more peaceable and quiet than it is or is like to be Instead therefore of treating of this Beatitude in a Casuistical way by describing the Measures of our Obligation to Peace I shall rather chuse this Order of Discourse First To set forth the general Excellency of a peaceable Disposition Secondly To consider that More particular
already done to him whether we have not been guilty of the same or greater er Injuries towards him than those which we so warmly resent from him Then lastly with reference to our selves consider First how much by our unjust Anger we expose our selves to the just Displeasure of God who by his Son has told us that Whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment Consider again that we may easily and do often mis-interpret Men's Minds and Intentions by their outward Demeanour and think our selves affronted by them when there is no such thing intended and that therefore even upon this account 't is very reasonable we should be slow to wrath Consider again how much causless and intemperate Anger unfits us for all the parts of Divine Worship which can neither be well perform'd by nor will be accepted from a Heart flaming with this strange Fire And therefore says the Apostle speaking of Prayer Lifting up holy hands without wrath implying that a vacancy from Wrath is a necessary Qualification for Prayer To which purpose 't is very considerable that when King David would have erected a Temple for the Public Worship of God tho a Man otherwise of a sweet and gentle Disposition and only accidentally and innocently too ingaged in Circumstances of Anger and Contention yet he was refused and the Work imposed upon one not of a more meek Spirit but only of a calmer and more serene Life And if God would not accept an House of Prayer from a Man of a Military way and Character much less will he accept those Prayers which proceed from a Soul disturb'd with Anger Consider again how it unfits us for the business of our Calling how it hinders the free exercise of our Thoughts how it prejudices our Health disturbs the Tranquility of our Minds renders us odious and uneasie to all about us in one word how utterly it unfits us both for enjoying our selves and from being delighted in by others Consider lastly to what mean and sordid Principles within us this Passion owes its rise such as Pride Self-love vain Curiosity and Suspicion rash Credulity Negligence and Inadvertency Ambition Lust Envy and the like So that besides its own proper illness 't is further to be detested upon the Scandal of its Parentage Having thus far discours'd of the Duty of Meekness First By shewing what it is Secondly By shewing that 't is a Christian Duty Thirdly By stating the general Measures of its Obligation And lastly By proposing such Considerations as may recommend its Practice I come now briefly to discourse of its Blessedness which may also serve as another distinct Consideration to inforce the Practice of it Blessed are the meek says our Saviour for they shall inherit the earth The only Beatitude which has a Temporal Promise annex'd to it wherein our Lord seems to imitate Moses who in his Law had also one Commandment with a Temporal Promise And there seems to be great resemblance between them One is that thy Days may be long in the Earth and the other They shall inherit the Earth Here therefore We are to do two things First We must enquire into the Sense and Meaning of the Beatitude Secondly Into the Truth of it That is We must first enquire What is meant by the Meek's inheriting the Earth and secondly shew that they do so inherit it And first by their inheriting the Earth I suppose cannot be meant that they shall have large Portions of it that they shall raise great Estates that they shall take root and spread and as the Prophet expresses it joyn House to House and lay Field to Field This I suppose cannot be meant I. Because this is not true the Meek do not inherit the Earth according to this Sense II. Because if they did this would not be a proper Ground for their being pronounc'd Blessed And first this Sense is not true the Meek do not thus inherit the Earth We rather find that the World is made for the Bold and the Violent for the rough-spirited and turbulent for the furious and boisterous and that they have commonly the greatest share of it who deserve the least And therefore we commonly urge this as one Argument against the goodness of Riches that they frequently fall to the Lot of the worst Men. And therefore says the Psalmist Lo these are the ungodly these prosper in the world and these have riches in possession While in the mean time the Meek are oppressed and devoured by these Beasts of Prey and are so far from inheriting the Earth that 't is as much as many of them can do to Live upon it and more than some of them can do to find room under it But Secondly Suppose they did thus inherit the Earth by having great Portions of it yet this would not be a proper Ground for their being pronounc'd Blessed For are Clods of Earth a suitable Good for Man Or is Happiness to be measur'd by the Acre Do we find that Rich Men are so very much Happier than others Or do we think that the Earth has Mines of Happiness as it has of Gold But whatever we think is it at all probable that our Blessed Lord who himself made choice of Poverty who but in a Line or two before pronounc'd the Poor Blessed who tells us that his own Kingdom was not of this World who bids us beware of Covetousness and warns us of the great danger of Riches by telling us how hard it is for one that has them to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven who dehorts us from laying up Treasures on Earth and who lastly recommends to his Disciples nothing more than the contempt of the World by assuring them that the Life of Man does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses I say is it imaginable that our Lord after all this should therefore pronounce the meek Man blessed for having great Possessions This therefore cannot be the thing meant by the Meek's inheriting the Earth which I take rather to signifie the manner of possessing than the greatness of their Possessions and to import thus much That the Meek shall enjoy what they have be it little or great with comfort and satisfaction and tranquility of Mind whereas those of a contrary disposition tho they may possess a great deal can yet be truly said to enjoy little or nothing And this seems to be the Sense of the Psalmist when in Words directly parallel to these of our Lord he says The meek-spirited shall possess the earth and shall be refreshed in the multitude of Peace That is they shall have Comfort and Pleasure Peace and Content with whatever they have which how little soever shall yet carry a true Rellih and yield more real satisfaction to them than the otherwise affected can reap from their ample Revenues According to what the Psalmist in the same place immediately subjoyns A small thing
faithful to him that appointed him as also Moses was faithful in all his house As therefore Moses gave a Digest of Laws to the People with whom he was entrusted so it became this Divine Prophet also to give Laws and Precepts for the Instruction and Order of his Disciples He was to be a Law-giver as well as Moses And to carry on the proportion yet further he thought fit to imitate him in the very manner and circumstance of delivering his Law and accordingly ascended up into a Mountain from whence he showr'd down his Heavenly Manna upon his Hearers So also making good another instance of resemblance relating to Moses who speaks thus of himself My Doctrin shall drop as the rain my speech shall distil as the dew as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass But the Parallel will not run throughout For the Divine Oracles were not now accompanied with Thundrings and Lightnings with Blackness and Darkness and Tempest but were deliver'd in the small still Voice of Blessing and Consolation 'T was with a Beatitude that David began his Collection of Divine Hymns and in like manner does the Son of David usher in his sublime Instructions And this was very suitable and agreeable both to the Character of his Person and to the Genius of his Doctrin As to his Person Blessing became the Mouth of him who was the Reconciler of God and Man the great Embassadour of Peace the Author of Salvation and Happiness and at whose Nativity the Angels sang Peace on Earth and good will towards Men. And as to his Doctrin the Precepts he was to deliver were of so refined and high-raised a Nature so little agreeable either to the Maxims of the World or to the grosser Relishes of the Animal Life that they would have found but cold Entertainment had they not come recommended with a Reward and been guarded on each side with a Beatitude 'T was requisite therefore that the Duty and the Blessing should go hand in hand and accordingly our Lord who well understood the Temper of the Sons of Men how passionately we pursue any thing that looks like Happiness and how apt we are to ask that Question Who will shew us any good thought it expedient to joyn them both together in his Discourse as they will be in the Event and to pronounce them Blessed here whom he intends to pronounce so hereafter when he shall say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World And the better to win us over to the practice of his Divine Sermon our Lord like a wise Master-Builder lays the Foundation of his Discourse where we must lay that of our Obedience and assigns the first place among his Beatitudes to Humility and Poverty of Spirit For Humility is the Foundation of Obedience we must be first poor in Spirit before we can be rich in Good Works first Humble before we can Obey and first Obey before we can Reign And therefore with good reason does our Lord lay down this as the first Principle and Ground-work of his Institution Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven In my Discourse upon these words I shall I. Resolve what we are to understand by Poor in Spirit II. Shew that this Poverty of Spirit is a Christian Duty and the reasonableness of it III. Shew the Happiness of those who are so disposed As to the Resolution of the first I consider that this Poverty of Spirit here recommended by our Saviour is not a state of Life but a state of Mind and we may take it either in Opposition to Covetousness or in Opposition to Pride and High-mindedness If in opposition to Covetousness then to be poor in Spirit is to have our Souls so disposed as first Not to be eagerly carried out in our Desires after any created good particularly the good things of this lower World whether Honors Pleasures or Profit especially not to be greedy and craving in our desire of Riches But Secondly To be so moderately and indifferently affected towards all these as to be well contented without them and also ready to resign and part with them when either God shall think fit to deprive us of them or when we can no longer retain them with a good Conscience This is to be poor in Spirit consider'd in opposition to Covetousness But it may also be considered as opposed to Pride or High-mindedness and then to be poor in Spirit will denote First A Just that is a low and mean Sense and Apprehension of our own selves of our Souls and of our Bodies of our Intellectuals and of our Morals of our Acquirements and of our Performances And Secondly as a Consequent of this a Contentedness whenever any or all of these are disesteem'd or disparag'd either tacitly and interpretatively by Affronts and dishonourable Treatments or else directly by express undervaluations a readiness to prefer others before our selves and a willingness that the same Preference should be given them by others an utter Captivation of our Understandings to the Obedience of Faith and a modest Submission of them in all doubtful Cases to the Dictates of our Superiours a declining of Fame and Popularity and a studious concealment of our own Praises and Excellencies but when either the Glory of God or the good of our Brother is concern'd in their Publication In short to use the Description of the Psalmist he is truly poor in Spirit who from his Heart can say to the Searcher of Hearts Lord I am not high-minded I have no proud looks I do not exercise my self in great matters which are too high for me but I refrain my Soul and keep it low like as a Child that is wean'd from his Mother yea my Soul is even as a weaned Child Having thus briefly shewn what it is to be Poor in Spirit both with respect to Covetousness and with respect to Pride and High-mindedness I come now in the second place to shew that this Poverty of Spirit is a Christian Duty and withal the great reasonableness of it And First That Poverty of Spirit according to the first acceptation of it is a Christian Duty 't would be Conviction enough to consider how often we are call'd upon in Scripture to withdraw our Affections from the Creature to seek those things which are above to set our affection on things above not on things of the earth to mortifie our members which are upon earth among which is reckon'd Inordinate Affection Evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Again we are bid to beware of Covetousness and to have both our Treasure and our Hearts in Heaven to be as indifferent in the very enjoyment of any worldly Good as if we enjoy'd it not and if in the enjoyment then certainly much more in the desire Lastly to add no more we are caution'd by St.
John not to love the World neither the things that are in the World And lest we should take this only as a matter of Advice and Counsel not express Command he further adds If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him But that 't is a Christian Duty to be thus poor in Spirit will be further evident from the very Nature and Design of the Christian Institution The Grand thing intended in the Christian Religion was to reduce straying Man to his true Good and Happiness to sublimate refine and spiritualize his Nature to loose him from the Cords of Vanity and from his fast adhesions to created Good to purge him from all earthly Concretions and Alloys to disingage and separate him not only from the World about him but even from one part of himself in one word to raise him from Earth to Heaven not only by a Local but by a moral and mental Elevation Indeed 't was much otherwise under the Jewish Dispensation There was then great Indulgence afforded to the Animal Inclinations and worldly Affections of Men and their very Religion was indeared to them by Temporal Promises and Blessings Not that God intended hereby to express any liking or approbation of Covetousness and Earthly-mindedness but only to comply with the infirmity of that gross stupid People which rendred them uncapable of being won upon by more noble Proposals And besides it being a received Notion among the Idolatrous Inhabitants of the Land as is observ'd by a late Learned Author that the Worship of their Idols and False Gods did procure them fruitful Seasons and increase of all manner of store 't was in proportion requisite that God also should promise his Votaries the like worldly Affluence to keep them from running over to the Gentile Superstitions Upon these and the like Accounts much was indulg'd to the Jewish State and People They were never expresly required to abstract their desires from the things of the World Nor unless they proceeded to covet unjustly that is what belonged to another were they ever taxable for a too earthly and downward disposition of Soul Not but that earthly-mindedness was as much an Imperfection in it self as 't is now and was really forbidden according to the more retired and involute sense of the Law but the Letter did not reach it because then was the time and state of Imperfection and 't was the only Handle which that People could be took hold of by whose Hardness of Heart was the occasion of this as well as of some other Indulgencies But now they that shall think themselves obliged to no higher measures of Perfection under the Christian State know not what manner of Spirit they are of Christ as he has introduced a Better Hope so has he annexed to it more excellent and more exalted Precepts and as his Kingdom was not so neither is his Religion of this World The Christian Law is Lex Ignea a Law of Fire a Law that purifies and refines that warms actuates and enlightens that separates also and dissolves those strong Ties whereby the Soul sticks glued to the Earth And therefore the Apostle calls the Christian Institution the Law of the Spirit of Life and in another place the ministration of the Spirit And what our Saviour said of some words of his may truly be applied to all The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life This therefore being the Design of the Christian Dispensation to perfect Holiness to advance the Interest of the Divine Life to elevate us to the utmost degree of moral Perfection our Nature is here capable of and as far as is possible to make us Partakers of the Divine 't is utterly inconsistent with the End of such a Law as this to suffer us to lie groveling with our Faces on the Earth to seek Rest and Happiness in things more ignoble than our selves and to grow one as it were with the dirty Planet upon which we live We ought rather as the Philosopher speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aspire to the measures of Immortality shake off the Clogs of Earth that weigh us down and make hast to be Angels as fast as we can We are obliged by the Design as well as by the Rule of our Religion to be as loose from the Creature as may be not to love the World nor the things of the World whether the Lust of the Flesh or the Lust of the Eye or the Pride of Life but to be poor in Spirit and empty of the Creature that we may be rich towards God and filled with the fulness of him that fills all in all And now that to be thus poor in Spirit is a reasonable Duty as well as a Necessary one will sufficiently appear upon these two grounds I. Because these Worldly Enjoyments are not our True Good II. Because they hinder and divert us from that which really is so That they are not our True Good is certain for if they were we should then find Rest and Satisfaction in them But this we are so far from doing that we are as dissatisfied under our Enjoyments as without them For though by Fruition our Appetite be abated as to that particular Object which we prosecuted yet still we desire on further and our general Thirst after Happiness is as unsatisfied as ever Which plainly argues that our true good is not to be found in these things but that they are altogether Vanity and Vexation To place therefore our Happiness in such Objects is utterly absurd and against Reason and argues us to be grosly ignorant of one of the two things either of our selves or of the things of the World We are either ignorant of the Dignity and Excellence of our Natures of the Designs and Ends of our Creation and of the Strengths and Capacities of our Appetites which can be satisfied with nothing less than infinite Or if we do know and consider all this then we are so much the more grosly ignorant of the World about us to think there is any thing to be had in this Circle of Vanity that may satisfie the importunity of such craving and capacious Appetites Poverty of Spirit therefore is reasonable because the things of the World are not our True Good But this is the least part of their Charge They are not only insufficient to be our true good themselves but they also Secondly hinder and divert us from that which really is so For not to mention the many Snares and Temptations of a great Fortune and what a dangerous thing it is to be always furnished with all the Possibilities and Opportunities of Sin and Folly I only observe that the very Desire of these Earthly things diverts us and takes us off from the Love of God When our Love is divided even among Created Objects the force of it will be much abated in respect of each But much more will the Love
through a course of Sorrow and Affliction they presently began to behave themselves more orderly and seem'd like Gold to refine upon the Trial of the Furnace For we don't read that after that time they ever fell into Idolatry And accordingly God began to deal with them now no longer as Children but as Persons of some maturity by withdrawing from them his Visible Presence and the Spirit of Prophecy thinking them to have learnt enough already in the School of Affliction to supersede all other methods of Instruction and Disciplin And from that time forwards the Minds of Men began to be more generally erected towards Heaven and the good things of a better Life when they saw that the strictest Observers of the Law fell oftentimes into those Evils which were denounc'd against the Transgressors of it By which means they were by degrees prepared for the reception of the Gospel This is the present Blessedness of those that mourn What the future is we are told by our Saviour who says they shall be comforted that is shall be received into a State or Place of Bliss and Happiness Joy and Delight and be infinitely rewarded in Heaven for all their Pious and Charitable Mourning upon Earth According to that of the Psalmist He that now goes on his way sorrowing and bringeth forth good seed shall doubtless come again with joy and bring his sheaves with him They shall be receiv'd into the City of God the new Jerusalem where there is no more Mourning nor cause of Mourning and where not only all Sin but even those very Vertues which are founded upon the least Imperfection shall be done away Here therefore there will be no room left even for Godly Sorrow but all shall be Joy and Gladness Harmony and Thanksgiving And Blessed are they who so mourn here that they may enter into this Joy of their Lord hereafter Discourse the Third Matth. V. ver v. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth THE Judgment of God differs so very widely from that of Man that his Thoughts are seldom as our Thoughts nor his ways as our ways But in nothing is the difference so signal as in the Conclusions concerning Good and Evil Happiness and Misery Our Judgments are seldom conformable to the Divine in matters of meer Truth and Notion but much seldomer in Practical Maxims and Moral Resolutions Here if any where is chiefly to be found that Vain Philosophy which we are caution'd against by the Apostle and that Tradition of Men and those Rudiments of the World which are not after Christ. Herein 't is that the Wisdom of God and the Wisdom of the World which seldom meet in one point stand yet most divided and opposed to each other and tho the latter be always in some respect or other Foolishness to the former yet never so much as in her Resolutions concerning Good and Evil Happiness and Misery The World for the most part calling that Evil which God calls Good and those miserable whom God pronounces in an especial manner Happy This is very remarkably verify'd in the matter now before us For tho there has been great diversity of Sentiments in the Gentile Philosophy about the Objects of Human Happiness some placing it in one thing and some in another yet among all their variety we don't find any that placed it in Humility or Meekness These they scarce acknowledged as Vertues much less to be such as wherein the Happiness of Man should in great part consist Nay they rather look't upon these as mean servile Dispositions such as were fit for Men of low Fortunes and lower Minds and which were so far from conducing to Happiness that they rather exposed Men to misfortunes and miseries But now these are the Dispositions of Mind which our Lord and Saviour who was the Wisdom of his Father and the Light of the World singles out and marks for a peculiar Excellency and Happiness Nor need we wonder overmuch at the singularity of this Christian Paradox since the whole course of our Saviours Life and Doctrin was a direct Contradiction to the Maxims and Practice of the World Thus Men hate to unsay or undo what they have either done or said and to confess their former Folly by an after-retractation But now this is the principal thing of our Saviours Institution whose whole Gospel is a Doctrin of Repentance which is a Retractation of Judgment and Choice Thus again Men love Riches but Christ chose to be Poor They are altogether for Honours and Greatness but he hid himself that he might not be made a King They again greedily pursue after Pleasures but both his Life and Doctrin was all over Rigour and Mortification The World thinks Affronts intolerable and 't is reckon'd a piece of Gallantry and Honour to revenge them but our wise and good Lord chose to be reviled and spit upon They are impatient of Calumnies and Slanders but he chose to be condemn'd being innocent They lastly as the Prophet complains call the proud happy and despise the meek Man as a miserable Slave and Fool whereas says our Lord in Opposition to the former Blessed are the poor in spirit and in opposition to the Latter Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth From the Words I shall discourse of these two things in general the Duty and the Blessedness of Meekness In treating of the first 't will be requisite I. To consider what Meekness is II. To shew that it is a Christian Duty III. To state the Measures of its Obligation in its more general Cases IV. To inforce the Practice of it as far as it Obliges First therefore as to the Notion of Meekness Aristotle has long since defined it to be a Mediocrity about Anger 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are his Words in the Fourth of his Ethicks This Definition tho it be true as far as it goes yet like the rest of his it runs in such general Terms that a Man is little the wiser for it And indeed it rather serves to tell us the meaning of the Word than to discover the Nature of the thing To do this therefore I should rather think fit to say that 't is such a Temper or Disposition of Mind whereby a Man so moderates and commands the Passion of Anger as not to be carried to any such degree of it as may either discompose himself or injure his Neighbour Call this a Definition or Description or what you please I think 't is such as may give a sufficient Idea of the thing we are discoursing about This therefore being setled our next business is to shew That to be thus meek is a Christian Duty That it is so might sufficiently appear from this General Consideration that 't is an Instance of Charity which as we well know is the Life and Substance of the Christian Law And 't is a very considerable Instance too For since Charity obliges us to promote both our own
that he of all Creatures should shew Mercy As it will Secondly if we consider what he expects Man has not yet received so much mercy but that he expects more The Mercy that he has receiv'd is by the Redemption of Christ to be put into a Capacity of Salvation but the Mercy that he expects is to be actually saved The Court of Mercy is the only Court where Man dares appear or can abide a Trial. Briefly Man expects Mercy both from God and from Man in this Life and in the next in Death and after Death and therefore there is great reason to conclude that he of all Creatures should be merciful and that Cruelty was as little made for Man as Pride Nor is this Affection less Useful than Reasonable The condition of Man in this World is such as makes it as necessary for him to be pitiful as to be a sociable Creature Man cannot subsist without the Guardianship and Protection of Society nor is Society any Security without this Affection For what signifies Strength and Ability and Society as such infers no more without Inclination to assist The Wise Man tells us that Wisdom is better than Strength and 't is very true but neither of them nor both of them signifie any thing without a tender and compassionate Temper Then only may we expect Happiness and Defence from Society when there is the same Sympathy in the Politick as there is in the Natural Body when there is a mutual Correspondency and Communication of Parts like the Sympathetick Answer of one Lute to another When the Heaven hears the Earth in the Prophets Phrase or as the Apostle more fully expresses it when If one member suffer all the members suffer with it or if one member be honour'd all the members rejoyce with it This would make a Millennium indeed nor is any thing further wanting but only that Men would agree together to make the Experiment And now if this Divine Affection for so we may now venture to call it be not yet sufficiently recommended from its Nobleness and Excellency and from its great Reasonableness and Usefulness let us further add the particular Blessedness here assigned to it Blessed are the merciful says our Saviour for they shall obtain mercy This they shall obtain from Men and from God here and hereafter First They shall obtain Mercy from Men here Not that this is to pass for an Absolute Rule without any Exception since as long as Men are but Men Mercy is capable of being abused and ill-requited as well as any other Vertue otherwise our Saviour would have been more kindly treated than he was by the Jews But the meaning is that nothing does more naturally recommend a Man to the good Will and Compassion of others than a Merciful and Benign Temper and that generally speaking if Men be but tolerably well disposed and have any Sense of Justice and Gratitude the merciful Man will actually find Mercy amon them However if not he has the greater stock of Mercy to come For Secondly The Merciful shall obtain Mercy from God hereafter And this does not depend upon so many Casualties and such uncertain Suppositions as the other Here 't is only required that Mercy and Truth meet together and that the Man be sincere and upright in all other moral respects And so much indeed is necessary For 't is not to be thought that Mercy alone any more than any other Solitary Vertue can qualifie a Man for mercy No the Man must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perfect and Intire and wanting nothing as to all the Integral Parts of Duty to be accepted in the Judgment of God Only there may I think be allow'd this further Sense in the Proposition that no one Vertue shall go so far towards the obtaining of full Mercy from God as this of mercifulness And that if the merciful Man for want of other necessary parts of Christian Perfection should not be able to stand in the last Judgment yet however his Fall shall be much the milder and he shall have great Abatements of Punishment made him for the sake of this one Excellency To which purpose 't is very considerable that our Saviour in the Description of the last Judgment makes all the Favour and all the Severity of that day to proceed according to the Practice or Omission of this Duty One way or other therefore the merciful shall be sure to obtain Mercy nor will God forget this Labour of Love Pray God we may not forget it our selves but may so love study and practise mercy here that we may hereafter not only receive a milder Sentence but find such a Degree of mercy as may finally rejoyce against Judgment Amen Discourse the Sixth Matth. V. ver viii Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God ONE of the most distinguishing Perfections of the Christian Institution above any other either Divine or Human is that it requires an inward Rectitude of Mind and Spirit and makes the Heart the Principle and Seat of Spiritual as it is of Natural Life The Heathen Morality went little further than the regulation of the outward Behaviour not much regarding the Sanctity of the Interiour And tho some few raised Spirits among them moved by a Diviner Impulse would now and then like men in Extasies talk above the World and themselves too recommending certain Purgations and Purifications of Soul as the Pythagoreans and Platonists yet this was not taught or known in the common Schools of Nature nor was it any where made the Ordinary Standard of Morality The Jewish Religion as it presented to the World a second and more correct Edition of the Law of Nature so was it in this particular respect more perfect than the Gentile Morality there being in the Moral Law one special Precept which directly concerns Purity of Heart But yet there was a great defect even here too because tho there was a Prohibition of inward Concupiscence yet it had no penal Sanction annex'd to it Every other Precept was so guarded as to be able to revenge it self upon those who transgressed it Idolatry was punish'd Perjury was punish'd Profanation of the Sabbath Disobedience to Parents Murther Adultery Theft and bearing false Witness were all punish'd only Concupiscence had no Punishment allotted to it Which as a Learned Person Conjectures gave some occasion to think that they might securely indulge their Concupiscence so it did not break forth into the outward and grosser act Certain it is that many among the Jews so thought and practis'd contenting themselves with external Conformity to the Law without any regard to the inward Purity and Holiness as may appear from our Saviours frequent reprehensions of the Pharisees upon this very account And 't is very probable that this their Fancy was occasion'd by there being no Punishment assign'd to the Breach of the Tenth Commandment as that Learned Person conjectures However