case the castle is already in possession of Gods enemy and therefore there is no entertainment for him whose purity is infinite for the law of this converse is with the mercifull thou wilt shew they self mercifull and with the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure Psal. XVIII 25. 2. As the impure cannot converse with God so they cannot appropriate him to themselves and therefore cannot be blessed for mans blessedness arises from being able to say That God is his God his Friend and peculiar Treasure It 's true the man whose heart is impure professes an interest in God as well as the purest souls but words and sayings and boastings do not make the title good God will not be his God that will not have him reign over him his indeed to judge him but not his to save him his to send him to Hell but not his to give him a right to the tree of Life He whose heart is impure le ts Sin and World reign over him offers the Throne of God i. e. his heart to an usurper puts the Scepter into a Traitors hand and sets open the Gates for Thieves and Robbers to come in and surely this cannot be the way to appropriate God to our selves or to take comfort in his love and therefore no right to blessedness 3. Such are not blessed because they cannot see God The sinfull worldly Lusts and Thoughts and Desires which like Vermin crawl in their hearts darken their sight There is a thick veil over their hearts that they cannot see and tast how sweet and gracious the Lord is Their Souls are oppressed there lies much earth upon them a very great weight of earthly carnal disorderly Thoughts and Desires that like Swine they cannot look up to things above them Their Souls indeed are in the nature of Glass but the Glass is greazy and sullied with the Smoak of vain Imaginations which hinders them from beholding his goings in the Sanctuary or at the best they look upon God as men do upon objects through the wrong end of a perspective which represents things great and near as little and afar off He that lacketh these things saith St. Peter is blind and cannot see afar off He that wants a pure heart is that person and wants that which must give him right apprehensions of God the impure Lusts he cherishes in his heart shut the eyes of his heart and understanding that he hath nothing but confused Notions and Ideas of God and his ways an estate very different from theirs who are pure in heart for they shall see God which calls me to the III. Third and last particular How the pure in heart shall see God and since this Vision relates both to this present Life and that to come we must take a distinct view of both And 1. How they see and shall see God in this present Life And here it must be taken for granted that God cannot be seen with the Organs of the body for he is a Spirit infinite immaterial uncompounded and though he fills Heaven and Earth with his presence and is not far from every one of us yet no man ever saw him and indeed none can see him 1 Tim. VI. 16. but this is still to be understood of the Eyes of the Flesh with the Eye of the Understanding without all peradventure he may be seen and that 's the seeing Christ aims at here for it 's evident he speaks of the purity of Heart and Mind and therefore what he says of seeing God must be meant of the Eyes of that pure Mind Even Heathen Philosophers required Purification of the heart from all gross lustfull covetous and worldly desires without which they said a man could never arrive to the brighter knowledge of Philosophy Christ leads his followers to a higher object and promises not so much a clear insight into the mysteries of Nature as a sight of the best of Beings God blessed for evermore And that no man may think that this blessedness reaches only Divines and other learned men whose Studies carry them to contemplate God his Nature Attributes and Providences I must tell you that this Blessing is pronounced with respect even to the meanest capacity and a poor man that follows his trade or gets his livelihood in the sweat of his Brows may see God as well as the learnedest Men alive nay many times better having none of the preferments of this World to blind his Eyes For this seeing God is an affectionate seeing him and such a seeing as assimilates the Soul to him This seeing is not a bare Speculation or being able to talk or write much concerning God but such a seeing as charms and ravishes and unites the Soul to God and as this seeing God relates to this present World such as are pure in heart shall see him more clearly more distinctly more to their satisfaction and edification than other men All men that say they believe in God and talk of his divine Attributes and have occasion to take notice and are sensible of his works pretend a share in the seeing God but none sees him so well as the pure in heart Their inward purity helps them to see him they see him in his Word in his Ordinances in his Providences in his Mercies and Afflictions They see him in his Word how equitable how just how reasonable all his precepts are how agreeable to the divine Nature how suitable to the Soul how glorious how sweet how precious all his promises are how just his threatnings They see him in his Ordinances what Profit what Advantage he intends by them how he designs them as Channels or Pipes whereby to convey his Grace and Spirit and Influences to their Souls They see him in his Providences how righteous how holy how potent how orderly he is in the management of the great affairs of the World They see him in his Mercies how he condescends how tender he is to them how like a Father how like a Shepherd he deals with them They see him in their Afflictions how wise how kind how good he is in sending them what Favour what Love what edification he designs by them They see him in all his Works how admirable how wonderfull how powerfull he is and all this they see with joy and delight and so see him as to love him more fervently and this is called Seeing him in the Sanctuary Psal. LXIII 2. Thus the pure in heart see God here But 2. There is a vision of God in the next life which surpasses all understanding Though they see him here to their comfort and edification yet at the best they see him but as it were through a glass darkly but then face to face 1 Cor. XIII 12. There that Sun will shine directly in their faces and their sight shall be made so strong that they shall be able to look upon that astonishing light without being weakned by its lustre Here they see but his back parts there his
What poverty in Spirit is And here negatively it is not 1. A bare outward Poverty or being destitute of the Necessaries and Conveniencies of this Life not a Poverty in Purse not a worldly Poverty not a State of Beggery We do not deny but Poverty hath great advantages with respect to being good and the poor Man is more expedite in his Journey to Heaven for he hath none of those Clogs none of those Briars and Thorns which too often hinder the Richer sort of Men from discerning or prosecuting their everlasting Happiness This divers of the Heathen Philosophers saw who therefore spoke a Thousand pretty things concerning Poverty what a help it was to Virtue what a means to become truly wise what an Advantage to arrive to solid goodness Nay some went so far as to abandon their Riches and throw their Gold and Silver into the Sea that they might be more at leisure to improve their Minds and to enrich their better Part. And indeed Our Saviour seems very much to favour this Condition and there are so many things spoken against Riches and rich Men in the Gospel as are enough to make Men that enjoy any Plenty or Prosperity afraid for fear their Reward should be with Men who have their Portion in this Life and it is to be noted that Christ says a very great thing concerning this state of Poverty To the Poor the Gospel is preach'd and this he reckons among the Miracles he wrought to prove himself the promis'd Messiah or Redeemet of the World It is Matth. XI 5. The blind receive their sight the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear the dead are rais'd up and the poor have the Gospel preach'd unto them The poor It must be confess'd our Saviour did not go to Court nor did he associate himself much with Rich men except they were of a better Temper than ordinary and he seem'd to be the poor Men's Preacher as if he thought the Rich were not capable of receiving his stricter Discipline and as if the Poor were the most likely Persons to espouse his severer Doctrines Carnal reason would have thought that when Christ appear'd first on the Stage of the World he should have made his first Addresses to the Grandees of Judaea and Men of Estate and Fortune But no his Converse was chiefly with poor Fisher-men and the needy Multitude and here lay the Miracle and the Reason of it we may guess at viz. to shew that the Poor are in a greater Capacity of listening to his Oracles than the Rich who have so many things to divert them from the way to Eternal Bliss so much Business and Pleasure to mind here on Earth that they are not at leisure to think of Heaven And yet notwithstanding all this a bare outward Poverty doth not entitle a Man to the Kingdom of Heaven It 's a great help to Seriousness if sanctified and improved and the want of Comforts here on Earth be made a motive to seek them in Heaven but the bare outward want doth not make Men happy for we see too often that the poorer Men are the wickeder they are and their outward want makes them more daring in Impiety and surely this can be no qualification for Eternal Bliss The Punctilio's of State which the Richer sort of Men think themselves obliged to observe the Luxury they are apt to run into the pampering of their Bodies their pride in Cloaths and external Habits their sinfull compliances with Persons of their Rank and Quality their Care to encrease their Riches to get an Estate suitable to the figure they make in the World their ambition oppressions and domineering over the meaner sort and their study to keep up their Credit with the Great and Potent all which too often are very powerfull imediments in the Richer sort to be truly wise to Salvation These the poor Man is freed from nor hath he so great an Account to give there being but little given him and consequently is in a greater Capacity and possibility of being wise and good and happy but his bare outward Poverty will not do the Work and therefore is not intended here Nor 2. A vowed voluntary Poverty This some Champions of the Church of Rome contend for as if their Monastick vows were commended here Even a Poverty whereby Men and Women do voluntarily renounce their Estates and Riches and bestow them either upon their Relations or the Poor or the Church and thereupon entring into a Monastery or Nunnery Vow perpetual Poverty Chastity and blind Obedience and this they make a piece of Evangelical perfection which all Men are not obliged to but such as some Persons do voluntarily undertake to encrease their own Merits and sometime to merit for others too But certainly this cannot be the sense here for the Poverty here mention'd is represented as a Duty incumbent upon all Men and without which a Christian will certainly miss of a future Bliss for thus saith Christ in the Conclusion of this Sermon Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not him will I liken to a foolish Man that built his House upon the Sand and when the Rain descended c. We make do doubt of it but that God is pleased with Self-denials in our Estates and Fortunes if well-grounded and proceeding upon very good Principles and we believe that such free Will-offerings are very acceptable to him and by his special Grace and Favour may encrease a Man's glory and felicity in another World A Man that hath a thousand Pound a Year and resolves to live upon two or three Hundred and to consecrate the rest to pious Uses or whatever a man's Income is greater or lesser if he religiously confines himself to a small Pittance that he may be in a greater capacity of doing good We are so far from discouraging such a Person that we commend and applaud him and believe the Love of God is strong and vigorous in his Soul and do no doubt but he will be recompens'd accordingly in the Resurrection of the dead provided this self-denial be not intended as a way to satisfie God or to make him compensation and amends for some sins men are loath to part with But we cannot be so foolish as to think that by such self-denials a Man merits any thing of God or may challenge a higher degree of Glory as his due for that savours of monstrous Pride and instead of exalting to will certainly exclude the Soul from the Kingdom of Heaven And what need Men talk of Merit when they have a most bountifull Master to deal with who rewards those that diligently seek him beyond what they are able to think or to express Nor can we be so sottish as to think that a Man who thus denies himself can spare some of his good Works or that the Vertue of them may be applied to others who are either defective in goodness or suffer in Purgatory and consequently such a Poverty
Great God who dwells on high yet humbles himself to behold the things in Heaven and in Earth and seeing his own Image there he counts him blessed 3. Blessed in the Eyes of all good Men. A good Man that beholds Humility shining in his Neighbour and finds that this Grace hath taken deep root in his heart that he hath very low thoughts of himself that he is willing to submit to Persons wiser and abler in things ambiguous and doubtfull that he thinks more kindly and favourably of others than of himself that he ascribes all his Gifts and Blessings to the free and underseved Bounty of God and attributes nothing to his own merits and desert that he thinks himself unworthy of Honour and is not ambitious of worldly Glory that he speaks humbly of himself and is willing to converse with Persons mean yet good and to contribute to their welfare that he can bear reproof and bear injuries well c. The good Man that sees these admirable effects of Humility in his Neighbour what doth he see but the Character of God's Children And what can be more blessed here on Earth than a Child of God than a Son or Daughter adopted in Christ Jesus 4. Blessed in the midst of all his outward Misery Blessed he is in the midst of stripes and lashes and reproaches and calumnies Blessed in a Prison blessed in Dungeon blessed when Men contemn and despise him when all things go cross when he is reviled abused undervalued and despightfully handled for while this spiritual Poverty like a good Angel dwells in him while this Humility reigns in his Soul God's Spirit hovers over him the Almighty carresses him Angels visit and attend him his Conscience justifies him and the Lord Jesus that Pattern of Humility loves him and therefore blessed still 5. Blessed in the opinion of all Reprobates not in this World but in the next when they shall see the humble Man advanced above the Stars of Heaven seated among the Elder Sons of God rais'd from this dunghil World and made to sit with Christ together in heavenly Places then the proud the vain the foolish that counted the humble Man's life madness will all change their Notes and they that once look'd upon his Humility as baseness of Spirit will then be forced to acknowledge that such a Man chose the better part understood himself and was truly sensible of the Veracity of what God had said so long ago I am the lofty and holy one who inhabits Eternity with him also will I dwell that is of an humble Spirit Isa. LVII 15. 6. Blessed because he hath a Title to the Kingdom of Heaven The World calls an Heir to a great Estate or Honour or Dignity a happy Man And must not then the humble Man be happy and blessed that is Heir to the Crown immarcescible Heir to all the vast Territories of Heaven Heir of all the Land of Canaan Heir to all the huge Tract above that flows with Milk and Honey Nothing can make a Man so happy as the full enjoyment of God Is God happy or not The Epicureans held nay the Devil himself dares not deny that God is the most happy Being and is it possible to enjoy that God to be united to him to live in his glorious Presence and to participate of his Felicity and not be happy This blessedness the Kingdom of Heaven gives the humble Man He hath a right to the Tree of life and therefore blessed as we read Revel XXII 14. Inferences 1. Seeing so much depends upon this Humility and spiritual Poverty Is it not fit we should examine whether we are possess'd of this spiritual Treasure or not Though the words of the Text be express'd in the Affirmative yet a Negative is implied and it naturally follows that those who are not humble not poor in Spirit have nothing to do with the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore are in no blessed State or Condition Surely this Consideration is enough to make a thinking Man inquisitive and indeed it is impossible seriously to believe it and not make application to our selves But where Men are superficial Christians and suspect that they are proud and high and lofty and self-conceited and strangers to Christian Humility and that they shall find all nought within if once they examine things and bring them to the Touch-stone there they will be loath to venture upon this Task for fear they should discover and see their Deformity and be obliged to reform So carefully do most Men shun their own Cure and shut their Eyes that they may not see the Sores and Ulcers of their Souls There is no Spiritual temper or qualification or perfection but God hath left Characters in his word whereby we may certainly know whether we are Masters of it and whether that which we have and looks like it be genuine or not and this is particularly applicable to Humility There is a painted and counterfeit Humility which hath base and sinister Ends and Designs and Pride may lie at the bottom of it But this Hypocrisie may soon be discover'd by the Characters before laid down I mean the Characters of that truly humble Spirit which is in the sight of God of great Price St. Bernard very ingeniously observes and from him others have taken and improv'd the Notion True Humility faith he like the Violet grows low to the ground hangs the head downward and hides it self with its own leaves It prefers the approbation of a good Conscience before the applause of the World and were it not that its fragrant Smell betrays it to the observation of others it would chuse to live and die in its own well pleasing Secrecy Truly Christians did you know what stress God lays upon this qualification did you know the consequence the worth and necessity of it were you sensible what an influence it hath upon the whole frame of Religion and what power it hath with God and how its absence renders your spiritual Sacrifices useless and ineffectual you would not only examine your selves to know whether you have it and how much you have of it but labour to arrive to higher Degrees of it than ordinary That which turns the Religion which many of you seem to have into meer Formality is the want of this qualification Pride lies unmortified in your Souls that makes the Ground barren and no Grace will thrive in you Pretending to Religion while this Grace is neglected is as insignificant as building a House without laying the Foundation you are not fit to obey the Gospel till you cultivate this Plant in your Garden But then as I said in the preceeding Discourse the Heart the Mind the Soul the Spirit is the Place where Humility must first display its Beauty and Glory An humble Sense of your selves within humble low and despicable Thoughts of your worth in a word a very low opinion of your selves wrought up by frequent Meditation into a habit that 's it which will
make you truly humble to God and Man That will make you thankfull for the least Mercy that will make you admire God in the meanest Blessing you enjoy that will make you pray often and fall low before God's Foot-stool that will make you resist such Temptations as would put you upon despising and undervaluing of your Neighbours and taking little inconsiderable things ill at their hands that will make you courteous and affable even to the poorest and mercifull and peaceable among those you converse with that will pull down all self-conceitedness and self-admiration and prevent your being tickled with the Commendations and Applauses of Men and allay your Ambition and Hunger and Thirst after the great things of the World that will have an influence even upon your outward Dress and Habit and make you go plain and decently and modestly and keep you from imitating the Fashions of the World that will make you modest and moderate and discreet in your Speeches Answers and Discourses In a word That will make you speak and act like Disciples of the humble and self-denying Jesus so that upon a review of these effects Humility produces I may justly call upon you as Solomon Prov. IV. 23. Keep your hearts with all diligence for out of them are the Issues of Life II. We see here that neither outward Riches nor Poverty makes Men blessed nothing but a just Title to the Kingdom of Heaven This is evident from the reason here given why the poor in Spirit or the humble are blessed even because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven as if our Saviour had said These poor in Spirit may be outwardly rich or outwardly poor but neither the one nor the other makes them blessed but their Title to the Kingdom of Heaven Indeed without this the Richest of you are miserable Men and the poor among you are doubly miserable here and hereafter If this Kingdom be yours if this belongs to you fear not though the Earth be moved and the Hills be carried into the midst of the Sea I know the Judgment of the World is this if a Man get a loss in his Estate or if he breaks or if such a great Man or his Relations abandon him presently he is miserable but if he gets a good Windfall or lights upon a good Bargain or thrives in the World presently we count him happy but these are the wild Mistakes which Flesh and Blood leads us into gain but a Title to this Kingdom of Heaven and you 'll be happy though you are never so great losers in the World This Kingdom O that I had the Tongue of an Angel to represent it to you in lively Characters This Kingdom is large ample great and spatious it holds not only all the blessed Angels but all the Saints that have lived since the Foundations of the World and are like to be to the End of it It is infinitely rich there is such plenty there that the Banks are overflow'd and the Cup of Joy runs over It is infinitely safe safe beyond all the Castles and Cittadels in the World for all the Inhabitants are Brethren love one another with a pure heart servently and are everlastingly faithfull one to another so fearless they are that the Gates of this Kingdom stand open Day and Night It is durable beyond Rocks and Marble for it is incorruptible and fades not away The Queen of Sheba counted Solomon's Servants happy because they lived in his House what then must the Inhabitants of such a Kingdom be where the King is the Fountain not only of all Honour but of all Bliss and Felicity and the Subjects drink of that Fountain drink and never thirst again where the Company is glorious and splendid to admiration and the lowest Person there is an Angel where everlasting Content reigns and all are free from sin from the assaults of the World the Flesh and the Devil where all are fill'd with Grace and Glory and all are satisfied with the Rivers of God's Pleasures Sirs This Kingdom of Heaven we have Commission to offer to you not a Kingdom of this World and if we could offer to you an Earthly Kingdom that would not make you so happy as this Kingdom of Heaven will for Kings on Earth we see are not always the happiest Men They have their fears and losses their discontents and vexations as well as other Folks This Kingdom of Heaven the richest Prize that ever was heard of we offer to you But we must tell you withall that there is no coming to this rich and wealthy Empire except you become poor The Palace is stately and magnificent but the Gate is low The richest the greatest the wealthiest of you all must become poor poor in Spirit and humble as a Worm if you mean to enjoy the Bliss of yonder Kingdom If we should bid you as Christ did the young Man in the Gospel Go and sell all you have and give it to the Poor and follow a poor Saviour and you shall have Treasure in Heaven there is none of you but must confess that it were worth parting withall to get this Treasure But such a Poverty we do not press upon you nor think it absolutely necessary except in case of Persecution when Men must hate Father and Mother Brethren and Sisters Lands and Houses and Life it self for the Gospel's sake but God hath shewed thee O man and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee even to walk humbly with thy God Humility is the readiest way to a glorious Exaltation and how often doth our Blessed Saviour repeat that Golden saying He that humbles himself shall be exalted This not only Saints but Philosophers agree in this the wisest Men of most Nations Countries and Religions confess The truth of it is so evident that it shines through the very chinks and crevises of Nature Need I ask any of you whether you have a mind to be happy and blessed I know you all would be so and if this be your resolution behold here lies the way Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven SERMON IV. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 4. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted IN the Account our Saviour gives of blessed Men the mourners you see succeed the humble or the poor in Spirit It was very convenient it should be so for Humility is the cause of mourning mourning the effect of Humility or spiritual Poverty and therefore we find the one immediately subjoin'd to the other The poor Man mourns it 's natural to do so and so doth the poor in Spirit As the poor Man mourns for the presence of Temporal Evils and the absence of Temporal Blessings so the poor in Spirit mourns for the presence of Spiritual Evils and the absence of Spiritual Blessings and this mourning as will appear in the Sequel is sometimes great and loud and vehement like the mourning of a Funeral but as great as it may be
from Aaron's head ran down to his Beard and the skirts of his Cloathing Therefore as it was devout and serious without the help of the body and in the good works in which the Body was concern'd was the first mover of the fact so it shall see the Glory of God before the Body and separated from the Body and while the Body participates of the common Fate But 4. Let me end all with David's excellent Motto Psal. LXXIII 1. Truly God is good to Israel even to them who are of a clean Heart Good indeed good to them in a time of Peace good in Adversity good to them in publick Commotions good to them in his Promises good to them in their life time good to them at their Death and good to them after Death The pure in heart they tast they see they feel his Goodness this supports them this comforts them this strengthens them All the World see his Goodness but O how great is that Goodness that God hath laid up for the pure in heart The pure in heart they shall see God Ay! that 's the Goodness God hath laid up for them And O what a happiness do they enjoy the purblind World sees not the Beauty the Order the Harmony of Providence the pure in Heart behold it and are thankfull Good God! To see thee what ravishments must that cause To see the fountain of Goodness what delights must flow from that sight To enter into a Prince's Cabinet and to see the Pearls the Diamonds the Rubies the precious Stones the Curiosities the Rarities the Riches the Plenty the costly Things the great Variety that is there this is something But what is all this to the seeing of God in whom are concenter'd all the Beauties and Rarities of Heaven and Earth To see but one Attribute of his clearly and distinctly suppose his Wisdom is enough to charm a Soul into eternal Admiration Behold how men run to see an Indian or African Ambassador or a Craesus a Darius an Alexander any thing that is attended with Pomp and Greatness Rejoyce ye that are pure in heart you run to see a greater thing than the greatest Emperour in the World Could you see all the Riches and Glories of the world at one view all that is above and within the Earth all that is within and above the sea and all the Men and Women that have been since the Creation of the World it would not be so stately a sight as a clear sight of God blessed for evermore This is your shield your exceeding great reward this most glorious Object you shall see at last see him and admire him see him and desire to be with him see him and love him see him and rejoyce in him see him and be united to him see him and cling to him for ever You shall see all the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets all the holy Apostles all the Martyrs that have suffered for the Testimony of Jesus You shall see the great Jesus that died at Jerusalem was crucified on Mount Calvary sweated drops of Blood in the Garden of Gethsemane was crucified and rose again and is set down on the right hand of Majesty on high The Believers St. Peter speaks of saw him not yet rejoyced in him with joy unspeakable and full of Glory What then will your joy be when you shall see him face to face For this we want expressions and therefore I shall draw a veil over it and leave you to live in joyfull Thoughts and expectations of it that when his Glory shall appear you also may appear with him in Glory SERMON IX St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 9. Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God AS in this divine Sermon of our Saviour Men and Women are pronounced blessed and happy with respect to things which the dull sensual World spies no felicity in or as here those are counted happy whom the World counts miserable and those miserable whom the World counts happy so it fares with the persons mentioned in the words before you and the Blessedness which attends them the world you know magnifies great Generals and Soldiers and Martial Men who can fight well and are very skilfull in besieging Towns and in scaling Walls in bombarding Castles and surprizing Forts and defeating Armies and slaying Men and he that with Saul hath kill'd his thousands and with David his ten thousands is cry'd up and the Bells ring at his entrance into a conquer'd Town all sing his Praises Flowers of Rhetorick and Applause are strow'd in his way publick Intelligences are fill'd with his Commendations and who so much talk'd of as the man who is very expert in making maintaining and managing a War Our blessed Master over-looks all these partial verdicts of the World and knowing that Nature and Vice and Profit and Honour Ambition and Lust are enough to inspire a man with courage and Wisdom to fight and to cause Disorders and Disturbances among Men instead of commending men who are skilfull in making War set a peculiar mark of favour on those who are skilfull in making Peace in the words I have read to you Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God Blessed are the Peace-makers what All Peace-makers Then Turks and Infidels Heathens and Pagans and the most licentious of Christian Princes do all come into the number of the blessed and all must be Children of God For there is no Prince though never so great a Tyrant though he hath spilt Blood like Water in his Conquests though he hath made no more of destroying mens Lives than Tarquinius did of taking off the heads of Poppies or Domitian of killing Flies yet makes Peace sometimes and tired with the Toyl and Fatigue of the War concludes a Truce at last with his Enemy and what Do all these come into the society of the blessed To give you light into this affair I shall enquire I. Who these Peace-makers are that are pronounced blessed here II. I shall examine the reasons of the supposition or the thing supposed and implied here that those who have an aversion from this Peace-making are and cannot be blessed III. I shall take the blessedness of these Peace makers into consideration and shew how and upon what account they are and shall be call'd the Children of God I. Who these Peace-makers are that are said to be blessed here The word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which as Interpreters observe in Greek Authors signifies and denotes strictly those who make or procure Peace among Persons who disagree and unite those who are at variance but in Scripture the expression is of a larger extent and includes a great deal more than a bare reconciling of Enemies and the persons here aimed at are as follows 1. Such as do make Peace with God and with their Consciences To this purpose is the exhortation Job XXI 22. Acquaint now thy self
you should encourage them and instead of giving them ill Language for being desirous to visit the House of God and to come to the Holy Sacrament at convenient Seasons you should rejoyce that God hath blessed you with such Mercies and sent you such Protectors of your Fortunes and adore the Divine Goodness who hath vouchsafed such shining and burning Lights to your Houses But this is the Nature of Vice and Corruption It hates the Light and those that walk in the Light It cannot be easie while it sees such Examples who are a perpetual Reproach to their Lives and Conversations Men wicked and debauch'd do not think themselves secure while their Domesticks chuse the better part and by so doing tell them that they are in the High-way to Damnation such Mens Condemnation will not be only just but greater than other Mens because they refuse not only him that speaks to them from Heaven but even those who by their Deeds speak to them here on Earth and make the Goodness they see in sober Men the Cause of their Anger which is intended as a Motive to their Remorse and Repentance But III. Let no Man's Heart fail him because he is reproach'd reviled or evil spoken of for the Name of Christ it is a blessed thing to be reproach'd for Righteousness sake to be reviled for being serious to be despised for doing the Will of God Hath not this been the Case of the best Servants of God When I wept and chasten'd my soul with fasting that was to my reproach I made sackcloth also my garment and I became a Proverb to them they that sit in the gate speak against me and I was the song of the drunkards saith the excellent David Psal. LXIX 10 11 12. John came neither eating nor drinking and they say he hath a Devil The son of man came eating and drinking and they say Behold a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber a friend of Publicans and Sinners saith our Saviour Mat. XI 18 19. But Wisdom is justified of her children What you lose in the Opinion of wicked Men you gain in the Esteem of those who walk in the way of the Lord. It is a mercy to you that you have something to lose for Christ and an Honour to them that you do lose something for the Name of Christ and tho' you lose not an Arm a Leg a Hand an Eye or Life for his sake yet I say it is a very great Honour that you lose your good Name in his Cause and yet you do not lose it neither but you rather raise and make it greater for your Names are written in Heaven Whatever any Man loses for Christ he shall receive an hundredfold in Peace Content and Satisfaction here and in the world to come life everlasting Only Let patience have its perfect work Being reproached and cursed do you bless being abused do you pray for those which despitefully use you being defamed do you entreat and being made Spectacles to Angels and to Men do you rejoyce in the God of your Salvation The time will come when those very Men which revile you now for your Obedience to the Gospel will praise and admire you If God converts them here they will certainly do so and they cannot forbear but if they resist the Arguments of God and will not turn the Misery and the Torments that will fall upon them in the other World will extort and force this Admiration from them Let Men call you all to naught it is enough that God respects you and hath promis'd not to leave them nor to forsake them Do but wait for the Day for the glorious Day of the Manifestation of the Children of God and you will see the Scene of Affairs changed and a greater Revolution of things than ever happen'd since the Creation of the World Those that call you Fools now will magnify your Wisdom then those who count your Life Madness now will confess it was the most rational Course those that laugh at you now will weep when they behold how much they were mistaken and those who now make a Mock of your Devotion will own then that you acted upon very noble Principles Let no Reproaches fright you from fighting the good Fight These are the Temptations you must overcome Against these Enemies you are to fight that 's your Work your Task and the Race you are to run in and Blessed is the man that endureth Temptations for when he is tried he shall receive a Crown of Righteousness which God hath promis'd to them that love him Amen SERMON XII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 12. Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your Reward in Heaven for so persecuted they the Prophets that were before you THE future Rewards which God hath promised to them that love him are things we have often occasion to speak of partly because the Holy Ghost is our Guide partly we can never say too much of it and partly because it is a thing which so nearly concerns us that it requires our daily Thoughts and Contemplations But as familiar as the Subject is it is always useful Christ having in all the preceding Beatitudes still shewn wherein the Blessedness of those vertuous Men whom he commends doth consist he doth the like in this for having in the foregoing Verses pronounc'd those Persons blessed who are reviled and evil spoken of for Righteousness sake or for the Name of Christ he declares in this the Nature of their Blessedness Rejoyce saith he and be exceeding glad for great is your Reward in Heaven And to encourage to a more chearful bearing of these unjust Reproaches he sets before them the Example of the Prophets of old For so persecuted they saith he the Prophets that were before you as if he had said so they used them so they dealt with them so they calumniated them This was the Custom of the World many hundred a thousand two thousand three thousand Years agone to speak all manner of evil of those excellent Men so they call'd Moses a pragmatical Man and Samuel an old Dotard and Elijah a Troubler of Israel and an Enemy to the Commonwealth and Elisha Bald pate and Micaiah an impertinent Fellow and Amos a Man ungentile and clownish and so they dealt with Isaiah whom after many Revilings they saw'd asunder and so they used Jeremias whom after a thousand Reproaches they stoned to Death So persecuted they the Prophets that were before you And this will give me occasion to observe to you I. That the great Rewards of Heaven are just matter of Joy and Gladness to pious Sufferers Rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your Reward in Heaven II. It 's comfortable to suffer in good Company For so persecuted they the Prophets of old 1. The great Rewards of Heaven are just matter of Joy and Gladness to pious Sufferers If it were not so Christ would never have encouraged those who are unjustly reviled for his Names sake to rejoyce
watchfull and sober at least live in-offensive and without scandal and the ground upon which this piece of Humility rises is partly the secret defects the humble Man finds in himself and which he hath a greater sense of than of the faults of others and which really appear greater to him than the offences of other Men partly the secret Gifts and latent Vertues that may be for ought he knows in another Man Upon this Account the humble Person is to think of others better than of himself yet with this caution so to think of others better than of himself as not to run into despair nor to conceal or hide the Grace of God bestow'd upon him when the Edification of others requires a declaration of it as is evident from Psal. LXVI 16. and 1 Cor. XV. 10. And from hence flows 5. A holy Contentedness in the mean Condition God hath placed us in Humility is particularly seen in outward Poverty and he whom Providence hath brought to a very mean and low Estate in the World and who is contentedly poor is truly humble For he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God submits to his Will and bears it chearfully because he is confident it will work for his good The same is to be applied to other outward Afflictions The humble Man gives his back to the smiter and when he suffers he threatens not only from a sense of the Demerit of his sins which he knows have deserv'd worse Usages but from consideration of the mighty alteration of his condition when the Lord Jesus shall appear from Heaven to be admired in all his Saints Humility is more seen in bearing Afflictions and Reproaches and Injuries than any where In these cases for our thoughts to work downward and to strike the Soul into an humble Sense and to quiet her as a weaned Child this looks like the Humility of a Disciple of Christ 1 Pet. II. 19 20 21. But 6. And lastly This Humility is not complete without a chearfull and humble Submission to what God requires to be done Pride is the cause of Disobedience and because Men insolently oppose their Wills to God's Will They walk in the imagination of their hearts Hence we read Jer. XIII 15. Hear this and give ear be not proud for the Lord hath spoken To shew that Pride causes Men to turn their backs to the wholsome Commands and Admonitions of the Lord And if this be the Nature of Pride it must necessarily be the Temper of Christian Humility chearfully and humbly to take Christ's Yoak upon us and let the Commands of the Gospel be never so contrary to the interest of Flesh and Blood where Humility reigns there none of those Commands will be grievous 1 John V. 3. This as near as I can guess is the true Idea of Christian Humility commanded in the Text for though it be no formal Command yet a Blessing being entailed upon the Vertue which Blessing is not to be had without the qualification it must be Tantamount to a Command But Why is this Humility call'd poverty in Spirit I answer Poverty it 's call'd 1. Because the humble Man hath no good thing of his own He carefully distinguishes what is God's and what is his own He is sensible that all the Evil he hath is his own and if what he may call his own be consider'd he will appear a very poor miserable Wretch destitute of Mercy and Favour and Comfort and fit only to fall a Prey to the rage of the Devil What good he hath or finds in himself he ascribes to the true cause God blessed for evermore Not I but the grace of God which was in me I Cor. XV. 10. He freely and feelingly acknowledges that he is nothing hath nothing and can do nothing that 's good without the power and influence of God He sees nothing in himself that can help or save or secure him All his riches hope life and power and strength and vertue is in Christ Jesus And having nothing of his own that he can boast of he may trâ—ly be call'd poor 2. Poor because he is always in want always in want of God's grace and goodness to guide him to lead him to conduct him to strengthen him to keep him to preserve him He is always begging always imploring the Divine goodness to remember him Begging is his Trade and Profession I mean begging the Mercy and Charity of the Father of Mercy and he gives not over begging till his Prayers be turn'd into everlasting Praises But he is not only poor but poor in Spirit 1. Because Humility must take up its chief Residence in his Spirit and inward Man Outward prostrations humiliations cringings bowings raggs a sordid habit sackcloath and the course cloath he wears signify nothing except the Soul or the Mind be lowly If that be so the outward Man will be truly so if the inward Man be a stranger to this Humility the leathern Girdle and the Garment of Camel's-hair without will soon be seen thorough And therefore the young Man in Cassian for all his frequent aggravations of his sins and wonderfull semblances of an humble mind discover'd his Hypocrisie when he could not endure a reproof from Serapion Lucian makes himself very merry with a Cynick a Man who pretended to more than ordinary Humility and Austerity of life A friend of his searching his Pockets and thinking to find there some old Raggs and mouldy Bread and the Parings of Cheese or some such stuff to his surprize found there a Bale of Dice a Box of Perfume and the Picture of his Mistriss A very fit Emblem of a Person who makes a shew of Humility without but within is self-conceited and an admirer of his own worth The heart must feel the power of this Virtue That 's the Garden where the Flower must grow and there it must take root if not it 's not a Plant of our heavenly Father's planting and a Christian may easily perceive that it is lodged in his inward Parts by the lowly and humble Thoughts he cherishes within It was from what he felt within that the Martyr said Lord I am Hell Thou art Heaven and another I am the most hypocritical Wretch not worthy that the Earth should bear me and a third I am the unfittest Man for so high an Honour as suffering for Christ that ever was appointed to it and a fourth writing to his Friend that was going to be burnt at the Stake for the Gospel of Christ O that my life and a thousand such Wretches lives might go for yours Why doth he suffer me and such other Caterpillars to live who can-do nothing but consume the Alms of the Church and take you away a mighty Workman and Labourer in his Vineyard The inward Humility sanctified these Expressions and whatever indiscretion might be in such Speeches the humble Sense of their own vileness within made them rational and elegant 2. Poverty in Spirit because this Humility is an
love and affection to the World c. may be gone that God would arise and that these Enemies may be scatter'd they use means they enquire what they must do to mortify these unruly desires they deny themselves they fast they are angry with these Corruptions yet ever and anon before they are aware they fall and imprudently yield to Temptations of this nature they would feign be Masters of those vertues accomplishments and perfections which did shine so bright in the primitive Saints but cannot as yet arrive to that excellent Temper for this they mourn and are dejected and sorrow seizes upon their hearts and minds yet still blessed are these mourners 5. Such as mourn because their stay in this World is long because they are kept out of Heaven and from the perfect enjoyment of God because they are obliged to continue in this barren Wilderness of the World where they must see their God dishonoured his Name profaned his Creatures abused his Ordinances derided his Providences disregarded his Precepts slighted his Promises undervalued his Threatnings scorned and Charity grow cold and Iniquity abound This draws from them David's complaint Wo is me that I must dwell in Mesech and have my habitation in the Tents of Kedar Ps. CXX 5. Indeed such mourners are but few most Men being desirous to enjoy the World as long as they can yet some there are that have made their Calling and Election sure and long to be gone long to be dissolved and to be with Christ and to be cloath'd upon with their House from Heaven long to join the Quire of Angels long to be freed from this Earthly Tabernacle and all this upon the excellent Principle of the love of God not from impatience under their pain and sickness or frowns of the World or their mean condition here but because the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts and because they are kept from enjoying their desire because the amorous Needle is with-held from clinging to the beloved Magnet they mourn blessed mourning But what You 'll say do no mourners under Temporal losses and crosses come into the Number of these blessed Men I answer yes 1. If the cause for which and in which they suffer losses of their Goods or Friends be great and noble if they sulfer for the Gospel's sake upon the Account of Righteousness and a good Conscience in this case their mourning under their Temporal losses may intitle them to blessedness provided that their mourning be mingled with faith and hope and a holy self-resignation and that they mourn more for the wickedness of the Person who are the instruments of their Persecution than for the want of their Corn and Wine and Oil and the Garlicks and Onions of Egypt 2. If under their Temporal losses they mourn chiefly for their sins which have both caused and deserved these sufferings Sorrow barely for Temporal losses and for being deprived of the satisfactions of the flesh cannot be reconciled to that Spiritual life the Gospel presses something there must be to sweeten that sour Sop as it stands alone it comes under the notion of sorrow of the World and that we are told works death 2 Cor. VII 10. And consequently happiness cannot be the fruit or effect of it The Soul therefore that mourns under such outward Calamities must look off from the Calamity to the cause of it or Sin which hath procured it and that sanctifies the sorrow and makes the mourner blessed Yet to prevent mistakes I must necessarily add these following cautions 1. We are not to think that in order to arrive to this Blessedness a Man or Woman must do nothing but mourn There is a time for every thing and there are other things to be done besides mourning even the particular Duties and Vertues and Self-denials required and commanded in this Chapter so that when it is said here blessed are they that mourn the meaning is blessed are they that do so as they have occasion to reflect either upon the Spiritual Evils which are present or upon the Spiritual Blessings that are absent from them It 's enough that there be a disposition or aptitude to mourn which exerts it self whenever any opportunity offers it self to consider and to think of such Objects as deserve and require our mourning else Spiritual Joy would be no Duty and if our lives were to be fill'd with mourning the Apostle's Exhortation had been useless Phil. IV. 1. Rejoyce in the Lord always i. e. upon all occasions and again I say Rejoyce Neither 2. Must the stress be laid upon the bare mourning as if the mourning and weeping and sadness alone were pleasing to God and groans were the only livery of Heaven but this mourning must be in order to a greater end even to establish our Souls in the love of God to strengthen our graces to corroborate our repentance and aversion from sin and to purifie our outward and inward Man more and more and therefore it is emphatically call'd sorrowing to Repentance 2 Cor. VII 9. Nor 3. Are we to think that a certain degree of mourning is always necessary even mourning expressed in so much weeping and sorrowing as we find in other Christians of our Acquaintance All men's conditions are not alike a Person that hath been profane and lewd hath reason to mourn more than he whose Sins have been of a lesser size not but that it was commendable to weep bitterly even for infirmities but the obligation of mourning is greater certainly upon a rapacious Publican than upon the pious Couple Zacharias and Elizabeth Besides all men's Constitutions are not alike some being of that tender Complexion that the least touch or sense of things makes them weep others of a hardier make who may be astonish'd and concern'd at great things but cannot make that outward shew of mourning that others can It 's enough therefore that the sorrow be rational and that the mind be so affected with the object that causes or deserves mourning as to work in us a willingness to mourn more if we could and an indignation against the Spiritual Evils which are present and an earnest longing and endeavour after the Spiritual Blessings which are absent and we stand in need of Having set down these cautions I proceed to the second Part to acquaint you II. Wherein the Blessedness of such mourners consists 1. This mourning is the Character of Saints Ezek. IX 4. 2 Cor. XII 21. Why what Blessedness is there in this will some say How no Blessedness in being a Saint what 's the reason then that Kings and Princes wish they were so what 's the reason that most wicked Men when they come to die would fain be of that Number Nay what 's the reason that in your Creed you believe a Communion of Saints Is it not in this Creed that you profess the greatest Blessings that were ever bestow'd upon the Children of Men And if the Communion of Saints be one must it
Righteousness for Tribulation works patience and Patience experience and Experience hope and Hope makes not ashamed But this is not all Behold also in this similitude the Nature of your future Joys when the Child is born the Woman for Joy forgers her anguish so when your Fruit is ripe it shall be laid up in the granary of Heaven and when you shall put off this Body of Flesh and Sin for the Joy that will crown your Temples you 'll forget all the former anguish you labour'd under God will comfort you and your Eyes shall see it the Lord Jesus will call to you and your Ears shall hear it Enter you into the Joy of your Master Heaven is the vast Store-house of all Comforts there where-ever you cast your Eye you 'll behold nothing but Comfort Comfort in the Spirits of Men made perfect Comfort in the general Assembly of the first born which are written in Heaven Comfort in the innumerable Company of Angels Comfort in the Hallelujah's of Cherubin and Seraphin Comfort above you Comfort within you Comfort round about you There your Heart will break no more there your Understandings will be clouded no more there no storms no enemies will discompose you any more there all that can make Men sad will be removed from your sight for sin will be gone and Devils will tempt no more there you will lie incircled in the everlasting Arms and Rivers of Joy will flow round about you your present April Showers will produce a glorious May and after your gloomy Night the Son of Righteousness will shine upon you with healing under his Wings and as one hour changed Joseph's Fetters into a Chain of Gold his Rags into shining Robes his Stocks into a Chariot his Prison into a Palace his Water into Wine so in that moment that your Souls shall enter into the Regions of endless Comfort your mourning will be changed into dancing your tears into laughter your sackcloth into silks your ashes into garlands your thorns into lawrels your fasts into festivals and your unutterable sighs and groans into unspeakable joys SERMON V. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 5. Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth THIS Blessedness or Beatitude in some Latin Copies of the New Testament is the second but in the Original and in the Syriack and Arabick Versions it is the third and these as the most authentick our Translation follows what is said of Meekness here is taken out of Psal. XXXVII 11. where we read as it is in the Text The Meek shall inherit the Earth Christ came not to reverse the Morals under the Law but to ratifie and confirm and to refine them into greater perfection and to enforce them with new Motives and Arguments Moral Vertue hath been the same in all Ages and being founded on the Law of Nature must needs be unalterable The encouragements for the practice of it are greater in the Christian Religion than in any other whatfoever and the lines of the Duty are here drawn in livelier Colours but the Vertue it self like the Nature of that God from whom it flows receives no changes In the explication of the Text we are to consider as in the preceding Sentences I. What Meekness is and who the Meek are and what their Character is II. Wherein their Blessedness consists III. How they shall inherit the Earth I. What Meekness is 1. To be meek is not to be mealy-mouth'd or gentle or calm when it is our Duty to be angry and it is our Duty to be so partly with our selves when we sin against Heaven and in the presence of an Omnipotent God and that is the anger or indignation spoken of 2 Cor. VII 11. partly with others when they do notoriously affront the Divine Majesty and wrong their Consciences Gall. III. 1 2. particularly 1. With those who are under our Command and Power and Jurisdiction such as Children Servants and other Relations or Persons whose Masters Governours Guardians Teachers or Tutours we are when they prove incorrigible in their sins Gen. XLIX 6 7. 2. Even with others of our Acquaintance and Persons whom we converse with when they profane the Name of God or run out into licentiousness and will not be reclaim'd by softer means Gal. V. 12. Moses though one of the meekest Men in the World yet his anger justly wax'd hot when he saw the Israelites commit Idolatry Exod. XXXII 19. And our Saviour himself tho' the Pattern of Meekness yet could not behold the profanation of the Temple without anger John II. 15 17. and St. Paul and Barnabas though Preachers of this Christian Meekness yet were obliged to break out into Passion when they saw the Priest of Jupiter bringing Oxen and Garlands to do Sacrifice to them Acts XIV 14 15. Elis Meekness to his Children prov'd his folly and his Calmness is a Cause where God was dishonour'd pulled down God's Vengeance upon his Posterity A soft Expostulation here was altogether unseasonable and instead of saying to his Sons why do you do so he should have severely punish'd them when their stubbornness baffled all the gentler means of their Reformation Meekness properly relates to injuries done to our selves where the injury is directly offer'd to God our Meekness must turn into Zeal in all sins against our Neighbours and our own Souls God is wrong'd because all sin is a Transgression and dishonouring of the Law of God but some sins are more immediately levell'd against God yet even in God's cause where the anger is just and lawfull discretion must guide the Passion in a good Cause men may be too hot and where the anger turns into fury it becomes madness and instead of advancing diminishes and darkens the glory of Religion There is a rational anger which with some warmth and heat pleads and argues for God's Honour but runs not out into unseemly Behaviour or into reviling Language And this is that anger we are to shew when God is dishonoured when we dishonour him and when others do so So that Meekness doth not exclude all anger for as all Meekness is not lawfull so all Anger is not sinfull Be ye angry and sin not saith St. Paul Eph. IV. 26. which shews that some sort of anger is innocent And it is so when it is 1. In God's cause and from a sense of his Glory which we see dishonour'd by the sin or by the wrong our Neighbours do either to God or to their fellow Christians for though it be lawfull sometimes to be angry at a fault we see in our Brethren yet the anger must be more upon the account of the indignity offer'd to God by the offence than upon the Account of the wrong or prejudice we our selves suffer by it 2. It must be kept within due bounds and limits must not turn into rage and throwing about Coals and Fire-brands and odious and offensive Names Nor 3. Must it turn into malice and hatred but must still be follow'd with Acts
grace and glory and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly But this is not all 3. They shall be filled in the other World with the plenty of God's House with the light of his Countenance for ever when their Bodies do drop from them and their Souls shall be transplanted from this barren Wilderness into Eden the Garden of God and of this fulness David speaks Psal. XVII 15. As for me I shall behold thy face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness They shall be filled with the Joys of God their mouths shall be filled with laughter and their tongues with singing they shall be filled with the finest of the Wheat and with Honey out of the Rock shall they be satisfied not with material Honey not with such Honey as enlightned Jonatha's Eyes but with the sweetness of God's glorious presence for ever All their senses all their faculties shall be filled with unspeakable satisfaction with water of life that springs from the Rock of Ages for they shall be filled with infinite love like Vessels thrown into the Sea all shall be filled and their fulness shall last while the fountain of goodness and the Ocean of felicity lasts i. e. for ever Inferences There are three sorts of Persons that in the Close of this Discourse I must necessarily speak to I. Those that pretend to hunger and thirst after Righteousness but do not II. Such as neither condemn nor greatly care for this Hunger and Thirst but hanker after something else III. Such as do truly hunger and thirst after Righteousness and long to be filled with it I. Those that pretend to hunger and thirst after Righteousness but do not There is scarce a Vertue we speak of but there are several that flatter themselves that they are possess'd of it because they have something like it There are few of you I believe so harden'd as to have a total Aversion or an utter abhorrency from all goodness many have some general desires after it but if these cold general indifferent desires be taken for this Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness what gross mistakes must you needs run into Cold desires certainly do not deserve the Name of Hunger and Thirst to be sure no such Hunger and Thirst as I have described in the Premises What Shall we believe your Hunger and Thirst after goodness real when we see no effects no fruits no signs of it I suppose if you have this Hunger and Thirst you have withal a great sense of the danger of a sinfull and carnal Life and a very high Esteem of Righteousness and your desires after it are vehement and pressing and your endeavours to get it are great and strong and you make a conscientious use of the proper means and when you are come up to any degree of goodness you hunger and thirst and labour to extend the borders of your goodness and you are not frighted with the inconveniencies that may attend the pursuit of it for these are the ingredients of this sacred Appetite What Shall we take painted Fire for that which is in motion Or shall we call that Hunger and Thirst which wants the Essential Characters Do we take a Man of Straw for a rational Creature Ay! But saith the self-conceited Christian I am sure I have it for I desire to pay every Man their own to defraud and wrong no body and to live honestly among my Neighbours But why Is this all the Righteousness God stands upon What Is one link of the sacred Chain of Graces the whole Chain Is one step of the way the full length of it Do all the other Vertues stand for Cyphers Is all that the Gospel requires comprehended in this one qualification Moral honesty No no you do not truly hunger and thirst after any one Vertue if you do not hunger after all if your Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness be right you will enquire and take notice and observe what things are good and just and honest and pure and lovely and of a good Report and be enamour'd with them You will not speak of your spiritual wants slightly such as we all have all our failings and God amend us all c. but with some inpatience to have them supplied you will hunger and thirst after all the Graces of God's Spirit not only after Justice or Chastity or Temrance but after a lively Faith and Patience and Charity and Humility and Fervour and Love and Obedience and a truly spiritual Temper and after higher Degrees of all these and your Hunger and Thirst will be seen and known by your industry and care and labour and cautiousness of sinning and resisting of Temptations and by Groans which cannot be uttered and by your unwearied Attempts to climb the Hill of God and not to give over till you come to the Top of it and then expect the Blessing of my Text. Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled II. Those who neither care for nor condemn this spiritual Hunger and Thirst but hunger and thirst after something else even after the sweet and comfortable Enjoyments the Riches the Honours and the Pleasures of this present World if they could but have such a Competency or so much a Year or such a Place or such an Office or live as such a one lives they would desire no more and this is all they hunger and thirst after O how happy should they be But such Persons I would ask whether they believe they have nothing but Body and Flesh about them Are your Souls made for God created for his Service design'd for Heaven fitted for an Eternal Duration redeem'd with the Blood of Jesus Christ and is there no regard to be had to these What can make them happy but Righteousness What can satisfie them but real Goodness What can fill or feed them but the love of God This World cannot satisfie them you see it you know it Experience is demonstration for when you have got as much as you can and come to lie upon your Death-beds you find they want some other Food Food which all the World cannot give Food which none can give but he who hath protested that without Holiness no Man shall see his Face Righteousness is their life their cordial their nourishment and without this they die without this they are lost and all that you can do cannot keep them from being miserable Without this Food they starve and while you deny them this Meat you murther them If the World or the Enjoyments of it be all you are to hunger and thirst after these Souls were given in vain and God who gave them lost his aime I do not deny but you may lawfully desire an honest livelihood in the World with submission to God's Providence and wish for Necessaries and Conveniencies but the Word is seek ye first God's Kingdom and its Righteousness and all other things shall be
face That seeing him in the everlasting kingdom imports a comprehension They comprehend in some small degree here what is the depth the height the length and breadth of the love of God but then they will understand perfectly all the mysteries of his nature providence attributes and love to them in Christ Jesus And from this sight must necessarily arise joy inexpressible Such as eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor is the heart of man able to conceive The Sun beams are amiable and pleasing here but how would a man be surprized if he were at the spring of that universal fire and saw how it rises and how it is managed So God is very lovely to the pure in heart when they see him here but when they shall come near that inaccessible Light and be perfectly united to him who can express the satisfaction indeed it cannot be express'd for it is immense and infinite Inferences 1. Here we see what a jewel that man enjoys that is possess'd of this inward purity This purity of heart is a treasure which no man knows save he who receives it Comfort your selves Christians with it comfort your selves having this Purity you are rich in the midst of your Poverty and enjoy more than those who boast of Lands and Houses I know the world laughs at this but let them laugh on the time will come when this Purity will stand you in better stead than your carnal Friends and Relations Men may think they shall be able to deal with God as they do with men here on Earth whose mouths they can stop with fair words or with a Bribe But this is vain and foolish to a Prodigy Is God a Man Is he to be imposed upon Can Gold blind his Eyes or if it could where would you have it when you are depriv'd and dispoil'd of all Is not he the searcher of hearts Can you deceive him who sees through all your hypocrisie Purity of heart is that which he requires and not only requires it but is willing to assist you in the getting of it and without this inward Purity he will know none of you but if this be the dress of your minds and souls the doors of his banqueting house will fly open to you and all the enemies you have on earth or in Hell shall not be able to keep you out 2. Here is the spring of true Religion a pure heart If that be pure the outward man will be so too If that be unclean the outward whiteness will never pass for currant in Heaven The Pharisees exceeded all the men of the age they lived in in outward sanctity notwithstanding all this the son of God who saw their hearts and the impurity of their souls calls them serpents and a generation of vipers Matth. XXIII 33. There are some sins so purely the sins of the heart that the heart can consummate and finish them without the help of the body such are Pride Lust Covetousness and Discontent because Providence crosses our designs and bitter Envy and black malice and rejoycing at our Neighbours misfortune c. These lying at the heart and being cherished there shed a poisonous influence upon the outward devotion and consequently render the external worship though never so specious ineffectual and a sacrifice of Fools To pray like a Saint and to breath revenge like a Turk outward Love to good men and secret fondness to sinfull Lusts and Pleasures of the world outward strictness and inward loosness complying with God without and with the Devil within a punctual observance of outward duties and neglect of mortifying our secret Lusts such as Ambition Self-conceitedness Self-admiration lascivious Thoughts and Desires c. is the true complexion of Hypocrisie Therefore To be a Saint the heart must be purified for sins like fatal diseases invade the Vitals first before they appear outwardly And as in such dangerous distempers of the body which first seize the Heart and the Garrison of Life and then discover themselves in little blisters and boyles in the skin he that should lay a Plaister to those boyles and use repercussives to strike them in cannot be said to cure the distemper So he that is diseased with sin which creeps inwardly and infects the soul and becomes manifest at last in the outward man he that doth only restrain the outward acts and uses means of grace only to cut off the outward excrescences but takes nothing inwardly to eradicate the distemper out of his heart and mind makes but an imperfect cure and for all the outward applications will still be in danger of Death even Death eternal It 's true the wise man crys out Prov. XX. 9. Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin which seems to imply an impossibility of making the heart pure But this he speaks with respect to the rigour of the law not with regard to the equity of the Gospel Go to the strictness of the thing no man can say he hath so purified his heart that he is perfectly free from all vain and evil thoughts or that he is never surprized into an impertinent and foolish imagination This the holiest man alive cannot say But then in a Gospel sense it is not only possible to purifie the heart but a duty i. e. so to purifie it as to arrive to an habitual delight in holy serious and heavenly thoughts and to an habitual aversion of the Mind and Heart and inward Man from any thing that is directly contrary to the Will of God And this habitual Purity is consistent with surprizes of evil Thoughts and Desires when a bright gilded Temptation strikes the Heart and dazzles the Mind and inclines the Will to consent But then in Persons where the Grace of God works within a very little while the Spirit doth recover out of the Surprize puts by the thrusts of Fancy and the stabbs of Temptation and reasons its self into Health and Resolution and Resistance again He that is regardless of this Purity hates his own Soul knows not what Religion means and his outward performances will never make him blessed or happy Christians Do you believe this and will not you labour after it I mean after this Purity of Heart Look into the Gospel examine the Places where the Mind the inward Man the inside of the Cup and Platter are commanded to be purified Consider how frequently this is press'd Do not you see what a stress the Holy Ghost lays upon it Why should you deceive why should you delude your selves Why should you think it needless Is it not Wisdom to believe him who is the Fountain of Truth and Wisdom Does not Reason nay doth not Sense tell you that if the Waters in the Spring be muddy the Streams and Rivulets cannot be clear What would you have the Fruit good when the Tree is nought How can your Actions be pleasing to God when your Minds are full of weariness and unwillingness and backwardness
him have any good opinion of it and therefore if the Father be carnal and wicked he will hate his Son for being so holy and precise and keeping such a stir about Religion or if the Father be good and the Son nought the Son will be either secretly or openly angry with his Father for having so strait-laced a Conscience Hence arise quarrels and dissensions which are not the natural Effects of the Gospel but of Men's vitious humours which hate to be controll'd by the Gospel and hither must be referr'd the Persecutions that befell the Primitive believers when they would not offer incense to the Heathen Gods whereupon they were imprison'd harrass'd persecuted with Fire and Sword The Son rose against his Father if he were a Christian and the Daughter did her best to throw the believing Mother into the Fire and the nearest Relations became mortal Enemies one to another not that Christianity made the Christians hate their Heathen Relations but it made the Heathen Relations hate their Christian Kindred 2. This Christ speaks with relation to those Carnal and Hypocritical Professours of his Religion who in After-ages pusht on by Pride and by the Devil under a pretence of Zeal for his Honour and Glory would kill butcher burn massacre thousands of their Brethren who retain'd the Substantials of Christianity only differ'd from them in things which Carnality and Pomp and Superstition and Ambition to regulate the Church by the Court of Princes should add to the ancient Faith deliver'd unto the Saints and of this we have seen very sad instances But still these are only accidental Effects of Men's Pride and Passions not the natural Products of the Design and Tendency of the Gospel so that notwithstanding all these quarrels and dissensions ill Men raise about the Gospel Christ is still the Prince of Peace and the Peaceable and such as are of a peace-making Temper are upon that account his Brethren for he is not asham'd to call them Brethren Heb. II. 11. and therefore the Children of God As to the Life to come These Peace-makers shall be and shall be treated like darling Children of God This St. John assures us of 1 John III. 2. Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him Like him How Like him in Eternal Glory and Honour and Splendour They were like Christ in their peace-making Temper here and they shall be like him in a glorious Immortality Their Father which is in Heaven will let Men and Angels sees that they are his Children that they are so not in Name only but in Deed. He will give the unbelieving World a visible Demonstration that they are so in the last Day in the great Day of Account he will place them at Christ's Right-hand and the Men that would not believe and repent shall behold how dear they are to him for the great Redeemer shall carry them up into his Father's Kingdom If Sons then Heirs Heirs of God and joint Heirs with Christ saith the Apostle Rom. VIII 17. Christ as Man and Mediatour became Heir of his Father's Royalty and Power so shall they in the right of adopted Children As Christ ascended into Heaven so shall they as Christ was exalted so shall they as Christ was enthroned so shall they as Christ was advanced from a low Estate to the highest Dignity so shall they as Christ lives for ever so shall they as Christ cannot be hurt by the second Death no more shall they as Christ had power given him over the Nations over Hell and Devils so shall they reign over all their Enemies as Christ shall judge the World and the Apostate Angels so shall they being Fellow-sons Fellow-heirs they all share in his Authority and Grandeur It 's true all this must be believed for it is not seen yet but who can forbear to believe it when we have the Word of the living God for it In a word They shall be Possessours of Heaven and Earth for not only their Father but their Elder Brother is so Crowns and Diadems are preparing for them Crowns which fade not away Crowns which the Moth cannot corrupt nor Thieves break through and steal Crowns made of Beams of Eternal Light Crowns which not only adorn their Heads but fill their Faces with incomparable Beauty Crowns such as Angels wear Crowns which cannot be viewed cannot be thought of without Eternal Admiration Inferences I. It is easie to guess what Tempers and Actions are contrary and directly opposite to the admirable Qualification recommended and commanded in the Text. Peace being either publick or private and the publick either Political or Ecclesiastical either of Church or State whoever they be that wilfully pusht on by Pride or Passion or some worldly carnal Design without a just lawfull or warrantable Cause disorder or disturb that Peace cannot be true Disciples of Christ because they have an Aversion from that peaceable peace-keeping and peace-making Temper which Christ with all the pathetick Adjurations imaginable hath enjoin'd his Followers I shall not here reflect on secular Estates and Princes who either begin or maintain an unjust Warr either to enrich themselves by the Spoils of their Neighbours or to advance their own Glory or to enlarge their Empire and Dominion for the very Light of Nature confutes these Practices and he that is but a Novice in Religion may see nothing is more contrary to the Design of the Gospel However I cannot but spend some Considerations on the sad Divisions and Quarrels that are among those who call themselves Christians upon the Account of Religion I wonder not to see Mahometans and Jews scandaliz'd at these Divisions the Jews especially when they read such lofty Promises of the Peace and Unity of the Church that was to be under the Messiah as Isa. II. 4. They shall heat their Spears into Plough-shares and their Swords into Pruning-hooks Nation shall not lift up Sword against Nation neither shall they learn War any more and Isa. XI 6. The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard lie down with the Kid and the Calf and the young Lion and the Fatling together and a little Child shall lead them Though these Prophecies have been in a great measure fulfill'd not only in the Apostles times when the Jews and Gentiles who were mortal Enemies before united into one Church under their common Head Christ Jesus but afterward when the Empire became Christian and the Heathen Powers who had most violently persecuted the Christians submitted to the Gospel and embraced those whom they had burnt before and though these Prophecies may moreover be said to be exactly fulfilled partly with respect to the Design and Tendency of the Christian Religion the design and intent of Christ's Laws being to make Men peaceable and partly with respect to the signal Change that 's actually wrought upon those who are truly not only in
therewith than an house full of sacrifices with strife Besides by this you avoid innumerable sins such as ill language odious names envy hatred malice and revengefull sins and desires and engaging other Men in sin with you and doing mischief to men c. But is not the Title in the Text given to the peaceable and peace-making Christian enough to make you endeavour to attain to this Character What Children of God And do you feel no desire to be so Did you ever seriously examine the privileges which attend the Children of God and are these no motives to you to come into the number Suppose the Children of God are not much regarded here but is there not a time coming when they shall be honoured before the whole World Is there not a life to come which shall manifest their Dignity and their Glory The Peace of Heaven shall fall to their share Do not you reflect sometimes on that Peace which the Children of the everlasting Kingdom shall enjoy Or is that Peace so inconsiderable that it deserves no consideration What is the future felicity but perfect Peace everlasting Peace uninterrupted Peace The peaceable Christian shall feel it feed upon it possess it live upon it peace with God peace with the Prince of Peace Christ Jesus peace with all the Angels of God peace with all the Spirits of Men made perfect No war shall disturb it no tumult discompose it no sedition annoy it no rebellion disfigure it The God of Peace shall live in him and he in the God of Peace God will tell him that he is his friend and one with him and that no Men no Devils shall pluck him out of his hands There Rivers of Peace shall flow upon him Rivers where no Wind doth blow no Storms do come no Tempests rise no Hurricanes molest I conclude with St. Paul's Obtestation Colos. III. 15. And let the Peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also ye are called in one body and be ye thankfull Amen SERMON X. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven I Did once think to have joined this Verse and the next in the Explication but upon a more accurate Examination I find that this Verse I have read to you treats of Persecution in general but the next of a particular Persecution with the Tongue i. e. Calumniating and Reviling and therefore shall allow them a distinct Discussion or Consideration To be persecuted is to be robb'd plunder'd beaten buffeted bruised imprison'd tormented hanged burnt drowned c. And are these marks of Blessedness saith the Carnal Man What! to be beaten and think it a Kindness to be buffeted and look upon it as a Favour To be put in a Dungeon and delight in sinking into the mire To be led to the Stake and sing To be tormented and give God thanks To be robb'd of all and make a low bow for being so What! be happy in Misery and blessed in Chains and glorious in Torments and honourable in a fiery Furnace Yes all this is very good Divinity and very agreeable to the Doctrine of the Gospel of Christ and if the Cause be good Gibbets and Gallows and Chains and Shackles and Fetters and Fire and Sword are a Christians Jewels and Pearls and Pendants and Necklaces and Ornaments For blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Three things will here deserve Consideration I. What it is to be persecuted for Righteousness sake and who they be that fall under that denomination II. Whether these words as well as the preceding imply a Negative That those who are not persecuted for Righteousness sake are not blessed III. I shall enquire into the Nature of the Blessedness here mentioned and shew how the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs that are persecuted for Righteousness sake I. What it is to be persecuted for Righteousness sake and who they be that fall under that denomination In answer to this 1. To persecute 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original is properly to follow hard after a thing and with great earnestness to endeavour to seize upon a thing we desire or to pursue it as Hunters do their Prey which they quit not till they take it The word in Scripture is used sometimes in a good sometimes in a bad sense In a good sense when it is applied to Vertue as 1 Thess. v. 15. Follow that which is good Heb. xii 14. Follow Peace with all men 1 Cor. xiv 1. Follow after Charity 1 Tim. VI. 11. Follow after Righteousness In all which places for follow in the Original the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used which in other places we render persecute to shew that till it be joined with something else that alters the Sense it is no more than following hard after a thing When it is applied to Persons it is commonly taken in a bad Sense and implies pursuing with a desire or intent to hurt the Person pursued and that 's the usual Notion and Acceptation of the word even to prosecute or pursue a Person with an intent to afflict or hurt or punish him and that 's the meaning of the word in the Text where the persecuted must be persons hunted or haunted teazed tormented imprisoned abused or in a word evil entreated as is evident from Christ's scope in these Beatitudes which is to comfort those whom the World counts miserable 2. By Righteousness here is meant the whole Circle of Religious Duties and Offices or Obedience to the Laws of God or of the Gospel and it takes in both believing and practising i. e. believing what God hath commanded us to believe and practising what God in his Word hath commanded us to practise and consequently forbearing to believe or practise either what God hath not revealed or hath forbid to believe or practise I know the word Righteousness is used sometime for just dealing sometime for Mercy and Alms-giving but then there is some word in the Context that shews it must be restrained or confined to that Sense but here is nothing to give it that determinate Sense and therefore it must be the same with Goodness as it is opposed to Wickedness and in this Sense it 's ordinarily used both in this and the next Chapter in this v. 6. and 20. in the next v. 33. and is sometimes called The Righteousness of Faith as Rom. iv 13. i. e. a chearfull performance of the duties God hath commanded in the Gospel as the Righteousness of the Law is complying with God's Will and Commands under the Law or the Old Testament This being premised it follows 1. That to be persecuted for Righteousness sake is not barely to suffer or to endure Punishment for at this rate all Malefactors and such as our Law punishes either with the Sword or with Fire or the Gallows for Crimes which are destructive to Humane
righteousness sake when God calls him to it and flinches and shrinks and like the Children of Ephraim turns back in the day of battle is so far from conquering that he falls basely loses ground cowardly kisses the Temptation and is enthralled by the worst of Enemies and therefore must necessarily fall a Prey to that Enemy by whom he suffers himself to be conquered and judge you whether such a Man can be blessed And now that I am talking of the Kingdom of Heaven I speak of the very blessedness which attends those that are persecuted for righteousness sake and consequentâ—y this calls me to explain the third and last Point III. How the Kingdom of Heaven shall be theirs This reward you see is the same with what was promised to poverty of Spirit or deep Humility v. 3. Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven And the reason why Christ promises the same recompence to the persecuted for righteousness sake he doth to the humble is because there is a very great affinity betwixt humility and suffering for righteousness sake Suffering for righteousness sake is the deepest Act of Humiliation especially if that suffering be accompanied with death Humility can go no lower a Man in suffering and dying for righteousness sake pulls down all his lofty thoughts makes all stoop to the Cross of Christ submits his Faith to the Gospel and for things invisible denies himself in all the visible comforts of this life and that 's Humility in its Glory Therefore the reward is express'd in the same language but then as suffering for righteousness sake is the deepest Act of Humiliation so we must suppose that the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs in a peculiar manner and how that is the following particulars will declare And here to keep to the rule I have so often mention'd in the preceding Beatitudes that these rewards respect both this present and the next life 1. The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs on this side Heaven because even here they feel Heaven in their Souls and the Kingdom of Heaven is within them There is hardly any History of Martyrs and Confessours hardly any Martyrology but gives an account of the wonderfull joy that poor persecuted Christians have felt in the heighth of their Persecutions and what is this but a Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth what is it but a Heaven in their Souls The three young Men Dan. III. sang in a fiery Furnace St. Paul and Silas in a Dungeon lifted up their Voices in Hallelujah's The Apostles when beaten and whipt and scourged departed from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name of Christ and St. Paul 2 Cor. VII 4. I am filled with comfort yea I exceedingly rejoice in all our Tribulation But not to mention any more passages of this nature out of ancient Histories our own Book of Martyrs shall serve to furnish us with instances I mean of the Protestant Martyrs that suffer'd in Queen Marys Days One Rogers coming to the Stake where he was to be burned fetcht a great leap for joy One Dr. Taylour approaching the Fire in which he was to be sacrificed danced and skipt to the Wonder and Admiration of the Sheriff I thank God for this Prison said one Bradford more than for the richest Parlour more than for any pleasure I ever found for here I find God my sweet God always After I came into this Prison said one Glover in a Letter to his Wife and had repos'd my self there awhile I wept for joy and gladness my belly full and said to my self Lord what am I that I should be counted worthy to be numbred among those that suffer for the Gospel's sake I am now in the Coal-house said one Philpott as dark and ugly a Prison as any is about London but I have six other faithfull Companions who merrily rouz upon the Straw and in our darkness do cheerfully sing Hymns and Praises to God I was never merrier in Cbrist than I am now in Prison said one Tims One Pierson with a cheerfull Countenance embraced the Stake at which he was to be burnt and kissing it said Now welcome my sweet Wife for this day thou and I shall be married together O how my heart leaps and skips for joy said another One Bainham when his Arms and Legs were half consumed by the Fire cry'd out in the Midst of the Flames Behold ye Papists ye are much for Miracles Here you may see a Miracle for in this Fire I feel no more pain than if I lay on a Bed of Down it is to me as a Bed of Roses Abundance more I could name to this purpose and what was all this but a Kingdom of Heaven in their Souls 2. In the next World the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs in a peculiar manner too because of the high degree of Glory they arrive to in the next life This hath been the belief of the Church in all Ages that for the Martyrs the higher and loftier Mansions of Heaven are reserv'd the ruines of this truth are preserv'd among Mahometans and Heathens The Mahometans fancy that those who die in the War against Christians are Martyrs and they assign them a higher place in Paradise and Geographers tell us of a People in the West Indies who believing the Immortality of the Soul fancy that those who die in defence of their Country are advanced after death to a very high degree of felicity These are nothing but reliques and remains of the Chriâ—â—ian Doctrine which Tradition hath left among them that those who are persecuted for righteousness sake are and shall be made partakers of higher degrees of Glory It 's certain their Bodies shall rise before the Bodies of other Men for so we read Revel XX. 4 5. And I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark in their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand Years But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand Years were ended This is the first Resurrection And in the Kingdom of Heaven they will out-shine other Saints in brightness and splendour All those that by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality shall inherit Eternal life but those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake their sufferings work for them a far more exceeding Eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. IV. 17. a reward enough to make a Man fond of dying in love with suffering enamour'd with a Prison and desirous of Chains and Fetters for righteousness sake Wonder at this Blessing O my Soul For Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Inferences I. As one place of Scripture gives light to another so by this we are upon we may judge of
interests and circumstances there may and will be mistakes committed both by those that punish Men for different opinions in matters of Religion and by those who suffer for such opinions However let us throughly acquaint our selves with the Will of God in the Gospel that we may know what things we ought to suffer for and what not And if it be so that we suffer for the Name of Christ happy are we for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon us 1 Pet. IV. 14. And in such sufferings we have reason to be not only patient but cheerfull which gives me occasion to put you in mind IV. Of a fault We that are so impatient under ordinary Afflictions what should we be if Persecution should come among us Blessed be God we have for many Years sat under our own Vines and under our own Fig-trees have enjoy'd the Gospel and the truth of God without any considerable disturbance and I hope we shall do so still But should it please God to send a Persecution among us because of the Word it is to be feared that abundance with Demas Ecebolius and the Traditores of old would embrace this present World and preferr their ease before suffering though they buy it at a very dear Rate with the loss of truth and the Shipwrack of a good Conscience Indeed there are very few of us that prepare themselves for such a Providence We pamper our Bodies we consult the interest of the Flesh we give our selves all the ease we can we do not deny our selves in things pleasing to our Appetite Every thing our Flesh craves and our Purse can procure we are eager for we dread any thing that 's irksome to our Bodies we do not acquaint our selves with voluntary sufferings do not keep under our Bodies nor bring them into subjection and is this a due preparation for Persecutions Nay under any loss or cross or ordinary sickness or sad accident how faint how weak how impatient how uneasie how discontented are we Thou that frettest for the loss of ten or twenty Pound what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution thou shouldst be plunder'd and turn'd out of all Thou that complainest so much if thy Finger doth but ake what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution thy whole Body should be burnt Thou that lookest upon thy self as a very miserable Man because an ordinary distemper hangs about thee what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution thou shouldst be tormented with Pincers and Tongs and Irons heated in the Fire Thou that canst not bear the loss of a Child or a Husband what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution all thy Relations and Friends should be torn away from thee thy Children murther'd before thine Eyes their Brains dasht out against a Stone and barbarous Soldiers embruing their Hands in thy Father or thy Mother's Blood Thou that art so discontented now because thou canst not have such outward accommodations as thou wouldst have what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution thy Body should be broken on a Wheel or nailed to a Cross or thy Skin pluckt off or thy Tongue cut out or thy Flesh kill'd with Cold or starved with Hunger and so left naked to the open shame of the World Such considerations surely cannot be improper for Men who fear and talk of a Persecution And were these thoughts often upon our minds in all probability they would make us less anxious about the felicities of this World lay a restraint upon our wild Appetites and the foolish desires of the Flesh and with the Martyr move us to try our Finger in the Candle before our Bodies come to feel the Fire Nay this very consideration would make us more patient under our ordinary Troubles and thank God he lays no greater Trials upon us that he deals so gently with us and as yet suffers no Temptation to befall us but what is common to Men Whatever affliction befalls us let us think of the various Torments of the Saints of old and think this is nothing to what St. Paul endured or to what St. Peter suffer'd or to what such aâ— Apostle such a dear Servant of God felt Setting the greater Trials before us will make our common sicknesses and crosses seem less in our Eyes as Men forget the pain of the Gout or the chilliness of an Ague when they find the House over their Heads on fire V. And now that we speak of Persecution who sees not that Persecution for Righteousness sake is a certain sign there is a Kingdom of Heaven if we believe there is a God that sees all and knows all and takes pleasure in them that serve him is it possible that he can see Men suffer for him and bleed and die for his Gospel and not reward them It is certain they have no reward here and therefore they must necessarily have a reward hereafter The Apostle therefore might very well say 1 Cor. XV. 19. if in this life only we had hope in Christ we should of all Men be most miserable As the impunity of Men abominably profane and the uninterrupted Prosperity of very wicked Men is a Demonstration that there must be Punishments in the next life so the sufferings the continued the exquisite the grievous sufferings of Men that truly love God that obey him stand in awe of him and fear him more than the greatest Monarchs can forego all for his Name sake and rather lose Lands and Houses and Goods and Life it self than offend him Their sufferings I say without any visible reward or recompence here are Items sufficient to any rational and considerate Man that there must be a Kingdom of Heaven or a wonderfull felicity in another World that is to be their individual companion and attendant If there be a God it stands to reason he must be infinitely perfect if infinitely perfect he must be infinitely good and if infinitely good how is it possible for him to see Men live and die to him and for him and do nothing remarkably for them A great Man here on Earth that hath any generosity in him if a Man hath worn himself out in his Service or for his sake hath lost all he hath in the World even life it self thinks himself in Honour obliged to make some provision for his Wife and Children if he leaves any or to erect a Monument for him or to do something after his Death to testifie his gratefull acknowledgement of his faithfull service And what is the goodness and generosity of Man compared with the Infinite goodness of God a meer shadow an atome a grain of sand compared with the Sun or a Mountain or the vast Globe of the Earth And as God is infinitely good so the rewards he gives must be suppos'd infinite like himself and that 's it we mean by the Kingdom of Heaven This Argument is needless to you that believe the Word of God however to such as never
and be exceeding glad for this Reason because great is their Reward in Heaven At once to prove and paraphrase upon this Subject 1. The Question is not Whether the Rewards of Heaven are matter of Joy and Gladness to those who are already actually possess'd of them who have left this World and exchanged this Life for a better and as they have heard see in the City of our God and see no more darkly as through a glass but face to face There is no Dispute among Christians but that these Rewards are Joy and Gladness to such What! Can they forbear rejoycing that lie at the Fountain drink of the River of God which is full of Water even Water of Life Can they be sorrowful that have the Bridegroom always present with them and are out of all Danger to be deprived of his Company Can they be sad that are united to the bright increated Sun which irradiates the vast Territories of Heaven and are perpetually warmed into Strength and Vigor to praise and adore the Author and Life and Glory of their Being The Question is not concerning these but such as are on this side Heaven in this Land of the Living in this Valley of Misery and are afflicted reviled persecuted abused as if they were forsaken not only of Men but of Heaven too Whether the Rewards of Heaven things invisible and unseen out of their reach and sight and for which they have nothing to shew but a few Lines in a Book call'd the Bible whether such things as these can be just Cause of Joy and Gladness and to Persons who are despicable and miserable and perhaps made the off-scouring of all things This is the Point I am to prove and therefore 2. That these Rewards of Heaven as much out of sight as they are have been and are matter of Joy and Gladness to wise rational and inquisitive Persons is evident from what Experience tells us and when I was upon the Tenth Verse of this Chapter I gave you very considerable Instances of it nor is this Age so barren of Goodness but that several excellent Christians do rejoyce and are exceeding glad at these Rewards and are able to say with the Apostle and the Believers of old We rejoyce in the hope of the Glory of God Rom. V. 2. So that the matter of fact is certain All the Difficulty lies here Whether these Rewards so much talk'd of are Ground sufficient and solid enough to build such Joy and Gladness upon for Men may delude themselves with Fancies as we see People in Bedlam do But even this will soon be made out for if a Man have sufficient ground to believe that there are such Rewards in Heaven and that the Book call'd the Bible contains the Promises and Oracles of the Living God and that God hath certainly promis'd such Rewards and Rewards so great so wonderful as that Book speaks of to Persons duly qualified then such a Man hath sufficient reason to rejoyce in the Hope and Expectation of it And that what the Bible saith of these Rewards is the express Word and Promise of God is evident from hence because the several Writers of that Book and particularly the Assertors of these Rewards whose Prevarication and Aberration from the Truth could never be proved do peremptorily affirm it And that they affirm nothing but the Truth the Miracles they wrought before whole Multitudes in Confirmation of what they say and the Truth of which hath been convey'd and handed down from Age to Age and sealed with a thousand and a thousand Deaths do sufficiently demonstrate And as true Miracles can be nothing but the Effects of an Omnipotent Power so it is absurd to think that God would lend or vouchsafe his Omnipotent Power to confirm a Lye And we may as well question the Publick Acts and Edicts in such a King's Reign who lived two or three hundred years ago attested by publick Authority as the Records of these Miracles for the former we have only the Testimony of a single Nation for the other the Testimony of the whole Christian World even that of Enemies not to mention that the natural Dictates of Reason and the Light of Nature speaks though more darkly to the same purpose So that there is no room left for any rational Doubt that there are such Rewards which may certainly be had and consequently they are just matter of Gladness and Rejoycing And yet 3. We see that these Rewards do not cause this Joy in all the generality rejoycing more in Temporal and External than Spiritual and Eternal Blessings nor indeed do we find this Joy in all Persons who are in Distress for the Sorrow they lie under and their secret Fondness of these outward Enjoyments we see drown their Joy or Rejoycing in these Rewards Tho' I know Heaven at such times is often talk'd of yet it 's evident it moves not the Discourse may be amuses the Party or for the present makes him attentive but being over like a Stone forced up into the Air when that Force is withdrawn it sinks to its Mother Earth again We must suppose therefore that he who can rejoyce in this Reward I mean truly rejoyce must be a Person duly qualified and that which qualifies a Man for it is a lively Belief of it a lively Representation of it to the Mind and Understanding a firm Perswasion of the Certainty and of our Right and Title to it a very high Esteem of it and an actual preferring it before the Satisfactions of this present World and accordingly we find that those who have been thus qualified have rejoyced in these Rewards with joy unspeakable and full of glory as we see 1 Pet. I. 8. But 4. Besides this there are two Qualifications more which very much promote this Joy or help towards it and that 's 1. A blameless Life 2. Suffering in the midst of that blameless Life 1. A blameless Life A Man that lives in Sin or minds little but the World or allows himself in any thing that 's manifestly contrary to the Gospel cannot possibly rejoyce in these Rewards as well may a Beggar rejoyce in such a Nobleman's Estate who is a meer Stranger to him as a Person who is loth to submit to Christ's Yoke rejoyce in the hopes of these Rewards which do not at all belong to him Purity of Life hath the Promise of this Reward and therefore the pure Liver only is the Person that can justly rejoyce in it especially 2. If he suffers notwithstanding his blameless Life for in this case the Rewards of Heaven he takes a View of assure him that the time will shortly come when all this Troubles shall vanish away like Smoak at the glorious Presence of God that it will not be long before he shall be out of the reach of all slanderous and malicious Tongues and that the greater his Sufferings are the greater will his Glory and Triumph and Satisfaction be His Sufferings fix his
Thoughts upon this Reward and move him to dwell upon it The Bitterness of his Affliction gives that Reward a greater Sweetness and is the same that makes him relish it the more Hence comes this Joy and the nobler the Cause is in and for which he suffers the greater is the Joy But 5. Though all this helps yet the Holy Spirit of God must work with it and work in and upon the Heart and make the Impression of the future Reward so lively that it shall cause Joy and Rejoycing much depends upon the Spirits mingling those Rewards with the Thoughts of the Mind whereby the Affections are affected and rouz'd and elevated into Joy and Rejoycing and such Joy as shall carry the Soul above her Sufferings and make her contentedly want those Accommodations and Conveniencies and Advantages that others do enjoy For this Spirit as it must assure us of our Right to that Reward Rom. VIII 16 17. so it is from that Assurance that this Joy rises which is the Reason why it is emphatically called Joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. XIV 17. And yet after all it must be confessed that good Company doth not a little contribute toward their Joy Which leads me to the Second Proposition viz. It 's comfortable to suffer in good Company so persecuted they the Prophets that were before you That 's the Comfort Christ gives here to Persons suffering and bids them solace themselves with the Company of the antient Prophets And this Proposition also I shall explain in these following Paragraphs 1. Solitariness in Affliction aggravates Affliction which is the Reason that Jeremy makes it an Ingredient of the greatness of Jerusalem's Misery Lam. I. 1. How doth the city sit solitary which was full of people how is she become as a widow that was great among the nations she that was a princess among the provinces how is she become tributary All the Heathen Nations round about swam in Plenty Prosperity crown'd their Labours and Ease and Liberty was their Companion Jerusalem alone sigh'd under her Load and groan'd under her Burthen and wept while her Neighbours rejoyc'd and triumph'd in the Success of their Attempts and Enterprizes Company in Affliction is a kind of Balm which supplies the Spirit and gives some Refreshment to a wounded Soul it takes off from the greatness of the Grief and makes the Burthen lighter Solitariness looks strange like a stinking Weed in a curious Flower-garden and coming in the shape of that which is unusual it surprizes more and consequently afflicts more and that 's the Reason may be why Men bear a common Calamity where many fare alike better than they do a private where they have no Partners in their Sorrows And yet 2. It 's hard to conceive how a Man can be solitary in Affliction except by Solitariness we mean that in the Parish or Street or House or Family we live in there is none that is afflicted as we are Set this aside there can hardly any Affliction be named but some or other in the World have been and are as great or greater Sufferers than we are and in this sense a Man cannot want Company in Affliction But then in this case the Mind must call the Company in and the Understanding represent their Sufferings to the Thoughts and Meditation must make their Afflictions present which being a thing generally neglected by Persons who suffer they are very apt to sink into this Fancy That none are miserable in the World as they are as we see Jerusalem complained Lam. I. 12. Behold and see whether there be such a sorrow as my sorrow is wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his anger And yet 3. It is not suffering in every Company that is comfortable To suffer with Evil-doers is a Grief rather than a Consolation and to be afflicted with Malefactors is made an Ingredient of the Bitterness of our blessed Saviour's cup Mark XV. Nor will Company in Hell be any Ease to the Sufferers but rather increase their Torments none being able to help the other The Comfort arising from suffering in Company is confined to this present World and in this case the Company must be such as a Man hath no reason to be ashamed of and that must be the Company of truly pious Men whether they be present or absent whether they have lived lately or a thousand or two thousand Years agone whether they dwell in the same Town or City or Village we are of or a hundred Miles off for this Company of good Men with whom we suffer are either as good as we are or better than we 1. If they be as good as we our selves are the Reflexion is very natural If this be the Lot and Portion of Persons under the same Circumstances I am under then no strange thing happens to me then God deals with me as he doth with his other Children If I am not better than they why should I expect more favourable Dealings at his hands and yet these Dealings are favourable too If Men as good as my self have look'd upon the Crosses that have befallen them as Marks of God's Favour why should not I look upon mine thro' the same Glass How can it be said that I am as good as they if I make not the same pious Constructions of these Providences if I fall short of these rational Interpretations of God's Dispensations I must needs fall short of their Goodness Or 2. The good Men in whose Company I suffer are better than I and then the Argument of Comfort will be stronger still Have the Heroes of Religion suffered so much and shall I a puny Christian complain Have the great Champions of the Gospel endured as much or more than I and shall a Christian of an ordinary size find fault Have such Men as St. Paul and the Holy Apostle's gone thro' firy Tryals and shall I a Disciple of those great Masters tremble at the Fire Have the Fathers the strong Men in Grace old Disciples been scratch'd and wounded with Briars and Thorns and shall I a Babe look to tread on Carpets Have the Generals the Captains in Christ's Army gone thro' a Sea of Adversity and shall I a common Soldier shrink at the Waves Have such Men as Samuel Elijah and Elisha Men that could in a manner command Heaven by their Prayers been reviled traduced reproach'd and shall I a Shrub take it ill that I am call'd out of my Name This is a very strong Argument of Comfort So that you see that the Comfort arising from suffering with other good Men lies partly in the Ease the Mind receives by their Society and partly in that their Examples give us opportunity to make use of the same Motives to Patience which held them up 1. In the Ease the Mind receives from the suffering Society It gives a sort of Content which all the Physick in the World cannot give especially if the suffering Company be present for then the
find work enough nay by this means you would be helpful to the Ministry and prepare Men for our larger Instructions and fit them for the understanding of our Sermons and that Fire which your pious Counsels have kindled in them we should be able to cherish and increase by our Power and Authority And what if you have seen no great success of your Endeavours to Reform others may be you have exhorted and reproved them but have not shewn them a good Example or may be you have admonish'd them carelesly or in Jest and this is not the way to edifie or while you have Chid them for one sin suppose Swearing or Drinking or keeping Ill Company you have lived in another such as Wrath or Anger or Covetousness and Vncharitableness c. and this must necessarily obstruct their Conversion But suppose your endeavours both by a good Example and gentle Admonitions have proved ineffectual All that can be said is this they have done no good to day or this Week but how do you know but they may prove beneficial to morrow or next day or next year Industrious Men are not discouraged with miscarrying in their business once or twice but fall on again and try again and at last their Wishes are accomplish'd and their Desires fulfilled God gives no success to the first Attempts on purpose to encourage us to make more Be not therefore weary of well-doing Do you but your Duty and leave the Success to God You 'll be no losers by your Endeavours in the last day In the mean while you make good the Title of the Text and have the Peace and Comfort of a good Conscience and if you do any good by one act you bring a great number of Blessings both upon your selves and others For so we read Jam. V. 20. Brethren if any of you err from the Truth and one convert them let him know that he that Converts a Sinner from the Error of his Ways shall save a Soul from Death and cover a multitude of sins SERMON XIV St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 14. Ye are the Light of the World IT cannot be denied but that the Titles Christ gives his Followers are magnificent and glorious but then it is not to flatter or to puff them up but to make them know their Duty As he brought the best Religion with him into the World so he would have his Followers distinguish themselves from the rest of Mankind by something extraordinary Those that improve or rather abuse the lofty Names which are given to Christians into self-conceitedness and contempt of others mistake their Masters design and pervert the hopes of his Commendations The Titles do no farther belong to them than they make them good nor doth the Name entitle them to real Happiness while that which is signified by it is wanting It will serve indeed to aggravate their future Misery but cannot contribute any thing to their Salvation God is not taken with outward shews and they may stand knocking at Heaven-gate long enough before the Door is open'd that have nothing to plead for their entring but that they were Abraham's Children Here on Earth Men may be admitted into the Royal Presence because of their Titles of Dukes Earls Marquesses c. but in the Court above Men have no respect shewn them but such as express'd the Elegies and Epithets given them by their Actions This as it is to be observ'd with respect to the Title Christ gives to his Followers in the preceding Verse where he calls them the Salt of the Earth so it is particularly to be applied to that which follows in the Text where Christ reflecting on the Sun and Moon and Stars and all the Lamps of Heaven and considering how beneficial they are to this nether World thinks fit to describe and represent the Manners of his Disciples by that Simile Ye are the Light of the World And that you may see what this Title imports I shall I. Examine the Qualities of Light and then it will easily appear what Duties are implied II. Whether this addition Of the World Ye are the Light of the World hath any thing of Emphasis or Weight in it or imports something more than the bare Title and of these in order I. What the qualities of Light are and here to insist only upon such qualities which fall under the Cognisance of the meanest Capacity 1. Shining is the great quality of Light so a Christian is to shine in Virtues and good Works and what these Virtues and good Works are you may see Gal. V. 22 23. 2 Pet. I. 5 6 7. Rom. XII 8 9. and following Man is naturally in a State of darkness For ye were sometime darkness but now are ye Light in the Lord saith St. Paul Eph. V. 8. Not but that unregenerate Men may be very quick and sagacious in Worldly concerns and things relating to their gain and profit and thriving in the World nay and may be very great Scholars Philosophers and speculative Men in which sense they may be said to have a quick natural Light but with respect to real and substantial goodness they are in a state of darkness and though I doubt not but that in their Baptism they receive some degrees of spiritual Light for which reason they are said to be enlightned Heb. VI. 5. yet that Light as they grow up we see very often drown'd by the Vanities and ill Examples of the World so that they sink into darkness again and sometimes greater darkness than those who never heard of the Gospel labour under But when the Light of God's Grace and the Spirit of the Holy Jesus irradiates their Minds that Light which shines within even in their Understandings doth and will certainly break forth it being impossible to be shut up or imprison'd and shine without upon their Lives and that Shine is nothing but good Works And the Sun does not gild the Earth more than good Works the outward Man These adorn the Christian and are the Splendour of his Life and they transfigure him in a manner as Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor of whom we read Luke IX 29. That his raiment became white and glistering Good Works are a true Christians Raiment and they are glistering too They are so many Stars that spangle that Firmament and though the Kings Daughter be all glorious within Psal. XLV 13. yet that Glory within is of such force that it will shine without and in this sense he is truly changed from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of our God as it is said 2 Cor. III. 18. 2. Light is of an illuminating Nature it enlightens Houses Rooms Caves and Dens and an infinite variety of things so a Christian must make it his business to enlighten other Men those especially who walk in the dark are Children of the Night and live in sin for that is called darkness in Scripture In our Converses Dealings Business Employments we meet very ordinarily with
in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God Excellent Counsel In the midst of all temptations darkness clouds and shadows of Death let them even resolve to depend upon God's Mercy and Goodness and rest there whatever comes of it and though they can give no reason for so doing yet let them fix here and upon this Resolution If I perish I will perish in the hopes of God's Mercy While the Light of Holiness shines and burns in them there is that in them which will secure their Title to the Enjoyment of God's everlasting Light Light will mingle with Light and the Light of the Love of God in the Soul on this side Heaven by a natural Tendency must necessarily at last terminate in and be united to him who dwelleth in a Light which no mortal Man can approach unto For with thee O Lord is the Fountain of Light and in thy Light shall we see Light Lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us and we shall be safe SERMON XV. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 14. A City set upon a Hill cannot be hid IN these Words our Saviour prosecutes his Design in the preceding Characters he had given of his Disciples and Followers He had called them the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World and these Characters he illustrates and inlarges upon not only in the Text but in the two Verses following He had told them that their Lives must be Exemplary their Conversation Edifying and their Actions such as might serve both to reform and enlighten others to this he adds another simile ye are saith he and God expects and intends you should be like a City set upon a Hill now a City set upon a Hill cannot be hid i. e. Men will take notice of you as they do of a City seated upon a Hill if your Lives are not according to the rules of my Gospel your Christianity and Discipleship will soon be seen through and you will quickly betray your Hypocrisy Your business is to own and profess the Truth in the Face of the Sun and by your conformity to my holy Laws to let the World see that you are of the same Mind and Spirit and Temper that I am of Cities are conspicuous all Men that pass by them look upon them especially if they be set on a Hill so the Eyes of the World are and will be upon you and it will soon appear what manner of Spirit you are of Let it be therefore your care so to behave your selves that those who look upon you and observe your deportment may be convinc'd that you do not profess one thing and practise another This is the natural Sense and Design of our Saviour's Expression here as will appear to any one that shall examine the Drift and Scope of Christ in this Sermon on the Mount and the antecedent and consequent Passages But because the Church of Rome lays a great stress upon this Place and makes use of it to prove the perpetual visibility of their Church I must necessarily discover to you the Vanity of that pretence before I draw any Inferences from this Passage to instruct you how to govern your Lives and Actions according to the import of this Similitude not that I am fond of controversy or love to insult over a dying Religion but the Subject lies in my way and to balk it would look like betraying the noble Cause we have espoused built upon the eternal Pillars of Truth and Reason The pretence therefore is this It must be granted say they that the Church of Christ must have been visible in all Ages for it is a City set upon a Hill which cannot be hid and there is no reason it should for how should Heathens and Infidels be converted to the Faith of Christ if the Church which must teach them that Faith were not visible If it had lain hid and obscure in the World for several Ages confined to Caves and Dens to Corners and Deserts as you Protestants pretend Christ must have miss'd of his Design which was by the conspicuousness of his Church to draw Unbelievers into the bosom of it Now it 's evident that the Church of Rome hath been visible in all Ages conspicuous and splendid for many Centuries together without any interruption yours never began to appear till Luther and Calvin and Henry VIII made it visible therefore the Church of Rome must be the true Church and yours the false because it hath not been visible in all Ages This is the Pretence and now let us briefly consider the Weakness and Absurdity of it 1. Whatever may be said for the perpetual visibility of Christ's Church it is plain that from this Text it cannot be proved for Christ doth not speak here of his Followers considered as a Church or a body of Men united under their Pastors in the Profession of the Doctrin of the Gospel and in the Use and Administration of the Sacraments of the New Testament but of every individual Disciple considered as a Christian and a follower of Christ to teach him how he ought to live and behave himself in the World to the Edification of others And this is evident from the Virtues of Meekness and Humility and Patience and Peaceableness c. press'd in the foregoing Verses which are things appertaining to every private Christian and this saying you are a City set on a Hill which cannot be hid is spoken to the very same Persons of whom the aforesaid Virtues are required So that these Words relate to a Christian Duty not to the State or Condition or Splendour or visibility of Christ's Church But 2. Suppose they do relate to Christ's Church considered as a Church they must necessarily relate to Christ's universal Church for here is no particular Church mention'd Christ's universal Church of all Ages Nations Countrys may he called a City as it is in other places stiled a Body for as a City is made up of various Buldings and as a Body consists of many Members so Christ's universal Church consists of many particular Churches which make up that great City and that vast Body and if these Words relate to Christ's universal Church how can they be applied to a particular and especially to the Church of Rome more then to the Church of Ethiopia or Greece or Armenia and how absurd must be the Consequence The universal Church of Christ is a City set upon a Hill which cannot be hid therefore the Church of Rome is that Church or therefore the Church of Rome is that City It 's true they call themselves the Vniversal or Catholick Church so did the Donatists of old but what doth calling themselves so signify when it is evident and clear as the Sun at Noon that the Church of Rome is but a particular Church There were Churches in the World before the Church of Rome was heard of and there are at this Day and have been all along Churches which may
Proportionable The Solitary good Man saves himself but he that is Religious in Society is in a way of saving both himself and those that see him In so wicked an Age as this is good Men had need shew themselves to the World to do something toward the Amendment and Reformation of it And without doubt some good they do and though it is to be wisht that the World were better yet that it is not worse they are beholding to such Examples which shews that some good is done by their Living and Conversing in Babylon III. Were I to speak to Princes to the Nobles to the Gentry of the Nation to Magistrates Ministers and to men in Authority this should be my Text. All such Persons who make some Figure in the World are like a City set upon a Hill to such the nether World the Plebeians the Commonalty and the Ordinary sort of People look up Their Example they take Notice of and these Examples they Ordinarily follow I would tell them that as God hath raised them above the Common level so God expects they should be eminent in Goodness and be as much above all Vice as they are above the common Rank I would tell them that their Sins are spreading and like the Plague destroy whole Cities and Towns I would tell them that in this Case they are more Barbarous than the Tyrants Mankind cries out upon for they lay several mens Consciences waste by their ill Practices which is more than sacking Towns and burning Cities All ye that are advanced to some Government and surely Parents and Masters of Families are so Behold your selves in this Glass according as your Examples are so will your Inferiours be I do not say it is so always but this is ordinarily the Effect of your Behaviour As you are so will your Children and Servants be at least there is Reason to think that so they will be for your Example strangely influences those that are under your Charge and Protection If you sanctify the Lords day both in Publick and Private by letting the Word of God dwell richly among you in all Wisdom Teaching and Admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with grace in your Hearts unto the Lord your Inferiours in time its possible would do so too If you are enemies to Pride to Intemperance to Drunkenness to Swearing there is hopes that your Inferiours will learn of you If you are Grave and Modest and curb your Passions and deny your selves for Heaven and Gods Service it is not improbable that your Inferiours will be wrought upon to make you their Patterns We see they do so in evil Things why should we despair of their following you in that which is good At least you have this Satisfaction that by your Example you shew'd them the Way to the Land which flows with Milk and Honey You will have this Comfort that your Example did not lead them into the Chambers of Death nor make them fling their immortal Souls away All ye that are Professours of Religion that pretend to be holier than ordinary the Eyes of the World will be upon you The least false step you make will be taken notice of See then that you walk Circumspectly as wise Men redeeming the Time because the days are Evil. IV. Such of you whom the Spirit of God hath made free from the Law of Sin you are not only a City set upon a Hill but behold you are come into mount Sion to the heavenly Jerusalem unto the City of the living God and to the innumerable company of Angels as the Apostle saith Heb. XII 18. Behold God hath called you to be Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem called you to be Companions of Angels called you to dwell on the Hill of God on the everlasting Hill How high is your Calling How excellent your Vocation How great the dignity God intends you Your conversation is to be in Heaven and will you mind the Trifles of the Flesh and so mind them as to set your Affections upon them Will you who are Born new Born I mean to an everlasting Kingdom will you be fond of this pitiful transitory World you that are intended for the highest Imployment will you do as the Children of the World do They are from Beneath you are from Above Do Eagles catch Flies and you that are intended to soar above the Clouds will you disgrace your Pedigree and and set your Affections on things Below God intends you as Conquerours and will you suffer your selves to fall a Prey to filthy Temptation and expose your selves to the Contempt and Scorn of the Fowler who Flatters you till he draws you into the Net and then Punishes you for being taken Behold the glorious City the City of our God the City set upon a Hill indeed the City which hath Foundations whose builder and maker is God! Do you hope to be Members of that Community and will you disparage your selves by Actions that will certainly exclude you from that Republick At the Gates of it no unclean Thing shall enter A clean Heart and a clean Life must give you jus Givitatis make you free Denisons of that City and will not you prepare your selves for the Honour of that Naturalization Except you imitate the Manners of the Citizens above you can never hope to be Partners with them in their Glory and what are their Manners Why They love Love is their Trade their Employment their Business their Pleasure their Delight their Satisfaction They love nothing but God or if they love any Thing besides him they love it for his Sake and love God in it Love is their Principle their End their Mark and their Entertainment Love is their Meat and Drink and their Recreation They love Dearly they love Constantly they love Eternally God is love and he dwells in them and they in God To be like them see that ye love him that hath begotten you again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead See that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently See that your love be without dissimulation See that ye love not in Word nor in Tongue but indeed and in truth and when the Thred of your Life shall break that Love which dwelt in you will exalt you to the Regions of perfect Love where the Inhabitants speak of Love and think of Love and sing of Love and tell one another how Christ hath loved them and wash'd them from their Sins with his own Blood To him be Glory forever Amen FINIS * Anno 1641. †So call'ed as some think from Bacchi ara Vid. Misson's Trav. Tom. 1. Lett. 6 * An. 1665. †The Rectory of Doulton in Devonshire ‖ An 1669. * Charles Lodowick Elector Palatine †An 1671. * Plin. l. 1. ep 12. * Varen descript Japon †The learned W. Sclater us'd to call this Distemper to which he himself was much subject Studiosorum flagellum * Before this last Illness of which he died he fell in the year 1678 into along and languishing Sickness occasioned through his indefatigable Application to the Duties and Functions of his Ministry It brought him well nigh to his Grave The good Man ascribed his Recovery under God to the tender Care of his vertuous Wife with whom he always liv'd in great Concord and Union and to the Prayers of pious People put up to Heaven on his behalf as appears from some devout Meditations which he compos'd on that Subject and which have been found since his Decease among his Papers In Thanksgiving to God for his Preservation at that time which he himself look'd on as next to miraculous he kept a Day Monthly in his Family ever after and preach'd yearly a Commemoration Sermon to his beloved Congregation at the Savoy wherein he rehearsed God's Mereies to him and excited others to hope and trust in him in the like Extremities He also distributed largely to the Poor upon that Day This was his constant Method to treasure up God's Providences to him and to sanctifie and improve them not only to his own Use but to the Use and Benefit of others * Hieron vit Hilarion * Platon Axiochus * Vulg. lat in locum †Theophylact on Matth. 24. Crucific Jesus p. 557. †Socrat. Apolog. * Jul. Celsus de vit J. Caesaris * He commenc'd Doctor at Cambridge in the Year 1681. This is mention'd here it having thro'inadvertency been omitted in its proper place Vid. Grot in Loc. Vid. Cornel à Lap. in Luc. G. Leti Vid. Cornel. à Lap. in Jacobi 1. v. ult Pliny