must this be to be so concerned for your good Works A Father your Father so great a Father A Father that dwells on high to humble himself and stoop to look upon your good Works and withall declare his willingness to accept of them surely this is self-denial infinite For him that is higher than the Heaven Higher than the Highest Higher than the greatest Potentates to vouchsafe a favourable Aspect to your good Works surely this must this should one would think prevail with many of you who retain some Sense of your Duty Nay and he is therefore said to be in Heaven to let you see where you shall be and whither you shall go when you leave this World having let the Light of your good Works shine before Men even into that Heaven where himself is adored by Angels and all the Morning Stars sing together where his own infinite Felicity fills all that are about his Throne with Joys and Ravishments unspeakable And therefore suffer this word of Exhortation and let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven SERMON XVIII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil CHRIST having in the foregoing Discourse open'd and laid down the true Nature of the Christian Religion what it imports and what Qualifications it challenges and what Temper it requires and told us that a Christian is a Person Humble and concern'd for his own and other Men's Sins Meek and earnestly desirous of high degrees of Holiness Merciful and kind and Pure in Heart and of a peaceable and peace-making Disposition and Patient under Injuries and in his Affliction comforting himself with the Rewards of Heaven and the Blessings of Eternity and ready to do good and profitable and useful both to the Souls and Bodies of other Men I say having laid down these Characters as Essential to a Christian to a Disciple of the Holy Jesus He now goes on not only to let his Disciples see how much of the Old Religion he intended to adopt into his own which he was going to publish but to enforce the Duties he had mention'd from the Law and from the Prophets shewing that in prescribing the aforesaid Rules and Directions he was so far from contradicting the Law and the Prophets that he spoke their Sense and Meaning and that this was not to call them away from an Esteem and Veneration of the Law and the Prophets but to increase it and that what the Law and the Prophets had but obscurely hinted he was come to explain more largely and to deliver more clearly and to press with greater Motives and Arguments Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil In the Explication of which Words these four Things do naturally offer themselves to our Consideration I. What the Law and the Prophets are II. What it was that rais'd a Suspicion or made People think and fear That Christ came to destroy the Law and the Prophets III. How it appears That he came not with that intent IV. How he fulfill'd the Law and the Prophets I. What the Law and the Prophets are 1. By the Law and the Prophets are meant the Doctrine contained in the Books of the Old Testament call'd by various Names in Holy Writ sometimes the Law in general Joh. x. 34 sometimes Moses and the Prophets Luke xvi 31 sometimes the Law of Moses the Prophets and the Psalms Luke xxiv 44 sometimes the Scripture Joh. v. 39 sometimes the Book of the Lord Isai. xxxiv 16. sometimes the Law and the Prophets as here because this Book consists not only of the Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sina for the Instruction and Edification of the Jewish People but the Writings of other Men also Men inspired by the Holy Ghost who writ either in a Historical or Dogmatical or Prophetical way strictly so called by way of foretelling things to come even as the Spirit of God which governed their Thoughts and Pens thought fit to dictate to them for the use of the Church or Gods People The Law of Moses is as it were the Text the other Books are in the nature of Comments They are called the Law and the Prophets not as if the Law were not written by a Person inspired but the Law is named distinctly either because the Law had some peculiar marks of Divinity in it as appears from the circumstances of its Publication or because it was written by a Prophet of a higher Order and such was Moses Exod. xxxiv whose Prophetick Office God doth distinguish from that of other Persons moved by the Holy Ghost or because the principal part of the Books of Moses the Ten Commandements are said to be written by the Finger of God which gives the Law a special Priviledge so that both the Law and the Prophets came from God only the Law had something more Majestick than ordinary in it and therefore deserves to be named by it self This Law of Moses consists of Commands of a very different Nature Some are the result of natural Justice and Equity of the Eternal Law imprinted on the Souls of Men of the Law of Nature or of right Reason and Deductions from the common Notions of God and of his Perfections and the Relation we stand in toward him and toward one another the summary whereof is the Decalogue or the Ten Commandements Another sort of Commands in that Law relates to the outward manner of Gods Worship and to external Ceremonies to Gifts and Sacrifices and Meats and Drinks and divers washings and carnal Ordinances imposed on the Jewish People until the time of the Reformation Heb. ix 9 10. And these Commands are purely positive depending altogether upon the Will and Pleasure of the Law-giver and therefore alterable and mutable as Occasion and Time and Necessity and the Reason of things c. require and this is commonly stiled the Ceremonial Law A third sort hath Relation to Policy and Government made up partly of Rules issuing from natural Justice and Equity partly of Constitutions such as the Nature and Temper of the People and the Situation of the Country and the Neighbourhood of the Nations who dwelt round about them and the danger of being infected by them and the Circumstances they were in did suggest commonly call'd the Civil or Judicial Law 2. These three sorts of Commands given by God to Moses made up the Digests the Pandects or the Body of the Jewish Law and that 's it that 's commonly understood by that known and frequent Expression in Scripture especially the New Testament the Law it 's written in the Law or the Law saith c. even the complex of all these Laws given at the Command of God by Moses to the Jewish People and as such they did particularly oblige the
them and to raise Hallelujahs Gratitude and Thanksgivings in them Or if by beholding the good Works which shine in our Lives they become sensible of their own spiritual Wants and come to see how far short they fall of the Perfection which is in us and thereupon grow importunate with God for the same degree of Faith and Love they spy in our Conversation and begin to use the proper means in order to it this surely is glorifying God when they see our good Works 4. When others take occasion by the good Works they behold in us to spread Religion and Goodness and use their Talents to make others conformable to the Rule of the Gospel as those pious Christians did we read of Acts xi 19 who taking Example by what they saw the Apostles do to propagate the Faith of Christ in this Case our good Works prove Incentives to others to exhort those who are afar off to draw nigh to God and thus the Glory of God pleads when our shining and burning Lamps convey Fire into other Men's Hearts which makes them communicate the Light they feel to as many as have Faith to be heal'd of their Infirmities And these Beloved Hearers are the Ends you must propose to your selves in letting your Light even the Light of your good Works shine before Men Ends great and fit for Christian Philosophers These are Royal Ends and therefore not unbecoming those who by their Profession are Kings and Priests to God The greater a Person is the higher ought his End and Design to be A Christian is a Person highly exalted and therefore the End we speak of being High and Masculine is to be the Object of his Thoughts And now give me leave to ask you Is not this Work and this End the most proper Task of Persons who have renounc'd the Devil and all his Works You have all done so and all the Evasions and Excuses you can make cannot dissolve the Obligation to let your Light shine thus and for this End May so much Good be done by letting the Light of your good Works shine before Men Is it certain that by doing so you put your selves in a capacity of Converting others of engaging the Praises of others for your selves and them and of encouraging them to promote the Honour and Glory of God and shall you and I stand idle in the Market-place What if no Man hath hired us Is not the excellency of the Work enough to make us run into the Vineyard Nay there is a Penny to be earn'd by it a Penny at Night when you die a Reward which will be all Light all Glory all Splendour to be sure an infinite Recompence for all your Labours Behold you are permitted to aim at Glory in all your good Works not at your own Glory not at your own Praise but at the Glory of God even that others may Glorifie God And do but think what a satisfaction it will be to you in the last Day when you shall hear the Confessions of those who were illuminated edified and comforted by your good Works when you shall hear them say I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for giving me an opportunity to be acquainted with such a Saint and to know the Conversation of such a holy Man of such a holy Woman and to see the Light of their good Works for by that sight my Soul was inflamed Hence it was that I received the first Sparks of Grace and the Seed of God and hence flowed all that Happiness I now enjoy The Satisfaction that must naturally issue from such a Confession is not to be expressed it will be so great And that 's it the Apostle aim'd at when he said to the Thessalonians 1 Thes. ii 19 What is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing Are not ye even in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ for ye are our glory and joy And now what shall I say more to oblige you to let the Light of your good Works shine before Men Yes there is one Motive more and the Text suggests it and with that the last Proposition V. That one great Motive to let the Light of our good Works shine before Men is this Consideration That God is our Father which is in Heaven That others may Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven How sweet how charming is the Motive What! Not let your Light shine before Men when 1. A Father speaks to you a Father who will deal gently with his Children will overlook many accidental Failings and Infirmities will not proceed against you according to the Rigour of his Justice knows how to remember Mercy in the midst of his Anger and will consider more the Sincerity than the Perfection of your good Works Say not therefore my good Works have Spots in them every thing I do hath so much Frailty and Imperfection in it that God will never accept of my Endeavours and therefore I may as well let them alone as apply my Mind to them for it will be much to the same purpose What! Christian harbour such Thoughts of a Father who is all Love all Mercy all Kindness to those that fear him to those that do their best to please him that do not wilfully and obstinately offend him and rejoice before him with trembling Can a Father reject or forget such Children What if they be weakly and sickly is it likely he will turn them out of Doors or cast them away from his Presence Is it not more agreeable to a Father's Name and Nature to help their Faith to cherish their Hope to strengthen their Love and to supple and establish their Charity 2. Remember he is your Father He is so to Angels who are therefore called the Sons of God Job i. but he is yours too not only theirs but you that dwell in Tabernacles of Clay may very justly call him so Nay yours in a special manner not only because he gives you a Natural Life and Being and watches over you Night and Day but yours by giving a Son for you his only Son his Eternal Son yours reconciled to you by that Son even by the Blood of his Cross. And have not you reason to please such a Father Can such a Father leave or forsake you May not you very justly be confident that such a Father will assist you strengthen you bestow his holy Spirit upon you and enable you to let the Light of your good Works shine before Men What! Can such a Father Command any thing that 's unreasonable or that is not fit for you or which is against your Interest What! such a Father to call to you Let your Light shine c. and can you refuse to do it 3. Remember it is your Father which is in Heaven In Heaven not that Heaven holds or imprisons him but there he manifests his Glory his Goodness his Perfection his Beauty in a special in a very eminent manner In Heaven What a Condescension
but that thou approvest of it And supposing thou approvest of it if the Grace of God restrains him not he soon begins to think that what is lawful for thee may be lawful for him and thus he learns of thee though thou doest not open thy Lips to him There are few Men so bold as in their Words and Speeches to defend and justify things directly contrary to the Will of God in the Gospel but you do mischief enough to the Souls of Men by your evil Practices The Mutes among the Turks teach by their Gestures much more may Men be taught by Actions especially where there is already a Disposition to embrace that which is Evil. Physicians and Naturalists talk of transplanting Diseases from Men into Beasts nay some go so far as to prescribe ways to transfer Distempers from Men into Herbs and Plants Whether it be so I enquire not but sure I am that the Diseases of the Soul are and may be transplanted and conveyed from one Man to another even by evil Practices and this is teaching and making Proselytes to Hell and to the Kingdom of Darkness the readiest way to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven which will give me occasion IV. To represent to you what it is to be the least or to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven Fancy you saw a poor miserable Man starving with hunger and so placed that directly over against him he could see the richest Banquet the most delicate Dishes huge plenty of Victuals of all sorts the Company eating their fill and satiating themselves with all the Variety that Earth and Sea and Air can yield and the poor Wretch that is over against this Company but a few paces removed from them unable to get the least Morsel of Bread ready to tear his own Flesh from off his Shoulders and yet in an utter impossibility to get so much as the Crums that fall from those Rich Mens Tables Do not you think this would be as great a Torment as can well be imagined Why this is the Emblem of being the least or excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven The Soul that is so unhappy as to miss of it will see Abraham a far off and Lazarus in his Bosom be ready to perish ready to burst see all the Glory and Joy of blessed Creatures before his Eyes the Delicates the Dainties the Pleasures the Festivals the rich Entertainments they enjoy and swim in passing before him and yet not able to touch not able to reach the least Extremity of all though his Soul be big with ten thousand desires after them What a Torment what a Plague what a Vexation must this be What Grief what Sorrow what Anguish must this cause And if this must continue to Eternal Ages what Tongue is able to express the Torment And can you after all this call any of the Commandments of the Gospel little ones and break them and pass by them as if they did not belong to you and tempt others to do so too when this is the high way to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven But V. Are there no Ambitious Men here Are there none among you that desire to be Great Have none of you a mind to be prefer'd and exalted to eminent Places You must be either very mortified or very dull if Greatness can make no Impression upon you Preferment What is there that is more hunted after How do many break their Sleep and fall into Discontent and Vexation because they cannot be advanced What waiting at Court What cringing what bowing to Great Men What running to this Friend and to th' other Friend What Flattery what Dissembling what Compliances are used and all to be Great Behold We can tell you a way to be Great greater than Caesar or Pompey or Alexander greater than all the Kings or Rulers of the Earth Great Where Not at Court not in the Camp or Army Not in Church-Dignities or Preferments but great in the Kingdom of Heaven And is not the Kingdom of Heaven a more lofty and more spacious Empire than the whole Roman Monarchy in all its greatest Extent and Glory It 's true we cannot shew you this Kingdom we cannot make it visible to your Eyes but we can tell you that St. Paul saw it and Christ did enter into it and he that hath power to dispose of all the Glories of it hath sent us to tell you That you may be great and he 'll make you so great as Angels great as the Worthies of God greater than Kings greater than all the Princes of the Earth greater than all the proud things which make so great a noise in the World now and all this if you will close with his Desires and both do and teach the Commandments Christ recommends to in his famous Sermon Little they may seem and contemptible they may appear in the Eyes of the Men that have their portion in this Life But as little as they may seem to be your Conscientious and Impartial Respect to them all to the least as well as to the greatest shall exalt you exalt you far above all the Glory and Splendor of this World raise you from the Dunghil take you out of the Dust and set you with Princes even with the Princes of God's People If you are great already this shall make you greater Lay up therefore these Commandments in your Hearts and in your Souls bind them for a Sign upon your Hands let them be as Frontlets between your Eyes teach them your Children speak of them when you sit in your Houses and when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up Assure all those you Converse with that these Commandments are Life and Peace and Rational and Equitable and Just and Necessary and Health to the Soul Foretasts of Happiness and Prefaces to an endless Glory Thus do and thus teach Teach by your Discourses teach by your Actions teach by your Example So Noah taught the unbelieving World by building an Ark to the saving of his House to save themselves from the Wrath to come So do you and build upon the Word of the Son of God That you shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven SERMON XXI St. Matt. Ch. v. Ver. 20. For I say unto you That except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven A Preface or Introduction will be needless It 's enough that these Words are part of Christ's Famous Sermon on the Mount The Method I shall observe in handling them shall be this following to Enquire and Consider I. Who these Scribes and Pharisees were II. What their Righteousness was and wherein it consisted III. How and in what our Righteousness is to exceed their Righteousness IV. The danger if we do not ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven I. Who these Scribes and Pharisees were 1. The Pharisees You
these and a thousand things of this nature spoken of concerning the Gospel times in the Law and in the Prophets were most punctually fulfilled and particularly the Types of the Ceremonial Law which were so many prefigurations and obscure hints and characters of the Glory which should after be revealed in the Gospel 2. By what hath been fulfilled we may very safely and rationally infer That the rest of the things which have not yet been will certainly be fulfilled in their due time Such are the lofty Prophecies of the great Unity of the Church of Christ Isai. ii 4 and xi 6 the Spiritual yet visible splendour and largness of it Isai. lx 19 of the Temple which Ezekiel spake of Chap. xl xli xlii c. of the Conversion of the Jews Ezek. xxxvii 26 27. of Antichrist and the state of Christ's Church under him and the consequences of it in Daniel and in other places c. If such abundance of things in the Law have been already fulfilled no doubt the rest will all be fulfilled And this shews That both the Old and the New Testament and the Books and Writings thereof are of God For as the New Testament contains the things that are fulfilled and the Old the things that were to be fulfilled so it must necessarily follow that he that could foretel such things and after he had foretold them so many hundred years before was able to fulfil them could be nothing but God himself it being impossible for any Creature either to foretel or fulfil things so abstruse and out of the common reach of the wisest part of Mankind And since the Scriptures are of God with what Reverence ought we to entertain them with what Seriousness to read them with what Attention to peruse them and with what Strictness to obey them When the Letters and Messages of Sovereign Princes are so venerable and precious with us how dear ought the Oracles and Messages of God to our Souls be to us surely dearer than thousands of Gold and Silver Psal. cxix 72 127. And one great thing that ought to make them so dear to us is this That they will last till Heaven and Earth pass Which brings in the III d Proposition That the Scriptures and the Word of God will last to the Worlds end even till Heaven and Earth do pass away for till then one jot or one tittle of the Law shall not pass away Indeed when the World is at an end there will be no need of Scripture for the Scriptures are given to direct Men here on Earth how to obtain Eternal happiness and while Mankind and Christians particularly abide in this Valley of Tears the Scriptures are profitable for Correction for Reproof for Doctrine that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto every good work and upon this account they are sufficient to make Men wise unto salvation 2 Tim. iii. 15 16. But when this lower World and the Inhabitants of it shall be removed or taken away there will be no Inhabitants to be instructed at least we have no Revelation that there will be any and consequently the means of Instruction will be insignificant If we take a view of the great Day of Judgment and the People that will then appear before the Judge we find they either will be good or bad either Sheep or Goats the Sheep as we are told by him who must be the Judge Matth. xxv 46 will enter into Life everlasting where they shall see darkly no more no more through a Glass and therefore not through the Glass of Scripture as here they do but face to face They will know all that is in the Scripture and infinitely more The Scriptures then will be of no use to them they will be taught immediately of God and behold all things in their highest perfection The Divine Essence and Glory will enlighten them and teach them and instruct them and make them glad for ever and ever The Scripture as it is said of the Law is our Schoolmaster to lead us to Eternal glory When we are got to our Journeys end we have no need of this Guide of these Leading-strings or of that Schoolmaster The Scriptures are our staff and our comfort in the House of our Pilgrimate Psal. cxix 54 when that Pilgrimage ceaseth the Staff will be useless and we shall be Travellers no more but inhabit and fix there where we shall go out no more Rev. iii. 12 Who the Goats are that stand at the left hand of Christ and where they will be and whither they will be sent and what will become of them we all know for they shall go into Everlasting punishment saith our Saviour Matth. xxv 46 Nor will these have any need of Scripture to teach to instruct to exhort to reprove and to direct them how to save themselves for they will be cast into a Prison from whence there is no going out till they have paid the uttermost Farthing In that day God will have another way to teach them even by Torments and Miseries and sad experiences They will be past Repentance and Obedience and all possibility of Conversion and will be determined to evil So that the Scriptures are intended only as our Teachers while this World lasts and while the Sun and Moon continue their courses God will preserve this precious Book He that preserv'd it so many hundred years already in despight of Fire and Flames and the rage of Enemies and Persecutors who would feign have banish'd abolish'd and exterminated it out of the World And that very Preservation shews He will continue these Instructions to Mankind till the Heavens be no more and the Earth doth melt away How great is God's care of our Souls who from age to age preserves this Treasure to us Neither Wars nor Exiles neither Plague nor Sword nor Famine nor all the changes mutations and revolutions in the World have been able to destroy this Treasure Therefore while we are here and have the use of it let us consult it upon all occasions let us run to this Shop for Medicines and Remedies when our Souls are sick and when our outward Man is in trouble whatever state we are in whether Prosperity or Adversity be our lot this Scripture will direct us how to behave our selves and how to order our Conversation Let 's chearfully make it a Lanthorn to our feet and a Light to our paths and we cannot go amiss we cannot stumble we cannot walk in darkness and we shall be able to stand when Heaven and Earth do pass away which leads me to the Fourth Proposition IV. Heaven and Earth will certainly pass away This is plainly supposed here in this saying Till Heaven and Earth pass And the manner how they will pass away St. Peter hath left upon Record 2 Pet. iii. 7 But the Heaven and the Earth which are now by the same Word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and more
shalt die Have not Thousands and Thousands hoped so and yet been mistaken Away with these deluding hopes There is Death in the Pot. There is Ruin and Destruction and Plague and Hell and Misery in these Fancies and Imaginations God must be true to his Word and it is not all your Crys at last Lord Lord open to us that will help you or reverse your doom Heaven and Earth shall sooner Perish the Sun shall sooner fall from his Orb and all the Stars of Heaven drop out of their Sockets sooner than God will prove a Lyar. Let the Truth of the living God prevail with you and be persuaded to act like reasonable Creatures Nothing proclaims your unreasonableness more than to think God will save you whether you act according to his Word or no. Therefore whatever the World or your Flesh and Appetite may suggest that God will not be so severe as he hath said he will remember that he who hath conquered Death and Hell hath protested Verily I say unto you till Heaven and Earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled Amen SERMON XX. St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandements and shall teach Men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven but whosoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven THere is nothing more agreeable to Christianity than Liberty and yet there is nothing more contrary to it If by Liberty be meant a freedom from all sinful Courses from the Power of Corruption from the Bondage of the Devil and after all from those tedious external Washings Purifications Sacrifices and distinctions of Meats and Drinks c. so usual so famous so strictly required of the Jews under the Mosaick Law to this Liberty Christianity is a Friend a Patron and Defender and this is of the very Essence of our Religion But if by Liberty be understood Licentiousness and that which should be a modest Virgin is drawn and represented in the looser habit of a Strumpet and Men fancy they are and cannot be free except they have Elbow-room in Sin and may gratifie their Senses and carnal Desires as they please If this be the notion of Liberty Christianity is a professed Enemy to it and declares an Eternal War against it It is a very wilful and notorious mistake to think Christ came to free us from Obedience or that he descended from Heaven to loose us from the Bonds of our Duty so far from it that he came to require it upon greater Motives and enjoined it with greater Sanctions pressed Observance not only of the greater but lesser Commands and in case of failure declared that we shall find we have a God to deal with who will not be mocked for so it is in the Text Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandements and shall teach Men so he shall be called the least c. To give you the sense of these words 1. By the Commandements here spoken of are meant the Commands and Precepts delivered and laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount both those that go before the Text and those that follow after it and therefore it is emphatically said these Commandements i. e. These I am now delivering to you and which lie so much out of the common road of Practice that few believe they are concerned in them 2. They are called little Commandements and the least not that any Command of God in Scripture is so in it self or in the nature of a Trifle but because they were so in the Opinion of the Scribes and Pharisees and the People of that Age who either called the Commandements of the Ceremonial Law the greatest and those of the Moral the least or if they allowed the Title of great Commands to any part of the Moral Law it was to such Commands as forbid the more scandalous and barbarous Sins i. e. Thou shalt do no Murther This they called a great Commandement but thou shalt not be angry with thy Brother without Cause nor revile him nor abuse him nor give him ill Names and opprobrious Language c. These they called little and the least Commands Counsels rather than Commands the Omission of which they thought would be no way prejudicial to the Eternal Welfare of their Souls 3. To break these little or least Commandements and to teach Men so was the Sin of the Pharisees who not only neglected these Commands of God themselves but taught others too not to discompose themselves about the neglect of them as long as they kept close to the bigger Commands such as Sacrificing Circumcision frequenting the Passover putting on their Phylacteries c. or such as enjoined forbearance of the Overt Acts of some notorious Sins Adultery Fornication Perjury Stealing c. And to break these Commandements is to slight them to disregard them to act contrary to them and wilfully to do what they forbid or wilfully to omit what they do enjoin 4. To be called or to be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven though this Phrase Matth. xi 11 is used to describe a Person that is an Infant a Babe a Novice a young beginner in Christ's Religion who is sensible and knows indeed that Christ's Kingdom is a spiritual Kingdom but knows it in a very low degree and is therefore said to be greater in some respect than St. John the Baptist who from the vulgar Error of his Country seem'd to cherish some relicks of that Opinion that the Messiah was to appear with External Pomp and marks of Authority But though this be the meaning of that Phrase there yet what is a Comparison in that Place is a Threatning here and therefore requires another Sense And it being spoken with Allusion to breaking these least Commandements and by way of Retaliation that as they sinn'd in that which was the least so they should be rewarded with being the least in the last day it must necessarily be as much as being excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven Whether by the Kingdom of Heaven we understand the Kingdom of Grace or the Kingdom of Glory And though the Church be sometimes called the Kingdom of Heaven as Matth. xiii Yet even in this Sense the Threatning will appear to be dismal enough for the meaning will be that such a one as breaks these least Commandements will be can be no true no living Member of the Church of Christ and if so he can be no Heir of the Kingdom of Glory And hence it is that St. Chrysostom renders the word least by no body or nothing i. e. He shall be nothing in the Kingdom of Heaven and will be a very despicable contemptible Creature when Christ shall come in Glory 5. And from hence it will be easie to guess what must be the import of the Promise that 's added here But whosoever shall do and teach
them the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. He that shall make Conscience of these least Commandements and though the World count them little and inconsiderable and looks upon them as things of no moment shall have and bear an equal respect to these the same he doth to those Commands which are acknowledged to be greatest and shall teach Men to do so not only in his Discourses and Colloquies but in his Practice and Example he shall be truly great greater than this World can make him greater than the greatest here on Earth even great and high and honourable in the Kingdom of Heaven Having thus acquainted you with the Sense I must do what I can to enforce this great and weighty Truth and this I cannot do better than by making the following Addresses to your Souls 1. This Text overthrows and breaks the neck of that loose Principle that in order to Salvation it is sufficient to avoid only gross notorious scandalous Sins How can it be sufficient when Christ protests here Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandements and shall teach Men so shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven It 's a marvellous thing to see what Schemes of Divinity Men erect to themselves that they may with greater Security and Satisfaction wallow in the Mire and please the World and the Flesh. I know not whether the Popish distinction of Sins into Mortal and Venial hath contributed to this Error but sure I am that in abundance of things which are not very agreeable to the Rule of the Gospel which yet Custom and Education and the humour of the Age hath made either necessary or convenient the Expedient Men find out is this that they are trivial little inconsiderable Faults whereby the dreadfulness of them soon disappears and this done they practise and commit them without Terror or Regret or Concernment and their Consciences do not at all boggle at them especially while the fair Weather of their Health and Pleasure and Ease and Strength and Liberty and Plenty lasts And of this Nature are most of the things Christ takes notice of in the Discourse succeeding the Text and whereof we shall have occasion to treat more largely in the sequel Such as secret Envy Hatred Grudges Malice in our Heart against our Neighbour abusive Language calling him by ill Names mincing of Oaths needless Asseverations lascivious Thoughts Desires Words Expressions Passions Affections Touches Kisses Looks Glances keeping ill Company and complying with their Follies neglect of several Acts of Charity and self-denials sinister Ends and Intentions in religious Actions mistrust of Gods Providence Discontentedness loving the World better than God c. That these are Sins is evident because they are forbid yet you cannot but know how they are overlook'd as inconsiderable Failings nor do the generality think they lose their Reputation and Character of good Men by not watching against them or by suffering them to go and come as there is occasion While they commit no Sins that send them to Goals and Prisons or bring them to the Gallows or while they keep free from Sins which the Hectors and Deboshees of the Age do wallow in they take themselves to be tolerable Saints and look upon the other Deformities of their Souls as things of no moment and while they are guilty of no Crimes that make them Infamous and can charge themselves with nothing that 's very bloody they have no melancholy Thoughts about the Garment spotted by the Flesh and may be make matter of Sport and Laughter of that which hath cost considerate Men many Tears and mournful Accents There is no doubt but there are greater and lesser Sins and some have greater Malice in them and are attended with greater bruitishness and stupidity with higher degrees of boldness and insolence and are more immediately level'd against the Nature of God than others But though in this respect some are greater some lesser yet if we consider the tremendous God who is offended by that which we call a little Sin it will appear in other Colours for either it is forbid or it is not if it be not forbid it must be either lawful or indifferent if it be forbid it is forbid as much as Adultery or Blasphemy And can any Sin be little that is an Affront to a Great and Infinite Majesty Can that be little which is injurious to Gods Power makes War with his Mercy and Goodness abuses his Patience diminishes his Glory and wrongs his Perfection and Holiness Can that be little which disfigures the noblest Workmanship of God our immortal Souls fills them as it were with Scabs and fullies their Beauty and Splendor Can that be little which manifestly hinders our progress in a spiritual Life stops the Stream and Current of the Divine Grace and Influence and disposes to Damnation Could we play the fool as they do in the Church of Rome and tell you that these lesser Sins may be purged away by a little Holy Water by the Bishops Blessing by smiting the Breast and the bare saying of a Pater noster by a general Confession c. You might think then there is no great matter in them but if they require a serious Repentance and Reformation as well as other Sins who can make light of them Were there nothing in them but that they dispose the Soul to greater Sins and to a loose careless sort of Religion this would be discouragement enough for all the World knows that no Man grows perfectly wicked on a sudden but by degrees they go on to more dareing Impieties Know ye not that a little Leaven leavens the whole lump Saith the Apostle 1 Cor. v. 6 And Behold how great a matter a little Fire kindles saith St. James Chap. III. 5 And doth not Experience tell us to use the words of a certain Divine how an unchast Thought assented to soon welcomes Delight Delight Consent Consent Action Action Custom Custom Habit Habit Perseverance Perseverance an obduracy of Heart which without God's miraculous Providence interposes leads to final Impenitence A Man may avoid scandalous great and clamorous Sins such as Murther Adultery Cursing Blasphemy Theft Extortion Prophaneness c. and yet all this while have not one grain of true Love to God for all this he may do meerly out of regard to his Ease and temporal Interest and if you consider what St. Paul protests that if any Man love not the Lord Jesus let him be Anathema Maranatha Cursed and for ever Cursed 1 Cor. xvi 22 What satisfaction can that Man enjoy within that notwithstanding his shunning some scandalous Sins hath not any tolerable assurance that he loves God and the Lord Jesus Christ If you love him you must keep his Commandments and if Love obliges you to keep one why not another Do not they all come from the same Law-giver Are not they all deliver'd with the same Seriousness and by the same Authority Who makes
almost all they did and they did not would not know what a contrite and humble Heart meant and what it was to lie low before God with a deep Sense of their Unworthiness and of the great Imperfection of their Services and though they Fasted often yet that was not so much to arrive to an humble Sense of their Corruptions and Infirmities as to increase their Merits and to do Things which might Challenge Gods kinder Inclinations and this was the Rock against which these Men stumbled And as they were unacquainted with true Humility toward God so they understood not what it was to condescend to Men of low Estate In Humility therefore we are to exceed them in Humility toward God and Man for as there is nothing that separates more betwixt the Creator and the Creature than Pride and Self-Conceitedness for which Reason God is said to behold the Proud afar off so nothing unites Heaven and Earth God and the Soul more than Humility for thus saith the High and Lofty One who inhabiteth Eternity I dwell in the High and Holy Place with him also that is of a contrite and humble Spirit Es. lvii 15 4. In Charity or a compassionate Temper toward all sorts of distressed Persons I say all sorts for that of the Pharisees was narrow and sneaking and confined to People of their own Sect. I need not tell you that Charity consists not only in giving Alms that 's but one part of it nay it may happen so that it may not be so much as a part of it according to the case St. Paul puts 1 Cor. xiii 3 where he makes it possible for a Man to bestow all his Goods to Feed the Poor and yet to have no Charity Had Almsgiving been all the Charity that was necessary to Salvation the Scribes and Pharisees had been considerable Men for they were free and liberal enough of their Purses toward Men of their own Party but Charity is a larger and nobler Virtue if it be of the true Eagle kind an unfeigned Love of God is the cause of it and the effect is ever answerable to the Beauty which produces it St. Paul hath given so genuine a Character of it 1 Cor. xiii that it 's impossible to mistake the Nature of it except Men be wilfully Blind It extends its Arms not only to all sorts of Objects whether Friends or Foes whether Relations or Strangers but as far as it's Ability reaches and opportunity offers it self to all sorts of Distresses It doth not only Feed and give Drink and Cloth and Visit but Admonish too and Reprove and Teach and Entreat and Counsel and Advise and help and assist and sometimes Correct and Punish It embraces Enemies and like the wounded Earth receives even those that cut and digg'd it into its Bosom and like the kind Balsom Tree heals those that made Incisions upon it It Judges favourably of Pious Heathens much more of Pious Christians tho differing from it in Opinion it Damns none whom God hath not Damned in a Word it works no Evil to its Neighbour but is ready unto every good Word and Work And in this Charity we are to exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees 5. In Vniversality of Obedience or in making Conscience of the several Commands of the Gospel of one as well as of another Joh. xv 14 Then we exceed them without any danger of being over-much Righteous when at the same time that we are fervent for Circumstances in God's Worship we are not forgetful of the substantial part of Religion when we do not let our Publick Devotion justle out our private nor the private the publick when we do not make the Practice of one Precept an argument to justify our neglect of another nor excuse our not doing Good by our not committing of Evil but are impartial in our Obedience and cheerfully submit not only to the gentler but harder Injunctions of the Gospel not only to such as are agreeable but to those also which are contrary to our natural Temper and Inclination The Pious Christian will not easily get the better of the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees except his Obedience becomes larger and spreads more than theirs Had these Men carried on their Obedience to that Extent I speak of as St. Paul a Pharisee and the Son of a Pharisee afterwards did there would not have been greater Men in the World than they and the Proverb which was unjustly made concerning them would not have been altogether False viz. If there were but two Men to be Saved the one would be a Scribe the other a Pharisee And these are the particulars in which our Righteousness is to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees If it doth not we shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The Danger and the Last Part which will deserve our Examination IV. The Danger Except Your Righteousness shall exceed the Rigteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees Ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven This Word one would think should rouze every Soul here present and put us all upon a serious Inquiry Whether our Righteousness doth actually exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees If it doth not we hear our Doom And can any Man think Christ was very serious in saying so without being concerned how to prevent and escape that fatal Exit All Ye that have any Care of your Salvation and believe another World and know what the Terrors of the Lord mean and what it is not to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Awake awake why should you not when Your Great Redeemer calls and take this Threatning into serious Consideration Either it will be fulfilled or not If it will not be fulfilled where is Christ's Veracity If it be where is Your Security I say unto You Thus the Commination begins which shews the Thing is firm and like the Laws of Medes and Persians unalterable Our Master even He whom we believe to be God as well as Man hath spoke the Word He that is Truth it self hath said it and thus it must be nor will all the Intreaties of Men and Angels oblige him to depart from his peremptory Declaration You that hear and now read all this cannot pretend Ignorance that you did not know the dreadful Consequence of this Neglect We suggest we intimate so much to you we pull you by the Sleeve we proclaim these Words in your Ears as poor as mean as inconsiderable Creatures as we are I would to God they might sink into your Hearts We beg of You to lay aside your Divertisements and your Businesses for a while and allow this Threatning some Attention of Mind If you go no farther in your Righteousness than these unhappy Men did not all your Cries at last Lord Lord open to us Not all your Tears and Calls Lord have Mercy upon us Not all your Arguings and Pleadings with God Not all your dying Groans not
If thou hast thou hast deliver'd thine own Soul provided thou didst it unfeignedly with Sincerity with Humility with bowels of Compassion and from a Sense of the Love of God But now that I am talking of Sincerity it will be necessary to represent to you the manner of this Reconciliation that in case any be wrought upon by this Discourse they may not mistake their Measures 1. Then according to the hint given in the Text Here must be a Remembrance a Calling to Mind and Recollecting our selves whether we have given any of our Neighbours either lately or formerly any just Offence and that which makes this Recollection necessary is this because we are apt to forget and to overlook Quarrels which are past and consequently to overlook the Endeavours we ought to use in order to a Reconciliation 2. Strict enquiry must be made if there is or hath been any Variance betwixt us and our Neighbours and this enquiry must be impartial rather favouring our Neighbours Cause than our own who it was that began the Quarrel who gave the first ill Word the first Blow to the Friendship the first Provocation the first Injury and who kindled the Fire first After it is once kindled there are mutual Injuries offered and the offended party provokes the other by Opposition therefore an impartial Enquiry must be made whether we gave the first Occasion of the Breach and if once we find we did we may justly charge our selves with all the evil which ensued upon it and run and leave no Stone unturn'd to reconcile our selves to our fellow Christians for without it no Prayers no Gifts no Sacramental Vows can be acceptable 3. If the Party whom we have offended live at Distance that we cannot speak to him nor send to him then the Reconciliation must be made in our Wills and Minds and with appeals to the Omniscience of God Lord Thou knowest I love my offended Brother and that the desire of my Soul is after Peace with him And after this we may come and offer our Gift yet with this Proviso that if afterward we meet the offended Party and with an Opportunity to manifest this Reconciliation in Words and Behaviour to our offended Neighbour we must not be wanting in the larger Expressions of it 4. If in the Offence given there hath been any Wrong done to our Neighbours Goods or Estate the Reconciliation must be begun with Restitution without which if we are able to compass it all Endeavours of Reconciliation are vain Where no hurt hath been done to the Possessions of our offended Brother the Practice of St. Jame's Rule is sufficient James v. 16 Confess your Sins one to another Which Confession our Saviour bids us express by saying I repent Luc. xvii 4 5. The ordinary method of this Reconciliation is intimated by our Great Master the Lord Jesus Matth. xviii 15 First we our selves are to Address to our offended Neighbour if that attempt proves ineffectual then one or two must be desired to join with us in the Entreaty If they cannot prevail with him then the Church must be told of it i. e. principal Men of the Society we are Members of Men of Probity Gravity and Sincerity and if he refuse to hear them too then he is to be look'd upon as desperate as a Heathen and Publican So that 6. If the Party offended be entreated to be Reconciled the Person who hath given the Offence being penitent and craving Pardon it is as much as his Life is worth if he forgives not his penitent Brother Nay if the Party which gave the Offence should out of Stubborness forbear seeking a Reconciliation after we have waited some time to see whether he will be sensible of his Errour and seek to be at Peace with us if we see he minds it not we our selves who are the Persons Offended are in some measure bound to seek a Reconciliation not only because I told you just now that some Heathens have done it but chiefly because God seeks to the Sinners to be reconciled to him even to the Party offending and we are to be followers of God as dear Children Eph. v. 7. Even Superiours are concerned here if they have offended their Inferiours there being but one way to Heaven and in Matters of Duty the Prince is equally obliged with the Beggar for God is no respecter of Persons And here I could give you a notable Instance in one of our own Kings who having accused his Servant wrongfully and charged him with Perfidiousness and Treachery finding afterward that he had wrong'd him sent for him and being come the King fell upon his Knees and formally begg'd of him to forgive him and would not rise off of his Kees till the Servant had given him a formal Absolution 8. This Reconciliation must not be slight and superficial not meerly Negative which consists in doing no hurt to the Person we are Friends with but there must pass besides mutual Prayers one for another real Acts of Love of Kindness and Charity and the Peace begun must be preserved to the best of our Skill and Power and this is the true Nature of Reconciliation And now whatever Difficulties there may be in the beginning sure I am that when we have Conquered our selves and our rugged Temper and embraced him that was our Enemy before nothing can be sweeter and upon this Peace flows in the Peace of God and our Prayers become sweet and all our Devotions and Religious Services become sweet and refreshing and effectual and comfortable and our Hopes of Pardon from God become Solid and Rational and afford true Content and Satisfaction and our very Death-bed becomes soft a Bed of Down and a Bed of Roses for now the Conscience is easy and free from the Burden that lay upon her and presages our lying forever incircled in the Arms of him who is all Love all Mercy all Goodness all Compassion To whom be Glory forever Amen ADDENDA IN this Sacrament particularly you bring your Gift to the Altar not only your Alms and Prayers and Praises but you pretend to present your Souls and Bodies living Sacrifices to God And is it likely these Gifts will be accepted there when there is a Root of bitterness in your Heart Is this the way to procure the Smiles of Heaven Is it not rather the way to procure the Frowns of God to be sent away with a Curse even with the Curse inflicted on the Man that came to the Marriage Feast without a Wedding Garment Hither you come to receive Pardon and to secure your Everlasting Salvation but have not you read 1 John III. That he that hates his Brother is a Murtherer and we know that a Murtherer hath not Eternal Life in him SERMON XXIV St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 25 26. Agree with thine Adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him lest at any time the Adversary deliver thee to the Judge and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer and
the first Insinuations of it and the dangerous Spark as soon as thrown in must be shaken out of their Bosom Lust in some Persons is naturally stronger than it is in others and its Motions more violent in one Man than in another where it is so greater care must be used but still the chief Remedy is to beat off the first Images and Representations of it My Text gives me occasion to speak here of the proper Remedies whereby this Sin may be cured but because the two next Verses treat of these Receipts I shall reserve the Discourse of such Medicines till that Occasion 2. If impure Thoughts are so dangerous what then must be obscene Expressions and filthy Jesting and amorous Songs and talking of things which a modest Person must blush at And yet how fashionable are such Discourses grown And stiled Wit and Salt and ingenious Repartees A true Christian is a very chast Creature and he counts it but a pitiful Piece of Self-Denial to forbear the outward Acts of Adultery or Fornication or Sins of that Nature His Chastity appears in his Words and Expressions too Nay he goes farther than that and will not suffer a Lustful Thought to lodge in his Breast and then how should he allow himself Liberty in Discourses and Speeches which intrench upon the Rules of Gravity and Modesty He that is a stranger to this Watchfulness over his Words may call himself a Christian so we call a Picture a Man but he had need go to School again and learn which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God and among these he 'll find these two necessary Rules Ephes. iv 29 Let no corrupt Communication proceed out of your Mouths but that which is good to the use of Edifying that it may minister Grace unto the hearers and Ephes. v. 3 But Fornication and all Vncleanness and Covetousness let it not be once named among you as becomes Saints neither Filthiness nor foolish Talking nor Jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of Thanks 3. Give me leave to Suggest to you that there is a Spiritual Adultery which many of us who perhaps detest Carnal Adultery as they do Toads and Serpents may be very guilty of And this as well as the Sin of the Flesh excludes from the Kingdom of Heaven and it is no other than inordinate Love of the World or such a Love of the World which makes us neglect our Duty to God and to our own Souls To this purpose St. James Jam. iv 4 Ye Adulterers and Adultresses know ye not that the Friendship of the World is emnity with God and whosoever will be a Friend of the World is an Enemy of God We are Married to Christ Jesus He is our Bridegroom and our Husband who bought us with his Blood and made us his own by the dearest thing imaginable by laying down his Life for us And there is none that knows how Love Affection and Fidelity and seeking one anothers Happiness are the indispensable Duties of married Persons but must grant that these Qualifications must necessarily be required of us with respect to our Lord and Master and Husband Christ who hath not failed to do his Part but hath loved us discovered his Faithfulness to us and sought our Happiness even to Astonishment If we make not the same returns or pay that Love and Fidelity to the World to the Riches and Pleasures of this Life which are due to him as our Husband we become Adulterers and Adulteresses and the love of the Father is not in us 1 Joh. xi 16 Carnal Adultery is a crying Sin one of the blacker sort A Sin so heinous that the Primitive Church especially the African would give no Pardon for it no though the Offendour were never so Penitent nor admit him to their Publick Prayers and Communion Such dreadful Apprehensions had they of this Sin if a Person fell into it after Baptism Indeed it is a Violation of the most sacred Institution of God and making a Separation there where God hath commanded the greatest Union It is a manifest Violation of that Faith which was given to each other before God and the elect Angels and the whole Congregation It is an Injustice attended with Profanation of God in whose Name the Parties were joined together there is Theft there is Robbery in it for one of the Parties is not only Robbed of his or her right but of the greatest Jewel which is Peace and content of Mind It is a Profanation of the greatest Mystery of our Religion even the Union of Christ and his Church which is represented by Marriage And if the Conscience in the guilty Person awakes on this side the Grave it will fill the Soul with very great Horrour kindle Hell fire in her Bosom as a presage of the Flames that will shortly if God's Mercy doth not interpose be her Portion in the other World So heinous a Sin is Carnal Adultery And shall we make nothing of Spiritual Adultery Which must necessarily be as dreadful as the Person whom we are tied to is more excellent the Wrong that 's done to him greater and his Arm more powerful to revenge our Treachery In the two standing Sacraments of the Church we own this Marriage and profess we are united to God in a Matrimonial Bond that we are joined to Christ Jesus and that we will be Faithful to him beyond all Persons whatsoever Love nothing like him Honour and Reverence him as our Head and suffer our selves to be guided by him If we neglect all this care not for so great a Person are taken with Trifles more than with his Love and espouse those Sins which his Soul doth hate if we leave him in Adversity forsake him in the time of Danger comply with the World and had rather part with a good Conscience than with our Ease and Profit and Advantages in the World Is this Matrimonial Love Is this being faithful to the Husband of our Souls Is not this breaking the Bond and dissolving the Tie and divorcing our selves from him who loved us and wash'd us with his own Blood And will not this Perfidiousness make him break out in the Language of a disconsolate Husband I am broken with their whorish Heart which hath departed from me Ezech. vi 9 Well a Christian that 's sensible of the Unreasonableness of such Perfidiousness I am sure will take another Course and submit himself heartily and willingly to the Saviour of the Body Christ Jesus and like a loving dutiful Wife be subject to him in the fear of God and that 's the way to share in all his Benefits even in the Benefits mention'd Ephes. v. 25 Husbands love your Wives even as Christ also loved the Church SERMON XXVI St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 29 30. And if thy right Eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should
we see hath prevailed with them to break all those Engagements Besides in these unequal Yoakings there cannot be that sweet that mutual Encouragement to Prayer and Praises and other Acts of Devotion and Piety which ought to be betwixt such Relations and though I doubt not but it 's possible to Admonish one another to serve God faithfully in their own Way without Passion or passing Censures one upon another yet the Thoughts that one of them worships God in a forbidden Way will still be an Impediment to this faithful and Conscientious Exhorting one another duly And therefore though I cannot say it 's absolutely unlawful to marry a Person of a different Persuasion in Matters of Religion yet the Inconveniences are so great that he who duly Weighs and Ponders them before he enters upon that State will think himself obliged to arm himself against all such dangerous Mixtures and Conjunctions III. There is nothing causes these Desires of Divorcements more than unhappy and unfortunate Matches And as such Matches are too often the Effects either of Rashness and Precipitation or want of enquiring into the Temper and Disposition of the Persons that are to make this near Relation or of Covetousness and Greediness after Fortune and Riches and Mony or of nelecting the advice of Parents and faithful Friends or of a preceding vain and vitious Life which is punish'd very often with such uncomfortable Conjunctions so where the married State is embitter'd with many sad Ingredients to prevent all such Wishes and Desires of Divorcement these following Considerations and Remedies may be very useful 1. Let it be considered that though your Married State be full of grievous Troubles yet it doth not it need not hinder you from attaining Everlasting Salvation It 's true People may make any State and Condition an Impediment to Eternal Life but there is no Necessity for it Nay in the Case before us the Troubles in a Married State naturally direct you to seek a better Country and if you are in a Capacity of enjoying God for ever notwithstanding the Evils which befall you you have Reason still to Praise and Adore the Divine Goodness and since your Married State affords so little Comfort To labour hard to be made Partakers of Everlasting Consolations 2. Let another Consideration be added to this that as miserable as your Married Condition is this happens not comes not to pass without a very special Providence God either orders it or wisely permits it corrects you for great Purposes and chastises you to let you see your Affections have been misplaced and must be set upon Objects and Beings more Sublime more Adequate more Commensurate to your Immortal Souls God and Heaven and the Things unseen 3. Under such a Providence the Soul must learn to be humble to look upon her Sins as Meritorious and the Cause of this uncomfortable State and accuse her Carnal Worldly and Sensual Desires and Designs as the Procurers of this Misery and improve the Dispensation into Repentance and Self-Examination and Submission to the Will of God and the Practices of Spiritual Devotions and Aspirations and Breathings after Enjoyments of a nobler Nature 4. In this Case the Divine Power and Goodness must be adored to supply you with Grace and Assistance suitable that you may chearfully bear the Injuries Indignities and Crosses that befall you in that State and do not doubt but your Prayer if strong and importunate will draw Honey from the Rock and Oyl from the Flint and Blessings of great Value from him who hath declared himself a God that heareth Prayer 5. Another Consideration will be very profitable that God by such Crosses in a Married State teaches you Patience at home that you may be the better able to practise it abroad Thus the Philosopher said of his Angry and Unquiet Yoak-fellow That he found his Silence under the Effects of her Rage and unquiet Spirit when he was at home proved very salutary and beneficial to him when he was in Company abroad for by that means he was the better able to bridle his Passions when he was provoked or affronted in Publick And St. Chrysostome hath this Observation upon it It grieves me that Heathens are wiser than we who are to imitate Angels nay God himself in Meekness and Patience Indeed we cannot imitate a more Excellent Pattern He that is best able to Revenge himself upon the Insolent Wretches that affront him suffers most Be patient therefore unto the coming of the Lord Behold the Husbandman waits for the pretious Fruit of the Earth and hath long Patience for it until he receive the early and latter Rain Be ye also Patient Stablish your Hearts for the Coming of the Lord draws nigh Jam. v. 7 8. SERMON XXVIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 33. Again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths THE sence of these words we have Levit. xix 12 but the Words themselves seem to be a Paraphrase of the ancient Expositions of the Law among the Jews upon that Law in Leviticus where it is Ye shall not swear by my Name falsely neither shalt thou profane the Name of thy God which Words those ancient Interpreters expressed it's like as it is in the Text Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths And that 's the thing aimed at in these words Again ye have heard That it hath been said by them of old time And most certainly he that forswears himself swears falsly by the Name of God and he that doth not perform unto the Lord his Oaths or performs not what he hath Sworn and Promised to God and Man profanes his Name with a witness Or possibly all that is said in the Old Testament against Swearing was contracted by the Learned Men of old Time into this Axiom or Sentence Thou shalt not forswear thy self but c. Or These words are a Comment made by the Ancestors of the Jews upon the Third Commandment Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain Or They relate to Numb xxx 2 However it be or whoever were the Authors of this Saying it must be confess'd that they spake conformably to the Will of God and therefore these words are in effect a Divine Precept and Obligatory for ever as much as a Command in the Decalogue and though it was said so by them of old Time yet it is no more than what the ancient of Days hath said over and over by Moses and the Prophets And to discourse of this Subject profitably I shall enquire I. What an Oath or taking an Oath or what Swearing is II. Whether an Oath or Swearing even in a modest serious judicial way be lawful III. Why Forswearing our selves or Perjury or not performing unto the Lord our Oaths is forbid and wherein the virulency or heinousness of the Sin consists IV. What the Ceremonies
prosper and do well in the End and arrive safe in the Harbour of Eternal Rest and can we do amiss if we transcribe their Patience in our Lives and Conversations 6. By importunate Addresses to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will be importun'd and that importunity shews we are in good earnest Let 's but beg and implore the Grace of God as a hungry and thirsty Man doth beg for Meat and Drink and try whether God will not open the Windows of Heaven and fill our Souls with Food convenient with Grace I mean sufficient for our purpose God cannot deny himself and having promised his Spirit upon our strong and vehement Cries he will Hear and Answer and grant us our Heart's desire and the requests of our Lips and the breath of Life will enter into us even the Spirit of Courage and Wisdom which will throw down all Imaginations that exalt themselves against the obedience of Christ Jesus and we shall be able to do what he did and bear what he bore according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself to whom be Glory for ever SERMON XXXII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 40 41. And if any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain IN these words our Saviour prosecutes the Task he had begun in the foregoing Verse and continues pressing the great Doctrine of Christianity of not returning Evil for Evil. And as in the words preceding he had told us how we may arrive to a habit of Patience under Injuries even by suffering a greater Injury so he now illustrates what he had said by two Instances more And if any Man will sue thee at the Law c. The Precepts here given are so directly contrary to the Humour of the Age we live in that if a Man was to measure Religion by the modern Practice he could inferr or conclude no less than that either no such Precepts were ever given or that Men have ceas'd to be Christians This makes me often admire the good Providence of God that hath preserv'd us these Oracles in Writing for had they been left to Tradition and to Conveyance by word of Mouth most certainly Man after the first Fervour and Piety had been over would have wilfully forgotten these Lessons so contrary to the Dictates of Flesh and Blood and we shou'd not have known whether any such Commands had ever been given by our Saviour But whatever contrariety there may be between these Rules and our carnal Inclinations and Appetites it 's rational to conceive that Christ would never have commanded all this if he had not intended it should be put in execution And therefore it is impossible that a Person should have any solid assurance that he is a true Christian who doth not heartily endeavour to bring his Mind and Will to submit in these Particulars to the Will of Christ. It 's true a Christian may not every Day have occasion to exercise this piece of Self-denial because the same Temptations recurr not every Day but when he hath he must let his Neighbour see that the Grace of God like Oyl swims on the top and is not to be Master'd by the false Suggestions of the Flesh and of the Devil There are three sorts of Injuries Christ mentions here in all which the same Rule is to be observ'd 1. The first that which is offer'd to the Body of a Christian in the preceeding Verse which I have already explain'd He that shall smite thee on the right Cheek turn to him the other also 2. That which is offer'd to his Property and Estate 3. That which is offer'd to his Liberty The Injuries levell'd against our Estates and Liberty are comprehended in the words I have read unto you And if any Man will sue thee at the Law or if any Man will by force take away thy Coat the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implies both let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain Two things must here be premised for the better understanding of the words 1. That like those of the preceeding Verse they are levell'd against private Revenge and must be construed to the same sence If any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat rather than quarrel with him or cherish any desire of Revenge rather than sue him again the first opportunity for something of the same nature let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile rather than fall out with him or put thy self into a fit or Rage and Revenge rather than oppose Force to Force and take the same advantage against him when stronger than he go with him twain So that these two Commands as well as the former are Directions and Insinuations how we are to overcome our revengeful Desires and those violent Passions we are apt to run into when any Injury or Wrong is offer'd to us i. e. by suffering more 2. These Precepts are to be confin'd as much as can be to the Instances here given and to things that are parallel with them not stretch'd to things of a higher Nature i. e. what is said here of not going to Law must be understood of not going to Law about a Coat or Cloak or things like them but must not be presently accommodated to higher Concerns And what is said of forcing a Man to go a Mile and going with him twain rather than oppose Force to Force must be kept within those Limits not extended to ten twenty or thirty Miles These two Observations being premised I shall speak distinctly of the two Commands of the first more largely of the other in fewer words being only an appendix to the former And as to the First If any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also And here I shall I. Enquire into the Reasons of the Precept II. Whether it be permitted in any case to go to Law or to defend ones self by Law III. If it be lawful in some Cases what Rules are to be observ'd in the management of it I. The Reasonableness of this Precept And if any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let c. 1. This is an excellent way to preserve Peace and Charity the Fewel being taken away the Fire must go out the occasion of the Contention being removed not only by giving freely the Coat but by adding the Cloak too the quarrel must cease And as one said An Ounce of Peace and Charity is worth a Pound of Victory For Peace is so lovely and amiable a thing that we are oblig'd to promote it by all means 2 Thess. iii. 16 i. e. by all lawful means and surely deceding from our Right is a lawful means It 's true
from a Blasphemer to the Faith to Holiness and to be a Preacher of that Doctrine which before he persecuted from City to City and was exceeding mad against Such force have these Prayers for our Enemies especially if coming from the Heart Nor must we content our selves with Prayers for our Enemies in general but Intercessions and Groans unutterable must be particularly for that Enemy that Man or Woman who hath persecuted and despitefully used us loaded us with the blackest Calumnies and offer'd the greatest violence to our Persons These must be named and specified in our Prayers both Publick and Private and for the Person who hath been Injurious to us our Supplications must be put up not only once and twice but often and importunately and for ought we know he that went out from us an Enemy may come home a Friend a Friend to God and to Religion a Friend to our Persons and Concerns a Friend to all that call on the Name of the Lord Jesus And having thus represented to you the Commands of your Master I may justly expect you should all with one Heart and with one Voice say as the Israelites at the hearing of the Conditions of the Covenant All that the Lord our God hath said we will do If this be not the effect remember you go home Enemies of God and of Christ Jesus There is no medium you must either be God's Friends or his Enemies If you are Friends you 'll stick at nothing he Commands you Christ himself saith so Joh. xv 14 If his Commands be nauseous or grievous or a burthen to you most certainly you love him not and therefore are not his Friends and if not his Friends what remains but being his Enemies and can you sit down quietly under such a fearful Character especially when you read and consider what you read Luke xix 27 As for those mine Enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me But how is all this to be done We live in an Age wherein Men do scarce love their Friends much less their Enemies Such Lovers are very rare very few Examples appear and what encouragement is there to venture upon a Duty so unpleasing so distasteful to Flesh and Blood However the Duty looks fair and lovely and Reason says it is a Perfection which deserves our Ambition and Endeavour But how is this excellent Temper to be attain'd Why easily enough if you are not averse from wholsome Counsel if besides the tempting Reward that is before you you are willing to be govern'd by the following Directions 1. Represent not an Enemy to your selves in those black Characters you usually do There are fairer and finer Colours in which he may be drawn and make use of these 1. When ever a Person doth you an Injury look higher and believe and perswade your selves the Almighty sent him and Providence order'd it and an All seeing God had a hand in it David did so when Shimei cursed him and it quieted him He look'd off from Shimei and saw God in the Calumny not as the Author of it but as one that made use of it He regarded Shimei as God's Executioner as the Instrument of his Displeasure and the Rod of his Anger and what a Calm did this Consideration produce in his Soul while Abishai's Fingers itch'd to take off his Head 2. Look upon the Enemy as thy Physician He is intended to bring Salvation to thy House He is sent to cure thy Soul and it will certainly appear and prove so if thou make his Wrongs and Malice an opportunity to reflect upon the Wrongs and Injuries done to thy God and repentest of them and mak'st thy Peace with him The Enemy is a preacher of Patience a teacher of Submission a School-master that is to instruct thee in the Art of Humility and resisting Temptations If thou improve his Snarlings and rude Assaults mak'st them occasions and incentives to Prayer to do good to his Soul and Body thy Soul will thrive and thy Spirit grow healthy and his Injuries will become Gems and Jewels and Pretious Stones as that Holy Man said whereby the Foe pelts and drives thy Soul to Heaven 3. Look upon the Enemy as blind blind with Rage and Fury and Envy and Malice and this will incline thy Heart to pity him Who doth not commiserate a blind Man And which is the greater blindness Corporal or Spiritual The poor Wretch sees not how sweet and how gracious the Lord is nor what the hope of his Calling is nor what the Riches of his Grace are He hath no sence of the height and breadth and depth and length of the Love of Jesus Christ. He sees not the mighty Obligations that lie upon him to Love his Neighbour as himself and therefore he is Blind and and if Blind he is miserable and if miserable will you add Misery to Misery and hate him who is already in a deplorable Condition Nay if he be miserable doth not he deserve your Prayers your Alms and your Charity 4. May be his Nature is not changed he is not Converted knows nothing of Regeneration nothing of the Sanctifying Grace of God and wilt thou be angry with him for acting according to his Nature Why art not thou angry with the Fire for barning the Stuff that 's thrown into it An unconverted Man acts according to his Temper and Interest and Passion according to his Nature as much as the Sun and Rain and Wind. These move not thine Anger or thy Rage let them blow and scorch and wet and why should the others acting according to his Nature stir up thy Wrath and Indignation 2. There is a Promise and a Promise which if believed and rely'd upon will very much animate and encourage us to these acts of Love It is Prov. xvi 7 If a Man's ways please the Lord he will make his very Enemies to be at Peace with him we have no more to do but still to be followers of that which is good and God will turn and wind things for our advantage and make an alteration even in the Hearts of our Enemies as great as we see in Esau who before had threatned Jacob with Death and on a sudden by a secret invisible Hand is forced to fall into his Brother's Embraces and though this may not always happen yet the Promise will certainly be fulfill'd in something greater and better than is hinted in the letter 3. Oblige your selves to this Love in the Holy Sacrament of Christ's Supper the fittest Time and Place to engage your selves to this Work Though before we come to this Ordinance our endeavours must be strong and vigorous after the Qualifications of the Text yet the Sacrament of the Eucharist is both an excellent Motive and a very considerable help to fix and establish this Love to our Enemies Talk what you will it is not Philosophy nor conversing with Men of this Age nor being at Court nor seeing
but reproves them either for their Oaths or other Sensualities But that Clownishness if it must be call'd so is a Duty Notwithstanding this we may preserve the respect due to their Places and Elevations in the World as we see in St. Paul who though he did not comply with the Sins of Ananias the High-Priest and of Festus the Governour yet paid them the respect their Stations and the Figure they made in the World requir'd II. The Text teaches us how we are to aggravate our Sins in our confessions to God To commit Sins which the very Heathens and Publicans condemn and abhor must needs be very dreadful in a Christian because he Sins against the very Principles of Nature In the same manner to neglect that which Heathens and Publicans by the light of Nature do find and affirm and observe as necessary must make the omission exceeding black in a Christian because he is without excuse And therefore if any of us have been unkind disobliging ill-nanatur'd cross and surly and morose to those who are kind and loving and tender and charitable to us let 's not make light of the Sin which is so much the greater by how much it is condemn'd by Heathens and Publicans Christians the Gospel obliges you to love your Enemies and will not ye love your Friends Not to love your Enemies will bring the Wrath of God upon you how much more your not loving those who love you The neglect of the more difficult Task will make you miserable and will not neglect of the easier cover your Faces with Confusion Intemperance Drunkenness Cheating Defrauding Lying Extortion Profaneness c. are condemn'd by the very Heathens and will you from whom greater Vertues are expected defile your selves with such Sins as these The brighter the Light is the greater is the Sin and therefore a Christian who lives under a higher Dispensation if he neglects that which the lesser was sufficient to instruct him in Sins with a witness for he Sins in the midst of Sun-shine In our Confessions therefore such Sins must be particularly deplor'd as exceeding others in heinousness And O! let the greatness of the Sin fright us for ever from venturing upon the like again and let 's bless God that there is yet hopes of Mercy and Vertue the Efficacy in the Blood of Jesus to wash away Sins which bring more than ordinary Guilt upon the Soul III. Since it is so unnatural and irrational a thing not to love those who love us behold how irrational and unnatural a thing it must be not to love God who loves us and hath loved us into Miracles and Prodigies Hath not he loved us Dares any say he hath not If he hath not loved us what do our Praises signifie Why do we praise him as it is in our Liturgy for our Creation Preservation and all the Blessings of this Life Why do we publickly and privately praise him above all things for the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory Are not these signs of Love Can there be greater Characters of his Love Do not we own and confess and acknowledge that these are certain marks of Love But why Christian why art thou so unkind to that God who hath loved thee thus He keeps thee he watches over thee he is thy Sun and thy Shield thy Shade on thy right Hand daily and hourly he showers down Blessings upon thee and all the Evils that befall other Men and which thou art preserved from it 's he that preserves thee from them But why so disrespectful to that God who incircles and crowns thee with loving kindnesses and tender Mercies Art not thou unkind to him when thou sin'st against him Art not thou disrespectful to him when thou wilfully do'st that which he protests in his Word is abomination in his Eyes What Iniquity do'st thou find in him that a God so tender and so kind cannot attract or charm thy Heart into reciprocal Love Why wilt thou suffer that Tongue of thine to vent it self in frothy and corrupt Communications which was given thee to sing his Praises Why wilt thou dishonour him with those Creatures which were intended for thy use and refreshment Why wilt thou make those Members of thy Body Instruments of Unrighteousness which were intended to be Instruments of Holiness Why wilt thou make thy Soul a sink and sty of impure and noisome Lusts which was intended to be a Temple of the Holy Ghost Why wilt thou make those Mercies thou enjoyest Weapons to fight against him which were intended as silken Strings to lead thee to his Banqueting-House the Banner whereof is Love He draws thee with Cords of Love was ever greater gentleness used toward a Child and canst thou find in thy Heart to grieve such Bowels of Compassion Behold what manner of love the Father hath shewn to us that we should be called the Children of God and is this your gratitude to make your selves Children of Hell and Heirs of Damnation There is that in the Love of God which would be an Antidote against all Sins whatsoever had'st thou but Courage to remember that Love and to set it before thee in lively Characters Joseph remembred God lov'd him and he resolutely resists the Charms of his Mistress How can I saith he commit this Wickedness and Sin against God Christian were the Love of God seriously remembred and thought of thou could'st not Sin To offend him would go as much against thee as drinking Poyson or a draught of Gall and Wormwood We talk a thousand great Things of Love what Power it hath to charm rational Souls Sirs God hath given you rational Souls and you are sensible there is no Love so great so amazing so wonderful as the Love of God to your Souls and Bodies I beseech you therefore Brethren by the Mercies of God by the Love of God by the Charity of our Lord Jesus Christ that you present your Souls and Bodies living Sacrifices Holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable Service Amen SERMON XXXIX St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 48. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect THat no Man may be offended at this Command of Perfection which some think utterly impossible on this side Heaven and others do as vainly boast of as if they were arrived to it Give me leave to tell you that it 's no unusual thing in Scripture to meet with Exhortations of that Nature It was God's Order to Abraham Gen. xvii 1 Walk before me and be thou perfect and it seems it is the design of the Gospel and of the preaching of it that we may present every one perfect in Christ Jesus Coloss. i. 28 And to this purpose was the Prayer of Euphrates for the same Colossians That they might stand perfect and compleat in all the Will of God Col. iv 12 And accordingly St. Paul entreats treats the
Let 's earnestly labour after Perfection and that none may ask what Perfection is It is no other no less no meaner Perfection that what is pressed in the Text Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect This Perfection to give a fuller account of it relates 1. To the kinds of Graces 2. To the degrees of Grace 1. To the kinds of Graces Endeavour after Perfection appears in nothing so visibly as in our serious endeavours after the several Graces which make up the Wedding-Garment spoken of in the Gospel and the charming Ornament of Christ's Spouse Not only one but all must appear very lovely in our Eyes If one seems amiable and the rest are nauseated the Heart is not right with God We must not content our selves with being liberal to the Poor and Needy but Meekness and Humility and love of Enemies and overcoming the Evil with Good must be as heartily espoused as the other To this purpose is that Command of St. Peter 2 Pet. i. 5 Add to your Faith Vertue unto Vertue Knowledge unto Knowledge Temperance unto Temperance Patience unto Patience Godliness unto Godliness Brotherly-kindness and unto Brotherly-kindness Charity c. There is indeed a great stress on some particular Vertues and particularly on Almsgiving and there are such lofty things said of it that the unwary Reader will be apt to think he need do no more in order to Salvation But though God's special favour and esteem of such a Vertue is set down by way of Motive and Encouragement yet it 's certain it 's no where said that such a Vertue alone will suffice in order to eternal Happiness and when the rest are injoyn'd with as great severity as this it must necessarily follow that the rest are equally necessary The Pharisees indeed had an Opinion that if a Man did exercise himself in any one Command though he neglected the rest he would not fail of a blessed Portion in the Life to come But this plainly contradicts the Christians Rule which is Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John xv 14 and it 's to be fear'd that where the Obedience is partial the Plant cannot be or is not of our Heavenly Father's Planting The Stoicks which held that he who had one Vertue had all the rest were so far in the right that he who upon a good Principle out of love to Goodness applies himself to one Vertue is in a disposition to be Master of the rest if he pursues that Principle but to think that all the rest will fall in in course to him who by frequent acts shews he is pleased with one is what Experience confutes and Reason tells us cannot be except the same Industry be used to attain to the rest that was used in the pusuit of that we have made a considerable progress in 2. This Perfection must be seen in the degree of those Graces we are possessed of A lower degree must be raised into a higher Faith which is like a Grain of Mustard-see must be advanced into a spreading Shrub so must Hope so must Love so must Charity so must other Graces The Acts must be improv'd into Habits and the tender Plant must become Robust till it can bear the Injuries of Wind and Weather The beginnings of a Vertue are Incouragements to proceed in it he that doth not doth not grow strong in the Lord and consequently doth not endeavour after Perfection 3. This Perfection reaches farther yet even to doing of such things as are more perfect There are divers Actions which seem to have no great hurt in them and yet it is certainly a more perfect act to abstain from them This is to be observed particularly in Eating and Drinking in Dressing and Cloathing in Speeches and Discourses and Visits in Conversation and Company in Sports and Recreations c. Such a Jest eating of the other Dish drinking the third Glass playing for Company 's sake such a gaudy Dress c. may seem harmless but it is greater Perfection to forbear them so in doing good it is many times greater Perfection to do such an act of Charity than to forbear it In all which Cases a Christian who follows our Saviour's Rule in the Text will have a special regard to what is more perfect and therefore more pleasing to God In such Particulars as these consists the Christian Perfection which here we are exhorted to labour after but I can have but little hopes that you will exercise your selves toward this Perfection except you were very resolute to make use of the proper means which are these following 1. A mighty ambition after Spiritual things as great an ambition to be truly Good and Holy as others have to be rich and great in the World 2. A vigorous consideration of the future degrees of Glory according to the progress you make here He that meditates much of these degrees will find in himself a vehement desire after such degrees of Sanctity as the most perfect Persons have attain'd to 3. A fervent Love of the Lord Jesus such a Love as we find in St. Paul in St. John in Mary the Sister of Martha c. a love which must rise from the strong Impresses made upon the Soul by the Sufferings of Christ and his Love in descending from Heaven and dying for us 4. A lively representation of what God hath done for us both in Spirituals and Temporals for this will mightily inflame the Soul and put her upon doing any thing which he delights in 5. An attentive Consideration of the Title in the Text where God is called Our Father which is in Heaven an Epithet often repeated and therefore often to be thought of If we are his Children what should we do but imitate him that being the nature and duty of Children that do not bear that name in vain He is in Heaven this speaks his Greatness We see how Great Men prevail with us to do things even contrary to our Inclination And shall not he who is the greatest of all Influence our Resolution to be Perfect as he himself is Perfect Moreover he is in Heaven and from thence looks down upon us It is his condescension that he doth so and that condescention ought to be a Motive to this Perfection He looks down upon us to see how we improve our Talents if we do not he notes our Guilt in his Book where it will stand as a Witness against us And he is said to be in Heaven to let us see the place which we are to be receiv'd into if we be Perfect and truly endeavour after it Thither he intends to draw us to the same Kingdom where himself Reigns and where Christ our Head Reigns And is this no Argument to stir us up to this Perfection I do not mention Prayer as a means because we still suppose that what-ever helps we offer all are insignificant without fervent Prayer And thus we have chalk'd out