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
fully ver 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein will be burnt up The same he repeats ver 12. which is conformable to what the Stoicks either from the light of Nature or from Tradition gather'd would be and to what Josephus saith of Adam That he prophecied the World should be destroy'd first by Water and afterward by Fire But then as it is ver 11. of the aforesaid Chapter seeing that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Whether the Christians in St. Peter's time believed that the day of Judgment was at hand and that it should be upon them in that Age is not my business to enquire Now. That which makes the Exhortation seasonable at all times even at this day is the uncertainty of the time of Christ's coming to Judgment and whether this day of Judgment may come in this Age or in the next as it is probable it is not far off especially if the old saying of R. Hillel be true That the World shall continue two Thousand Years before the Law two Thousand under the Law and two thousand under the Messiah but as I said whether it will be this year or next is not material but this I am sure of that the day of our death is the most uncertain thing in the World and as Death finds us so will the Great day And since the day of our death is so uncertain the Inference drawn from the uncertainty of the day of Judgment will also fit the uncertainty of the day of our death It 's a marvelous thing how Men delay their Holy Conversation and Godliness even till Death comes and surprizes them I know this is a very common Theme but how can we forbear to speak of it when we see that Men instead of mending run deeper and deeper into the Gulf young and old Death comes Lord How unprepared doth it find most Men How few can welcome it How few can with Simeon rejoyce at its coming I know Pain and extremity of Misery makes many Men long for it but that alone is no rational ground while that Holy Conversation and Godliness is wanting We all dread an unprepared death and we pray against it We think sometimes in a serious fit how sad it would be with us if it should be our case And yet how few arm themselves against its Terrors and dreadful Consequences The Day the Hour is very uncertain and we see Men are catch'd and snatch'd away before they are aware yet we take no warning still we wait for a convenient Season for a fair Opportunity and when we have got in the World what we would have when we have setled our Affairs on such a Basis or Foundation once and when our Condition is better and our Circumstances more favourable then we 'll set about that seriousness which becomes Candidates of Eternity God sees our Folly and pities us for he sees how we fool our selves He calls and intreats us to redeem the time O that we were wise and would consider our latter End Heaven and Earth must pass away and we must pass away therefore this I say Brethren nay the Apostle says so 1 Cor. vii 19 It remains that they that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and those that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this World as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passes away Indeed that which ought to make us reflect very seriously on all this is that the Word of God is unchangable which calls me to the last Proposition V. Sooner shall Heaven and Earth perish than the least tittle of Gods Word shall fail In this Sense the Words and Expressions used in the Text are sometimes taken so that here is a double Asseveration which makes the Truth Christ delivers here the weightier 1. Verily I say unto you In the Original it is Amen which the Jewish Interpreters of the Old Testament affirm to be an Oath and that 's a very immutable thing 2. Till Heaven and Earth pass i. e. Sooner shall these be hurl'd into their former Chaos and Confusion than the least tittle of his word shall prove false And if so then the Threatnings and Promises of the Gospel and of the Law of God will undoubtedly be fulfilled And I beseech you Beloved Hearers Consider what the Veracity of Gods Threatnings and Promises doth import If the Promises of the Gospel will certainly be fulfilled why cannot the wonderful Rewards promised prevail with you to fulfil the Conditions upon which those Rewards are promised God promises Eternal Life upon patient continuance in Well-doing the Kingdom of Heaven upon striving against Sin and conquering Temptations and a Crown of Glory to those who keep under their Bodies and bring their sensual Desires into Subjection Upon these Terms and no other the great Felicity is promised Will any of you after all these Protestations of God promise himself this Happiness upon other Terms and Conditions What then becomes of Gods Veracity If God be true to his Word then those who come not up to these Terms cannot enjoy the Bliss spoken of If God saves Men upon other Terms he cannot be true to his Word and then how can he be God To these Absurdities Men reduce themselves when they promise themselves Heaven without any regard to the Conditions upon which God doth promise it It 's God that must bestow it the same God that hath promised it and since he will bestow it only upon these Terms Why Christians why will ye feed your hopes with Air and Wind and Vanities Is it possible that God will prove false Is it possible that he will depart from his Word I am sure you cannot think so if you will consider it in cool Blood And shall the World and your present Gain and Profit blind you into Ruin The same must be said of the Threatnings of the Gospel Take but a serious View of them God protests for you believe the Scripture to be the Word of God That no unrighteous Person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Covetous nor Extortioners nor Drunkards nor Lascivious nor Quarrelsom nor Envious nor Malicious Persons nor Men that mind Earthly Things altogether shall enter into that Glory The Scripture is full of these Protestations Is there any of you here that 's guilty of any of these Sins and yet do ye hope to be happy 'T is true you 'll say none can be so that continues in these Sins but I hope I shall leave them all before I die But why Man Dost thou know when thou
he hath promised though thou seeest them not The Reasons for the one are as convincing as the other In a word Believing God's Promises is to venture upon that Piety to which the greatest Blessings are promised And therefore not letting thy Light shine before Men it 's a sign thou dost not believe his Promises and not to believe his Promises is either to suppose that he hath made no such Promises or to think if he hath made any they are not true And what an injury this is to God judge you to whom God hath given Reason and Wisdom and Understanding to know that Heaven and Earth shall sooner perish than one jot or one tittle of his Word shall fail 3. It is an injury to Men too For by not letting the Light of your Piety shine forth you hinder others from the Ways of God Men are led by Example if you have an aversion from the Ways of Righteousness will not this tempt others to have an aversion too If you offer the Blind and the Lame will not others imitate you If to serve God be a weariness to you will it not be so to others It is true God may restrain them from following your example but if he doth not is not this the natural consequence of it It was very well said of St. Chrysostom There would not be a Heathen left in the World if we all of us labour'd to be Christians indeed and strictly obey'd the Counsels and Admonitions of the Gospel if being affronted we did suffer it if we did not render evil for evil if being cursed and abused we did bless if we render'd good for evil There is hardly any Man would be such a Brute as not to apply himself to the Fear of God whose Precepts cause such an admirable Temper if all of us shew'd the same Zeal for the Gospel But when we like Gallio care for none of these things we make others as careless as our selves We especially whom the meaner sort look upon as better Bred and more Knowing and having had the advantage of Education For this is the common Language Such a Man is a Scholar he can Read and Write and hath the Bible at his Fingers Ends If that Man believed these things were necessary he would certainly practise them But making no Conscience of them why should I who am not learned and know not so much as he doth So that this must needs be a manifest injury to Men for we make others regardless of Piety while we our selves do not place that Light on the Candlestick of our Lives and Conversations that it may give Light to all that are in the House But 4. This is not all for hereby we do not only hinder them from the Ways of Piety but we encourage them in Evil we harden others in their Sins help them to be miserable see them perishing and promote their Ruin Though we may not be so bad as others yet in not being so good as we might be and ought to be we confirm them in their Opinion that what they do is harmless And thus we turn Fiends and Devils teach others to Sin and prompt them to be Children of Perdition Our evil Actions are unhappy Schoolmasters to instruct others in the Art of Sinning We destroy Souls and instead of being helpers of their Faith we are helpers to hasten their Damnation And if this be not a signal Injury done to Men I know not what we can call Injury But it 's time I should III. In the last place shew you What the Advantages are of letting this Light of our Piety shine forth before Men. And though this be properly the subject of the next Verse yet something of it I will mention by way of preparation for the Discourse I intend upon that Exhortation of our Saviour 1. Are not we fond of Peace of Conscience Do not we talk of it Do not we commend it Do not we say all the kind things of it Do not we prize it in those that have it Do not we hear Men upon their Death-beds wish for it If it be so precious a thing why this is the way that leads to it even this letting the Light of our Piety shine forth How often have you heard that Saying of the Apostle 2 Cor. 1.12 Our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity not with fleshly Wisdom but by the Grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World Ay this is the Spring the Fountain the Root the Vein from which Peace of Conscience flows It can no more arise from a sinful carnal sensual Life than Olive-berries can grow upon a Thorn-bush The Light of Piety causes Light in the Conscience this makes it easy and lightsome under all Burdens and gives a chearful merry Heart under the sharpest Dispensations of Providence All the Joys of Sinners and Hypocrites are not to be compared with it for they die when the Body dies and fill the Soul with Horrour But Peace of Conscience survives the mortal Part and leaps and skips and mounts with the Soul into the boundless Ocean of Eternity 2. Would you see and tast how sweet and gracious God is Why this setting the Light of your Piety on a Candlestick that it may enlighten all that are round about you is the way to it God can never appear truly Sweet to that Soul that hath an Aversion from his Service It is impossible that he should look amiable and charming to that Eye that delights in beholding Vanity It is the Holiness of God that makes him sweet and amiable to the Soul And how can that Soul delight in his Beauty that sees no Beauty in Holiness We wonder not that many Men stare and wonder and think we tell them Stories and Romances when we speak of the admirable Sweetness of God which a Soul enlightened from above is sensible of as well may a Horse understand the Study of the Mathematicks as He apprehend how sweet and amiable God is that rushes into Sin as the Horse rushes into the Battel But notwithstanding all this there is such a thing and the Soul whose pious Life shines before Men feels and sees and tastes how sweet and charming and lovely God the best of Beings is Sweet beyond Roses sweet beyond Perfumes sweet beyond Comparison sweet to Admiration sweet to Extasy And now I should add after all that this letting the Light of your Piety shine forth is the way to engage others what in you lies to Praise God But that must be the subject of my next Meditation However because it is very pertinent to my purpose I will add that which must be the beginning of my next Discourse Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven I shall conclude with a word or two to those that intend this Day to partake of the Blessed Sacrament 3. Think what
a Feast what Consolation the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper will be to you if you let your Light break forth and shine How chearfully may you come to this Holy Table where you may expect that the Lord Jesus the Son of God will meet you and communicate himself to you and make the Union between him and you closer the Friendship greater the Correspondence more endearing the Agreement sweeter the Reconciliation surer and the Application of his Promises firmer and more comfortable You bear his Name before Men and he will write his Name and the Name of God on your Foreheads and enter your Names in the Book of Life Christians Let the Light of your Piety shine forth c. and behold the Sacrament is the Treasury-chamber where you are to receive your Reward What Reward Even a Reward which the unhappy Spirits in Hell would give ten thousand Worlds for if they had them even forgiveness of your Sins and being wash'd in the Blood of the everlasting Covenant Heaven Eternal Life is consign'd into your hands and Christ enters at it even into Bonds and Obligations that you shall inherit it when your Race is run And thus the Sacrament proves to you the Suburbs of Heaven the Anti-chamber to the Mansions of Glory and in this outward Court if I may so call it you receive Assurances that e're long you shall be admitted into the very Palace of him who dwells in Light inaccessible and surely this must be a great encouragement to let your Light shine forth before Men. SERMON XVII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 16. Let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven WHAT is sweeter than Light and what is more amiable than Goodness Goodness the Image of the Almighty the Similitude of the Living God the Transcript of the Divine Nature Favour is deceitful and Beauty is vain in comparison of it and all the Glories of this present World fall short of it God loves it and Angels love it and Men that imitate them or desire to be like them cannot but love it God is Goodness it self and therefore must necessarily love it Angels of all Creatures are the most perfect and as Perfection is the Object of their Love so must Goodness for Goodness is Perfection Men that long after Happiness cannot but long earnestly after it for there is no true Happiness without Goodness If there be any rational Creature that is not enamour'd with Goodness it is because they do not see its Charming Rays To the Blind-man the Sun himself is invisible so is Goodness and all the Glories which encircle its Head to him in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Eyes of his Understanding Goodness is Light and the better a Man is the more Splendid he is and consequently the greater is the Glory that shines in and about his Soul a Glory which God delights in and Angels prize and which sheds blessed Influences on all that are round about us And therefore Christ had reason to exhort Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Having already told you That by Light is meant Goodness I need not spend any Time in Explication of the other Terms and Phrases of the Text which may easily be understood That which will be most edifying will be to resolve the Words into these following Propositions I. A Christian must not stop at a low degree of Piety Let your Light so shine So i. e. to that degree II. Our good Works do not shine except Men see them Let your Light so shine that they may see your good Works III. Where our good Works are any way considerable Men will certainly take notice of them This is also implied in this Saying That Men may see i. e. They will certainly see and take notice therefore let your Light so shine that they may see your good Works IV. The great end of our letting our good Works shine before Men must be to endear Religion to others and to make them Glorifie God That they may see your good Works and Glorify c. V. 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 they may see and glorify your Father which is in Heaven I. I begin with the first viz. That a Christian must not content himself with a low degree of Piety Let your Light so shine i. e. To that degree What the meaning of this expression is you may plainly guess by the parallel place John iii. 16 God so loved the World Whereby we all understand a very high degree of Love and indeed the words in the Text are so express and the antecedent Passages have so near a relation to them that we can believe no less then that they do import what is hinted in the Proposition There is nothing more common among Men that profess Christianity than to content themselves with very ordinary degrees of Godliness and if they are once arrived to such a pitch of negative Vertue that they are not scandalous or do not commit Sins which make them a by-word a hissing a Proverb or the talk of their Neighbours they look upon themselves as tolerable Saints and therefore take no farther care to improve their Talents or to bless their Souls with richer Graces But surely this is an Argument that either you do not rightly understand what Religion is or that a fatal Laziness the Scurvey of the Soul hath over-run all your Faculties And to cure your selves of that Distemper I beseech you examine your selves Whether the stop you make be agreeable to the frequent Commands of the Gospel to grow in Grace to add to our Faith Vertue to grow strong in the Lord to abound more and more in Faith in Love in Patience And Whether a Man may not be in a state of Nature and in an unregenerate Condition still who is come no farther yet than a bare freedom from clamourous and notorious Sins I suppose you look upon some Heathen Philosophers who arrived to some degrees of Morality such as Socrates Plato Cicero Seneca c. as natural Men and that notwithstanding the Progress they made in Vertue they were still without the Pail of Grace and the Precint of Christ's Kingdom and if so judge ye whether you are passed from Death to Life when you go no farther than they or perhaps not so far as they Grace is a state of Life which consists in Progress and if Goodness be Light as our Blessed Master stiles it it must go on like the Sun unto a perfect day He that doth not desire to be better surely was never very good and he cannot be said to desire it that doth not endeavour after it If you find Sweetness or Consolation in that degree of Goodness you are arrived to
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
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
wonder ought we to look on that embroider'd and bespangl'd Sky that lower Heaven where so many Lamps and Lights and Stars do shine Good Lord what Art what Curiosity what Order what Harmony what methodical Motions do we see there enough to justifie David's saying The Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament his handy work If the outside be so gay what must be the inside How justly may we admire God's Goodness Wisdom and Power and cry out with the Psalmist How wonderful are thy Works in Wisdom hast thou made them all But with what Astonishment and Joy together ought we to look upon the third and the highest Heaven where the true Pleasures are Spiritual Great Infinite and Everlasting where God in a most eminent manner displays his Glory to Angels and to glorify'd Saints a place which we have hopes to come to If there were no other Promise made us but that of bare seeing it it were enough to oblige Curiosity to do all that 's possible to come to the sight of it How much more then are we obliged to do our utmost when we are promised not only to see but to enjoy it too even the Riches the Splendor and the Lustre of it and how this is to be compassed I need not tell you David having done it to my hand for having ask'd the Question Lord who shall ascend the Hill of the Lord or Who shall dwell in his Holy Place he answers He that walks uprightly and works Righteousness and speaks the Truth in his Heart He that back-bites not with his Tongue nor takes up a reproach against his Neighbour in whose Eyes a vile Person is contemned but he honoureth them that fear the Lord c. IV. We see here what a mean Opinion we are to have of this Earth wherein we dwell since it is God's Foot-stool It is God's Foot-stool and it ought to be ours too i. e. As God hath put it under his Feet so should we put it under ours i. e. undervalue and despise it not as it is God's Creature but as it tempts to seduce our Hearts from him who most justly claims them Poor Mortals How do we dote upon this Globe Creatures made for Heaven and designed to be Companions of Angels How highly do we prize these Inferiour Comforts How fond are we of this Dust How enamour'd with the Minerals of Gold and Silver which God hath hid in the Bowels of the Earth to keep them from being admir'd With what eagerness do we bring them forth and then fall down and worship them Where these grow they say nothing else will grow It is so with an Earthly Mind where that Rules no Grace no Vertue no Devotion thrives yet this is a Lesson which we will not understand nor consider how inconsistent the fondness of this Earth is with our love to Heaven We would enjoy both and lose neither would take our fill of the good things of this Life and of the Comforts hereafter though Abraham in the Mansions of Glory and he should know God's Mind was of another Opinion when discoursing to Dives rolling in Flames Son remember that thou in thy Life-time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented Luk. xvi 25 It 's true we must live and Converse and endeavour after a livelihood here but is it therefore necessary to cling with our warmest Affections to it Is it therefore necessary to rejoyce in it as in our greatest Felicity Is it necessary to grieve for the loss of these outward Blessings as if all our Happiness were gone Is it necessary to make them an impediment to our Duty an obstacle to Vertue or a stumbling-block in our way to the Mansions of Glory The Apostles were aware of these Excesses and therefore they lay down Rules for our deportment as to the comforts of this Life St. Paul especially 1 Cor. vii 29 The time is short it remains therefore that those who have Wives be as though they had none and those that weep as though they wept not and those that rejoyce as though they rejoyc'd not and those that buy as though they possess'd not and those that use this World as not abusing it V. God is call'd a Great King here He is so greater than Herod whose Grandure the Jews at that time admir'd greater than the Roman Emperors whose Magnificence was cryed up in those Days by all the World greater than Sennacharib than Ahasuerus than Nebuchadnezzar than Darius and all the mighty Names which have filled the World with their Splendor But why do I mention these Bubbles All Nations before him are but as the Dust of the Balance and as a drop in the Bucket and if so what a small pittance of that little drop must the greatest Monarch be Is God so great a King and is it not reasonable we should come before him when we come to pray to him or to praise him with the deepest Humility and as St. Bernard speaks Conceive our selves to be entring into the Court where the King of Kings sits on a bright and shining Throne surrounded with an Host of glorious Angels and crowned Saints as poor Worms crawling out of our Holes vile Frogs creeping out of our Mud and approaching the Divine Majesty With such Thoughts let 's appear before him and whatever Greatness or Magnificence we see and observe in Princes and great Men here on Earth let 's conceive something infinitely greater in God which cannot be expressed And if his Greatness were duly represented to our Minds and preserved in our Hearts how devoutly should we pray how humbly should we beg how reverently should we adore him how readily should we stand in awe of him How circumspectly should we walk How diligently should we obey him How afraid should we be of offering him sleepy careless dull and drouzy Devotions the blind and the lame Services I mean the unwilling sick and hypocritical and such as our Governors would scorn and therefore God cannot but despise For Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his Flock a Male and Vows and Sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing for I am a great King saith the Lord of Hosts and my name is dreadful among the Heathen Mal. i. 14 VI. See here what poor weak and infirm Creatures we are since we are not able to make one Hair of our Heads white or black One would think so small and inconsiderable a thing shou'd be within the reach of our Power but it seems it is not and if we are not able of our selves to do the least how shall we be able to do the greatest thing i. e. become wise to Salvation So true is that Saying of the Apostle We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing that 's good as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. iii. 5 In natural common temporal and ordinary Concerns his help is absolutely necessary for
you do not heartily believe an eternal Reward What! Believe it and do nothing for it Yes something ye do as much as some of your indifferent Neighbours do but that 's the very thing Christ finds fault with because you stop there where Men of no great sence of Religion stop It 's true all the doing in the World cannot deserve this everlasting Reward but since doing more than Publicans and Sinners is the Condition to which God hath annex'd this eternal Reward will you neglect the Condition without which you cannot be sure of that Reward 4. When in the last Day ye shall see those excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven who were loath to step farther than their Friends and Acquaintance in the way to Happiness those particularly who thought it sufficient to be kind only to those who were kind to them Will not you wish that you had done more than they But what will Wishes signifie in that Day when the time of Sowing and Planting and Working is past Now you have an opportunity of shewing your extraordinary Zeal and Love and Fervour and Charity and endeavours to do more than others Lay hold and remember we entreat you in Christ's stead to lay hold on the present opportunity and let the eternal Reward tempt you the Reward invisible indeed but as sure as certain as infallible as the Great God who hath promised it Say not this doing more than others is an endless thing for at this rate we must do more than every Man we see or hear of or converse withal a thing enough to make a Man distracted with Religion No my Friends there is no danger of that the Persons beyond whom you are to go are chiefly carnal careless indifferent Men who have a low Opinion of Religion and do no more in these Matters than is consistent with their Interest and Honour and Reputation and Ease and Temper and Profit and Sensual Pleasures Cross your selves in all these and do more than Flesh and Blood and Nature and Custom and Education would prompt you to and as you excel others in Temporal and Spiritual Advantages labour still to do more than they especially where you see they are defective and let all be done according to the Directions of the Text and this Chapter not ceasing to implore God's powerful Arm and the Time will come when you shall Sing and Triumph and Rejoyce more than others and when others shall be Judged Disgraced Despised and Rejected you will sit on Thrones judging the Tribes of Israel Amen SERMON XXXVIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 46 47. For if ye love them which love you what Reward have you Do not even the Publicans the same And if ye salute your Brethren only what do you more than others Do not even the Publicans so I Thought I had done with these Words but upon a review of the Text there appear several Things which will require our farther Disquisition and Examination Our Saviour's principal Design in these Words I think I have sufficiently explain'd in the last Discourse his principal Design I say which is to shew that in Matters of Love Charity Kindness and Civility we are to do more than others more than Heathens and Infidels more than Carnal Men and according to the Rules and Measures of Analogy I extended the Command to other Collateral Duties of Religion and Morality But I find that while I have pressed doing more than others I have forgot to urge some of you at least to do so much as others and while I have taught you to go beyond Publicans and Carnal Men I have overlook'd the Duties and good things suppos'd in the Text to be in Publicans and Carnal Men which are loving those that love them and being kind and civil and courteous to those who are so to them and doing good to those who do good to them Indeed to recommend to you such Duties as these seems to be a thing altogether needless and superfluous as needless as to teach People to Trade one with another or to Eat when they are Hungry or to Drink when they are Dry. But if we look abroad and consider the Christian World as it appears to us now we shall find that even these lesser Duties are trampled upon as well as the greater and as impossible as it may seem to be not to love those who love us it will appear from the sequel that there are not a few even among our selves Christians such as they are who break through the Obligation of this Duty and may be justly charged with wilful Omission and Neglect even of these common Offices which Nature Custom and Education teaches Indeed it is a great disparagement to our Religion at least to the Professors of it that they who for the time they have lived in the Church should be able to digest the strongest Meat should stand in need of Milk the those who should be able to teach others should have occasion or lie under a necessity to be taught the common Principles of Heathen Divinity But so it is and to that pass are things come that we are forced to teach People the first Rudiments of natural Theology so incapable or so unfit are many to be instructed in the higher Lessons of Christianity To love and do good to those who love and do good to us is a pure natural Principle and it looks a little impertinent to prove the necessity of it because it is a Point all Men take for granted yet that I may not seem to leave out any thing that should have been said and for your fuller Conviction and Satisfaction I shall I. Consider the reasonableness of this Principle II. Enquire what Persons they are who act against this natural Principle III. Examine what it is that makes Men sink so low beneath Publicans and Heathens and act against this Principle of Nature 1. The Reasonableness of this Principle of loving and doing good to those who love and do good to us And it will appear from the following Particulars 1. Not to love those that love us or not to be civil kind and courteous to those who are so to us tends to the Ruine and Destruction of Humane Society Mutual and reciprocal Kindnesses are the Solder of Humane Life and without these the World would soon become a Habitation of Savages Trade and Commerce would quickly cease and the Condition of Mankind like the Leviathan's state of Nature become a state of perpetual War This would encrease Animosities and set at variance Father and Son and the Daughter against her Mother and the Daughter-in-law against her Mother-in-law and open a gap to infinite Quarrels and Dissentions for as nothing sowres our Spirits more than Unkindnesses from those whom we have been kind to so if this proceeded to an universal Custom Love and Charity would be destroy'd aud with that the Peace and Order of Common-wealths or Kingdoms This would alienate Mens Affections one from another and this would