have promis'd it even to follow the Lord Jesus but how can this be done except we imitate our Father which is in Heaven Christ himself did so The Son can do nothing but what he sees the Father do for what things soever he doth these also doth the Son likewise John v. 19 He loved as God loved and was merciful as God was merciful In a word he was the express Image of his Person not only of his Nature but of his Perfections too and if this was our Saviour's work we cannot imitate that Saviour except we endeavour to be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect But I shall press this no farther There are several weighty Inferences which may be drawn from the Premises for our Instruction and I must proceed to acquaint you with them Inferences I. From this Command of being Perfect it doth not follow that on this side Heaven we may arrive to a perfect freedom from all Sin great and small which seems to have been the Doctrine of Pelagius and his Disciple Coelestius and if we may believe St. Austin and Cassian they proceeded to that extravagance as to affirm that all this might be done by the meer strength and force of Nature They do indeed alledge the Examples of Abel of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and how God rewarded them with making them his Friends and gave them great Instances of his Love and Favour But all that can be inferr'd from thence is only this that he encourag'd their Faith by gracious Recompences as a Father doth a Child otherwise faulty enough upon some excellent act of Obedience but not that they were free from all Sin there is not a just Man upon Earth that doth good and sinneth not saith Solomon Eccles. vii 20 and the just Man falls seven times i. e. Sins by surprize very often and rises up again Prov. xxiv 16 we grant very readily what St. John says 1 John iii. 9 That the regenerate cannot Sin because the Seed of God remains in them but if we compare that Passage with other places of Scripture the sence must necessarily be this That committing such Sins as worldly and sensual Men make nothing of is against their Temper and Inclination as Joseph told his Mistress How can I commit this wickedness They cannot sin wilfully or with delight or allow themselves in any known Sin nor sin impenitently It 's true such Men are call'd Perfect because they have a respect to all the Commandments of God and there is nothing remarkable in all the compass of Vertue and Goodness which they do not heartily endeavour after and their Sincerity is called Perfection but still that 's no Argument that therefore they are not subject to accidental Slips and Failings while they live among Men and converse with variety of Persons which they expiate by a renew'd and daily Repentance so that a Man may be a perfect Man as the Sun is a perfect Light yet as that Luminary hath its Spots and is subject to be clouded so Righteous Men may have lesser Faults and be subject to inadvertencies and yet be Perfect still II. It follows from the Premises that both the Saying in the Text and all the other Oracles deliver'd in this Sermon are Precepts not Counsels Duties which every Christian is oblig'd to perform not meer Heroick Actions which the Religious only and those who have entirely dedicated themselves to God's service are oblig'd to mind or to exercise themselves in the Church of Rome by making a distinction betwixt Counsels and Precepts cuts the Sinews of a Christian Life and how pleasing soever this Doctrine may seem to Carnal Men in that it gives them hopes that they may be excused from the severer and weightier Duties of the Law but that this Doctrine is false particularly with respect to the Oracle of the Text and the rest in this Chapter is evident from hence because Christ speaks to all his Disciples and all that call themselves Christians own themselves to be so and therefore all must fall under the Obligation And are not we all fond of being Children of our Father which is in Heaven and if the Children of God are obliged to these Self-denials can any of us excuse our selves from the Duty since there are none of us but what are desirous to be honour'd with that Title I will not deny but there are some Evangelical Counsels which all are not obliged to perform of this nature is Celibacy or a single Life whereof Christ speaks Matth. xix But then these Counsels are so expressed that we may know they are no peremptory Commands to which all are obliged as in the preceding Instance of a single Life Christ says He that is able to receive it let him receive it Matth. xix 12 which differs very much from a commanding Stile and besides the Sayings in this Sermon of Christ are enjoyn'd upon pain of Damnation and those who hear them and neglect to do them whoever they be great or low Clergy-men or Lay-men are called Fools and Miserable and undone for ever III. We see here there is no standing still in Religion but he that will be saved must press on toward Perfection It is very common with some Christians when they are come to such a pitch of Devotion there to rest and grow secure and maintain that Formality and think themselves sufficiently Religious But this must be a Mistake and it 's a sign they do not search their Hearts nor examine their Lives nor compare their Behaviour with the particular Rules of the Gospel which if they did they would find that there is always something to reform to amend to rectifie and to set in order something to remove and something to plant something to meliorate and something to dislodge in a word that some other Vertues besides those they have already are to be Objects of their Love and Delight That Person who contents himself with his being free from scandalous Sins stops there and looks after no greater Perfection most certainly disobeys the words of the Text for how doth he endeavour after Perfection that parts with one Sin and pleases himself with another and with the Pharisee cries I thank thee O God that I am not as other Men Unjust Adulterous c. and all this while allows himself in Pride Arrogance Censoriousness and Selfconceitedness Not to go on in Religion or not to perfect what is begun or not to proceed from Vertue to Vertue is to go backward And he that is at a stand lies expos'd to the Devils Temptations for we are not ignorant of his Devices He that stands still will not be long before he goes backward he is next door to it for this gives the Enemy a fair opportunity to lull him into a Slumber from whence he seldom awakes till God calls upon him in a terrible accent Thou Fool this Night thy Soul shall be taken from thee and whose shall be what thou hast provided IV.
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
which the Gospel is the most perfect System Therefore so speak and so do as they that shall be judged by the Law of Liberty and whatever your Business Calling Employment and Condition be remember there is a time coming when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with all his mighty Angels to take Vengeance on those who have not obeyed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ To whom be Glory and Dominion for Ever and Ever SERMON XIX St. Matt. Ch. v. Ver. 18. For 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 THose who endeavour to prove from this place that the present Hebrew Character is the same with that which was in use in Christ's time and consequently that no change of Letters hath been introduced by Ezra but that the Character the Jews use at this day is the same with that which Moses made use of when he writ the Law and all because Christ here represents the Letter Jot as the least in all the Alphabet and as a thing that had always been so I say those who endeavour to prove so much from this place do indeed oblige the curious World but that 's not my Business now A Preacher's design is different from the Criticks and our Work is not so much to make Men Learned as to make them Good And though we are to inform their Understandings too yet what Light we give to that Intellectual Frame it is with an intent to rectifie the Actions to mend the outward and the inward Man to destroy the body of Sin and to overthrow the Power and Dominion of natural Corruption But this on the by that which will be more Edifying to you will be to put you in mind that Christ in the preceding Verse had removed and baffled a grand Objection which was in those days made against his charitable Attempts to reform the World The Jews were mighty Admirers of the Law of Moses and the Prophets yet so brutish were they grown that never any thing was more abused than they had the Law and the Prophets which Abuses when Christ as became him went about to rectify and reform they suspected no less than that he was going to reverse the Law and the Prophets so dangerous so sottish a thing is Prejudice This Objection I say Christ had answered in the preceding Verse and I have already treated largely of that Controversy What our great Master hath begun he prosecutes in the Verse before us asserting the Divinity and Perpetuity of the Law and Prophets For 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 Though in saying so he doth not mention the Prophets yet in naming the Law he names and aims at them too there being nothing more common in the New Testament than by the Law to understand the whole System of the Jewish Religion or all the Books of the Old Testament the Writings both of Moses and the Prophets which succeeded him partly because the Law is the principal part of that Sacred Volume partly because all that the Prophets have said even all the remarkable things they speak of are vertually contained in the Law of Moses I might divide the Words into a Preface or Preamble Verily I say unto you and the Maxim or Truth Christ delivers Till Heaven and Earth pass one jot c. But this I conceive needless you 'll understand the words as well and better too I am sure to your greater Edification if I resolve them into certain Propositions which are plainly hinted in the Text. I. The whole Oeconomy of the Gospel lies hid in the Law and in the Prophets II. There is nothing in the Old Testament relating to the Affairs of the Gospel or the Time of the Messiah but hath been and shall certainly be fulfilled to the least tittle of it III. The Scriptures or the Word of God will last to the Worlds end IV. Heaven and Earth shall certainly pass away V. Gods Veracity is unchangable and sooner shall Heaven and Earth perish than what God hath said in his Word shall fail I begin with the first 1. The whole Oeconomy of the Gospel lies hid in the Law and the Prophets for Christ was here delivering the Law of the Gospel To assure the Jews that he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets he tells that his Doctrine and Discipline was nothing but a fulfilling of the Law and the Prophets and if so then certainly the whole must be contained in the Law and in the Prophets This the Apostle is so sure of that he doth not only tell us that Christ is the end of the Law Rom. x. 4 but peremptorily affirms that the Gospel was preached to the Israelites in the Wilderness the time when God gave the Law Heb. iv 2. And to this purpose he tells us 1 Cor. x. 1 2 3 4. Moreover Brethren I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our Fathers were under the Cloud and all passed through the Sea and were all baptized into Moses i. e. into the Faith of Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea and did all eat the same spiritual Meat and did all drink the same spiritual Drink for they drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them and that Rock was Christ And particularly of Moses who was the glorious Instrument by whom God gave the Law we read that he esteemed the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than all the Treasures of Egypt Heb. xi 26 which he could not have done if he had been a Stranger to the Knowledge of the Mystery of Christ no doubt he had it for so we read Joh. v. 46 If ye had believed Moses you would also have believed me for he wrote of me but if you believe not his Writings how shall you believe my Words So that it may be truly said as it is Heb. xiii 8 Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever only in the Old Testament he was veiled in the New that Veil is taken away there a Cloud covered him here he appears in his Meridian Brightness there the Mount on which he was seen was encompassed with Mists and Darkness Here he is seen on Mount Tabor transfigured and his Garments shining The difference betwixt the Saints of the Old Testament and those of the New is not that the latter believed in Christ the former did not but as we believe in Christ who is to come so they did in Christ who was to come and they had reason for the Vertue of his Sufferings and Merits was retroactive and like a mighty Stream spread it self backward and forward and like the Mystical Creatures Rev. iv 6 were full of Eyes before and behind And could we unfold all the Riddles of the Ceremonial Law we should see the Gospel Mysteries lie very orderly
all your mournful Accents will open the Kingdom of Heaven to you If you go no farther than these Men by this Rule of Christ you must inevitably be Miserable and all your Wealth and Grandeur and Estates and Relatives cannot help you If you go no farther you sink into a State of Hypocrisie and I need not tell you that the Portion of Hypocrites is a very sad Portion for it is to be cast into outward Darkness where there is Howling and Gnashing of Teeth so saith your Master and mine Matth. xxiv 51 In speaking to You I speak to Christians even to Men who believe that to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is beyond all the Bliss that this or Ten Thousand Worlds do afford and that not to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is to be Wretched and Miserable Odious and Contemptible beyond Expression and to Groan in Torments to Eternal Ages This is the Notion You have of these Things as You own Your selves Christians Men Fathers and Brethren do you believe the Prophets Do you believe the Apostles Do you believe the Son of God that came into the World to save Sinners I know you believe and surely this is Motive sufficient to suffer the Word of Exhortation If therefore any of you have hitherto laid the stress of your Devotion upon the External Task and been Strangers to the inward frame of Mind which is in the sight of God of great Price If you have been Zealous for small little inconsiderable Things in Matters of Religion and have wilfully neglected the more Substantial and Self-Denying part of it If you have been Selfish in your Acts of Piety and Righteousness and been Devout and Good for Worldly Ends more than from a Sense of your Duty If you have taken some care to Purifie your outward Man from Clamorous and Scandalous Sins and have been careless of rectifying what is amiss within you even of subduing that immoderate Love of the World and Pride and Revengeful Thoughts and Desires and Anger and wrathful Temper and other secret Sins which do so easily beset you If you have thought it your Duty to observe some of the greater Commandments of the Gospel and made no Conscience of the lesser All this Fabrick must be pulled down undone and unravell'd and you must turn over a new Leaf and apply your selves to a true Gospel Life and Temper else there is no entring into the Kingdom of Heaven Flatter not your selves with the Merits and Sufferings and Death of Christ Jesus for poor Sinners I grant I own this is a very Glorious and comfortable Truth and there is no sincere Believer but confesses to thy Praise and Glory O Blessed Jesu That there is no Name under Heaven given whereby Men may be Saved but thine alone But still it is this exceeding the Scribes and Pharisees in their Righteousness that must give you a Title to the benefits of the Death of Jesus Christ By this the Pardon of your Sins which was purchased by that Death must be sued out and applied and rendred comfortable to your Souls and if the Death of Christ doth not kill in you that Hypocrisie and Partiality which made the Righteousness of the Pharisees defective that Death cannot will not profit you All the Christian World knows that the design of Christ's dying for Sinners was That they which Live should not henceforth Live unto themselves but unto him that Died for them and rose again They are the express Words of the Holy Ghost 2 Cor. v. 15 and it is as certain that you cannot Live unto him that Died for you except your Righteousness be a Righteousness without Guile and therefore beyond that of the Scribes and Pharisees I suppose you are sensible that Christ cannot contradict himself when he spake these Words He knew he was to Die for Sinners yet to these Sinners for whom he was to Die he protests Except your Righteousness shall exceed c. And therefore certainly the Mercies of his Death cannot clash with our Duty and whosoever means to enjoy the Benefits of that Death must Die to the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and a Righteousness more Rational an Evangelical Righteousness must Live in him even that which St. Paul speaks of Phil. iii. 9 And that 's the Life of God as it is called Ephes. iv 18 If we are to exceed these Men in their Righteousness we must do more than they did and if we do more can we do less than what hath been hinted in the preceding Particulars of Sincerity Simplicity Humility Charity and Vniversality of Obedience For these Qualifications rectifie what was amiss in the Righteousness of these Men and set us in the right way from which those Self-Conceited Men deviated and wandred in a Wilderness of Vulgar Errours Should any of you be so Unfortunate what I say here is nothing but a plain and easie Comment upon the Commination of the Text I say should any of you be so unfortunate as to come before the Gate of the Kingdom of Heaven and be denied entrance there how like a Thunder-bolt would this strike you And yet I see not how it is possible to prevent it if these Words of Christ make no impression upon you or do not oblige you to go beyond these Men in their Acts of Devotion and Piety Their Righteousness was an External Mechanical starcht kind of Righteousness it was not Free not Natural and they took no care to reform their Thoughts Desires Lusts Affections and such Things as Human Laws take no notice of and it 's to be feared that this is the Disease of too great a number of Christians Nay Thousands there are which do not come up to so much as the Negative Virtues of the Scribes and Pharisees They were no Drunkards no Swearers no Whoremongers no Adulterers and yet how many that profess themselves Illuminated by the Gospel of Christ are so and worse than so And if even those who do not exceed the Righteousness of these Men shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven how shall those that are not so good as they And but that Unbelief and Stupidity reigns so much in the Hearts of Men certainly here is enough to fright them from the Carnal Life they lead There stands before the Gate of the Kingdom of Heaven an Angel with a Flaming Sword as much as there did before the Gate of Paradise to keep out all those who voluntarily chuse Death before Life and do not you chuse Death before Life when you had rather forfeit your share in the Kingdom of Heaven than exceed the Scribes and Pharisees in their Righteousness Surely it must be a dismal and deplorable Condition when Men have flattered themselves all their Life time with hopes of entring into the Kingdom of Heaven to find themselves at last thrust out and may not this be the condition of some of you And is not the very possibility of it enough to oblige you to Purifie and
and looks upon it as a Favour that he will express his Respect to God in Devotion or fancies God reaps some great Advantages by them or performs them more because it is his Duty than because it is his Choice more because he doth not think himself safe without it than because he delights in it more to satisfy his unruly Conscience than his Pleasure or in a manner angry because God hath obliged him to the Drudgery of Devotion all such Persons have odd sinister preposterous Notions and Apprehensions of God and mistake the Nature of their own Felicity the World hath the Ascendent of them and something here below is dearer to them than their God In a word let every Soul that approaches to pay her Duty to God remember that God loves a chearful giver III. See here how heinous this Sin is I mean this Rancour Hatred Malice in our Hearts to our Neighbours whom we have offended and Unwillingness to forgive or to be Reconciled to them I say see here how heinous the Sin is since no Gift can prevail with God to pass it by It is very true my Friends Not all the Gold and Silver you have not all the Alms you give not ten thousand Rams not a thousand Rivers of Oyl not all the external Services you offer to him or lay upon his Altar will move him to overlook it Therefore if thou bring thy Gift unto the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy Gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Aristippus and Aeschines were both Heathens yet hear what they did Being at Variance for some time Aristippus of his own accord goes to Aeschines his Enemy and tells him shall not we be Reconciled till we become the Table-talk of all the Country Aeschines replied I would very gladly been at Peace with you Remember therefore said Aristippus that I the Elder and the better Man have first sought unto you You are so saith Aeschines not only the Elder but the better Man for I began the Quarrel and you the Reconciliation These things many of us can hear and read many of us that call themselves Christians Disciples of Christ Children of the Revelation Children of Light and that vow'd Obedience to God over and over and yet they blush not to see themselves out-done by Heathens Notwithstanding all this they can carry plumbeas iras as the Comedian speaks leaden and lasting Wrath and Hatred in their Hearts and though they have given occasion to the Variance and been the Beginners of that Distance which is between them and their Neighbours yet will not be persuaded to forgive or to be reconciled Or if they be sometime by the Endeavours of some Charitable Friend forced into a Reconciliation yet that Friendship is to use Menander's Phrase Lupina Amicitia a Wolflish kind of Friendship which lasts for a little while and then the Sore breaks out again And yet such Men shall say their Prayers and go to Church and sometimes receive the Holy Sacrament when a Place or Office or Employment or some such carnal Reason puts them upon it a Profanation so great that it is almost in vain to argue with such Men out of the Gospel for they have not common Principles of Morality they throw down the Bounds of Nature how shall the Gospel overrule them Yet that they may be without Excuse I must a little reason the Case with them Tell me then ye Men that name the Name of Christ and dishonour and disgrace it by your uncharitable Temper is it nothing to you that God hath declared himself your Enemy Hath not he declared himself your Enemy when he hath protested he will not forgive you and hath not he Protested so when he hath told you over and over in his Gospel in that Gospel which you pretend to believe that except ye forgive your Neighbours their Trespasses and from your Heart too he will not forgive you Do but read these Texts Matth. vi 11 Matth. xviii 31 Marc. xi 25 26. How do you forgive them when ye will not be Reconciled to them or do you call that Forgiveness and Reconciliation when after pretences of Agreement you speak ill of the other party again and invent a thousand Excuses to evade the Obligation of a true brotherly Reconciliation either that you will do them no hurt or that you will not meddle with them or that you will let them alone if they let you alone c. And is this Forgiveness doth this look like Reconciliation Have you read the Gospel and can you call it so If God be not Reconciled to you if this Gospel be true you must be Miserable and fall into the Hands of Tormentors and God will not be Reconciled to you except you Reconcile your selves to your Brethren who have ought against you And when shall this Reconciliation be What upon a Death-bed A Death-bed Go then and cry to the Gods whom ye have served and let them deliver you if they can Is it likely God will have any thing to do with you then when all the Charms of his Mercies and entreaties could not prevail with you to be Reconciled before Again to what purpose is the Multitude of your Sacrifices to what purpose do ye pray for if you spread forth your Hands toward Heaven he will hide his Eyes and when ye make many Prayers he will not hear for your Hearts are full of Rancour and Bitterness And how dare you in the Holy Sacrament look the Lord Jesus in the Face that Jesus who died for you that were his Enemies that Jesus who sought unto you when you had affronted God and wrong'd your own Souls that Jesus who came from Heaven to seek you and laid down his Life to rescue you from the Power of the Devil that Jesus who suffered the bitterest Torments to move his Father to forgive you ten thousand Talents I say how dare you look him in the Face who have no Compassion for your fellow Servants Can you hope for any Mercy from him at such a time when you do obstruct that Mercy by your uncharitable Spirit Ay but this seeking to be Reconciled is so Ungentile a Thing you 'll say it makes a Man look ridiculous among People of the better Sort to entreat a Person to be Reconciled when a Man can live without him and hath no need of him A wonderful Argument And doth not the neglect of this Reconciliation make you look far more ridiculous in the sight of God! Will it not provoke him to laugh at your Calamity and to mock when your Fear comes And have not you a fine Religion that makes you more afraid of the Opinion and Censures of Men than of the Wrath of the living God Ay but I have endeavour'd to Reconcile my self to the Person whom I have offended but he will hearken to no Terms of Peace
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
Powers Ordain'd of God and Whoever resists that Power resists the Ordinance of God Rom. xiii 1 2 3. 5. There is no place in all the New Testament which forbids a Christian to be a Magistrate nay we have several Examples of Men who were Magistrates actually and converted to Christianity and yet neither quitted nor were they requir'd to quit that Office after their Conversion such were Nicodemus Joseph of Arimathea Both the Centurions Matth. viii and Act. x. and Sergius Paulus the Proconsul Acts xiii even the Soldiers in St. John the Baptist's Time Men who are the great Instruments of that Justice which the Magistrate sometimes executes were not oblig'd to lay down their Military Girdle or to forsake their Station and Employment 6. We are expresly commanded to pray for Kings and those who are in Authority 1 Tim. ii 1 2 3. and the Reason is given because God would have all Men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth which shews that we are therefore to pray for Magistrates especially if Infidels or Idolaters that they may be Converted and that under them we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty which End could not be obtain'd if immediately upon their turning Christians they were oblig'd to lay down or divest themselves from their Office 7. The Office of the Magistrate doth not at all clash or interfere with the Genius or Temper of the Gospel For what is the Office of a Magistrate but to make wholesome Laws for Governing the People under their Power with suitable Sanctions and to defend their Subjects from Wrong Violence and Mischief Neither of which acts are contrary to our Religion not making Laws for governing the People under their Charge for the Gospel as well as the Law of Nature permits every Master of a Family to make good Orders for those over whom God hath set him and it would be strange if Masters of a greater Family might not have this privilege God even in the New-Testament hath declar'd himself to be a God of Order and protests against Confusion and since without Magistrates and Laws and Sanctions it would be impossible to prevent Confusion He that allows of the End must needs be supposed to allow of the Means conducive to that End In a word without these Helps Cities and Common-wealths would be Dens of Thieves and Pest-Houses rather than civiliz'd Societies nor is defending their Subjects from Wrongs and Injuries contrary to the nature of the Gospel which prescribes Justice and Charity and who sees not that the defence of the Subject from Wrongs and Injuries is founded upon these two Cardinal Vertues Even inflicting Penalties upon the stubborn and obstinate rests upon these Principles so that the Office of the Magistrate must necessarily be lawful and commendable I grant were the whole World Christian and did all Christians live up strictly to the Rules of the Gospel there would be no Quarrels no Dissentions no Wrongs no Injuries and consequently there would be no need of Magistrates but such a blessed State we do not look for till we come to Heaven and till then there must be Magistrates Nor doth St. Paul 1 Cor. vi 1 2 3 4 5. find fault with the Office of the Magistrate but with those who upon every light occasion quarrel'd one with another and accused one another to the Magistrate and particularly to the Heathen Governors Nay the Apostle is so far from condemning the Office that he seems to advise them to erect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Tribunals of Judgment among themselves to decide Controversies and Quarrels betwixt Man and Man thereby to avoid running to the Heathen Magistrates whereby Christianity was like to become contemptible So that all these Particulars being laid together since God cannot be supposed to contradict himself this Precept of our Saviour must concern only Private Christians and must be intended to direct them how they are to behave themselves one toward another in their Conversation but is not level'd against the Power of Magistrates in a Christian Common-wealth not but that even a Magistrate may Sin against this Precept of our Master if private Revenge guides him in the execution of Judgment and Justice but where he doth the Duty of a Magistrate out of Love to the Publick Good there this Command cannot be suppos'd to interfere with his Power and Authority II. Since the Precept of the Text is the standing Rule whereby Christ's Disciples are to govern themselves it is very necessary I should press it upon you who came hither on purpose not only to hear but I hope to do what the Lord your God requires of you viz. Not to return Evil for Evil. Not to run in lesser Injuries such as a Blow or smiting on the Cheek to the Magistrate in order to have the Offender punish'd And Rather than return Evil for Evil to suffer a greater Evil or a greater Injury But I foresee an Objection which is like to dash all that I can say or alledge in order to persuade you to a conscientious Observance of these Rules of Holy Living Why should you urge this will some say for the thing is impracticable Not practicable Sirs It 's strange our great Master in whom are all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge should prescribe a thing that is not Practicable What did not he know our Frames Was he ignorant of what our Shoulders would bear Did not he consider the state and condition of our Souls I grant it is not practicable by Men who will not step out of the common Road of their carnal Interest and Lusts and sinful Inclinations I grant it is not practicable by Persons who will not make use of the Means and Motives and Enforcives and Helps which God affords to raise corrupted Nature into a nobler Temper I grant it is not practicable by Persons who will do nothing toward their own Happiness that will be Naked and Poor and Blind wretched and miserable in despight of all the Collyriums and Eye-salves and Medicines and Remedies which are offer'd and tender'd to them for their Cure But when there are a Thousand Moral Arguments before you and the Spirit of God and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are ready to give Life to those Arguments in your Souls when Heaven is willing to assist and Omnipotence offers to help you to raise you from the Ground and to inspire you with Courage and Valour suitable there to talk of the unpracticableness of these Rules is to blaspheme the Goodness of God and with that unprofitable Servant to accuse your Master That he gathers where he hath not strow'd and reaps where he hath not sown What should make it unpracticable What because Flesh and Blood saith it is so Is not Flesh and Blood that which you are oblig'd to fight against What are all the Arguments that are brought against the practicableness of it but what are borrow'd from the Opinion of the World
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
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
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
is not that a motive to go on from Vertue to Vertue In Temporals a little Gain tempts you to aim at a greater He that is easie desires to be easier He that is rich desires to be richer not that I approve of this desire but this is the Temper of Mankind Nay in some cases it may be lawful but here I am sure it 's necessary True Goodness is comfortable even in the lowest degree of it Comfort is the natural result of it and therefore I say having already felt and received something of Satisfaction from those small beginnings of Goodness which you allow are in you is not this an Encouragement to go on to a higher pitch Are you afraid of too much Comfort Or is that you have felt so contemptible that you despise all that you can promise your selves for the future If it were little or no bigger than Elijah's Cloud no bigger than a Mans hand that 's a very pregnant Reason why you should endeavour to enlarge and make it greater There is scarce a vicious Man but hath something of Goodness that lies mingled with all his filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and behold even that grain of Gold as little as it is supports the Wretch against all the Terrors of his Conscience and keeps him from sinking under the load and burthen of his Sin I do not tell you how justly but of the matter of fact and the use I make of it is this If so small a quantity of Goodness is so great a Cordial what must a greater Portion and proportion be This is an Eternal Rule True Vertue causes Sweetness for all her Paths are Peace and that sweetness we taste is a just incentive to long for a greater degree as a Person that tasting of a Dish agreeable to his Pallate desires a fuller Enjoyment of it and thus we give People opportunity to see what we do which brings in the second Proposition II. Our good Works cannot be said to shine except Men see them Let your Light shine that Men may see your good Works When Men see that you are Compassionate and tender-hearted officious and kind and faithful and willing to help and that you love your Neighbours as your selves When they see That you are just in all your Dealings just to your Word just to your Promises just in your Traffick and Commerce and faithful in all you undertake when they see that evil Company cannot draw you to unlawful Games or to Intemperance in Eating and Drinking or to mispending your Time and that you are resolute to obey God more than Man when they see you make Conscience of what Christ Commands and that you express your love to God in such Acts as Flesh and Blood are against and your carnal Interest would hinder you from when they see that pleasing God is the work of your Life and that you can comfort your selves in your Tribulations with the things that are not seen and that you are not fond of the great things of this World but modest and temperate and sober and thankful for the Mercies you enjoy In this case your good Works do shine indeed and Men see them and is not this a more glorious sight than to see Croesus in his Throne or Cleopatra in her Vessel richly guilt and her Sails of Silk or Solomon in all his Glory For what was all that Glory but Paint and shew which perished But good Works are lasting Beauties they tarnish not they fade not they follow the Votary after Death go along with him to Heaven for their good Works follow them Rev. xiv 13 And there is reserv'd for them an Inheritance undefiled and incorruptible You are to convince the World that you are fully resolved to enjoy the Pleasures at the right hand of God but how will you convince them except they see you fight the good sight and resist Temptations and do as the Primitive Saints did Is that convincing them when they see you do things and venture on Actions which God protests shall exclude you from the Kingdom of Heaven Your good Works must be seen else you have reason to suspect them of Sophistication It is impossible to be truly Religious and to hide it from Men if we live among Men We may as well keep Fire from casting a heat as Goodness from being seen if it be genuine An invisible Religion is no Religion for Religion is nothing but Love even a fervent Love which will discover its Motions and its Flames and all Waters cannot quench them and Men cannot but perceive it If there appears nothing without nothing that looks like Love or Religion if nothing is to be seen all is but a Pretence and the Treasures we boast of imaginary and no better than the Riches Men think they are possessed of in a Dream when Fancy is playing in a slumber There is no doubt on 't if good Works are to be seen Men will behold them and take notice of them which calls us to consider the third Proposition III. If our good Works be any way considerable Men will take notice of them This is also limited here That others may see your good Works for this is grounded upon a Supposition for they will certainly observe and take notice No doubt they will not only those who have been enlightned and have tasted of the good Gift of God but even those who are Strangers to the Life of God Even a Herod will take notice of St. John's Austerity and Integrity and a Festus an Agrippa of St. Paul's Zeal and a Heathen Centurion of the admirable Behaviour of Jesus of Nazareth for Men have Reason and are inquisitive and will compare Actions with the Rules they have heard of most Men know more than they do and most Men give a shrew'd guess at the right way to Salvation and can tell whether such and such Endeavours are agreeable to the Path of Life and will take notice whether they be or not But except these good Works be considerable few Men will think them worth their Cognisance and that which will make them so are these six Ingredients 1. Great Patience under Injuries This looks very magnificent in the Eyes of Men of Judgment David's being unconcerned at Shimei's reviling the Apostles entreating when they were defamed St. Stephen's Praying for his Enemies when they stoned him this makes Men stare when Injuries cannot discompose us and Affronts cannot make us step out of the Road of Patience and we can bare up under Contempt and Dishonour without Grief or Passion or Revenge and look to the Example of Jesus and like him return Blessings for Cursings this even astonishes carnal Men and to be sure must look lovely in the Eyes of good Men. 2. Great Acts of Charity such Acts especially as those of Christ to Malchus who came to apprehend him and whose Ear he cured and such as we read of in Ecclesiastical History of the Christians of old who did good to those
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
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
in those Shells and discover the admirable Foetus even all its Parts and Members and Lineaments in those Membranes And therefore we have no new Religion but a Religion as old as Paradise the same Religion that Adam and Abel and Enoch and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses c. professed And we believe that through the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they as it is said Acts xv 11 And we say no other things than those which the Prophets and Moses did say should come that Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and should shew Light unto the People and unto the Gentiles Act. xxvi 22 23. They worshiped one Great Eternal Independent and All-sufficient Being Creator of Heaven and Earth Neh. ix 6 And so do we They believed there was a wise over-ruling Providence that managed and governed and disposed all for the good of Gods Children Psal. cxlvi 7 8. And so do we They believed there was a Necessity for a Saviour and Mediator betwixt God and Man to bear our Sins and to expiate our Transgressions Isai. 53.4 5 6. And so do we They believed there was a future Judgment and that the dead would certainly rise again and be obliged to give an Account of all their Actions Eccles. xii 14 Dan. xii 2 And so do we They worshiped God without Images and external Representations I speak of the true Israelites not of those who corrupted themselves with Idolatry Exod. xx 14 And so do we In their Prayers they went directly to God without seeking to Saints or Angels to mediate for them Psal. l. 15 And so do we They believed that confessing our Sins to God and forsaking them is the readiest way to get Mercy and Pardon Prov. xxviii 13 And so do we Their publick Prayers were in a Tongue known and understood by the People Ezr. viii 6 And so are ours That People were not only permitted but commanded to read the Scriptures diligently Deut. vi 7 8. And so are we They had two Sacraments and so have we Their Circumcision admitted them into the Church and made them visible Members of it Gen. xvii 10 So doth our Baptism In their Passover by eating of a roasted Lamb they remember'd their deliverance from Egypt and the Angels passing over their Houses to save them from Destruction and in eating they said of the roasted Lamb This is the Passover Exod. xii 27 So in our Eucharist by feeding on Bread and Wine we remember the great deliverance of Mankind from the Power of the Devil by Christ Jesus and of the Bread we eat we say This is the Body of Christ. They believed that without a practical Love to God and unfeigned Charity to our Neighbour none could please God Deut. vi 5 Lev. xix 18 And so do we They believed nothing was necessary to Salvation but what God had clearly revealed to be so Deut. xii 32 And so do we And therefore those who accuse our Religion of Novelty are either blinded with Prejudice or besotted with stupid Ignorance There never was but one and there is but one and there never shall be but one true Religion in the World and the Religion which Christ and his Apostles and Moses and the Prophets agree in is that true Religion And the same may be said of the different Religions among Christians that which all or most of the different Christian Churches do agree in is most likely to be the true Religion seeing that which all or most of them do agree in is most agreeable to the Doctrine of the Law and of the Prophets of Christ and his Apostles That Christ and his Apostles do exactly agree with Moses and the Prophets besides what hath been alledged already is evident also from this II. That there is nothing in the Old Testament relating to the affairs of the Gospel or the time of the Messiah but hath been and shall certainly be fulfilled to the least tittle of it Which is the second Proposition I am come to speak to The fulfilling Christ speaks of having respect to the Gospel Doctrine he was going to deliver the Observation must needs be the result of what Christ saith here Jot is a Hebrew Letter answering to our i and is the very least of all the Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet and looks like a Comma or Point or Tittle What Gulielmus Postellus saith that this Letter hath three Points in one and that consequently it is an Emblem of the Trinity in Unity and of the Unity in Trinity as being a matter of Fancy I lay no stress upon But what Christ saith here of the Letter jot is purely proverbial to shew that as the jot in the Alphabet is the least Letter so there is nothing so minute or little in the Law or Prophets which relate to Christ and the Gospel but it is and shall certainly be fulfilled and accomplished 1. If we examine the things that have been fulfilled already we cannot but admire the exactness of the completion Let 's take a view of some Instances The Messiah was to be the Son of a Woman that had known no Man the Son of a Virgin Isai. vii 14 Accordingly Christ Jesus was so Matth. i. 22 23. He was to break the Devil's Power according to Gen. iii. 15 Accordingly Christ Jesus did so for by death he destroy'd him that had the power of Death Hebr. xi 14 He was to appear in the World when the Sceptre was departed from Judah Gen. xlix 10 And Christ Jesus did so Matth. ii 1 He was to be God as well as Man Isai. ix 6 Accordingly Christ Jesus was so Rom. i. 3 4. He was to be a Priest Ps. cx 4 Christ Jesus was so Heb. vi 20 He was to be a Prophet according to Deut. xviii 18 Christ Jesus was so Joh. iv 19 He was to be a King Psal. xi 6 Christ Jesus was so Joh. xviii 37 He was to suffer and to make his Soul an offering to God for the Sins of the World Isai. liii 10 Christ Jesus did so Heb. ix 14 The Gentiles were to be called by him and became part of his Flock and People Isai. lx 3 Accordingly they were miraculously converted by Christ Jesus and became Votaries of the Gospel Acts xv 14 The Messiah was to rise again and to spread the knowledge of the true God all the World over Isai. liii 9 Accordingly the Gospel was preach'd to every Creature that is under Heaven Gal. i. 23 Even the minute circumstances of Christ's Sufferings and Death and Burial and Resurrection as they were foretold in the Old Testament so they were fulfilled in the New such as his drinking Gall and Vinegar their parting his Garments and casting Lots upon his Vesture his being crucified with Thieves and Malefactors the care that was taken that not a Bone of him should be broken his lying in a rich Man's Grave c. All
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
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
Phrase may justly be understood of the Publick Worship of God nay any sort of Divine Worship whereby we intend to express our respect to God whether Publick or Private and that want of Reconciliation in case we have offered a signal Injury to our fellow Christians either in Word or Deed renders the Gift or Devotion we offer unpleasing or unacceptable will appear from the following Considerations 1. Because the Devotion is offered from an impure Heart want of Reconciliation I mean a wilful want or neglect of it supposes a Heart full of Rancour and Malice and secret Grudges against the Person whom we are at Variance with or whom we have offended and in this case David's saying holds true If I regard Iniquity in my Heart the Lord will not leave me Psal. lxvi 18 Shall God whose Purity is great and astonishing and infinite accept of an Oblation which hath so impure a Foundation Can we imagine God is so fond of Services as not to regard the Heart which is and ought to be the principal Agent in the Service He that scorned the Blind and the Lame offered to him in Sacrifice will he be pleased with such blind and lame Devotion It is not the bare Flower as beautiful as it's Colours may seem to be that God is delighted with if the Soil on which it grows be a Dung-hill No Let 's not flatter our selves that the Building we erect will be taking in the Eyes of the great Architect while the Foundation is rotten A Heart that cherishes Malice is the impure Root that sheds poyson on the Plant it produces and that can cause no odoriferous Scent in Heaven He that hath protested that an evil Heart is abomination to him will he relish the Water which comes from that bitter Spring He that hath told us that the pure in heart shall see him and none but they will he admit that Devotion into his gracious Presence which comes from a bottom where Toads and Serpents crawl He that delights in nothing so much as in a Heart sincere and upright will he be fond of Hypocrisy What is Hypocrisy Is it not seeming to be good when we are not And is not Devotion coming from a Heart unwilling to be reconciled to our fellow Christian an appearance of Goodness while love to our Brethren the principal Ingredient which must make it so is wanting 2. Such Devotion is a perfect Contradiction The Soul that is a Stranger or an Enemy to Reconciliation and yet offers Services of Devotion to God pretends to obey him by those Services and yet at the same time disobeys him by being unwilling to be reconciled Doth a Fountain at the same place send forth bitter water and sweet saith St. James ch iii. 11 Of the Samaritans we read 1 Kings xvii 33 That they feared the Lord and served their own Gods They sacrificed to the Great Jehovah and to Devils and their Worship was divided betwixt God and Belial betwixt Dagon and the Ark betwixt the Temple of God and Idols And is not Devotion from a Heart unwilling to be reconciled a Worship much like theirs At once to obey God and to disobey him at once to honour and to affront him at once to worship and to blaspheme him To build with one hand and to pull down with another At the same time to please God and to offend him to please him with Devotion and to offend him with neglect of Charity Is God a God of Order and will he be pleased with Contradictions May it not justly be said to such among you as Elijah to the Israelites 1 Kings xviii 21 How long halt you between two Opinions If the Lord be God then follow him but if Baal then follow him But to think to oblige both is to reconcile Fire and Water Light and Darkness Heaven and Hell and things that have the greatest Antipathy one to another 3. God is the God of Love and will he accept of a Devotion coming from a Heart that hath no Love Can there be Love there where there is no Reconciliation Can Charity be there where the Man will not be Friends with his offended Brother It was indeed said in Commendation of that Roman that having lived so many years with his Mother he was never reconciled to her but the meaning was that they had never quarrelled never fallen out so there was no need of any Reconciliation But here we speak of Offences given and taken and a wilful neglect of Reconciliation must necessarily argue want of Love and can God love that Service in which there is nothing agreeable to his Nature Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in Vnity saith David Psal. cxxxiii 1 It is pleasant to Men and pleasant to God He loves to see it there is harmony in it and can that Devotion make Musick in Heaven which runs upon jarring and Discord and Animosities and Dissentions God is Love and where should Love dwell but in a Heart that loves A Heart that doth not is no Seat no Place no Mansion no Habitation no Tabernacle for the God of Love to rest in The Spirit of love flees from such a House There must be a similitude of Tempers For God to dwell in a Heart where Hatred lodges would be as unseemly a thing as for a King to chuse a Dungeon for his Habitation I love them that love me saith the Eternal Wisdom Prov. viii 17 He that is unwilling to be reconciled to his offended Neighbour cannot love God and God cannot love him nor his Service for if the Man doth not love his Brother whom he hath seen how shall be love God whom he hath not seen 1 John iv 20 4. Such Devotion coming from a Heart loath to be reconciled is a plain attempt to put a cheat upon the great God of Heaven for such a Man hopes God will be so dazled with his Devotion that he will over-look the Malice that 's glowing in his Heart He hopes that God will be so taken with the external Service he lays at his feet as not to take notice of the abomination that lurks within Will you put out the Eyes of these Men said Corah and Dathan Numb xvi 14 And may it not be said to such Will you put out the Eyes of Almighty God Do you think to blind him that sees by Night as well as by Day Do you hope to deceive him that searches the Hearts and the Reins Is it a small thing to you to affront him and would you cheat him too Do you think to lull him asleep with your Devotion that he may not mind the Leprosy which infects your Souls Is he a Man that you think to impose upon him Or a Being so weak that it 's possible to gull him into approbation of your Services See what Absurdities Men run into when they hope that some external Acts of their Piety will cover the multitude of their Sins Strange
such as Fasting Severities doing things irksome troublesome and uneasie to the Body great self-denials in Dyet in Apparel in Company in Talking in Mirth and Recreation large Alms doing much good c. These strangely advance a spiritual Life especially if joined with those I call gentler Means and as painful as this may seem to Flesh and Blood at first the Discipline will become sweet and easie when the Soul perceives the glorious Effects of it And O! that you would but try and venture upon this severe Course There are Treasures in it of Joy of Comfort and Satisfaction and you will find how your Sins will abate how your Corruptions will decrease and your evil Inclinations will become less troublesome you 'll find how everything will thrive under it and what a strengthening it will be to your Faith and Hope and Love and Charity and how all these Graces will grow and swell and become large and fruitful Some of you I am confident have been striving against Lust and other Sins you have pray'd you have resolved you have meditated c. Yet you find you fall into the same Sins again Here must be some fault either your Prayers are not fervent or your Resolutions are not strong enough or some more painful Discipline must be used some Austerities whereby the Body is subjugated and made obedient to the Spirit for the more the Body is pinch'd and denied in its Satisfactions the better doth the Soul thrive I grant these Austerities have been abused by Pharisees and by some Votaries of the Church of Rome into Superstition so is Wine and stronger Spirits which make some drunk but are a Cordial to others but a modest and humble use of them cannot but be very beneficial in order to the Life we speak of This is a very tempting Subject and I could dwell upon it a little longer but that I have something more to explain viz. the III. Proposition That to avoid or to be rid of unlawful Lust or adulterous and impure Desires Wishes and Inclinations a Christian must not give the least Encouragement to the Sin by Actions which will feed it nor cherish any thing that will provoke to it And of this Nature is the right Eye in the Text and the right Hand the one by looking the other by touch or contrectation These must be forborn and totally abandoned where they are apt to cause the least disorder in the Mind for these are the Fewel that feed the impure Fire and it stands to reason the Youngster that feeds his Eyes with the charming Looks of the Minion or Idol he adores and puts his Hand into the Bosom of his Mistress may as well hope to cure himself of a Fever by a Draught of cold Water as cure himself of his Lust by that means Though Marriage be the great Remedy against Adultery Fornication and all other unlawful Lusts and Desires of the Flesh and a Remedy prescribed by God himself yet all Persons are not under those Circumstances which may make a Married state fit for them Some though they have not made a Vow yet are resolved or minded to continue in a Virgin State and to imitate the Great Apostle and High Priest of their Profession Christ Jesus as in the Primitive Church thousands of Men and Women made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. that they might attend the Lord without distraction and be able to do more good they denied themselves not only in all sinful Lusts but in Marriage too not out of any ill Opinion of that State but by way of Mortification and voluntary Abstinence and because they thought a single Life spent in the Service of God and in doing good a higher degree of Christian Perfection Others are under the Yoak of Service and tyed by the Law of the Land and their own Indentures and Oaths and Promises not to Marry before the time of their Service be ended Others there are whom Poverty and want of means to maintain a Family keeps from entring into that Condition and others for other Reasons are obliged to abstain from it Now all such Persons may justly be supposed to be liable to Temptations of unlawful Lusts and therefore such may stand in need of Counsel and Advice how to keep themselves Chast and Innocent from the Garment spotted by the Flesh. Nay there is Chastity to be observed in a Married State Adulterous Lusts and Desires are dangerous as the fall of a Thunderbolt and burn into the nethermost Hell And such also fall under the direction of Preservatives These Preservatives are various and they either regard the Mind or the Actions As they have respect to the Mind Consideration I mean that which is serious and attentive must be used and a Christian must take time to ponder and reflect how great how dreadful how heinous how dangerous the Sins of Adultery Fornication Lasciviousness and Uncleanness are for they exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven alienate the Love and Favour of God from the Offender and kindle his Everlasting Wrath and Indignation Galat. v. 19 20 21. Besides he that commits Fornication Sins against his own Body he is injurious to that Body which was purchased and bought for Christ's Service makes a Beth-aven a House of Impiety of that which should be a Bethel a House of God and violates the Sanctity of that Tabernacle which was dedicated to the Worship of him who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity makes the Members of Christ the Members of a Harlot and profanes the Temple of the Holy Ghost for so his Body is and for that use it was intended as we see 1 Cor. vi 17 18. Not to mention how by these Sins of Impurity the Understanding is darken'd the Light of God is obscured and the Life of Religion turned out of doors how Adultery was punish'd with Death by the Law of Moses as much as Murther which shews the heinousness of the Offence and what Judgments have been inflicted on Men and Nations from time to time even in this present Life as fore-runners of greater Plagues in another World such Topicks the Understanding must six upon and except this be done all other Means and Preservatives will be in vain for if these Sins be shun'd it must be upon rational Grounds and its impossible the dread of these Sins should be Rational except the Mind takes these Arguments into Consideration The things that are to be done in order to be rid of these unlawful and forbidden Lusts and joined with these Considerations are these following 1. We know how much Idleness and want of Employment helps to feed these Lusts and therefore this must be watch'd against it was this which precipitated the Inhabitants of Sodom into those Lusts which procured their Ruin and Destruction Ezech. xvi 49 2. Drunkenness and Gluttony and Pampering the Body do manifestly administer Fewel to the Flame and therefore these must be renounced Jer. v. 7 3. Whatsoever feeds the
among us St. Austin in his Confessions tells us that he and his Mother standing together and looking out of a Window into a Garden fell a discoursing of the nature of the everlasting Felicity in Heaven and drawing Comparisons from the Herbs and Flowers they saw before them and then running higher to the Contemplation of the Sun and Moon and Stars and reflecting on the far greater Glory in the higher Mansions they were so ravish'd with one anothers Discourses that they forgot they were on Earth Indeed till Men come to delight in such Discourses they have not yet receiv'd that Spirit whereby we relish the things which are freely given us of God These are some of those many Directions which might here be given And to put all this in practice there are two things to be observed 1. We must oblige our selves to do it by all the Arguments which have power to bind us And among these a vigorous Resolution and punishing our selves if we break it may justly be said to be one of the most effectual Methods to compass it 2. As we know how Good Men have been concern'd about this watchfulness over their Tongues so with them we must pray and pray earnestly for the Divine Assistance for the Tongue is not easily tamed or reduced to good Order God must be interessed and his Victorious Grace implored in the endeavour and if you want a form of Prayer to that purpose David hath given us one Psal. cxli. 3 Set a watch O Lord before my Mouth and keep the door of my Lips I conclude with St. James's remarkable Sentence Jam. i. 26 If any Man among you seems to be Religious and bridles not his Tongue deceiving his own Heart that Man's Religion is vain SERMON XXXI St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 38 39. Ye have heard that it hath been said An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth But I say unto you That ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right Cheek turn to him the other also I Expect that upon the reading of these words of our Saviour many of you will be ready to reply as the Men of Capernaum when they heard Christ discoursing of eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood This is a hard Saying who can hear it But not to mention that Hardships are no Discouragements to industrious Men from prosecuting their Designs and that unwilling Minds will be ever complaining of Difficulties the true reason of such Complaints is not any internal difficulty of the thing it self but want of a renew'd and sanctify'd Heart That may appear difficult to one which is not so to another and sick Men may not be able to bear what vigorous and healthy Persons can But of this I shall have occasion to Discourse of more largely in the sequel As to the Text Christ seems to contradict and oppose his Saying to the Command of God but he doth not He only shews what is better and establishes that which is better into a Law but doth not find fault with a Law of God's making To make this appear I shall consider I. What was said of old and upon what Account And II. What Christ says to us that pretend to be his Followers I. What was said of old and upon what Account Ye have heard that it hath been said An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth I do not doubt but Christ quotes and repeats these words not precisely as they are in the Law of Moses but as the ancient Masters of Tradition and from them the Scribes and Pharisees had expressed and contracted and applied them to the lawfulness of private Revenge And therefore Ye have heard saith our Saviour that it hath been said i. e. by them of old Time by the Learned Doctors of the former Ages Indeed the Words are in the Law of Moses only in that Fountain they are larger and fuller than in the Stream as deliver'd to the Jews by their Ancestors However though Christ quotes these words as the Saying of the ancient Masters of Tradition yet it 's certain that those ancient Doctors had regard to the Law of Moses for so we read Exod. xxi 23 And if any mischief follow then thou shalt give Life for Life Eye for Eye Tooth for Tooth Hand for Hand Foot for Foot Burning for Burning Wound for Wound Stripe for Stripe Concerning which Law I note 1. That this was the most ancient way of punishing Offenders especially private Men when they had offered any Injury to the Body of their Neighbour He that had unjustly hurt another in a certain Limb or Part suppose the Eye or Foot or Hand or Tooth he was to suffer in that Part in which he had been prejudicial to the other and this was usual not only among the Jews but among the ancient Greeks and Romans too and it 's probable they learned the use of this Retaliation from the Methods of God's Providence which they observed working after that manner which makes Adonibezeck take notice Judg. i. 7 Threescore and ten Kings with their Thumbs and right Toes cut off have gathered their Meat under my Table as I have done so God hath required me 2. In process of Time by Example and Consent it was agreed that the Person hurt should have Cost given him for the Damages he sustained and the Retaliation or Punishment in the same kind was changed into pecuniary Mulcts or so much Money or so much in Goods as was judged by wise Men to tantamount to the Hurt done was given to the Party Injured if he complain'd and thus compensation was made And yet 3. This Law of God in Moses did not forbid the Jews Patience under Injuries Notwithstanding this Law they might very lawfully suffer themselves to be Hurt without Contradiction or Revenge which is the reason why Moses is commended for his Meekness and Patience when Aaron and Miriam murmured against him And David's Patience under Shimie's Revilings 2 Sam. xvi 10 was not the least Jewel in his Crown I mean was one of the most eminent Vertues of his Life However 4. This Law did not give the Jews liberty to exercise any private Revenge i. e. By virtue of this Law a Jew could not of his own accord wound him in the Eye or Foot or Tooth c. who had wounded him in any of those Parts But he had liberty to go and accuse the Offender to the Magistrate who was oblig'd to do him Justice and to retaliate the Injury upon the Offender and therefore it is said Exod. xxi 22 That the Judges were to determine it Add to all this 5. That even to bring the Offender before the Magistrate in order to have him punish'd was rather permitted than commanded much like the Divorces we have spoken of to prevent a greater Evil such as Murther and excessive private Revenges Just as our Law permits Men to take Interest Six per Cent. but for all that a Man may chuse
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
Fashions that will make you Masters of this Love No the School of the Cross teaches this Self-denial and the Sacrament is that School There a Crucify'd Saviour dying for his Enemies is seen and what were all his Prayers and Tears and Agonies but kindnesses to Enemies These we contemplate in this Ordinance at least they come to very little purpose that approach not with this Consideration Here to see his Love and Charity spread and diffuse it self with all the acts of Love my Text speaks of and to believe all this must needs help to melt the Heart and make us willing to bless them that curse us to do good to them that hate us and to pray for them which despitefully use us Let the Soul walk about the Cross and think Behold the Son of God whom I have promised to follow and to imitate even he who bleeds on the Cross he blessed me that had cursed him did good to me that had hated him and pray'd for me that had despitefully used him If I am not like him how shall I be washed with his Blood The Language of the Gospel is that I must be conformable to his Image and chang'd into it and tread in his Steps if I mean to be partaker of his Merits and shall not I consider the importance of this Truth and contrive that the same Mind may be in me which was also in Christ Jesus Thy Death sweet Jesu must do it Thy Death must kill my Hatred and my Rages Thy Love must burn that dross away and whenever my unruly Passions rise against my Enemy I 'll tâ—row the whole weight of thy Love upon them that they may be crush'd to Death and expire I conclude with a Passage of St. John and the rather because he was the great Preacher of this Love and St. Jerom takes notice that when he was very old and his Disciples came to visit him still he would say My little Children love one another and being ask'd why he did repeat this so often he said This is all Love one another as you ought to do it is enough you need no more I conclude I say with 1 John ii 9 10 11. He that saith he is in the Light and hateth his Brother is in Darkness even until now He that loves his Brother abideth in the Light and there is none occasion of Stumbling in him But he that hateth his Brother is in Darkness and walketh in Darkness and knows not whither he goes because that Darkness hath blinded his Eyes SERMON XXXVI St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 45. That ye may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven for he makes the Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth Rain on the Just and Unjust OUR Saviour having in the two foregoing Verses endeavour'd to rectifie the wilful Mistakes of Men the Jews especially about loving their Neighbours and hating their Enemies confuted their false Maxims and Notions establish'd a standing Law among his Followers and charged them as they hop'd for the everlasting Kingdom he promised and proclaim'd to love their Enemies to bless them that curse them to do good to them that hate them c. He lays down some Motives and Arguments in the Text which he thought would prevail with rational and considerate Men and such who had a serious sence of God and another Life prevail I mean if seriously thought of and consider'd and ponder'd in the Heart It 's thinking that puts Men upon Action and we see with what violence and vehemence Men fall to work if they apprehend in it something that 's profitable or pleasant or preservative from Evil and indeed in in so great a work as loving our Enemies and doing good to them that hate us a work so contrary to corrupt Nature and the receiv'd Customs of Men the motives must not be survey'd slightly or superficially but so regarded that no Objection no Temptation of Flesh and Blood may stop or hinder the Votary from doing so Carnal Men may fancy that no Motive can be strong enough to effect it but if it were so our blessed Master would have been under a great Mistake which is impossible yea let God be true and every Man a Lyar. He knew they would prevail and no doubt they will prevail with Men who are ambitious of things unseen ambitious of the invisible future Glory ambitious of being Children of their Father which is in Heaven for so we read That you may be Children of your Father which is in Heaven for he lets the Sun rise upon the Evil and the Good and sendeth Rain upon the Just and Unjust Concerning the Phrases and Expressions of the Text I have only this to observe That for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Children some ancient Copies read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like your Father which is in Heaven which it 's probable was at first only a Marginal Note and was afterward by the Transcribers put into the Text. However the sence is the same and to be Children is to be like our Father which is in Heaven In Heaven not that he is confined to that place for he is not far from every one of us Act. xvii 27 and The Heaven even the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee saith Solomon 1 Kings viii 27 And whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy Presence If I ascend into Heaven thou art there if I make my Bed in Hell behold thou art there if I take the Wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost Parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me saith David Psal. cxxxix 7 8 9. yet he is in Heaven because there is his Court his Palace his Throne where he manifests himself in a most signal manner and his Power Goodness Mercy Influences are felt and dispensed there infinitely beyond what is known here on Earth This is all I think necessary to observe concerning the Expressions used here The more material things may be resolv'd into these following Propositions I. Men are made Children of God not born so II. The great design of the Gospel is to make us like God like our Father which is in Heaven III. The greatness and vastness of God's Bounty is to be seen in his letting the Sun rise upon the Evil and the Good and sending Rain upon the Just and Unjust I. Men are not born Children of God but made so That you may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven which shews there is something to be done that they may become God's Children and come into the World with that Privilege Indeed if we consider God as the Original Cause of all things as in him we all live and move and have our being and as of one Blood he hath made all Nations of Men in that respect he is the Father of us all and all are his Children and born so But I do
not take the Expression in that Lax signification here but in a stricter sence for Children which God not only creates but loves whom he delights in as well as give Reason and Understanding to whose Names he writes in Heaven and for whom he designs the Everlasting Inheritance whom he adopts in Christ Jesus and treats as his Friends and Favourites and who are dear as well as related to him and to be sure Men are not born such Children no more than a curious Picture is the Product of the Garden or the Field Man is born like a wild Asses Colt saith Job xi 12 and according to the Doctrine of our Church we are born in Sin as David professes of himself Psal. li. 5 and are by Nature Children of Wrath Eph. ii 2 and if either a new Principle be not put into us or that Principle be not improv'd we become Children of Disobedience Eph. v. 9 and Children of the Devil 1 John iii. 10 Cursed Children 2 Pet. ii 14 Strange Children Hos. v. 7 Foolish disobedient deceived serving divers Lusts and Pleasures living in Envy and Malice hateful and hating one another But after that the kindness of God our Saviour appears not by preceding Works of Righteousness which we have done or which deserve it but according to his Mercy he saves us by the washing of Regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost which he sheds on us through our Lord Jesus Christ saith the Apostle Tit. iii. 3 4 5. And thus we become the Children of God Baptism prepares us the Word of God convinces us the Holy Ghost changes us the Merits of Christ Jesus recommend us our good Works testifie of us the Grace of God accepts of us and at last Heaven receives us and this is to be born of God 1 John iii. 9 or to be born from above John iii. 3 or rather to be born again and that not of corruptible but of incorruptible Seed 1 Pet. i. 23 So that there is a great deal more requir'd to make a Person a Child of God than bare Nature or natural Gifts Here Grace is the chief Ingredient even Grace scowring the Heart with supernatural Motions or with motions of Love Grace manifested not only in Discourses and Speeches and Answers but Works and Actions Divine and Spiritual and Edifying and in the Eye of the World unreasonable and contrary to the Rules of good Manners From all which it clearly appears that the Nature and Honour of a Child of God doth not depend upon the Ranks and Qualities of Men or outward Respects and Privileges No the poorest Man is capable of it as much as he that doth cloath himself with Purple and he that feeds upon the Crums that fall from Dives's Table may be a Child of God as well as the greatest Prince for God is no respecter of Persons And whoever believes in him as he hath reveal'd himself in Christ Jesus Honours Respects and Loves Obeys and Trusts and delights in him as a good-natur'd Child is his Child though with the Infant Saviour he should be forc'd to lie in a Manger though his Bed were Straw and his Attendants Mules and Horses and Cows and Oxen and such homely Animals If ever any thing deserv'd our Care and Industry and seeking and looking after this being a Child or Children of God deserves it Indeed an ordinary diligence will yet procure this Privilege There is the same earnestness requisite here which Solomon requires in getting Spiritual Wisdom Prov. ii 3 If thou cryest after it and liftest up thy voice for it if thou seekest it as Silver and searchest after it as for hid Treasures the Gate of Mercy will fly open and God will admit you into the glorious Liberty of his Children and if Children then Heirs Heirs of Heaven and Coheirs with Christ and all things must work together for your good The right to Honour and Privilege and title of a Child of God is the foundation of the greatest Joy and a true sence of it doth a Man more good upon a Death-bed than all the Drugs and Medicines which either India or Arabia yield It comforts and supports in Tribulation in Anguish in Persecutions in Crosses outward and inward in Poverty in Reproaches in Contempt It is an Argument of God's infinite condescention and gives the Soul a prospect of the future Glory and of her share in it that let come what will she can stand like a Rock at Sea undaunted undisturbed unshaken firm and joyful and taking a view of the Port and Harbour of Life and Immortality For behold what manner of Love the Father hath bestow'd upon us that we should be call'd the Sons of God therefore the World knows us not because it knew him not Beloved now we are the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him saith St. John 1 John iii. 12 But then it is impossible to be like him hereafter except we endeavour to be like him here and to make us so is the great design of our Religion which brings in the II. Proposition That the great design of our Religion is to make us like God or like our Father which is in Heaven That you may be the Children of your Father or like your Father as some old Copies read it I know there have been various vain Pretences of Men of the Stoicks of old particularly who boasted of their Philosophy that it was able to make Men like the Deity in Perfection nay their Vanity went so high that they gloried not only of their Wise Man's likeness but equality with the Supream Being and they were of Opinion that their Wise Man might be as perfect as God Almighty and was not beholding to him that sits in Heaven for his Vertue In a word Jupiter and their Wise Man were Fellows and he enjoy'd an equal right with him who is over all But what the Apostle saith of the Heathen Sages in general Rom. i. 21 may be applied to the Stoicks in particular Because when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful they became vain in their Imaginations and their foolish Heart was darkned professing themselves to be wise they became Fools So far were their Principles from making Men equal with God that they were not able to make them tolerably like him and all their Boastings and phantastick Conceits were meer Bubbles which broke and vanish'd with their own emptiness We have known Tyrannical Princes affect a likeness too I mean a likeness to God Almighty particularly Nebuchadnezzar of whom we read Es. xiv 13 14. that He said in his Heart I will ascend into Heaven I will exalt my Throne above the Stars of God I will sit also upon the Mount of the Congregation in the sides of the North. I will ascend above the heights of the Clouds I will be like the most High And to this purpose
Daniel told Belshazzar his Son or Grand-son Dan. v. 19 God gave thy Father Nebuchadnezzar such Majesty that before him as before a God all People Nations and Languages trembled and feared and like a God whom he would be slew and whom he would be kept alive whom he would be set up and whom he would be put down But these are nothing but insolent Affectations of the Divine Grandeur Follies which Prosperous and Tyrannical Princes are apt to fall into through the Flatteries of their Slaves and Parasites a likeness this which our Religion hath nothing to do with There hath been a Succession of Men for many Ages in the City built on seven Hills meer Cheats and Fourbes and Impostors who have pretended such another likeness and that they have Power like God to root out and to pull down to destroy and to throw down to build and to plant as it is said Jer. i. 10 a meer effect of intolerable Pride and Haughtiness and the proper Character of the Man of Sin spoken of 2 Thess. ii 3 4. who exalts himself above all that is called God i. e. above all Kings and Emperors so that he as God sits in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God a likeness this than which nothing is more contrary to the Rules of the Gospel and our Religion Indeed there are few Sinners but what pretend a likeness and imitation of God for like God they will take Vengeance on those who affront them nay rather than there should be no likeness betwixt God and them they 'll make God like themselves false to his Word and who threatens without any intent to punish These things hast thou done saith God and I kept silence and thou thought'st that I was altogether such a one as thy self Psal. l. 21 I omit here the Gibberish and phantastick Conceits of Enthusiasts and Quietists the Disciples of Jacob Behmen and Molinos and the Indian Joquies who talk of such a likeness that they pretend to be Deify'd and Absorb'd by the Divine Essence Such a likeness our Gospel doth not teach nor is this the intent of that excellent Dispensation The likeness our Religion aims at is contempt of the Riches Pomp and Glory of the World the very thing we promise in our Baptism and afterward think of no more Admiring the Glory of Heaven and of Holiness above the outward Gaieties Contempt of sinful Pleasures hatred of Sin even of the least and of the very appearances of Evil Humility and Goodness and Patience and Mercy and Charity and doing good and being kind even to our Enemies To make us like God like our Father which is in Heaven in these Particulars is the true design of our Religion Nor is this only an Essay an Attempt or empty wish but it really and actually effects all this in honest and well disposed Minds and to compass it 1. Proposes to us an admirable Pattern even the Lord Jesus Christ who took our Nature upon him and did all this to let us see that Men who are his Followers may arrive to this excellent Temper and to these charming Qualifications And to encourage us to it 2. It sets before us very excellent Examples even those of the Holy Apostles and Primitive Believers who practis'd all this through Christ that strengthen'd them and did it willingly heartily chearfully 3. It promises extraordinary Assistances Helps and Influences from above to enable us to arrive to this Likeness Assistances which may be had upon Groans unutterable and strong Cries and importunate Sollicitations 4. It displays in lively Colours the eternal Reward and Bliss and Recompence which shall fall to the share of all those who heartily imitate their Father in Heaven in the aforesaid Particulars So that here you see your Task as you are Christians the Work you are call'd to even to be like your Father which is in Heaven We see how fond and ambitious Courtiers are to be like their Kings nay we have known and seen and read of some that have imitated their Princes even to ridiculousness in their Lameness and Defects and Thousands do in their Sins and Vices Nay the Examples of Princes we see can make Men Good as well as Vicious You 'll say so would God's Example if he could be seen but he being invisible it works not But though God be invisible the effects of his Providence are not we see wicked Men who are God's Enemies they are not destroy'd they live and prosper and Waters of a full Cup are wrung out to them which as it could not come to pass without God's Order and Providence so his Patience Long-suffering Meekness Mercy Charity and Kindness even to Enemies is manifest in these Instances Shall we call our selves Children of this great King and do nothing that 's truly like our Father which is in Heaven It 's a wonderful mistake to think that all our Religion is only to make us just and honest in our Callings and Dealings or to help us to abstain from some grosser Vices If this were all what need was there of the Incarnation of the Son of God what need of all the cost and charges of Miracles and the visible descent of the Holy Ghost what need of all the mighty Manifestations of God we see and read of and pretend to believe No doubt it is intended to make you greater Men than Heathens and Infidels greater I mean in Goodness And if it doth not most certainly you are strangers to the Powers of it and you have not yet learned the Truth as it is in Jesus you are got no farther yet than the Rudiments of it and like Oyl it is not entred yet into your Bowels It is not only to make you obedient to Humane Laws but to elevate your Souls above the ordinary level that you may by your Lives transcend those Laws and do more than those Laws require We see the Vanity of Princes who affect the Title of Grand or Great Why your Religion will make you truly so if you take Courage to live up to the Holy Rules of it greater than all the mighty Conquerors who while they have conquer'd Cities have continued Slaves to their Lusts and Passions Behold here is a just Object of your Ambition What is greater than God What greater than your Father which is in Heaven And in imitating him in the Qualifications aforesaid you 'll arrive to a Greatness Divine and Godlike and which will entitle you to the lofty Names Christ gives to them who follow him in the Regeneration For he makes them Kings and Priests to God and his Father Rev. i. 6 And there is nothing can make us greater than being like him in kindness even to the unthankful and to the Evil for he makes his Sun rise on the Evil and the Good which leads me to the third Proposition III. Prop. The greatness and vastness of God's Bounty is to be seen in making his Sun shine upon the Evil and the