case the castle is already in possession of Gods enemy and therefore there is no entertainment for him whose purity is infinite for the law of this converse is with the mercifull thou wilt shew they self mercifull and with the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure Psal. XVIII 25. 2. As the impure cannot converse with God so they cannot appropriate him to themselves and therefore cannot be blessed for mans blessedness arises from being able to say That God is his God his Friend and peculiar Treasure It 's true the man whose heart is impure professes an interest in God as well as the purest souls but words and sayings and boastings do not make the title good God will not be his God that will not have him reign over him his indeed to judge him but not his to save him his to send him to Hell but not his to give him a right to the tree of Life He whose heart is impure le ts Sin and World reign over him offers the Throne of God i. e. his heart to an usurper puts the Scepter into a Traitors hand and sets open the Gates for Thieves and Robbers to come in and surely this cannot be the way to appropriate God to our selves or to take comfort in his love and therefore no right to blessedness 3. Such are not blessed because they cannot see God The sinfull worldly Lusts and Thoughts and Desires which like Vermin crawl in their hearts darken their sight There is a thick veil over their hearts that they cannot see and tast how sweet and gracious the Lord is Their Souls are oppressed there lies much earth upon them a very great weight of earthly carnal disorderly Thoughts and Desires that like Swine they cannot look up to things above them Their Souls indeed are in the nature of Glass but the Glass is greazy and sullied with the Smoak of vain Imaginations which hinders them from beholding his goings in the Sanctuary or at the best they look upon God as men do upon objects through the wrong end of a perspective which represents things great and near as little and afar off He that lacketh these things saith St. Peter is blind and cannot see afar off He that wants a pure heart is that person and wants that which must give him right apprehensions of God the impure Lusts he cherishes in his heart shut the eyes of his heart and understanding that he hath nothing but confused Notions and Ideas of God and his ways an estate very different from theirs who are pure in heart for they shall see God which calls me to the III. Third and last particular How the pure in heart shall see God and since this Vision relates both to this present Life and that to come we must take a distinct view of both And 1. How they see and shall see God in this present Life And here it must be taken for granted that God cannot be seen with the Organs of the body for he is a Spirit infinite immaterial uncompounded and though he fills Heaven and Earth with his presence and is not far from every one of us yet no man ever saw him and indeed none can see him 1 Tim. VI. 16. but this is still to be understood of the Eyes of the Flesh with the Eye of the Understanding without all peradventure he may be seen and that 's the seeing Christ aims at here for it 's evident he speaks of the purity of Heart and Mind and therefore what he says of seeing God must be meant of the Eyes of that pure Mind Even Heathen Philosophers required Purification of the heart from all gross lustfull covetous and worldly desires without which they said a man could never arrive to the brighter knowledge of Philosophy Christ leads his followers to a higher object and promises not so much a clear insight into the mysteries of Nature as a sight of the best of Beings God blessed for evermore And that no man may think that this blessedness reaches only Divines and other learned men whose Studies carry them to contemplate God his Nature Attributes and Providences I must tell you that this Blessing is pronounced with respect even to the meanest capacity and a poor man that follows his trade or gets his livelihood in the sweat of his Brows may see God as well as the learnedest Men alive nay many times better having none of the preferments of this World to blind his Eyes For this seeing God is an affectionate seeing him and such a seeing as assimilates the Soul to him This seeing is not a bare Speculation or being able to talk or write much concerning God but such a seeing as charms and ravishes and unites the Soul to God and as this seeing God relates to this present World such as are pure in heart shall see him more clearly more distinctly more to their satisfaction and edification than other men All men that say they believe in God and talk of his divine Attributes and have occasion to take notice and are sensible of his works pretend a share in the seeing God but none sees him so well as the pure in heart Their inward purity helps them to see him they see him in his Word in his Ordinances in his Providences in his Mercies and Afflictions They see him in his Word how equitable how just how reasonable all his precepts are how agreeable to the divine Nature how suitable to the Soul how glorious how sweet how precious all his promises are how just his threatnings They see him in his Ordinances what Profit what Advantage he intends by them how he designs them as Channels or Pipes whereby to convey his Grace and Spirit and Influences to their Souls They see him in his Providences how righteous how holy how potent how orderly he is in the management of the great affairs of the World They see him in his Mercies how he condescends how tender he is to them how like a Father how like a Shepherd he deals with them They see him in their Afflictions how wise how kind how good he is in sending them what Favour what Love what edification he designs by them They see him in all his Works how admirable how wonderfull how powerfull he is and all this they see with joy and delight and so see him as to love him more fervently and this is called Seeing him in the Sanctuary Psal. LXIII 2. Thus the pure in heart see God here But 2. There is a vision of God in the next life which surpasses all understanding Though they see him here to their comfort and edification yet at the best they see him but as it were through a glass darkly but then face to face 1 Cor. XIII 12. There that Sun will shine directly in their faces and their sight shall be made so strong that they shall be able to look upon that astonishing light without being weakned by its lustre Here they see but his back parts there his
Proportionable The Solitary good Man saves himself but he that is Religious in Society is in a way of saving both himself and those that see him In so wicked an Age as this is good Men had need shew themselves to the World to do something toward the Amendment and Reformation of it And without doubt some good they do and though it is to be wisht that the World were better yet that it is not worse they are beholding to such Examples which shews that some good is done by their Living and Conversing in Babylon III. Were I to speak to Princes to the Nobles to the Gentry of the Nation to Magistrates Ministers and to men in Authority this should be my Text. All such Persons who make some Figure in the World are like a City set upon a Hill to such the nether World the Plebeians the Commonalty and the Ordinary sort of People look up Their Example they take Notice of and these Examples they Ordinarily follow I would tell them that as God hath raised them above the Common level so God expects they should be eminent in Goodness and be as much above all Vice as they are above the common Rank I would tell them that their Sins are spreading and like the Plague destroy whole Cities and Towns I would tell them that in this Case they are more Barbarous than the Tyrants Mankind cries out upon for they lay several mens Consciences waste by their ill Practices which is more than sacking Towns and burning Cities All ye that are advanced to some Government and surely Parents and Masters of Families are so Behold your selves in this Glass according as your Examples are so will your Inferiours be I do not say it is so always but this is ordinarily the Effect of your Behaviour As you are so will your Children and Servants be at least there is Reason to think that so they will be for your Example strangely influences those that are under your Charge and Protection If you sanctify the Lords day both in Publick and Private by letting the Word of God dwell richly among you in all Wisdom Teaching and Admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing with grace in your Hearts unto the Lord your Inferiours in time its possible would do so too If you are enemies to Pride to Intemperance to Drunkenness to Swearing there is hopes that your Inferiours will learn of you If you are Grave and Modest and curb your Passions and deny your selves for Heaven and Gods Service it is not improbable that your Inferiours will be wrought upon to make you their Patterns We see they do so in evil Things why should we despair of their following you in that which is good At least you have this Satisfaction that by your Example you shew'd them the Way to the Land which flows with Milk and Honey You will have this Comfort that your Example did not lead them into the Chambers of Death nor make them fling their immortal Souls away All ye that are Professours of Religion that pretend to be holier than ordinary the Eyes of the World will be upon you The least false step you make will be taken notice of See then that you walk Circumspectly as wise Men redeeming the Time because the days are Evil. IV. Such of you whom the Spirit of God hath made free from the Law of Sin you are not only a City set upon a Hill but behold you are come into mount Sion to the heavenly Jerusalem unto the City of the living God and to the innumerable company of Angels as the Apostle saith Heb. XII 18. Behold God hath called you to be Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem called you to be Companions of Angels called you to dwell on the Hill of God on the everlasting Hill How high is your Calling How excellent your Vocation How great the dignity God intends you Your conversation is to be in Heaven and will you mind the Trifles of the Flesh and so mind them as to set your Affections upon them Will you who are Born new Born I mean to an everlasting Kingdom will you be fond of this pitiful transitory World you that are intended for the highest Imployment will you do as the Children of the World do They are from Beneath you are from Above Do Eagles catch Flies and you that are intended to soar above the Clouds will you disgrace your Pedigree and and set your Affections on things Below God intends you as Conquerours and will you suffer your selves to fall a Prey to filthy Temptation and expose your selves to the Contempt and Scorn of the Fowler who Flatters you till he draws you into the Net and then Punishes you for being taken Behold the glorious City the City of our God the City set upon a Hill indeed the City which hath Foundations whose builder and maker is God! Do you hope to be Members of that Community and will you disparage your selves by Actions that will certainly exclude you from that Republick At the Gates of it no unclean Thing shall enter A clean Heart and a clean Life must give you jus Givitatis make you free Denisons of that City and will not you prepare your selves for the Honour of that Naturalization Except you imitate the Manners of the Citizens above you can never hope to be Partners with them in their Glory and what are their Manners Why They love Love is their Trade their Employment their Business their Pleasure their Delight their Satisfaction They love nothing but God or if they love any Thing besides him they love it for his Sake and love God in it Love is their Principle their End their Mark and their Entertainment Love is their Meat and Drink and their Recreation They love Dearly they love Constantly they love Eternally God is love and he dwells in them and they in God To be like them see that ye love him that hath begotten you again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead See that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently See that your love be without dissimulation See that ye love not in Word nor in Tongue but indeed and in truth and when the Thred of your Life shall break that Love which dwelt in you will exalt you to the Regions of perfect Love where the Inhabitants speak of Love and think of Love and sing of Love and tell one another how Christ hath loved them and wash'd them from their Sins with his own Blood To him be Glory forever Amen FINIS * Anno 1641. †So call'ed as some think from Bacchi ara Vid. Misson's Trav. Tom. 1. Lett. 6 * An. 1665. †The Rectory of Doulton in Devonshire ‖ An 1669. * Charles Lodowick Elector Palatine †An 1671. * Plin. l. 1. ep 12. * Varen descript Japon †The learned W. Sclater us'd to call this Distemper to which he himself was much subject Studiosorum flagellum * Before this last Illness of which he died he fell in the year 1678 into along and languishing Sickness occasioned through his indefatigable Application to the Duties and Functions of his Ministry It brought him well nigh to his Grave The good Man ascribed his Recovery under God to the tender Care of his vertuous Wife with whom he always liv'd in great Concord and Union and to the Prayers of pious People put up to Heaven on his behalf as appears from some devout Meditations which he compos'd on that Subject and which have been found since his Decease among his Papers In Thanksgiving to God for his Preservation at that time which he himself look'd on as next to miraculous he kept a Day Monthly in his Family ever after and preach'd yearly a Commemoration Sermon to his beloved Congregation at the Savoy wherein he rehearsed God's Mereies to him and excited others to hope and trust in him in the like Extremities He also distributed largely to the Poor upon that Day This was his constant Method to treasure up God's Providences to him and to sanctifie and improve them not only to his own Use but to the Use and Benefit of others * Hieron vit Hilarion * Platon Axiochus * Vulg. lat in locum †Theophylact on Matth. 24. Crucific Jesus p. 557. †Socrat. Apolog. * Jul. Celsus de vit J. Caesaris * He commenc'd Doctor at Cambridge in the Year 1681. This is mention'd here it having thro'inadvertency been omitted in its proper place Vid. Grot in Loc. Vid. Cornel à Lap. in Luc. G. Leti Vid. Cornel. à Lap. in Jacobi 1. v. ult Pliny
or Aims or Intentions especially in religious Actions This must needs be the intent of our great Master here since we see he finds fault so often with Men that aimed to be seen of Men to have Glory of Men to gain the Applause and Commendations of Men and designed their Profit and Gain in Actions relating to Devotion The Christian that 's free from such sinister Aims in praying praising fasting giving of Alms preaching speaking to others of his Experiences and hath nothing before his Eyes but the Glory of God the good of his Neighbour the peace of his own Conscience and the Salvation of his own Soul may justly be said to be pure in Heart and this is agreeable to that simplicity which we hear so often press'd and which the Apostles did so much rejoyce in 2 Cor. I. 12. Without this our services want that Sincerity which must make them amiable to the searcher of hearts and the Apostle insists upon it Rom. XII 9. when he saith Let love be without dissimulation and since love to God is expressed by our religious exercises it must necessarily follow these must be free from sinister ends which if they be not they fall under the brand and character of Dissimulation 3. A pure heart delights in holy Thoughts These are Meat and Drink to it and such a person delights in thinking of the works of God and the operations of his hands of his will and of his commands of his promises and of his threatnings of his various providences and dispensations of Heaven and eternal happiness These Thoughts wonderfully purifie the heart and keep it clean these keep up the Spirit of Religion and make the soul a fit temple for the Deity to lodge in it 's true there is no man so holy and who lives in the world or hath a lawfull calling but must think of his concerns in the world how to manage them to the good of his family and relations and others such thoughts are very necessary in order to a prudent ordering of our affairs and without doubt are allowable and lawfull for which of you intending to build a tower sits not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it saith our Saviour Luk. XIV 28. But all this may be done and yet the heart delight in holy thoughts in these more than in the other in these for pleasure in the other for necessity to this purpose Solomon The thoughts of the righteous are right Prov. XII 5. but St. Paul more emphatically 2 Cor. IV. 18. We look not so much at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen Looking here is thinking and there is no beholding things invisible but by contemplation of the Heart and Mind Contemplation represents things eternal in lively colours and in seeing these the primitive Believers rejoyced more than in gazing on the riches and glories of this visible world temporal things they thought on by the by but the strength of their thoughts was reserved for the other A pure heart is a heart enamour'd with God a heart that loves nothing like him a soul whose secret desires are after him and whose desires are strong and vehement and though it hath obligations to love the creature yet it is in subordination to him and for him who is altogether lovely a heart which discovers its love not only by external obedience but by inward breathings and sighs and groans which cannot be uttered and loves any thing that belongs to him his word his laws his sacraments his faithfull ministers and those that truly fear him what this inward love is the admirable David describes at large Psal. CXIX and when in this Psalm you read such expressions as these With my whole heart have I sought thee v. 10. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times v. 20. Horror hath taken hold of me because of the wicked that forsake thy law v. 53. The law of thy mouth is dearer unto me than thousands of gold and silver v. 72. my soul fainteth for thy salvation v. 81. O how I love thy law it is my meditation all the day v. 97. How sweet are thy words unto my mouth yea sweeter than honey unto my taste v. 103. I say when you read such expressions as these you may guess at the nature of this love which purifies the heart Cassianus hath an observation which I cannot pass by without making some remarks upon it and it is this That the greatest sign of a pure heart is when that inward purity influences our very dreams and that a man instead of dreaming of trifles and impertinencies dreams of God and spiritual objects The observation seems a little odd because in dreams the fancy plays her Mistress reason because the bodily organs the tools whereby she works are asleep suspending her operations and dreams we know depend much upon the constitution and complexion of the body and yet there is some truth in it for if as Solomon notes Eccles. V. 3. A dream comes through multitude of business Men have been engaged in in the day time or from things they have heard or seen or discours'd of it may very well be that a person who hath got a habit of contemplating things divine and heavenly whose thoughts are taken up all day with spiritual objects may find a tincture of all this in his very dreams and the things he most delighted in and was most conversant with may present themselves to his fancy and there appear in lively shapes and dresses in the night and I do not doubt where a man could arrive to that felicity as to dream for the most part of Heaven and a future Happiness and pray and praise God in his dreams whenever his Imagination wakes in his sleep as it would argue that the person makes religion his business so it would be a very good sign of Purity of heart and that his heart and affections are truly set upon God but I will lay no stress upon this observation because it hath not the Scripture for its guide the characters I have given of the pure in heart are warranted by the word of God and in these we cannot be mistaken and those who are so are certainly blessed But then II. If the pure in heart are blessed those that are not so or will not be so cannot be happy which is the second point I am to speak to and I shall evince it by these following familiar arguments 1. Such persons cannot converse with God in this converse mans happiness consists and the reason why they cannot is because their hearts are impure Can two walk together except they be agreed saith God Amos III. 3. Purity and Impurity are incapable of communion When God converses with man he takes possession of the heart there he dwells there is his seat but if that be impure and full of darkness God avoids the infected place In this
face That seeing him in the everlasting kingdom imports a comprehension They comprehend in some small degree here what is the depth the height the length and breadth of the love of God but then they will understand perfectly all the mysteries of his nature providence attributes and love to them in Christ Jesus And from this sight must necessarily arise joy inexpressible Such as eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor is the heart of man able to conceive The Sun beams are amiable and pleasing here but how would a man be surprized if he were at the spring of that universal fire and saw how it rises and how it is managed So God is very lovely to the pure in heart when they see him here but when they shall come near that inaccessible Light and be perfectly united to him who can express the satisfaction indeed it cannot be express'd for it is immense and infinite Inferences 1. Here we see what a jewel that man enjoys that is possess'd of this inward purity This purity of heart is a treasure which no man knows save he who receives it Comfort your selves Christians with it comfort your selves having this Purity you are rich in the midst of your Poverty and enjoy more than those who boast of Lands and Houses I know the world laughs at this but let them laugh on the time will come when this Purity will stand you in better stead than your carnal Friends and Relations Men may think they shall be able to deal with God as they do with men here on Earth whose mouths they can stop with fair words or with a Bribe But this is vain and foolish to a Prodigy Is God a Man Is he to be imposed upon Can Gold blind his Eyes or if it could where would you have it when you are depriv'd and dispoil'd of all Is not he the searcher of hearts Can you deceive him who sees through all your hypocrisie Purity of heart is that which he requires and not only requires it but is willing to assist you in the getting of it and without this inward Purity he will know none of you but if this be the dress of your minds and souls the doors of his banqueting house will fly open to you and all the enemies you have on earth or in Hell shall not be able to keep you out 2. Here is the spring of true Religion a pure heart If that be pure the outward man will be so too If that be unclean the outward whiteness will never pass for currant in Heaven The Pharisees exceeded all the men of the age they lived in in outward sanctity notwithstanding all this the son of God who saw their hearts and the impurity of their souls calls them serpents and a generation of vipers Matth. XXIII 33. There are some sins so purely the sins of the heart that the heart can consummate and finish them without the help of the body such are Pride Lust Covetousness and Discontent because Providence crosses our designs and bitter Envy and black malice and rejoycing at our Neighbours misfortune c. These lying at the heart and being cherished there shed a poisonous influence upon the outward devotion and consequently render the external worship though never so specious ineffectual and a sacrifice of Fools To pray like a Saint and to breath revenge like a Turk outward Love to good men and secret fondness to sinfull Lusts and Pleasures of the world outward strictness and inward loosness complying with God without and with the Devil within a punctual observance of outward duties and neglect of mortifying our secret Lusts such as Ambition Self-conceitedness Self-admiration lascivious Thoughts and Desires c. is the true complexion of Hypocrisie Therefore To be a Saint the heart must be purified for sins like fatal diseases invade the Vitals first before they appear outwardly And as in such dangerous distempers of the body which first seize the Heart and the Garrison of Life and then discover themselves in little blisters and boyles in the skin he that should lay a Plaister to those boyles and use repercussives to strike them in cannot be said to cure the distemper So he that is diseased with sin which creeps inwardly and infects the soul and becomes manifest at last in the outward man he that doth only restrain the outward acts and uses means of grace only to cut off the outward excrescences but takes nothing inwardly to eradicate the distemper out of his heart and mind makes but an imperfect cure and for all the outward applications will still be in danger of Death even Death eternal It 's true the wise man crys out Prov. XX. 9. Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin which seems to imply an impossibility of making the heart pure But this he speaks with respect to the rigour of the law not with regard to the equity of the Gospel Go to the strictness of the thing no man can say he hath so purified his heart that he is perfectly free from all vain and evil thoughts or that he is never surprized into an impertinent and foolish imagination This the holiest man alive cannot say But then in a Gospel sense it is not only possible to purifie the heart but a duty i. e. so to purifie it as to arrive to an habitual delight in holy serious and heavenly thoughts and to an habitual aversion of the Mind and Heart and inward Man from any thing that is directly contrary to the Will of God And this habitual Purity is consistent with surprizes of evil Thoughts and Desires when a bright gilded Temptation strikes the Heart and dazzles the Mind and inclines the Will to consent But then in Persons where the Grace of God works within a very little while the Spirit doth recover out of the Surprize puts by the thrusts of Fancy and the stabbs of Temptation and reasons its self into Health and Resolution and Resistance again He that is regardless of this Purity hates his own Soul knows not what Religion means and his outward performances will never make him blessed or happy Christians Do you believe this and will not you labour after it I mean after this Purity of Heart Look into the Gospel examine the Places where the Mind the inward Man the inside of the Cup and Platter are commanded to be purified Consider how frequently this is press'd Do not you see what a stress the Holy Ghost lays upon it Why should you deceive why should you delude your selves Why should you think it needless Is it not Wisdom to believe him who is the Fountain of Truth and Wisdom Does not Reason nay doth not Sense tell you that if the Waters in the Spring be muddy the Streams and Rivulets cannot be clear What would you have the Fruit good when the Tree is nought How can your Actions be pleasing to God when your Minds are full of weariness and unwillingness and backwardness
Persons ignorant and not only ignorant but wicked for Ignorance is the Mother of Impiety and there is no doubt abundance of Men do things odious to God and pernicious and destructive to their own Souls because they know no better We whom God hath enlightned into greater Knowledge and Purity give but a bad Evidence of our being so if we do not as occasion and opportunity serves endeavour to enlighten them into a better sense of things Bashfulness in this case is sinful and where Nature is backward to the work it must be forced by Motives and Arguments into Courage to discharge this Duty of our Christian Calling to teach them better Principles The Light we have must be communicative if it be not it is painted and counterfeit not natural and genuine not is this being a busie body in other Mens matters and things which do not concern us Our Neighbours Souls are precious things in the saving of which we must not be negligent but resolutely imitate the example of Aquila and Priscilla who finding that Apollos though an eloquent Man yet was not throughly instructed in the Mystery of the Gospel they took him unto them and expounded to him the way of God more perfectly Acts XVIII 26. 3. Light is warming The light of the Sun is so So must a Christian not only heat and chafe the Principles of Light God hath bestow'd upon him into spiritual Fervour but by that Fervour endeavour to warm others into the same Zeal and Earnestness This must be one great end of his Fervour to attempt to make others like him Lukewarmness is the great Distemper that the generality of Christians who enjoy Ease and Plenty are sick of To Cure others of that Malady is part of our Imployment and this we cannot do except our Love to God be strong and vehement where it is so and that we love him with all our Might we may hope that others who see our ardent Desires will write Copies after us This Fervour as it rises upon Motives drawn from what God hath done for us and the particular instances of his miraculous goodness to us so if those Motives be suggested and represented to our Neighbours they may by the Blessing of God have the same effect upon them at least we have this satisfaction That we have done what became us as Lights It was no doubt from the mighty Zeal that appeared in St. Paul that the Galatians were warmed into that Fervour that if it had been possible they would have pluckt out their own Eyes and given them unto him Gal. IV. 15. 4. Light is comfortable It comforts not only the Spirit of Man but all other sensitive and vegetable Creatures so must a Christian comfort others that are in any trouble with that comfort wherewith himself hath been comforted of God 2 Cor. I. 4. This is pure Religion to visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Affliction Jam. I. 27. And when he saith Visit he means such Visits as are attended with suitable Consolations and this we shall be the better able to do if we call to mind the Comforts we our selves have felt and the Means whereby we have come to feel them This is my comfort in my affliction for thy Word hath quickened me Psal. CXIX 50. The Word of God affords the richest Comforts to which purpose the Apostle Rom. XV. 4. That we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have Hope so that acquainting our selves with the Word of God containing so many excellent Examples and precious Promises and making use of that Word in our own Troubles we shall be able to Administer Comfort to others also A Christian is a Person that imitates Christ not in his Miracles not in Raising the Dead not in Curing the Lepers not in Opening the Eyes of the Blind but in Charitable Actions And we all know what his Language was to Persons that were in Distress Be of good comfort saith he to the Woman who was troubled with a Bloody Issue Matth. IX 22. so he said to others and this was suitable to the Prophecies which went before of him particularly that Isa. LXI 2. where the Prophet speaking of him expresly tells us That his business would be to proclaim the acceptable year and to Comfort those that Mourn 5. Light is Cleansing for it clears the Air of Fogs and Mists So a Christian as much as in him lies is to cleanse his Neighbour from that Filthiness which sticks to him And as this is to be done by gentle Reproofs mingled with Pity and Compassion so if those Reproofs light upon a Person of Ingenuity it will be taken as a Kindness and prove an excellent Oyl which as it doth not break the Head so it very often breaks the Heart not into Despair but Repentance not to Destruction but Edification Psal. CXLI 5. This Cleansing the Apostle aim'd at when he said Eph. V. 11. Have no Fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness but rather Reproach them And he calls the Sins of others Works of Darkness with Allusion to the Light of Reproof which he thought would be the most likely way to dispel them And a Light it is which very often shines into the Heart and inlightens the inward Man and dissipates the wrong Notions Men had of Religion and which makes them come to themselves again as it is said Luke XV. 17. 6. Light is directing so it is to the Traveller that hath lost his way in the Night So a Christian seeing his Neighbour go astray what should he do but direct him into the good way He is bound to do so much to his Neighbours Ass or Ox by virtue of that Law of Equity Deut. XXII 1. and what not use the same Civility to his Neighbours Soul Doth God take care of Oxen and not of the Souls of Men But here it is to be noted that this Duty of directing others hath respect not only to erroneous Opinions in Matters of Religion but to erroneous Practices too If the Errour in Opinion be an Errour of no great Consequence it 's not worth while to take pains to rectifie his Mistake but the erroneous Practices are more dangerous And this was the Duty intended in the preceding Character Ye are the Salt of the Earth and it is reinforced in this of Light to shew it is not a thing indifferent The Command being doubled and reiterated discovers the great necessity and the mighty importance of this Act of Charity and God's peremptory Will And as our own good Example is one part of this Direction so our Advice and Counsel is another to which purpose St. Paul Gal. VI. 1 2. Brethren if any Man be overtaken in a fault ye which are Spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of Meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted Bear ye one anothers burden and so fulfil the Law of Christ. Having thus explain'd the qualities of Light and shewn what Duties are required in the similitude
or venting some charitable Wishes that he might be instrumental in their Reformation But as I said to do so a Man must have the Spirit of Christ to be touch'd with the Temporal Misfortunes and Calamities of Men a Man needs no more than common and natural Pity So the Persian Monarch fell a weeping when from a Hill he beheld his well disciplin'd Army to think that in less than a hundred Years all these brave Men would be dead and gone but to be touch'd with the everlasting Misery of Men's immortal Souls there must be an Illumination from above and the Spirit of Christ and a deep Consideration that must affect the Heart with a profound Sense of it A Soul taken up with the World and the Pleasures of it is unconcern'd who perishes or who is saved But he that understands what Salvasion means and labours hard after it himself and understands that the threatnings of the Gospel are no Bug-bears but very real things cannot but spend many a sad Thought about a concern of that consequence And oh that there were such a Heart not only in all the Ministers of the Gospel but in other private Men even in you all and that in your actual Endeavours to reclaim your wicked Neighbours you might discover the concern you have for their spiritual and everlasting Welfare If the World did not grow better under this Attempt your own Souls however would grow in Grace and in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost 2. The Multitude came to hear Christ so do you at this Day It 's true you cannot hear Christ in Person but you hear him in his Messengers of whom he hath said He that heareth you heareth me Take heed therefore how you hear Faith comes by hearing but if you hear and for all that hearing believe not your hearing will aggravate your Condemnation It 's true you do believe but it is after the common Rate By believing I mean obeying which is the true Scripture Notion of believing how you are to hear the Blessed Virgin hath taught you by her Example for hearing the wonderfull things spoken of her Son it is said she kept them and ponder'd them in her heart Luke II. 19. This is true hearing to ponder in our Minds what we hear to ponder the reasonableness of the things which are spoken to us in the Name of the Lord to ponder the consequences of them and what will become of us if we neglect things of that importance and to rouze our selves into to suitable Actions Actions that may bear witness of our deep Sense of our danger and that we are really concern'd about our everlasting State and that our resolutions are strong and invincible to secure God's Love Such men as they hear so they shall see in the City of our God They hear of very glorious things in the Mansions Christ is gone to prepare for all his true Disciples and their Eyes shall see them and they shall see more than their Ears did hear and look so long upon the charming Objects till their sight is turned into Ravishment and Extasie 3. The Multitude came to Christ to be healed So do you at this day come to the Ministers of the Gospel I hope with the same intent It 's true we cannot cure the Dropsie and Stone and Gout and Strangury and such other Diseases of the Body But we can cure Diseases in your Souls which are very like the Distempers I just now spoke of the Tympany of Pride the Fever of Lust the Dropsie of Covetousness the Leprosie of Sensuality the Consumption of Envy and the Stone in the Heart c. When I say we can cure all these the meaning is not by our own strength and power but by prescribing such Remedies and Medicines which if you will but take you will recover infallibly Infallible Medicines I know are matter of sport among Men but here we may talk for we have God on our side of infallible Remedies very seriously Cicero wonders since Man consists of Soul and Body that the Cure of the Body should be so industriously sought after and admired insomuch that they are not ashamed to referr Aesculapius into the Number of the Gods but few or none touble their Heads about curing their Souls but the Wonder will soon cease if we consider that Men feel the Diseases of their Bodies but have no sense of the Distempers of their Souls and indeed how should they feel them when they cover their sins with Names of Vertue and Titles of Innocence their Luxury by generosity their being ashamed of the Gospel of Christ by modesty their breaking their most solemn Vows and Promises by weakness and infirmity their notorious mispending their time and extravagance in their Speeches Dresses and Behaviour by Christian liberty their Covetousness by discretion c. To be cured of your Sins which are the Diseases of your Souls the first thing to be done is to take off the Vizour from them to abjure the false Glosses and to renounce the soft Interpretations you put upon them And yet after all one cannot but wonder that at this time of day there should be so many Souls sick Is there no Balm in Gilead Are there no Physicians there Yes yes There is Balm in Gilead there are Physicians and very faithfull ones But O Jerusalem Jerusalem How often would I have gather'd thy Children as a Hen doth gather her Chickens and you would not Ay! that 's the dreadfull Cause why so many of you are sick and sick to death and find no cure There are excellent Medicines given there are admirable Remedies prescribed but like untowardly Patients you will not make use of the Physick that 's administred to you and thus you perish and thus you are undone But 4. St. Luke takes notice that when Christ intended to deliver this Sermon he was a whole Night before engaged in Prayer to God Surely this was to teach us not to attempt or begin any thing of Concernment without Prayer This is to be observed both in rellgious and civil matters Even before you go to Prayer send up some short Ejaculations in your mind to God to give you Hearts to pray and Power and Wisdom to offer to him the desires of your Hearts Before you read a Chapter in the Bible beg of God to enlighten your Minds and to work upon your Wills that you may chearfully do what he requires of you in his Word and to bestow spiritual Wisdom upon you that you may understand what you read Before you go to Church beg of him to give you attentive Minds sober Thoughts and a great sense of his Presence in the Assembly of the Saints Before you begin a religious Fast beg of him to quicken your Hearts to raise your Devotion to assist you with humble thoughts and to accept of your Humiliation and teach you to perform it so that it may be acceptable in his sight This Rule is to be observed in all other
grace and glory and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly But this is not all 3. They shall be filled in the other World with the plenty of God's House with the light of his Countenance for ever when their Bodies do drop from them and their Souls shall be transplanted from this barren Wilderness into Eden the Garden of God and of this fulness David speaks Psal. XVII 15. As for me I shall behold thy face in Righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness They shall be filled with the Joys of God their mouths shall be filled with laughter and their tongues with singing they shall be filled with the finest of the Wheat and with Honey out of the Rock shall they be satisfied not with material Honey not with such Honey as enlightned Jonatha's Eyes but with the sweetness of God's glorious presence for ever All their senses all their faculties shall be filled with unspeakable satisfaction with water of life that springs from the Rock of Ages for they shall be filled with infinite love like Vessels thrown into the Sea all shall be filled and their fulness shall last while the fountain of goodness and the Ocean of felicity lasts i. e. for ever Inferences There are three sorts of Persons that in the Close of this Discourse I must necessarily speak to I. Those that pretend to hunger and thirst after Righteousness but do not II. Such as neither condemn nor greatly care for this Hunger and Thirst but hanker after something else III. Such as do truly hunger and thirst after Righteousness and long to be filled with it I. Those that pretend to hunger and thirst after Righteousness but do not There is scarce a Vertue we speak of but there are several that flatter themselves that they are possess'd of it because they have something like it There are few of you I believe so harden'd as to have a total Aversion or an utter abhorrency from all goodness many have some general desires after it but if these cold general indifferent desires be taken for this Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness what gross mistakes must you needs run into Cold desires certainly do not deserve the Name of Hunger and Thirst to be sure no such Hunger and Thirst as I have described in the Premises What Shall we believe your Hunger and Thirst after goodness real when we see no effects no fruits no signs of it I suppose if you have this Hunger and Thirst you have withal a great sense of the danger of a sinfull and carnal Life and a very high Esteem of Righteousness and your desires after it are vehement and pressing and your endeavours to get it are great and strong and you make a conscientious use of the proper means and when you are come up to any degree of goodness you hunger and thirst and labour to extend the borders of your goodness and you are not frighted with the inconveniencies that may attend the pursuit of it for these are the ingredients of this sacred Appetite What Shall we take painted Fire for that which is in motion Or shall we call that Hunger and Thirst which wants the Essential Characters Do we take a Man of Straw for a rational Creature Ay! But saith the self-conceited Christian I am sure I have it for I desire to pay every Man their own to defraud and wrong no body and to live honestly among my Neighbours But why Is this all the Righteousness God stands upon What Is one link of the sacred Chain of Graces the whole Chain Is one step of the way the full length of it Do all the other Vertues stand for Cyphers Is all that the Gospel requires comprehended in this one qualification Moral honesty No no you do not truly hunger and thirst after any one Vertue if you do not hunger after all if your Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness be right you will enquire and take notice and observe what things are good and just and honest and pure and lovely and of a good Report and be enamour'd with them You will not speak of your spiritual wants slightly such as we all have all our failings and God amend us all c. but with some inpatience to have them supplied you will hunger and thirst after all the Graces of God's Spirit not only after Justice or Chastity or Temrance but after a lively Faith and Patience and Charity and Humility and Fervour and Love and Obedience and a truly spiritual Temper and after higher Degrees of all these and your Hunger and Thirst will be seen and known by your industry and care and labour and cautiousness of sinning and resisting of Temptations and by Groans which cannot be uttered and by your unwearied Attempts to climb the Hill of God and not to give over till you come to the Top of it and then expect the Blessing of my Text. Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled II. Those who neither care for nor condemn this spiritual Hunger and Thirst but hunger and thirst after something else even after the sweet and comfortable Enjoyments the Riches the Honours and the Pleasures of this present World if they could but have such a Competency or so much a Year or such a Place or such an Office or live as such a one lives they would desire no more and this is all they hunger and thirst after O how happy should they be But such Persons I would ask whether they believe they have nothing but Body and Flesh about them Are your Souls made for God created for his Service design'd for Heaven fitted for an Eternal Duration redeem'd with the Blood of Jesus Christ and is there no regard to be had to these What can make them happy but Righteousness What can satisfie them but real Goodness What can fill or feed them but the love of God This World cannot satisfie them you see it you know it Experience is demonstration for when you have got as much as you can and come to lie upon your Death-beds you find they want some other Food Food which all the World cannot give Food which none can give but he who hath protested that without Holiness no Man shall see his Face Righteousness is their life their cordial their nourishment and without this they die without this they are lost and all that you can do cannot keep them from being miserable Without this Food they starve and while you deny them this Meat you murther them If the World or the Enjoyments of it be all you are to hunger and thirst after these Souls were given in vain and God who gave them lost his aime I do not deny but you may lawfully desire an honest livelihood in the World with submission to God's Providence and wish for Necessaries and Conveniencies but the Word is seek ye first God's Kingdom and its Righteousness and all other things shall be
in his Service Can the outward Man be good when the inward is rotten and putrefied Are you wise Builders do you think do you hope to make a good piece of work of it to build the Top of the House when you have not laid the Foundation This purity of heart produces a great sense of God and another World a great sense of the Love of God which constrains the Soul to live in conformity to his Will and this is the Foundation of all true Religion If this sense be setled in the Heart if this Ground be well manured the whole Garden of your Lives will abound with Flowers and Fruits of all Sorts Ay! but how is this Purity to be attain'd I answer not with Laziness not with crying There is a Bear there is a Lion in the way Not by being over curious about the Purity and Ornaments of the Body When People spend more time at the Glass than at their Prayers take more than ordinary satisfaction in dressing and adorning the Body seek more to please Men than God do all they can to pamper the Flesh the Mind will run out into a thousand Vanities But 1. By studying the Word of God For the Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes Psal. XIX 7 8. What made David wiser than his Enemies What made him understand more than the Antients What made him know more than his Teachers He tells you Psal. CXIX 97. Oh how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day Vers. 104. Through thy Precepts I get Vnderstanding Vers. 140. Thy word is very pure And it is so pure that if digested and ponder'd on it will purifie the Heart too 2. By taking notice of God in every thing While other Men talk of chance and take notice of the Shell and Outside and of the little Wheels whereby their own and other Men's affairs are turned about do you look still upon that God that hides himself behind the Curtain and turns all according to his good Pleasure Take notice of him in every Blessing whether you eat or drink or whatever Conveniency Mercy Providence comes upon you have an Eye to him and you will find your hearts will become very pure They looked upon him and were enlightened and their faces were not ashamed Psal. XXXIV 5. 3. By calling in the aid and assistance of his Holy Spirit For it is the proper Province of that Spirit to enlighten the Mind and Understanding and to purifie it from gross terrestrial and brutish Idea's and Imaginations and to replenish and fill it with a sense of spiritual things And this Spirit is ready to come ready to enter ready to lend his helping hand when he finds the Soul willing to be purified willing without Tricks without Reserves without Proviso's without Conditions Such as Lord suffer me first to go and bury my Father or suffer me first to go and take leave of those at my house In a word this Spirit loves to deal with down-right honest Men that mean what they say and think what they speak in their Addresses to God 4. By acquainting your selves with the true Nature of Sin For a principal part of this Purity of Heart consisting in an Aversion from sinfull Thoughts and Desires it is not possible a Person should arrive to that Aversion that sees not that Evil in Sin which is really in it What Shall I hate a thing I see no harm in Shall I dread the Appearance of a thing which I spy some Beauty and Satisfaction in The best the plainest and easiest way to acquaint our selves with the Nature of Sin is by reflecting on the Wages of Sin which is Death even everlasting Death and Misery It may be my Understanding is dull and weak and I cannot dive into all the Tendencies of Sin nor find out all the Indignities it offers to God's Attributes but this I know Eternal Misery is threatned to it This seems indeed to be unproportionable to its short duration But still God having certainly threatned it there must be something in it very nauseous very grievous very odious very dreadfull very injurious to God and to his infinite Purity the very shadow of it must be poysonous and infectious and by this the Heart will take fire and hate the very thoughts of it even every false way 5. By representing to your minds the infinite Purity of God with whom your Souls are to converse and who offers to make your Heart his Temple and the Place of his Residence If you are to receive a King a Sovereign Prince or a Person of extraordinary Quality into your House do not you make all clean and handsome and take care there may be nothing wanting that may give him content and satisfaction every Chamber every Room in the House is set out and garnish'd and adorn'd as far as your ability reaches and Neatness is a thing that at such a time you glory in But what is a great Man to Almighty God What is a Prince or a King to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords This Sovereign Majesty is willing to lodge nay to dwell in your Souls A God purer than Angels purer than the Sun and Stars and dwelling in Light inaccessible to whom ten thousand times ten thousand minister and by whose Order and Direction the whole Creation stands and falls And then how holy how pious how clean how pure ought your thoughts to be to give so great so rich so magnificent a Guest suitable Entertainment 6. By representing to your selves the vast advantages that come by this inward Purity I shall name some of them by and by In the mean while I will mention but this one It will make you pray without wandring worldly and base troublesome thoughts Many People complain that they are mightily troubled with wandering thoughts in Prayer Purity of Heart is a remedy against that distemper for that consists in a great measure in an habitual delight in holy serious thoughts And when you go to Prayer your thoughts will delight to fix upon that lovely and amiable object And the secret love to God which is another ingredient of this Purity will force your desires upward and keep your thoughts together and they 'll willingly quit all other hold and with cheerfulness gather about that All-sufficient Being to whom you pray and offer your Devotions For indeed wandring thoughts in Prayer come for the most part from want of fervent Love to God what we love we think of Therefore as this Purity of Heart teaches and inclines you to be enamour'd with that excellent Being so it will procure steddiness of thoughts and affections in Prayer will keep your thoughts in a great measure from roving and wandering up and down among Briars and Thorns meaner and baser Objects Thus
the same Temper and Principles with our selves which is the reason that men of all Persuasions do what they can to make Proselytes A truly good man cannot forbear saying with St. Paul I wish that all men were even as my self 1 Cor. VII 7. I mean with respect to the good things the Grace of God hath infused into him And as no man can be sincerely good without endeavouring to unite and reconcile his disagreeing Neighbours so that Goodness will farther prompt him to bespeak those of his Acquaintance in St. Paul's language Brethren be followers together of me and mark them that walk so as you have us for ensamples Philip. III. 17. And from hence it will be an easie matter to give a just answer to the Objection I proposed at first whether all Peace-makers are indifferently concerned in the blessedness of the Text It 's plain from hence that not every one that makes Peace either by force or of necessity or for profit and interest or being tired with a long and tedious War Not every one of these comes into the number of those blessed men All the four Qualifications I have mention'd are requisite to entitle a man to this happiness making Peace with God and our Consciences living peaceably and from a sense of Christian love and charity endeavouring to reconcile disagreeing Neighbours and instilling this reconciling Principle into others And having thus laid down the true Characters of these Peace-makers whereby you may examine your selves let 's go on and II. Enquire into the reasons of the supposition or that which is implied here that those who have an aversion from this Peace-making cannot be blessed or happy The reasons are 1. Selfishness is plainly predominant in such persons and that 's no good character of bliss so far from it that the Apostle reckons it among the Plagues of the last days 1 Tim. III. 1 2. This know also that in the last days perillous times shall come for men shall be lovers of themselves It 's true to love our selves is a natural principle but to love our selves so as not to be concerned for the good of others is a sinfull self love which renders us contemptible to God and despicable to rational men He that matters not whether his Neighbours fight or agree whether they live in love or wrath and sees a fire kindled in their Breasts a fire lighted by the Flames of Hell a fire which breaks forth and threatens to lay their Consciences wast and doth not offer his helping hand to quench it hath a Soul base and low a poor pitifull Spirit guilty enough to suffer in Hell but alienated from that life which must give him a title to Heaven 2. He that doth not make Peace with God or with his own Conscience and cares not for it robs himself of the greatest comfort and surely that man can never be happy To be at Peace with God is to be at Peace with our judge with him who hath the same power over us that the Potter hath over his Clay and is able to destroy both Soul and Body into Hell with him whose voice breaks the Cedars divides the Flames of Fire shakes the Wilderness and makes the Mountains tremble and who hath a Prison to tame men in a Prison from whence there is no coming out till they have paid the uttermost Farthing To be at Peace with this Almighty and Sovereign Being must needs be a mighty satisfaction to the Soul that knows what God is and looks beyond this world To enjoy his Friendship to be sure of his favour to be secured of his good will this establishes the Soul and gives her courage in the time of the greatest Danger He that is indifferent whether he be at Peace with God or not not to mention that he is a Sot and a Fool and understands not his true interest he deprives himself of that which ought to be the greatest stay and staff of his life and therefore whatever his outward conveniencies and Accommodations may be he is unhappy 3. He that doth not or will not live peaceably with his Neighbours I need not tell you that he is unhappy for he himself finds by sad experience that he is so The Disorders and Tumults he finds within the uneasiness of his condition the danger he is in from without and the vexation and discontent he runs into are sufficient Items that he is as far from being happy as he is from being wise His lusts war within his members as St. James speaks Jam. IV. 1. His Soul is like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest Isa. LVII 20. He is no kin to God for he is the God of Peace Rom. XVI 20. No kin to Angels for they rejoyce in Peace on Earth Luk. II. 14. No kin to good men for they seek Peace and ensue it 1 Pet. III. 11. If he be related to any thing it is to the Prince of Darkness who delights in wrath and envy Rev. XII 17. 4. Such men are no Children of God and therefore cannot be blessed that 's the argument of the Text Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God therefore those that have an aversion from this Peace-making are not blessed because no Children of God surely no Children of God when so much of that Spirit reigns in them which rules in the Children of Disobedience He particularly that seeks not to be at Peace or to live peaceably with his Neighbour most certainly doth not love his Brother and he that loves him not is by the Holy Ghost in Scripture put into the number of strange Children for so we read 1 Joh. III. 10. Herein the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil he that works not righteousness is not of God neither he that loves not his Brother Not to love our Brother and to hate him in Scripture are equivalent different expressions for the same sin and if any man say I am in the light and hate his Brother he is in darkness and walks in darkness and knows not whither he goes because the darkness hath blinded his Eyes 1 Joh. II. 11. So that true Blessedness lies altogether in the opposite temper viz. the Peace-makers and of these it is that it 's said They shall be called the Children of God and how and upon what account they shall be called the Children of God is the III. And last particular I am to speak to And here I must premise that in Scripture Language to be called so is very often as much as to be so And thou Child shalt be called the Prophet of the most High i. e. thou shalt be a Prophet Luk. I. 76. and after the same manner That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God i. e. shall be the Son of God so Matth. I. 23. They shall call his name Emanuel i. e. he shall be so God with us God and Man And after
Sufferers being able to disburden their Grief into one anothers Bosom it gives such Satisfaction as People who are ready to burst with Grief do find when a shower of Tears does give their Sorrow vent This Ease is chiefly in the Mind and if the Mind be easie the whole Man receives Comfort if that be easie it is as much as if a Man did not suffer at all It 's our Minds and Thoughts that make us either happy or miserable If a Man thinks himself happy in Misery he is so and if he thinks himself miserable in his Sufferings he is so It 's our Thoughts certainly that make us uneasie in Adversity and musing at such times upon wrong Topicks and Arguments puts all into disorder whereas calling to mind such Reasonings as are proper and suitable alleviates our Grief and makes our Minds easie And of this nature is the good Society we suffer with For 2. This gives us opportunity to make use of the same Motives to Patience that those other good Men have used to bear up under their Crosses and in all likelihood they will have the same Effect upon us and end in the same Consolation The Primitive Believers look'd upon their Afflictions as Tryals of their Faith and that gave them Ease so must I They had a regard to the End for which God did correct them viz. to produce in them the peaceable fruits of Righteousness and that taught them Contentedness so must I They encouraged themselves to Patience with the Example of Christ and that quieted them and so must I They relied upon the Promises of God without wavering and that revived them so must I They look'd upon their Troubles as short momentary things and that made them lightsome so must I They thought their Afflictions necessary to make them breath after their heavenly Country and that made them cheerful so must I. So that if their way be follow'd and our Fellow-sufferers be consider'd under these Notions their Company in suffering will certainly afford more than ordinary Consolations Inferences 1. Having explain'd the several Beatitudes mention'd in this excellent Sermon of our Saviour give me leave to observe to you in the Close of all That though every single Virtue and Qualification in the preceding Beatitudes hath a glorious Reward annexed to it no less than the beatifick Vision of an All-sufficient God yet you must not think that he who should apply himself to the Practice of one single Virtue and neglect the rest would upon that account be rewarded with Heaven This is impossible as the Case stands for Christ expresly requires Vniversal Obedience but if I mind only one of these Qualifications and disregard the rest how is my Obedience universal It 's true Christ affixes a spiritual and eternal Reward to every particular Grace partly for our greater Encouragement partly because every one of the aforementioned Graces tends to that Center and like Lines meet in that one Point and partly because the future Reward shall be suited to the several Virtues and in some measure answer and resemble the Nature of the respective Accomplishments yet still there is such a Connexion among them that they are inseparable and he that sincerely according to the Intent of the Law-giver practises one cannot forbear practising the rest and consequently he that pretends to observe one and doth despise the rest doth not observe that one as he ought The serious and conscientious Observance of one will make us enamoured with all the Links of the whole Chain the Beauty and Reasonableness of one will invite and charm us into a cheerful Compliance with all the rest The several Qualifications mention'd in the preceding Verses are so many Steps to Heaven Humility is the first Mourning for our Sins the second Meekness and composing our turbulent Passions the third Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness the fourth Mercifulness the fifth Purity of Heart the sixth Peaceableness and a Peace-making Temper the seventh and a patient enduring Persecutions Calumnies and Afflictions in a good Cause the last So that you see how you are to rise and by what Ladder you are to ascend to Glory He that advances but a step or two will never reach the everlasting Hills One Grace is the Foundation of the other Humility or an humble Sense of your selves and of your own Worth will dispose you for mourning because you have offended and do offend a very great holy and gracious God and this Sense which makes you concern'd for the Injuries and Affronts you have offer'd to the best of Beings and which makes you mourn will dispose you to Meekness towards your Neighbours who do offend and have offended you and move you to curb and moderate and mortify your Anger and Pettishness at Faults you see in others subduing your inordinate Passion you will be more at leisure to consider the Beauty and Excellency of Righteousness and that will make you hunger and thirst after it This Hunger and Thirst will dispose you to Mercifulness for he that desires to grow in Grace must apply himself to Works of Mercy for by these Holiness is signally increased This merciful Temper will dispose you for Purity of Heart not only because Almsgiving cleanses the Soul and quenches Sin as Fire doth Water but enlarges your Love to God This Purity of the inward Man will dispose you for Peaceableness and a Peace-making Temper for as Strife and Contention rises from an impure Heart from Lusts warring within us so a peaceable Disposition rises from inward Purity This peaceable and Peace-making Temper will procure you may be the Hatred and Ill-will of Men from hence will come Persecutions Slanders Reproaches Calumnies c. which if you bear with a patient and generous Mind you secure your Reward in Heaven and then rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven II. I must here take notice that nothing deserves our rejoycing so much as these future Rewards What is there in this World that should make us so fond of rejoycing in it The three great Idols of the World are Riches Honour and Sensual Pleasure but look ye how inconstant how uncertain how uneven and how short are all these He that is rich this Year may be a Beggar the next Valerianus and Andronicus who are Emperors to day to morrow shall be despicable to all their Subjects He that wallows in Pleasure this hour some grievous Pain or Disease may arrest him the next and fill him with Vexation Do not we see how these outward Enjoyments crack in the very handling and make themselves wings and flee away He that is a Minister of State to day may be a Prisoner to morrow he that sits at the Helm to day to morrow may groan in a Dungeon he that gives Law to others to day may be exposed to the fury of the Rabble to morrow and he that dwells in a stately House to day may see it laid in Ashes before the next Morning
let us II. Enquire whether this addition in the Text of the World Ye are the Light of the World makes the Command more Emphatical and the Duty of being Beneficial to others in spiritual Concerns more Extensive And to this I must answer in the Affirmative for as the Light of the World is the Sun so we know 1. That the Sun Shines at all Seasons Spring and Fall Winter and Summer So a Christians good Works and Virtues are to Shine not only in Adversity but Prosperity too not only in the Winter of Affliction but also in the Summer of Ease and Plenty both in the Spring of his Years and in the Fall of his Age. His doing Good must not be confined to a certain Time or to a certain Stage of his Life such as Sickness or a Death-bed but discover it self in the various Conditions God hath placed him in His Goodness must not Shine by fits Being inconstant it betrays its weak Foundation and when either a ruffling Wind can blow it away or the Sun melt it as Wax it s a sign it did not fall from Heaven 2. The Sun shines in all Places in all Parts of the Hemisphere so a Christians Goodness must shine and display its Glory in all Companies and Places too He must not with Peter Eat with the Gentiles and withdraw himself when those of the Circumcision come in must not only maintain his strict Obedience to the Gospel when he is in Company with mean little and inconsiderable People but even in Caesar's Family not only when it is safe to do it but also when he is in danger of losing by it either his Credit or Place or Estate not only in private but in publick too not only in Gethsemane but in the High Priests Palace too 3. The Sun the Light of the World shines upon all sorts of Men and Things good and bad Dunghills as well as Gardens and Vineyards participate of his Shine and Splendour So a Christian is to bestow his pains in illuminating and warming others not only on the tractable and such as are easily wrought upon but even on the stubborn and obstinate and not only on those who have already made some progress in goodness but on such too who are very bad and wholly destitute of the Life of God and Plough the barren Rock as well as the kinder Soil This makes his Goodness truly Catholick and Universal and in that resembles the Light of the World or the Sun exactly which gives Life to the Wormwood as well as to the Rose to the Thorn as well as to the Lilly and influences both the Thistle and the Lavender Inferences 1. Ye are the Light of the World Though this is spoken to all Christians yet it concerns the Ministers of the Gospel in a special manner Light How pure is it And how pure ought their Lives to be that are to Light others to Heaven If those Lights be Darkness how great must be that Darkness If their Lives be spotted with any scandalous Sin or Immorality what deformed Creatures must they be If they Preach one thing and Practise another how uncertain must the Sound of those Trumpets be and who shall prepare himself to Battel If they that are the Guides go astray how shall the Blind find their way to Paradise If the Sin against which they Thunder be found in their Skirts what hope is there that their Hearers and Disciples should become Wise unto Salvation If by their Holy Lives and Doctrine they Convert many unto Righteousness they shall shine as the Stars in the Firmament But if by their ill Example they Light others into the Chambers of Hell they shall Shine too but in the Flames of the burning Lake and there learn that the Servant who knew his Masters Will and did it not shall be beaten with many Stripes To be a Minister of the Gospel is something more than to be in Orders something more than to have a Living or Preferment in the Church something more than to perform the Offices prescribed by the Canons and Law of the Land Doing good must not only be their Work but Delight and Pleasure too Their Splendour lies not in shining Dignities but in fleeing youthful Lusts becoming Patterns of Virtue to those under their Charge and following Righteousness Faith Charity and Peace with all them that call on the Lord with a pure heart 2 Tim. II. 22. II. Ye are the Light of the World Then surely those who are in love with works of Darkness are no Christians What the works of Darkness are you will find 2 Tim. III. 1 2 3 4. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of themselves covetous proud boasters blasphemers disobedient to Parents unthankful unholy traitors heady high-minded lovers of Pleasure more than lovers of God and having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof They that are in love with any of these Works can be no Christians for the fundamental Law of our Religion is to depart from iniquity 2 Tim. II. 19. There is scarce any similitude which is more frequently made use of to express a Life of Holiness or a new Nature by than Light and Sin or love to it is as frequently represented by Darkness for in this love to a sinful course the mind is darken'd and hath no right apprehensions of God or of the Life to come or of the dreadful Consequences of neglecting so great Salvation no right Apprehensions of the Love of God or of the Sufferings of Christ or the Apprehensions are not bright not brisk not lively not convincing not operative as Light is and ought to be The Flesh and the World oppress the Mind or fill it with confused Notions of Religion which is a sign the Spirit of God that Spirit of Life and Light finds no entertainment there and therefore here can be no Christianity for true Christianity and God's enlightening and sanctifying Spirit go together Christianity makes us the Sons of God and whoever are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God Rom. viii 14. As many of you as are enamoured with any of the aforesaid sins or any other and surely you are enamour'd with them when all the Charms of the Love of God cannot oblige you to depart from them mince it and qualifie it as you will you walk in darkness at noon-day and the God of this World blinds your Eyes which hinders you from effectual believing and keeps out the glorious Light of the Gospel of Christ from shining into and warming your Hearts And what these Works of Darkness if cherish'd tend to and will end in you may easily know if you will but consider what you have so often heard that there is such a place as outward darkness where shall be howling and gnashing of teeth Matth. XXV 30. III. Ye are the Light of the World Light is not defiled by shining upon Dunghills No more must
every Christian who believes God more then Men is bound to abhor and since it is impossible at once to abhor them and to continue in Communion with that Church it must necessarily follow that Separating from it is a Duty and a Duty as much as our life is worth But 6. Though with respect to the Fundamental Principles of Christianity we grant the Church of Rome hath been visible for many Ages as well as other Churches yet in regard of those additional Articles I mention'd just now if the Doctrin makes a Church visible we must with very great Assurance affirm that the Church of Rome hath not been visible in all Ages for it will appear to any impartial Considerer that the present Doctrins which they have added to the old Foundation were neither taught in the primitive Church for the first three Hundred years after Christ nor even in the Church of Rome her self a Thousand years ago Not in the primitive Church for in all the genuine Writers of the first three Hundred years we find not a Word of Invocation of Saints of Transubstantiation of Worshiping of Images of religious Veneration of Relicks or of the Supremacy of the Church of Rome much less of her Infallibility Nay for a Thousand years after Christ the Church of Rome never had the Boldness to call her self Infallible not till Hildebrand's time or Pope Gregory VII by the Confession of some Romanists a Monster of Pride and Vice He was the first that gave himself and his Church that pompous and ridiculous Title And as I said the present Doctrins of the Church of Rome added to the Creed and made Articles of Faith were not believed much less look'd upon as necessary Articles even in the Church of Rome her self a Thousand years ago I mean in the time of Pope Gregory the First the Doctrins which are visible in that Church now were not visible then for in that Gregory's time the Sacrament was administred to the Laity in both kinds Worshiping of Images was counted abominable the Title of Vniversal Bishop was thought Antichristian private Masses where the Priest only receives and communicates were reputed unlawful the Books of the Maccabees were not taken into the Canon Purgatory was not yet lick'd into a perfect Shape much less into an Article of Faith No Masses were yet said for the Dead to deliver Souls from that Fire Auricular confession and extreme Vnction were not yet made Sacraments c. And therefore the Church of Rome could not possibly be visible in all Ages since her Doctrins she now Professes were not profess'd no not by her own Members in all Ages Inferences 1. A City set upon a Hill cannot be hid It follows therefore that a hidden Piety is no Piety I mean where a Person thinks it enough to Worship God in his Chamber or Closet and to pay him due respect in private and when he comes abroad into Company vain and sinful and wicked doth as they do dares not or will not own his pious Principles but conceals his better Inclinations and love of God and makes no expression of it either by disliking the Sins he sees or by dreading to imitate them or by vindicating the truth of the Gospel I say this Piety must needs be counterfeit and nought for it is against the Character Christ gives of his Disciples and Followers and in calling them a City set upon a Hill which cannot be hid and besides this is to be ashamed of him and of his Gospel before Men and how he resents that and will resent it in the last Day you may read Matth. X. 32 33. Mark VIII 38. I do not deny that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were Disciples of Christ but secretly for fear of the Jews Joh. XIX 38. But 1. Though they were no open Professours yet they consented not to the Impiety of the Jews in traducing and slandering the Lord Jesus Their Blood rose to hear him abused and in the midst of all their Fears we find very notable Effects of their Zeal for his Cause and Person Of Nicodemus we read Joh. VII 10 11. that when the whole Counsel was for condemning Christ to Death the brave Man stood up and argued with them Doth our Law judge a Man before it hear him and know what he doth And of Joseph St. Luke reports that he consented not to the Counsel and Deed of the barbarous Men who judged him Guilty of Death Luke XXIII 11. And St. Mark adds that he went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the Body of Jesus Mark XV. 43. But 2. Though these two Men were fearful and had no great courage to assert their Love and Devotion to Christ openly yet it was at a time when they were not throughly instructed in the Mystery of the Gospel The case alter'd when they came to have a more perfect knowledge of it and then not all the rage of Tyrants not all the Tumults the Jews could raise nor all the Terrours of Pilate could hinder them from owning their Love to his Doctrin and Commands We live in the broad Day-light of the Gospel and therefore must not take example by Men who were Novices in Christianity and while they were so For us to be one thing at home and another abroad Pious when alone Wicked when we do converse devout within the Walls of our Horses and profane and loose in Company which can bear no Strictness this is notoriously to dissemble with God and to be False and Treacherous to him What Caress a Friend and hug him in a Corner and revile or not to know him in Society Such baseness among Men is counted abominable and therefore cannot be supposed to be very pleasing when the same Affront is offered to God nor will your private Seriousness stand you in any stead in that Day when your Souls must give an account of their Behaviour before Men. A Christian must be a Man of Courage and when he is to do a known Duty not all the Threatnings and Comminations of cruel Men not all the hopes of Gain not all the baits of Profit not all the fears of losing his Honour Credit or Life must deter him from it for let come what will come of it the Life to come which is and must be his greatest Treasure will make infinite Recompence for all his Losses II. A City set on a Hill cannot be hid This shews that an active Life or a Life of Society and Converse is a much nobler Life than a Life solitary and retired from the World I will not deny that a solitary Life hath its Advantages and he that separates himself from Temptations is not very likely to be enticed by them Yet still it is a greater Act of Virtue and more Christian like to be good in the midst of all the enticing Pleasures of the World There is indeed greater Difficulty in it but then the Virtue is greater and the Fruit sweeter and the Reward will be