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
the Accomplishment by our uneasiness under the Injury Ay but still experience shews that this Patience under Injuries hardens the insolent Man in his Sins We grant it but whose fault is it not ours but of his own impenitent Heart which indeed deserves our Pity and our Prayers but heaps no Guilt upon our Heads Surely we shall not be answerable for other Mens boldness in their Sins nor is our Patience a compliance with their Folly which is not intended to harden but to melt them and if like vitious Stomachs they turn that into Corruption which was intended for their Nourishment they feed indeed but not like Bees that gather Honey from the Flowers they suck but like Toads and Vipers that convert the Juice of wholsome Herbs into Poyson But is this an Argument that I must therefore inflame my Soul with Wrath and Revenge because the other swells with Venom So that all these Objections vanish and that which seem'd impossible appears if view'd without these false Glasses very practicable No doubt it is so and may be made very easie too and if you ask me how the following Rules will give you satisfaction 1. By admiring the praise of God above the praise of Men. It is recorded to the eternal Shame and Disgrace of those chief Men and Rulers among the Jews who believed in Christ yet durst not confess him Cowards as they were that they loved the praise of Men more than the praise of God Joh. xii 48 Men in great Places and Dignities this is their Temper this is the Rule they go by let God praise and commend a Vertue never so much if it meet not with the same Applause among Men. If Men do count it disagreeable to the Punctilio's of Honour and the Aire of the Court and the Humour of the Age or if it be not good Manners they carefully shun it and to be sure such Men will never come up to the Rule of the Text. But he that comes to a fixt and steady Resolution of esteeming the praise of God above the praise of Men that 's the Person who is like to triumph over all the Desires of Revenge And O God! why should not we esteem thy Praise thy Commendations and Approbations beyond the Applauses of Mortal Men Are not thy Commendations most rational most weighty most unbyass'd most true and most durable whereas those of poor Mortals how partial are they how subject to Mistakes how uncertain how weak how transitory how short and how unprofitable in that Day when God shall judge the World in Righteousness He that esteems the praise of God more than the praise of Men doth not only act like a true Philosopher but hath this satisfaction in himself that he lives by Faith and not by sight and will be able to Laugh when others shall Howl in outward Darkness so true is that Saying of the Apostle 2 Cor. x. 18 Not he who commends himself and we may add Not he whom Men commend is approv'd but whom the Lord commends 2. By a firm perswasion that without this Patience under Evil or Injuries or Affronts or reviling Language we cannot be and are no Christians I say by a firm Perswasion for most Men have general slight and imperfect Idea's and Notions of the thing but that will do no good A firm Perswasion is convincing our selves thoroughly by suitable powerful Arguments that we bear the name of Christians in vain and play with it and make a meer formality of it except we heartily comply with our Master's Will in this particular And if the Soul be impregnated with this principle and hath a brisk and lusty Sense of it the Danger or rather the Thoughts of it will work through all Obstacles and Impediments and we shall make a shift to resist the importunate desires of Flesh and Blood which tempt us to return Evil for Evil. 3. By fixing the Eyes of our Understandings upon the future Reward and Recompence This is the great Engine whereby our base slavish and worldly Fears must be removed and till we have lively apprehensions of that Reward and are concern'd about it like Men in danger of losing the greatest Blessing the Opinions and Censures of the World will prevail more with us than all that Christ or any Apostle can say Till a Man doth more vehemently desire to be happy in the other World than in this the Vertues which go against the Interest of Flesh and Blood will move very heavily and so will Patience under Affronts and Injuries But the Soul being chafed and heated with brisk and lively thoughts of that Heavenly Country and walking through that Holy City which is above and viewing the Towers and Bullwarks of it will break out into Holy Flames which will consume and burn up the Hay and Straw and Stubble of Carnal Reasons and false Suggestions of the Flesh and the Devil and frown the motions of Revenge into Exile 4. By quickning and raising our Love to God into more than ordinary fervours Love dares do any thing I mean Love that hath Fire in 't and burns clear upon the Altar of the Heart The great Reason why you dare not venture upon these harder Lessons is because your Love to God is weak and faint and like that of green Wood apt to expire The Soul that sets God before her in all his Beauty and Glory and Mercy and Rewards and Promises till she loves him beyond what the Eye doth see and the Hands can handle gets the Victory and this very Command will not seem grievous to her Love made the Lord Jesus give his back to the Smiter and Love will make you give the other Cheek to the striker Love will make you even rejoyce that you have something to lose for God and that you can do something that inclines his Favour to you Love will carry you above all the little Lime-twigs which are apt to catch and intangle your Souls Love will charm your Passions tye up your Tongues and hold your hands that you will not dare to return Evil for Evil. 5. Examples are incouraging things And have not we very illustrious Examples of this Patience under Affronts and Injuries in Moses David St. Paul and of other Apostles and Believers Why should not we do as they did Why should not we free and extricate our selves from the Snares of the World and press toward the Mark as well as they Was the way they walk'd in good and safe and shall we be afraid to tread in their Steps Did they understand the Will of God and can we follow better Patterns We all conclude they were saved by doing as Christ directs in the Text and shall we be fond of finding out a new way to Salvation It 's true they were derided by the World for so doing but have they lost any thing by the Bargain If they have been Gainers why should not we venture upon the reproach of Christ as well as they Did they thrive and
to prove what I intend that we are not to hate an Enemy because the Kindnesses we owe him relate only to this present Life And to this may be added that the injurious acts of an Enemy bear no proportion to the acts of Enmity we are guilty of against God and we would not have God hate us notwithstanding those Acts it follows that there is no reason for our hating an Enemy upon the account of the Injuries he doth or hath done us But this we shall have occasion to discuss more largely in the following Verses Let 's go on and IV. Enquire What is the true import of loving our Neighbour And 1. As by a Neighbour in Scripture is meant every Man that stands in need of our Help and Assistance and of whose Help and Assistance we may stand in need as appears from the Parable of the wounded Man Luk. x. 30 so Love to our Neighbour imports a faithful discharge of all the Duties of the second Table which is the reason that St. Paul affirms of this Love that it is the fulfilling of the Law because love works no ill to his Neighbour no ill to Princes no ill to Magistrates no ill to Parents or Relations no ill to High or Low Rich or Poor no not to the meanest or poorest Creature Rom. xiii 8 9 10. 2. The measure of this Love is set down by God himself Lev. xix 18 Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self which properly denotes not the same degree of Love but the same Sincerity and that we are to make our Love to our selves the Rule and Standard whereby we are to Love others according to the several degrees of their Relations and the several degrees of Goodness which appear in them for no doubt we are to be kinder to a Father than to a Stranger and more officious to a good Man than to a bad one yet so that neither the greatest Strangers nor the worst of Men be altogether excluded from our Kindness or such acts of Kindness which we might rationally expect under the same Circumstances 3. This Love to our Neighbour implies not only abstinence from Wrongs and Injuries from dishonouring our Parents from Murther from Adultery from Stealing Lying bearing False-witness and from Coveting our Neighbour's Goods but all those positive acts of Charity mention'd in 1 Cor. xiii 4 5 6 7. and 1 Pet. xi 8 9 10. and Matth. xxv 35 36. And these acts must flow from inward Compassion For as the Spirit of Man is the principle of all Moral and Spiritual Acts so whatever acts of Love we exercise toward our Neighbour they must come from the Heart and from a sence of our Duty and of the Love of God and these acts must be so managed that they become not accessary to other Mens Sins for it 's no Love to Love another into Sin or sinful Compliances which is the reason that the Apostle pressing this Peace and Love to our Neighbour makes Holiness its inseparable Companion Follow Peace with all Men and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord Heb. xii 14 And this Love is called the Royal Law Jam. ii 8 not because the King of Kings gave it but because this Love to our Neighbour is the Queen of all Graces and he that excels in it Reigns and Rules over a Thousand Lusts and Temptations But V. May it not be in some sence a Duty to love our Neighbour and to hate an Enemy That which makes me take notice of this Point is an Observation of Origen who saith This is very good Divinity if by the Enemy we understand the Devil Though its certain that our Saviour in these words doth not directly aim at this yet it must be confessed that in this sence that loose Principle of the Pharisees may bear a very good construction Indeed the Devil is the greatest Enemy we are to hate We have renounc'd him in our Baptism and we are sworn to that Hatred Against him let 's boldly vent our Hatred even against all his Works and all his evil Suggestions which way soever they are presented to us whether by the Flesh or by the World or by Evil Men. Here we need move no Scruples no Cases of Conscience how far we may lawfully hate the Devil We are to hate him with a perfect Hatred and express it by Trembling and by abhorrency of all that 's pleasing to him or offensive to God It 's true we see not the Devil but we feel him and whatever Evil Thought or Desire or Motion appears in our Minds let 's firmly conclude it comes either directly or indirectly from that Enemy To this Enemy no kindness is to be shewn No League no Peace no Confederacy no not so much as a Truce is to be made with him with him we are to wage War continually He is no Subject capable of making Peace with for Peace with him is Enmity against God wounding our own Soul destroying the peace of our Consciences and descending into the Chambers of Hell Inferences 1. If we take a view of the Manners of Men in the Age we live in one would think that the Pharisees are still alive and instill the same Principle into them that they did into their Disciples in Christ's Days viz. Love your Friends and hate your Enemies For the Actions of Men are so exactly conformable to this Rule that if a Man were to measure Christ's Religion by the Practices of his Followers he might go near to inferr that Christ taught this Doctrine as well as the Pharisees To hate an Enemy we look upon to be a very just and reasonable thing and do him all the ill Offices as we have occasion to speak Evil of him to Reproach him to Calumniate him to invent Lyes of him and to Report them too we generally make so light of that we wonder at the Man that offers to exhort us to better Principles Among Heathens and Infidels this would not look very strange among Men who never heard of a Jesus or of the Gospel this might pass though there is something even in the voice of Nature which might teach them better things but among Christians who talk and sing and speak every Day of God's loving them when they were his Enemies this is a huge Paradox Christ exercised the greatest acts of Love toward us in dying for us when we were Enemies we confess it and our Churches ring of these glad Tidings How easie would be the Inference Hath God loved me when I was his Enemy and shall I hate my Fellow-Christian because I look upon him as mine Enemy Is this my acknowledgement of God's Love Is this to express my gratitude for his Goodness Had God Compassion on me when I was his Enemy and shall I have none on mine Was God's Love to me intended as a Pattern for me to follow and shall I overlook the Design and please my self in my Hatred and Ill-nature I am moved by the Examples of
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
is guilty of that Adultery and therefore causes her that is put away to commit Adultery VIII How he that Marries her that is put away commits Adultery 1. In saying so our Great Master confirms the antient Law of God Deut. xxiv 3 where the Wife put away by her Husband is peremptorily forbid to return to the Husband that did give her a Bill of Divorce and put her away She had Liberty indeed to Marry another but if after his Death or during his Life her former Husband should be desirous to Marry her again this God saith there is Abomination and Christ calls it Adultery So that the words of the Text whosoever shall Marry her that 's put away commits Adultery do establish and ratifie what God said of old to the Jewish People He that puts away his Wife may not afterward when another Man hath known her Marry her again if he doth he commits Adultery 2. He that puts away his Wife for a less or meaner cause than Adultery doth not by that means or voluntary Divorce cancel the Marriage Bond and the legal Contract betwixt him and her That Bond continues firm and indissoluble notwithstanding that Dismission and therefore he that Marries such a Person that is unjustly put away Marries another Man's Wife and consequently commits Adultery Under the Law he that Married the Woman put away by her Husband for Causes God then allow'd of did not Sin except the High Priest who was forbid to Marry any Woman that was Divorced And under the Gospel he that Marries her that 's put away legally for Causes the Gospel allows of cannot be said to commit an Offence especially if the Rules we mentioned before be observed But he that Marries her that's justly put away or divorced for Causes frivolous or not allowed of by the Gospel and so Marries her he hath no power no right to Marry even a Person who notwithstanding the Divorce is still the Wife of him that put her away he certainly commits Adultery INFERENCES Having thus resolved the Queries suggested by the Text it 's time I should after all add some wholesom Directions whereby such Divorces and all Desires after them may be prevented I. There is no better Antidote against such Mischiefs than Love mutual Love a true Conjugal Love a Love grounded not upon a bare satisfying the desires of the Flesh for that will be of no long continuance but establish'd upon the lasting Principles of Duty and fed by Pious Considerations And they who think that no less Authority hath joined them together than God himself and intended that this Union should be great and withstand all Temptations of Dissolution except that of Death and thought fit to represent by it the Love of Christ to his Church They who make these Considerations the Foundation of their Love will not be easily moved to the desire of Separation Love in a married State being grounded only upon Beauty and Riches and other external things when these fade Love will fade Vertue and the Fear of God and the Oath that is betwixt them these must tye their Hearts together and where they do so their Love like a treble Cord is not easily broken Love is the great Preservative of Happiness in a Married State where that reigns no desires of Divorcement can find Entertainment But then it must be such Love as the Apostle describes 1 Cor. xiii 4 5 6 7. that suffers long and is kind that envies not that vaunts not it self that is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeks not her own is not easily provoked thinks no Evil rejoices not in Iniquity but rejoices in the Truth beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things and endureth all things This Charity we owe to all that are of the Houshold of Faith more or less much more to Persons of so near a Relation who besides the general Obligations as Christians have bound themselves Vowed and Promised before God and the Elect Angels and the Congregation to love one another with a pure Heart fervently Love is an Universal Medicine If the Infirmities of one Party be invincible Love will bear with them if vincible Love will endeavour to reform them If Crosses happen Love will administer Comfort if Prosperity comes flowing in Love will exhort to Thankfulness if Disputes arise Love will appease them if Quarrels are broacht Love will quench that Fire If Misconstructions be made Love will rectify them if Suspicions disturb the Mind Love will reject them if Failings appear Love will cover them and whatever things are amiss in a Family Love will endeavour to cure them Where this Love decays there the Good Angel that should guard the House prepares for his departure Where this Love is not maintain'd Temptations prevail and Quarrels come and Differences arise and Persons are let loose and ill Thoughts do enter and reproachful Language flies about and the Parties become uneasy and Divorces are thought of and being difficult to compose according to Law they are wished for and desired and if they cannot be had there Adulteries and Fornications and a thousand Evils are entertain'd as woful Experience shews and thus the married State becomes bitter as Wormwood which if Love had had the Management of it might have been sweet as the Morning Rose fragrant as the Balm of Gilead refreshing as Evening Showers II. As unequal Yoakings are very often the causes of great Contentions so where they may be they ought to be carefully shun'd and prevented By being unequally Yoaked I do not mean only Inequality of Age of Temper of Rank and Fortune but marrying Persons of a different Persuasion in Matters of Religion for if one of the Parties be Zealous for the Religion he professes he will think himself bound in Conscience to draw the Partner of his Bed into a Partnership of his Religion and if the other will not yield there arise such Flames of Discord sometimes that Divorces and Separations are not only desired but unjustly Endeavour'd and Practised and one party contrary to Law and Reason and Conscience and Modesty leaves the other Of this we have too many Examples not only where Protestants have married Papists but where Protestants have joined themselves to Protestants of different Sentiments not that the Differences among Protestants are of any great Consequence but where Pride Passion Ignorance or Prejudice turns disputable Questions into Articles of Faith and makes them Balls of Contention they shed a bad influence even upon a married State Indeed where both Parties are of a gentle and charitable Temper there is no great danger of falling out about Religion but as such Tempers are somewhat rare so where they are found they may be Influenced by external Causes and Motives which may alter them and though Promises are often made before Marriage not to molest one another in point of Religion yet false Persuasion afterward that it is their Duty to convert them who are so nearly related to them
proceed to Hatred that Hatred to Revenge that Revenge to Destruction In a word this would breed the greatest Confusion in Families Cities and Provinces and nothing would be more miserable than the Children of Men. In the worst of Times when Vice and Impiety abounds and triumphs and Religion is scorned and lies neglected This Principle of loving those who love us doth yet uphold Humane Societies but were this Cement abolish'd or abandon'd the whole Frame must fall into Disorder and break into a shapeless Chaos 2. To love those who love us is a dictate not only of Reason but of instinct too and therefore Instances of it are to be found even in Beasts and Brutes and irrational Creatures I am not very apt to believe all Passages in History concerning Beasts and their wonderful Kindnesses to those who have been kind to them yet some are so well attested that I cannot forbear giving credit to them Andronicus his Lyon is Famous and what Wolves and Tygers and Serpents have done to the Holy Hermites of old are things not to be slighted However let 's cast our Eyes upon what our own Experience doth furnish us with we all know how wonderfully kind Dogs are to those who feed them and make much of them and there are such Examples of Fidelity and Love to their Masters in these Animals that many a Man may blush to see himself outdone by those despicable Creatures Nay Wild-Beasts are serviceable and obliging to those of their own kind that are so to them so that not to love those who love us is to be worse than Beasts and Brutes whom instinct and the weight of sence forces into this Duty Nay 3. The Devils themselves are kind to those who are so to them And therefore one of them sent word to Croesus who complain'd of his Unkindness after he had fill'd his Altar with frequent Incence that he had no reason to find fault with him for being unkind for when he i. e. Croesus was to be burnt by the order of Cyrus he i. e. the Devil raised a Storm of Wind and Rain and put out the Fire and it 's probable he did so if God gave him leave being the Prince of the Air and therefore in a Capacity of making Alterations and Changes in Wind and Weather However his Kindness is very evident to those who do ordinarily serve him by their Vices for to require their faithful Service he frights them not molests them not perhaps not all the Days of their Lives but feeds them with pleasant Fancies gives them opportunity to fulfil their wicked Desires and to accomplish their Lusts and sometimes as we read of Pope Silvester II. helps them to considerable Preferment It 's true these are dangerous Kindnesses yet they are taken for such by vitious Men and it serves to prove that the Principle of the Text is observ'd by the Devils themselves and then what a strange Creature must he be who is defective in this Practice seeing he is worse than Beasts and Devils And the thing being so very bad one would think none should be found at least among Christians who can be charged with this Guilt but whether there be such Persons will appear from the second Particular II. What Persons they are who act against this natural Principle And here 1. What do ye think of refractary unnatural and untowardly Children who reward the tender Care of their Parents their Love and Tenderness and Indulgence with contempt of their Advice and Admonitions and running into Rioting and Drunkenness into Chambering and Wantonness into Strife and Envy and taking Courses which tend to the undoing of their Souls and Bodies Are there no such Children If there are none what 's the reason of the many daily Complaints of this Nature Whether there be any such among us at this present I know not but if there were I would shew them their Faces in this Glass and let them see how ugly and deform'd they look I would call to them in the Language of St. John the Baptist O Generation of Vipers why will not ye be warned to flee from the Wrath to come A Generation of Vipers indeed that tear out the Bowels of those who gave you Life Do not your Parents love you Do not they Maintain and Feed and Educate you in the fear of God Do not they entreat you to mind your everlasting Interest Do not they encourage you to Goodness dissuade you from Vice invite you to the House of God to Prayer and to other Exercises which will give you Peace in the End Do not they plead and reason and argue with you and warn you not to undo your selves And is not this Love and Tenderness and Affection But if you reject their Holy Counsels despise their Exhortations and scorn their warmest Expostulations will run into Company which is your bane rush into destruction and venture into the Chambers of Death is not this requiring their Love with Hatred their Kindness with Baseness and their Charity with the greatest Ingratitude And is not this sinking below Publicans and Heathens for they love those that love them Tell me not that you love their Persons though you hate their Instructions for what doth Love to their Persons signifie while you hate that wherein they do most of all express their Love and declare their Tenderness and Affection 2. The same may be said of Hearers with respect to their faithful Pastors and Teachers we admonish we entreat we reprove we tell our People of their Vices and spare them not we represent to them their Errors in their Native Colours and all that they may amend their Ways and become Favourites of Heaven And is not this Tenderness and Love and Affection What else can be the reason of it It is true our Calling and Profession obliges us to say something but this we might do in general Terms without rubbing their Sores or Lancing their Wounds or breaking their Imposthumes It 's Kindness therefore that makes us tell them the Truth and lay open their Defects and assure them of the Terrors of the Lord and all that their Souls may live and be blessed and glorious and enjoy the future Glory But yet we find that some there are who hate us for our Pains call us Rash and Inconsiderate and worse Names and bear a secret Spleen to us because we are so plain and downright and so free in our Censures and is not this hating those who love you St. Chrysostom had large Experience of these unkind Returns and therefore in several of his Homilies he warns his Auditors and exhorts them not to suffer their faithful Teachers to be slander'd or abus'd Some of the Corinthians 1 Cor. ix 11 thought much of contributing to the maintenance of their Pastors the Apostle is surpriz'd at it What saith he if we have sown unto you Spiritual things is it a great Matter if we reap your Carnal Things And he had reason to find fault with
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
that hated them and attended those when sick who a little before had plotted against their Lives Acts free from Interest and Design Acts which shew nothing could put us upon them but Religion and Conscience Acts frequent too and continued without weariness of well-doing These even fix the Eyes of the most stupid Creatures upon the Person that performs them and indeed nothing is sooner taken notice of than such Acts as these because there is Divinity in them and such stroaks of the Goodness of Heaven appear in them that Men behold them almost whether they will or not 3. Great Temperance in Cloathing Eating Drinking and Recreations In these most People who are Rich and Great or abound in worldly Goods are very apt to exceed even those who seem to be no ill Christians And therefore where self-denyal appears in all these and a Person who hath both Ability and Opportunity and Temptations to go beyond the Rules of Modesty and Gravity and Sobriety in all or any of these gives Demonstration that something unseen bears the sway within and that he commands his Appetite and keeps under his Body and brings it into Subjection This as it is an Argument of self-Conquest so Men will certainly take notice of it 4. Great Modesty and Sobriety in Discourse when our Speech is always with Grace season'd with Salt when none hears us speak ill of others when no corrupt Communication proceeds out of our Mouths but that which is Good to the use of edifying that it may minister Grace unto the Hearers When nothing drops from our Lips that looks like filthy Talking or foolish and obscene Jesting but on the contrary we take care to let something fall whereby others who are present may be built up in their most Holy Faith this is so remarkable a thing that Men will be sure to take notice of it 5. An unshaken steady and even Piety which changes not with the changes of Conditions and is the same at Sea and on the Shore abroad and at home in the Camp and in the City in a fair and in a cloudy Day in a word which neither the Humour of the Age nor the Example of our Friends nor all the Revolutions of publick Affairs can alter or destroy As all things unusual attract the Eyes of Spectators to the Piety we speak of being a thing out of the common Road there is no question to be made of it but Men will take notice of it 6. Joy in Tribulation To see Men with the Apostles depart from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer Shame for the Name of the Lord Jesus to see them rejoyce when they fall into divers Temptations to see that neither a miserable Life nor a dreadful Death approaching can make them forbear rejoycing in their God and in the hopes of Eternal Life to see them flourish like Palm-trees and that all the weight which Providence lays upon them cannot crush their Hope and Confidence and Rejoycing in him who is altogether lovely This is too bright too shining a Vertue not to be taken notice of by understanding Men. And these are the Noble the Great the Generous Heroick Acts which will make Men take notice of you and say that God is among you indeed Let others be known by their Liveries and Coaches and Pages and Lacquies you who are Christians must be known by such Acts as these I do not deny but most of you do some outward overt Acts of Religion such as coming to Church and kneeling and hearing and joyning with the Congregation but let me tell you that one Act of self-denial will go farther than all these external Services which God knows are too often no more than Formalities Little sprinklings of Devotion mingled with much Rubbish of Sin and Vanity are lost in that Croud and will make no great Impressions on the Eyes and Hearts of those who behold you But such Acts as these shine bright and spread abroad their Lustre and will even force men to confess That the Love of God is shed abroad in your Hearts Indeed this must be the great end in letting the Light of your good Works shine before Men that others may glorifie God which puts us in mind of the fourth Proposition IV. The great end we must propose to our selves in letting the Light of our good Works shine before Men must be this to endear Religion to others and to make those that see them glorifie God That others may see your good Works and glorifie your Father Men glorifie God by seeing our good Works when 1. They are converted by that sight when those good Works work upon them and work their Hearts into consideration of their ways and work so powerfully upon them that they can resist the motives to Repentance and a serious change of Life no longer So it was with those who beheld the good Works of our Saviour John x. 42 John xi 41 And so it was with those Husbands who were won by the chast and meek and quiet Behaviour and Conversation of the female Sex 1 Pet. iii. 2 In this not only appears the wonderful power of God who makes our good Works subservient to the subduing of the Fortresses of Iniquity in others but when those who before dishonoured abused despised and undervalued the Author of their Being and well-being now come to esteem and love and admire him and esteem his Precepts above thousands of Gold and Silver What is this but glorifying God 2. When by our good Works which shine before Men others take occasion to praise and bless God for the Grace they beheld shining in us as the Disciples did when they heard that the Gentiles had receiv'd the Gift of Repentance unto Life Acts xi 18 And as those Strangers did St. Paul speaks of 2 Cor. ix 13 who glorified God for the professed Subjection unto the Gospel of Christ which they beheld in the Corinthian Christians For as it is by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we do bring forth fruits meet for Repentance so when that Grace which works so powerfully in us produces Praise of Gods Glory in those who behold it it cannot be otherwise but God is glorified by our good Works 3. When others are by what they see in us encouraged to praise God for their own Mercies The good Works which shine in us are not only Treasures which enrich our own Souls but Remembrancers too to put others in mind of what God hath done for them and of the Mercies they enjoy and of the Graces of Gods Spirit which are bestowed on them and animate them to a holy fruitfulness Other Mens Defects and Blemishes such as Blindness Lameness Crookedness Poverty Misery c. are to put us in mind of our Mercies much more the Mercies which others enjoy as well as we And when the spiritual Blessings we enjoy prove a Glass in which others behold the same Blessings Gods bountiful hand hath bestowed on
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
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
not in the usual Style it is written but with this Circumscription ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time i. e. Your Ancestors who lived when Religion was low and Corruptions and Abuses crept into their Worship and Devotion have taught you that the outward Act of Adultery is the great thing you are to dread and to be afraid of and with this partial Sense they have handed down to you this Command of God Thou shalt not commit Adultery But I say unto you that whosoever looks on a Woman to Lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart For the understanding of which words I shall enquire I. In what sense Christ speaks here of Adultery II. I shall consider the Justice of this Verdict or the reasonableness of this Censure That whosoever looketh on a Woman hath already committed with her Adultery in his Heart III. Whether notwithstanding all this there is not some difference betwixt Adultery in the Heart and the outward Act as to the heinousness of it 1. In what sense Christ doth speak here of Adultery Adultery properly is a violation of the Marriage Bed when either one or both of the married Parties commit Folly in Israel either with a Person married to another or with one that is not married But as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek which we render Adultery is of a larger Extent and Signification and imports not only Adultery in the strictest sense but Fornication too which is either a single Persons being joined to a common Harlot or violating the Chastity of a Person of civil Education and indeed any Carnal Conjunction or mixture to fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh out of the compass and Bond of Matrimony So in all probability Christ aims farther and means more by this word than a bare Violation of the Marriage Bed not only because he intends in this Sermon to give us a perfect Rule to walk by but because the Jews in that Age restrain'd not only the Law against Adultery but even that against Fornication and other Mixtures and Carnal Conjunctions not Matrimonial whether Incestuous or otherwise to the outward Act only as if in matters of Uncleanness that only was chiefly forbid and deserved God's Anger and Indignation and the consequent of it Damnation And therefore the reason why Christ makes mention of Adultery only is not because the Jews in those times look'd upon single Fornication as a trifling Sin or Peccadillo No! The Pharisees though bad enough yet were not so bad as to allow of or connive at Fornication for the Law of Moses had made express Proviso's against it There shall not be a Whore of the Daughters of the Children of Israel saith God Deut. xxiii 17 Thou shalt not prostitute thy Daughter to cause her to be a Whore Levit. xix 20 And when particularly the Daughter of a Priest had committed Whoredom she was to be burnt with Fire Levit. xxi 9 Moreover whoever had defloured a Virgin no Slave no Foreigner but one of the Stock of Abraham whether Servant or other he was obliged to marry her Exod. xxii 16 a Law so reasonable that even the Heathens the Athenians transcribed it into their Pandects or Statute Book And when the Father of the Maiden thus vitiated would not consent to her being married to the Person who had abused her the Person who had humbled her was to give the Maiden whom he had defloured a Dowry as if he had been actually married to her And when in one day three and twenty thousand fell i. e. were slain by an Angel the Apostle saith it was for Fornication 1 Cor. x. 8 Nay if a Virgin had suffered her self to be defloured before Marriage and the Crime was found out after she was Married she was to be stoned to Death Deut. xxii 21 So that I say the reason why Christ doth make mention only of Adultery in the Text is not because the Jews then look'd upon Fornication as a trivial and inconsiderable Fault but he finds fault with their sinister Interpretation of the Law of God even because they confined the Prohibition of Adultery Fornication Incest and other practical Lewdness and carnal Pollutions to the outward Act only and look'd upon adulterous and lewd Desires Lusts Passions Affections c. as things of no Moment and which might easily be expiated by Sacrifices and other cheap Devotions such as Lustrations Purifications c. And here comes in Christ's Censure that the very Desires in the Heart after this forbidden Fruit were as bad as the outward Act it self The II d. Part I am to speak to Whosoever looketh on a Woman to lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart To understand the reasonableness of this Censure we are to note 1. That the bare looking on a Woman is not sinful for as Tertullian observes a Christian may look safely on a Woman whose Heart is blinded or hardened against Lasciviousness The bare Looks cannot well be avoided it 's one end for which our Sight was given that we might look one upon another But it 's the abuse of the Eyes and Looks that is forbid It 's true through the Eyes the Poison is conveyed to the Heart according to the old saying Oculi sunt in amore Duces the Eyes are the Guides in Love but still this depends upon a Mans choice whether he will make his Eyes Windows to let in wholsom or infectious Air. St. Peter speaks of Eyes full of Adultery 2 Pet. ii 14 but it 's meant of Eyes that are first corrupted by the Will Where a Christian doth Oculum metu temperare temper and moderate and curb and restrain his Eye with a holy Fear and Watchfulness he may look upon the greatest Beauty without danger saith Tertul. And therefore 2. It is added Whosoever looketh after a Woman to lust after her c. So that if the Looks cause secret lewd Purposes Desires and Lusts and Affections in the Mind and Will the Adultery or Fornication is actually committed in the Heart though the outward Act is and may be impeded or hindred by Circumstances and occasional Causes which fall out cross I need not tell you that what is said here of looking on a Woman to lust after her is not to be understood of the chast Desires of Persons lawfully married one after another for Marriage is Honourable and the Bed undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge Heb. xiii 4 And to avoid Fornication let every Man have his own Wife and every Woman her own Husband saith St. Paul 1 Cor. vii 2 And drink Water out of thine own Cistern and running Waters out of thine own Well Let thy Fountain be always blessed and rejoice with the Wife of thy Youth and let her be unto thee as the loving Hind and as the pleasant Roe and be thou always ravished with her Love Prov. v.
Sin must be removed and of this Nature are immodest and obscene Discourses and Communications against which the Ears must be stopt or the Company avoided where such Discourses are familiar and frequent Eph. v. 3 4. Add to all this reading obscene Books and Pamphlets Books of Love Tricks such as Romances Plays and other Fooleries which are nothing but Incentives to Lust and so are your promiscuous Dancings and Revelings after luxurious Meals and seeing of Stage-plays where these Lusts are represented in taking shapes and all other things which the Enemy of Mankind hath invented to drown Men in Perdition But after all our Saviour's Rule in the Text must be conscientiously observed Look off from the Object that is apt to shoot an evil Desire into your Minds or hath done it several times when your Eyes have taken Liberty to behold such things Avoid the sight of them as you would do the Eyes of a Basilisk Let your Eyes be as useless that way as if they were pluck't out as if you had none as if you were blind and could not see Do not touch do not handle do not lay your Hands upon those parts which are apt to raise the Spirit of Uncleanness in you Let your Hands be as useless to you in that point as if they were cut off The same may be said of your Feet Come not near the House of the Person who is apt to bewitch your Souls keep out of her Company that 's like to delude you and may give occasion to dangerous Thoughts and Desires Let your Feet be as useless to you in going to such Places as if they were cut off If after all this the Lust be stubborn and will not yield to the Obedience of Christ the antient Severities and Austerities I mentioned in the preceding Proposition must be made use of and the Body must be used coursely not only in Diet but in Cloaths and Apparel and by other Punishments voluntarily inflicted upon your selves whereof I could give you such Instances out of Antiquity as would possibly exceed your Belief though I doubt not but there is Truth in them And when the Fewel is withdrawn the Fire will go out St. Chrysostom takes notice that our Saviour's Command here is easie It would have been more severe if so be he had commanded us to stand near the Fire and take heed we be not singed or burnt to keep Company with incentives to Lust and yet to feel no disorderly Motions in the Soul Indeed what he enjoins here is so far from being unreasonable that he commands nothing but what the Light of Nature hath taught the very Heathens to observe And if after all the danger of being cast into Hell can make no Impressions upon us or make us forbear what our Master saith will be the undoing of us most certainly we know not what that Punishment is and will not know it nor indeed do we believe it I confess I would have you do what Christ says is necessary upon a Principle of Love but if your Tempers are so stubborn that Love cannot melt you into a cheerful Compliance with your Masters Will you have reason to fright your selves with the danger of that Fire which shall never be quenched In a word do any thing to save your selves from this untoward Generation Sins as dear as the right Eye as precious as the right Hand will fall and die if they be brought to feel that Fire I mean by attentive Thinking and Meditation I doubt not but the unhappy Creatures to whose share the future Torment falls wish and will wish that they had pluckt out their right Eye and cut off their right Hand rather than have come into that place of Torment Oh! how they will curse the Day the Time the Place when and where they committed their Lewdness and Impurities nay the Eye that deceived them into those Lusts and the Hand that tempted them to Sin and would God be so kind as to free them from the Prison they groan in upon condition that they should pluck out both their Eyes and cut off both their Hands they would thank him for the Favour and think their Judge wonderfully Merciful to agree to such soft and reasonable Terms The present Satisfaction is the Lime-twig that keeps People under the power of Sin and Satan But were that Hell we speak of set out in its native Colours and compared with that Satisfaction you would scorn it as much as you do the most loathsome Animals To enjoy the present Satisfaction of Sin and yet to escape Hell are things inconsistent and in Divinity impossible therefore that Satisfaction must be quitted or if Death should arrest you in that Satisfaction the other will certainly take place All which makes our Saviour's Discourse here very rational and equitable If thy right Eye offend thee pluck it out c. SERMON XXVII St. Matt. Ch. v. Ver. 31 32. It hath been said whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the cause of Fornication causes her to commit Adultery and whosoever Marries her that is Divorced commits Adultery WHEN Christ the Son of Righteousness appeared in this Vale of Misery the World was so corrupt that the attempt to reform c. would have frighted the wisest the most valiant any Society of Men any Man but him who had Omnipotence to back him To say nothing of the Heathen Nations who had been suffered to walk in their own ways and therefore no wonder if they sunk into all the dreadful Vices mentioned Rom. i. The Jews to whom pertained the Adoption and the Glory and the Covenant and the Promises and the giving of the Law whose were the Fathers and of whom Christ came after the Flesh and of whom one would have expected a Purity answerable to their Mercies and Encouragement These though they had made a shift to renounce Idolatry yet had so vitiated and polluted all the Articles of Divinity and all the Rules of Morality that it required a strength greater than that of Hercules to purge that Augaean Stable You have seen already their various Violations of things Sacred and Divine and the ill favoured Interpretations they put upon the Law against Murther and the other against Adultery The same Liberty or Licentiousness they practised or made use of in the matter of Divorces or putting away their Wives and in doing so they grounded themselves upon a Text of the Law of Moses Deut. xxiv 1 2. where Moses permits Men in certain cases to separate themselves from their Wives and in order thereunto to give them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Bill to certifie that Separation or a Writing of Divorcement which Text our Saviour alledges and admits of doth not deny that such a thing was permitted under the Law but partly to shew that they wilfully depraved and perverted the Sense and Design of that Law
to be believed in what they say and this fondness they discover even in telling things which they have only by hear-say and very often false and that tempts them to these extravagant Additionals I have mention'd and since that fondness is the occasion of it even that must be subdued and mortified It 's true a Man ought to be desirous to be believed but then it must be in things Serious and Weighty and of Importance and such as he hath a Moral assurance of that they are true and that desire must go no farther than God hath allowed of And since not only in things Trivial and Complemental and telling of Stories but also in ordinary Promises Bargains and Negotiations he hath forbid these solemn Confirmations and Protestations as pleasing as they may be to Flesh and Blood and as Customary as they are and as agreeable as they are to the humor of the times they must be forborn What 's the Reason that we hear People say sometimes of a Man that they will take his Word for a Thousand pound and that if such a one hath said it they 'll believe it sooner than they will do another Man upon his Bond. Is it not because they are assured of his Honesty Sincerity Piety Constancy Veracity and unfeigned Goodness Is not this a mighty Commendation Is it not an excellent Character And are not these fit Examples for us to follow Doth a Principle of real Goodness give a Man such Reputation among his Neighbours and is it not fit we should imitate these Patterns We that stand so much upon our Credit why are we loth to venture upon that which will procure us such Credit not only with Men but with God too Were we Christians indeed and did Men see that we live up to the Rules of our Great Master without wavering they would depend upon our Promises as much as they do upon other Mens Oaths and more too But when they see us Treacherous and Persidious and Regardless of our Words and that we take no heed to our Ways when they find that we pretend to Religion and yet can be Knaves that we call our selves Children of God and yet can Cheat and Defraud that we commend good Men and talk well and can undermine and over-reach another in a Bargain no wonder if they do Mistrust us And then we run our selves into a necessity of helping out our Want of Sincerity with Protestations and needless Asseverations and thus by degrees we come to venture upon Oaths and to other Sins and undoe our Souls Our Religion was intended to make us the honestest Men in the World and were we true to our Principles there would be no need of so many Bonds and Obligations and Indentures and Counterparts and giving of Securities and Sollicitations to second our Word and Promises with Oaths and Vows and Protestations as now there is But all that can be said in this point is this If Men be truly converted to the Laws of Christ they will be Just and Honest and Sincere and Upright and Faithful and True and Invincibly so if they are not their Conversion is Nonsense their Regeneration a Fable their Love to God a Romance their Repentance a fancy and their Piety Paint and Varnish II. We see here that the Government of our Tongues requires our special Care He that offends not in Word is a perfect Man saith St. James Jam. iii. 2 and able also to bridle the whole Body It 's one great Lesson of our Religion to labour after Perfection as appears by the frequent commands 2 Cor. xiii 9 Hebr. vi 1 Jam. i. 4 2 Cor. xiii 11 and this Perfection is not to be attained except our Care and Watchfullness extend to our Speeches and Words and Discourses and Communications in Conversation and how this Care is to be expressed I shall briefly shew in the following Directions 1. Let 's always propose to our selves a good end in Speaking either to rectifie the Mistakes of others or to Instruct or to Counsel or to Exhort or to Comfort or to Reprove or to Edifie others or to acquaint them with the true Merit of the Cause or to prevent frothy or impertinent Discourses This is part of that Discretion which is made a good Man's Character Psal. cxii 5 He that speaks with an intent either to be applauded for his Wit or Learning or Piety or to make the Company Laugh or meerly to trifle away the time or to provoke others to Wrath c. such a Person hath no great Care of his everlasting Concerns and puts no Oyl to his Lamp and therefore if the Bridegroom should come unawares he 'll have Oyl to buy when the Doors are going to be shut 2. Let 's speak Circumspectly so that in our Discourses neither God be abused by Profaneness nor Scripture undervalued by wrong Applications nor our Neighbour rendred contemptible by Calumny nor our Souls wounded by Lying nor Religion blacken'd by misrepresentations nor weak Christians scandaliz'd by immoderate Liberty nor other Men harden'd in their Sins by flattering Compliances To this purpose Solomon Eccles. v. 2 Be not rash with thy Mouth and let not thy Heart be hasty to utter any thing before God 3. Let 's speak modestly of our selves especially and of our Duties and Performances and Accomplishments and not only with respect to our selves but in regard of others too when Kindnesses and Obligations and admiration of their Gifts prompt us to speak in their Commendation There is great modesty requir'd particularly when Inferiors speak to their Superiors Disciples to their Teachers Servants to their Masters Children to their Parents and Hearers to their Spiritual Pastors Young Men to the Aged This is part of that Submission and Subjection and Humility most earnestly pressed upon us 1 Pet. v. 5 4. Let 's speak opportunely suitably to the time and place we are in A word fitly spoken is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Prov. xxv 11 Comfort is proper for the Afflicted Reproof for the Obstinate Admonition for the Tractable Instruction for the Ignorant and Colloquies Divine and Spiritual for the House of God and when God sends the Sword the Prophet asks very justly Should we then make Mirth Ezek. xxi 10 5. Let 's talk sparingly In the multitude of Words there wants not Sin but he that refrains his Tongue is wise Prov. x. 19 A Man that talks much had need be a very accomplish'd Person if he doth not run out into something contrary to Truth or good Manners This Rule deserves to be observ'd so much the more because multitude of Words is made the Character of a Fool Eccles. x. 14 6. Let 's use our selves to talk Piously It is a commanded Duty Ephes. iv 29 This is wanting in most Companies nay it is become a piece of Rudeness and a mark of ill breeding to talk of Jesus Christ when People visit one another and that 's one great Reason of the decay of Piety
been a sweet Odour a very unacceptable Sacrifice for though the needy Brother be actually reliev'd by the Gift yet the Giver can enjoy but little comfort of it since that which should have made it amiable and pleasing to God is wanting God doth not so much regard what we give as with what Heart we give A ready Mind like a magnifying Glass makes even a Cup of Water given to a Disciple of Christ look great in the sight of God whereas a richer Donative coming from us with an unwilling Mind looks mean and pitiful and like Objects seen through the wrong end of a Perspective dwarfish and inconsiderable 2. Give with Simplicity with holy good and warrantable Ends and with pious Intentions This is the Command Rom. xii 8 And we shall soon be convinc'd of the Necessity of it if we consider how it fared with the Pharisees whose sinister ends and designs in giving Alms drew upon them the threatning Christ speaks of Matth. vi 2 Verily they have their Reward To glorifie God with the gift to express our gratitude to the Donor of all we have to testifie our Compassion to our Fellow-Creatures and Fellow Christians in distress to discharge our Duty and to express our Obedience to the Commands of our Master c. These are Ends good and laudable and which a good Man may take satisfaction in and I doubt not but we may lawfully have an Eye to the future recompence in the Resurrection of the Just as we may conclude from what Christ saith Luke xiv 1 2 4. But to think to cajole the Almighty by the Gift and lull him into connivance at the Sins we are unwilling to part with or to hope for some temporal advantage by the Donation or to be able to give no better reason for our Giving than because Persons of our Rank and Quality have done the like Such designs as they are inconsistent with the Maxims of our Religion so its needless to tell you they must be laid aside when the meanest Capacity may easily conclude so much from the Premises 3. Give with Discretion This is requir'd Psal. xli 1 where we read Blessed is he that considereth the Poor In the Original it's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which imports Wisdom and Discretion in the distribution of our Charitable Gifts Mens Necessities being various some more urging others more tolerable Some are in greater Want than others the Rank and Quality and Station of some makes them greater Objects than those who were born to a poor and mean Condition some grow providentially Poor others through Debauchery and Idleness some with their Poverty are Sincere and Good and Religious others retain their Insensibleness of things Spiritual Sometimes our very Parents and nearest Relations crave our assistance as well as Persons recommended to us by our Friends and Acquaintance All which Circumstances require Direction and Prudence which Vertue though it be sometime made a Cloak for Covetousness yet is a Vertue still and to be practis'd by the best of Men though it be made a shelter under which wicked Men hide their Sin and Hypocrisie 4. Give proportionably Where God hath given much remember to give much too and let not Selfishness tempt you to call that little which all your Neighbours and understanding Men count a very large Portion And that you may be able to give much abate abundance of things which are superfluous and serve for nothing but to Feed your Luxury It 's impossible that he who hath much should give much if he be resolv'd to have every thing that the Men of the World have even all the Fineries and Gaudies and Pomp and Retinue and State which other voluptuous Sinners rejoyce in If every one of us be to lay up in Store for Charitable Uses as God hath prospered and blessed him in this World as we read 1 Cor. xvi 1 2. Certainly we cannot satisfie our selves that we give as we ought if we give not proportionably And the best guide to direct us in this proportion is Love The more fervent our Love is to our distressed Brethren the more liberal we shall be See how Love wrought upon the Macedonians for they went not only beyond proportion but beyond their power too in giving relief to the Churches of Judaea 2 Cor. viii 1 5. Give to all sorts not only to a Christian but to a Heathen too as there is occasion not only to a needy Relation but to a distressed Stranger too not only to a a Friend but even to an Enemy The Jews were abominably partial in their giving To a Jew one of their own Nation and Religion they were liberal but a Samaritan they thought no proper Object of Relief and therefore would not do the common Offices of Humanity to them or shew them the least Civility Our Religion rests upon better Principles and another Temper is requir'd of Christians And that 's the true import of that Command Luke vi 30 Give to every Man or to all that ask of thee i. e. to all sorts of Men confine not thy Charity to Persons of the same Faith and Party and Opinion but like God disperse and scatter thy Profits on all both good and bad whether just or unjust and do not deny thy help no not to Sinners and Publicans These without all peradventure are the true Qualifications of Giving but we are not to think that all the Duty requir'd here is incumbent on the Giver He that doth ask is to observe Rules as well as the Giver which if he doth not he makes himself incapable of receiving the Gift of the Giver 1. Give to him that asketh of thee and is a proper Object of Charity Of this a hint was given before and if any Necessitous Persons are excluded from being Objects they must be such as spend what is given them in Rioting and Drunkenness in Idleness and Laziness and live useless and unprofitable in the World I know abundance of Covetous Niggardly and Narrow-hearted Christians make this an excuse and rashly Censure all that ask of them as People Idle and delighting in the common Vices of the Age that they may have some colour for their backwardness in Giving but in Cases of this Nature we are not to go by Guesses and Fancies and precarious Imaginations but by our certain Knowledge and when we are ignorant of the manner and particulars of their Lives and Conversations our Judgment must be Charitable and Favourable where Experience and common Fame and rational Evidences do convince us of their dissolute way of Living we may lawfully with-hold our Hands for in this case we do not with-hold the Good from those to whom it is due Prov. iii. 27 the Persons we speak of falling under another Notion even of Men to whom Correction and Punishment and the severity of a Prison is due and whom to lash into better Manners is a very good act of Charity 2. Give to him that asketh provided he doth ask
modestly We are not by this Precept bound to satisfie the unreasonable Desires of Men. It 's true a Pound may be too little for an Alexander to give but a Talent on the other side may be too much for a needy Person to ask Our Saviour here doth not determine the quantity how much we are to give nor oblige us to give whatsoever another asks but leaves the quantity to our Prudence and Direction In giving to him that asketh we are to consider our Ability as well as the Merit and Need of him that doth ask and so to Give as not to be unjust to others nor to wrong those whom by Nature we are bound to do good to in the first place the neglect or omission of which makes us Infidels 1 Tim. v. 8 And so much of Giving II. The second Branch of our Saviour's Counsel is Lending From him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away The general Drift of which Counsel is for the most part or ordinarily to lend our Neighbour such things as he stands in need of Most Commands of this Nature have respect to what ought to be the ordinary practice supposing still there may be extraordinary Cases wherein the thing may lawfully be superseded or suspended A loose debauch'd Person or a Person who I know will pervert the thing I lend him or he would borrow of me to very ill use This Law doth not oblige me to lend him But for the most part between Neighbour and Neighbour this ought to be the Rule And the same may be said of a Person apparently dishonest whose Actions make us justly suspect or give us just occasion to believe that he intends not to repay us again I cannot think that such Persons come into the number of the Borrowers Christ aims at For no doubt our Saviour ties the Borrower to Honesty as well as the Lender to Charity So that the import of this Command may be comprehended in these Particulars 1. Do not think there lies no Obligation on you to lend to your Fellow Christians who are in Streights and Necessities and may by your Lending raise themselves into a condition to live comfortably and honestly in the World This is an act of Christian Love and Charity and such as we our selves may stand in need of and whatsoever you would have others do to you do you the same to them according to the Rule Mat. vii 12 2. Do not tell them that would borrow of you that you have nothing to Lend when you have it for that would be to add Lying to your Uncharitableness which is both against the Nature of Christian Simplicity and Sincerity and against the express Law Eph. iv 25 3. Be willing to gratifie your honest Neighbours in this request when they would borrow of you and overcome that Uncharitableness and mistrust of God's Providence or fear that you shall not receive your own again For Flesh and Blood is apt to raise such Objections which must be subdu'd by that Spirit which God hath given you If ye walk after the Flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live 4. From him that would borrow of thee do not turn away Yet so as to consider the Circumstances of the Person that would borrow of you It is a wicked Man's Character to borrow and not to pay Psal. xxxvii 21 And when a Man is known to be so we may lawfully use Christian Prudence and Wisdom When Men have the reputation of Honesty Sincerity and Diligence their Industry deserves to be encouraged and since Lending is an encouragement to them they ought not to be sent away with a refusal of their Request 5. Lend not only to a Person of the same Religion but to others also God gave a Law to the Jews Deut. xv 8 Thou shalt open thy hand wide unto thy Brother and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth This the Jews restrain'd to their own Sect and to their Friends but Christianity being a Profession of a larger Charity if even a Person who is not of the same Profession with you would borrow of you do not you turn away from him nay if the Person were an Enemy this is evident from what follows in this Chapter But I say unto you Love your Enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despightfully use you and persecute you 6. Lend sometimes even to Persons from whom you have no hopes of receiving any thing again Express your Self-denial your conquest of the Flesh your Love to God and your dependance upon his Providence This is agreeable to the Command given Luke vi 35 Lend hoping for nothing again Not that this is to be done at all times and upon all occasions but sometimes in order to overcome our love of this present World especially when Persons are by Providence or by some extraordinary accident fallen into decay and particularly upon the account of a good Conscience To this purpose Luke vi 34 See how ready God is to give to you and to lend you what ye stand in need of and why so Surely that you should be ready to help others These are the particulars to which this Command hath particular Relation and were Men truly conscientious no doubt this Law would be sufficient to guide a Christian in his Temporal Concerns but the wickedness and persidiousness of Men is grown great and extravagant which hath obliged Magistrates to enact Laws to regulate this Lending Borrowing and Demanding what hath been Lent and to permit Bonds and Obligations to secure the Lender of what he Lends to another which though a Christian may in some Cases make use of yet let us remember that we are not to make use of all the Ways and Means the Law of the Land permits to prevent greater Evils To keep on this side the Law and as near as we can to conform to the Law of our Master Christ Jesus is the safest way And whereas the Law of the Land admits to Arrest and Imprison Borrowers that do not repay all that can be said in this Case is He that shows most Mercy is the better Christian. Inferences All the Application I shall make of this Command is to exhort you to real and actual Charity one towards another God gives you that you may give to others and vouchsafes you means that you may be able to assist and succour others in their Needs Labour earnestly to eradicate that root of bitterness even selfishness which hinders you from doing many excellent Acts which must adorn your Profession It 's true you are liable to be Cheated but who is not if your Charity and Christian kindness be abused you are not the first nor will be the last that are like to suffer in this kind We must look higher than this World the Losses we meet with here will be perfect
Gain if they lead us to secure the everlasting Inheritance The Precepts of our great Master are so order'd and so laid that the Love of this World may be rooted out of our Hearts and if this Love be truly mortify'd we are greater Gainers than if we gained the whole World and lost our own Souls It is true we would fain keep this present World and all the enjoyments of it and enjoy the bliss of the next too but he that goes by that principle reckons without his Host and will find himself miserably mistaken when he comes to set his Accounts even with the Sovereign Judge of the World To meet with ungrateful and unreasonable Men is no more than what our Master and his Disciples have met withal and to think we must fare better in this World than they is to mistake the end of our Vocation Let us do good and rejoyce in the doing of it and be confident we shall be no losers in the end He is faithful who hath promised and he will perform it too It is but a little while that we are to continue here and the great Question in the last Day will be not how Rich or how great we have been here but whether we have made Conscience of the Rules our Master hath left us Blessed are those Servants whom their Master when he comes shall find so doing Prosperity is so far from being a sign of God's Children or of our Reconciliation to God that a Christian who enjoys much of it hath very great reason to question his Spiritual Condition and Interest in Christ Jesus Not but that it 's possible to be prosperous and a true Servant of God but where there is one that is so there are multitudes that drown themselves in Destruction and Perdition I shall conclude with St. Paul's Saying 1 Tim. vi 17 18. Charge them that are Rich in this World that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain Riches but in the Living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy That they do good that they be rich in good Works ready to Distribute willing to Communicate SERMON XXXIV St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 43. Ye have heard that it hath been said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy FOR the right understanding of this Passage these following things will deserve Consideration I. By whom it was said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy II. How agreeable this principle is to corrupt Nature III. How contrary to the Principles of Reason and the design of Christianity IV. What is the true import of love to our Neighbour V. Whether in some sense it may not be a Duty to love our Neighbour and hate our Enemy I. By whom it hath been said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy And most certainly 1. It hath not been said so by Almighty God in the Old Law we have indeed a Command Levit. xix 18 Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self but we read no where Thou shalt hate thine Enemy so far from it that there are express Precepts against it as Exod. xxiii 4 5. When thou seest thine Enemies Oxe or Ass going astray thou shalt freely bring him back to him again and if thou shalt see the Ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burthen and wouldst forbear to help him thou shalt surely help with him Besides the Law God gave the Jews was never intended as a contradiction to the Law of Nature it was to be a help to the better Observance of it but never design'd to reverse it or any part of it and we are certain the Law of Nature enjoyns no such thing but Mercy rather than Hatred to an Enemy and this is evident from hence not only because the Law of Nature bids us imitate God who is kind to the Unthankful and to the Evil but because we find that the very Heathens from the dictates of this Law of Nature have shewn Mercy even to their greatest Foes not only by giving them decent Burial after Death as Hannibal and others but also by exercising acts of Charity toward them while they were alive and therefore God it could not be that said so Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy And therefore 2. If God did not say so then the Men that said and taught so must be the same Men who had corrupted several other Laws of God mention'd in this Chapter and detorted them from their original Intent and Design to accommodate them to the sinful Humours of Men and to the interest of the Flesh even the Scribes and Pharisees and their Ancestors the ancient Masters of the Oral Law who by their Traditions rendred the Law of God of none effect I have observ'd often in the preceding Discourses what false Glosses and Interpretations these Men did put upon the Sixth and Seventh Commandment and the Law of Divorces and Retaliation In like manner this Precept of loving their Neighbour could not escape their Sacrilegious Hands for as their business was to make the Moral Law of God as easie to the Flesh as they could and as they had made several Experiments of that Nature in others so they dealt with this excellent Precept Indeed many of them in Christ's Days made no great Account of this Duty for when they spoke of the summ of the Law of God they repeated part of the sixth Chapter of Deut. Hear O Israel the Lord thy God is one God and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Might This they said taking no notice of the Precept of loving their Neighbour was the summ of the Law of God and this they inscrib'd and writ upon their Philacteries or Parchments they tyed to their Wrists and Foreheads Which shews that the Lawyer who came to Christ to enquire of him What he must do to inherit eternal Life Luke x. 27 was more rational than the rest for when Christ asked him how readest thou he answered Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength and thy Neighbour as thy self Upon which our Saviour tells him That he had answer'd right or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Mark hath it Mark xii 34 So that set aside some few judicious thinking Persons the Scribes and Pharisees in general pretending warrant from Tradition had very slight and slender Notions of loving their Neighbour and though they granted it was a Command of God and confessed their Obligation to obey it yet they had made so many restrictions of it that in effect they had render'd it very insignificant For 1. By the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Neighbour they understood a Friend or a Person that was kind to them or had obliged them the largest signification they would allow of was that of a Jew or a Person of the same Tribe and Kindred and
great Men by the Examples of good Men by the Examples of my ordinary Neighbours and shall the greatest Example the Example of God the Example of Christ Jesus make no impression upon me How easie a matter were it to draw such Inferences from what we believe and what a damp would this be to our Hatred And yet to see how careless how regardless we are of it and in despight of this great Example which we commend and magnifie justifie our Animosities against those whom we look upon to be our Enemies would make a Rational Man conclude and very justly too that whatever we pretend or talk of we do not believe that Christ died for us when we were God's Enemies What believe it and have no sence of it or if we have a sence of it not to gather our Duty from it Would any Man think that we are of the number of those Believers we read of Heb. xi Their Belief affected and wrought upon their Hearts and put them upon Heroick Actions and as God had done by them so they did by others This puts me in mind of the Justice of that Expostulation and the Proceedings we read of Matth. xviii 32 33 34. Then his Lord after he had called him said unto him O thou wicked Servant I forgave thee all that Debt because thou desiredst me Shouldst not thou also have had Compassion on thy Fellow-Servant even as I had pity on thee And his Lord was wroth and deliver'd him to the Tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him Do you make the Application II. Though the Law of Moses enjoyn'd this Precept To love our Neighbour as our selves yet the Gospel presses it much more and in greater Instances too As by our Neighbours in the Gospel are meant not only our nearest Friends and Relatives not only those who dwell near us and about us not only those of the same Church and Religion with us but all our Fellow Christians and all Persons who were redeemed with the Blood of Jesus so our Love is to extend to all these and especially to them of the Houshold of Faith To this purpose St. Peter Honour all Men Love the Brotherhood Indeed this Love to our Fellow Christians the Apostles press with more than ordinary Fervour They lay the stress of Religion upon it and when they would describe Christians who thrive under the Showers and Irrigations of the Gospel they say That their Faith grows exceedingly and the Charity of every one toward each other abounds 2 Thess. i. 3 This was the distinguishing Character of the Primitive Believers and their Love one to another their dear their tender their affectionate Love one to another was taken notice of beyond any other Vertue whatsoever They called themselves Brethren and Sisters and by the Brotherhood or Fraternity they meant the Christian Church as appears from Clemens Romanus Their Hospitality their Candour their Veracity their Beneficence were the wonder of all Spectators Their tenderness to the Afflicted to Prisoners to Captives to the Sick and the Lame to the Ignorant and to their very Enemies was unspeakable insomuch that Julian the Apostate saw there was no way to propagate Heathenism like that of imitating Christians in their Works and Labours of Love and Charity Hereby shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another and so it was in those purer Ages and they were known more by their mutual Love than by their talking of Christ Jesus How is this Character inverted at this Day and one may say Hereby do all Men know who are Christians even by their hating one another I know not which is the harder Task whether Love to God or to our Neighbour Sure I am that many who pretend great love to God are strangely defective in their love to their Neighbours What a stir do many Men make about Religion and yet make nothing of Slandering Abusing Deriding Undervaluing their Neighbours My Brethren Doth a Fountain at the same place send forth bitter Water and sweet Indeed none is so fit to love God dearly as he that doth exercise himself very much in Love to his Neighbour It 's true one must help the other and Love to God must Influence that to our Neighbours but still great acts of Love to our Neighbours are the best Preparatives for high degrees of Love to God The Branches of this Love to our Neighbours are many and various and he who abounds in these acts of Love gets a Holy assurance that he is neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord How do we confine our Love to little Sects and Parties and from hence comes that bitterness of Spirit of one Party against another and how hard is it to find a Christian of a truly Catholick Love and Charity When shall we be wiser When shall that pristine Unity and Purity return When shall that admirable Spirit which shined so bright in the primitive Believers revive again Lord When shall thy Kingdom come that the whole Multitude which Believe shall be of one Heart and of one Soul The Spirit and the Bride say Come and let him that hears say Come Come thou God of Love thou Prince of Peace thou lover of Concord and Unity Come Amen even so come Lord Jesu SERMON XXXV St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 44. But I say unto you Love your Enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you MArcellinus writing to St. Austin tells him That the great Stumbling-Blocks which lay in the way of the Heathens of his Time especially of the wittier sort and hindred them from embracing Christianity were chiefly these three the Incarnation of our Lord the meanness of his Miracles which they thought those of Apollonius Tyanaeus did equal and the Prescriptions of the Text Love your Enemies bless them that curse you c. Not to meddle with their first and second Head this last particularly they could not digest they look'd upon 't as obliging Men to work Miracles and thought it in a manner as easie to snatch a Man from the Embraces of the Grave as to receive an Enemy into their own What! Love an Enemy He might as well have bid us swallow Poyson and take Toads and Vipers into our Bosoms What! Love a Man that hath sought my Life Caress a Wretch that hath attempted to ravish the pledges of my Love Take him into my Arms that hath endeavour'd to snatch from me the dearest Blessings I enjoy He might as well have bid us pull up Mountains by the Roots transplant Islands touch the Sun with our Fingers and empty the Waters of the Ocean Indeed this seems to be the highest step of Christianity and he that is arrived to an habitual observance of this Rule may not unfitly be said to be come to the top of the Mount of God But still whatever noise be
Office of a Magistrate is not superseded by this Command Nor 3. Doth this Law of loving our Enemies forbid us reproving an Enemy for the Sins he involves himself in by hating us much less doth it import that we are to love his Sins and Follies or flatter him in his Undecencies and Insolencies There is no doubt we may lawfully tell him of his Faults in a meek and rational way and seek to reduce him to a better Temper and in doing so we do nothing against that Love we owe him so far from it that it is an Argument of Hatred not to Rebuke him Lev. xix 17 Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy Heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer Sin upon him Nor 5. Doth this Command import that we are to make an Enemy our Bosom Friend to whom we are to unburden our selves and make him acquainted with the Secrets of our Souls Friendship in this strict sence is Master of Discretion more than Duty nor is our Love to our Enemies prejudic'd by not making them Friends in this sence Indeed if by the Coals of Fire we heap upon their Heads if by the warmer kindnesses we shew them we melt them into a tractable and docible Temper and then prove occasions of their becoming new Men we may if we see it convenient raise our Love Unto a higher degree even to that of Friendship and make him that was an Enemy as our own Soul but while he is an Enemy he is not a Subject capable of entring into the Bond of Friendship with him except by Friendship we mean the acts of Love hereafter mention'd 6. As an Enemy is a Person who cherisheth a secret Spleen and Malice against us in his Heart and as occasion serves vents and expresses it either in his Words or Actions either by Reviling or Abusing us or doing Unkindnesses or attempting to Betray or Bespatter or to Ruine and Undoe us in which sence even a Husband a Wife and the nearest Relatives may be Enemies so this Love we owe them imports an inward Affection to them even Bowels of Mercy and Compassion and a certain tenderness within The acts whereby our Love to them is to be expressed must have some Root and that Root must be the Heart the true seat of Love and let no Man plead here that Love arising from the agreeableness of the Object it 's impossible there should be any real Love in the Heart toward an Enemy because of the disagreeableness of the Object to our Temper and Contrariety to our Humour and Interest for though there may be no agreeableness with respect to the Wrong he doth or hath done us yet there are other Respects and those more weighty and of greater Concernment in which a likeness and similitude appear and consequently a suitable Foundation for this Love For 1. He is God's Creature and so are we 2. He is a Man and so are we 3. He is a Neighbour still nor doth the Wrong he doth us deprive him of that Relation 4. May be he is a Christian too and professes the same Faith the same God the same Jesus and the same Religion all which Respects make even an Enemy an agreeable Object of our Love Nay his very Enmity doth formally dispose and qualifie him for our Love for the nature of Love is That it is not easily provoked 1 Cor. xiii 5 And I need not tell you that Men are not provoked by Kindnesses but by Injurious Acts and these being the acts of an Enemy Love not being easily provoked by such acts the Enemy must be a very proper object of our Love But let 's go on and consider II. The particular acts of this Love or whereby this Love is to be expressed And the first is 1. Bless them that curse you This is to give good Language for bad kind Answers for Revilings praising the good that is in the Enemy for his denying that there is any in our selves and gracious Wishes for his base and horrid Imprecations The Apostles did so for being reviled we bless being defamed we entreat saith St. Paul 1 Cor. iv 13 This look'd great What a lovely excellent sight was this How pleasing to God how pleasing to Angels how pleasing to all rational and understanding Men Do but take a serious view of it you your selves cannot but like it approve of it and commend it What harmony what beauty what sweetness what evenness what perfection must there be in such a Soul What a command over his Passions must we suppose in such a Person and can any thing look more stately and magnificent And if there be such beauty in it why are not we enamour'd with it Why should we think much of it to cry God bless you when the Enemy cries God damn you Is not the one as easily said as the other and is there not far greater satisfaction in the one than in the other What if the brutish Man do curse us what hurt can his Cursing do us while we do not answer him according to his Folly The Curse may fall on his own Head but cannot singe a Hair of ours His ill Language doth it not look very odious in him and doth it change its Face or Nature if we use it by way of Retaliation Can that be lovely in us which all Men take to be deformity in him Doth not the Enemy sin grievously against God when he doth Revile or Curse us And shall not we be concern'd at his Sin How are we concern'd if we do not mourn for it How do we mourn for it if we do not pity him How do we pity him if we do not endeavour to reform him How shall we reform him except we shew him a good Example How can we shew him a good Example if we do not let him see that there is a better Spirit in us And how shall he be convinc'd of that if we do not return soft Answers for his rough and insolent ones even Blessings for Curses Such Christian returns God blesses sometimes with Conversion of the Enemy and thinks himself concern'd to reward the Self-denial with an extraordinary Providence To this purpose Moschus tells us That three Religious Men Travelling and losing their way and thereupon belated were forc'd to lie down on the Ground the Night coming on and the Sky growing very dark But so it happen'd that ignorantly they laid themselves down at the edge or corner of a Corn-field whereby they pressed a portion of Corn on the Ground Early in the Morning the Owner of the Field coming by and seeing what was done began to be in a Passion and cursed them bitterly saying You Religious Men if you had had the fear of God before you you would not have done so The innocent Men let him run on and then with all gentleness imaginable told him Truly you say right if we had had the fear of God before us we should never have done so
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
Good and sending his Rain upon the Just and Unjust A Bounty infinite like himself and not to be lookt upon but with admiration and that 1. Upon the account of the Insolencies of the Wicked and Bad and Unjust To see how God is affronted daily by Oaths by Curses by Blasphemies by Lewdness by Perjuries by Profaneness Atheism Hypocrisie and by Sins which a good Man can scarce name without trembling yet on these Wretches whom by right Hell-fire should devour his Sun doth shine and his Rain drops down His Sun warms them and revives them His Rain enriches their Pastures Instead of Sunshine he might bury them in Darkness and instead of Rain to water their Grounds he might rain on them Fire and Brimstone and a burning Tempest even the portion of the Sinners Cup. It 's true he will do all this at last when the measure of their Impenitence is fulfilled but for the present his Light smiles upon them and his Heaven distils gentle Showers to make their Land fruitful and doth not this shew the vastness of his Bounty 2. Upon the account of his Power it were as easie Without all peradventure it were as easie to him to with-hold his Sun and Rain from the wicked as it was to enlighten the Land of Goshen while the Egyptians were frighted with thick Darkness or as it was to dry up the Read-Sea for the Israelites while Pharaoh and his Host were drowned in the Waters or as it was to keep the Flames of the Furnace from burning the three Young-Men in Daniel those very Flames which consumed the other Men who were thrown into the Oven But his Mercy prevails above his Power and that shews the greatness of it We must suppose God hath some farther design in these Providences than meerly to discover the profuseness of his Bounty 1. One reason is to engage them to love him who is so kind to them Love is so natural so rational a return for kindnesses that all who are Munificent to others do expect it And how easie a matter were it even for a wicked Man who is not irrecoverably stupid to reflect when he lies basking in the Sun or lets in the splendor of that glorious Planet into his Rooms or Sees how it makes his Trees and Plants and Flowers grow and how it gilds his Gardens and his Fields how easie I say were it for him to reflect Whence comes this Sun-shine do not these Rays descend from the Father of Lights whose ways I have derided whose Words and Ordinances I have despised and whose Precepts I have laugh'd at What Ingratitude is this Would I use a Friend so And what put these Indignities upon my best and greatest Friend See how his love to me shines in that glorious Sun and shall I return hatred for his Love The like Reflections might easily be made upon the Blessing of the Rain But I proceed 2. It is to lead them to Repentance The Sun which comforts the Evil Man his Body and his Grounds is to put him in mind of his Duty to warm his Soul with serious Considerations till they melt his Heart into Remorse and Compunction And the Rain even the former and the latter Rain is a Remembrancer and points at the shower of Tears he is to weep for his Sins and Offences So that the Sun and Rain are School-masters to lead him to Love and Repentance and that these are the Ends God hath in these Dispensations is evident from Hos. ii 8 Acts xiv 15 16 17. Acts xvii 27 And oh that such of you as have hitherto been careless Observers of these Ends would be perswaded to make this Rain and Sun-shine the Ladder for your Thoughts to rise and your Meditations to ascend and contemplate the infinite Goodness of God who vouchsafes this Sun and Rain and in doing so presents you with a powerful Motive to offer him your reasonable Service that the Sun of Righteousness may shine upon you with healing under his Wings and his warmer Mercies may come down upon you as Showers upon the mown Grass As common as these Blessings are they do not come by chance but are Gifts of the great Soveraign of the World and if they be Gifts the least they deserve is acknowledgement and how do we acknowledge them if we dishonour God by our Sins But this is not all besides these God hath other Ends in vouchsafing his Rain and Sun-shine even to the worst of Men Ends in which the Pious the Serious the Religious are particularly concern'd And 1. It concerns us to admire the infinite Patience of God his Patience to the Stubborn and Obstinate and his Kindness and Charity to them Not only to see and take notice of God in the Providence but to extol his Munificence to praise to adore to magnifie his universal Compassion and to speak of his wonderful Works to sing of his Mercy and to use this very Instance of Sun and Rain as an argument to unconverted Sinners to perswade them to a conscientious walking with God Indeed here is a large Field for our thoughts to expatiate in and to make useful Remarks on his Power Wisdom and Goodness 2. It concerns us to imitate the Patience and Kindness and Charity of that God who makes his Sun rise upon the Good and Bad and sends Rain upon the Just and Unjust This is the principal drift and design of our Saviour in giving these Instances and it is to furnish us with Antidotes against Passion and Revenge and Hatred and Malice and Uncharitableness when we apprehend our selves Wrong'd or Injur'd or unkindly dealt with I say it is to furnish us with Antidotes against Passion and Revenge from the most obvious and familiar Objects and Occurrences So that whenever you are provok'd to uncharitable Thoughts and to a strange Behaviour to those who have wrong'd you you need go no farther than the Sun that shines upon your Heads and the Rain you see distil from the Clouds Think this Sun shines upon the greatest of God's Enemies and does good to their Fields and Persons and shall I feel no Warmth no Fire no Flames of Compassion to my Adversary The Rain that falls here is God's Rain and the Man that Curses him to his Face participates of the Benefits of it and shall I be in a Rage against the Man who hath affronted me and withdraw my Charity from him God doth not and why should I 3. It concerns us seriously to reflect on what God designs to do for his dear Children hereafter and from the Blessings he bestows on the wicked here to argue what Treasures are laid up for Men of a better Temper If God be so kind to his very Enemies what will he be to his Friends If those that hate him enjoy so much of his Bounty what may those look for who love him If his Goodness be so great to his Foes how great must be his kindness to his Favourites Great indeed How excellent is thy loving
for blending and joining God and Belial but we have not so Learned Christ And if he that wilfully offends in one is guilty of all it cannot be that God will pass by that Sin we allow our selves in for and in consideration of the acts of Morality and Religion we perform It 's true of Charity it 's said that it shall cover a multitude of Sins Jam. v. 19 20. but the meaning is not that the Charity or Alms of a wicked Man shall blot out the multitude of Sins he cherishes but that the Charity which a good Christian exercises in the Conversion of a Sinner is a means whereby the Sinner is brought to a true Repentance and entitled to the Grace and Love of God in Christ Jesus which pardons all his Transgressions and covers the multitude of his Sins All which shews that a Christian must do more which leads me to the second Proposition II. Those who would be Christians indeed must do more than carnal Men in Matters of Religion and Morality For if you salute your Brethren only what do you more than others saith our Saviour here Were the former Proposition duly consider'd this would be practised better It is a vulgar Error That a little Religion goes a great way And were it believ'd that Men escape not the brand of wicked Men by the Formalities of Religion they practice while they espouse some forbidden Lust or other they would certainly do more than others I am very sensible of the great Mistakes that arise from comparing our selves with others but the reason of it is because the Comparisons are not rightly made There are degrees of Wickedness and Impiety and I know abundance think because they are not quite so bad as others they do more than others and because they do not run with others into the same excess of Riot they take themselves to be tolerable Saints But such Comparisons are false as well as odious and there is nothing hinders Men more from a vigorous progress in Goodness than these preposterous Comparisons All that can be inferr'd from another Man's being more Wicked than we is only this that there are degrees of Sin but not that I am therefore safe because I am not come up to his Excess and Extravagance in offending God When our Saviour therefore obliges us to do more than Heathens more than Carnal and Natural Men in matters of Religion and Morality his meaning is not that all we are to study is to be less vitious than they for though this in some sence may be true yet considering the nature of the Gospel we must needs conclude Christ in saying so had respect to the following Particulars 1. Since departing from Iniquity is made the Character of a Christian indeed 2 Tim. ii 19 no doubt this is the Character too which doth distinguish him from a Carnal Man and he doth more than they if he actually departs from every Sin forbidden by the Gospel for then he ceases to be Carnal and walks after the Spirit and as every Christian ought to be becomes a new Creature and departing in his Affections from all Iniquity forbidden he doth more than those who depart may be only from some Sins that would make them scandalous and securely allow themselves in others 2. A Carnal Man in Matters of Religion and Morality acts for the most part according to his natural Temper Interest Passion and Appetite in all which Particulars we must do more than they i. e. act contrary to all these A Carnal Man is naturally may be Envious or Malicious he continues so there being no Principle in him to turn the Byass we must do more than he and if our Temper be so it must be subdu'd and overcome with Rejoycings at the Good and Parts and Gifts and Abilities and Blessings of our Neighbours It is a Carnal Man's Interest to comply with his Potent Neighbours when they Curse or Swear or Talk lewdly As much as it may be our Interest to comply we must shew our Dislike and Abhorrency A Carnal Man his Passion provokes him to bitter and reviling Language whatever Inclinations to Passion we may have no such corrupt Communication must come out of our Mouths A Carnal Man's Appetite inclines him to Eat and Drink immoderately and to crave every thing which is pleasing to the Flesh and which he hath means to reach or come by We must prescribe Laws and Bounds to those Desires and study Moderation and Temperance and Modesty and Decency and then we do more than others 3. In matters of Religion what external Services a Carnal Man performs our Care must be that our Hearts and inward Man be affected with them that the inside be Devout as well as the outside and that the Mind perform it's part as well as the Lips and Hands and that an inward sence go along with the Devotion we express without A Carnal Man's Lips only pray our Care must be to cry with our whole Heart Psal. cxix 145. and then we do more than others 4. In matters of Religion what a Carnal Man does out of sinister Ends we must do for ends great and laudable and acceptable to God ver 9. A Carnal Man receives the Holy Sacrament may be to satisfie the Law and to secure his Employ or Office that 's the principal motive of his Coming and if it had not been for such an occasion he had not come our care must be to receive it with an intent to inrich our Hearts and Lives with Faith and Love and Good Works and Courage against Temptations and then we do more than others 5. In matters of Religion what a Carnal Man doth partially and by halves we must do with Integrity and Impartiality This may justly be said of the Religious Services and Moralities of a Carnal Man all is done by halves He either doth one Duty and neglects another or shuns one Sin and wallows in another and even the Vertue he makes a shew of wants the better half viz. a true Principle of the Love of God An equal and uniform Piety is that which is most rational and consequently most pleasing to God and in this we are to do more than others 6. Particularly in Love and acts of Charity and Kindness A Carnal Man loves those who love him and is civil to those who are civil to him and he very rarely goes farther Our care must be to do good to those that do not love us and to be civil even to those that are not so to us and all this because our Light our Motives our Rewards our Revelations and Encouragements exceed and go beyond what Publicans and natural Men have or ever had And this is to do more than others However if this account be not satisfactory I am sure the Inquisitive Christian may easily see and understand wherein he is to do more than others if he will but impartially read and take a view of this Chapter For as the Precepts here given are
but reproves them either for their Oaths or other Sensualities But that Clownishness if it must be call'd so is a Duty Notwithstanding this we may preserve the respect due to their Places and Elevations in the World as we see in St. Paul who though he did not comply with the Sins of Ananias the High-Priest and of Festus the Governour yet paid them the respect their Stations and the Figure they made in the World requir'd II. The Text teaches us how we are to aggravate our Sins in our confessions to God To commit Sins which the very Heathens and Publicans condemn and abhor must needs be very dreadful in a Christian because he Sins against the very Principles of Nature In the same manner to neglect that which Heathens and Publicans by the light of Nature do find and affirm and observe as necessary must make the omission exceeding black in a Christian because he is without excuse And therefore if any of us have been unkind disobliging ill-nanatur'd cross and surly and morose to those who are kind and loving and tender and charitable to us let 's not make light of the Sin which is so much the greater by how much it is condemn'd by Heathens and Publicans Christians the Gospel obliges you to love your Enemies and will not ye love your Friends Not to love your Enemies will bring the Wrath of God upon you how much more your not loving those who love you The neglect of the more difficult Task will make you miserable and will not neglect of the easier cover your Faces with Confusion Intemperance Drunkenness Cheating Defrauding Lying Extortion Profaneness c. are condemn'd by the very Heathens and will you from whom greater Vertues are expected defile your selves with such Sins as these The brighter the Light is the greater is the Sin and therefore a Christian who lives under a higher Dispensation if he neglects that which the lesser was sufficient to instruct him in Sins with a witness for he Sins in the midst of Sun-shine In our Confessions therefore such Sins must be particularly deplor'd as exceeding others in heinousness And O! let the greatness of the Sin fright us for ever from venturing upon the like again and let 's bless God that there is yet hopes of Mercy and Vertue the Efficacy in the Blood of Jesus to wash away Sins which bring more than ordinary Guilt upon the Soul III. Since it is so unnatural and irrational a thing not to love those who love us behold how irrational and unnatural a thing it must be not to love God who loves us and hath loved us into Miracles and Prodigies Hath not he loved us Dares any say he hath not If he hath not loved us what do our Praises signifie Why do we praise him as it is in our Liturgy for our Creation Preservation and all the Blessings of this Life Why do we publickly and privately praise him above all things for the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory Are not these signs of Love Can there be greater Characters of his Love Do not we own and confess and acknowledge that these are certain marks of Love But why Christian why art thou so unkind to that God who hath loved thee thus He keeps thee he watches over thee he is thy Sun and thy Shield thy Shade on thy right Hand daily and hourly he showers down Blessings upon thee and all the Evils that befall other Men and which thou art preserved from it 's he that preserves thee from them But why so disrespectful to that God who incircles and crowns thee with loving kindnesses and tender Mercies Art not thou unkind to him when thou sin'st against him Art not thou disrespectful to him when thou wilfully do'st that which he protests in his Word is abomination in his Eyes What Iniquity do'st thou find in him that a God so tender and so kind cannot attract or charm thy Heart into reciprocal Love Why wilt thou suffer that Tongue of thine to vent it self in frothy and corrupt Communications which was given thee to sing his Praises Why wilt thou dishonour him with those Creatures which were intended for thy use and refreshment Why wilt thou make those Members of thy Body Instruments of Unrighteousness which were intended to be Instruments of Holiness Why wilt thou make thy Soul a sink and sty of impure and noisome Lusts which was intended to be a Temple of the Holy Ghost Why wilt thou make those Mercies thou enjoyest Weapons to fight against him which were intended as silken Strings to lead thee to his Banqueting-House the Banner whereof is Love He draws thee with Cords of Love was ever greater gentleness used toward a Child and canst thou find in thy Heart to grieve such Bowels of Compassion Behold what manner of love the Father hath shewn to us that we should be called the Children of God and is this your gratitude to make your selves Children of Hell and Heirs of Damnation There is that in the Love of God which would be an Antidote against all Sins whatsoever had'st thou but Courage to remember that Love and to set it before thee in lively Characters Joseph remembred God lov'd him and he resolutely resists the Charms of his Mistress How can I saith he commit this Wickedness and Sin against God Christian were the Love of God seriously remembred and thought of thou could'st not Sin To offend him would go as much against thee as drinking Poyson or a draught of Gall and Wormwood We talk a thousand great Things of Love what Power it hath to charm rational Souls Sirs God hath given you rational Souls and you are sensible there is no Love so great so amazing so wonderful as the Love of God to your Souls and Bodies I beseech you therefore Brethren by the Mercies of God by the Love of God by the Charity of our Lord Jesus Christ that you present your Souls and Bodies living Sacrifices Holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable Service Amen SERMON XXXIX St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 48. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect THat no Man may be offended at this Command of Perfection which some think utterly impossible on this side Heaven and others do as vainly boast of as if they were arrived to it Give me leave to tell you that it 's no unusual thing in Scripture to meet with Exhortations of that Nature It was God's Order to Abraham Gen. xvii 1 Walk before me and be thou perfect and it seems it is the design of the Gospel and of the preaching of it that we may present every one perfect in Christ Jesus Coloss. i. 28 And to this purpose was the Prayer of Euphrates for the same Colossians That they might stand perfect and compleat in all the Will of God Col. iv 12 And accordingly St. Paul entreats treats the
Let 's earnestly labour after Perfection and that none may ask what Perfection is It is no other no less no meaner Perfection that what is pressed in the Text Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect This Perfection to give a fuller account of it relates 1. To the kinds of Graces 2. To the degrees of Grace 1. To the kinds of Graces Endeavour after Perfection appears in nothing so visibly as in our serious endeavours after the several Graces which make up the Wedding-Garment spoken of in the Gospel and the charming Ornament of Christ's Spouse Not only one but all must appear very lovely in our Eyes If one seems amiable and the rest are nauseated the Heart is not right with God We must not content our selves with being liberal to the Poor and Needy but Meekness and Humility and love of Enemies and overcoming the Evil with Good must be as heartily espoused as the other To this purpose is that Command of St. Peter 2 Pet. i. 5 Add to your Faith Vertue unto Vertue Knowledge unto Knowledge Temperance unto Temperance Patience unto Patience Godliness unto Godliness Brotherly-kindness and unto Brotherly-kindness Charity c. There is indeed a great stress on some particular Vertues and particularly on Almsgiving and there are such lofty things said of it that the unwary Reader will be apt to think he need do no more in order to Salvation But though God's special favour and esteem of such a Vertue is set down by way of Motive and Encouragement yet it 's certain it 's no where said that such a Vertue alone will suffice in order to eternal Happiness and when the rest are injoyn'd with as great severity as this it must necessarily follow that the rest are equally necessary The Pharisees indeed had an Opinion that if a Man did exercise himself in any one Command though he neglected the rest he would not fail of a blessed Portion in the Life to come But this plainly contradicts the Christians Rule which is Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John xv 14 and it 's to be fear'd that where the Obedience is partial the Plant cannot be or is not of our Heavenly Father's Planting The Stoicks which held that he who had one Vertue had all the rest were so far in the right that he who upon a good Principle out of love to Goodness applies himself to one Vertue is in a disposition to be Master of the rest if he pursues that Principle but to think that all the rest will fall in in course to him who by frequent acts shews he is pleased with one is what Experience confutes and Reason tells us cannot be except the same Industry be used to attain to the rest that was used in the pusuit of that we have made a considerable progress in 2. This Perfection must be seen in the degree of those Graces we are possessed of A lower degree must be raised into a higher Faith which is like a Grain of Mustard-see must be advanced into a spreading Shrub so must Hope so must Love so must Charity so must other Graces The Acts must be improv'd into Habits and the tender Plant must become Robust till it can bear the Injuries of Wind and Weather The beginnings of a Vertue are Incouragements to proceed in it he that doth not doth not grow strong in the Lord and consequently doth not endeavour after Perfection 3. This Perfection reaches farther yet even to doing of such things as are more perfect There are divers Actions which seem to have no great hurt in them and yet it is certainly a more perfect act to abstain from them This is to be observed particularly in Eating and Drinking in Dressing and Cloathing in Speeches and Discourses and Visits in Conversation and Company in Sports and Recreations c. Such a Jest eating of the other Dish drinking the third Glass playing for Company 's sake such a gaudy Dress c. may seem harmless but it is greater Perfection to forbear them so in doing good it is many times greater Perfection to do such an act of Charity than to forbear it In all which Cases a Christian who follows our Saviour's Rule in the Text will have a special regard to what is more perfect and therefore more pleasing to God In such Particulars as these consists the Christian Perfection which here we are exhorted to labour after but I can have but little hopes that you will exercise your selves toward this Perfection except you were very resolute to make use of the proper means which are these following 1. A mighty ambition after Spiritual things as great an ambition to be truly Good and Holy as others have to be rich and great in the World 2. A vigorous consideration of the future degrees of Glory according to the progress you make here He that meditates much of these degrees will find in himself a vehement desire after such degrees of Sanctity as the most perfect Persons have attain'd to 3. A fervent Love of the Lord Jesus such a Love as we find in St. Paul in St. John in Mary the Sister of Martha c. a love which must rise from the strong Impresses made upon the Soul by the Sufferings of Christ and his Love in descending from Heaven and dying for us 4. A lively representation of what God hath done for us both in Spirituals and Temporals for this will mightily inflame the Soul and put her upon doing any thing which he delights in 5. An attentive Consideration of the Title in the Text where God is called Our Father which is in Heaven an Epithet often repeated and therefore often to be thought of If we are his Children what should we do but imitate him that being the nature and duty of Children that do not bear that name in vain He is in Heaven this speaks his Greatness We see how Great Men prevail with us to do things even contrary to our Inclination And shall not he who is the greatest of all Influence our Resolution to be Perfect as he himself is Perfect Moreover he is in Heaven and from thence looks down upon us It is his condescension that he doth so and that condescention ought to be a Motive to this Perfection He looks down upon us to see how we improve our Talents if we do not he notes our Guilt in his Book where it will stand as a Witness against us And he is said to be in Heaven to let us see the place which we are to be receiv'd into if we be Perfect and truly endeavour after it Thither he intends to draw us to the same Kingdom where himself Reigns and where Christ our Head Reigns And is this no Argument to stir us up to this Perfection I do not mention Prayer as a means because we still suppose that what-ever helps we offer all are insignificant without fervent Prayer And thus we have chalk'd out