there are wherein mercy calls for that which is named kindness and favour But secondly We must give to others what they need as we must not alwayes require what is our own in other mens hands so we must alwayes give to the poor what is in our own hands We must relieve the distressed defend the fatherless plead the cause of the widdow visit and help the sick deliver the prisoner and captive and be so far from requiring in some cases what others owe us that we must give them more to support their feeble estate withall Many actions of mercy there are to mens souls which I shall not mention but in general tell you that under this word are included all actions of Charity pitty and compassion toward our neighbour And we must charge our selves with them as we do with actions of Justice And be as careful not to with-hold supplies from the poor as we are not to steal and not to say them nay when we are able no more then we must lye to our Brother and we must make provision for them and do them good as diligently as we watch over our selves that we take not away from them nor do them evil The covetous is abhorred of God as well as the thief the unmerciful as well as the murderer And therefore a man must not content himself that none can charge him with doing wrong but his light must shine before men and he must give Alms of such things as he hath And likewise he must deal fairly with all men and not with a griping hand and an over-reaching head and he must be ready to forgive all them that have trespassed against him and not hold them to over-strict satisfaction There are many blind worldlings Too many think it sufficient to be just but it is hard so to be if we be not merciful many moles and earth-grubbers that pudder and scrape in the earth all their dayes and they do not invade any of their neighbours possessions nor encroach upon their ground but content themselves in their holes and yet they do no good at all nor bring any benefit to the world They seem not so bad as rats that eat our meat and cloathes and books but yet none is the better for them and at last many are much the worse As the mole though she take nothing away from our ground but seems to raise it higher yet in time she destroyes it all by her hills which she casts up So these men though they do not plainly pick mens pockets and rob them though they raise fair houses and seem to make Towns more splendid where they live yet they secretly work out all the old inhabitants and make it all their own dwelling They are as the spleen in the body and draw all they can from others to fill their own bags and the hard conditions which they hold men unto with their obstinate refusal to relieve a decaying person undoes many round about them But that it is meet we should do otherwayes appears not only from that great rule of our Actions God justly requires mercy of us to do to others as we would they should do to us were their condition ours and ours theirs but also from the great mercifulness of our God to us We stand in need every day of Gods mercy both in giving and forgiving and why should it be thought hard that he bids us relieve the needy when we our selves are in so much need and he thinks not much to relieve us But besides if it be hard for us to part with a little out of abundance how hard is it to them to want not only the abundance but that little And again since God gives all to us he may entail it upon us and our heirs on what conditions he pleases and what great matter is it if this be one that we give some of it away to others And truly this is one of the things that makes it good Mercy is for our good for there is no such way of saving and preserving as by giving and no such way of losing as by unmerciful saving This cuts off the intail from many a fair estate that the last Lord of it was a covetous miserable wretch And besides God bids us here love mercy which we could not do if it were not Good Neither will God tye us as you heard to such hard conditions as to delight in our own mischief And therefore all ingenuous heathens have counted it a piece of singular contentment to do good and som looked upon it as a becoming little gods in the world This if any thing likewise will draw the love and affection of others to us not to say their perty adorations A great light and splendor such actions cast abroad when they are not done out of popularity and vain-glory but out of love to mercy and to God the father of mercies and they get a man honour without desiring of it or taking any other pains to seek it And there is not only pleasure and credit in this noble vertue but as much profit as heart can desire It must needs be good because it is called in Scripture doing of good and though the phrase properly imports the good of others yet let me tell you we hereby bestow no small boons upon our selves God so loves it that he loves those that love it and hath promised great rewards to them and theirs in this world and in the world to come With the merciful he will shew himself merciful Psalm 18.25 Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy Mat. 5.7 There is that scattereth and yet increaseth The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself Prov. 11.25 26. His righteousness endureth for ever his born shall be exalted with honour Psalm 112.9 This is an argument upon which I might dilate till night For there are no less treasures for the merciful man then the rich man hath of wealth in his house yea infinitely more for he layes up his treasure in heaven where God hath bound himself to pay him with usury and increase AND now for the third thing 3 What it is to walk humbly What it is to walk humbly with God it is not fit that I should give you much more then the heads of discourse unless I intended of a Sermon to make a treatise First therefore To think meanly of our selves think lowly of thy self which is a great part of this duty So the word humbly is often taken especially in compare with God from whom we and all we have do come and on whom they continually depend As thou givest to others their own yea thine own so assume to thy self no more then is thine own yea call nothing that is good thine own but acknowledge God in all be it riches or beauty or learning or health or grace it self When thou exercisest justice and mercy do not take
it to be a matter of high desert but think that thou only doest as becomes a man and thou dost thy self a great deal of right and kindness in it and what thou dost it is from God who gives both the will and ability to do it 2. Bewail thy imperfections Mourn and lament over thy self Think lowly of thy self when thou art at the best and then moan over and bemoan thy self that thou art no better This is called in Ahab humbling of himself which though it were but outward yet was answered with an outward blessing And thus they are joyned together Jam. 4.9 10. 3. Obey Gods commands Readily subject thy self to all Gods commands He that truly mourns and is sad that he is no better strives most sincerely and uses all means to be as good as he can His heart rises not against any of Gods commands he thinks nothing too strict which God enjoyns He willingly gives up his liberty and choice to God which is an act of the greatest humility imaginable Not my will Lord but thy will be done is not only his language but the sense of his soul And what greater subjection can there be in a man then to have no will of his own but to part with it unto another This makes all sin so abominable because it bids defiance to God and disowns in a proud sort his authority and this makes goodness so acceptable because it makes us lay our selves at Gods feet to know his pleasure and debases us to nothing We claim no power over our selves or any thing that we have own no right at all to dispose of any thing as we please when we humbly walk with God 4. And in particular Worship him with reverence we must reverently worship him by all Acts of prayer and praises O come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our maker Psal 95.6 A Psalm not unfitly appointed to be used heretofore in the beginning of divine service to remember us how reverently and solemnly we should address our selves unto Gods worship And let me tell you this that it becomes us to enter into the place where we tender out services unto God with more humility and composedness then ordinarily now appears It is not a sign of a good Spirit to come either with an haughty and high look or with a careless and garish eye much less laughing and talking when we are going to humble our selves and fall down before the Lord. But we ought to enter even into the place where we intend to perform our obeysance to him with reverent thoughts submissive looks and a bashful countenance as being deeply sensible of our unworthiness to approach into his presence There is a tradition among the Hebrews that David learnt but two things of Achitophel and he made him his master his friend and his privy-counsellour for them And the one of them was by way of reproof because he came into the School the house of Teaching 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with his head lifted up V. P. Fagium in Pirk. Av. cap. 6. which had the face of rashness and pride in it Oh that men would now profit so much by reproofs and count them their friends that tell them of their faults and that they would learn likewise to come into the house of God with more becoming reverence in their faces then ordinarily they do 5. 5 Exercise meekness in afflictions Meekly submit to Gods corrections As thou must not chuse thy work so neither must thou chuse thy usage All impatience comes from pride and our murmurings are bred by too goodly thoughts of our own selves Alas what are we more then many others that we should expect to be so tenderly handled What great matters can we do with that health or riches or credit which we would never have to absent themselves from us Nay what condition is bad enough for such wretches What a wonder is it that such unprofitable creatures are not banished out of the world If we thought thus oft-times with our selves we should become very humble i e. meek patient and contented under all that befalls us One act of humility begets another and he that thinks meanly of himself will not be angry that he is afflicted 6. Subjection to our Governors Be peaceable and obedient to Governors who are gods in the world and to whom God hath bidden us that we should subject our selves Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as supream or unto Governors c. 1 Pet. 2.13 It is an high act of pride and insolency to controle the authority that is over us and to set up our own wills above Gods vicegerents For it is a great contempt of the majesty of God whose image they more remarkably bear and with whose effigies they are more visibly stampt then other men We must alway therefore do what they command us or else suffer what they inflict upon us And if we chuse the latter we must suffer as meekly and peaceably as if it was an immediate hand of heaven upon us For if Solomon say of every man That proud and haughty scorner is his name who dealeth in proud wrath Prov. 21.24 then much more is he to be branded in the for-head for a man superlatively proud who cannot endure to be touched in body or estate but it casts him into the highest inflammations of anger even against the highest powers 7. Temperance and sobriety in the use of what we enjoy Moderately and temperately use Gods mercies The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to be temperate is applyed frequently to the mind in opposition to pride and self-conceitedness For sobriety indeed proceeds from an humble sense that nothing is ours but all that we have is Gods and that we have right to nothing but what he gives and as he allows And all drunkenness wantonness and whatsoever other intemperance there is in the world is commonly the issue of an haughty giant-like temper of spirit which makes men look upon themselves as Lords and owners and all creatures as their proper goods which are perfectly at their disposal The crown of pride and the drunkards of Ephraim are both names for the same persons Isa 28.1 3. For besides that such men have no regard to a supream being they look bigg upon all their inferiours and no beasts likewise do kick more against the reproofs or counsels of Gods Prophets then such as they 8. Modesty in looking for a reward Modestly expect a reward from God when thou hast done these and all other good actions That word which is here in my text rendred humble doth frequently occurr in the Jewish writings for shamefac'tness and modesty And therefore I add this at the last as the top of all that when we have done all our work with the greatest strictness yet we must look for our wages from
meer mercy and benevolence This humility is the greatest ornament and the fairest of all the graces in Gods sight We never look more beautiful then when we blush at our own defects and dare not cast our eyes confidently upon God The highest act of Faith is a piece of the lowest humility When we rely most upon Gods mercy we utterly disclaim all our own merits But as that act of Faith whereby we cast our selves on Gods mercy is not all the acts of it but supposes many others foregoing even so it is in this act of humility whereby we acknowledge our selves unworthy to receive any reward from Gods hand It is so far from being all the humility that God requires that there must precede all the other acts which I have mentioned before this can take its place Many men can easily disclaim all trust in their own righteousness because they have none to trust in But they are truly humble men that are just and righteous and yet trust not in that for their acceptance with God to salvation You cannot say that a man is wise because he holds his peace when he is dumb and tongue-tyed But he is a wise person who can speak well and yet silently hearkens No more can he be deemed poor in spirit who hath no riches nor treasures in his soul to brag of but he only who is enriched with knowledge and faith and love and all good works and yet is lowly in heart poor in his own thoughts and acknowledges that he is but an unprofitable servant Now all this is but just The justice and goodness of all this because of our dependance on God his superiority over us and his excellency above us On all which when we look we must say with Job 42.5 6. Now mine eye seeth thee and therefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes And it is no less good then it is just For first He that lyes low lyes safe He cannot fall far who stands on the ground but whether can he fall who lyes already upon it We shall not be in danger to tumble down from great hopes and expectations if we be so humble as to have no high opinion of our selves and deservings The lowest valleys are the safest from wind and storms and God hath promised to preserve the meek and that they shall inherit the earth Who will harm modest and submissive persons that had rather put up an injury then do any that are loving peaceable and quiet in the Land None but those against whom no men be defended And secondly He that lyes low is most fruitful The mountains are commonly barren and the valleys are most richly laden For the Lord resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble And thirdly He that lyes low is blessed from above with all that is good for him The less he expects the more he shall have the more unworthy he judges himself to be the more fit he is to have his emptiness filled The showres that run of from the high heads of mountains run down into the bosom of valleys Most of heavens plenty falls into the lowest places and so do most of Gods favours and blessings fall into humble souls They that behave themselves as it becomes them in meekness moderation obedience modesty c. God will make good his Word unto them The meek shall eat and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord They shall lye down and none shall make them afraid He will keep them in perfect peace in a sweet serenity and quiet of Spirit He will exalt them in due time and open even the gate of heaven unto them not to pour down blessings on them as now he doth but to receive them up to his blessings This discourse would swell too much if I should particularly show the goodness of every one of the fore-mentioned acts of humility and therefore it shall suffice to have given these light touches upon some of them NOW if these things be so as I have discoursed Application then first let us begin to put in practice a part of the duty last mentioned Be humbled for sins against these commands by being deeply humbled for all our sins against these plain and familiar commands Let every man search into himself how far he hath gone along with the stream for it is manifest that covetousness and oppression hard heartedness and cruelty pride and irreligion have come in like a flood upon us in this Nation and born many away before them As for Justice we may take up the complaint of Petrarch concerning the Age wherein he lived that hunters and fowlers use not greater cunning in laying their nets and snares for wild beasts and fowls then crafty men do to inveigle and insnare the simple and plain-meaning people Or we may say with one of his Countrey-men which is now become a proverb in Italy That by deceit and cunning men live half the year and by cunning and deceit the other half And Mercy is such a stranger to mens hearts that we count him a person of great tenderness that will not deceive us at all and a very merciful creature who will not deceive us as much as he can So little kindness and good nature is stirring that we are apt to suspect them of designs who make much of us and we dare scarce receive mens courtesies And what is a great deal of our Religion but an humoursom kind of devotion a proud self conceited pleasing of our selves with a fastidious contempt of all others Where is that awefulness in mens countenances when they converse with God that tenderness of heart at the mention of any of his commands that bewailing of their sins that patience peaceableness acceptance of the punishment of their iniquities that ought to appear We may almost say with this Prophet in the next Chapter The good man is perished out of the earth Mic. 7.2 and there is none upright among men For could there be so much spoil think you committed in the midst of us and no injustice Such estates so quickly gotten and no covetousness So much blood shed and no hatreds So many contentions quarrels and hot disputes and no uncharitableness So many vain opinions and no pride Such unsteadiness in the wayes of God and no self-conceitedness in mens hearts Such contempt of the Ministry and all that is sacred and no irreligion We must begin therefore to amend by acknowledging these sins and seriously bemoaning them either in our selves or others But our amendment must not end here Amend in all these things nor must we think by blubbered eyes and lamentable groans to draw God to be a party with us in these sins No we must sincerely proceed to a practice of all these duties which the Prophet and our own consciences loudly call for and the rather because they have been so much laid aside and neglected or at least some of them set up to
â—f the wicked is short and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment If a man have but a little that is justly gotten it is a great treasure for he gains a good conscience which will continually â—east him But wickedness though it be sweet in the mouth yet it is the gall of Asps within and besides the riches that such a man swallows down he shall vomit them up again Job 20.12 14 15. God shall cast them out of his belly And it is no less good for whole Nations Good for whole Kingdoms as well as for private men then it is for private men to do justly for they subsist by it and it is the pillars of government of peace and tranquillity Every act of Justice is as a pin in a building which joyns the parts of it faster together and maintains the intireness of the whole body And when any man defrauds another he pulls out a little pin loosens the joynts and doth what he can to bring all things to ruine Either men become enemies to each other and are in a state of war when wrong is committed or else they stand at a distance and will have nothing to do with each other any more and both wayes Society is dissolved that Communion which is the foundation of Common-wealths is over-turned But see what the Scripture saith in all these cases where many blessings are promised to just men and curses are threatned upon all others Prov. 3.33 The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked but he blesseth the babitation of the just A curse indeed enough to make a whole volume for Zachary saw a flying roll a sheet of parchment as large as our Books writ on both sides with woes against the thieves and false swearers Zach. 5.3 4. A place which I have taken notice of in the foregoing papers and I will add by the way here That a flying roll may not only denote the speed which that Book full of curses would make to come upon them but also that the volume was open and spread forth so that all might read it For you know when a sheet is not rouled up but hangs expanded it is moved by the wind and flies as it were up and down in the air Believe therefore the same wise man who saith Prov. 10.25 As the whirlwind passeth so is the wicked no more but the righteous is an everlasting foundation If you compare this verse with the second it will seem likely that by a righteous man he means one who doth justly and thereby takes a course to settle himself and by a wicked man an oppressor who may soon lose all that he hath unjustly got Unrighteousness you see will be our own loss more then any other mans and therefore to do justly is not more anothers good and gain then it is our own And so you may read Prov. 11.11 Prov. 14.34 where he shews the general concernment of Cities and Nations of lesser and greater Communities in righteous dealing King Canutus knew this so well that when he had condemned many malefactors and one desired it might be considered he was of the blood-royal and have some favour He said So he shall let him be hanged upon an higher Gibbet That Justice which he observed in punishments if all would observe in their promises Covenants contracts and all their dealings and intercourses they would banish suits quarrels wars and tumults out of the world Peace would grow and flourish on this root and how great a good that is Psal 85.10 we in this Nation by this time may have learnt This would make our swords rusty and our armor good for nothing but to hang up in our houses and shew that we were once miserable All that the thunder and lightning of our Guns telleth us is the worlds injustice from which we must either be defended or delivered Let this cease and they will all be silent This will put out the fires which nothing else will quench and bury the enmities which else will alwayes be maintained It was a wise and a true answer with which I will conclude this which Agesilaus gave to one who askt him whether Fortitude or Justice were the greater vertue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We should have no need of your valour if we were all just AS to do justly 2 What it is to love merey is to give to men that which is their own so to love mercy is to give to others that which is our own Or rather Justice renders and mercy gives to men that which is their due For that which is ours may be due to others who are in need though not by mans Laws yet by Gods And there is a kind of Justice even in mercy in so much that in Scripture-language righteousness frequently signifies giving of Alms and a Just man signifies one that is Good But as these two stand distinguished justice requires that every man have his due and mercy that he have what is not by meer justice due to him Three sorts of men there are say some of the antient Hebrews and every one of them hath his peculiar saying The first is the unjust and he saith That which is mine is mine and that which is thine is mine The second sort is the just and his saying is That which is mine is mine and that which is thine is thine The third sort is the good or merciful and he saith That which is thine is thine and that which is mine is thine He will not take away from others what is his but give to them what is his own and the Apostle is thought by some to allude to this distinction of men when he saith Rom. 5.7 8. Scarcely for a Righteous man will one die yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die I should prolong this discourse beyond its just bounds if I should mention all the particular acts of mercy Let it suffice therefore in General to tell you 1. We must not alwayes exact our due That sometimes we must let go our own right and those dues which in justice others are bound to pay unto us Strict justice may sometimes be a kind of injustice i. e. it may overthrow the ends of justice which is preserving of humane society And all will confess that it is so hard severe and oppressive to the parties of whom it is exacted that what mercy requires in this case is very much like the demands of Justice This bids us to make abatements sometimes of what in strictness we might ask and to deal favourably and gently with all men Where men have had great losses and their estates are much broken we must not hold them rigorously to agreements Neither must we take all advantages of our Brethren nor seize on a mortgage when they cannot pay nor sue a bond nor turn a man out of his lease when he misses his day And a thousand such like cases
who was so taken with that saying of our Saviours Math. 7.12 that he caused this sentence to be writ in sundry places upon the walls of his pallace Do not that to another which thou wouldst not have done to thee And all under-officers and ministers of publique buisiness had need hear this doctrine continually sounding in their ears because it is so contrary to their worldly interests to practise it exactly When men have power and opportunity to gratifie their covetous desires they will find that they need a very divine power to enable them to deny them Balzack It is very strange saith the Master of modern Eloquence that the great Turk can intrust his wives to the vigilancy of others and assure himself their chastity will thereby be conserved yet that Kings know not to whom they may safely encharge their treasures But the true reason is for that an honest man is by so much more difficultly found then an Eunuch by how much miracles are more rare then Monsters Great fortitude is requisite to the obtaining of honesty but the will only suffices to become covetous And therefore seeing it is necessary to do some violence to our selves to keep us from doing violence to others such persons have great reason to thank those who will lay their hands daily upon their corrupt affections by holy admonitions counsels not only to restrain setter but to slay and mortifie them And to conclude this let us all be sure to remember it is not enough to praise justice and make speeches in its commendation nor to have some affection to it by convictions in our minds of its reasonableness and profit but we must do justly as my text speaks and all our actions must be conform to the principles which we praise This I say the rather because it hath been noted that men of excellent intellectuals have had bad moralls and those who have writ books for the preservation of honesty have not preserved themselves from corruption Now Secondly for Mercy Secondly Let mercy be joyned with justice it makes a more special claim to our favour because we stand so much in need of it every day if not from other men yet from God And it is to be observed that the Prophet though justice is to be loved yet doth not say Love justice but Love mercy because he would recommend it to our dearest affections For there are more just men then there are mercifull in the world it being easier to give men their own then to bestow upon them what is ours Oh to part with this earth this Idol of Gold and Silver is a hard lesson to give to him that asks to do good to him that doth evil to us is an harsh saying But remember what Zacheus saith Luk. 19.8 Not only I restore four fold to him whom I have wronged but half of my goods I give to the poor Of such a charitable disposition must you be if you hope to go to heaven and care no more for riches then do your little children You must not make hard bargains with poor men nor think every penny overplus too much for them You must use sometimes to give more then you have agreed for that so you may be ready and disposed to do an act of charity when the poor call for it I know it hath been frequently pleaded that the times are hard and dangerous and that mens estates are much impoverished But then 1 they are harder you may be sure with the poor if they be hard with you who are rich If they make you cry they make them groan If they pinch your purse then they squeeze and drain their very houses And 2 mercifulness is the way to make them better When they have made us better and become more charitable then they themselves will grow better become more peaceable He that hath a bountifull eye shall be blessed He that hath mercy upon the poor happy is he Prov. 14.21 Prov. 22.9 And 3 the worse and more dangerous they are the less we should be in love with riches and the more we should give away to them that need For it is likely we cannot keep them or by giving some away we may secure the rest As men that are afraid their goods will be lost by storms at Sea give so much in the hundred to assure them so should we assure our goods and estates with God when the times are tempestuous by giving him a large summ for his uses A wiser man then any of us makes the badness of the times an argument unto charity howsoever now it is a motive to many to shut their hands Give a portion to seven and also to eight for thou knowest not what evill shall be upon the earth Eccles 11.2 His meaning is the time may come when thy treasure shall be taken from thee and how much better is it to part with them voluntarily Thou canst not tell how much danger all thou hast will be in and therefore it is wisdom to intrust God with it and give him something in hand that he may save the rest And 4. if God do not save thy riches yet he may wonderfully save thee For he hath promised Psal 41.1 2.3 to preserve the merciful men in time of trouble and sickness Or 5 if he take such men away it is when he intends to destroy a place and then who would desire to live Isa 57.1 If they be taken away from the evil to come then death doth them a great deal of good and God is very merciful to such merciful men in not letting them see the desolation of their countrey To all which add that while we live we have no more then we do enjoy and then we give away for Gods sake And there is no less of mercy in forgiving of men then in giving to them in passing by the evil they do to us then in doing good to them but lest this discourse should proceed to over great a length I must leave you to judge how much we should love it by what hath been said of this And then thirdly for walking humbly with God And thirdly humble walking with God be joyned with them both let me only suggest these two things from the word walk which I have not yet taken notice of First it signifies more then one single act and engages us to a continued motion in the wayes of humility Our demeanour towards God must be a life of lowliness meekness and patience a course of contentedness and sobriety modesty and moderation a constant series of such actions as I have named And if we think to come to heaven by taking a step or two in this way or by fierce running at sometimes we shall be but like to a traveller who fits still the most of his day and thinks to come to his journeys end by some sudden spurts toward night To maintain a constant sense of our dependance on God a continual
Exod. 20. And likewise you may take notice of the ordinary style of Moses when he speaks of these things which runs thus These are the Commandments the Statutes and the judgements Deut. 6.1 or keep his Commandments his Statutes and judgements Deut. 30.14 the like to which you may read Mal. 4.4 In all which places and many other Commandments are put first which word comprehends the moral and everlasting precepts and then follows Statutes which denotes the Ordinances and institutions about Gods Worship and after that Judgements which signifies the Laws about matters of civil right both which were alterable and not eternal Yea the whole book of Deuteronomy or the second Law as the word signifies seems to be added after the other to teach them that it was obedience to his voice in all things that God did most regard And therefore Nazianzen reckoning up the priviledges of the Jews saith that they had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a double giving of the Law Orat. 13. one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Letter the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Spirit Which may be interpreted of that in mount Sinai and of the other in the plains of Jordan 3. And so after the Law was given And from the succeeding Ages all the people of God understood that the things chiefly intended by him were their inward mortification their purity and integrity of soul a spiritual worship and a life of temperance sobriety justice mercy humility and all other vertues To this there are a multitude of places in holy Writ that will testifie and bear witness Hath the Lord as great pleasure saith Samuel in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is better then sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of ramms For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubborness is as iniquity and idolatry 1 Sam. 15.22 23. Samuel a witness of it Saul thought that God was delighted if they feasted him with a multitude of sacrifices and that nothing distasted him if they had a care not to entertain Idols with the good chear at the Altar and therefore Samuel tells him that God took the greatest pleasure in an hearty obedience to his commands which was better then all the outward worship that he had appointed and that rebellion against Gods commands was as bad as Idolatry and worshipping of stocks and stones From the Prophet Samuel let us go to Asaph And Asaph who lived not long after and he tells us Psal 50.7 8 9 c. that God did not hunger after the flesh of beasts and foul nor thirst after the blood of Bulls and Goats nor did he fall out with them for the neglect of this kind of service but that which he required of them was to pray to him and praise him and perform all their vows promises to him which was the best of offerings ver 14 15. And that which he reproves and chides them for was that they hated instruction and made nothing of all his commands for the regulating of their words desires and actions ver 16 17 18 c. He asks them how they dare be so impudent as to pretend be in covenant with him though they brought him never so many fat sacrifices seeing they could not indure any of his counsels but were unjust unclean lyers swearers slanderers and backbiters As long as their evil affections and desires were unmortified he cared not for the death of so many of his creatures And so you may read the sense of David in the next Psalm Psal 51.15 16 17. And David O Lord open my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise For thou desirest not sacrifice else would I give it thou delightest not in burnt-offerings The Sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise There were no Sacrifices indeed appointed for murder and adultery to which he hath a particular respect but they made a man obnoxious to death by Moses his Law Yet he saith in General that God did not delight in burnt-offerings and so his words may be extended farther than that one case of his That which pleased God was holy praises and the sacrifices of a broken heart and contrite spirit There may be an allusion to the ceremonial worship in the words broken contrite the former of which may refer to the sacrifice of beasts the latter to the perfume that was put before the testimony of the Tabernacle of the Congregation Exo. 30.35 36. And the words may signifie as if he had said that brokenness of heart and an holy shivering of the spirit in pieces so that it shall never be set together in the same frame wherein it was before is far better then the cutting and chopping of the flesh of beasts in pieces And as spices when they are beaten smell the sweetest so when your hearts are thus bruised and laid in their own dust by sincere contrition it is a more gratefull perfume to me then the beaten spices which were called most holy If you look likewise into Psal 69.30 31. You shall find that to praise God with a song and magnifie him with thanksgiving please the Lord better then an Ox or Bullock that hath horns and hoofs From him pass to Solomon his son who is of the same judgement for he saith expresly That to do justice and judgement is more acceptable to the Lord then Sacrifice And Solomon Prov. 21.3 Yea that the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord especially when he bringeth it with a wicked mind v. 27. And therefore in Eccles 5.1 he bids us be more ready to hear i. e. to obey then to offer the sacrifices of fools A fool is one that hath a body without a soul and such a carkass of religion are all sacrifices without obedience A meer skin and husk of devotion which God can no more be pleased with then we are with the gifts of a fool who knows not what he doth If from thence you pass to the Prophet Isaiah And all the Prophets he speaks so fully to my purpose in the first chapter from the eleventh verse to the twenty-first that I need not gloss upon his words And chap. 63.1 2 3. the Lord tells that people who boasted so much that they had provided him with an house and furnished his table continually with sacrifices I need no house nor am I beholden to you for a dwelling for the heavens and the earth are mine And I tell you there is no man loves me like to him that is poor in Spirit humble and obedient to my word Though you think that you please me mightily by the large provision you make at my house believe it without this contrition poverty and holy trembling at my commands he that kills a whole Ox is so far from doing me any service that it is as bad as an act of
humble acknowledgements that he was their great Landlord of whom they held the land of Canaan and from whom they received whatsoever they did enjoy 2. And so Secondly their Sacrifices taught them to consider that they should consecrate and offer themselves unto him seeing that they were his no less then their sheep or calves which they brought to his Altar These sacrifices being their tribute which they paid to their supream Lord did express that they were tyed to him in any services that he would require of them They could not think that he would be pleased with an Ox more then with a man and that he would hold them excused if they rebelled against him to whom they made these constant acknowledgments They did not hereby pay their debts but confess that they were indebted They were not discharged by these from all obligations but testified a sense that they and all theirs were engaged to him 3. And Thirdly they promoted true holiness as they shewed the hatefulness of sin and the guilt which it brought upon those that did commit it For what need was there that these poor creatures should suffer for their faults if God was not much offended by their disobedience The cries and struglings of the beasts might put them in mind what necessity sin brought upon them of suffering and how cruelly it would use those who continued in it And it would be easie to shew that there was no punishment threatned for the breach of any of the ten commandments whether stoning or strangulation or cutting of the throat or burning for there were but these four but it was represented in the death of these beasts which were thrown on the pavement tyed about the throat slain and burned either in whole or in part upon the Altar 4. And fourthly these Sacrifices and all other outward ceremonies might well teach them how far they ought to keep from all inward difilements who were to be so remote from all fleshly pollutions They that were under such a constant discipline of God and taught by such holy men could not whithout a strange neglect be so sottishly stupid as to imagine that God took no care of the soul who would have the body so clean and pure If a beast must not have any blemish in it nor the man that offered it any legal uncleaness upon him he might easily think that God expected his mind should be holy and not in a worse condition then his beast or his body If they were to wash themselves and their sacrifices then the soul sure was not to be dirty and impure If they were to be seperated from all unclean persons then much more from bad company And if they might not so much as eat with a Gentile then much less might they partake with them in their sins and impieties Apud Photium in Biblioth pag. 887. I know not what truth there is in the observation of Eulogius but he wonders why there being so many clean creatures allowed by God to be eaten in the Law there were only five viz. a Goat a Sheep an Ox a Turtle and a Pigeon which were used in sacrifices unless it had an aenigmatical and figurative meaning to denote our five senses which we are to purifie and cleanse that we may adhere to God and be fit to draw near unto him 5. And therefore fifthly we may look upon the law of ceremonies as an hedge to the Law of moral precepts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the ten commandments Some things as Aristoâ—le well observes are good in themselves and to be beloved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for their own sakes L. 1 Ethic. and others are good and lovely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the sake of the former as they are either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 effective and operative of them or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in some sort a preservative and guard to them or as they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hindrances of their contraries and forbid that which would destroy them Now though the things that we are speaking of were not good in themselves nor had any proper worth in them as justice mercy and humility have yet they were of this latter sort of goods and served to maintain these greater things in their sacredness and to prohibit them from infringing any of the rights belonging unto them God kept the Israelites at a great distance from violating these commands by making them observant of lesser injunctions Their fear of these meaner offences was intended as a guard and security to the greater sanctions and commands As a man that dare not leap over an hedge into our pasture will not venture one would think to climb over the wall into our garden so he that durst not break through and transgress the bounds of these outward precepts it was to be presumed would never be so bold as to tread under feet and contemn the more divine Laws God intended mainly to preserve the holiness of the moral laws and spiritual precepts and so he set the ceremonial as a thornie fence about them to keep them from being broken Their not eating of blood must needs make them to have a natural abhorrence of murder Gen. 9.4 5. and their not marrying within such degrees of consanguinity was an exercise of their chastity and a great security against adultery and such like wickedness Their taking no use of their poor Brethren and leaving them the corners of the fields when they reaped c. was a means to make them not to covet nor be greedy of the world Their observing of so many daies in memory of Gods mercies must needs teach them to have the Sabbath in great reverence which was in memory of the creation of the world and their deliverance out of Aegypt Seeing they must break down so many mounds and banks as were cast up about the eternal Law it might reasonably be supposed that they would never attempt to destroy it at least not as long as they kept these entire 6. And in particular these things kept them from Idolatry which was the highest contempt of God that could be Orat. 42. They were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzen saith of the whole Law a wall set up between God and Idols to keep them from running unto strange worship A partition which they must break down before they and the Gods of the heathens could meet together And this Maimon doth conceive to be the reason of those precepts which carry not their reason in themselves that God might make them abhor to participate in the Religion of the nations that were about them For he well observes that God commands them such things as were quite contrary to their practice so that what the heathens loved that they were to abominate and what they reverenced the Jews were to have for daily use and they were not so much as to worship toward the same quarter of heaven but whereas the world generally had their
holy place in the East God placed his sanctuary in the West But it is not his observation alone for Justin Martyr long before in his disputation with the Jew Dialog cum Tryph. saith that the Israelites making a golden calf and offering sacrifice to it after the manner of Aegypt God did accommodate himself to them and commanded them to offer him sacrifices that so they might not give away his worship unto Idols And more plainly in his answers ad Orthodoxos if that book be his he saith that the Egyptians taking all living creatures except a Swine to have something of Divinity in them Respons 35. ad Orthod God distinguished between the clean and unclean and permitted the one to be offered in sacrifice but the other he forbad to be so much as eaten By both shewing that they were unworthy of the honour or name of gods which might either be slain and eaten or else were to be reputed of as unclean And Theodoret asserts it still more particularly L. 7. de curat Graec. affect that the Aegyptians worshipping a Goat and a Sheep as well as a Calf or Heifer and likewise holding the Turtle and Pigeon among the birds in greatest veneration God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice these rather then any other that so they might learn how vile the Religion of those people was whose gods were continually slain and eaten by them And for this cause also it was as he thinks that God would not let them eat Swines flesh because the Aegyptians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abstaining from the rest as gods did think it lawfull to eat of this creature only But if it should be thought that the Aegyptians did not worship a Goat as it is certain they did a Cow yet the Jews confess that the Zabii or Sabaeans who were their near neighbours did give divine honour to it and against their infection they were no less to receive an Antidote then against the other And this perhaps may be the reason why God loaded them with such a world of ceremonies that they might be so constantly imployed as not to have time to think of adding any other devices of their own or others to his service having enough to do already Only his infinite Wisdom made these things serve to teach them higher duties and to be shadows also of most glorious things to come which I am not now to treat of 7. But seventhly as they put them in mind to consecrate themselves to God so they remembred them to give him the very best and the secrets of their souls For it is well observed by Cyril Alex. that though God suffered them to offer sacrifices as other Nations did yet not after their manner but so artificially and skilfully ordered that as I just now said they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 travel with the form of a spiritual and intellectual worship in their womb L. 9. Contra Julianum of which they are now at last delivered Their whole burnt offerings which ascended intirely to heaven and were to be chosen out of the best of their beasts fruits or liquors might well carry along with them the chiefest of their thoughts and affections yea their whole souls toward God in whose service they were to spend themselves And when they sacrificed peace offerings they were to give to God the kidneyes or reins which are the seat of carnal pleasure and the heart as some think which is the fountain of all living motions and the seat in the ancient language of the thoughts and then the blood of the beast which might well teach them to offer even their lives to him who gave life to them as well as all other things which were most dear in their eyes 8. To which it may be added that the sacrifices could not be accepted unless the person as well as the beast which he brought were clean and holy So that the offering did not make him good but supposed him to be so already Plutarch gives us to understand how exact the Aegyptians were about the red Cow which they had decreed was to be offered to Typhon L. de Isid Osir when he sayes that if there were but one hair black or white she was judged to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unlawfull to be offered in sacrifice But he tells us likewise in the same place that the person who brought it was to be sound and in a good state of health for they thought that that being which is most pure undefiled and without blemish ought not to be served 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with bodies or souls that were full of putrifying sores or diseases You cannot think that the Jews were no less intelligent then these heathen especially since God required of the man that offered them that he should be so far from greater pollutions that he should not lie so much as under any ceremonial defilement Or if there were any secret naughtiness lying in his heart while his outward actions were unblâ—mable yet the sacrifice of such a wicked man was an abomination to the Lord who knows the heart Prov. 15.8 And therefore you may observe that after the Psalmist had said Psal 51.17 The sacrifices of the Lord are a broken Spirit c. and desired acceptance with God for him and his people ver 18. he adds Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness with burnt offering c. ver 29. As if he had told us first that a broken and contrite heart must go before else no sacrifices could be accepted to do the soul good and then secondly that in the time of offering they must be accompanied with righteousness i.e. the mans soul must be holy and devout and have a good affection in it unto God 9. And after this they could not be accepted but by the mediation of the Priest which taught them great humility even when they were at the best and in the greatest purity of body and soul 10. And again there were some sins for which no sacrifices would be admitted nor no Priest could intercede which both taught them humbly to wait on the mercy of God that he would find out a sacrifice and a Priest to expiate them and likewise to take great heed how they fell into those sins 11. And the sacrifices themselves are to be considered as a part of their civil righteousness for by the giving of these to God and observing the rest of Moses his Laws they had a title to the Land of Canaan If they kept themselves from defilements or brought these oblations and observed the feasts and kept the outward part of the ten commandments they were saved from being cut off by the Magistrate or cast out by God from the possessions that he had given them But God did not intend that this should make citizens of heaven or give them a right to the celestiall inheritance Canaan it self being but a type of heaven and these ritual observances
murder because he is an hypocrite and a base flatterer And you may as well bring a dog or a pig to me which was forbidden by the Law to be offered as a lamb Swines blood which was the most detestable creature among them is as good meat to me as the very best of your oblations And you may as well fall down before an Idol and bless as offer to me any incense For indeed they made God but a great Idol that could not see nor hear their words and actions much less their hearts and thoughts and that would be pleased with any thing and let them use him as they list In the Prophet Jeremiah also the Lord complains that they had not hearkned to his words nor to his law but rejected it 6.19 and lest they should return to this exprobration that they had been very obedient in offering of sacrifices he faith v. 20. To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba and the sweet cane from a far country your burnt offerings are not acceptable nor your sacrifices sweet unto me Which is as if he should have said Though you are at great cost and charges about this outward worship yet these are not the things that I so much expect though you fetch me perfumes from forreign places yet there are things nearer hand that are far more sweet unto me And he deals more plainly with them chap. 7.21 22 23. c. saying put your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh c. The burnt offerings you know were to be wholly consumed in the fire and the people were to have none of them but of their peace-offerings or sacrifices of praise they did eat Now saith God Take all if you will for me I care not for your burnt offerings you may eat them your selves as you do the rest seeing you so little regard my other commands Never think to flatter me with these for I can be content if you feast upon them your selves I am not so greedy of yourf ar sacrifices as you imagine no it was not about them that I spake with your fathers when they came out of Aegypt but this was the thing that I commanded them that they should obey my voice in all things But did not they ask leave of Pharaoh may some say to go and offer Sacrifices in the wilderness and did not God give them a Law about them Yes He did speak to them indeed about those things but they were to be done in conjunction with better obedience and comparatively with the other things he did not command them It was never intended that these should be their righteousness and the things that they should above all others perform but obedience was the chief thing even in these that God respected For so the words of Jeremiah may be understood I did not command your fathers meerly concerning burn-offerings and sacrifices but the thing I aimed at even in the appointing of them was that they should be obedient to my voice To all this you may add that famous place cited by our Saviour Hos 6.6 I desired mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more then burnt offerings I do not remember that the Prophet Ezekiel speaks any thing of this matter which might be perhaps because he wrote in the land of their Captivity where sacrifices were not offered But lest those of the captivity should think as their fore-fathers had done that their sacrifices were the things that he most delighted in and that therefore he brought them from Babylon that they might offer them to him He tells them Isa 43.23 24. that they had not brought him any Sacrifices nor honoured him with any offerings since they came to Babylon and yet he would deliver them which was a sign that those were not the things which he stood so much upon No instead of loading and wearying him with their Sacrifices as their ancestors had done they had rather made him serve with their sins and wearied him with their iniquities So that it was only for his own names sake that he blotted out their transgressions and did not remember their sins v. 25. And to conclude an honest Scribe in our Saviours time acknowledges the truth of all that I have said when he makes this reply to one of our Lords answers There is one God and there is none other but he And to love him with all the heart with all the unaerstanding with all the soul with all the strength and to love his neighbour as himself is more then all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices Mark 12 32 33. Where we have a full confirmation of the words in my text and of that also which was said a little before that these duties contained in the ten commandments are the first and chiefest of all For the Question of this Scribe is which is the first commandment of all and our Saviour doth not say to offer Sacrifices which is neither first nor second neither But to love God he saith is the prime and chiefest of all and next to that is the love of our neighbour V. Hierod Porphyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato Alcibiad 2. Euseb .3 praep Evang. C. 3. I might add the sense of sober heathens who thought that no sacrifice would please God but the oblation of a devout soul to him and who looked upon these burnt offerings but as a needless butchery as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the food of the fire and nourishment of the flame but then I should too much exceed the just bounds of this discourse considering also that there remains something due to that great enquiry which is For what end were they and such like things appointed by God if they were not very pleasing to him 2. THE truth is Sacrifices tended to promore toward holiness those heathens did commonly stretch this notion so far as to condemn all sacrifices * V. Euseb L. 4. Praepar Svang cap. 10. 14. some of them out of Ignorance of their true use and others out of false principles which they had imbibed and therefore waving other ends and keeping only to the purpose of my text I laid down this as a Second truth to be proved that Sacrifices and such like outward services did tend to keep men from sin and to advance justice charity and piety 1. And first it seems to me as though there was the very spirit and reason of these three things in the threefold sacrifices that were appointed Their sin-offerings which were to reconcile withall may be looked upon as a piece of Justice and to be given by way of satisfaction unto God for the offences and wrongs done unto him And the peace-offerings as a piece of love and gratitude to God the author of all Mercies and as a peice of charity and kindness to the poor who in many cases were partakers of them And then their whole burnt-offerings were tokens of their obedience and