of the Creature diminish from the Love of God For there is so vast a disproportion between the Kinds as well as the Degrees of the two Goods that he that once comes to relish one will find but little tast in the other And therefore says St. Austin Monemus ne mundum ametis nt eum qui fecit mundum liberè ametis Our advice is that you love not the World that so you may love its Maker freely The truth is to love God freely we should love him intirely for every advance we make towards the Creature so much we recede from God For these are two contrary Terms of Motion and there is so great a Contrariety between the Love of God and the Love of the World that they do not only abase each other but are in some degrees utterly inconsistent For so St. John If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him And if this be the consequence of loving the World I think the less we have to do with it the better and that there is a great deal of reason to be Poor in Spirit Thus far have we consider'd the Duty and Reasonablenes of Poverty of Spirit as it signifies an Indifferency of Desire to the things of the World I come now to consider it as it denotes Humility and Lowliness of Mind whereof I am also to shew I. The Duty II. The Reasonableness The Duty of Humility is plain in all the Scripture but more frequently and earnestly inculcated in the New Testament insomuch that it may be reckoned among the distinguishing Doctrins of the Christian Religion The Heathen Morals almost overlook'd it and in the Old Testament Writings 't is but sparingly recommended but in the Christian Institution we every where meet with it in Capital Characters as a Precept of the first Magnitude God resisteth the proud saith St. James and be ye cloathed with humility says St. Peter And our Lord himself who was a perfect Example of all Moral and Divine Perfection and in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily seems yet to commend himself to our imitation chiefly upon the Account of his Humility Learn of me says he for I am meek and lowly in heart But there needs no multiplication of Scripture for the proof of this I shall therefore only further observe that the greatest Personages that ever were in the World were always most eminent and conspicuous for this Excellency Out of many I shall select three Instances which may well deserve our Consideration The first shall be the great Fore-runner of our Blessed Saviour the Holy Baptist. This Great and Holy Person when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to demand of him who he was not only disclaim'd the Titles of Christ of Elias and of that Prophet this his Humble Spirit was not content with but went further and gave this strange and mortified account of himself I am says he the voice of one crying in the wilderness The Prophet David indeed had said before of himself that he was a Worm and no Man And this one would think was a sufficient stretch of Humility But the Baptist speaks in a strain below him allowing himself to be no more than a Voice The same Holy Person thought himself unworthy to Baptize his Saviour nay what makes that less admirable not worthy so much as to unloose the very Latchet of his Shoes The next Instance I shall mention is the ever-blessed Mother of our Lord. She if ever any Creature had cause to be Proud 'T is impossible even to imagin a stronger Temptation She was saluted by an Arch-Angel said to be a Person highly favoured with God and Blessed among Women And in particular That she should be Mother to the Son of the Highest and that too by the Power of the most High Was not here enough to betray a poor innocent Virgin into Pride and Vanity Had the Angels half so much reason for their Pride and Haughtiness when they fell from the Heights of Glory Well how did she behave her self under the dangerous Salutation Why she seem'd to make it rather matter of Obedience and Resignation than of Triumph and Boasting Behold says she the handmaid of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word But the most stupendous Instance of Humility that ever was or can be was in the Person of our Blessed Lord whether we consider him in the Mystery of his Incarnation or in the mean Circumstances of his Birth or in the humble method of his Life whether we consider him as emptying himself of his Eternal Glories and drawing a Cloud over his Brightness or as forbidding the Devils to publish his Divinity and Men to declare his Miracles and his Disciples to tell of his Transfiguration or as washing his Disciples Feet or as riding upon an Ass or as conversing among Sinners and lastly choosing to die between Thieves These and many such other Instances of Condescension argue the most profound Humility that can be imagin'd and withal how concern'd our Lord was to commend and endear this most excellent Duty to the Practice of Men. Of all the Vertues and Excellencies in the World one would have thought this of Humility least capable of being practis'd and exemplify'd by the Son of God Commend it indeed he might by Precept as well as any other but sure one would think not by Example But see what rare Arts and Mysteries God has found out to teach us this Lesson And therefore we may well conclude that there is Excellency and Necessity in it as well as Difficulty and how much it concerns us to learn what God has been so peculiarly solicitous to teach It is then a Christian Duty to be thus Poor in Spirit And the Reasonableness of it is as great as the Obligation This I might shew from the Good Consequences and Happy Effects of this Disposition of Spirit but this falling in more properly under the Third Partition of my Discourse I shall for the present content my self with some other Considerations taken from the Condition of Man whom I shall consider I. As a Creature II. As a Sinner First then Man is a Creature and this is a very reasonable Ground for Humility and Poverty of Spirit We usually think it a very Humbling Consideration to remind a Person of the meanness of his Original But now what Original can be so mean as to be from Nothing It is enough to take down the Spirit of the brightest Intelligence to consider that nothing was his Original a state more vile and dishonourable than the Chaos it self Now this is the Condition of Man He had his Rise from Nothing and derives his Pedigree by his Mother's side from Darkness and Emptiness And though now by the Omnipotency of his Creator he is something yet still he holds his Being as precariously as he first received it and depends as much for his Existence upon the Will
to them both in common and that is the Kingdom of Heaven which I suppose to comprehend both Grace and Glory As 〈◊〉 Grace we are told by the Apostle that God has chosen the poor in this world to be rich in Faith And in the same place where God is said to resist the Proud he is said also to give Grace to the Humble Indeed Humility is the proper Foundation of Grace and the Theatre of all Divine Operations This State of Nothingness and Self-emptiness is as much a Preparation to the New as the Void and Inform Space was to the Old Creation 't is the true and proper first matter in the Spiritual World into which the Form of the New Creature will be introduced and if Man does but contain himself in this Nothing God will not fail to work all and to be all in him having promised his Special Presence to the Man of an Humble Spirit Then as for Glory 't is highly equitable that they who have humbled themselves here should be exalted hereafter and that they who have renounc'd this World should have their Portion in the next And to convince the slow-hearted and distrustful World that thus it shall be God has already given a Specimen of it in the Example of his Son who was particularly eminent for this double Poverty of Spirit for renouncing the World and for debasing himself whom therefore God has highly exalted giving him a Name above every Name and has also placed him on his own right hand Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him Discourse the Second Matth. V. ver iv Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted THEY are the Words of him who was himself a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief and who was also acquainted with Happiness too with the Joys of Religion with the Refreshments of Angels with the Antepasts of Glory and with that Peace of God which now passes all Understanding and shall hereafter satisfie all Desire He had tasted of both Cups the Cup of Trembling and the Cup of Salvation He had tried both the Miseries of Human Nature and the Glories of the Divine and so well knew what proportion the Consolations of God have to the Infelicities of Man and how little the Sufferings of this present time are in comparison of the Glory that shall be reveal'd to them that with meekness bear them and with fruitfulness improve under them He therefore having tried both the Worst and the Best must needs be a proper Judge in the Case Whether Happiness may consist with Affliction or no. And he is so far from discouraging his Disciples from treading in the same thorny rugged way that he did that he rather gives them all the invitation in the World to do so casts a Glory round the Head of the Sorrowful and represents Grief as a very Lovely thing by telling them that Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted But are all those blessed that Mourn and does Grief intitle all that are under its Dominions to Happiness and Consolation This indeed would be good News to this our World where there is so much of it which is a Valley of Tears and a Region of Sadness where there are a thousand Sighs for one Smile and where the mourners go about the streets But 't is not all mourning that comes within the Circle of this Beatitude nor shall all that sow in Tears reap with Joy As there are some that Sorrow without Hope so is there some kind of Sorrow concerning which we can hope nothing There is a Sorrow that proceeds from no Human and Moral Principle but from Natural and Necessary Causes as from the Influence of external Impressions from the grosness of the Spirits and Blood from Melancholy and the like Again there is a Sorrow which tho' of an Human and Moral Extraction yet springs from no Good or Laudable Principle but is altogether of a Neutral and Indifferent Nature Again there is a Sorrow that proceeds from an ill Principle as from Malice Envy Covetousness Ambition Servile Fear and the like and which tends also to an ill end as to Revenge Impatience Despair c. Accordingly the Apostle tells us of a Worldly Sorrow and of a Sorrow that worketh Death So far is all Mourning from being Christian Mourning or from giving us a just Title to this Beatitude Here therefore it will concern us to consider three things I. That there is such a thing as the Duty of Christian Mourning II. Who these Christian Mourners are III. Wherein consists their Blessedness And first I say that there is such a thing as Christian Mourning This must needs seem a strange Paradox to the Philosophy of those who make the Pleasures of the Animal Life the end of Man and think that now we have nothing to do but to enjoy them and that God sent Man into the World to the same purpose as he placed the Leviathan in the Sea only to take his pastime therein 'T would be but a cold Employment to go about to convince such Men either of the Necessity or of the Blessedness of Mourning whose Answer would be in the Language of those Sinners in the Book of Wisdom Come on let us enjoy the good things that are present and let us speedily use the Creatures as in our youth Let us fill our selves with costly Wine and Ointment and let no flower of the Spring pass by us Let us crown our selves with rose-buds before they be wither'd let none of us go without his part of our Voluptousness let us leave tokens of our joyfulness in every place for this is our portion and our lot is this This is the Style of the Epicurean School And there are also some Christians who tho they do not make the Pleasure of the Animal Life their End Lot and Portion as do the other yet they think they may allow themselves a great Scope and Compass in it that they may indulge themselves to the full in all the Mirth and Jollity of the World and that there is no need of any such thing as mourning in Sion These Men seem to have the same Notion of Christs Religion that the Jews had of his Person They look't upon him under the Character of a great Temporal Prince and dream 's of nothing under his Reign but Victories and Triumphs and Festivals and Vineyards and Olive yards And so some think of his Religion They look upon it as a fine gay secular jolly Profession as a state of Freedom and Emancipation of Ease and Pleasantness as if the Children of the Kingdom had nothing to do but to eat drink and be merry and that mourning had no more place in this than it is to have in the New Jerusalem wherein as the Evangelical Prophet tells us All tears shall be wiped away from mens eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying nor any
more pain It is indeed most certain that Religion has its Joys and Pleasures and that the Christian Religion has the most of any and that they are such too as by far transcend all others that the Best Life is also the most Pleasant Life and that 't is worth while to live well if 't were only for the meer pleasure of doing so And there is a great deal of Truth in that Noble Saying of Hierocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The good man excels the wicked man not only in goodness but also in pleasure it self for whose sake only the other is wicked Nay surther the Pleasures of Good Men are not only greater than those of ill Men but such as they cannot enjoy or relish and have no manner of Notion of As there are some things of God so there are Pleasures of Religion which the Animal Man does not perceive For the Secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and the Stranger does not intermeddle with their Joy Nay further yet no Man has any Ground or Pretence for rejoycing but a good Man 'T is the most usurping and daring piece of Impudence in the World for an ill Man to laugh or be merry What has he to do with Mirth who has the Wrath of God abiding on him and Hell open to receive him It does not belong to him 't is none of his part Mirth is the Reward of a good Conscience the Prerogative of Innocence and the peculiar Right of good Men. And they not only may be joyful and chearful but are also commanded to be so Thus in the Law Thou shalt rejoyce before the Lord thy God says Moses to the Jewish Votary So again the Psalmist Rejoyce in the Lord O ye righteous for it becometh well the Just to be thankful Again Let the righteous be glad and rejoyce before God let them also be merry and joyful And again Serve the Lord with gladness And says our Blessed Lord in his Farewel Discourse to his Disciples These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full And we are exhorted to rejoyce evermore by the Apostle who also reckons Joy among the Fruits of the Holy Spirit Now all this is true and I not only confess but also recommend the thing hitherto pleaded for But then 't is also to be consider'd what the Wise Man says that to every thing there is a Season and that there is a time to weep and mourn as well as a time to laugh and dance And this not only from Natural but also from Moral Necessity For the Circumstances of Human Life are such as make it our Duty as well as Fate to mourn and be sorrowful Religion has its gloomy as well as bright side and there are to be Days of Darkness as well as days of Light in the Christian Kalendar This is intimated to us by several Expressions and by several Examples in Holy Scripture Thus the Church in general is in the Divine Song of Solomon compared to a Dove which tho' considerable for some other qualities is yet for nothing so remarkable as for her continual mourning So far was that wise Man from the Opinion of those who make Temporal Prosperity a mark of the True Church Again says the same wise Preacher It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting And again Sorrow is better than laughter Where you see he not only inculcates the practice of Mourning but also expresly prefers it before its Contrary And he gives this reason for it because by the sadness of the Countenance the Heart is made better And therefore he makes this the measure of Wisdom and Folly by telling us in the next Verse That the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of Fools in the house of mirth This Practice of Mourning is every where inculcated in the Writings of the Prophets but especially of the Prophet Jeremy who has writ a whole Book of Lamentations But above all t is remarkable what our Lord himself says of Mourning in the 16th of St. John where he seems to make it the great mark of Difference between his Disciples and the Men of this World Verily verily says he I say unto you that ye shall weep and lament but the world shall shall rejoyce Nor do there want Examples of this holy Mourning in Scripture Thus the Devotion of Hannah is expressed by her being a Woman of a sorrowful Spirit The Royal Prophet spent his whole time almost in Mourning and Sorrow which he also indulged and fomented with Music and Divine Hymns And yet he was a Man wise and learned and a Man after God's own heart and withal a Man of great Business and publick Occupation Thus again the Prophet Jeremy was a great Mourner a Man as unsatiable in his Sorrow as some are in their Luxury He was so full of Grief as not to be satisfied with the Natural and Ordinary ways of expressing it and therefore says he Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night More I might instance in but I close all with the great Example of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ who as the Text says was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief And that not only in his last Passion and Agony when his Soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death and when as the Author to the Hebrews says He offer'd up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears but also throughout the whole course of his Life We oftentimes read of his weeping and sorrowing as upon his Prospect of the City Jerusalem at the Grave of Lazarus and a little after his last Supper when as the Text says he began to be sorrowful and very heavy and in the Garden where he wept tears of Blood But we never read that he ever Laught Once indeed 't is said that he rejoyc'd but then 't was not with an outward sensitive and tumultuous Joy but with an inward spiritual and silent Exultation He rejoyc'd in spirit And what was it for Not upon any Animal or Secular Account but upon an Occasion altogether Spiritual and Divine 'T was for the abundant Grace of his Father bestowed upon his Disciples and for their good use of it and improvement under it I do not intend in all this such rigid Measures as are practis'd and exacted by some of the Religious Orders of the Roman Church where a Man is is not allow'd so much as to Laugh or to say any thing but Frater memento mori for several years together This would be to turn Society into a Dumb Shew to make Life a Burthen and withal to bring an ill report upon the good Land of Promise and to discourage Men from the Christian Religion But that which I