with him and be at Peace and great good shall come unto thee And from this Peace with God arises that Peace in believing we read of Rom. XV. 13. Man naturally is at Enmity with God Rom. V. 10. to be sure an Enemy of the Cross of Christ for the Law of the Cross is directly opposite to the Principles and Dictates of sinfull Flesh Phil. III. 18. and this Enmity still grows greater and greater as corrupt nature is improved or abused into more corrupt practices and from hence flows Mans misery So that to be happy a Man must be at Peace with God which is a Maxim so natural that Heathens do not think themselves safe without appeasing their angry Deities and this puts them upon offering Sacrifices to them But this doth not take with the true God who delights not in burnt-offerings The Sacrifices of God which unite the Soul to him and establish a Peace betwixt God and the Sinner are a broken and a contrite Heart and laying aside voluntarily and deliberately and from a sense of the madness of the attempt even of resisting and clashing with an Omnipotent Being those things which God professes and declares his Hatred and Abhorrency of and a chearfull Compliance with his revealed Will and you all know that the things he hates are our sinfull customs practices and inclinations for your Iniquities have separated betwixt you and your God and your sins have hid his Face from you saith God Isa. LIX 2. To be at Peace with God a man must be at War with his sinfull Inclinations To live in Peace with these is to fall out with God and the longer we maintain Friendship and Familiarity with these the greater becomes the distance betwixt God and our Souls the breach is still made wider till we sin away at last all hopes of Reconciliation where the Soul hath any reasonable assurance that God is at Peace with her there Joy and Gladness and Serenity flows naturally into her bosom and that is the Peace of Conscience St. Paul speaks of Rom. XIV 17. And indeed there are no persons more likely to be successfull in making Peace among men than those who first make Peace with God and with their own Consciences 2. Such as make it their business to live peaceably in humane societies and seek to maintain that Peace which either Nature or Religion or Friendship or Neighbourhood have settled among men with whom we live and concerning this sort of Peace-making St. Paul speaks Rom. XII 18. If it be possible as much as in you lies live peaceable with all men To maintain Peace is part of Peace-making for this is to make that Peace which is begun and which we find settled to our hands to continue and flourish in a word to preserve it and according to the old saying Non minor est vertus c. It is as great a Vertue to preserve the good thing which we have purchas'd as to purchase it and while we behave our selves inoffensively unblameably and keep a Conscience void of offence toward God and Man we take the readiest way to live peaceably It 's granted that the most inoffensive actions nay even Acts of Duty and Devotion may stir up the wrath and fury of cholerick and prejudiced men as we see the Apostles by preaching the Gospel and attempting to beclaim men from their Vices and telling them their Duty rais'd all the World against themselves but this is not our fault as long as we give no just occasion to men to quarrel with us or give no just offence while we are ready to do good offices do by others as we would have others do by us and in our Discourses and behaviour observe the rules of Modesty Decency Sobriety and Charity if after all men will speak ill of us and be angry because we will not run out with them into excess of riot as it seems those did St. Peter speaks of 1 Pet. IV. 4. We have discharged a good Conscience and may comfort our selves with this That we have given no just occasion to break the Peace 3. And here comes in the stricter signification of the word such as from a sense of Christian Love and Charity endeavour to reconcile disagreeing Persons and Neighbours and their fellow Christians that are at variance And concerning this peace-making St. Paul gives this grave and serious Admonition 1 Cor. VI. 5 6. I speak to your shame Is it so that there is not a wise man among you no not one that is able to judge between his Brethren But Brother goes to law with Brother And this must needs be his meaning in that other Exhortation Rom. XIV 9. where he bids us follow after the things which make for Peace And indeed where there is true Christian Compassion a man will not only be ready to run to make up differences when he is entreated but of his own accord and before he be entreated especially where either Friendship and a long Acquaintance or some near Relation gives the invitation It was barbarous language of Cain Gen. IV. 9. Am I my Brother's keeper Such a word must not drop from the Hearts and Mouths of those who are adjured by Bowels of Mercy not to look every one on his own things but every man also on the things of his Neighbours as all Christians are Phil. II. 4. The common laws of humane societies require this Peace-making much more the Laws of Christianity and since we are bound to love our Neighbours as our selves how is it possible to obey that Law without endeavouring to foder and join the clashing and dis-jointed Members of Christ's mystical body in doing so we love our Neighbours as our selves even in endeavouring to keep others from disagreeing as we would keep our selves from being at variance with others How good and how pleasant a thing is it for Brethren to dwell together in unity it is like the precious ointment that ran down from Aaron's head into his Beard and so on to the skirts of his cloathing saith the Royal Psalmist Psal. CXXXIII 1 2. As Christians we are all Brethren and then it must be our duty to see the Beauty Order and Harmony of that brotherly society preserved which is impossible to be done without actual and personal endeavours of reconciling those who are at difference and this argument Moses made use of when he saw two Israelites striving together and would have set at one Why do you wrong one to another seeing ye are Brethren Act. VII 26. 4. Such as endeavour to make others like themselves and do instill this Christian Principle of reconciling Persons that quarrel and live in Enmity into others This is still making Peace when we labour to make others enamour'd with this duty of Peace-making which is done either by Exhortation or Entreaty or Representing to others the Nobleness Excellency and Profitableness of this peaceable and peace-making Temper It 's natural for men to endeavour to make others of
have been sensible of and with them agrees the Author of the Wisdom of Solomon ch I. 4. Turbulent Passions keep out this Spirit of God But where the Soul is calm this Spirit spreads his wings over it as a Hen over her Brood and teaches her the mysteries of Godliness displays to her the glories of the Gospel represents to her the designs of God's Providences given her a lively sight of God's Goodness and the Reward to come and at once discovers to her and presses upon her the powerfull arguments of the Love of God which prevail with her to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes And since the meek have the honour of being blessed with this Celestial Wisdom whatever the World thinks of them they must be blessed and happy III. Blessed they are because they shall inherit the Earth and how they do that must be our last enquiry 1. Some by inheriting the earth understand the millennary Reign or the Reign of the Saints here on Earth for a thousand Years But surely this cannot be the meaning of it for if there be such a millennary Reign which I will neither affirm nor deny it is evident from Rev. XX. 4. that that Reign is confin'd to Martyrs and those that have been beheaded for the Testimony of Jesus and surely men may be meek and expect a reward of God without being Martyrs Therefore others more justly understand it of the present Earth we all inhabit and referr the blessedness here spoken of to the quiet possession the meek enjoy or have of the blessings God's liberal hand bestows upon them For though sometimes they lose all they have in the world though they are harrass'd by their enemies though their Meekness is sometime their loss though barbarous men sometime take advantage of their meekness to undo them yet for the most part they quietly and contentedly enjoy what God gives them be it more or less to be sure they have the best means in their hands to possess what they have in peace And that 's their Meekness which makes them recede frequently from their right for peace and quiet 's sake and God will not suffer them to be losers by their Meekness and therefore rewards that with content which they seem to want in other things it being his method to take care of and to fight for those who will not fight for themselves But though the meek may in this sense be said to inherit the Earth 1. With respect to their quiet Possession of the temporal things God gives them 2. With respect to the favour of men God makes them Heirs of 3. With respect to the success that some times attends their temporal concerns as a present recompence of their Vertue as it was said of a great man in this Kingdom that rose from a small to a very great Estate and used to overcome the malice of his Enemies with Meekness and Patience that he never sued any man nor any man ever sued him Though I say we must grant that in this sense the meek may be said to inherit the Earth Yet 2. This sense methinks in this place is not great enough where we find our Saviour intends to encourage his followers to the noblest Enterprizes by the noblest and most excellent Rewards When David spoke these words The meek shall inherit the earth it 's like he meant the Land of Canaan and a quiet Possession of their own in that Country but as the Land of Canaan was an Emblem of the Land of eternal Glory so Christ whose Province it was to bring Life and Immortality to light must be supposed to speak of this Earth in a more sublime and exalted sense and therefore by the Earth here must be understood something greater even the happy Regions of immortal Bliss call'd sometimes the new Heaven and the new Earth Rev. XXII 1. sometimes a heavenly Country Heb. XI 16. sometimes the Land of the living at least in the sense of some of the Fathers Psal. CXVI 9. even those Regions which were prefigured by the Land of Promise by the Land that flow'd with Milk and Honey In a word the Holy Ghost in Scripture loves to express those happy Regions of eternal Love and Felicity by various Names sometimes by a River because the Joys are in a perpetual Flux and Motion there sometimes by a Mountain or Hill because the glorified Saints will be exalted to Seats high and lofty and overlooking all the World sometimes by a City because of the Unanimity of the Inhabitants sometimes by a Kingdom because of the Splendor and Glory of that State and here by the Earth because of the affluence of all things that can make the Meek rich and blessed and happy And they are said to inherit this glorious Land 1. Because as Children they have a right to it while they live here as a Son hath a right to his Father's Land 2. Because after death they shall actually possess this Estate of their Father which is in Heaven so that their inheriting speaks them Children Sons and Daughters of the Almighty to whose share the rich Demesnes of the other World will fall not after their Father's death who is immortal and cannot die but after their own death and this shews the difference betwixt inheriting Estates here on Earth and inheriting the Regions of eternal Bliss There Men inherit after their Father's death here after their own death Inferences 1. It 's evident from hence how improper and unfit a solitary life is for the practice of the noblest Precepts of Christianity Meekness and subduing our wrathfull cholerick peevish and angry Inclinations is certainly one of the most excellent rules of our holy Religion But how shall he that retires from all company lives in a desart in a wilderness in a wood where he lives ' out of all converse how shall he live up to the strictness of this rule who hath none to offend him none to displease him none to affront him none to do him an injury none to talk impertinently before him none to oppose or cross him Its temptations must try this vertue To be chast upon Mount Athos where no Women come to be sober in Scythia where no Wine no strong Liquors grow is pitifull and mean and at best but a negative innocence but with Lot to be chast in Sodom sober with Anacharsis in debauch'd Athens with the Salamander to lie in the Fire without being consumed and like Fishes to swim in the Salt Sea and to contract nothing of its Saltness this is vertue this is heroick this is Christian like Provocations Insolencies Injuries these are the Touchstone that must shew whether our Meekness be genuine or not The most cholerick Man alive may fansie himself to be the meekest Creature under Heaven while there is none to disturb or disorder his Passions But in your Trade in your Commerce in your Traffick in your Callings and Employments in Company in Society of others when you are slighted
therewith than an house full of sacrifices with strife Besides by this you avoid innumerable sins such as ill language odious names envy hatred malice and revengefull sins and desires and engaging other Men in sin with you and doing mischief to men c. But is not the Title in the Text given to the peaceable and peace-making Christian enough to make you endeavour to attain to this Character What Children of God And do you feel no desire to be so Did you ever seriously examine the privileges which attend the Children of God and are these no motives to you to come into the number Suppose the Children of God are not much regarded here but is there not a time coming when they shall be honoured before the whole World Is there not a life to come which shall manifest their Dignity and their Glory The Peace of Heaven shall fall to their share Do not you reflect sometimes on that Peace which the Children of the everlasting Kingdom shall enjoy Or is that Peace so inconsiderable that it deserves no consideration What is the future felicity but perfect Peace everlasting Peace uninterrupted Peace The peaceable Christian shall feel it feed upon it possess it live upon it peace with God peace with the Prince of Peace Christ Jesus peace with all the Angels of God peace with all the Spirits of Men made perfect No war shall disturb it no tumult discompose it no sedition annoy it no rebellion disfigure it The God of Peace shall live in him and he in the God of Peace God will tell him that he is his friend and one with him and that no Men no Devils shall pluck him out of his hands There Rivers of Peace shall flow upon him Rivers where no Wind doth blow no Storms do come no Tempests rise no Hurricanes molest I conclude with St. Paul's Obtestation Colos. III. 15. And let the Peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also ye are called in one body and be ye thankfull Amen SERMON X. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven I Did once think to have joined this Verse and the next in the Explication but upon a more accurate Examination I find that this Verse I have read to you treats of Persecution in general but the next of a particular Persecution with the Tongue i. e. Calumniating and Reviling and therefore shall allow them a distinct Discussion or Consideration To be persecuted is to be robb'd plunder'd beaten buffeted bruised imprison'd tormented hanged burnt drowned c. And are these marks of Blessedness saith the Carnal Man What! to be beaten and think it a Kindness to be buffeted and look upon it as a Favour To be put in a Dungeon and delight in sinking into the mire To be led to the Stake and sing To be tormented and give God thanks To be robb'd of all and make a low bow for being so What! be happy in Misery and blessed in Chains and glorious in Torments and honourable in a fiery Furnace Yes all this is very good Divinity and very agreeable to the Doctrine of the Gospel of Christ and if the Cause be good Gibbets and Gallows and Chains and Shackles and Fetters and Fire and Sword are a Christians Jewels and Pearls and Pendants and Necklaces and Ornaments For blessed are they which are persecuted for Righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Three things will here deserve Consideration I. What it is to be persecuted for Righteousness sake and who they be that fall under that denomination II. Whether these words as well as the preceding imply a Negative That those who are not persecuted for Righteousness sake are not blessed III. I shall enquire into the Nature of the Blessedness here mentioned and shew how the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs that are persecuted for Righteousness sake I. What it is to be persecuted for Righteousness sake and who they be that fall under that denomination In answer to this 1. To persecute 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original is properly to follow hard after a thing and with great earnestness to endeavour to seize upon a thing we desire or to pursue it as Hunters do their Prey which they quit not till they take it The word in Scripture is used sometimes in a good sometimes in a bad sense In a good sense when it is applied to Vertue as 1 Thess. v. 15. Follow that which is good Heb. xii 14. Follow Peace with all men 1 Cor. xiv 1. Follow after Charity 1 Tim. VI. 11. Follow after Righteousness In all which places for follow in the Original the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used which in other places we render persecute to shew that till it be joined with something else that alters the Sense it is no more than following hard after a thing When it is applied to Persons it is commonly taken in a bad Sense and implies pursuing with a desire or intent to hurt the Person pursued and that 's the usual Notion and Acceptation of the word even to prosecute or pursue a Person with an intent to afflict or hurt or punish him and that 's the meaning of the word in the Text where the persecuted must be persons hunted or haunted teazed tormented imprisoned abused or in a word evil entreated as is evident from Christ's scope in these Beatitudes which is to comfort those whom the World counts miserable 2. By Righteousness here is meant the whole Circle of Religious Duties and Offices or Obedience to the Laws of God or of the Gospel and it takes in both believing and practising i. e. believing what God hath commanded us to believe and practising what God in his Word hath commanded us to practise and consequently forbearing to believe or practise either what God hath not revealed or hath forbid to believe or practise I know the word Righteousness is used sometime for just dealing sometime for Mercy and Alms-giving but then there is some word in the Context that shews it must be restrained or confined to that Sense but here is nothing to give it that determinate Sense and therefore it must be the same with Goodness as it is opposed to Wickedness and in this Sense it 's ordinarily used both in this and the next Chapter in this v. 6. and 20. in the next v. 33. and is sometimes called The Righteousness of Faith as Rom. iv 13. i. e. a chearfull performance of the duties God hath commanded in the Gospel as the Righteousness of the Law is complying with God's Will and Commands under the Law or the Old Testament This being premised it follows 1. That to be persecuted for Righteousness sake is not barely to suffer or to endure Punishment for at this rate all Malefactors and such as our Law punishes either with the Sword or with Fire or the Gallows for Crimes which are destructive to Humane
The Reverend D r. Anthony Horneck SEVERAL SERMONS UPON The Fifth of S t. Matthew Being part of Christ's Sermon on the Mount By ANTHONY HORNECK D. D. Late Preacher at the Savoy The First Volume To which is added The LIFE of the Author by Richard Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells LONDON Printed by J. H. for B. Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1698. The LIFE of the Reverend Anthony Horneck D. D. THIS excellent Man was born at Baccharacht in the Lower Palatinate a Town from whence we receive a Wine that from the place bears the same Name amongst us His Father was Recorder or Secretary of that place a very strict Protestant and a Person of great Reputation The Doctor was also bred up in the same Profession from the beginning He never was of the Church of Rome as hath been falsly reported of him His Father devoted him for the holy Ministry from the womb and was not wanting to give him such an Education as might fit him for that Sacred Office He was first sent to Heidelbergh where he applied himself with great diligence to the study of Divinity under the direction and care of the very learned Dr. Spanheim who is now the primary Professor of the University of Leyden He had it appears a great desire to come over into England I cannot tell what it was that moved him `t is certain his Father inclined not to it However to England he came not without his Father's consent He was about 19 years of age when he first came over he was then very eminent not onely for his Learning but for his great Piety also He who taught him the English Tongue does profess that he never saw a young man so exemplary for Piety as this young man was He was entred into Queen's College in Oxford Dec. 24. 1663. and was in very great esteem there with Dr. Barlow then Provost of that House and since Bishop of Lincoln who valued him highly for his great Learning and more particularly for his good skill in the Eastern Languages He was by his favour made Chaplain of the said College soon after his Entrance He was incorporated Master of Arts from the University of Wittembergh Dec. 21. 1663. It was not long after this that he was made Vicar of Allhallows in Oxford which is in the gift of Lincoln College There he continued a most constant and painfull Preacher about two years Thence he removed into the Family of the Duke of Albemarle and was received there as a Tutor to his Son the then Lord Torrington and since Duke of Albemarle He was now in a fair way to Preferment had he been forward in seeking it The Duke did indeed bestow upon him a Living in the Diocese of Exeter and did also procure him a Prebend in that Church from Dr. Sparrow then Lord Bishop there I shall have occasion afterward to give an account of his parting with them I am now on that part of the Doctors Life which I know the least of I doubt not but he did well every where and agreeably to his holy Profession He did before he married go over into Germany to see his Friends where he preached with great acceptation and was entertained with great respect at the Court of one of the German Princes who shewed him a very particular kindness After his Return he was chosen Preacher at the Savoy where he continued about 26 years till he died That place deserves not the name of a Preferment The maintenance is small and upon the matter precarious And whatever it was to him at his first taking of it when there were persons of considerable quality inhabiting there who were very kind to him yet afterwards when his Family increased and his necessities were greater it could not be called a competent maintenance But whatever it was first or last he could not be perswaded to keep his Living in Devonshire with it nor could he ever be prevailed with afterwards whatever offers were made to him to accept of any Living to hold in conjunction with it He was irreconcileable to Pluralities and to Non-residence and would upon occasion declare his abhorrence of them with some considerable warmth He was of the opinion in this matter of Bernard Gilpin the famous Preacher and Saint of the North of whom the Bishop of Chichester who wrote his life gives the following account Mr. Gilpin was about to travel beyond the Seas and to study there He was at that time possessed of a Living a Cure of Souls Bishop Tunstall perswades him to keep his Living for his better support Mr. Gilpin refuseth so to doe and resigns it He tells the Bishop that he had left his Parsonage upon necessity because be could not keep it in his hands with any peace of Conscience And when the Bishop offered him a Dispensation to hold it Mr. Gilpin replied The Devil will not be restrained with any bonds of dispensation from labouring in mine absence the destruction of my people committed to my charge And I fear that when God shall call me to account of my Stewardship it will not serve my turn to make answer that I was dispensed withall whilst the Devil made havock of my Flock Mr. Gilpin was after this and whilst he continued beyond the Seas pressed to accept of a Living But he tells the Bishop in his Letter to him his mind in these words I am fully resolved so long as I live never to burden my Conscience in this case nor to keep a Living in my own charge with condition to live from it He adds afterwards Though any other should teach and preach for me as constantly and industriously as ever St. Augustin did yet cannot I think my self discharged by another man's pains taking But if yet I should be perswaded thus to offer violence to my Conscience upon condition to remain either here or in any other Vniversity my disquiet of Conscience would never permit me to profit in my study He was a very great blessing to the Inhabitants of the Savoy and indeed to the City He constantly resided among them tho' he had no House belonging to his Place He hired an House and was constant in the discharge of the Duties of his Place He preached with great vehemence and ardor with mighty force and conviction He spake the sense of his Soul and entred into the Hearts of his People He soon convinced his Auditors that he was in great earnest and that he had a mighty sense of the worth of Souls and of the vast importance of those Truths which he delivered to them His Auditors were convinced that he was a Man of God and sent by him for the good of Souls He used great freedom of Speech and instead of using enticing Words of human Wisdom he spake like his Master with great Conviction and Authority His Fame grew exceedingly and very many were his constant Auditors
stamped and impressed upon his Soul He imitated God in those two things which one of the Ancients tells us will make us like God viz. speaking truth and bestowing benefits A man of greater simplicity and veracity I never knew and there are multitudes that will witness that he went about doing good He did vow in his Baptism to renounce the Devil the World and Flesh. Some men go no farther All their Religion comes from the Font. This good Man perform'd his Vow he cast out of himself the Evil One and renounced all his Works overcame the World in the noblest sense and subdued and mortified all the sinfull desires of the flesh He was a Conquerour and more than Conquerour He devoted himself intirely and without reservation to the service of his God It was not only his business but his choice and delight his meat and drink I need not say that he was much in Prayers and Fastings in Meditation and heavenly Discourse very frequent in devout Communions in reading and hearing the Word in watchings and great austerities He wisely considered that these were the means and not the end of Religion that these are not godliness but only helps and the way to it He arrived at the end of these things He had an ardent love of God a great Faith in him and was resigned to his Will He had an unspeakable Zeal for his Honour a profound regard to his Word and to his Worship and to all that had the nearest relation to him or did most partake of his image and likeness He was a Man after God's own heart He lived under a most gratefull sense of his Mercies he was governed by his fear and had a lively sense of God's special Care and Providence He had that sense of God's Mercy in giving us his Son to die for us that it was observed of him that when he discoursed of that Argument he used no measure no bounds or limits of his Discourse His heart was so affected with that Argument that he cou'd not put a stop to himself Jesus was his Lord and Master and he had his Life and Example always before him and conformed himself to it in the whole Tenour and Course of his Life His Religion was unaffected and substantial it was genuine and primitive and so great a pattern he was that he might have passed for a Saint even in the first and best times of Christianity He was of the Church of England and a most true Son of that Church and gave the greatest proofs of it Far was he from the Innovations of the Roman Church on the one hand and from Enthusiasm on the other His Writings are a sufficient proof of this I very well know that when the Church of England hath been traduced and disparaged he hath not forborn to make so vigorous a Defence that he lost a very great Man's friendship by it and felt the Effects of it afterwards by the loss of a considerable worldly advantage which he would otherwise have stood very fair for He shewed his Zeal for the Church of England when she was in greatest danger from many Enemies especially from the Church of Rome At that time when some were so wicked as to change their profession and others so tame as to sit still and not to concern themselves when the Enemies were at the Gates for there were too many that professed to be Sons of this Church and do so still who were over-awed and durst not appear with that Courage which God and all good Men might justly have expected from them then did this good Man bestir himself and lifted up his Voice like a Trumpet and undauntedly defended the Church when she most needed it God be praised there were others who did so likewise with great vigour and resolution and great hazard of their liberty and worldly Comforts And many of these had the hard hap to be traduced by their lukewarm Brethren who cry up the Church as if these were not the genuine Sons of this Church It hath not been for the advantage of the Church that those Men have been decried as not genuine Church-men who have done her the greatest service on the other hand some vaunt themselves to be such who have never been any support to their Mother in her greatest distress There are some of these who are like the Images we see in many Churches that are so placed in that bending Posture as if they bore upon their Shoulders the weight of the Building whereas in truth they are only the fancy of the Architect and bear no weight at all The Doctor believed the Doctrine of this Church obeyed her Injunctions and conformed to her Constitutions Headmonished and diligently instructed his Charge kept Multitudes in her Communion and lived up to her holy Rules and was ready to sacrifice all that was dear to him in the World to promote the true Interest of this Church He would not indeed take the Cure of Souls and then put them out to nurse to some cheap and negligent Curate receive the profits and leave another man to take the pains He would not take a Vicarage and swear residence before his Ordinary and afterwards refuse to reside on pretence of some privilege or exempt Jurisdiction c. as very many have done But a Church-man he was notwithstanding Indeed the best of men have been mis-represented And there are a Number of the most useless men that yet in all places are crying up the Church of England but have little regard to her holy Rules I knew two men of the same Faculty in the same neighbourhood They were in their profession very eminent One of these had the Name of a Church of England man the other of a Fanatick And yet it is well known that the first very rarely if at all came to the Church or Communion the other was a great frequenter of both The Doctor was a man of very good Learning He had very goods kill in Languages He had addicted himself to the Arabic from his younger time and retained it in good measure to the last He had great skill in the Hebrew likewise nor was his skill limited to the Biblical Hebrew only in which he was a great Master but he was seen in the Rabbinical also He was a most diligent Reader of the Holy Scriptures in that Language in which they were originally written Sacras literas tractavit indefesso studio This Dr. Spanheim says of him in his youth viz. that he was indefatigable in the Study of the Holy Scriptures He adds that he was then one of an elevated wit of a mind that was cheerfull and covetous of making substantial proficiency And also that he gave a Specimen of it about the year 1659 when he was very young by a publick defending a Dissertation concerning the Vow of Jephtah touching the sacrificing his Daughter This upon his own request and motion he publickly defended with great presence of mind He had very good
skill in Ecclesiastical History in Controversial Divinity and Casuistical also Perhaps few men in his time were more frequently applied to with Cases of Conscience than the Doctor was As he had vast numbers of these applications so many times the Cases were very rare and surprizing and such as are but very seldom to be met with He would often relate the Case to me and tell me what his opinion was and how he delivered it I do solemnly declare that I neve heard him deliver his opinion but I was intirely satisfied with it And I did think him as valuable for this skill as for any other whatsoever He was a very constant Preacher He was very affectionate and lively in his Preaching plain and pathetical he spake from his own and pierced the hearts of his hearers I will not in this place speak of his Writings I may have occasion to mention them afterwards I shall only say here that there is a great strain of Piety and Devotion in them and they are very instructive to the well-disposed Readers He had great correspondencies with learned Men beyond the Seas and was often visited by them and this preserved in him that readiness which he had in speaking the Latin Tongue with considerable ease and freedom As for his Pastoral care and diligence he was a great Example He was a pattern to those of the Holy Ministry whom they might securely follow He well understood not only the Dignity but the Duty and Charge of his Holy Function He had a mighty sense of the worth of Souls and of the great care that is to be had of them Hence it proceeded that he was irreconcilable to Pluralities and Non-residence Hence it was that he laboured indefatigably Night and Day Hence it was that he was so very painfull a Preacher so very hard a Student Hence it was that he was so very diligent in Catechizing the youth in visiting the sick and in all the parts of his holy Office His heart was wholly set upon gaining Souls to God In this work he labour'd incessantly And those who were thus disposed among the Clergy he honoured greatly and served them to his power A considerable number of such Ministers were well known to him and some among them that were not well provided for These upon occasion he recommended to Cures and Imployments as he had opportunity offered him from Persons of Quality who did many times apply to the Doctor on these occasions And happy were they who took this course they might securely rest upon his Recommendation No man was ever more faithfull in this trust I know not but I may say no man was more happy than the Doctor in this matter I have tried him several times and was not deceived Had I been Patron of many Livings I could securely have relied upon his Wisdom and Fidelity in disposing them all He went by a true measure He looked on a Living as we call it as a Cure rather than a Benefice He valued the Flock more than the Fleece and consequently preferred those who did the same On this very account the Death of the Doctor was a loss unspeakable and I reckon my self a very great loser upon this account When he was alive if I wanted a Parish-Minister a Curate a Master of a School or Chaplain c. I was secure that by him I might be well supplied His Recommendation weighed more with me than many Hands than Seals and ample Forms and Testimonials from great Names and Societies of Men. I well knew that nothing could bribe him to commend that Person to a place of trust whom he did not know to be fit for it I heartily wish his Example in this were followed Nor do I think that what I said last is any Digression when I speak of his Pastoral care For his care in recommending those only whom he knew to be fit was an effect of it It cannot be that he who will commend any person to holy Orders or the cure of Souls should have a due sense of the Pastoral care And I heartily wish that the Clergy would be very cautious whom they recommend for Orders or for Institution and that College-Testimonials were given with greater care than they have been I add that he had a very great zeal for Reformation This will be no Commendation of him to the luke-warm and formal Christians Nay it will render him less in the eyes of some men who mightily cry up the Church And therefore I must explain my self in this matter lest I be mis-understood and the Memory of the Doctor suffer upon this account When I say that he was zealous for Reformation I do not mean that he was for reforming or altering the Laws For though he did not think the Laws immutable yet did he not plead for the changing them He was well satisfied in the Laws of Church and State and was not for Innovations He was no Enemy to the Constitution The Reformation which he was for was such a one as might be consistent with the Law and indeed was the end of the Law it self He was very much for a Reformation usquè ad legem and it will be very strange that any considering Man should be against such a Reformation as this 't is certain that he that is so is against the Law at the same time He was for Reformation of Manners and a strict regard to the Discipline and holy Constitutions of the Church He lamented the Profaneness and Disorders which had broken in among us and threatned our Ruin He endeavoured to keep up the Life and Spirit of Religion and perhaps considering his private Capacity he did as much this way as any man that lived in his time He never needed any Dispensation himself and could not without great grief of heart see the best Laws trampled upon by worldly and ungodly Men or defeated and eluded by the craft and artifices of others I need make no apology for him that he was against Non-residence and Pluralities that he was for frequent Communions and for a strict care in Catechzing the Youth All this is agreeable to the Sense of our Church And his great Zeal against all profaneness and immorality cannot be blamed because he was zealously affected in a good matter For his Justice to all mankind he was a great pattern He gave all men their due in the greatest latitude of that word He did not only pay his debts and discharge his trust but paid all due honour and respect to worth and vertue where-ever he found it Nothing could render him partial No friendship no power no interest whatever could turn him aside or so much as set a false biass upon him His Charity was Divine and a mighty imitation of the love of God and of Christ. He sought not his own but with great industry pursued the good of others There are multitudes alive that have received great relief and comfort from him He did not spend his
Passage another before it which is suitable enough to their Design which was to give us an Account of the Treasure no matter in what order the Jewels lie And accordingly St. Luke sets down the Delivery of this Sermon or the Substance of it after the miraculous Cure wrought upon the Man who had the wither'd Hand Luke VI. 12. but St. Matthew chuses to speak of it before he mentions the Miracle not that one saith it was done before and the other after that would be a contradiction Only one thinks fit to take notice of it before he records the Miracle the other thinks it convenient to record the Miracle first and then the Sermon 2. The Agreement of the Evangelists appears chiefly in this that none denies what the other saith One mentions a Circumstance which another leaves out but though all do not mention the same yet none denies the thing To apply this to the Sermon before us St. Luke ch VI. 12. saith Christ went up into the Mountain to pray which St. Matthew takes no notice of yet his silence is no denial of that Circumstance St. Luke adds That going up into the Mountain he chose Twelve Disciples which might very well be though St. Matthew says nothing of it in this Chapter Both these Evangelists agree That Christ went up into a Mountain one indeed seems to affirm that he deliver'd this Sermon on the Mount the other after he came down from the Mount Both are in the right especially if we say that he deliver'd this Sermon on the Mount at large and when he came down by way of Summary or Epitome for the easier remembrance of his Hearers for indeed St. Luke's relation is nothing but a Summary of this Sermon And we know it 's customary with the Evangelists not only for one to set down the very Words of Christ for the other the Sense but also for one to repeat such a Discourse in its full Scope and Latitude and for another to give us only the Heads of it But II. What were the Multitudes that appear'd here and why did they come St Matthew ch IV. 25. tells us They were great Multitudes of People from Galilee and Decapolis from Jerusalem and from Judaea and from beyond Jordan and so saith St. Luke ch VI. 17. who adds That some came from the Coasts of Tyre and Sidon 1. It was a mixt Multitude some good some bad some well inclin'd others averse from Seriousness some whom meer Curiosity brought hither others whom a Sense of another World encourag'd to come and this is what we may say of all Multitudes that press into our Churches at this Day some are of Gallio's Mind and care for none of these things only come for fashion's sake others of Lydia's Temper whose Hearts God opens to attend to the things spoken by his Messengers Some with Festus make themselves merry with the Preacher's Discourse and Expressions others like Agrippa are almost perswaded to be Christians but very few prove true Converts 2. The end for which they came was partly to hear and partly to be healed as we find Luke VI. 17. Though in hearing it was with them as with the Seed in the Parable Some fell by the Way-side some in stony ground some among thorns some in a good natur'd soil as it is Matth. XIII yet hearing was their end and I wonder not to find them ambitious to hear this wonderfull Person who to his Doctrine join'd the Testimony of Heaven which is Miracles Had all Judaea believ'd him to be the Messiah where one ran after him Thousands and Millions would have come to hear him however the greater part took him for a Prophet mighty in Word and Deed and inspired and one that had more than ordinary converse with God and this was Temptation enough to hear him They had for many Years heard the insipid Discourses of the Scribes and Pharisees and were even tired with their superstitious Niceties and Traditions and Ceremonies and pressing the cleansing of the out-side of the Cup and Platter But here was a Person that spoke to the Heart and with Authority and things solid and great and weighty without design or interest or affectation of applause and there appear'd in his Discourses something more than humane even a Divine Light and Power which made them leave their Work and Employments to hear him Another reason of their coming was to be cured of their Diseases and Infirmities Though Christ's curing Gratis without Fee or Money might be a Temptation to many of the poorer sort to make use of him yet to others his miraculous Way of chasing away Distempers with a Word and By-way of Command and healing Diseases which mock'd all the Attempts of Surgeons and Physicians might be the greater Motive Christ's curing Distempers of the Body was in order to heal their distemper'd Souls To set up for a Physician only had been too mean an Employ and therefore we must suppose that his Charity to their outward was in order to conferr a greater Charity on their inward Man and their acknowledgment of his Power and Goodness was to lead them to a holy Obedience to his Precepts and particularly to Repentance and Reformation of Life and though it 's probable few came with that intent I mean to have their Souls freed from the Corruptions they had no Sense of yet being come many found by blessed Experience strange Cures wrought upon their Consciences and went away not only sound in Body but with a lively Sense of their Duty The outward Cure astonish'd them into consideration of their ways and they thought they could do no less in Gratitude than become Subjects to his Will who had conquer'd their Diseases Christ's Touch went farther than their Bodies and their Souls felt the Power of it as much as their Flesh and he that felt his Distemper departing found at the same time that his love to sin stole away and a new love succeeded a fervent love to God and his Holy Precepts But III. The next thing that occurs in this Historical Part is Christ's going up into the Mount St. Jerom takes notice that some weak Brethren of his time took this Mount to be the Mount of Olives others believe it to have been a Mountain distant about three Miles from Capernaum But the Scripture gives the Mount no Name and therefore they only speak their Guesses that are not content with these general Notices There is a Mountain at this Day in Judaea they say which is call'd Christ's Mount and the Fryars that get Mony by shewing Ancient Monuments will needs have it to be the Mountain spoken of in the Text and for Confirmation of their Story pretend to shew the very Stone on which Christ sat when he deliver'd the ensuing Precepts but there is no Credit to be given to such Reports nor indeed is it material to know what Mountain it was The reasons why he ascended into a Mountain will be more to the purpose and
watchfull and sober at least live in-offensive and without scandal and the ground upon which this piece of Humility rises is partly the secret defects the humble Man finds in himself and which he hath a greater sense of than of the faults of others and which really appear greater to him than the offences of other Men partly the secret Gifts and latent Vertues that may be for ought he knows in another Man Upon this Account the humble Person is to think of others better than of himself yet with this caution so to think of others better than of himself as not to run into despair nor to conceal or hide the Grace of God bestow'd upon him when the Edification of others requires a declaration of it as is evident from Psal. LXVI 16. and 1 Cor. XV. 10. And from hence flows 5. A holy Contentedness in the mean Condition God hath placed us in Humility is particularly seen in outward Poverty and he whom Providence hath brought to a very mean and low Estate in the World and who is contentedly poor is truly humble For he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God submits to his Will and bears it chearfully because he is confident it will work for his good The same is to be applied to other outward Afflictions The humble Man gives his back to the smiter and when he suffers he threatens not only from a sense of the Demerit of his sins which he knows have deserv'd worse Usages but from consideration of the mighty alteration of his condition when the Lord Jesus shall appear from Heaven to be admired in all his Saints Humility is more seen in bearing Afflictions and Reproaches and Injuries than any where In these cases for our thoughts to work downward and to strike the Soul into an humble Sense and to quiet her as a weaned Child this looks like the Humility of a Disciple of Christ 1 Pet. II. 19 20 21. But 6. And lastly This Humility is not complete without a chearfull and humble Submission to what God requires to be done Pride is the cause of Disobedience and because Men insolently oppose their Wills to God's Will They walk in the imagination of their hearts Hence we read Jer. XIII 15. Hear this and give ear be not proud for the Lord hath spoken To shew that Pride causes Men to turn their backs to the wholsome Commands and Admonitions of the Lord And if this be the Nature of Pride it must necessarily be the Temper of Christian Humility chearfully and humbly to take Christ's Yoak upon us and let the Commands of the Gospel be never so contrary to the interest of Flesh and Blood where Humility reigns there none of those Commands will be grievous 1 John V. 3. This as near as I can guess is the true Idea of Christian Humility commanded in the Text for though it be no formal Command yet a Blessing being entailed upon the Vertue which Blessing is not to be had without the qualification it must be Tantamount to a Command But Why is this Humility call'd poverty in Spirit I answer Poverty it 's call'd 1. Because the humble Man hath no good thing of his own He carefully distinguishes what is God's and what is his own He is sensible that all the Evil he hath is his own and if what he may call his own be consider'd he will appear a very poor miserable Wretch destitute of Mercy and Favour and Comfort and fit only to fall a Prey to the rage of the Devil What good he hath or finds in himself he ascribes to the true cause God blessed for evermore Not I but the grace of God which was in me I Cor. XV. 10. He freely and feelingly acknowledges that he is nothing hath nothing and can do nothing that 's good without the power and influence of God He sees nothing in himself that can help or save or secure him All his riches hope life and power and strength and vertue is in Christ Jesus And having nothing of his own that he can boast of he may trâ—ly be call'd poor 2. Poor because he is always in want always in want of God's grace and goodness to guide him to lead him to conduct him to strengthen him to keep him to preserve him He is always begging always imploring the Divine goodness to remember him Begging is his Trade and Profession I mean begging the Mercy and Charity of the Father of Mercy and he gives not over begging till his Prayers be turn'd into everlasting Praises But he is not only poor but poor in Spirit 1. Because Humility must take up its chief Residence in his Spirit and inward Man Outward prostrations humiliations cringings bowings raggs a sordid habit sackcloath and the course cloath he wears signify nothing except the Soul or the Mind be lowly If that be so the outward Man will be truly so if the inward Man be a stranger to this Humility the leathern Girdle and the Garment of Camel's-hair without will soon be seen thorough And therefore the young Man in Cassian for all his frequent aggravations of his sins and wonderfull semblances of an humble mind discover'd his Hypocrisie when he could not endure a reproof from Serapion Lucian makes himself very merry with a Cynick a Man who pretended to more than ordinary Humility and Austerity of life A friend of his searching his Pockets and thinking to find there some old Raggs and mouldy Bread and the Parings of Cheese or some such stuff to his surprize found there a Bale of Dice a Box of Perfume and the Picture of his Mistriss A very fit Emblem of a Person who makes a shew of Humility without but within is self-conceited and an admirer of his own worth The heart must feel the power of this Virtue That 's the Garden where the Flower must grow and there it must take root if not it 's not a Plant of our heavenly Father's planting and a Christian may easily perceive that it is lodged in his inward Parts by the lowly and humble Thoughts he cherishes within It was from what he felt within that the Martyr said Lord I am Hell Thou art Heaven and another I am the most hypocritical Wretch not worthy that the Earth should bear me and a third I am the unfittest Man for so high an Honour as suffering for Christ that ever was appointed to it and a fourth writing to his Friend that was going to be burnt at the Stake for the Gospel of Christ O that my life and a thousand such Wretches lives might go for yours Why doth he suffer me and such other Caterpillars to live who can-do nothing but consume the Alms of the Church and take you away a mighty Workman and Labourer in his Vineyard The inward Humility sanctified these Expressions and whatever indiscretion might be in such Speeches the humble Sense of their own vileness within made them rational and elegant 2. Poverty in Spirit because this Humility is an
Great God who dwells on high yet humbles himself to behold the things in Heaven and in Earth and seeing his own Image there he counts him blessed 3. Blessed in the Eyes of all good Men. A good Man that beholds Humility shining in his Neighbour and finds that this Grace hath taken deep root in his heart that he hath very low thoughts of himself that he is willing to submit to Persons wiser and abler in things ambiguous and doubtfull that he thinks more kindly and favourably of others than of himself that he ascribes all his Gifts and Blessings to the free and underseved Bounty of God and attributes nothing to his own merits and desert that he thinks himself unworthy of Honour and is not ambitious of worldly Glory that he speaks humbly of himself and is willing to converse with Persons mean yet good and to contribute to their welfare that he can bear reproof and bear injuries well c. The good Man that sees these admirable effects of Humility in his Neighbour what doth he see but the Character of God's Children And what can be more blessed here on Earth than a Child of God than a Son or Daughter adopted in Christ Jesus 4. Blessed in the midst of all his outward Misery Blessed he is in the midst of stripes and lashes and reproaches and calumnies Blessed in a Prison blessed in Dungeon blessed when Men contemn and despise him when all things go cross when he is reviled abused undervalued and despightfully handled for while this spiritual Poverty like a good Angel dwells in him while this Humility reigns in his Soul God's Spirit hovers over him the Almighty carresses him Angels visit and attend him his Conscience justifies him and the Lord Jesus that Pattern of Humility loves him and therefore blessed still 5. Blessed in the opinion of all Reprobates not in this World but in the next when they shall see the humble Man advanced above the Stars of Heaven seated among the Elder Sons of God rais'd from this dunghil World and made to sit with Christ together in heavenly Places then the proud the vain the foolish that counted the humble Man's life madness will all change their Notes and they that once look'd upon his Humility as baseness of Spirit will then be forced to acknowledge that such a Man chose the better part understood himself and was truly sensible of the Veracity of what God had said so long ago I am the lofty and holy one who inhabits Eternity with him also will I dwell that is of an humble Spirit Isa. LVII 15. 6. Blessed because he hath a Title to the Kingdom of Heaven The World calls an Heir to a great Estate or Honour or Dignity a happy Man And must not then the humble Man be happy and blessed that is Heir to the Crown immarcescible Heir to all the vast Territories of Heaven Heir of all the Land of Canaan Heir to all the huge Tract above that flows with Milk and Honey Nothing can make a Man so happy as the full enjoyment of God Is God happy or not The Epicureans held nay the Devil himself dares not deny that God is the most happy Being and is it possible to enjoy that God to be united to him to live in his glorious Presence and to participate of his Felicity and not be happy This blessedness the Kingdom of Heaven gives the humble Man He hath a right to the Tree of life and therefore blessed as we read Revel XXII 14. Inferences 1. Seeing so much depends upon this Humility and spiritual Poverty Is it not fit we should examine whether we are possess'd of this spiritual Treasure or not Though the words of the Text be express'd in the Affirmative yet a Negative is implied and it naturally follows that those who are not humble not poor in Spirit have nothing to do with the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore are in no blessed State or Condition Surely this Consideration is enough to make a thinking Man inquisitive and indeed it is impossible seriously to believe it and not make application to our selves But where Men are superficial Christians and suspect that they are proud and high and lofty and self-conceited and strangers to Christian Humility and that they shall find all nought within if once they examine things and bring them to the Touch-stone there they will be loath to venture upon this Task for fear they should discover and see their Deformity and be obliged to reform So carefully do most Men shun their own Cure and shut their Eyes that they may not see the Sores and Ulcers of their Souls There is no Spiritual temper or qualification or perfection but God hath left Characters in his word whereby we may certainly know whether we are Masters of it and whether that which we have and looks like it be genuine or not and this is particularly applicable to Humility There is a painted and counterfeit Humility which hath base and sinister Ends and Designs and Pride may lie at the bottom of it But this Hypocrisie may soon be discover'd by the Characters before laid down I mean the Characters of that truly humble Spirit which is in the sight of God of great Price St. Bernard very ingeniously observes and from him others have taken and improv'd the Notion True Humility faith he like the Violet grows low to the ground hangs the head downward and hides it self with its own leaves It prefers the approbation of a good Conscience before the applause of the World and were it not that its fragrant Smell betrays it to the observation of others it would chuse to live and die in its own well pleasing Secrecy Truly Christians did you know what stress God lays upon this qualification did you know the consequence the worth and necessity of it were you sensible what an influence it hath upon the whole frame of Religion and what power it hath with God and how its absence renders your spiritual Sacrifices useless and ineffectual you would not only examine your selves to know whether you have it and how much you have of it but labour to arrive to higher Degrees of it than ordinary That which turns the Religion which many of you seem to have into meer Formality is the want of this qualification Pride lies unmortified in your Souls that makes the Ground barren and no Grace will thrive in you Pretending to Religion while this Grace is neglected is as insignificant as building a House without laying the Foundation you are not fit to obey the Gospel till you cultivate this Plant in your Garden But then as I said in the preceeding Discourse the Heart the Mind the Soul the Spirit is the Place where Humility must first display its Beauty and Glory An humble Sense of your selves within humble low and despicable Thoughts of your worth in a word a very low opinion of your selves wrought up by frequent Meditation into a habit that 's it which will
in his Service Can the outward Man be good when the inward is rotten and putrefied Are you wise Builders do you think do you hope to make a good piece of work of it to build the Top of the House when you have not laid the Foundation This purity of heart produces a great sense of God and another World a great sense of the Love of God which constrains the Soul to live in conformity to his Will and this is the Foundation of all true Religion If this sense be setled in the Heart if this Ground be well manured the whole Garden of your Lives will abound with Flowers and Fruits of all Sorts Ay! but how is this Purity to be attain'd I answer not with Laziness not with crying There is a Bear there is a Lion in the way Not by being over curious about the Purity and Ornaments of the Body When People spend more time at the Glass than at their Prayers take more than ordinary satisfaction in dressing and adorning the Body seek more to please Men than God do all they can to pamper the Flesh the Mind will run out into a thousand Vanities But 1. By studying the Word of God For the Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul the Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple The statutes of the Lord are right rejoycing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes Psal. XIX 7 8. What made David wiser than his Enemies What made him understand more than the Antients What made him know more than his Teachers He tells you Psal. CXIX 97. Oh how I love thy Law it is my meditation all the day Vers. 104. Through thy Precepts I get Vnderstanding Vers. 140. Thy word is very pure And it is so pure that if digested and ponder'd on it will purifie the Heart too 2. By taking notice of God in every thing While other Men talk of chance and take notice of the Shell and Outside and of the little Wheels whereby their own and other Men's affairs are turned about do you look still upon that God that hides himself behind the Curtain and turns all according to his good Pleasure Take notice of him in every Blessing whether you eat or drink or whatever Conveniency Mercy Providence comes upon you have an Eye to him and you will find your hearts will become very pure They looked upon him and were enlightened and their faces were not ashamed Psal. XXXIV 5. 3. By calling in the aid and assistance of his Holy Spirit For it is the proper Province of that Spirit to enlighten the Mind and Understanding and to purifie it from gross terrestrial and brutish Idea's and Imaginations and to replenish and fill it with a sense of spiritual things And this Spirit is ready to come ready to enter ready to lend his helping hand when he finds the Soul willing to be purified willing without Tricks without Reserves without Proviso's without Conditions Such as Lord suffer me first to go and bury my Father or suffer me first to go and take leave of those at my house In a word this Spirit loves to deal with down-right honest Men that mean what they say and think what they speak in their Addresses to God 4. By acquainting your selves with the true Nature of Sin For a principal part of this Purity of Heart consisting in an Aversion from sinfull Thoughts and Desires it is not possible a Person should arrive to that Aversion that sees not that Evil in Sin which is really in it What Shall I hate a thing I see no harm in Shall I dread the Appearance of a thing which I spy some Beauty and Satisfaction in The best the plainest and easiest way to acquaint our selves with the Nature of Sin is by reflecting on the Wages of Sin which is Death even everlasting Death and Misery It may be my Understanding is dull and weak and I cannot dive into all the Tendencies of Sin nor find out all the Indignities it offers to God's Attributes but this I know Eternal Misery is threatned to it This seems indeed to be unproportionable to its short duration But still God having certainly threatned it there must be something in it very nauseous very grievous very odious very dreadfull very injurious to God and to his infinite Purity the very shadow of it must be poysonous and infectious and by this the Heart will take fire and hate the very thoughts of it even every false way 5. By representing to your minds the infinite Purity of God with whom your Souls are to converse and who offers to make your Heart his Temple and the Place of his Residence If you are to receive a King a Sovereign Prince or a Person of extraordinary Quality into your House do not you make all clean and handsome and take care there may be nothing wanting that may give him content and satisfaction every Chamber every Room in the House is set out and garnish'd and adorn'd as far as your ability reaches and Neatness is a thing that at such a time you glory in But what is a great Man to Almighty God What is a Prince or a King to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords This Sovereign Majesty is willing to lodge nay to dwell in your Souls A God purer than Angels purer than the Sun and Stars and dwelling in Light inaccessible to whom ten thousand times ten thousand minister and by whose Order and Direction the whole Creation stands and falls And then how holy how pious how clean how pure ought your thoughts to be to give so great so rich so magnificent a Guest suitable Entertainment 6. By representing to your selves the vast advantages that come by this inward Purity I shall name some of them by and by In the mean while I will mention but this one It will make you pray without wandring worldly and base troublesome thoughts Many People complain that they are mightily troubled with wandering thoughts in Prayer Purity of Heart is a remedy against that distemper for that consists in a great measure in an habitual delight in holy serious thoughts And when you go to Prayer your thoughts will delight to fix upon that lovely and amiable object And the secret love to God which is another ingredient of this Purity will force your desires upward and keep your thoughts together and they 'll willingly quit all other hold and with cheerfulness gather about that All-sufficient Being to whom you pray and offer your Devotions For indeed wandring thoughts in Prayer come for the most part from want of fervent Love to God what we love we think of Therefore as this Purity of Heart teaches and inclines you to be enamour'd with that excellent Being so it will procure steddiness of thoughts and affections in Prayer will keep your thoughts in a great measure from roving and wandering up and down among Briars and Thorns meaner and baser Objects Thus
a parallel Passage which makes that necessary which in the Text seems only providential It is St. Paul's saying 2 Tim. III. 12. All that will live Godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution What Can none be called Godly but those that are persecuted for righteousness sake and is there no getting an interest in Christ Jesus but by being harrass'd and teaz'd and evil entreated for his Name Are all Hypocrites tho' never so pious that have not suffer'd as the Apostles did Or must all be accounted reprobates that walk softly all their days and never felt the rage of Tyrants and sworn Enemies of the Gospel I answer 1. This saying was certainly true of the Apostle's days and the time when St. Paul writ this Epistle to Timothy There was then no living Godly without being persecuted To obey the rules of the Gospel was to draw the rage of turbulent Men upon their Backs To profess Christ was to become a Prey to Jews and Heathens To be a Disciple of a Crucified God was look'd upon to be as bad as to be an Enemy to the State and he went in danger of his life that said there was another King one Jesus The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles the Apostles writ to comfort the believers in their fiery Trials are evidences to prove all this and this lasted the greatest part of three hundred Years after Christ during which time happen'd the ten famous or rather infamous Persecutions under Nero Domitian Trajan Severus Commodus Maximinus Decius Valerianus Aurelianus Dioclesian in the last of which it was death to have a Bible in their Houses 2. This saying is still true of our days and true it will be to the World's end and so it is all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution if not from Men yet from the Devil who walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. V. 8. The Temptations a Christian meets and must meet with and without which his Faith can never be tried what are they but Persecutions the Soul at least is persecuted and tho' these Persecutions of the Devil appear stronger and more fiery in some than in others especially in Persons to whose minds their former sins are represented in very dreadfull Colours with the wrath of God flaming out against them breathing nothing but despair and destruction yet be they more or less still they are Persecutions and though abundance of Christians that take up of Religion just so much as is consistent with their ease and profit and pleasure are not very sensible of these Persecutions yet where Men attempt to mortifie their dear lust crucifie their flesh are resolv'd to do more than Heathens and Pharisees and do truly swim against the strong current of corrupt Nature they will find there are fiery Darts thrown at them and though they are not visible yet it s enough that they are felt and indeed on some these Persecutions lie so heavy that they are ready to despair ready to throw off all and even to betake themselves to a sensual course of living as their Neighbours do Thus Persecution is still the lot of good Christians insomuch that he who is not persecuted in this Sense cannot be supposed to live Godly in Christ Jesus for having sworn in Baptism to fight against the Devil is it possible if he makes good his promise when he grows up the Devil will not fight against him tempt him to evil discourage him from goodness fright him from the strait way provoke him to sin throw stumbling-blocks in his way suggest impediments and excuses and entice him to prefer an easie form before the power of Godliness and is not this Persecution 3. Those that will live Godly live so among wicked Men in wicked Families in wicked Societies will not fail of suffering Persecution For what Communion hath Light with Darkness or what fellowship is there betwixt Christ and Belial Wicked men cannot endure a man that is Precise and Godly and Conscientious and reproves them and therefore will be his Enemies despise him deride him abuse him and do him an injury if they may do it with safety to themselves and what is this but Persecution 4. The evil Works which he that lives Godly in Christ Jesus sees and beholds are a Persecution to him as it is said of Lot 2 Pet. II. 7 8. That dwelling in Sodom in seeing and hearing vex'd his righteous Soul from day to day with their unlawfull Deeds and filthy Conversation and to this purpose are those Expressions we meet with Ps. CXIX Horrour hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked which forsake thy Law v. 53. I beheld the Transgressors and was grieved because they kept not thy Word v. 158. so that there is no need of having recourse to the ordinary Afflictions which befall good men as if they were meant by Persecution in these words The thing is true with respect to the Particulars I have mention'd and to this day it cannot be otherwise but those that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecutisn And yet II. Though Persecution like the Trojan Horse carries innumerable Evils in its Bowels yet we must not think it unbecoming the Divine Providence to see Righteousness persecuted Ever since the fatal enmity betwixt the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent hath been proclaimed Gen. iii. 15. it hath been so it began very early and they were scarce got out of Paradise but Cain persecuted his Brother Abel and pursu'd him to death for asserting saith the Chaldee Paraphrast the Rewards and Punishments of the World to come And this hath been the fate of abundance of righteous Men and Women in all Ages more signally since Christ Jesus appear'd in the World and taught mankind a more perfect and stricter way of Righteousness than the World was acquainted with before And what was our Saviour's life but a continual persecution from his Cradle to his Cross And when it was so with the Master we cannot think his Apostles and Disciples should escape these uncivil and barbarous usages Accordingly Stephen was stoned James beheaded Timon one of the seven Deacons burnt Thomas slain with a Dart Simon Zelotes crucified Jude slain in a tumult raised by the people Mark the Evangelist burnt Bartholomew beaten to death with Staves Andrew crucified Matthew stoned and beheaded Philip crucified and beheaded Peter crucified with his head downward and Paul after a thousand sufferings beheaded Indeed considering what love and esteem God professes to Righteousness and the cruelties that have been exercis'd upon righteous men Flesh and Blood will be apt to wonder how God could suffer it for some had their Brains breaten out with Mauls some were cast to the Swine some to the Lions to be devour'd some were hang'd up by the middle some tormented to death with Trees a Hand or an Arm being tyed to one Tree and a Leg to another some were scrap'd to
Sufferers being able to disburden their Grief into one anothers Bosom it gives such Satisfaction as People who are ready to burst with Grief do find when a shower of Tears does give their Sorrow vent This Ease is chiefly in the Mind and if the Mind be easie the whole Man receives Comfort if that be easie it is as much as if a Man did not suffer at all It 's our Minds and Thoughts that make us either happy or miserable If a Man thinks himself happy in Misery he is so and if he thinks himself miserable in his Sufferings he is so It 's our Thoughts certainly that make us uneasie in Adversity and musing at such times upon wrong Topicks and Arguments puts all into disorder whereas calling to mind such Reasonings as are proper and suitable alleviates our Grief and makes our Minds easie And of this nature is the good Society we suffer with For 2. This gives us opportunity to make use of the same Motives to Patience that those other good Men have used to bear up under their Crosses and in all likelihood they will have the same Effect upon us and end in the same Consolation The Primitive Believers look'd upon their Afflictions as Tryals of their Faith and that gave them Ease so must I They had a regard to the End for which God did correct them viz. to produce in them the peaceable fruits of Righteousness and that taught them Contentedness so must I They encouraged themselves to Patience with the Example of Christ and that quieted them and so must I They relied upon the Promises of God without wavering and that revived them so must I They look'd upon their Troubles as short momentary things and that made them lightsome so must I They thought their Afflictions necessary to make them breath after their heavenly Country and that made them cheerful so must I. So that if their way be follow'd and our Fellow-sufferers be consider'd under these Notions their Company in suffering will certainly afford more than ordinary Consolations Inferences 1. Having explain'd the several Beatitudes mention'd in this excellent Sermon of our Saviour give me leave to observe to you in the Close of all That though every single Virtue and Qualification in the preceding Beatitudes hath a glorious Reward annexed to it no less than the beatifick Vision of an All-sufficient God yet you must not think that he who should apply himself to the Practice of one single Virtue and neglect the rest would upon that account be rewarded with Heaven This is impossible as the Case stands for Christ expresly requires Vniversal Obedience but if I mind only one of these Qualifications and disregard the rest how is my Obedience universal It 's true Christ affixes a spiritual and eternal Reward to every particular Grace partly for our greater Encouragement partly because every one of the aforementioned Graces tends to that Center and like Lines meet in that one Point and partly because the future Reward shall be suited to the several Virtues and in some measure answer and resemble the Nature of the respective Accomplishments yet still there is such a Connexion among them that they are inseparable and he that sincerely according to the Intent of the Law-giver practises one cannot forbear practising the rest and consequently he that pretends to observe one and doth despise the rest doth not observe that one as he ought The serious and conscientious Observance of one will make us enamoured with all the Links of the whole Chain the Beauty and Reasonableness of one will invite and charm us into a cheerful Compliance with all the rest The several Qualifications mention'd in the preceding Verses are so many Steps to Heaven Humility is the first Mourning for our Sins the second Meekness and composing our turbulent Passions the third Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness the fourth Mercifulness the fifth Purity of Heart the sixth Peaceableness and a Peace-making Temper the seventh and a patient enduring Persecutions Calumnies and Afflictions in a good Cause the last So that you see how you are to rise and by what Ladder you are to ascend to Glory He that advances but a step or two will never reach the everlasting Hills One Grace is the Foundation of the other Humility or an humble Sense of your selves and of your own Worth will dispose you for mourning because you have offended and do offend a very great holy and gracious God and this Sense which makes you concern'd for the Injuries and Affronts you have offer'd to the best of Beings and which makes you mourn will dispose you to Meekness towards your Neighbours who do offend and have offended you and move you to curb and moderate and mortify your Anger and Pettishness at Faults you see in others subduing your inordinate Passion you will be more at leisure to consider the Beauty and Excellency of Righteousness and that will make you hunger and thirst after it This Hunger and Thirst will dispose you to Mercifulness for he that desires to grow in Grace must apply himself to Works of Mercy for by these Holiness is signally increased This merciful Temper will dispose you for Purity of Heart not only because Almsgiving cleanses the Soul and quenches Sin as Fire doth Water but enlarges your Love to God This Purity of the inward Man will dispose you for Peaceableness and a Peace-making Temper for as Strife and Contention rises from an impure Heart from Lusts warring within us so a peaceable Disposition rises from inward Purity This peaceable and Peace-making Temper will procure you may be the Hatred and Ill-will of Men from hence will come Persecutions Slanders Reproaches Calumnies c. which if you bear with a patient and generous Mind you secure your Reward in Heaven and then rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven II. I must here take notice that nothing deserves our rejoycing so much as these future Rewards What is there in this World that should make us so fond of rejoycing in it The three great Idols of the World are Riches Honour and Sensual Pleasure but look ye how inconstant how uncertain how uneven and how short are all these He that is rich this Year may be a Beggar the next Valerianus and Andronicus who are Emperors to day to morrow shall be despicable to all their Subjects He that wallows in Pleasure this hour some grievous Pain or Disease may arrest him the next and fill him with Vexation Do not we see how these outward Enjoyments crack in the very handling and make themselves wings and flee away He that is a Minister of State to day may be a Prisoner to morrow he that sits at the Helm to day to morrow may groan in a Dungeon he that gives Law to others to day may be exposed to the fury of the Rabble to morrow and he that dwells in a stately House to day may see it laid in Ashes before the next Morning
Light And are these the mighty Things you rejoyce in Do these Butterflies deserve such Admiration as most Men bestow upon them Be wise ye Children of Men be wise the Rewards of Heaven are solid lasting constant Treasures they fade not they fail not they perish not and are the noblest Objects of your Thoughts and Contemplations Here you 'll have always matter of rejoycing here is something that will be able always to support you here is something that will always raise your drooping Souls Do but secure these Rewards and you will be able to be always joyful joyful in Persecution in Poverty in Exile in Sickness in Weakness under good Report and evil Report And indeed till you can rejoyce in this Reward and so rejoyce in it that the Joy in a great measure drowns your Sorrow you are none of the best Christians It 's possible to make sure of this Reward and how it is to be done Christ shews in the preceding Beatitudes Let these Rewards be always rolling in your Minds and you will have a perpetual Antidote against Adversity and Dejectedness Whatever befals you reflect upon this Reward and you will be able to live above the World and pity the poor Creatures that have no Props to rest on but the broken Reed of Egypt This is to begin your Heaven here and when you come to die you have no more to do than to enter upon your Estate and to take Possession of your Inheritance Your Death will be wonderfully sweetned with these Thoughts and you will be able to die with rejoycing because great is your Reward in Heaven III. Hear this all ye Sufferers you I mean that suffer according to the Will of God that glorify God in your Sufferings and improve your Sufferings into a holy Conformity to the Rules of the Gospel You are not alone in your Sufferings for besides that God is present with you and the Lord Jesus that merciful High Priest is touched with the feeling of your Infirmities you have admirable Company in your Sufferings The Patriarchs were Sufferers the Prophets were Sufferers the Apostles were Sufferers the best Christians were Sufferers Heaven is full of Sufferers What a glorious Society is here The high and lofty one who inhabits Eternity dwells among these weeping and groaning Saints The Son of God is their Captain and Principal Who would not suffer with such Society With these suffering Saints you shall rejoyce at last As you have mourned with them so you shall sing with them As you have born the heat and burden of the day with them so you shall rest with them As you have drank of the cup of trembling with them so you shall drink with them of the cup of salvation As you have been reviled with them so you shall be honoured with them And your Honour shall not be like that of Haman or Nebuchadnezzar which like a glorious sun-shiny Morning was over-cast before Night but your Honour shall be like that of the Son of God you shall rule in the House of Jacob for ever and of your Kingdom shall be no end SERMON XIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 13. Ye are the Salt of the Earth but if the Salt have lost its savour wherewith shall it be salted it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be troden under foot of men HAving consider'd the several Beatitudes or Blessednesses mention'd in the preceding Verses and which are an Introduction to the admirable Discourse which follows in this Chapter we proceed to the Characters Christ gives of his true Followers Divers and various are the Names and Titles the Holy Ghost gives of Christ's Disciples calling them sometimes Sheep to put them in mind of the Obligation that lies upon them to be innocent and meek and patient and Enemies to Revenge Sometimes Brethren to shew how dearly how tenderly how affectionately they ought to love one another Sometime new Creatures because it is supposed they have put off the Old Man and put on the New Man created after God in righteousness and true holiness Sometimes Babes because of their imbibing the sincere Milk of the Word that they may grow thereby Sometime lively Stones because they are built up a spiritual House of which Christ is the Corner-stone and in which he dwells by Faith Sometime Priests because of the spiritual Sacrifices of Prayer and Praise and Righteousness which they offer to God Sometimes Kings because their Province is to Conquer their Lusts and evil Desires and Worldly Affections Sometimes Virgins because they keep themselves undefiled and unspotted from the World Sometimes Free-men because Christ hath made them free from the Dominion of Sin and the Bondage of Iniquity and themselves are and must be ambitious of that Liberty And to come to the Words of the Text there they are call'd Salt even the Salt of the Earth Ye are the Salt of the Earth but if the Salt c. For the understanding of which words I shall enquire I. Upon what account Christians are and ought to be the Salt of the Earth II. How this Salt comes to lose its Savour III. I shall examine the Consequences of this Corruption and the Commination added to it It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be troden under foot of Men. I. Upon what account Christians are and ought to be the Salt of the Earth I proved in the beginning of these Meditations on Christ's Sermon that the Disciples of Christ to whom the following Rules and Commands are directed and enjoin'd were not barely the Apostles nor the Apostles consider'd only as Ministers of the Gospel but all that have enter'd themselves into the Discipline of the Holy Jesus and therefore the Enquiry here is very justly extended to all that call themselves Christians And that none may wonder at Christ's saying that they are the Salt of the Earth as if all that have the name of his Disciples were actually so either born so or became so immediately upon their Profession You must know that this way of speaking expresses the Nature and Tendency of the Christian Religion and shews what those who are true Disciples are and what those who would be so ought to be and the meaning is If you are true followers of me thus it is with you and thus it will certainly be with you even as it is with Salt what Salt doth you will do in a Spiritual sense and in your Actions and Conversations you will imitate the Nature of that Mineral The dullest Papist imaginable that hears or reads these words cannot imagine or from hence conclude a Transubstantiation as if therefore the Disciples of Christ were Transubstantiated into Salt because it is said Ye are the Salt of the Earth and this may justly raise our Wonder they should be so blind as to fancy a Transubstantiation intended in the words This is my Body when the absurdities flowing from the Sacramental Bread being changed into
find work enough nay by this means you would be helpful to the Ministry and prepare Men for our larger Instructions and fit them for the understanding of our Sermons and that Fire which your pious Counsels have kindled in them we should be able to cherish and increase by our Power and Authority And what if you have seen no great success of your Endeavours to Reform others may be you have exhorted and reproved them but have not shewn them a good Example or may be you have admonish'd them carelesly or in Jest and this is not the way to edifie or while you have Chid them for one sin suppose Swearing or Drinking or keeping Ill Company you have lived in another such as Wrath or Anger or Covetousness and Vncharitableness c. and this must necessarily obstruct their Conversion But suppose your endeavours both by a good Example and gentle Admonitions have proved ineffectual All that can be said is this they have done no good to day or this Week but how do you know but they may prove beneficial to morrow or next day or next year Industrious Men are not discouraged with miscarrying in their business once or twice but fall on again and try again and at last their Wishes are accomplish'd and their Desires fulfilled God gives no success to the first Attempts on purpose to encourage us to make more Be not therefore weary of well-doing Do you but your Duty and leave the Success to God You 'll be no losers by your Endeavours in the last day In the mean while you make good the Title of the Text and have the Peace and Comfort of a good Conscience and if you do any good by one act you bring a great number of Blessings both upon your selves and others For so we read Jam. V. 20. Brethren if any of you err from the Truth and one convert them let him know that he that Converts a Sinner from the Error of his Ways shall save a Soul from Death and cover a multitude of sins SERMON XIV St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 14. Ye are the Light of the World IT cannot be denied but that the Titles Christ gives his Followers are magnificent and glorious but then it is not to flatter or to puff them up but to make them know their Duty As he brought the best Religion with him into the World so he would have his Followers distinguish themselves from the rest of Mankind by something extraordinary Those that improve or rather abuse the lofty Names which are given to Christians into self-conceitedness and contempt of others mistake their Masters design and pervert the hopes of his Commendations The Titles do no farther belong to them than they make them good nor doth the Name entitle them to real Happiness while that which is signified by it is wanting It will serve indeed to aggravate their future Misery but cannot contribute any thing to their Salvation God is not taken with outward shews and they may stand knocking at Heaven-gate long enough before the Door is open'd that have nothing to plead for their entring but that they were Abraham's Children Here on Earth Men may be admitted into the Royal Presence because of their Titles of Dukes Earls Marquesses c. but in the Court above Men have no respect shewn them but such as express'd the Elegies and Epithets given them by their Actions This as it is to be observ'd with respect to the Title Christ gives to his Followers in the preceding Verse where he calls them the Salt of the Earth so it is particularly to be applied to that which follows in the Text where Christ reflecting on the Sun and Moon and Stars and all the Lamps of Heaven and considering how beneficial they are to this nether World thinks fit to describe and represent the Manners of his Disciples by that Simile Ye are the Light of the World And that you may see what this Title imports I shall I. Examine the Qualities of Light and then it will easily appear what Duties are implied II. Whether this addition Of the World Ye are the Light of the World hath any thing of Emphasis or Weight in it or imports something more than the bare Title and of these in order I. What the qualities of Light are and here to insist only upon such qualities which fall under the Cognisance of the meanest Capacity 1. Shining is the great quality of Light so a Christian is to shine in Virtues and good Works and what these Virtues and good Works are you may see Gal. V. 22 23. 2 Pet. I. 5 6 7. Rom. XII 8 9. and following Man is naturally in a State of darkness For ye were sometime darkness but now are ye Light in the Lord saith St. Paul Eph. V. 8. Not but that unregenerate Men may be very quick and sagacious in Worldly concerns and things relating to their gain and profit and thriving in the World nay and may be very great Scholars Philosophers and speculative Men in which sense they may be said to have a quick natural Light but with respect to real and substantial goodness they are in a state of darkness and though I doubt not but that in their Baptism they receive some degrees of spiritual Light for which reason they are said to be enlightned Heb. VI. 5. yet that Light as they grow up we see very often drown'd by the Vanities and ill Examples of the World so that they sink into darkness again and sometimes greater darkness than those who never heard of the Gospel labour under But when the Light of God's Grace and the Spirit of the Holy Jesus irradiates their Minds that Light which shines within even in their Understandings doth and will certainly break forth it being impossible to be shut up or imprison'd and shine without upon their Lives and that Shine is nothing but good Works And the Sun does not gild the Earth more than good Works the outward Man These adorn the Christian and are the Splendour of his Life and they transfigure him in a manner as Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor of whom we read Luke IX 29. That his raiment became white and glistering Good Works are a true Christians Raiment and they are glistering too They are so many Stars that spangle that Firmament and though the Kings Daughter be all glorious within Psal. XLV 13. yet that Glory within is of such force that it will shine without and in this sense he is truly changed from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of our God as it is said 2 Cor. III. 18. 2. Light is of an illuminating Nature it enlightens Houses Rooms Caves and Dens and an infinite variety of things so a Christian must make it his business to enlighten other Men those especially who walk in the dark are Children of the Night and live in sin for that is called darkness in Scripture In our Converses Dealings Business Employments we meet very ordinarily with