but reproves them either for their Oaths or other Sensualities But that Clownishness if it must be call'd so is a Duty Notwithstanding this we may preserve the respect due to their Places and Elevations in the World as we see in St. Paul who though he did not comply with the Sins of Ananias the High-Priest and of Festus the Governour yet paid them the respect their Stations and the Figure they made in the World requir'd II. The Text teaches us how we are to aggravate our Sins in our confessions to God To commit Sins which the very Heathens and Publicans condemn and abhor must needs be very dreadful in a Christian because he Sins against the very Principles of Nature In the same manner to neglect that which Heathens and Publicans by the light of Nature do find and affirm and observe as necessary must make the omission exceeding black in a Christian because he is without excuse And therefore if any of us have been unkind disobliging ill-nanatur'd cross and surly and morose to those who are kind and loving and tender and charitable to us let 's not make light of the Sin which is so much the greater by how much it is condemn'd by Heathens and Publicans Christians the Gospel obliges you to love your Enemies and will not ye love your Friends Not to love your Enemies will bring the Wrath of God upon you how much more your not loving those who love you The neglect of the more difficult Task will make you miserable and will not neglect of the easier cover your Faces with Confusion Intemperance Drunkenness Cheating Defrauding Lying Extortion Profaneness c. are condemn'd by the very Heathens and will you from whom greater Vertues are expected defile your selves with such Sins as these The brighter the Light is the greater is the Sin and therefore a Christian who lives under a higher Dispensation if he neglects that which the lesser was sufficient to instruct him in Sins with a witness for he Sins in the midst of Sun-shine In our Confessions therefore such Sins must be particularly deplor'd as exceeding others in heinousness And O! let the greatness of the Sin fright us for ever from venturing upon the like again and let 's bless God that there is yet hopes of Mercy and Vertue the Efficacy in the Blood of Jesus to wash away Sins which bring more than ordinary Guilt upon the Soul III. Since it is so unnatural and irrational a thing not to love those who love us behold how irrational and unnatural a thing it must be not to love God who loves us and hath loved us into Miracles and Prodigies Hath not he loved us Dares any say he hath not If he hath not loved us what do our Praises signifie Why do we praise him as it is in our Liturgy for our Creation Preservation and all the Blessings of this Life Why do we publickly and privately praise him above all things for the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory Are not these signs of Love Can there be greater Characters of his Love Do not we own and confess and acknowledge that these are certain marks of Love But why Christian why art thou so unkind to that God who hath loved thee thus He keeps thee he watches over thee he is thy Sun and thy Shield thy Shade on thy right Hand daily and hourly he showers down Blessings upon thee and all the Evils that befall other Men and which thou art preserved from it 's he that preserves thee from them But why so disrespectful to that God who incircles and crowns thee with loving kindnesses and tender Mercies Art not thou unkind to him when thou sin'st against him Art not thou disrespectful to him when thou wilfully do'st that which he protests in his Word is abomination in his Eyes What Iniquity do'st thou find in him that a God so tender and so kind cannot attract or charm thy Heart into reciprocal Love Why wilt thou suffer that Tongue of thine to vent it self in frothy and corrupt Communications which was given thee to sing his Praises Why wilt thou dishonour him with those Creatures which were intended for thy use and refreshment Why wilt thou make those Members of thy Body Instruments of Unrighteousness which were intended to be Instruments of Holiness Why wilt thou make thy Soul a sink and sty of impure and noisome Lusts which was intended to be a Temple of the Holy Ghost Why wilt thou make those Mercies thou enjoyest Weapons to fight against him which were intended as silken Strings to lead thee to his Banqueting-House the Banner whereof is Love He draws thee with Cords of Love was ever greater gentleness used toward a Child and canst thou find in thy Heart to grieve such Bowels of Compassion Behold what manner of love the Father hath shewn to us that we should be called the Children of God and is this your gratitude to make your selves Children of Hell and Heirs of Damnation There is that in the Love of God which would be an Antidote against all Sins whatsoever had'st thou but Courage to remember that Love and to set it before thee in lively Characters Joseph remembred God lov'd him and he resolutely resists the Charms of his Mistress How can I saith he commit this Wickedness and Sin against God Christian were the Love of God seriously remembred and thought of thou could'st not Sin To offend him would go as much against thee as drinking Poyson or a draught of Gall and Wormwood We talk a thousand great Things of Love what Power it hath to charm rational Souls Sirs God hath given you rational Souls and you are sensible there is no Love so great so amazing so wonderful as the Love of God to your Souls and Bodies I beseech you therefore Brethren by the Mercies of God by the Love of God by the Charity of our Lord Jesus Christ that you present your Souls and Bodies living Sacrifices Holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable Service Amen SERMON XXXIX St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 48. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect THat no Man may be offended at this Command of Perfection which some think utterly impossible on this side Heaven and others do as vainly boast of as if they were arrived to it Give me leave to tell you that it 's no unusual thing in Scripture to meet with Exhortations of that Nature It was God's Order to Abraham Gen. xvii 1 Walk before me and be thou perfect and it seems it is the design of the Gospel and of the preaching of it that we may present every one perfect in Christ Jesus Coloss. i. 28 And to this purpose was the Prayer of Euphrates for the same Colossians That they might stand perfect and compleat in all the Will of God Col. iv 12 And accordingly St. Paul entreats treats the
a Feast what Consolation the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper will be to you if you let your Light break forth and shine How chearfully may you come to this Holy Table where you may expect that the Lord Jesus the Son of God will meet you and communicate himself to you and make the Union between him and you closer the Friendship greater the Correspondence more endearing the Agreement sweeter the Reconciliation surer and the Application of his Promises firmer and more comfortable You bear his Name before Men and he will write his Name and the Name of God on your Foreheads and enter your Names in the Book of Life Christians Let the Light of your Piety shine forth c. and behold the Sacrament is the Treasury-chamber where you are to receive your Reward What Reward Even a Reward which the unhappy Spirits in Hell would give ten thousand Worlds for if they had them even forgiveness of your Sins and being wash'd in the Blood of the everlasting Covenant Heaven Eternal Life is consign'd into your hands and Christ enters at it even into Bonds and Obligations that you shall inherit it when your Race is run And thus the Sacrament proves to you the Suburbs of Heaven the Anti-chamber to the Mansions of Glory and in this outward Court if I may so call it you receive Assurances that e're long you shall be admitted into the very Palace of him who dwells in Light inaccessible and surely this must be a great encouragement to let your Light shine forth before Men. SERMON XVII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 16. Let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven WHAT is sweeter than Light and what is more amiable than Goodness Goodness the Image of the Almighty the Similitude of the Living God the Transcript of the Divine Nature Favour is deceitful and Beauty is vain in comparison of it and all the Glories of this present World fall short of it God loves it and Angels love it and Men that imitate them or desire to be like them cannot but love it God is Goodness it self and therefore must necessarily love it Angels of all Creatures are the most perfect and as Perfection is the Object of their Love so must Goodness for Goodness is Perfection Men that long after Happiness cannot but long earnestly after it for there is no true Happiness without Goodness If there be any rational Creature that is not enamour'd with Goodness it is because they do not see its Charming Rays To the Blind-man the Sun himself is invisible so is Goodness and all the Glories which encircle its Head to him in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Eyes of his Understanding Goodness is Light and the better a Man is the more Splendid he is and consequently the greater is the Glory that shines in and about his Soul a Glory which God delights in and Angels prize and which sheds blessed Influences on all that are round about us And therefore Christ had reason to exhort Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Having already told you That by Light is meant Goodness I need not spend any Time in Explication of the other Terms and Phrases of the Text which may easily be understood That which will be most edifying will be to resolve the Words into these following Propositions I. A Christian must not stop at a low degree of Piety Let your Light so shine So i. e. to that degree II. Our good Works do not shine except Men see them Let your Light so shine that they may see your good Works III. Where our good Works are any way considerable Men will certainly take notice of them This is also implied in this Saying That Men may see i. e. They will certainly see and take notice therefore let your Light so shine that they may see your good Works IV. The great end of our letting our good Works shine before Men must be to endear Religion to others and to make them Glorifie God That they may see your good Works and Glorify c. V. One great Motive to let the Light of our good Works shine before Men is this consideration That God is our Father which is in Heaven That they may see and glorify your Father which is in Heaven I. I begin with the first viz. That a Christian must not content himself with a low degree of Piety Let your Light so shine i. e. To that degree What the meaning of this expression is you may plainly guess by the parallel place John iii. 16 God so loved the World Whereby we all understand a very high degree of Love and indeed the words in the Text are so express and the antecedent Passages have so near a relation to them that we can believe no less then that they do import what is hinted in the Proposition There is nothing more common among Men that profess Christianity than to content themselves with very ordinary degrees of Godliness and if they are once arrived to such a pitch of negative Vertue that they are not scandalous or do not commit Sins which make them a by-word a hissing a Proverb or the talk of their Neighbours they look upon themselves as tolerable Saints and therefore take no farther care to improve their Talents or to bless their Souls with richer Graces But surely this is an Argument that either you do not rightly understand what Religion is or that a fatal Laziness the Scurvey of the Soul hath over-run all your Faculties And to cure your selves of that Distemper I beseech you examine your selves Whether the stop you make be agreeable to the frequent Commands of the Gospel to grow in Grace to add to our Faith Vertue to grow strong in the Lord to abound more and more in Faith in Love in Patience And Whether a Man may not be in a state of Nature and in an unregenerate Condition still who is come no farther yet than a bare freedom from clamourous and notorious Sins I suppose you look upon some Heathen Philosophers who arrived to some degrees of Morality such as Socrates Plato Cicero Seneca c. as natural Men and that notwithstanding the Progress they made in Vertue they were still without the Pail of Grace and the Precint of Christ's Kingdom and if so judge ye whether you are passed from Death to Life when you go no farther than they or perhaps not so far as they Grace is a state of Life which consists in Progress and if Goodness be Light as our Blessed Master stiles it it must go on like the Sun unto a perfect day He that doth not desire to be better surely was never very good and he cannot be said to desire it that doth not endeavour after it If you find Sweetness or Consolation in that degree of Goodness you are arrived to
and looks upon it as a Favour that he will express his Respect to God in Devotion or fancies God reaps some great Advantages by them or performs them more because it is his Duty than because it is his Choice more because he doth not think himself safe without it than because he delights in it more to satisfy his unruly Conscience than his Pleasure or in a manner angry because God hath obliged him to the Drudgery of Devotion all such Persons have odd sinister preposterous Notions and Apprehensions of God and mistake the Nature of their own Felicity the World hath the Ascendent of them and something here below is dearer to them than their God In a word let every Soul that approaches to pay her Duty to God remember that God loves a chearful giver III. See here how heinous this Sin is I mean this Rancour Hatred Malice in our Hearts to our Neighbours whom we have offended and Unwillingness to forgive or to be Reconciled to them I say see here how heinous the Sin is since no Gift can prevail with God to pass it by It is very true my Friends Not all the Gold and Silver you have not all the Alms you give not ten thousand Rams not a thousand Rivers of Oyl not all the external Services you offer to him or lay upon his Altar will move him to overlook it Therefore if thou bring thy Gift unto the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy Gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift Aristippus and Aeschines were both Heathens yet hear what they did Being at Variance for some time Aristippus of his own accord goes to Aeschines his Enemy and tells him shall not we be Reconciled till we become the Table-talk of all the Country Aeschines replied I would very gladly been at Peace with you Remember therefore said Aristippus that I the Elder and the better Man have first sought unto you You are so saith Aeschines not only the Elder but the better Man for I began the Quarrel and you the Reconciliation These things many of us can hear and read many of us that call themselves Christians Disciples of Christ Children of the Revelation Children of Light and that vow'd Obedience to God over and over and yet they blush not to see themselves out-done by Heathens Notwithstanding all this they can carry plumbeas iras as the Comedian speaks leaden and lasting Wrath and Hatred in their Hearts and though they have given occasion to the Variance and been the Beginners of that Distance which is between them and their Neighbours yet will not be persuaded to forgive or to be reconciled Or if they be sometime by the Endeavours of some Charitable Friend forced into a Reconciliation yet that Friendship is to use Menander's Phrase Lupina Amicitia a Wolflish kind of Friendship which lasts for a little while and then the Sore breaks out again And yet such Men shall say their Prayers and go to Church and sometimes receive the Holy Sacrament when a Place or Office or Employment or some such carnal Reason puts them upon it a Profanation so great that it is almost in vain to argue with such Men out of the Gospel for they have not common Principles of Morality they throw down the Bounds of Nature how shall the Gospel overrule them Yet that they may be without Excuse I must a little reason the Case with them Tell me then ye Men that name the Name of Christ and dishonour and disgrace it by your uncharitable Temper is it nothing to you that God hath declared himself your Enemy Hath not he declared himself your Enemy when he hath protested he will not forgive you and hath not he Protested so when he hath told you over and over in his Gospel in that Gospel which you pretend to believe that except ye forgive your Neighbours their Trespasses and from your Heart too he will not forgive you Do but read these Texts Matth. vi 11 Matth. xviii 31 Marc. xi 25 26. How do you forgive them when ye will not be Reconciled to them or do you call that Forgiveness and Reconciliation when after pretences of Agreement you speak ill of the other party again and invent a thousand Excuses to evade the Obligation of a true brotherly Reconciliation either that you will do them no hurt or that you will not meddle with them or that you will let them alone if they let you alone c. And is this Forgiveness doth this look like Reconciliation Have you read the Gospel and can you call it so If God be not Reconciled to you if this Gospel be true you must be Miserable and fall into the Hands of Tormentors and God will not be Reconciled to you except you Reconcile your selves to your Brethren who have ought against you And when shall this Reconciliation be What upon a Death-bed A Death-bed Go then and cry to the Gods whom ye have served and let them deliver you if they can Is it likely God will have any thing to do with you then when all the Charms of his Mercies and entreaties could not prevail with you to be Reconciled before Again to what purpose is the Multitude of your Sacrifices to what purpose do ye pray for if you spread forth your Hands toward Heaven he will hide his Eyes and when ye make many Prayers he will not hear for your Hearts are full of Rancour and Bitterness And how dare you in the Holy Sacrament look the Lord Jesus in the Face that Jesus who died for you that were his Enemies that Jesus who sought unto you when you had affronted God and wrong'd your own Souls that Jesus who came from Heaven to seek you and laid down his Life to rescue you from the Power of the Devil that Jesus who suffered the bitterest Torments to move his Father to forgive you ten thousand Talents I say how dare you look him in the Face who have no Compassion for your fellow Servants Can you hope for any Mercy from him at such a time when you do obstruct that Mercy by your uncharitable Spirit Ay but this seeking to be Reconciled is so Ungentile a Thing you 'll say it makes a Man look ridiculous among People of the better Sort to entreat a Person to be Reconciled when a Man can live without him and hath no need of him A wonderful Argument And doth not the neglect of this Reconciliation make you look far more ridiculous in the sight of God! Will it not provoke him to laugh at your Calamity and to mock when your Fear comes And have not you a fine Religion that makes you more afraid of the Opinion and Censures of Men than of the Wrath of the living God Ay but I have endeavour'd to Reconcile my self to the Person whom I have offended but he will hearken to no Terms of Peace
from a Blasphemer to the Faith to Holiness and to be a Preacher of that Doctrine which before he persecuted from City to City and was exceeding mad against Such force have these Prayers for our Enemies especially if coming from the Heart Nor must we content our selves with Prayers for our Enemies in general but Intercessions and Groans unutterable must be particularly for that Enemy that Man or Woman who hath persecuted and despitefully used us loaded us with the blackest Calumnies and offer'd the greatest violence to our Persons These must be named and specified in our Prayers both Publick and Private and for the Person who hath been Injurious to us our Supplications must be put up not only once and twice but often and importunately and for ought we know he that went out from us an Enemy may come home a Friend a Friend to God and to Religion a Friend to our Persons and Concerns a Friend to all that call on the Name of the Lord Jesus And having thus represented to you the Commands of your Master I may justly expect you should all with one Heart and with one Voice say as the Israelites at the hearing of the Conditions of the Covenant All that the Lord our God hath said we will do If this be not the effect remember you go home Enemies of God and of Christ Jesus There is no medium you must either be God's Friends or his Enemies If you are Friends you 'll stick at nothing he Commands you Christ himself saith so Joh. xv 14 If his Commands be nauseous or grievous or a burthen to you most certainly you love him not and therefore are not his Friends and if not his Friends what remains but being his Enemies and can you sit down quietly under such a fearful Character especially when you read and consider what you read Luke xix 27 As for those mine Enemies that would not that I should reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me But how is all this to be done We live in an Age wherein Men do scarce love their Friends much less their Enemies Such Lovers are very rare very few Examples appear and what encouragement is there to venture upon a Duty so unpleasing so distasteful to Flesh and Blood However the Duty looks fair and lovely and Reason says it is a Perfection which deserves our Ambition and Endeavour But how is this excellent Temper to be attain'd Why easily enough if you are not averse from wholsome Counsel if besides the tempting Reward that is before you you are willing to be govern'd by the following Directions 1. Represent not an Enemy to your selves in those black Characters you usually do There are fairer and finer Colours in which he may be drawn and make use of these 1. When ever a Person doth you an Injury look higher and believe and perswade your selves the Almighty sent him and Providence order'd it and an All seeing God had a hand in it David did so when Shimei cursed him and it quieted him He look'd off from Shimei and saw God in the Calumny not as the Author of it but as one that made use of it He regarded Shimei as God's Executioner as the Instrument of his Displeasure and the Rod of his Anger and what a Calm did this Consideration produce in his Soul while Abishai's Fingers itch'd to take off his Head 2. Look upon the Enemy as thy Physician He is intended to bring Salvation to thy House He is sent to cure thy Soul and it will certainly appear and prove so if thou make his Wrongs and Malice an opportunity to reflect upon the Wrongs and Injuries done to thy God and repentest of them and mak'st thy Peace with him The Enemy is a preacher of Patience a teacher of Submission a School-master that is to instruct thee in the Art of Humility and resisting Temptations If thou improve his Snarlings and rude Assaults mak'st them occasions and incentives to Prayer to do good to his Soul and Body thy Soul will thrive and thy Spirit grow healthy and his Injuries will become Gems and Jewels and Pretious Stones as that Holy Man said whereby the Foe pelts and drives thy Soul to Heaven 3. Look upon the Enemy as blind blind with Rage and Fury and Envy and Malice and this will incline thy Heart to pity him Who doth not commiserate a blind Man And which is the greater blindness Corporal or Spiritual The poor Wretch sees not how sweet and how gracious the Lord is nor what the hope of his Calling is nor what the Riches of his Grace are He hath no sence of the height and breadth and depth and length of the Love of Jesus Christ. He sees not the mighty Obligations that lie upon him to Love his Neighbour as himself and therefore he is Blind and and if Blind he is miserable and if miserable will you add Misery to Misery and hate him who is already in a deplorable Condition Nay if he be miserable doth not he deserve your Prayers your Alms and your Charity 4. May be his Nature is not changed he is not Converted knows nothing of Regeneration nothing of the Sanctifying Grace of God and wilt thou be angry with him for acting according to his Nature Why art not thou angry with the Fire for barning the Stuff that 's thrown into it An unconverted Man acts according to his Temper and Interest and Passion according to his Nature as much as the Sun and Rain and Wind. These move not thine Anger or thy Rage let them blow and scorch and wet and why should the others acting according to his Nature stir up thy Wrath and Indignation 2. There is a Promise and a Promise which if believed and rely'd upon will very much animate and encourage us to these acts of Love It is Prov. xvi 7 If a Man's ways please the Lord he will make his very Enemies to be at Peace with him we have no more to do but still to be followers of that which is good and God will turn and wind things for our advantage and make an alteration even in the Hearts of our Enemies as great as we see in Esau who before had threatned Jacob with Death and on a sudden by a secret invisible Hand is forced to fall into his Brother's Embraces and though this may not always happen yet the Promise will certainly be fulfill'd in something greater and better than is hinted in the letter 3. Oblige your selves to this Love in the Holy Sacrament of Christ's Supper the fittest Time and Place to engage your selves to this Work Though before we come to this Ordinance our endeavours must be strong and vigorous after the Qualifications of the Text yet the Sacrament of the Eucharist is both an excellent Motive and a very considerable help to fix and establish this Love to our Enemies Talk what you will it is not Philosophy nor conversing with Men of this Age nor being at Court nor seeing
Let 's earnestly labour after Perfection and that none may ask what Perfection is It is no other no less no meaner Perfection that what is pressed in the Text Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect This Perfection to give a fuller account of it relates 1. To the kinds of Graces 2. To the degrees of Grace 1. To the kinds of Graces Endeavour after Perfection appears in nothing so visibly as in our serious endeavours after the several Graces which make up the Wedding-Garment spoken of in the Gospel and the charming Ornament of Christ's Spouse Not only one but all must appear very lovely in our Eyes If one seems amiable and the rest are nauseated the Heart is not right with God We must not content our selves with being liberal to the Poor and Needy but Meekness and Humility and love of Enemies and overcoming the Evil with Good must be as heartily espoused as the other To this purpose is that Command of St. Peter 2 Pet. i. 5 Add to your Faith Vertue unto Vertue Knowledge unto Knowledge Temperance unto Temperance Patience unto Patience Godliness unto Godliness Brotherly-kindness and unto Brotherly-kindness Charity c. There is indeed a great stress on some particular Vertues and particularly on Almsgiving and there are such lofty things said of it that the unwary Reader will be apt to think he need do no more in order to Salvation But though God's special favour and esteem of such a Vertue is set down by way of Motive and Encouragement yet it 's certain it 's no where said that such a Vertue alone will suffice in order to eternal Happiness and when the rest are injoyn'd with as great severity as this it must necessarily follow that the rest are equally necessary The Pharisees indeed had an Opinion that if a Man did exercise himself in any one Command though he neglected the rest he would not fail of a blessed Portion in the Life to come But this plainly contradicts the Christians Rule which is Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you John xv 14 and it 's to be fear'd that where the Obedience is partial the Plant cannot be or is not of our Heavenly Father's Planting The Stoicks which held that he who had one Vertue had all the rest were so far in the right that he who upon a good Principle out of love to Goodness applies himself to one Vertue is in a disposition to be Master of the rest if he pursues that Principle but to think that all the rest will fall in in course to him who by frequent acts shews he is pleased with one is what Experience confutes and Reason tells us cannot be except the same Industry be used to attain to the rest that was used in the pusuit of that we have made a considerable progress in 2. This Perfection must be seen in the degree of those Graces we are possessed of A lower degree must be raised into a higher Faith which is like a Grain of Mustard-see must be advanced into a spreading Shrub so must Hope so must Love so must Charity so must other Graces The Acts must be improv'd into Habits and the tender Plant must become Robust till it can bear the Injuries of Wind and Weather The beginnings of a Vertue are Incouragements to proceed in it he that doth not doth not grow strong in the Lord and consequently doth not endeavour after Perfection 3. This Perfection reaches farther yet even to doing of such things as are more perfect There are divers Actions which seem to have no great hurt in them and yet it is certainly a more perfect act to abstain from them This is to be observed particularly in Eating and Drinking in Dressing and Cloathing in Speeches and Discourses and Visits in Conversation and Company in Sports and Recreations c. Such a Jest eating of the other Dish drinking the third Glass playing for Company 's sake such a gaudy Dress c. may seem harmless but it is greater Perfection to forbear them so in doing good it is many times greater Perfection to do such an act of Charity than to forbear it In all which Cases a Christian who follows our Saviour's Rule in the Text will have a special regard to what is more perfect and therefore more pleasing to God In such Particulars as these consists the Christian Perfection which here we are exhorted to labour after but I can have but little hopes that you will exercise your selves toward this Perfection except you were very resolute to make use of the proper means which are these following 1. A mighty ambition after Spiritual things as great an ambition to be truly Good and Holy as others have to be rich and great in the World 2. A vigorous consideration of the future degrees of Glory according to the progress you make here He that meditates much of these degrees will find in himself a vehement desire after such degrees of Sanctity as the most perfect Persons have attain'd to 3. A fervent Love of the Lord Jesus such a Love as we find in St. Paul in St. John in Mary the Sister of Martha c. a love which must rise from the strong Impresses made upon the Soul by the Sufferings of Christ and his Love in descending from Heaven and dying for us 4. A lively representation of what God hath done for us both in Spirituals and Temporals for this will mightily inflame the Soul and put her upon doing any thing which he delights in 5. An attentive Consideration of the Title in the Text where God is called Our Father which is in Heaven an Epithet often repeated and therefore often to be thought of If we are his Children what should we do but imitate him that being the nature and duty of Children that do not bear that name in vain He is in Heaven this speaks his Greatness We see how Great Men prevail with us to do things even contrary to our Inclination And shall not he who is the greatest of all Influence our Resolution to be Perfect as he himself is Perfect Moreover he is in Heaven and from thence looks down upon us It is his condescension that he doth so and that condescention ought to be a Motive to this Perfection He looks down upon us to see how we improve our Talents if we do not he notes our Guilt in his Book where it will stand as a Witness against us And he is said to be in Heaven to let us see the place which we are to be receiv'd into if we be Perfect and truly endeavour after it Thither he intends to draw us to the same Kingdom where himself Reigns and where Christ our Head Reigns And is this no Argument to stir us up to this Perfection I do not mention Prayer as a means because we still suppose that what-ever helps we offer all are insignificant without fervent Prayer And thus we have chalk'd out
he hath promised though thou seeest them not The Reasons for the one are as convincing as the other In a word Believing God's Promises is to venture upon that Piety to which the greatest Blessings are promised And therefore not letting thy Light shine before Men it 's a sign thou dost not believe his Promises and not to believe his Promises is either to suppose that he hath made no such Promises or to think if he hath made any they are not true And what an injury this is to God judge you to whom God hath given Reason and Wisdom and Understanding to know that Heaven and Earth shall sooner perish than one jot or one tittle of his Word shall fail 3. It is an injury to Men too For by not letting the Light of your Piety shine forth you hinder others from the Ways of God Men are led by Example if you have an aversion from the Ways of Righteousness will not this tempt others to have an aversion too If you offer the Blind and the Lame will not others imitate you If to serve God be a weariness to you will it not be so to others It is true God may restrain them from following your example but if he doth not is not this the natural consequence of it It was very well said of St. Chrysostom There would not be a Heathen left in the World if we all of us labour'd to be Christians indeed and strictly obey'd the Counsels and Admonitions of the Gospel if being affronted we did suffer it if we did not render evil for evil if being cursed and abused we did bless if we render'd good for evil There is hardly any Man would be such a Brute as not to apply himself to the Fear of God whose Precepts cause such an admirable Temper if all of us shew'd the same Zeal for the Gospel But when we like Gallio care for none of these things we make others as careless as our selves We especially whom the meaner sort look upon as better Bred and more Knowing and having had the advantage of Education For this is the common Language Such a Man is a Scholar he can Read and Write and hath the Bible at his Fingers Ends If that Man believed these things were necessary he would certainly practise them But making no Conscience of them why should I who am not learned and know not so much as he doth So that this must needs be a manifest injury to Men for we make others regardless of Piety while we our selves do not place that Light on the Candlestick of our Lives and Conversations that it may give Light to all that are in the House But 4. This is not all for hereby we do not only hinder them from the Ways of Piety but we encourage them in Evil we harden others in their Sins help them to be miserable see them perishing and promote their Ruin Though we may not be so bad as others yet in not being so good as we might be and ought to be we confirm them in their Opinion that what they do is harmless And thus we turn Fiends and Devils teach others to Sin and prompt them to be Children of Perdition Our evil Actions are unhappy Schoolmasters to instruct others in the Art of Sinning We destroy Souls and instead of being helpers of their Faith we are helpers to hasten their Damnation And if this be not a signal Injury done to Men I know not what we can call Injury But it 's time I should III. In the last place shew you What the Advantages are of letting this Light of our Piety shine forth before Men. And though this be properly the subject of the next Verse yet something of it I will mention by way of preparation for the Discourse I intend upon that Exhortation of our Saviour 1. Are not we fond of Peace of Conscience Do not we talk of it Do not we commend it Do not we say all the kind things of it Do not we prize it in those that have it Do not we hear Men upon their Death-beds wish for it If it be so precious a thing why this is the way that leads to it even this letting the Light of our Piety shine forth How often have you heard that Saying of the Apostle 2 Cor. 1.12 Our rejoycing is this the Testimony of our Conscience that in Simplicity and Godly Sincerity not with fleshly Wisdom but by the Grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World Ay this is the Spring the Fountain the Root the Vein from which Peace of Conscience flows It can no more arise from a sinful carnal sensual Life than Olive-berries can grow upon a Thorn-bush The Light of Piety causes Light in the Conscience this makes it easy and lightsome under all Burdens and gives a chearful merry Heart under the sharpest Dispensations of Providence All the Joys of Sinners and Hypocrites are not to be compared with it for they die when the Body dies and fill the Soul with Horrour But Peace of Conscience survives the mortal Part and leaps and skips and mounts with the Soul into the boundless Ocean of Eternity 2. Would you see and tast how sweet and gracious God is Why this setting the Light of your Piety on a Candlestick that it may enlighten all that are round about you is the way to it God can never appear truly Sweet to that Soul that hath an Aversion from his Service It is impossible that he should look amiable and charming to that Eye that delights in beholding Vanity It is the Holiness of God that makes him sweet and amiable to the Soul And how can that Soul delight in his Beauty that sees no Beauty in Holiness We wonder not that many Men stare and wonder and think we tell them Stories and Romances when we speak of the admirable Sweetness of God which a Soul enlightened from above is sensible of as well may a Horse understand the Study of the Mathematicks as He apprehend how sweet and amiable God is that rushes into Sin as the Horse rushes into the Battel But notwithstanding all this there is such a thing and the Soul whose pious Life shines before Men feels and sees and tastes how sweet and charming and lovely God the best of Beings is Sweet beyond Roses sweet beyond Perfumes sweet beyond Comparison sweet to Admiration sweet to Extasy And now I should add after all that this letting the Light of your Piety shine forth is the way to engage others what in you lies to Praise God But that must be the subject of my next Meditation However because it is very pertinent to my purpose I will add that which must be the beginning of my next Discourse Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven I shall conclude with a word or two to those that intend this Day to partake of the Blessed Sacrament 3. Think what
these and a thousand things of this nature spoken of concerning the Gospel times in the Law and in the Prophets were most punctually fulfilled and particularly the Types of the Ceremonial Law which were so many prefigurations and obscure hints and characters of the Glory which should after be revealed in the Gospel 2. By what hath been fulfilled we may very safely and rationally infer That the rest of the things which have not yet been will certainly be fulfilled in their due time Such are the lofty Prophecies of the great Unity of the Church of Christ Isai. ii 4 and xi 6 the Spiritual yet visible splendour and largness of it Isai. lx 19 of the Temple which Ezekiel spake of Chap. xl xli xlii c. of the Conversion of the Jews Ezek. xxxvii 26 27. of Antichrist and the state of Christ's Church under him and the consequences of it in Daniel and in other places c. If such abundance of things in the Law have been already fulfilled no doubt the rest will all be fulfilled And this shews That both the Old and the New Testament and the Books and Writings thereof are of God For as the New Testament contains the things that are fulfilled and the Old the things that were to be fulfilled so it must necessarily follow that he that could foretel such things and after he had foretold them so many hundred years before was able to fulfil them could be nothing but God himself it being impossible for any Creature either to foretel or fulfil things so abstruse and out of the common reach of the wisest part of Mankind And since the Scriptures are of God with what Reverence ought we to entertain them with what Seriousness to read them with what Attention to peruse them and with what Strictness to obey them When the Letters and Messages of Sovereign Princes are so venerable and precious with us how dear ought the Oracles and Messages of God to our Souls be to us surely dearer than thousands of Gold and Silver Psal. cxix 72 127. And one great thing that ought to make them so dear to us is this That they will last till Heaven and Earth pass Which brings in the III d Proposition That the Scriptures and the Word of God will last to the Worlds end even till Heaven and Earth do pass away for till then one jot or one tittle of the Law shall not pass away Indeed when the World is at an end there will be no need of Scripture for the Scriptures are given to direct Men here on Earth how to obtain Eternal happiness and while Mankind and Christians particularly abide in this Valley of Tears the Scriptures are profitable for Correction for Reproof for Doctrine that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto every good work and upon this account they are sufficient to make Men wise unto salvation 2 Tim. iii. 15 16. But when this lower World and the Inhabitants of it shall be removed or taken away there will be no Inhabitants to be instructed at least we have no Revelation that there will be any and consequently the means of Instruction will be insignificant If we take a view of the great Day of Judgment and the People that will then appear before the Judge we find they either will be good or bad either Sheep or Goats the Sheep as we are told by him who must be the Judge Matth. xxv 46 will enter into Life everlasting where they shall see darkly no more no more through a Glass and therefore not through the Glass of Scripture as here they do but face to face They will know all that is in the Scripture and infinitely more The Scriptures then will be of no use to them they will be taught immediately of God and behold all things in their highest perfection The Divine Essence and Glory will enlighten them and teach them and instruct them and make them glad for ever and ever The Scripture as it is said of the Law is our Schoolmaster to lead us to Eternal glory When we are got to our Journeys end we have no need of this Guide of these Leading-strings or of that Schoolmaster The Scriptures are our staff and our comfort in the House of our Pilgrimate Psal. cxix 54 when that Pilgrimage ceaseth the Staff will be useless and we shall be Travellers no more but inhabit and fix there where we shall go out no more Rev. iii. 12 Who the Goats are that stand at the left hand of Christ and where they will be and whither they will be sent and what will become of them we all know for they shall go into Everlasting punishment saith our Saviour Matth. xxv 46 Nor will these have any need of Scripture to teach to instruct to exhort to reprove and to direct them how to save themselves for they will be cast into a Prison from whence there is no going out till they have paid the uttermost Farthing In that day God will have another way to teach them even by Torments and Miseries and sad experiences They will be past Repentance and Obedience and all possibility of Conversion and will be determined to evil So that the Scriptures are intended only as our Teachers while this World lasts and while the Sun and Moon continue their courses God will preserve this precious Book He that preserv'd it so many hundred years already in despight of Fire and Flames and the rage of Enemies and Persecutors who would feign have banish'd abolish'd and exterminated it out of the World And that very Preservation shews He will continue these Instructions to Mankind till the Heavens be no more and the Earth doth melt away How great is God's care of our Souls who from age to age preserves this Treasure to us Neither Wars nor Exiles neither Plague nor Sword nor Famine nor all the changes mutations and revolutions in the World have been able to destroy this Treasure Therefore while we are here and have the use of it let us consult it upon all occasions let us run to this Shop for Medicines and Remedies when our Souls are sick and when our outward Man is in trouble whatever state we are in whether Prosperity or Adversity be our lot this Scripture will direct us how to behave our selves and how to order our Conversation Let 's chearfully make it a Lanthorn to our feet and a Light to our paths and we cannot go amiss we cannot stumble we cannot walk in darkness and we shall be able to stand when Heaven and Earth do pass away which leads me to the Fourth Proposition IV. Heaven and Earth will certainly pass away This is plainly supposed here in this saying Till Heaven and Earth pass And the manner how they will pass away St. Peter hath left upon Record 2 Pet. iii. 7 But the Heaven and the Earth which are now by the same Word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and more
but that thou approvest of it And supposing thou approvest of it if the Grace of God restrains him not he soon begins to think that what is lawful for thee may be lawful for him and thus he learns of thee though thou doest not open thy Lips to him There are few Men so bold as in their Words and Speeches to defend and justify things directly contrary to the Will of God in the Gospel but you do mischief enough to the Souls of Men by your evil Practices The Mutes among the Turks teach by their Gestures much more may Men be taught by Actions especially where there is already a Disposition to embrace that which is Evil. Physicians and Naturalists talk of transplanting Diseases from Men into Beasts nay some go so far as to prescribe ways to transfer Distempers from Men into Herbs and Plants Whether it be so I enquire not but sure I am that the Diseases of the Soul are and may be transplanted and conveyed from one Man to another even by evil Practices and this is teaching and making Proselytes to Hell and to the Kingdom of Darkness the readiest way to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven which will give me occasion IV. To represent to you what it is to be the least or to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven Fancy you saw a poor miserable Man starving with hunger and so placed that directly over against him he could see the richest Banquet the most delicate Dishes huge plenty of Victuals of all sorts the Company eating their fill and satiating themselves with all the Variety that Earth and Sea and Air can yield and the poor Wretch that is over against this Company but a few paces removed from them unable to get the least Morsel of Bread ready to tear his own Flesh from off his Shoulders and yet in an utter impossibility to get so much as the Crums that fall from those Rich Mens Tables Do not you think this would be as great a Torment as can well be imagined Why this is the Emblem of being the least or excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven The Soul that is so unhappy as to miss of it will see Abraham a far off and Lazarus in his Bosom be ready to perish ready to burst see all the Glory and Joy of blessed Creatures before his Eyes the Delicates the Dainties the Pleasures the Festivals the rich Entertainments they enjoy and swim in passing before him and yet not able to touch not able to reach the least Extremity of all though his Soul be big with ten thousand desires after them What a Torment what a Plague what a Vexation must this be What Grief what Sorrow what Anguish must this cause And if this must continue to Eternal Ages what Tongue is able to express the Torment And can you after all this call any of the Commandments of the Gospel little ones and break them and pass by them as if they did not belong to you and tempt others to do so too when this is the high way to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven But V. Are there no Ambitious Men here Are there none among you that desire to be Great Have none of you a mind to be prefer'd and exalted to eminent Places You must be either very mortified or very dull if Greatness can make no Impression upon you Preferment What is there that is more hunted after How do many break their Sleep and fall into Discontent and Vexation because they cannot be advanced What waiting at Court What cringing what bowing to Great Men What running to this Friend and to th' other Friend What Flattery what Dissembling what Compliances are used and all to be Great Behold We can tell you a way to be Great greater than Caesar or Pompey or Alexander greater than all the Kings or Rulers of the Earth Great Where Not at Court not in the Camp or Army Not in Church-Dignities or Preferments but great in the Kingdom of Heaven And is not the Kingdom of Heaven a more lofty and more spacious Empire than the whole Roman Monarchy in all its greatest Extent and Glory It 's true we cannot shew you this Kingdom we cannot make it visible to your Eyes but we can tell you that St. Paul saw it and Christ did enter into it and he that hath power to dispose of all the Glories of it hath sent us to tell you That you may be great and he 'll make you so great as Angels great as the Worthies of God greater than Kings greater than all the Princes of the Earth greater than all the proud things which make so great a noise in the World now and all this if you will close with his Desires and both do and teach the Commandments Christ recommends to in his famous Sermon Little they may seem and contemptible they may appear in the Eyes of the Men that have their portion in this Life But as little as they may seem to be your Conscientious and Impartial Respect to them all to the least as well as to the greatest shall exalt you exalt you far above all the Glory and Splendor of this World raise you from the Dunghil take you out of the Dust and set you with Princes even with the Princes of God's People If you are great already this shall make you greater Lay up therefore these Commandments in your Hearts and in your Souls bind them for a Sign upon your Hands let them be as Frontlets between your Eyes teach them your Children speak of them when you sit in your Houses and when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up Assure all those you Converse with that these Commandments are Life and Peace and Rational and Equitable and Just and Necessary and Health to the Soul Foretasts of Happiness and Prefaces to an endless Glory Thus do and thus teach Teach by your Discourses teach by your Actions teach by your Example So Noah taught the unbelieving World by building an Ark to the saving of his House to save themselves from the Wrath to come So do you and build upon the Word of the Son of God That you shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven SERMON XXI St. Matt. Ch. v. Ver. 20. For I say unto you That except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven A Preface or Introduction will be needless It 's enough that these Words are part of Christ's Famous Sermon on the Mount The Method I shall observe in handling them shall be this following to Enquire and Consider I. Who these Scribes and Pharisees were II. What their Righteousness was and wherein it consisted III. How and in what our Righteousness is to exceed their Righteousness IV. The danger if we do not ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven I. Who these Scribes and Pharisees were 1. The Pharisees You
Cleanse your Righteousness and to take care that none of the Leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees stick to it Here on Earth Men Fight for a great Estate and venture Fortune Friends Interest Honesty Life and all Strange The Kingdom of Heaven should lie under that Misfortune that Men must be entreated to enter into it and yet will not be prevailed with after all to enter Yes you 'll say we all are very ready to enter into it were it not for the hard Conditions that are required and do you really think the Conditions so hard Would you think them so if you lay Howling in Eternal Flames Certainly nothing would seem hard then and why should it seem so now when it is evident and apparent you are in danger of those Flames Behold God is ready and willing to succour to assist to support and to strengthen you that your Righteousness may Triumph over the Righteousness of these Hypocrites The same Spirit the same Grace the same Influences the same Assistances he hath afforded to St. Paul to St. Peter to Lydia to Martha to Mary to Magdalene to the Jaylour to the Penitent Publican to Zachaeus to others the same he offers to you all But then if these kind Offers be slighted and rejected and a Farm a Yoak of Oxen or some thing worse be preferr'd before it it is not God so much that deprives you of the Kingdom of Heaven as you your selves Were you actually possess'd of this Kingdom of Heaven you would wonder at the Folly and Madness of Men who can complain that the Conditions are hard when such a Glory such a Bliss such a Kingdom is to be had a Kingdom for which the Apostles and the Primitive Believers whose Faith and Constancy we Admire forsook Father and Mother and Lands and Houses and all that was dear to them in this World I could give you such a Description of that Kingdom as should make all the Glories of this World look pale and dim and dark in Comparison of it But I forbear Were such Considerations as these made use of in the cool of the Day I mean when your Thoughts are cool and composed and the Grace of God upon your Endeavours earnestly implored they would inspire you with Courage Invincible to go not only beyond Heathens and Philosophers but beyond Scribes and Pharisees in Righteousness and in the serious Exercises of Virtue and Self-Denial It 's possible you may not remember all the Motives I have given you but one thing you will be able to Remember which contains all that I have said and that 's the Text and therefore I repeat it once more Except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven SERMON XXII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 21 22. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whosoever shall say to his Brother Raca shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell fire FAlse Teachers without doubt are very dangerous Men. The Murtherer kills the Body these the Soul and by the false Doctrines they Sow in Mens Heads and Minds they not only obstruct their Salvation but lead them into Perdition Indeed if the Errors be light and trivial the hurt that 's done is not great and while the erroneous Doctrine reaches no farther than Speculation it can deserve no very severe Censure but when it spoils and sullies the Worship of God or proves an impediment to the faithful discharge of our Duty to God and Man Poison is not so prejudicial to the outward as such Opinions are to the inward Man and the better part And such were the erroneous Doctrines of the Scribes and Pharisees Blending the Traditions of their Fathers with the Law of God and entertaining both with an equal Faith and Veneration they made an odd kind of Divinity and quite perverted the design of Religion which was to make Men universally good This was particularly visible in the notion they had of the sixth Commandment which they interpreted to the carnal advantage and worldly Interest of their People teaching them that if they did but use that Care and Circumspection as not to kill a Man they did not only answer the design of the Lawgiver but would prevent the Penalty annex'd and their being taken notice of by the Magistrate and punished accordingly but as for Wrath and Malice and reproachful Language whereby Murder and such bloody Practices are too often occasion'd and promoted these they told them were things not forbid in the primary Intention of the Law of God and consequently they need fear no Punishment To which preposterous Exposition our Saviour opposes his Divine Authority proves the gloss of their Elders upon the sixth Commandment to be false and shews That what they thought did not deserve so much as a temporal Judgment God would punish with eternal Vengeance if not forsaken or repented of betimes Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be c. This is a Text upon which Criticks and Learned Men have bestow'd many excellent Observations because the words relate to some antient Customs of the Jews in their Judicial Proceedings against Malefactors and others But as I do not think it proper to entertain you with Curiosities so if there be need of making use of any of those Observations I shall do it no farther than they serve to elucidate some of the obscurer Passages of the Text and make way for the practical Points I shall insist upon for your Edification As to the Sense of the Words it 's briefly this 1. Whether we render the Expression in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It hath been said by them of old time or to them of old time as some Translations read it the difference is not very material for as by those of old time are meant either the antient Masters of Tradition who lived some hundred years before that time or the Ancestors of the Jews to whom those Masters of Tradition pretended to deliver an oral Exposition of the Law of Moses so if we read by them of old time the meaning is You have heard that it hath been deliver'd and said by the antient Masters of Tradition And if we render it to them of old time the sense is You have heard it delivered to your Ancestors and Fore-fathers by those antient Masters of Tradition I restrain you see this Passage to Tradition for though the Sense of it is to be found in the Law of Moses yet the Maxim as it is related by our Saviour here is not expressed there neither with that
If thou hast thou hast deliver'd thine own Soul provided thou didst it unfeignedly with Sincerity with Humility with bowels of Compassion and from a Sense of the Love of God But now that I am talking of Sincerity it will be necessary to represent to you the manner of this Reconciliation that in case any be wrought upon by this Discourse they may not mistake their Measures 1. Then according to the hint given in the Text Here must be a Remembrance a Calling to Mind and Recollecting our selves whether we have given any of our Neighbours either lately or formerly any just Offence and that which makes this Recollection necessary is this because we are apt to forget and to overlook Quarrels which are past and consequently to overlook the Endeavours we ought to use in order to a Reconciliation 2. Strict enquiry must be made if there is or hath been any Variance betwixt us and our Neighbours and this enquiry must be impartial rather favouring our Neighbours Cause than our own who it was that began the Quarrel who gave the first ill Word the first Blow to the Friendship the first Provocation the first Injury and who kindled the Fire first After it is once kindled there are mutual Injuries offered and the offended party provokes the other by Opposition therefore an impartial Enquiry must be made whether we gave the first Occasion of the Breach and if once we find we did we may justly charge our selves with all the evil which ensued upon it and run and leave no Stone unturn'd to reconcile our selves to our fellow Christians for without it no Prayers no Gifts no Sacramental Vows can be acceptable 3. If the Party whom we have offended live at Distance that we cannot speak to him nor send to him then the Reconciliation must be made in our Wills and Minds and with appeals to the Omniscience of God Lord Thou knowest I love my offended Brother and that the desire of my Soul is after Peace with him And after this we may come and offer our Gift yet with this Proviso that if afterward we meet the offended Party and with an Opportunity to manifest this Reconciliation in Words and Behaviour to our offended Neighbour we must not be wanting in the larger Expressions of it 4. If in the Offence given there hath been any Wrong done to our Neighbours Goods or Estate the Reconciliation must be begun with Restitution without which if we are able to compass it all Endeavours of Reconciliation are vain Where no hurt hath been done to the Possessions of our offended Brother the Practice of St. Jame's Rule is sufficient James v. 16 Confess your Sins one to another Which Confession our Saviour bids us express by saying I repent Luc. xvii 4 5. The ordinary method of this Reconciliation is intimated by our Great Master the Lord Jesus Matth. xviii 15 First we our selves are to Address to our offended Neighbour if that attempt proves ineffectual then one or two must be desired to join with us in the Entreaty If they cannot prevail with him then the Church must be told of it i. e. principal Men of the Society we are Members of Men of Probity Gravity and Sincerity and if he refuse to hear them too then he is to be look'd upon as desperate as a Heathen and Publican So that 6. If the Party offended be entreated to be Reconciled the Person who hath given the Offence being penitent and craving Pardon it is as much as his Life is worth if he forgives not his penitent Brother Nay if the Party which gave the Offence should out of Stubborness forbear seeking a Reconciliation after we have waited some time to see whether he will be sensible of his Errour and seek to be at Peace with us if we see he minds it not we our selves who are the Persons Offended are in some measure bound to seek a Reconciliation not only because I told you just now that some Heathens have done it but chiefly because God seeks to the Sinners to be reconciled to him even to the Party offending and we are to be followers of God as dear Children Eph. v. 7. Even Superiours are concerned here if they have offended their Inferiours there being but one way to Heaven and in Matters of Duty the Prince is equally obliged with the Beggar for God is no respecter of Persons And here I could give you a notable Instance in one of our own Kings who having accused his Servant wrongfully and charged him with Perfidiousness and Treachery finding afterward that he had wrong'd him sent for him and being come the King fell upon his Knees and formally begg'd of him to forgive him and would not rise off of his Kees till the Servant had given him a formal Absolution 8. This Reconciliation must not be slight and superficial not meerly Negative which consists in doing no hurt to the Person we are Friends with but there must pass besides mutual Prayers one for another real Acts of Love of Kindness and Charity and the Peace begun must be preserved to the best of our Skill and Power and this is the true Nature of Reconciliation And now whatever Difficulties there may be in the beginning sure I am that when we have Conquered our selves and our rugged Temper and embraced him that was our Enemy before nothing can be sweeter and upon this Peace flows in the Peace of God and our Prayers become sweet and all our Devotions and Religious Services become sweet and refreshing and effectual and comfortable and our Hopes of Pardon from God become Solid and Rational and afford true Content and Satisfaction and our very Death-bed becomes soft a Bed of Down and a Bed of Roses for now the Conscience is easy and free from the Burden that lay upon her and presages our lying forever incircled in the Arms of him who is all Love all Mercy all Goodness all Compassion To whom be Glory forever Amen ADDENDA IN this Sacrament particularly you bring your Gift to the Altar not only your Alms and Prayers and Praises but you pretend to present your Souls and Bodies living Sacrifices to God And is it likely these Gifts will be accepted there when there is a Root of bitterness in your Heart Is this the way to procure the Smiles of Heaven Is it not rather the way to procure the Frowns of God to be sent away with a Curse even with the Curse inflicted on the Man that came to the Marriage Feast without a Wedding Garment Hither you come to receive Pardon and to secure your Everlasting Salvation but have not you read 1 John III. That he that hates his Brother is a Murtherer and we know that a Murtherer hath not Eternal Life in him SERMON XXIV St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 25 26. Agree with thine Adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him lest at any time the Adversary deliver thee to the Judge and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer and
we agree with him when God and we draw different ways When he bids us walk in the Light and we walk in Darkness When God bids us do one Thing and we do another When God commands us to live in Love and we maintain and harbour Hatred and ill Will to our fellow Christians when God enjoins us to take to the strait Way and we venture upon the Broad Is this Agreement when he bids us harken to the Motions of his Spirit and we are guided by the Suggestions of the World and the Devil And yet this Agreement will signify little except it be timely and while we are in the Way with him To be sure to delay that which God would have us apply our selves to presently doth not look like Agreement To run those Hazards which God would have us prevent is nothing but Contradiction And what is it that God would have us agree with him in without delay Why it is in all the Vertues and Graces whereof Christ hath shewn us an Example and particularly in agreeing with our Neighbours if we have any Difference with them If we agree with them we agree with him And why should we delay it Have we a Lease of our Lives Do we know how long we shall continue here Do not we see how uncertain every thing is and shall we build upon Uncertainties which in Temporal Concerns we count Folly and can it be Wisdom in the greater concerns of our Souls And is this a suitable return for the Patience God exercises toward us And this calls me to examine the III. Proposition that God deals very gently with us before he lets us feel the heaviest stroke of his Vengeance he not only calls to but give us time for Repentance This is also intimated by these Words Agree with thine Adversary quickly while thou art yet in the way with him i. e. while he allows thee time to come in and agree with him which must necessarily have relation to Gods Patience and the Time he gives for Repentance He might strike the Drunken Man dead in the midst of his Cups and send the Swearer immediately into that Hell by which his Tongue is set on Fire and dispatch the cholerick Man in his Rage and Fury send the Adulterer Fornicator and Lustful even before their Lust is satiated to keep Company with Devils and bid Lucifer arrest the Proud and Covetous as they are going up the Hill But behold he bears with you spares you cuts not down the barren Trees as soon as they appear unfruitful but prunes them digs about them and waters them with the Rain of Heaven and by this Patience he calls to Repentance This we are assured of by the Apostle Rom. vi 4 Thus he hangs out the white Flag the Flag of Peace before the Red or Black be shewn the certain Sign of utter Ruin and Destruction And Oh! the Blindness of poor Sinners that will not understand what this Patience of God means that will not see in it his Endeavour to prevent their Misery To what purpose is your Reason if from Gods forbearing to punish you you do not infer his earnest desire to save you Shall his Patience make you worse or his Forbearance harden you As soon as you begin to cherish any Sin you are Children of Death for the Wages of Sin is Death Rom. vi 23 and these Wages God might immediately pay you But behold what a merciful God you have to deal withal He that might immediately send you to the Place of Execution waits to be gracious He stops the destroying Angel that is drawing out his Sword against you and that 's the reason why you are not consum'd in an instant And will you make that an Argument of Gods Approbation of your Sin which is a most powerful Call to forsake it What Stupidity is this to make such an Interpretation of Gods Goodness Is it possible God can encourage any Man to Sin or to continue in the ways of Death who takes upon him all the Passion and Grief and Sorrow of a disconsolate Father to let us see what a trouble it is to him if we do so And if it be impossible his Silence and Forbearance to punish you must necessarily be an Invitation to wash your Heart from Uncleanness Why will you play with his Patience You play with it when you delay your Repentance and what the Consequence of this delay is The Fourth Proposition will tell us viz. Delay of True Repentance provokes God to proceed to very severe nay to the severest courses of Vengeance For as it is with Men when they will not agree with their Adversaries quickly while they are in the way with them the Adversary delivers them to the Judge the Judge to the Officer and the Officer casts them into a Dungeon So God when this serious Repentance is delay'd and in despight of all his Entreaties and Beseechings put off as a thing neither necessary nor convenient seeing the Sinner incorrigible he orders him without any further delay to be delivered to the Tormentors Though this is spoken particularly with respect to those counterfeit Christians that harbour Wrath and Malice in their Hearts and will not be perswaded to forgive or to be reconciled to those they are at variance with yet it is the Method God takes in all other Sins if Mercy cannot win them Justice must force them into a sense of their Duty if Kindness and Gentleness cannot charm and melt the Wrath of the Living God shall fright and astonish and drive to Despair And O ye Sons of Men Why will ye provoke your Father in Heaven to deal with you as with hardned Malefactors Will you tempt him to send Scorpions and fiery Serpents among you when he designed nothing but Rods to correct you Why will ye pull down that Vengeance upon you which God was willing to lay by and to keep lock'd up in his Magazenes of Thunder The longer you delay your Repentance the more you hasten his Vengeance What 's the Reason that God calls away so many and summons them to Judgment before they have seriously consider'd why they did come hither Is it not because they have abused his Mercy trespassed upon his Patience delay'd their change of Life and no Kindness no Love no Clemency no Compassion will melt them into Remorses Compunctions and the Pangs of Regeneration And how dreadful must their Condition be when called away to give an account of their turning the Grace and Patience of God into Wantonness Who shall plead for those who have slighted Mercy baffled the Entreaties of God stopt their Ears against the Beseechings of the Almighty and hardned their Heart against his endearing Sollicitations O my Soul come not thou into their Secret unto their Assembly mine Honour be not thou united Immediately upon their Death God proceeds to a severe Discipline and now the Torments begin and the Artillery of Heaven is brought forth against them They made God their
15 17 18. But the Sin here aimed at lies in the secret Wishes Will Purposes Lust and Desires after Adultery Fornication Uncleanness and forbidden Mixtures And therefore if the Observation of the Jews be true that Ahab and Zedekiah mentioned Jer. xxix 21. were the Persons who attempted the Chastity of Susanna are charged with downright Adultery because they intended it though they could not compass it as we see Jer. xxix 23 And he that purposes to sollicit a Woman to that which God counts Abomination or wishes to enjoy the dangerous Love of the Person which hath no Matrimonial Relation to him or whose Desires Languish because he cannot gratifie his base Lust which his wicked Mind desires or who feeds himself with impure Imaginations with obscene Pictures and Images of the Person upon whom his Heart is set all these are secret Adulterers and Fornicators and must expect the Wrath of God the Anger the Indignation the Fire the Brimstone and the Portion of Misery designed for Adulterers and Fornicators who are outwardly so 3. That this is a very just Sentence and that he is justly charged with the guilt of Adultery and Fornication and Lewdness who Wills or Wishes or Desires it whatever Notion they are represented under is evident from hence because the Will is the principal Agent in the Action so that if the Will consents the Man consents and it is as much as if he had done the unlawful Act which is only impeded or hindred from being executed by certain Circumstances which fall out cross I very much question whether the outward Acts of Fornication and Adultery would be Sins at all if it were not for the Will It 's this gives the Act the tincture of Hell Before the outward Act the Malice and the Turpitude of the Sin is already compleated though the Act be hindred by accidental Causes from being consummated And this is no new Doctrine the very Heathens saw the reasonableness of it and to this purpose several excellent Sayings might be alledged here out of Aristophanes Seneca Juvenal Ovid and others were it necessary and though humane Laws lay no Penalty upon the Will because they are no competent Judges of it nothing falling under the Cognisance of the publick Magistrate but Overt Actions yet with respect to God who sees the Heart the Sin is the same and he that would or hath a mind to commit Adultery Fornication Lewdness whatever Names he may give his Desires and Lusts is the Person who hath committed all these because all that was in his power to do toward it he hath done i. e. his Will Consent and Desire do concur to the Sin though an Opportunity of finishing the Sin outwardly be wanting And God counts such a Person an Adulterer and Fornicator and lewd Man though his Neighbours at the same time who know nothing of his secret Sins may count him Honest and Sober and Innocent The Romans punish'd a Vestal Virgin who had vow'd perpetual Chastity with Death because she did once merrily in Company say that it was a pretty thing to Marry because by saying so she discover'd her Desire and Will to break her Vow I do not justify that piece of Rigor but only mention it to prove that the very Light of Nature discovered to Heathens and Pagans that the Desire and Will to commit a Sin was a complete Sin so far as the inward Man could make it and consequently deserv'd the same Punishment This leads me to discourse of the III d. Particular viz. Whether notwithstanding all this there be not a very great difference betwixt the internal Consent and the outward Act as to the heinousness of the Sin To this the Answer is that Sins as to the Substance may be the same yet Circumstances may make the Sin more heinous than it would have been without those Circumstances He that hates his Brother is a Murtherer saith St. John 1 John iii. 15 Yet there is no doubt be that besides that Hatred doth actually deprive him of Life is a greater Sinner and the Sin becomes more black and dreadful So it is in Adultery and Fornication and Incest and Carnal self-pollutions and other Lewdnesses He that wishes or wills it or purposes it or feeds himself with filthy Images of any of these Sins commits a Sin of the same Nature and Complexion that he doth who to the inward Formation of it adds the outward Act but still the outward Act aggravates it and gives it a deeper Dye because of the Scandal it gives and the greater hurt it doth in that another Person is made a Partner of the Folly and dragg'd with him into Hell and the Sinner goes as far in it as he can So that though as to the degrees of the Heinousness of the Sin there is a difference betwixt the internal Consent and the outward Act yet the Sin is the same in Substance and therefore must be supposed to participate of the same Punishment which is threatned to Adulterers Fornicators c. though according to the degrees of the blackness of the Crime the Punishments in the other World will be proportionable INFERENCES 1. Here we see how necessary Solomon's Rule is Prov. iv 23 Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life The Heart being guarded the whole Man is safe If that be left Defenceless the whole Man lies open to the Devils Power In the Heart or Mind Sin first takes Root and then if not checkt it presently spreads and diffuses it self into the outward Man and brings forth fruit unto Death Keep Sin out of the Heart and you keep it out of the Body for from within from the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Covetousness c. saith our Saviour Marc. vii 21 When Sin first offers it self to the Mind and is rejected as soon as it doth make its first Appearance the purity of the Soul is preserv'd We cannot hinder the Motions and Suggestions of the Devil from approaching or assaulting our Minds and an impure Thought may jog the Mind but if the Mind do immediately oppose the Enemy as soon as it comes before the Gate of the House its Forces are broke and disordered and they can never make head or insinuate into the Affections our Saviour therefore charges us to cleanse the inside of the Dish and Platter that the out-side may be clean also And indeed a Man or Woman cannot be truly said to stand in awe of God that do not watch over their Hearts and resist the first Assaults of Sin and though I will not deny that restraining the outward Act upon the account of it's Odiousness and Danger may be called part of the fear of God yet it is but a very imperfect Fear till the Heart comes to detest the first Suggestions In the Sin of unlawful Lust this is particularly to be observed and he that means to get the Mastery of a lascivious Temptation must be concerned and tremble upon
be cast into Hell And if thy right Hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell THese Words relate either to all the Precepts that go before or to the Command or Prohibition immediately preceding either to all the Rules and Lessons and Vertues which we have already treated of such as Humility Meekness Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness purity of Heart Peaceableness and Peace-making exceeding the Scribes and Pharisees in Righteousness leading an Exemplary Life c. or to the Law and Command which prohibits harbouring Adulterous and impure Desires Intentions and Lusts even that whosoever tooketh on a Woman to Lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart The Words of the Text are Metaphorical or Hyperbolical to be sure cannot be understood in a literal Sense for though it hath happen'd so and Providence sometimes hath so ordered it for reasons great and weighty that some good Men have had their right Eyes pulck'd out by others and their right Hands cut off by Enemies by Tyrants and Persecutors yet to think that Christ would command his Followers to pluck out their own right Eye and cut off their own right Hand be Butchers and Executioners upon themselves practise that Inhumanity upon their own Bodies and go beyond the Priests of Baal who only cut and hackt their Flesh till the Blood gush'd out this seems not at all agreeable with the design of him who came to save that which was lost and hath charged us not to hate our own Flesh but to cherish it as a Servant that the Soul may be the better for those kind Usages shewn to her Minister And therefore the meaning of our Saviour must needs be this If thy right Eye offend thee or if thy right Hand offend thee i. e. If these parts of thy Body administer occasion to Sin if looking upon an Object or touching it causes or is apt to cause evil Thoughts and impure Desires Lusts and Designs within thee pluck out and cut off the Occasions of that Evil. Forbear looking that way as much as if thine Eyes were pluckt out and avoid touching that Object as much as if thy Hands were cut off it is better for thee that thou enter into Life with one Eye or maimed or that one of thy Members should perish i. e. It s better for thee that thou shouldest miss that Satisfaction which thine Eye gave thee and thy Hand prompted thee to than with that Satisfaction to be cast into Hell So that these Words are a Metaphor taken from Surgeons who in a Gangrene cut off a Limb a Hand or Foot or an Arm to preserve the other Parts and cause one to perish that the other may continue whole and untainted This is at least part of our Saviours meaning here But as I told you the Words relate not only to unlawful Lust shewing how that is to be cured but to all the preceding Precepts and Vertues and therefore something more must be intended by them and that you may see the full extent of them I shall comprehend it as near as I can in these three Propositions I. Vertue and Watchfulness against Sin is of that mighty Consequence that if it were not otherwise Attainable it were worth loseing an Eye or a Limb to get it rather than be cast into Hell for want of it II. To attain to a truly Spiritual Life or to root up Habits of Sin if gentler Means will not do a Christian must apply himself to a more painful Discipline III. To avoid or to be rid of unlawful Lust whether Adulterous or other impure Desires a Christian must give not the least Encouragement to the Sin by Actions that feed it nor cherish any thing that provokes to it I. Vertue and Watchfulness against Sin is of that mighty Consequence that if it were not otherwise Attainable it were worth loseing an Eye or a Limb to get it rather than be cast into Hell for want of it This is as little as we can draw from our Saviour's words and there is none so weak but will be able to inferr from them that so much at least is supposed in these Expressions If thy right Eye or thy right Hand offend thee c. Whatever Opinion the World may have of Vertue and Watchfulness against all sorts of Sin God hath other thoughts of it and judges the Attainment so necessary that he holds it Advisable rather to endure any thing and to run any Hazard of the Body than go without it And indeed all wise and good Men who have any lively Apprehensions of the reason of the Thing are and have been of the same Opinion not only Christians but even the Heathen Philosophers had an Insight into this Truth There is a remarkable saying of Seneca to this Purpose Projice quae Cor tuum laniant quae si aliter extrahi nequirent Cor ipsum cum illis evellendum erat i. e. Throw away those base Lusts which war against thy Soul which if there were no other way to cure it were worth pulling out the very Heart with them Nay some of these Philosophers have actually deprived themselves of the use of some considerable Members of their Bodies for the study of Philosophy and its hard if the study of Piety should not deserve as much if it were so that it were to be procured no other way Vertue and Watchfulness against Sins are of infinitely greater Value than all outward Advantages whatsoever and since we ordinarily part with things of a lesser for those of greater worth seems it to you so hard a Bargain to part with an Eye or Limb for a greater Blessing The loss of an Eye or Limb is nothing to the loss of a Soul He that loses either of these if he be Vertuous and Holy and Watchful against Sin may yet enter into Life but he that is destitute of this Watchfulness can never enter in with all his Parts about him The loss of an Eye or Limb cannot hurt the Soul for all that loss the Soul may be Happy and Blessed and Glorious and a Favourite of Heaven and he that loses an Eye or a Limb upon the account of Righteousness shall have that Eye or that Limb restored to him in a more splendid manner in the Resurrection of the Just so that he shall be no loser by it whereas he that is a stranger to this Watchfulness here can never have it restored to him in the last Day for as the Tree falls so it shall lie and he that continues filthy here shall continue so till Dooms-day Add to all this that Hell is so tremendous a Torment that if a Man had any lively Notions of it he would suffer any thing rather the Rack the Gibbet the Wheel and the Bull of Phalaris than venture falling into that Misery I grant very few Men
such as Fasting Severities doing things irksome troublesome and uneasie to the Body great self-denials in Dyet in Apparel in Company in Talking in Mirth and Recreation large Alms doing much good c. These strangely advance a spiritual Life especially if joined with those I call gentler Means and as painful as this may seem to Flesh and Blood at first the Discipline will become sweet and easie when the Soul perceives the glorious Effects of it And O! that you would but try and venture upon this severe Course There are Treasures in it of Joy of Comfort and Satisfaction and you will find how your Sins will abate how your Corruptions will decrease and your evil Inclinations will become less troublesome you 'll find how everything will thrive under it and what a strengthening it will be to your Faith and Hope and Love and Charity and how all these Graces will grow and swell and become large and fruitful Some of you I am confident have been striving against Lust and other Sins you have pray'd you have resolved you have meditated c. Yet you find you fall into the same Sins again Here must be some fault either your Prayers are not fervent or your Resolutions are not strong enough or some more painful Discipline must be used some Austerities whereby the Body is subjugated and made obedient to the Spirit for the more the Body is pinch'd and denied in its Satisfactions the better doth the Soul thrive I grant these Austerities have been abused by Pharisees and by some Votaries of the Church of Rome into Superstition so is Wine and stronger Spirits which make some drunk but are a Cordial to others but a modest and humble use of them cannot but be very beneficial in order to the Life we speak of This is a very tempting Subject and I could dwell upon it a little longer but that I have something more to explain viz. the III. Proposition That to avoid or to be rid of unlawful Lust or adulterous and impure Desires Wishes and Inclinations a Christian must not give the least Encouragement to the Sin by Actions which will feed it nor cherish any thing that will provoke to it And of this Nature is the right Eye in the Text and the right Hand the one by looking the other by touch or contrectation These must be forborn and totally abandoned where they are apt to cause the least disorder in the Mind for these are the Fewel that feed the impure Fire and it stands to reason the Youngster that feeds his Eyes with the charming Looks of the Minion or Idol he adores and puts his Hand into the Bosom of his Mistress may as well hope to cure himself of a Fever by a Draught of cold Water as cure himself of his Lust by that means Though Marriage be the great Remedy against Adultery Fornication and all other unlawful Lusts and Desires of the Flesh and a Remedy prescribed by God himself yet all Persons are not under those Circumstances which may make a Married state fit for them Some though they have not made a Vow yet are resolved or minded to continue in a Virgin State and to imitate the Great Apostle and High Priest of their Profession Christ Jesus as in the Primitive Church thousands of Men and Women made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. that they might attend the Lord without distraction and be able to do more good they denied themselves not only in all sinful Lusts but in Marriage too not out of any ill Opinion of that State but by way of Mortification and voluntary Abstinence and because they thought a single Life spent in the Service of God and in doing good a higher degree of Christian Perfection Others are under the Yoak of Service and tyed by the Law of the Land and their own Indentures and Oaths and Promises not to Marry before the time of their Service be ended Others there are whom Poverty and want of means to maintain a Family keeps from entring into that Condition and others for other Reasons are obliged to abstain from it Now all such Persons may justly be supposed to be liable to Temptations of unlawful Lusts and therefore such may stand in need of Counsel and Advice how to keep themselves Chast and Innocent from the Garment spotted by the Flesh. Nay there is Chastity to be observed in a Married State Adulterous Lusts and Desires are dangerous as the fall of a Thunderbolt and burn into the nethermost Hell And such also fall under the direction of Preservatives These Preservatives are various and they either regard the Mind or the Actions As they have respect to the Mind Consideration I mean that which is serious and attentive must be used and a Christian must take time to ponder and reflect how great how dreadful how heinous how dangerous the Sins of Adultery Fornication Lasciviousness and Uncleanness are for they exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven alienate the Love and Favour of God from the Offender and kindle his Everlasting Wrath and Indignation Galat. v. 19 20 21. Besides he that commits Fornication Sins against his own Body he is injurious to that Body which was purchased and bought for Christ's Service makes a Beth-aven a House of Impiety of that which should be a Bethel a House of God and violates the Sanctity of that Tabernacle which was dedicated to the Worship of him who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity makes the Members of Christ the Members of a Harlot and profanes the Temple of the Holy Ghost for so his Body is and for that use it was intended as we see 1 Cor. vi 17 18. Not to mention how by these Sins of Impurity the Understanding is darken'd the Light of God is obscured and the Life of Religion turned out of doors how Adultery was punish'd with Death by the Law of Moses as much as Murther which shews the heinousness of the Offence and what Judgments have been inflicted on Men and Nations from time to time even in this present Life as fore-runners of greater Plagues in another World such Topicks the Understanding must six upon and except this be done all other Means and Preservatives will be in vain for if these Sins be shun'd it must be upon rational Grounds and its impossible the dread of these Sins should be Rational except the Mind takes these Arguments into Consideration The things that are to be done in order to be rid of these unlawful and forbidden Lusts and joined with these Considerations are these following 1. We know how much Idleness and want of Employment helps to feed these Lusts and therefore this must be watch'd against it was this which precipitated the Inhabitants of Sodom into those Lusts which procured their Ruin and Destruction Ezech. xvi 49 2. Drunkenness and Gluttony and Pampering the Body do manifestly administer Fewel to the Flame and therefore these must be renounced Jer. v. 7 3. Whatsoever feeds the
we see hath prevailed with them to break all those Engagements Besides in these unequal Yoakings there cannot be that sweet that mutual Encouragement to Prayer and Praises and other Acts of Devotion and Piety which ought to be betwixt such Relations and though I doubt not but it 's possible to Admonish one another to serve God faithfully in their own Way without Passion or passing Censures one upon another yet the Thoughts that one of them worships God in a forbidden Way will still be an Impediment to this faithful and Conscientious Exhorting one another duly And therefore though I cannot say it 's absolutely unlawful to marry a Person of a different Persuasion in Matters of Religion yet the Inconveniences are so great that he who duly Weighs and Ponders them before he enters upon that State will think himself obliged to arm himself against all such dangerous Mixtures and Conjunctions III. There is nothing causes these Desires of Divorcements more than unhappy and unfortunate Matches And as such Matches are too often the Effects either of Rashness and Precipitation or want of enquiring into the Temper and Disposition of the Persons that are to make this near Relation or of Covetousness and Greediness after Fortune and Riches and Mony or of nelecting the advice of Parents and faithful Friends or of a preceding vain and vitious Life which is punish'd very often with such uncomfortable Conjunctions so where the married State is embitter'd with many sad Ingredients to prevent all such Wishes and Desires of Divorcement these following Considerations and Remedies may be very useful 1. Let it be considered that though your Married State be full of grievous Troubles yet it doth not it need not hinder you from attaining Everlasting Salvation It 's true People may make any State and Condition an Impediment to Eternal Life but there is no Necessity for it Nay in the Case before us the Troubles in a Married State naturally direct you to seek a better Country and if you are in a Capacity of enjoying God for ever notwithstanding the Evils which befall you you have Reason still to Praise and Adore the Divine Goodness and since your Married State affords so little Comfort To labour hard to be made Partakers of Everlasting Consolations 2. Let another Consideration be added to this that as miserable as your Married Condition is this happens not comes not to pass without a very special Providence God either orders it or wisely permits it corrects you for great Purposes and chastises you to let you see your Affections have been misplaced and must be set upon Objects and Beings more Sublime more Adequate more Commensurate to your Immortal Souls God and Heaven and the Things unseen 3. Under such a Providence the Soul must learn to be humble to look upon her Sins as Meritorious and the Cause of this uncomfortable State and accuse her Carnal Worldly and Sensual Desires and Designs as the Procurers of this Misery and improve the Dispensation into Repentance and Self-Examination and Submission to the Will of God and the Practices of Spiritual Devotions and Aspirations and Breathings after Enjoyments of a nobler Nature 4. In this Case the Divine Power and Goodness must be adored to supply you with Grace and Assistance suitable that you may chearfully bear the Injuries Indignities and Crosses that befall you in that State and do not doubt but your Prayer if strong and importunate will draw Honey from the Rock and Oyl from the Flint and Blessings of great Value from him who hath declared himself a God that heareth Prayer 5. Another Consideration will be very profitable that God by such Crosses in a Married State teaches you Patience at home that you may be the better able to practise it abroad Thus the Philosopher said of his Angry and Unquiet Yoak-fellow That he found his Silence under the Effects of her Rage and unquiet Spirit when he was at home proved very salutary and beneficial to him when he was in Company abroad for by that means he was the better able to bridle his Passions when he was provoked or affronted in Publick And St. Chrysostome hath this Observation upon it It grieves me that Heathens are wiser than we who are to imitate Angels nay God himself in Meekness and Patience Indeed we cannot imitate a more Excellent Pattern He that is best able to Revenge himself upon the Insolent Wretches that affront him suffers most Be patient therefore unto the coming of the Lord Behold the Husbandman waits for the pretious Fruit of the Earth and hath long Patience for it until he receive the early and latter Rain Be ye also Patient Stablish your Hearts for the Coming of the Lord draws nigh Jam. v. 7 8. SERMON XXVIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 33. Again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths THE sence of these words we have Levit. xix 12 but the Words themselves seem to be a Paraphrase of the ancient Expositions of the Law among the Jews upon that Law in Leviticus where it is Ye shall not swear by my Name falsely neither shalt thou profane the Name of thy God which Words those ancient Interpreters expressed it's like as it is in the Text Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths And that 's the thing aimed at in these words Again ye have heard That it hath been said by them of old time And most certainly he that forswears himself swears falsly by the Name of God and he that doth not perform unto the Lord his Oaths or performs not what he hath Sworn and Promised to God and Man profanes his Name with a witness Or possibly all that is said in the Old Testament against Swearing was contracted by the Learned Men of old Time into this Axiom or Sentence Thou shalt not forswear thy self but c. Or These words are a Comment made by the Ancestors of the Jews upon the Third Commandment Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain Or They relate to Numb xxx 2 However it be or whoever were the Authors of this Saying it must be confess'd that they spake conformably to the Will of God and therefore these words are in effect a Divine Precept and Obligatory for ever as much as a Command in the Decalogue and though it was said so by them of old Time yet it is no more than what the ancient of Days hath said over and over by Moses and the Prophets And to discourse of this Subject profitably I shall enquire I. What an Oath or taking an Oath or what Swearing is II. Whether an Oath or Swearing even in a modest serious judicial way be lawful III. Why Forswearing our selves or Perjury or not performing unto the Lord our Oaths is forbid and wherein the virulency or heinousness of the Sin consists IV. What the Ceremonies
Powers Ordain'd of God and Whoever resists that Power resists the Ordinance of God Rom. xiii 1 2 3. 5. There is no place in all the New Testament which forbids a Christian to be a Magistrate nay we have several Examples of Men who were Magistrates actually and converted to Christianity and yet neither quitted nor were they requir'd to quit that Office after their Conversion such were Nicodemus Joseph of Arimathea Both the Centurions Matth. viii and Act. x. and Sergius Paulus the Proconsul Acts xiii even the Soldiers in St. John the Baptist's Time Men who are the great Instruments of that Justice which the Magistrate sometimes executes were not oblig'd to lay down their Military Girdle or to forsake their Station and Employment 6. We are expresly commanded to pray for Kings and those who are in Authority 1 Tim. ii 1 2 3. and the Reason is given because God would have all Men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth which shews that we are therefore to pray for Magistrates especially if Infidels or Idolaters that they may be Converted and that under them we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty which End could not be obtain'd if immediately upon their turning Christians they were oblig'd to lay down or divest themselves from their Office 7. The Office of the Magistrate doth not at all clash or interfere with the Genius or Temper of the Gospel For what is the Office of a Magistrate but to make wholesome Laws for Governing the People under their Power with suitable Sanctions and to defend their Subjects from Wrong Violence and Mischief Neither of which acts are contrary to our Religion not making Laws for governing the People under their Charge for the Gospel as well as the Law of Nature permits every Master of a Family to make good Orders for those over whom God hath set him and it would be strange if Masters of a greater Family might not have this privilege God even in the New-Testament hath declar'd himself to be a God of Order and protests against Confusion and since without Magistrates and Laws and Sanctions it would be impossible to prevent Confusion He that allows of the End must needs be supposed to allow of the Means conducive to that End In a word without these Helps Cities and Common-wealths would be Dens of Thieves and Pest-Houses rather than civiliz'd Societies nor is defending their Subjects from Wrongs and Injuries contrary to the nature of the Gospel which prescribes Justice and Charity and who sees not that the defence of the Subject from Wrongs and Injuries is founded upon these two Cardinal Vertues Even inflicting Penalties upon the stubborn and obstinate rests upon these Principles so that the Office of the Magistrate must necessarily be lawful and commendable I grant were the whole World Christian and did all Christians live up strictly to the Rules of the Gospel there would be no Quarrels no Dissentions no Wrongs no Injuries and consequently there would be no need of Magistrates but such a blessed State we do not look for till we come to Heaven and till then there must be Magistrates Nor doth St. Paul 1 Cor. vi 1 2 3 4 5. find fault with the Office of the Magistrate but with those who upon every light occasion quarrel'd one with another and accused one another to the Magistrate and particularly to the Heathen Governors Nay the Apostle is so far from condemning the Office that he seems to advise them to erect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Tribunals of Judgment among themselves to decide Controversies and Quarrels betwixt Man and Man thereby to avoid running to the Heathen Magistrates whereby Christianity was like to become contemptible So that all these Particulars being laid together since God cannot be supposed to contradict himself this Precept of our Saviour must concern only Private Christians and must be intended to direct them how they are to behave themselves one toward another in their Conversation but is not level'd against the Power of Magistrates in a Christian Common-wealth not but that even a Magistrate may Sin against this Precept of our Master if private Revenge guides him in the execution of Judgment and Justice but where he doth the Duty of a Magistrate out of Love to the Publick Good there this Command cannot be suppos'd to interfere with his Power and Authority II. Since the Precept of the Text is the standing Rule whereby Christ's Disciples are to govern themselves it is very necessary I should press it upon you who came hither on purpose not only to hear but I hope to do what the Lord your God requires of you viz. Not to return Evil for Evil. Not to run in lesser Injuries such as a Blow or smiting on the Cheek to the Magistrate in order to have the Offender punish'd And Rather than return Evil for Evil to suffer a greater Evil or a greater Injury But I foresee an Objection which is like to dash all that I can say or alledge in order to persuade you to a conscientious Observance of these Rules of Holy Living Why should you urge this will some say for the thing is impracticable Not practicable Sirs It 's strange our great Master in whom are all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge should prescribe a thing that is not Practicable What did not he know our Frames Was he ignorant of what our Shoulders would bear Did not he consider the state and condition of our Souls I grant it is not practicable by Men who will not step out of the common Road of their carnal Interest and Lusts and sinful Inclinations I grant it is not practicable by Persons who will not make use of the Means and Motives and Enforcives and Helps which God affords to raise corrupted Nature into a nobler Temper I grant it is not practicable by Persons who will do nothing toward their own Happiness that will be Naked and Poor and Blind wretched and miserable in despight of all the Collyriums and Eye-salves and Medicines and Remedies which are offer'd and tender'd to them for their Cure But when there are a Thousand Moral Arguments before you and the Spirit of God and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are ready to give Life to those Arguments in your Souls when Heaven is willing to assist and Omnipotence offers to help you to raise you from the Ground and to inspire you with Courage and Valour suitable there to talk of the unpracticableness of these Rules is to blaspheme the Goodness of God and with that unprofitable Servant to accuse your Master That he gathers where he hath not strow'd and reaps where he hath not sown What should make it unpracticable What because Flesh and Blood saith it is so Is not Flesh and Blood that which you are oblig'd to fight against What are all the Arguments that are brought against the practicableness of it but what are borrow'd from the Opinion of the World
The Man went on Cursing and Railing and they still confessing their Faults and begging his Pardon which at last so wrought upon the Cholerick Man that he left his Oxen and his Fields and gave himself up to God and the Severities of Religion 2. Do good to them that hate you This is to do acts of Beneficence to the Enemy to Cloathe him to Feed him to give him Drink to Instruct him to Guide him to Direct him to Relieve him to Assist him in his Necessities when he is in Want or Perplexity or stands in need of our help So did Christ Jesus for he healed the Ear of Malchus who came out against him to apprehend him and what were all the Days of his Ministry among the Jews but so many Instances of doing good to his Enemies even to those who call'd him all to nought So did the Apostles so did the Primitive Believers Their Enemies were the Objects of their Tenderness when they were Sick or wanted their Assistance they watch'd with them they visited them they attended them they ran for them they dressed their Sores even then when they labour'd under the Plague and the Tokens of God's Anger The very Heathens saw that this doing good for Evil was necessary to the Perfection of Humane Nature which made Phocion when unjustly condemn'd by the Athenians being ask'd before his Death whether he had any Command to his Son said Go and tell him that I charge him to forget the Injuries the Athenians have done me But Instances of this Nature were very rare among the Heathens and besides their Principle was nought But among the ancient Christians this was a very common thing and they strove to express their Religion by this Love Eusebius of Samosata an Orthodox Bishop dying of his Wound which a furious Arrian Woman had given him by throwing a great Stone at his Head made it his request to the Magistrate of the Town before he died that the Woman might not suffer nor be any way molested for the Fact Alexander Bishop of Jerusalem a Servant of his having robb'd him of a considerable Summ of Money when that Servant came afterwards to be Sold for a Slave the Bishop hearing of it sent and had him redeem'd and paid down the price of his Ransom In a word abundance of such Instances there are in the Christian Church and therefore Tertullian makes this the proper Vertue of Christians taught by no Religion in the World besides And if this be the Nature of our Religion to do good to them that hate us how do we satisfie our selves without this Ornament of our Profession Why do we stand reasoning and disputing about the hardness of the thing and do not put our Hand to the Plough If this be our Religion why are we loath to put it in practice What! Do we think it enough to be able to say that there is such a Precept in the Pandects of our Religion in the Body of our Divinity and take no farther Care We take our selves to be very much enlighten'd to what former Ages were yet for ought we see the Examples and Instances of doing Good for Evil are not so frequent now as they were in Ages labouring under greater darkness Our Chronicles tell us of Richard I. King of England that when a Soldier one Gourdion had purposely wounded him with an Arrow of which he died soon after the Villain being taken Prisoner the King sent for him desirous to know the reason of his barbarous Attempt who very resolutely told him that the reason was because the King had formerly killed his Father and two of his Brothers which words so mov'd the King that he not only pardon'd and discharg'd him but order'd him a hundred Shillings It was become a Proverb in Bishop Cranmer's Time That if a Man did do him a shrew'd turn he was sure to have him for ever after for his Friend And of St. Lewis the French King we read that when a Woman had revil'd and reproach'd him upon some acts of Government not very pleasing to the People he commanded his Servants to carry her a Reward because she had given him an opportunity of exercising his Patience These Instances I mention not to set off the Discourse but to encourage you to follow them And let 's but consider which of the two is most likely to afford Comfort upon a Death-bed Revenge or doing Good for Evil I appeal to the most Carnal Person here whether he do not think the latter to be the most reviving Cordial A Cordial indeed for this gives Confidence to the dying Man that God will do him good for the Evil he hath done against him it being a standing Rule With what measure ye meet it shall be measured to you again Luke vi 38 3. Pray for them that persecute you and despitefully use you This is to offer up our Supplications to God our earnest Supplications Desires and Repuests that God would reform them and pardon them make them kind to us and turn their Hearts and not lay their Sin to their Charge but make it an opportunity to Convert them to bring them to a sence of their Duty their Danger and the necessity of Holiness Thus our blessed Master pray'd Luk. xxiii 34 Father forgive them for they know not what they do Thus pray'd St. Stephen Acts vii 60 Lord lay not this Sin to their Charge and when he had said so he fell asleep Surely this good Man died in Charity He gives a kiss of Peace to his Enemies and with this Olive-Leaf in her Mouth his Soul flies away to Heaven Shall any of us after all these Motives be loath to pray for his Enemies Shall we plead that such a Man's Malice and Spight and Affronts and the Injuries he hath done us are so full of Venom and carry those Aggravations with them that they are not to be put up Are they greater than those which were offer'd to Christ Jesus or the Proto-Martyr The greatest Injury that can be done to a Man is taking away his Life for Skin for Skin and all that a Man hath he gives for his Life Yet see how thy Saviour pray'd for his Crucifiers for Men that did not only rob him of the comforts of Life but put him to the most painful and most ignominious Death St. Stephen all bruised and torn with Stones Streams of Blood running down from his Head and Face faint and languishing and ready to expire makes yet a shift to get upon his Knees and to pray for his Murtherers Such Prayers God gives solemn Audience to and blesses with Miracles of Mercy and the Enemies remember'd in such Prayers receive considerable benefit That three Thousand Souls were Converted and prick'd at the Heart by St. Peter's Sermon is justly believ'd to have been the effect of Christ's Prayer for his Enemies And the Father 's generally tell us that St. Stephen's Prayer was the cause that St. Paul was Converted from a Persecuter
Good and sending his Rain upon the Just and Unjust A Bounty infinite like himself and not to be lookt upon but with admiration and that 1. Upon the account of the Insolencies of the Wicked and Bad and Unjust To see how God is affronted daily by Oaths by Curses by Blasphemies by Lewdness by Perjuries by Profaneness Atheism Hypocrisie and by Sins which a good Man can scarce name without trembling yet on these Wretches whom by right Hell-fire should devour his Sun doth shine and his Rain drops down His Sun warms them and revives them His Rain enriches their Pastures Instead of Sunshine he might bury them in Darkness and instead of Rain to water their Grounds he might rain on them Fire and Brimstone and a burning Tempest even the portion of the Sinners Cup. It 's true he will do all this at last when the measure of their Impenitence is fulfilled but for the present his Light smiles upon them and his Heaven distils gentle Showers to make their Land fruitful and doth not this shew the vastness of his Bounty 2. Upon the account of his Power it were as easie Without all peradventure it were as easie to him to with-hold his Sun and Rain from the wicked as it was to enlighten the Land of Goshen while the Egyptians were frighted with thick Darkness or as it was to dry up the Read-Sea for the Israelites while Pharaoh and his Host were drowned in the Waters or as it was to keep the Flames of the Furnace from burning the three Young-Men in Daniel those very Flames which consumed the other Men who were thrown into the Oven But his Mercy prevails above his Power and that shews the greatness of it We must suppose God hath some farther design in these Providences than meerly to discover the profuseness of his Bounty 1. One reason is to engage them to love him who is so kind to them Love is so natural so rational a return for kindnesses that all who are Munificent to others do expect it And how easie a matter were it even for a wicked Man who is not irrecoverably stupid to reflect when he lies basking in the Sun or lets in the splendor of that glorious Planet into his Rooms or Sees how it makes his Trees and Plants and Flowers grow and how it gilds his Gardens and his Fields how easie I say were it for him to reflect Whence comes this Sun-shine do not these Rays descend from the Father of Lights whose ways I have derided whose Words and Ordinances I have despised and whose Precepts I have laugh'd at What Ingratitude is this Would I use a Friend so And what put these Indignities upon my best and greatest Friend See how his love to me shines in that glorious Sun and shall I return hatred for his Love The like Reflections might easily be made upon the Blessing of the Rain But I proceed 2. It is to lead them to Repentance The Sun which comforts the Evil Man his Body and his Grounds is to put him in mind of his Duty to warm his Soul with serious Considerations till they melt his Heart into Remorse and Compunction And the Rain even the former and the latter Rain is a Remembrancer and points at the shower of Tears he is to weep for his Sins and Offences So that the Sun and Rain are School-masters to lead him to Love and Repentance and that these are the Ends God hath in these Dispensations is evident from Hos. ii 8 Acts xiv 15 16 17. Acts xvii 27 And oh that such of you as have hitherto been careless Observers of these Ends would be perswaded to make this Rain and Sun-shine the Ladder for your Thoughts to rise and your Meditations to ascend and contemplate the infinite Goodness of God who vouchsafes this Sun and Rain and in doing so presents you with a powerful Motive to offer him your reasonable Service that the Sun of Righteousness may shine upon you with healing under his Wings and his warmer Mercies may come down upon you as Showers upon the mown Grass As common as these Blessings are they do not come by chance but are Gifts of the great Soveraign of the World and if they be Gifts the least they deserve is acknowledgement and how do we acknowledge them if we dishonour God by our Sins But this is not all besides these God hath other Ends in vouchsafing his Rain and Sun-shine even to the worst of Men Ends in which the Pious the Serious the Religious are particularly concern'd And 1. It concerns us to admire the infinite Patience of God his Patience to the Stubborn and Obstinate and his Kindness and Charity to them Not only to see and take notice of God in the Providence but to extol his Munificence to praise to adore to magnifie his universal Compassion and to speak of his wonderful Works to sing of his Mercy and to use this very Instance of Sun and Rain as an argument to unconverted Sinners to perswade them to a conscientious walking with God Indeed here is a large Field for our thoughts to expatiate in and to make useful Remarks on his Power Wisdom and Goodness 2. It concerns us to imitate the Patience and Kindness and Charity of that God who makes his Sun rise upon the Good and Bad and sends Rain upon the Just and Unjust This is the principal drift and design of our Saviour in giving these Instances and it is to furnish us with Antidotes against Passion and Revenge and Hatred and Malice and Uncharitableness when we apprehend our selves Wrong'd or Injur'd or unkindly dealt with I say it is to furnish us with Antidotes against Passion and Revenge from the most obvious and familiar Objects and Occurrences So that whenever you are provok'd to uncharitable Thoughts and to a strange Behaviour to those who have wrong'd you you need go no farther than the Sun that shines upon your Heads and the Rain you see distil from the Clouds Think this Sun shines upon the greatest of God's Enemies and does good to their Fields and Persons and shall I feel no Warmth no Fire no Flames of Compassion to my Adversary The Rain that falls here is God's Rain and the Man that Curses him to his Face participates of the Benefits of it and shall I be in a Rage against the Man who hath affronted me and withdraw my Charity from him God doth not and why should I 3. It concerns us seriously to reflect on what God designs to do for his dear Children hereafter and from the Blessings he bestows on the wicked here to argue what Treasures are laid up for Men of a better Temper If God be so kind to his very Enemies what will he be to his Friends If those that hate him enjoy so much of his Bounty what may those look for who love him If his Goodness be so great to his Foes how great must be his kindness to his Favourites Great indeed How excellent is thy loving