must this be to be so concerned for your good Works A Father your Father so great a Father A Father that dwells on high to humble himself and stoop to look upon your good Works and withall declare his willingness to accept of them surely this is self-denial infinite For him that is higher than the Heaven Higher than the Highest Higher than the greatest Potentates to vouchsafe a favourable Aspect to your good Works surely this must this should one would think prevail with many of you who retain some Sense of your Duty Nay and he is therefore said to be in Heaven to let you see where you shall be and whither you shall go when you leave this World having let the Light of your good Works shine before Men even into that Heaven where himself is adored by Angels and all the Morning Stars sing together where his own infinite Felicity fills all that are about his Throne with Joys and Ravishments unspeakable And therefore suffer this word of Exhortation and let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven SERMON XVIII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil CHRIST having in the foregoing Discourse open'd and laid down the true Nature of the Christian Religion what it imports and what Qualifications it challenges and what Temper it requires and told us that a Christian is a Person Humble and concern'd for his own and other Men's Sins Meek and earnestly desirous of high degrees of Holiness Merciful and kind and Pure in Heart and of a peaceable and peace-making Disposition and Patient under Injuries and in his Affliction comforting himself with the Rewards of Heaven and the Blessings of Eternity and ready to do good and profitable and useful both to the Souls and Bodies of other Men I say having laid down these Characters as Essential to a Christian to a Disciple of the Holy Jesus He now goes on not only to let his Disciples see how much of the Old Religion he intended to adopt into his own which he was going to publish but to enforce the Duties he had mention'd from the Law and from the Prophets shewing that in prescribing the aforesaid Rules and Directions he was so far from contradicting the Law and the Prophets that he spoke their Sense and Meaning and that this was not to call them away from an Esteem and Veneration of the Law and the Prophets but to increase it and that what the Law and the Prophets had but obscurely hinted he was come to explain more largely and to deliver more clearly and to press with greater Motives and Arguments Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil In the Explication of which Words these four Things do naturally offer themselves to our Consideration I. What the Law and the Prophets are II. What it was that rais'd a Suspicion or made People think and fear That Christ came to destroy the Law and the Prophets III. How it appears That he came not with that intent IV. How he fulfill'd the Law and the Prophets I. What the Law and the Prophets are 1. By the Law and the Prophets are meant the Doctrine contained in the Books of the Old Testament call'd by various Names in Holy Writ sometimes the Law in general Joh. x. 34 sometimes Moses and the Prophets Luke xvi 31 sometimes the Law of Moses the Prophets and the Psalms Luke xxiv 44 sometimes the Scripture Joh. v. 39 sometimes the Book of the Lord Isai. xxxiv 16. sometimes the Law and the Prophets as here because this Book consists not only of the Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sina for the Instruction and Edification of the Jewish People but the Writings of other Men also Men inspired by the Holy Ghost who writ either in a Historical or Dogmatical or Prophetical way strictly so called by way of foretelling things to come even as the Spirit of God which governed their Thoughts and Pens thought fit to dictate to them for the use of the Church or Gods People The Law of Moses is as it were the Text the other Books are in the nature of Comments They are called the Law and the Prophets not as if the Law were not written by a Person inspired but the Law is named distinctly either because the Law had some peculiar marks of Divinity in it as appears from the circumstances of its Publication or because it was written by a Prophet of a higher Order and such was Moses Exod. xxxiv whose Prophetick Office God doth distinguish from that of other Persons moved by the Holy Ghost or because the principal part of the Books of Moses the Ten Commandements are said to be written by the Finger of God which gives the Law a special Priviledge so that both the Law and the Prophets came from God only the Law had something more Majestick than ordinary in it and therefore deserves to be named by it self This Law of Moses consists of Commands of a very different Nature Some are the result of natural Justice and Equity of the Eternal Law imprinted on the Souls of Men of the Law of Nature or of right Reason and Deductions from the common Notions of God and of his Perfections and the Relation we stand in toward him and toward one another the summary whereof is the Decalogue or the Ten Commandements Another sort of Commands in that Law relates to the outward manner of Gods Worship and to external Ceremonies to Gifts and Sacrifices and Meats and Drinks and divers washings and carnal Ordinances imposed on the Jewish People until the time of the Reformation Heb. ix 9 10. And these Commands are purely positive depending altogether upon the Will and Pleasure of the Law-giver and therefore alterable and mutable as Occasion and Time and Necessity and the Reason of things c. require and this is commonly stiled the Ceremonial Law A third sort hath Relation to Policy and Government made up partly of Rules issuing from natural Justice and Equity partly of Constitutions such as the Nature and Temper of the People and the Situation of the Country and the Neighbourhood of the Nations who dwelt round about them and the danger of being infected by them and the Circumstances they were in did suggest commonly call'd the Civil or Judicial Law 2. These three sorts of Commands given by God to Moses made up the Digests the Pandects or the Body of the Jewish Law and that 's it that 's commonly understood by that known and frequent Expression in Scripture especially the New Testament the Law it 's written in the Law or the Law saith c. even the complex of all these Laws given at the Command of God by Moses to the Jewish People and as such they did particularly oblige the
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
seem'd to smile upon him and all things to conspire to his Success Michael the Greek Emperor's Chamberlain for this Sin is struck with an Epilepsy Ludovicus Boso for his false Oath to Berengarius the younger is depriv'd of his Sight and hath several of his Members cut off Elfred for his Perfidiousness to King Elstan falls down backward and within three Days dies Goodwin Earl of Kent upon the same account is choak'd with a piece of Bread Polymarchus so heavy did this Sin lie upon his Conscience that he fansies he is bit at Night by a Weezel and then falls into those Terrors that he lays violent hands upon himself Add to all this the Example of those three Men Eusebius speaks of who being witnesses against a Bishop Narcissus by Name wish'd that if they did not swear true one that Fire might consume him the second that some Disease and Torment might overtake him the third that he might lose his Eyes all which came to pass as a Signal of God's being Witness and Judge of their Villainy IV. Whether an Oath may in no case be broken I answer since Oaths are not all of the same Nature we cannot say that every Oath whatever it be must be inviolably kept For 1. A Man may rashly and unpremeditately Swear to do a thing that is in it self unlawful as those Jews Acts xxiii 12 and then certainly he is not oblig'd to keep it for all Obligation is to some Duty and if the pretended Obligation be to a thing sinful it is no Obligation The Man that Swears to do a thing that 's sinful commits a very great Offence against God and if he should perform it the Offence would yet be greater and therefore such an Oath must be undone for to keep it is sinful It 's true to break it is sinful too because it is a Profanation of the Testimony of God but to keep it would be a greater and of two Evils the greatest is to be avoided Such a rash Oath was that of David 1 Sam. xxv 22 when he swore that he would not leave so much as a Dog alive that belonged to Nabal because he return'd a rude uncivil Answer to his Messengers and of this nature are those Oaths which the Priests of the Church of Rome make their Converts swear when they have enticed them away from the Protestant Churches The Oath they Swear must needs be unlawful because it is to Swear in effect That they will give Religious Worship to the Creature commit Idolatry consent to the depriving of the People of the Cup in the Eucharist and believe against Scripture Sense and Reason and espouse Errors which the Word of God condemns all which is sinful and therefore such an Oath cannot be kept with a safe Conscience no more than if a Man should swear that he will break open his Neighbour's House or turn Highway-man or commit Fornication What is usually objected in this case that the Princes of the Congregation in Joshua's Time swore a Thing unlawful and yet were obliged to stand to what they had sworn to the Gibeonites This I say hath no great weight in it for how doth it appear that what they swore was unlawful It 's true they were to make no Peace with the Inhabitants of Canaan but destroy them but if we compare one Law with another we shall find that the Law of destroying the Nations of Canaan reach'd those chiefly who after a solemn proclamation of Peace refus'd to submit to their Power Deut. xx 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. nor were they to make any League or Covenant with them when there was danger of imitating them in their Idolatry Deut. xx 18 Exod. xxiii 32 33. which was not the case of the Gibeonites who both submitted to their Power and the Laws of their Religion So that whatever Inconveniency there might be in this Oath taken to the Gibeonites there was nothing unlawful in it 2. It is possible a Man may inconsiderately Swear that which is impossible for him to perform or which is not in his power to do and all Casuists agree in this that there is no Obligation to Impossibilities except what is impossible at present should afterwards upon alteration of Circumstances become possible As if a Beggar in danger of being kill'd by another Man should swear that by such a Day he will pay him an Hundred Pounds knowing himself not to be worth an hundred Shillings In this case as the Oath is sinful because a Man swears that which he knows is impossible for him to perform so there can be no Obligation to an impossibility 3. A Person that Swears may be under the Power of a Superiour without whose consent he should not have sworn in which case if the Superior will not allow of it the Oath cannot be kept as God himself determines the case Numb xxx 3 where he gives a Father and a Husband power to null the Obligation under which a Wife or Daughter hath brought her self by an Oath or Vow which should not have been made without the consent of those whom God hath set over them yet with this Proviso still that if the Father or Husband hearing of the Oath say nothing to it Silence implying consent it shall stand in its full Obligation and this will hold in the case of a Subject or a Son by way of Analogy 4. When Men Swear the posture of Affairs and the circumstances of the Person to whom they swear may be very different from what they may be afterward so that if the state of Things and the material circumstances of the Oath do afterward change because the Oath when taken had no respect to these new material Circumstances it ceases to oblige and Casuists do commonly instance in a Persons swearing to his Friend to put a Sword into his Hands by such a time if before or by that time the Person to whom the Oath is sworn should be Distracted the performance of the Oath cannot be thought necessary or if a Father should swear to his Son to settle all his Estate upon him if that Son after this should attempt to Poyson the Father his Father cannot be thought obliged to perform what he hath promised because when he made the Oath he consider'd him as an obedient towardly Child In which material Circumstance there being a Failure the Obligation ceases 5. In all Promissory Oaths there are certain general Conditions and Exceptions to be understood though they are not expressed such as If God permit If the Lord will or If we live and do well Jam. iv so that an Oath cannot be said to be broken if by meer Providence a Man be hindred from performing every part of it as long as there is no Will or Intention to break it as if a Man should by Oath promise another to return such a Bond or Book or Chest by such a Day if before that time he should be struck with an Apoplexy or be overtaken by