death with Shells some were burnt with their Entrails torn out some broyl'd upon Grid-irons some roasted alive against the Fire some Women had their Breasts some Men their Legs and Thighs sear'd with hot Irons some were tost to death upon Bulls-horns some hang'd by the Neck and Heels some were burnt in a Furnace some fry'd in an Iron Chair some had their Bones broken with Batts some were beaten with Cudgels some had sharp points thrust in under their Nails some were put in Vessels of boyling Oyl some dragg'd through the Streets and Kennels some had their Tongues cut out some had their Eyes bor'd out some were sawn asunder some flead alive some torn in pieces with wild Horses some kill'd with Famine some suffer'd to perish in Frost and Snow Where was God where was the Lord Jesus all the while will some say why he was there he was with them in all their Torments gave them Courage to endure all this Strength to bear up under all their Miseries Here the Power of God appear'd more than it would have done in their greatest Prosperity This made the World to gaze and stare and think they must be more than Men that suffer'd with so much Patience This gave Reputation to Religion By this means the Name of the Lord Jesus came to be glorified This converted Heathens wrought upon Infidels pull'd down Idolatry chased the Devil from his Throne This made Men come in to Christ in multitudes This made them forsake the Devil and the World this made them part with their Sins and Lusts and lay force upon the Kingdom of Heaven And thus the World was overcome and Scepters and Crowns were made to stoop to the Cross of Christ and it 's hard to say whether more were converted by Miracles or by these patient and heroick Sufferings of Christians their Sufferings forc'd people into a belief of a future Reward and the Torments they endur'd made God amiable that thousands did embrace him And yet III. As in other things so even in matter of Persecution great mistakes may be committed and therefore in judging of Persecution we must ever attend and look to the cause for which men are said to be persecuted This caution is very necessary that we may not wrongfully accuse men whose office it is to punish Offenders nor flatter our selves with the satisfaction of a good work when we have done nothing less Persecuting for righteousness sake is a very great sin a sin that cries for Vengeance which is the reason why God even in this present life hath poured out his Wrath upon persons guilty of this crime Nero was thrown down from the Imperial Throne proscrib'd by the Senate as an Enemy of mankind and at last forc'd to kill himself Domitian was slain in his Chamber not without the consent of his Wife and all his Images and Statues thrown down by order of the Senate Decius was kill'd in Battle and depriv'd of the common Honour of Burial Valerianus was taken by the Persians and put in a Cage and at last flead and his Skin hung up for a Trophy in one of the Persian Temples Aurelianus in the very beginning of his Persecution dies miserably and wallows in his own blood Galerius a prodigious and unusual Sickness seizes him a sore rising in the nether part of his Belly which bred such a swarm of Worms as made him stink above Ground Maxentius was vanquish'd by Constantine the Great and his body thrown into the River Tiber not to mention any more Instances of this nature And I wish that this trade of persecuting had been confined to Heathens but here it stay'd not After that the World turn'd Christian it was not long before one Party began to persecute another The Arrians were the first that began it and the Church of Rome soon learn'd this art beginning with the Novatians but practised it afterwards with greater cruelty upon the Waldenses and Albigenses and all those whom she is please to style Hereticks The Greek Church when she had Power and Princes that favour'd her Interest hath run too often upon the same Rock And I know this very Church we are Members of hath been often charged by our dissenting Brethren with a persecuting Spirit I shall not now enquire into the truth or falshood of this charge being willing to forget what is past even the shadow of it the rather because the Point will require examining various circumstances which either heighten or very much qualify the pretended sin but whatever Errors Rudenesses or Insolencies have been committed by officers of Justice in executing the Law upon Dissenters which must not be presently charg'd upon the Doctrine and Temper of the Church Blessed be God there is at this time in our Church a general Inclination to Tenderness Compassion and Mildness to the moderate sort of those who differ from the Sentiments of the Church and to hearken to a reasonable Accommodation of Matters to the satisfaction of those who look upon themselves as Sufferers That which I chiefly aim at in this Discourse is that we must not rashly charge every thing that looks like Punishment with the odious name of Persecution for Righteousness sake neither in the persons that inflict Punishment nor in those that suffer it And indeed a person that suffers or is like to suffer for an Opinion or Practice of his own had need consider well before he suffers what he is going to suffer for and whether the thing he is ready to suffer for is worth it To suffer for any Catholick Doctrine receiv'd in all Ages by all Churches or for a known Article of Faith or for a thing expresly commanded or forbid by the Gospel is great and noble and Christian-like but to suffer for an Invention of our own or for things which have no solid Foundation in Scripture hath nothing of Glory or Christian Magnanimity in it nor will God give us any thanks for it and in this case a Christian had a thousand times better endeavour to rectify his Judgment especially when no substantial Doctrine or Duty is prejudiced by it and comply with the Will and Desire of the Magistrate than suffer for a thing for which he hath no good Authority from the word of God I might apply this to some particular differences but I forbear and though I do believe that many who have suffer'd for such things which are not plainly deliver'd in Scripture may have found very great comfort in their Sufferings yet whether that comfort was a sign that they were persecuted for Righteousness sake I very much question However if such persons do suffer wrongfully they shall lose nothing by their sufferings for God is not unrighteous to forget our Work and labour of love and the time will come when God will bring forth our Righteousness as the Light and our Judgment as the Noon-day The truth is Men's understandings being of various capacities and sizes and apt to be by ass'd by various
Thoughts upon this Reward and move him to dwell upon it The Bitterness of his Affliction gives that Reward a greater Sweetness and is the same that makes him relish it the more Hence comes this Joy and the nobler the Cause is in and for which he suffers the greater is the Joy But 5. Though all this helps yet the Holy Spirit of God must work with it and work in and upon the Heart and make the Impression of the future Reward so lively that it shall cause Joy and Rejoycing much depends upon the Spirits mingling those Rewards with the Thoughts of the Mind whereby the Affections are affected and rouz'd and elevated into Joy and Rejoycing and such Joy as shall carry the Soul above her Sufferings and make her contentedly want those Accommodations and Conveniencies and Advantages that others do enjoy For this Spirit as it must assure us of our Right to that Reward Rom. VIII 16 17. so it is from that Assurance that this Joy rises which is the Reason why it is emphatically called Joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. XIV 17. And yet after all it must be confessed that good Company doth not a little contribute toward their Joy Which leads me to the Second Proposition viz. It 's comfortable to suffer in good Company so persecuted they the Prophets that were before you That 's the Comfort Christ gives here to Persons suffering and bids them solace themselves with the Company of the antient Prophets And this Proposition also I shall explain in these following Paragraphs 1. Solitariness in Affliction aggravates Affliction which is the Reason that Jeremy makes it an Ingredient of the greatness of Jerusalem's Misery Lam. I. 1. How doth the city sit solitary which was full of people how is she become as a widow that was great among the nations she that was a princess among the provinces how is she become tributary All the Heathen Nations round about swam in Plenty Prosperity crown'd their Labours and Ease and Liberty was their Companion Jerusalem alone sigh'd under her Load and groan'd under her Burthen and wept while her Neighbours rejoyc'd and triumph'd in the Success of their Attempts and Enterprizes Company in Affliction is a kind of Balm which supplies the Spirit and gives some Refreshment to a wounded Soul it takes off from the greatness of the Grief and makes the Burthen lighter Solitariness looks strange like a stinking Weed in a curious Flower-garden and coming in the shape of that which is unusual it surprizes more and consequently afflicts more and that 's the Reason may be why Men bear a common Calamity where many fare alike better than they do a private where they have no Partners in their Sorrows And yet 2. It 's hard to conceive how a Man can be solitary in Affliction except by Solitariness we mean that in the Parish or Street or House or Family we live in there is none that is afflicted as we are Set this aside there can hardly any Affliction be named but some or other in the World have been and are as great or greater Sufferers than we are and in this sense a Man cannot want Company in Affliction But then in this case the Mind must call the Company in and the Understanding represent their Sufferings to the Thoughts and Meditation must make their Afflictions present which being a thing generally neglected by Persons who suffer they are very apt to sink into this Fancy That none are miserable in the World as they are as we see Jerusalem complained Lam. I. 12. Behold and see whether there be such a sorrow as my sorrow is wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his anger And yet 3. It is not suffering in every Company that is comfortable To suffer with Evil-doers is a Grief rather than a Consolation and to be afflicted with Malefactors is made an Ingredient of the Bitterness of our blessed Saviour's cup Mark XV. Nor will Company in Hell be any Ease to the Sufferers but rather increase their Torments none being able to help the other The Comfort arising from suffering in Company is confined to this present World and in this case the Company must be such as a Man hath no reason to be ashamed of and that must be the Company of truly pious Men whether they be present or absent whether they have lived lately or a thousand or two thousand Years agone whether they dwell in the same Town or City or Village we are of or a hundred Miles off for this Company of good Men with whom we suffer are either as good as we are or better than we 1. If they be as good as we our selves are the Reflexion is very natural If this be the Lot and Portion of Persons under the same Circumstances I am under then no strange thing happens to me then God deals with me as he doth with his other Children If I am not better than they why should I expect more favourable Dealings at his hands and yet these Dealings are favourable too If Men as good as my self have look'd upon the Crosses that have befallen them as Marks of God's Favour why should not I look upon mine thro' the same Glass How can it be said that I am as good as they if I make not the same pious Constructions of these Providences if I fall short of these rational Interpretations of God's Dispensations I must needs fall short of their Goodness Or 2. The good Men in whose Company I suffer are better than I and then the Argument of Comfort will be stronger still Have the Heroes of Religion suffered so much and shall I a puny Christian complain Have the great Champions of the Gospel endured as much or more than I and shall a Christian of an ordinary size find fault Have such Men as St. Paul and the Holy Apostle's gone thro' firy Tryals and shall I a Disciple of those great Masters tremble at the Fire Have the Fathers the strong Men in Grace old Disciples been scratch'd and wounded with Briars and Thorns and shall I a Babe look to tread on Carpets Have the Generals the Captains in Christ's Army gone thro' a Sea of Adversity and shall I a common Soldier shrink at the Waves Have such Men as Samuel Elijah and Elisha Men that could in a manner command Heaven by their Prayers been reviled traduced reproach'd and shall I a Shrub take it ill that I am call'd out of my Name This is a very strong Argument of Comfort So that you see that the Comfort arising from suffering with other good Men lies partly in the Ease the Mind receives by their Society and partly in that their Examples give us opportunity to make use of the same Motives to Patience which held them up 1. In the Ease the Mind receives from the suffering Society It gives a sort of Content which all the Physick in the World cannot give especially if the suffering Company be present for then the
love and affection to the World c. may be gone that God would arise and that these Enemies may be scatter'd they use means they enquire what they must do to mortify these unruly desires they deny themselves they fast they are angry with these Corruptions yet ever and anon before they are aware they fall and imprudently yield to Temptations of this nature they would feign be Masters of those vertues accomplishments and perfections which did shine so bright in the primitive Saints but cannot as yet arrive to that excellent Temper for this they mourn and are dejected and sorrow seizes upon their hearts and minds yet still blessed are these mourners 5. Such as mourn because their stay in this World is long because they are kept out of Heaven and from the perfect enjoyment of God because they are obliged to continue in this barren Wilderness of the World where they must see their God dishonoured his Name profaned his Creatures abused his Ordinances derided his Providences disregarded his Precepts slighted his Promises undervalued his Threatnings scorned and Charity grow cold and Iniquity abound This draws from them David's complaint Wo is me that I must dwell in Mesech and have my habitation in the Tents of Kedar Ps. CXX 5. Indeed such mourners are but few most Men being desirous to enjoy the World as long as they can yet some there are that have made their Calling and Election sure and long to be gone long to be dissolved and to be with Christ and to be cloath'd upon with their House from Heaven long to join the Quire of Angels long to be freed from this Earthly Tabernacle and all this upon the excellent Principle of the love of God not from impatience under their pain and sickness or frowns of the World or their mean condition here but because the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts and because they are kept from enjoying their desire because the amorous Needle is with-held from clinging to the beloved Magnet they mourn blessed mourning But what You 'll say do no mourners under Temporal losses and crosses come into the Number of these blessed Men I answer yes 1. If the cause for which and in which they suffer losses of their Goods or Friends be great and noble if they sulfer for the Gospel's sake upon the Account of Righteousness and a good Conscience in this case their mourning under their Temporal losses may intitle them to blessedness provided that their mourning be mingled with faith and hope and a holy self-resignation and that they mourn more for the wickedness of the Person who are the instruments of their Persecution than for the want of their Corn and Wine and Oil and the Garlicks and Onions of Egypt 2. If under their Temporal losses they mourn chiefly for their sins which have both caused and deserved these sufferings Sorrow barely for Temporal losses and for being deprived of the satisfactions of the flesh cannot be reconciled to that Spiritual life the Gospel presses something there must be to sweeten that sour Sop as it stands alone it comes under the notion of sorrow of the World and that we are told works death 2 Cor. VII 10. And consequently happiness cannot be the fruit or effect of it The Soul therefore that mourns under such outward Calamities must look off from the Calamity to the cause of it or Sin which hath procured it and that sanctifies the sorrow and makes the mourner blessed Yet to prevent mistakes I must necessarily add these following cautions 1. We are not to think that in order to arrive to this Blessedness a Man or Woman must do nothing but mourn There is a time for every thing and there are other things to be done besides mourning even the particular Duties and Vertues and Self-denials required and commanded in this Chapter so that when it is said here blessed are they that mourn the meaning is blessed are they that do so as they have occasion to reflect either upon the Spiritual Evils which are present or upon the Spiritual Blessings that are absent from them It 's enough that there be a disposition or aptitude to mourn which exerts it self whenever any opportunity offers it self to consider and to think of such Objects as deserve and require our mourning else Spiritual Joy would be no Duty and if our lives were to be fill'd with mourning the Apostle's Exhortation had been useless Phil. IV. 1. Rejoyce in the Lord always i. e. upon all occasions and again I say Rejoyce Neither 2. Must the stress be laid upon the bare mourning as if the mourning and weeping and sadness alone were pleasing to God and groans were the only livery of Heaven but this mourning must be in order to a greater end even to establish our Souls in the love of God to strengthen our graces to corroborate our repentance and aversion from sin and to purifie our outward and inward Man more and more and therefore it is emphatically call'd sorrowing to Repentance 2 Cor. VII 9. Nor 3. Are we to think that a certain degree of mourning is always necessary even mourning expressed in so much weeping and sorrowing as we find in other Christians of our Acquaintance All men's conditions are not alike a Person that hath been profane and lewd hath reason to mourn more than he whose Sins have been of a lesser size not but that it was commendable to weep bitterly even for infirmities but the obligation of mourning is greater certainly upon a rapacious Publican than upon the pious Couple Zacharias and Elizabeth Besides all men's Constitutions are not alike some being of that tender Complexion that the least touch or sense of things makes them weep others of a hardier make who may be astonish'd and concern'd at great things but cannot make that outward shew of mourning that others can It 's enough therefore that the sorrow be rational and that the mind be so affected with the object that causes or deserves mourning as to work in us a willingness to mourn more if we could and an indignation against the Spiritual Evils which are present and an earnest longing and endeavour after the Spiritual Blessings which are absent and we stand in need of Having set down these cautions I proceed to the second Part to acquaint you II. Wherein the Blessedness of such mourners consists 1. This mourning is the Character of Saints Ezek. IX 4. 2 Cor. XII 21. Why what Blessedness is there in this will some say How no Blessedness in being a Saint what 's the reason then that Kings and Princes wish they were so what 's the reason that most wicked Men when they come to die would fain be of that Number Nay what 's the reason that in your Creed you believe a Communion of Saints Is it not in this Creed that you profess the greatest Blessings that were ever bestow'd upon the Children of Men And if the Communion of Saints be one must it
Righteousness for Tribulation works patience and Patience experience and Experience hope and Hope makes not ashamed But this is not all Behold also in this similitude the Nature of your future Joys when the Child is born the Woman for Joy forgers her anguish so when your Fruit is ripe it shall be laid up in the granary of Heaven and when you shall put off this Body of Flesh and Sin for the Joy that will crown your Temples you 'll forget all the former anguish you labour'd under God will comfort you and your Eyes shall see it the Lord Jesus will call to you and your Ears shall hear it Enter you into the Joy of your Master Heaven is the vast Store-house of all Comforts there where-ever you cast your Eye you 'll behold nothing but Comfort Comfort in the Spirits of Men made perfect Comfort in the general Assembly of the first born which are written in Heaven Comfort in the innumerable Company of Angels Comfort in the Hallelujah's of Cherubin and Seraphin Comfort above you Comfort within you Comfort round about you There your Heart will break no more there your Understandings will be clouded no more there no storms no enemies will discompose you any more there all that can make Men sad will be removed from your sight for sin will be gone and Devils will tempt no more there you will lie incircled in the everlasting Arms and Rivers of Joy will flow round about you your present April Showers will produce a glorious May and after your gloomy Night the Son of Righteousness will shine upon you with healing under his Wings and as one hour changed Joseph's Fetters into a Chain of Gold his Rags into shining Robes his Stocks into a Chariot his Prison into a Palace his Water into Wine so in that moment that your Souls shall enter into the Regions of endless Comfort your mourning will be changed into dancing your tears into laughter your sackcloth into silks your ashes into garlands your thorns into lawrels your fasts into festivals and your unutterable sighs and groans into unspeakable joys SERMON V. St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 5. Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth THIS Blessedness or Beatitude in some Latin Copies of the New Testament is the second but in the Original and in the Syriack and Arabick Versions it is the third and these as the most authentick our Translation follows what is said of Meekness here is taken out of Psal. XXXVII 11. where we read as it is in the Text The Meek shall inherit the Earth Christ came not to reverse the Morals under the Law but to ratifie and confirm and to refine them into greater perfection and to enforce them with new Motives and Arguments Moral Vertue hath been the same in all Ages and being founded on the Law of Nature must needs be unalterable The encouragements for the practice of it are greater in the Christian Religion than in any other whatfoever and the lines of the Duty are here drawn in livelier Colours but the Vertue it self like the Nature of that God from whom it flows receives no changes In the explication of the Text we are to consider as in the preceding Sentences I. What Meekness is and who the Meek are and what their Character is II. Wherein their Blessedness consists III. How they shall inherit the Earth I. What Meekness is 1. To be meek is not to be mealy-mouth'd or gentle or calm when it is our Duty to be angry and it is our Duty to be so partly with our selves when we sin against Heaven and in the presence of an Omnipotent God and that is the anger or indignation spoken of 2 Cor. VII 11. partly with others when they do notoriously affront the Divine Majesty and wrong their Consciences Gall. III. 1 2. particularly 1. With those who are under our Command and Power and Jurisdiction such as Children Servants and other Relations or Persons whose Masters Governours Guardians Teachers or Tutours we are when they prove incorrigible in their sins Gen. XLIX 6 7. 2. Even with others of our Acquaintance and Persons whom we converse with when they profane the Name of God or run out into licentiousness and will not be reclaim'd by softer means Gal. V. 12. Moses though one of the meekest Men in the World yet his anger justly wax'd hot when he saw the Israelites commit Idolatry Exod. XXXII 19. And our Saviour himself tho' the Pattern of Meekness yet could not behold the profanation of the Temple without anger John II. 15 17. and St. Paul and Barnabas though Preachers of this Christian Meekness yet were obliged to break out into Passion when they saw the Priest of Jupiter bringing Oxen and Garlands to do Sacrifice to them Acts XIV 14 15. Elis Meekness to his Children prov'd his folly and his Calmness is a Cause where God was dishonour'd pulled down God's Vengeance upon his Posterity A soft Expostulation here was altogether unseasonable and instead of saying to his Sons why do you do so he should have severely punish'd them when their stubbornness baffled all the gentler means of their Reformation Meekness properly relates to injuries done to our selves where the injury is directly offer'd to God our Meekness must turn into Zeal in all sins against our Neighbours and our own Souls God is wrong'd because all sin is a Transgression and dishonouring of the Law of God but some sins are more immediately levell'd against God yet even in God's cause where the anger is just and lawfull discretion must guide the Passion in a good Cause men may be too hot and where the anger turns into fury it becomes madness and instead of advancing diminishes and darkens the glory of Religion There is a rational anger which with some warmth and heat pleads and argues for God's Honour but runs not out into unseemly Behaviour or into reviling Language And this is that anger we are to shew when God is dishonoured when we dishonour him and when others do so So that Meekness doth not exclude all anger for as all Meekness is not lawfull so all Anger is not sinfull Be ye angry and sin not saith St. Paul Eph. IV. 26. which shews that some sort of anger is innocent And it is so when it is 1. In God's cause and from a sense of his Glory which we see dishonour'd by the sin or by the wrong our Neighbours do either to God or to their fellow Christians for though it be lawfull sometimes to be angry at a fault we see in our Brethren yet the anger must be more upon the account of the indignity offer'd to God by the offence than upon the Account of the wrong or prejudice we our selves suffer by it 2. It must be kept within due bounds and limits must not turn into rage and throwing about Coals and Fire-brands and odious and offensive Names Nor 3. Must it turn into malice and hatred but must still be follow'd with Acts
the Reproach of Christ and esteeming it greater Riches than the Treasures of the World without recriminating this is it that makes him blessed the rather because this is to be a Disciple of Christ Jesus 1 Pet. II. 21 22. 4. That which makes them blessed is the Cause for which they are reviled and therefore it is said for my sake In our worldly Concerns to be unjustly traduced hath something of Blessedness in it because we have the Testimony of our Conscience that we have done what is lawful and right much more when we are evil spoken of falsly for Christ's sake because we adhere close to the Gospel of Christ because we obey our Master's Will and because we will not dishonour him by doing things which he hath forbid This makes the Blessedness great as the Person is for whom we suffer So that tho' as I said before these Revilings may occasion their Blessedness yet the Particulars I have mention'd are properly the ministerial Causes that make them blessed and consequently it 's no Absurdity to say That a thing which is a Sin to one is a Blessing to another no more than we count it a Solecism to say that what is one Man's Meat is another Man's Poison Inferences I. Without my telling you you may gather from the Premises That every Man who is reviled is not therefore blessed A Man's Life and Actions may be so bad that he deserves to be evil spoken of but that 's no reviling but speaking the Truth I grant a Man may speak Truth of another with an ill Intent which may make it Sin to him but if he have a Call to it and his Intent be good speaking of another what he is really guilty of can be no reviling to be sure no unjust reviling Christ spoke very ill things of the Scribes and Pharisees but their insolent Behaviour both justified and required such Corrosives We are not to flatter Men in their Sins nor to applaud their evil Actions we must not call an Adulterer chaste nor a Cholerick Person meek nor a Person given to Tipling and Drinking sober nor must he be stiled a good Man who walks directly contrary to the Rules of the Gospel Therefore Christian if thou wouldst not be ill spoken of do that which is true and just and good and honest and lovely and of a good Report and Who will harm you if you be Followers of that which is good saith S. Peter 1 Pet. III. 13. If thy Lewdness or dishonest Actions open Peoples Mouths against thee thy Misfortune is of thine own making God denounces a dreadful Woe against those that call evil good and good evil that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Isa. V. 20. And tho' Charity believes the best yet it believes with Discretion it doth not neither indeed is it bound to believe blindly that Black is White or that Stones are Bread Blessed be God we are not come to that extravagant Belief which Bellarmine asserts to be necessary that if the Pope should so far err as to make Vertue Vice and Vice Vertue the whole Church would be bound to obey him This is Bedlam Talk and we see what Absurdities the Reward of Purple can lead Men into Our Reason was not given us for fashion sake but we are to prove that which is good and to try the Spirits whether they be of God Our Religion bids us walk circumspectly and to take care that we be not evil spoken of is our Duty not only by avoiding Sins scandalous and which make us to be pointed at but by shunning even things which tho' they seem to have no great harm in them yet may give Offence to weaker Brethren There is a great Wisdom to be used in things indifferent and we must deny our selves in speaking and doing things in Postures and Gestures and Dresses which may be a stumbling-block in the way of our Fellow-Christians and may either make them remiss in their Duty or stop them in their Progress in Goodness or tempt them to Apostacy To this purpose is the Exhortation 1 Cor. X. 32. Give no offence neither to the Jews nor to the Greeks nor to the Churches of God even as I please all men in all things not seeking mine own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved II. As those who are reviled and ill spoken of for a conscientious Believing and Obeying Christ Jesus as these are certainly blessed Men so those who unjustly revile such Persons must needs be in a cursed State Not to meddle at this time with those profane Persons who profess themselves Members of our Church and revile others that will not swear and drink with them or run with them into excess of riot it is a lamentable thing to see some Masters of Families how angry they are with their Servants Apprentices nay sometimes Children too for being devout and serious and cautious of offending God and wronging their Consciences and what reproachful Titles they heap upon them calling them Fools Sots Melancholy Precise Fanaticks Hypocrites and what not nay are angry sometimes even with the Ministers of the Gospel by whose Perswasion they have turned to God! Mad-men these that are angry with the Blessings God sends them strange inconsiderate Creatures Are you angry with the means of your Preservation A religious Servant in a wicked Family helps to preserve that Family from being ruin'd and destroy'd at least keeps off some greater Evils that did hang over their Heads God blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph's sake Gen. XXXIX 5. A religious Servant or Apprentice or Child I mean one that is truly so faithful to God and Man that makes Conscience of discharging the Duty of his Calling and Relation as well as his Duty to God not one that pretends to Religion and neglects his Master's Business but one that hath an equal Respect to the Duties of the first and second Table such a Person is a greater Treasure in a loose Family than his Superiors think for It is for such a Mans sake that God blesses them and withdraws his Wrath and Anger from them or reprieves them who are otherwise ripe for Vengeance And that your Profit and Trade doth not decay it is for such excellent Persons sakes whom God loves and for their Piety God exercises Patience toward you And are you angry with us too who exhort them to be good oblige them to make Restitution when they have wrong'd you and admonish them to be faithful and to please you well in all things when by our Entreaties and Counsel we have driven the evil Spirit out of them are you sorry that we have not let him continue in the House where he had taken up his Residence Cursed Children who are displeas'd with the good Angels God sends into their Houses and who are their Guardians too that defend them from imminent Danger Instead of reviling your Servants or Inferiors for standing in awe of God more than of Men
Sufferers being able to disburden their Grief into one anothers Bosom it gives such Satisfaction as People who are ready to burst with Grief do find when a shower of Tears does give their Sorrow vent This Ease is chiefly in the Mind and if the Mind be easie the whole Man receives Comfort if that be easie it is as much as if a Man did not suffer at all It 's our Minds and Thoughts that make us either happy or miserable If a Man thinks himself happy in Misery he is so and if he thinks himself miserable in his Sufferings he is so It 's our Thoughts certainly that make us uneasie in Adversity and musing at such times upon wrong Topicks and Arguments puts all into disorder whereas calling to mind such Reasonings as are proper and suitable alleviates our Grief and makes our Minds easie And of this nature is the good Society we suffer with For 2. This gives us opportunity to make use of the same Motives to Patience that those other good Men have used to bear up under their Crosses and in all likelihood they will have the same Effect upon us and end in the same Consolation The Primitive Believers look'd upon their Afflictions as Tryals of their Faith and that gave them Ease so must I They had a regard to the End for which God did correct them viz. to produce in them the peaceable fruits of Righteousness and that taught them Contentedness so must I They encouraged themselves to Patience with the Example of Christ and that quieted them and so must I They relied upon the Promises of God without wavering and that revived them so must I They look'd upon their Troubles as short momentary things and that made them lightsome so must I They thought their Afflictions necessary to make them breath after their heavenly Country and that made them cheerful so must I. So that if their way be follow'd and our Fellow-sufferers be consider'd under these Notions their Company in suffering will certainly afford more than ordinary Consolations Inferences 1. Having explain'd the several Beatitudes mention'd in this excellent Sermon of our Saviour give me leave to observe to you in the Close of all That though every single Virtue and Qualification in the preceding Beatitudes hath a glorious Reward annexed to it no less than the beatifick Vision of an All-sufficient God yet you must not think that he who should apply himself to the Practice of one single Virtue and neglect the rest would upon that account be rewarded with Heaven This is impossible as the Case stands for Christ expresly requires Vniversal Obedience but if I mind only one of these Qualifications and disregard the rest how is my Obedience universal It 's true Christ affixes a spiritual and eternal Reward to every particular Grace partly for our greater Encouragement partly because every one of the aforementioned Graces tends to that Center and like Lines meet in that one Point and partly because the future Reward shall be suited to the several Virtues and in some measure answer and resemble the Nature of the respective Accomplishments yet still there is such a Connexion among them that they are inseparable and he that sincerely according to the Intent of the Law-giver practises one cannot forbear practising the rest and consequently he that pretends to observe one and doth despise the rest doth not observe that one as he ought The serious and conscientious Observance of one will make us enamoured with all the Links of the whole Chain the Beauty and Reasonableness of one will invite and charm us into a cheerful Compliance with all the rest The several Qualifications mention'd in the preceding Verses are so many Steps to Heaven Humility is the first Mourning for our Sins the second Meekness and composing our turbulent Passions the third Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness the fourth Mercifulness the fifth Purity of Heart the sixth Peaceableness and a Peace-making Temper the seventh and a patient enduring Persecutions Calumnies and Afflictions in a good Cause the last So that you see how you are to rise and by what Ladder you are to ascend to Glory He that advances but a step or two will never reach the everlasting Hills One Grace is the Foundation of the other Humility or an humble Sense of your selves and of your own Worth will dispose you for mourning because you have offended and do offend a very great holy and gracious God and this Sense which makes you concern'd for the Injuries and Affronts you have offer'd to the best of Beings and which makes you mourn will dispose you to Meekness towards your Neighbours who do offend and have offended you and move you to curb and moderate and mortify your Anger and Pettishness at Faults you see in others subduing your inordinate Passion you will be more at leisure to consider the Beauty and Excellency of Righteousness and that will make you hunger and thirst after it This Hunger and Thirst will dispose you to Mercifulness for he that desires to grow in Grace must apply himself to Works of Mercy for by these Holiness is signally increased This merciful Temper will dispose you for Purity of Heart not only because Almsgiving cleanses the Soul and quenches Sin as Fire doth Water but enlarges your Love to God This Purity of the inward Man will dispose you for Peaceableness and a Peace-making Temper for as Strife and Contention rises from an impure Heart from Lusts warring within us so a peaceable Disposition rises from inward Purity This peaceable and Peace-making Temper will procure you may be the Hatred and Ill-will of Men from hence will come Persecutions Slanders Reproaches Calumnies c. which if you bear with a patient and generous Mind you secure your Reward in Heaven and then rejoyce and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven II. I must here take notice that nothing deserves our rejoycing so much as these future Rewards What is there in this World that should make us so fond of rejoycing in it The three great Idols of the World are Riches Honour and Sensual Pleasure but look ye how inconstant how uncertain how uneven and how short are all these He that is rich this Year may be a Beggar the next Valerianus and Andronicus who are Emperors to day to morrow shall be despicable to all their Subjects He that wallows in Pleasure this hour some grievous Pain or Disease may arrest him the next and fill him with Vexation Do not we see how these outward Enjoyments crack in the very handling and make themselves wings and flee away He that is a Minister of State to day may be a Prisoner to morrow he that sits at the Helm to day to morrow may groan in a Dungeon he that gives Law to others to day may be exposed to the fury of the Rabble to morrow and he that dwells in a stately House to day may see it laid in Ashes before the next Morning