watchfull and sober at least live in-offensive and without scandal and the ground upon which this piece of Humility rises is partly the secret defects the humble Man finds in himself and which he hath a greater sense of than of the faults of others and which really appear greater to him than the offences of other Men partly the secret Gifts and latent Vertues that may be for ought he knows in another Man Upon this Account the humble Person is to think of others better than of himself yet with this caution so to think of others better than of himself as not to run into despair nor to conceal or hide the Grace of God bestow'd upon him when the Edification of others requires a declaration of it as is evident from Psal. LXVI 16. and 1 Cor. XV. 10. And from hence flows 5. A holy Contentedness in the mean Condition God hath placed us in Humility is particularly seen in outward Poverty and he whom Providence hath brought to a very mean and low Estate in the World and who is contentedly poor is truly humble For he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God submits to his Will and bears it chearfully because he is confident it will work for his good The same is to be applied to other outward Afflictions The humble Man gives his back to the smiter and when he suffers he threatens not only from a sense of the Demerit of his sins which he knows have deserv'd worse Usages but from consideration of the mighty alteration of his condition when the Lord Jesus shall appear from Heaven to be admired in all his Saints Humility is more seen in bearing Afflictions and Reproaches and Injuries than any where In these cases for our thoughts to work downward and to strike the Soul into an humble Sense and to quiet her as a weaned Child this looks like the Humility of a Disciple of Christ 1 Pet. II. 19 20 21. But 6. And lastly This Humility is not complete without a chearfull and humble Submission to what God requires to be done Pride is the cause of Disobedience and because Men insolently oppose their Wills to God's Will They walk in the imagination of their hearts Hence we read Jer. XIII 15. Hear this and give ear be not proud for the Lord hath spoken To shew that Pride causes Men to turn their backs to the wholsome Commands and Admonitions of the Lord And if this be the Nature of Pride it must necessarily be the Temper of Christian Humility chearfully and humbly to take Christ's Yoak upon us and let the Commands of the Gospel be never so contrary to the interest of Flesh and Blood where Humility reigns there none of those Commands will be grievous 1 John V. 3. This as near as I can guess is the true Idea of Christian Humility commanded in the Text for though it be no formal Command yet a Blessing being entailed upon the Vertue which Blessing is not to be had without the qualification it must be Tantamount to a Command But Why is this Humility call'd poverty in Spirit I answer Poverty it 's call'd 1. Because the humble Man hath no good thing of his own He carefully distinguishes what is God's and what is his own He is sensible that all the Evil he hath is his own and if what he may call his own be consider'd he will appear a very poor miserable Wretch destitute of Mercy and Favour and Comfort and fit only to fall a Prey to the rage of the Devil What good he hath or finds in himself he ascribes to the true cause God blessed for evermore Not I but the grace of God which was in me I Cor. XV. 10. He freely and feelingly acknowledges that he is nothing hath nothing and can do nothing that 's good without the power and influence of God He sees nothing in himself that can help or save or secure him All his riches hope life and power and strength and vertue is in Christ Jesus And having nothing of his own that he can boast of he may trâ—ly be call'd poor 2. Poor because he is always in want always in want of God's grace and goodness to guide him to lead him to conduct him to strengthen him to keep him to preserve him He is always begging always imploring the Divine goodness to remember him Begging is his Trade and Profession I mean begging the Mercy and Charity of the Father of Mercy and he gives not over begging till his Prayers be turn'd into everlasting Praises But he is not only poor but poor in Spirit 1. Because Humility must take up its chief Residence in his Spirit and inward Man Outward prostrations humiliations cringings bowings raggs a sordid habit sackcloath and the course cloath he wears signify nothing except the Soul or the Mind be lowly If that be so the outward Man will be truly so if the inward Man be a stranger to this Humility the leathern Girdle and the Garment of Camel's-hair without will soon be seen thorough And therefore the young Man in Cassian for all his frequent aggravations of his sins and wonderfull semblances of an humble mind discover'd his Hypocrisie when he could not endure a reproof from Serapion Lucian makes himself very merry with a Cynick a Man who pretended to more than ordinary Humility and Austerity of life A friend of his searching his Pockets and thinking to find there some old Raggs and mouldy Bread and the Parings of Cheese or some such stuff to his surprize found there a Bale of Dice a Box of Perfume and the Picture of his Mistriss A very fit Emblem of a Person who makes a shew of Humility without but within is self-conceited and an admirer of his own worth The heart must feel the power of this Virtue That 's the Garden where the Flower must grow and there it must take root if not it 's not a Plant of our heavenly Father's planting and a Christian may easily perceive that it is lodged in his inward Parts by the lowly and humble Thoughts he cherishes within It was from what he felt within that the Martyr said Lord I am Hell Thou art Heaven and another I am the most hypocritical Wretch not worthy that the Earth should bear me and a third I am the unfittest Man for so high an Honour as suffering for Christ that ever was appointed to it and a fourth writing to his Friend that was going to be burnt at the Stake for the Gospel of Christ O that my life and a thousand such Wretches lives might go for yours Why doth he suffer me and such other Caterpillars to live who can-do nothing but consume the Alms of the Church and take you away a mighty Workman and Labourer in his Vineyard The inward Humility sanctified these Expressions and whatever indiscretion might be in such Speeches the humble Sense of their own vileness within made them rational and elegant 2. Poverty in Spirit because this Humility is an
which I mention to let you see that there are too many and too sad Instances of Men guilty of the Sin mention'd in the Text viz. Reviling and speaking Evil of Christians who sincerely believe in Christ. But II. What can be the Motive to all this What it is that makes Men so base and wicked 1. A preposterous and unhappy Education Where Men have been bred and born in a false Religion they imbibe great Prejudices against those that would inform and teach them better Education rivets Errors into the Mind as well as Truths and an Error being taken for a fundamental Truth whatever crosses it is look'd upon as dangerous and heretical and therefore abominable and unthinking Persons having no convenient Means to satisfy themselves as to the Truth of the opposite Doctrine they speak as they are taught and talk bitterly against those that would undeceive them according to the Idea's imprinted on their Mind by ill Men and deluded Teachers This was the Case of the Jews who had been taught that out of Galilee could arise nothing that was good and that no Prophet could come out of Galilee John I. 46. John VII 52. And that was the Reason why they cast so many Reproaches upon Christ who was reported to be a Native of Galilee The same may be said of the Opinion they had suck'd in with their Mother's Milk That the Messiah was to be a Temporal Prince and appear with outward Splendor which being wanting in Jesus of Nazareth they despised and reviled him 2. Another Reason is a blind Zeal the effect of an unhappy Education This blind Zeal appears chiefly in passionate and cholerick Men who being bred up in a false Religion are not only able to do but do a world of Mischief their Tongues being set on fire of Hell with the Fool in the Proverbs will throw about Swords and Arrows and Firebrands and spit Flames against those who contradict their darling and perhaps profitable Principles Thus it was in a great measure with St. Paul before his Passion was sanctified and himself converted his Zeal was blind and violent and that made him not only blaspheme Christ and his Saints but think it his Duty to do so as himself confesses 1 Tim. I. 13. 3. Another is Pride A proud Man is naturally tempted to slandering and abusing those who do not please him His Pride makes him undervalue the Person that opposes his Insolence and that undervaluing provokes him to bitter Words and abusive Language The Pharisees were monstrously proud swelled with a mighty Conceit of their Holiness and Strictness and this was the Cause of the horrid Language they gave to the Saviour of Mankind calling him Samaritan a Devil and an Impostor and the People that follow'd him Cursed John VII 49. 4. A fourth Reason is Malice and Envy bitter Roots which produce very bitter Fruit even bitter Language Malice is a Soil which evil Spirits do delight in and they dictate this hellish Rhetorick Malice will make Faults where it finds none and misinterpret harmless Actions as unpardonable Crimes It turns accidental Reports into Verities the shadow of a Sin into a real Crime and idle Peoples Talk into Demonstration and Evidence And in this Art the High Priest that sat Judg in Christ's Cause seem'd to be very well skill'd who could spell Blasphemy out of Christ's Confession That he was the Son of God Matth. XXVI 63. 5. Another Reason is Want of a sedate even serious and attentive Consideration of the Cause of such innocent Christians From a precipitate Judgment a Man can expect little but inconsiderate Speeches and Expressions and where Men do inspect a thing hastily survey it only superficially and will not take time to weigh the Circumstances of it we need not wonder if they take the Cause by the wrong Handle and when that appears dreadful to them which upon a deliberate View would be found harmless and tolerable and very rational rash Censures and ill Language will be the Effects and Consequences of it as we see in the Proceedings of the Jews in St. Paul's Case Acts XXII 27 28 29. They had seen one Trophimus an Ephesian with him in the Streets without any Examination of the matter they suppose he must be his Companion in the Temple too whereupon they raise a Cry That he had brought Greeks into the Temple and profaned that holy place More Reasons might here be drawn from Profit and Interest and worldly Advantages from the Company Men keep and from the high Places and Stations they possess in the World and the Figure they make in a Commonwealth all which very often tempt them to revile those whom in their own Consciences they think innocent but what hath been said may serve for a Taste But let 's go on and see III. How that which is a Sin to one can be a Blessing to another Reviling and speaking Evil falsly of good men being a great Sin how this can make the Persons who are unjustly reviled blessed 1. A very ill thing may be the Occasion of a very good one It 's true a corrupt Tree cannot bring forth good Fruit nor do Men look for Grapes from Thorns nor for Olive-berries from a Bramble nor for sweet Water from salt Springs but tho' a bad Thing cannot be the proper efficient Cause of a good one yet it may prove the Occasion of it as we see Mens dissolute and disorderly Actions are Occasions of very excellent Laws And as the Man whom History speaks of his Enemy who struck him with an Intent to kill broke the Imposthume in his Body which proved his Health and Recovery so the Devil 's accusing the Brethren before God day and night is the Occasion of their steddy Protection After the same manner from wicked Mens reviling Conscientious Christians God takes Occasion to reward them with Love and tender Mercies turns those Revilings into Blessings as Joseph's being sold into Egypt and turned out of Potiphar's House with Infamy and Disgrace and his Imprisonment into Grandeur and Royalty 2. Not so much the Revilings of wicked Men make such Persons blessed as their Innocence under those Revilings God that sees them wrongfully abused and reproach'd takes their part An ordinary Judg is bound in Conscience to plead the Cause of him whom he knows to be unjustly arraign'd much more the righteous Judge of the World may be supposed to take notice of the Innocence of his Servants whom Men unjustly calumniate and to take them into his Protection Shall not the Judg of the whole World judge righteous Judgment saith the Patriarch Gen. XVIII 24. And this makes them blessed 3. It 's not these Revilings so much that makes them blessed as their Behaviour and Deportment under them even their Patience and Meekness and Calmness and committing themselves to him that judges righteously Should he that is unjustly reviled render railing for railing or reviling for reviling in doing so he would spoil his Blessedness but bearing
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 shining and burning Lights of our Reformation and I chuse to alledge their Examples because I have spoken just before in the Praise of that Reformation But I fear Examples will do no good if God's Command and Christ's Promise and your Duty and everlasting Interest cannot prevail with you And yet when by the Grace and Assistance of God you are become bountifull according to this Rule the other Acts of Mercy I mention'd in the beginning of this Discourse must not be neglected particularly the Acts of Mercy to the Souls of your Neighbours There is nothing no Vertue that abounds more in incouragements both Temporal and Eternal than this mercifull Temper God hath dress'd it in such Charms that it cannot but appear amiable to the Attentive Considerer To shew mercy to others is the way to be mercifull to your selves We call upon you often to have mercy on your Souls and your mercy to others is a sign that you study Self-preservation Hereby you secure your own Mercies make them firm and durable and you establish your selves in the favour of God and the good opinion of sober Men And therefore what should hinder you from taking fire by this Discourse and suffering your Hearts to be warmed into Mercy and Compassion How chearfully may you go about it when there is a Voice behind you calling upon you Blessed are the mercifull for they shall obtain mercy SERMON VIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God PVritan was once a Nick-name a Name of Reproach intended I suppose to traduce those who made a great shew of external Piety but were strangers to good Morals stumbled at a Straw and leapt over a Block strained at a Gnat and swallow'd down Camels prayed to God and reviled his Church scrupled a Ceremony and cheated the next Neighbour they met withall What justice there was in giving this Title to a certain Party whether they deserved it or not and whether many of those that were called so were not very upright and truly pious Men I shall not now enquire but sure I am that this Name rightly understood and taken in that sense it naturally bears or should bear is what every Christian ought to be ambitious of Purity is what every good Man must and doth desire and indeed his goodness is mere vanity and shew if Purity be not the great object of his love A true Puritan and a true Christian are convertible Terms and he that laughs at this Character understands not the Religion he is baptized into He that renounces Purity renounces his Baptism and whatever his outward Profession may be he is a meer Infidel under a borrow'd Title Purity is that which the Christians of old did triumph in not in the Name but in the Thing and he that neglects it must needs continue a stranger to all solid Consolation As ridiculous as it appears to carnal Men it is our greatest security pur-blind Souls may not see the Beauty of it but he that is Truth it self assures us that it is the way to real Bliss Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God The method in handling these words must be the same with that I used in the Explication of the preceeding Beatitudes and that which any Man that hears or reads these words would naturally desire to be satisfied in is I. The Nature of this Purity wherein it consists and who the pure in heart are II. Upon what account we cannot suppose those blessed who are not pure in heart for that 's implied here III. How the pure in heart shall see God I. The Nature of this Purity wherein it consists and who the pure in heart are Children know that by the Heart in Scripture is for the most part meant the Soul the Spirit and the inward Man and so a pure Heart is a pure Mind a pure Soul and a pure Conscience as we find it called 1 Tim. III. 9. 2 Tim. I. 3. 2 Pet. III. 1. and the true ingredients of this inward Purity are as follows 1. An antipathy to sinfull Thoughts or a setled abhorrency of such thoughts desires passions and affections as are manifestly contrary to the Will of God Purity imports cleansing and that the thing which is cleansed is pure from something and the unclean thing here is evil thoughts not their bare coming in but concurring with them which the Heart must be pure from A pure Heart is an Enemy to impure Speeches and all impure and sinfull Actions but more immediately to sinfull Thoughts and Desires which are the Parents and Causes of the other so that the pure Heart nips the Evil in the Bud and is so far from yielding deliberately to a bad Action or an undecent Expression that it dreads an evil Thought All men it's true hate some evil Thoughts or other and there is scarce any Man so debaucht or vitious but hates the thought of murthering his Father and Mother or the thought of some monstrous ingratitude or the thought of doing hurt to an innocent Babe in the Cradle but this doth not make them pure in Heart and therefore this Purity must extend to other indeed all the Laws of God without which there would be no distinction no difference betwixt the Saint and the Sinner the latter pretending to the hatred of some evil Thoughts and Desires as well as the other So then this Purity imports an antipathy not only to thoughts of unnatural Crimes but to lascivious covetous malitious revengefull proud foolish vain imperious romantick Thoughts even before they break out into Words and Actions to thoughts whereby wronging defrauding slandering abusing reviling of our Neighbours and neglect of our spiritual and everlasting Concerns are suggested to us in a word to all thoughts which are injurious to God to our Neighbour or to the interest of our Souls for these assented to defile the heart Mark VII 21 22. Such thoughts like Flies or Bees may buz and hum about the Mind but if the Mind drives them away as Abraham did the Birds from the Sacrifice the Heart loses nothing of its Purity The mind may be assaulted with evil Thoughts the Assaults do not presently render it impure for if it hold out against them gives no consent no approbation shews them no countenance no favour no respect but that like Bullets shot against a Wall of Brass they fall off as fast as they are shot the Heart still continues pure and therefore David expresses the Purity of his Heart by this very Character I hate vain thoughts Psal. CXIX 113. and to this purpose is that Expostulation of God in Jeremy Chap. IV. 14. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee It 's giving them lodging and entertainment that pollutes the Mind but if they knock at the Door and are either permitted no entrance or are thrust out the Heart preserves its Purity 2. A pure Heart imports also a Purity from sinister Ends
from Aaron's head ran down to his Beard and the skirts of his Cloathing Therefore as it was devout and serious without the help of the body and in the good works in which the Body was concern'd was the first mover of the fact so it shall see the Glory of God before the Body and separated from the Body and while the Body participates of the common Fate But 4. Let me end all with David's excellent Motto Psal. LXXIII 1. Truly God is good to Israel even to them who are of a clean Heart Good indeed good to them in a time of Peace good in Adversity good to them in publick Commotions good to them in his Promises good to them in their life time good to them at their Death and good to them after Death The pure in heart they tast they see they feel his Goodness this supports them this comforts them this strengthens them All the World see his Goodness but O how great is that Goodness that God hath laid up for the pure in heart The pure in heart they shall see God Ay! that 's the Goodness God hath laid up for them And O what a happiness do they enjoy the purblind World sees not the Beauty the Order the Harmony of Providence the pure in Heart behold it and are thankfull Good God! To see thee what ravishments must that cause To see the fountain of Goodness what delights must flow from that sight To enter into a Prince's Cabinet and to see the Pearls the Diamonds the Rubies the precious Stones the Curiosities the Rarities the Riches the Plenty the costly Things the great Variety that is there this is something But what is all this to the seeing of God in whom are concenter'd all the Beauties and Rarities of Heaven and Earth To see but one Attribute of his clearly and distinctly suppose his Wisdom is enough to charm a Soul into eternal Admiration Behold how men run to see an Indian or African Ambassador or a Craesus a Darius an Alexander any thing that is attended with Pomp and Greatness Rejoyce ye that are pure in heart you run to see a greater thing than the greatest Emperour in the World Could you see all the Riches and Glories of the world at one view all that is above and within the Earth all that is within and above the sea and all the Men and Women that have been since the Creation of the World it would not be so stately a sight as a clear sight of God blessed for evermore This is your shield your exceeding great reward this most glorious Object you shall see at last see him and admire him see him and desire to be with him see him and love him see him and rejoyce in him see him and be united to him see him and cling to him for ever You shall see all the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets all the holy Apostles all the Martyrs that have suffered for the Testimony of Jesus You shall see the great Jesus that died at Jerusalem was crucified on Mount Calvary sweated drops of Blood in the Garden of Gethsemane was crucified and rose again and is set down on the right hand of Majesty on high The Believers St. Peter speaks of saw him not yet rejoyced in him with joy unspeakable and full of Glory What then will your joy be when you shall see him face to face For this we want expressions and therefore I shall draw a veil over it and leave you to live in joyfull Thoughts and expectations of it that when his Glory shall appear you also may appear with him in Glory SERMON IX St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 9. Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God AS in this divine Sermon of our Saviour Men and Women are pronounced blessed and happy with respect to things which the dull sensual World spies no felicity in or as here those are counted happy whom the World counts miserable and those miserable whom the World counts happy so it fares with the persons mentioned in the words before you and the Blessedness which attends them the world you know magnifies great Generals and Soldiers and Martial Men who can fight well and are very skilfull in besieging Towns and in scaling Walls in bombarding Castles and surprizing Forts and defeating Armies and slaying Men and he that with Saul hath kill'd his thousands and with David his ten thousands is cry'd up and the Bells ring at his entrance into a conquer'd Town all sing his Praises Flowers of Rhetorick and Applause are strow'd in his way publick Intelligences are fill'd with his Commendations and who so much talk'd of as the man who is very expert in making maintaining and managing a War Our blessed Master over-looks all these partial verdicts of the World and knowing that Nature and Vice and Profit and Honour Ambition and Lust are enough to inspire a man with courage and Wisdom to fight and to cause Disorders and Disturbances among Men instead of commending men who are skilfull in making War set a peculiar mark of favour on those who are skilfull in making Peace in the words I have read to you Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God Blessed are the Peace-makers what All Peace-makers Then Turks and Infidels Heathens and Pagans and the most licentious of Christian Princes do all come into the number of the blessed and all must be Children of God For there is no Prince though never so great a Tyrant though he hath spilt Blood like Water in his Conquests though he hath made no more of destroying mens Lives than Tarquinius did of taking off the heads of Poppies or Domitian of killing Flies yet makes Peace sometimes and tired with the Toyl and Fatigue of the War concludes a Truce at last with his Enemy and what Do all these come into the society of the blessed To give you light into this affair I shall enquire I. Who these Peace-makers are that are pronounced blessed here II. I shall examine the reasons of the supposition or the thing supposed and implied here that those who have an aversion from this Peace-making are and cannot be blessed III. I shall take the blessedness of these Peace makers into consideration and shew how and upon what account they are and shall be call'd the Children of God I. Who these Peace-makers are that are said to be blessed here The word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which as Interpreters observe in Greek Authors signifies and denotes strictly those who make or procure Peace among Persons who disagree and unite those who are at variance but in Scripture the expression is of a larger extent and includes a great deal more than a bare reconciling of Enemies and the persons here aimed at are as follows 1. Such as do make Peace with God and with their Consciences To this purpose is the exhortation Job XXI 22. Acquaint now thy self
Yes did Men love God in deed and in truth they would not only be glad to know what is pleasing to him but even run to do it as good natured Children that observe their Father's temper and endeavour to gain his love by a deportment and behaviour they know he delights in Peace among men God delights in peace among Christians especially to whom he hath vouchsafed a higher dispensation Among these no noise no clamour no railing no quarrelling no Swords no Cannon should be heard these profess themselves Disciples of Christ Jesus the Prince of Peace and there is no command that is more strictly or more frequently injoin'd than that of Peace This they are to pursue to follow and to endeavour after by all possible lawfull means This is their livery and the very mark whereby they are to be distinguish'd even their peaceable Behaviour This is the Salt which is to keep them sweet as Christ calls it Mark IX 10. But you all know how contrary to this character the generality of Men live upon the least provocat on they break the Peace and all friendship is renounced especially where they have a Purse to maintain the dispute many a Man that was humble and peaceable before when poor no sooner doth he find his Purse swell but his Temper alters and now if his Neighbour doth displease him though there be no malice in the case presently he talks high and big and he cares as little for his Neighbour as his Neighbour doth for him This is the humour of the Age and instead of repenting of their heats and divisions they justify their contentions and oppose the reasons of flesh and blood and the circumstances of their birth and quality of their honour and grandeur to the laws of that Saviour by whose Blood they say they are redeemed Strange Christians these that will be so in despight of Christ though they have nothing of the character in them And let us but consider what trifles they are Men quarrel about and how frivolous the things for which they break forth into flame and fury and break the Peace which they should maintain and keep things which a Philosopher would put by with a smile and a wise Man think below himself to take notice of But what shall we say Till men come to stand in awe of the Gospel more than of the laws of the Land and the threatnings and punishments of the Magistrate thus it will be and when opportunity serves will be carried away with the stream of their passions and sinfull inclinations and upon such I cannot hope to do any good though the Arguments were never so convincing or powerfull But if there be any here as I hope there are several that look upon this peaceable and peace-making Temper as their duty are perswaded that they are in danger of God's displeasure if they want this qualification and are concern'd about it and desire to be inform'd of the way and method they are to take how to compass it to such I shall recommend these following Directions 1. Be injurious to no man wrong no man defraud no man oppress no man speak evil of no man This is the way to make peace and to keep peace It 's the wrong that men apprehend is done to them by another that causes quarrels and dissensions Remove the cause and you remove the effect a remedy prescribed by the Apostle in order to a quiet and peaceable Life Tit. III. 2. 2. Love to do good This strangely obliges and wins and charms and moves even our Enemies to be at peace with us and makes People desirous to live in friendship with us and not only so but hereby we weaken our quarrelsome disposition and become more tractable and gentle and heap coals of fire upon the heads of our Enemies i. e. melt them by kindness into a better nature Rom. XII 20. 3. Watch against selfishness and covetousness for its greediness after profit and an over fondness of our temporal Interest that puts us into heats if we are crost in it Moderation in our desires after these outward things composes the mind quiets the passions and keeps the blood from boiling over The Apostle therefore very much insists upon this Vertue 1 Tim. VI. and Phil. IV. 5. 4. Believe not every ill thing that is said of you for we see daily how little credit is to be given to reports A too easie belief of ill things said of us is an instigation to break the peace to harbour hatred and secret grudges and tempts to strangeness of behaviour to revenge to moroseness and watching opportunities to be even with the supposed offendour charity believes the best 1 Cor. XIII 7. 5. Be not ashamed to confess your faults when it 's evident you are in the wrong an obstinate defence of a fault is apt to make Persons who take notice of it angry and furious because it argues a very ill temper of mind whereas an ingenuous acknowledgment of our errours reconciles and prevails with Persons of ingenuity to be friends with us and that 's the reason why St. James is so earnest for it James V. 16. 6. Bear with infirmities in others with such particularly which appear to be invincible I do not say bear with wilfull sins and habits of vice and folly but with failings and imperfections which cannot well be remedied either when the understandings of your Neighbours are shallow or not so quick as yours or when their Wisdom and Sagacity doth not reach so far as yours and this according to the Command of the Holy Ghost Rom. XIV 1. 7. For peace sake be content to recede sometimes from your own right Where two parties are stiff and neither will yield or abate any thing of their demands the quarrel must needs continue But concessions and relinquishing part of our right prepares for peace and so did the Father of the faithfull to prevent dissensions betwixt him and Lot though upon the account of seniority it belong'd to him to determine where he should pitch his Tent yet he leaves it to Lot to chuse which part of the Country he would go to Gen. XIII 8 9. 8. In order to promote peace in Families David's method must be taken Ps. CI. 6. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithfull of the Land One great means to promote and preserve the publick Peace of the Nation is to do our own business to be followers of that which is good to do our own duty and not to speak evil of dignities for it is written Thou shalt not speak evil of the Rulers of thy People Consider after all how your Interest is bound up with this peaceable and peace-making Temper for as Christ says of a Kingdom divided against it self that it cannot stand so if by quarrels and clamours and dissensions you divide the Society you live in you undermine your own ease and happiness To this purpose Solomon Prov. XVII 1. Better is a dry morsel and quietness
Societies would fall under this Notion No no to suffer as an evil doer is a very different thing from being persecuted for Righteousness sake St. Peter hath determined this long agoe 1 Pet. ii 20. What glory is it if when ye are buffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently but if when you do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God and again 1 Pet. iv 15. Let none of you suffer as a Murtherer or as a Thief or as an evil doer or as a busy-body in other mens matters but if any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed That old Saying is very true Not the Suffering but the Cause makes the Martyr Indeed it is to be considered in all Sufferings and it skills very much what it is we suffer and what we suffer for and what manner of man the person is who suffers Some we read of that have suffer'd for Vain-glory as Peregrinus in Lucian and the Gymnosophists and Regulus and Mutius and the Alexandrian Woman and others in the Greek and Roman Histories And the Circumcelliones of old were so fond of suffering Martyrdom that some would cast themselves down head-long from steep Hills or throw themselves into Fire or into Water and even courted men to knock them on the head And therefore the Church Ps. xliv 21 22. to remove all suspicions that she suffered upon a wrong Principle or for a sinister End appeals to God the searcher of all Hearts He knows the secrets of the Heart for thy sake are we killed all the day long as if she had said Thou O Lord who knowest all things knowest that it is not for a sinister End or for Trifles that we suffer but it is for thy Name 's sake and because we will not lift up our Hands to a strange God 2. Nor is it to suffer for every Cause where Conscience is pretended He that is persecuted for Righteousness sake suffers for his Conscience but not every one that suffers and pretends he suffers for Conscience is therefore persecuted for Righteousness sake We know the greatest Villanies have been carried on under a shew of Religion and Conscience hath been pleaded by Murtherers of Kings and Princes and Bishops and others and when such abominable wretches have suffered for it they have been most justly punished but far from being persecuted farther from being persecuted for Righteousness sake To pretend Conscience when Men act against a known Law of God is mocking of God and if it were lawfull to laugh at a thing so sad and dreadful deserves to be ridiculed more than argued Felix Mauz a turbulent Anabaptist in Helvetia being put to death for practising against the State and Government had the Impudence to thank God that he had called him to seal the Truth with his Blood and among other expressions before his death said Lord into thy hands I do commend my Spirit It 's like unwary and weak Spectators look'd upon his suffering as being persecuted for Righteousness sake but it was nothing less indeed no more than a just Punishment for his Treasonable Practices however colour'd over with Expressions and Sayings of Consciencious Men. He that deceives himself or suffers himself to be deceiv'd into an erroneous Doctrine or Practice and believes that his Conscience dictates to him both that Belief and Practice and suffers for it cannot properly be said to suffer for Righteousness sake if that Righteousness he pretends to and for which he thinks he suffers have no relation to the express word of God Conscience must be guided by the plain word of God I say plain for I do not think that obscure hard and knotty places of Scripture which have exercised the Wits of the Learnedst Men are an ordinary Rule of Conscience If a Man fancies that his Doctrine or Practice for which he suffers is commanded in the Word of God when really it is not he suffers indeed for an erroneous Conscience which he should have taken care to rectify and inform better but cannot be said to be persecuted for Righteousness sake because he suffers not for a notorious Doctrine or Action manifestly commanded in the Word of God and tho' I grant that the Magistrate who punishes him may be too severe upon him and the Officers of Justice who execute the Law may handle him rudely and barbarously and though I believe God will pardon his Error if accompanied with simplicity of Heart and free from Malice or sinister Designs yet still he cannot be said to be persecuted for Righteousness sake And having told you what being persecuted for Righteousness sake is not I must in the next place tell you what it is And here though you may guess at the Nature of it by what hath been said already yet for Orders sake 1. To be persecuted for Righteousness sake is to be evil entreated for asserting or maintaining a Principle or Doctrine which God hath plainly reveal'd either by the light of Nature or by the light of Scripture and for not subscribing to a Doctrine manifestly false or contrary to the Scripture I mention here the light of Nature for the light of Nature is the light of God as well as the Scripture It 's granted the Scripture is the brighter and the clearer light but still the light of Nature is the light of God And he that is persecuted for asserting there is but one God and that Polytheism or a multitude of Gods is Non-sense or a Fable as Socrates the Heathen Philosopher was who died for that Doctrine may be justly said to be persecuted for Righteousness sake because he suffers for a true and manifest Principle of the light of Nature and for a Truth written by God upon the Heart and which every Man is bound to assert and maintain which is the reason that Justin Martyr makes Socrates a kind of Christian and a Martyr for a standing Principle of Divinity After the same manner if a Man should be persecuted for maintaining the Resurrection of the Dead or that the Scripture is the Word of God or that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Messiah and Saviour of the World and that he is God as well as Man and that he died for our sins and rose again from the Dead c. as the Apostles were persecuted by the Sadduces Pharisees and Heathens such a Person is truly persecuted for righteousness sake for these Truths are very clearly revealed in Scripture and every Christian is bound to profess them and the same may justly be said of those late Sufferers in the neighbouring Kingdom who suffer'd for not believing or not subscribing to the Doctrines of Transubstantiation the Sacrifice of the Mass Purgatory c. for these Doctrines are not only not to be found in the Word of God but are contrary to it 2. To be persecuted for righteousness sake is to be evil entreated for espousing a Worship or Practice which God hath plainly commanded on
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