have been sensible of and with them agrees the Author of the Wisdom of Solomon ch I. 4. Turbulent Passions keep out this Spirit of God But where the Soul is calm this Spirit spreads his wings over it as a Hen over her Brood and teaches her the mysteries of Godliness displays to her the glories of the Gospel represents to her the designs of God's Providences given her a lively sight of God's Goodness and the Reward to come and at once discovers to her and presses upon her the powerfull arguments of the Love of God which prevail with her to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes And since the meek have the honour of being blessed with this Celestial Wisdom whatever the World thinks of them they must be blessed and happy III. Blessed they are because they shall inherit the Earth and how they do that must be our last enquiry 1. Some by inheriting the earth understand the millennary Reign or the Reign of the Saints here on Earth for a thousand Years But surely this cannot be the meaning of it for if there be such a millennary Reign which I will neither affirm nor deny it is evident from Rev. XX. 4. that that Reign is confin'd to Martyrs and those that have been beheaded for the Testimony of Jesus and surely men may be meek and expect a reward of God without being Martyrs Therefore others more justly understand it of the present Earth we all inhabit and referr the blessedness here spoken of to the quiet possession the meek enjoy or have of the blessings God's liberal hand bestows upon them For though sometimes they lose all they have in the world though they are harrass'd by their enemies though their Meekness is sometime their loss though barbarous men sometime take advantage of their meekness to undo them yet for the most part they quietly and contentedly enjoy what God gives them be it more or less to be sure they have the best means in their hands to possess what they have in peace And that 's their Meekness which makes them recede frequently from their right for peace and quiet 's sake and God will not suffer them to be losers by their Meekness and therefore rewards that with content which they seem to want in other things it being his method to take care of and to fight for those who will not fight for themselves But though the meek may in this sense be said to inherit the Earth 1. With respect to their quiet Possession of the temporal things God gives them 2. With respect to the favour of men God makes them Heirs of 3. With respect to the success that some times attends their temporal concerns as a present recompence of their Vertue as it was said of a great man in this Kingdom that rose from a small to a very great Estate and used to overcome the malice of his Enemies with Meekness and Patience that he never sued any man nor any man ever sued him Though I say we must grant that in this sense the meek may be said to inherit the Earth Yet 2. This sense methinks in this place is not great enough where we find our Saviour intends to encourage his followers to the noblest Enterprizes by the noblest and most excellent Rewards When David spoke these words The meek shall inherit the earth it 's like he meant the Land of Canaan and a quiet Possession of their own in that Country but as the Land of Canaan was an Emblem of the Land of eternal Glory so Christ whose Province it was to bring Life and Immortality to light must be supposed to speak of this Earth in a more sublime and exalted sense and therefore by the Earth here must be understood something greater even the happy Regions of immortal Bliss call'd sometimes the new Heaven and the new Earth Rev. XXII 1. sometimes a heavenly Country Heb. XI 16. sometimes the Land of the living at least in the sense of some of the Fathers Psal. CXVI 9. even those Regions which were prefigured by the Land of Promise by the Land that flow'd with Milk and Honey In a word the Holy Ghost in Scripture loves to express those happy Regions of eternal Love and Felicity by various Names sometimes by a River because the Joys are in a perpetual Flux and Motion there sometimes by a Mountain or Hill because the glorified Saints will be exalted to Seats high and lofty and overlooking all the World sometimes by a City because of the Unanimity of the Inhabitants sometimes by a Kingdom because of the Splendor and Glory of that State and here by the Earth because of the affluence of all things that can make the Meek rich and blessed and happy And they are said to inherit this glorious Land 1. Because as Children they have a right to it while they live here as a Son hath a right to his Father's Land 2. Because after death they shall actually possess this Estate of their Father which is in Heaven so that their inheriting speaks them Children Sons and Daughters of the Almighty to whose share the rich Demesnes of the other World will fall not after their Father's death who is immortal and cannot die but after their own death and this shews the difference betwixt inheriting Estates here on Earth and inheriting the Regions of eternal Bliss There Men inherit after their Father's death here after their own death Inferences 1. It 's evident from hence how improper and unfit a solitary life is for the practice of the noblest Precepts of Christianity Meekness and subduing our wrathfull cholerick peevish and angry Inclinations is certainly one of the most excellent rules of our holy Religion But how shall he that retires from all company lives in a desart in a wilderness in a wood where he lives ' out of all converse how shall he live up to the strictness of this rule who hath none to offend him none to displease him none to affront him none to do him an injury none to talk impertinently before him none to oppose or cross him Its temptations must try this vertue To be chast upon Mount Athos where no Women come to be sober in Scythia where no Wine no strong Liquors grow is pitifull and mean and at best but a negative innocence but with Lot to be chast in Sodom sober with Anacharsis in debauch'd Athens with the Salamander to lie in the Fire without being consumed and like Fishes to swim in the Salt Sea and to contract nothing of its Saltness this is vertue this is heroick this is Christian like Provocations Insolencies Injuries these are the Touchstone that must shew whether our Meekness be genuine or not The most cholerick Man alive may fansie himself to be the meekest Creature under Heaven while there is none to disturb or disorder his Passions But in your Trade in your Commerce in your Traffick in your Callings and Employments in Company in Society of others when you are slighted
formerly lived in and was constantly there a day or two in a Week besides his other occasional times on purpose to attend upon those poor and afflicted and scrupulous People that resorted thither for help and advice He did very often stay all night in that place that he might be in a readiness to assist those that expected him there His Prebend of Exeter lying at a great distance from him he expressed an inclination to resign it and he did so the next year The present Bishop of Bath and Wells had a small Prebend which that year became void little better as to the annual Rent than that of Exeter but then it had a Corps of some value and two lives were gone It required no Residence and if it had it was much nearer to him than Exeter The Bishop made him an offer of it hoping that he might receive some Fine for the better support of his Family He was admitted to it upon Sept. 28. 1694. He enjoyed it to the day of his death but I fear he made no advantage of it his charges considered or if he did it was very small He was offered indeed a Fine and considering his small income a considerable Summ but yet not above one half of the real value 'T was supposed I presume that he would have greedily laid hold of the present advantage and gain as too many have done without considering what was decent and becoming with respect to the Church and to his Successor But they that thought so were deceived in their Man He generously refused the offer and left the Lives to be filled up by his Successor But it having a Vicarage annexed in his gift he went and preached to the People and gave out good Rules in his Visitation for the good of the Souls in the Peculiar under his Jurisdiction In this Journey of his he happened to meet with the Lessee of the Corps from whom alone he might expect a Fine Instead of minding his own gain and addressing to the Lessee with art and complaisance in order to make a wordly advantage he plainly reproved the Lessee of Immorality which others were prone enough to spread abroud but perhaps no other had the courage to reprove He chose rather to lose his Fine as he did than omit his Duty Upon this occasion I cannot but add that he had in great measure the Spirit and Courage of John the Baptist. He durst reprove a great Man and perhaps that man lived not that was more conscientious in this matter I very well knew a great Man and Peer of the Realm from whom he had just expectations of Preferment but this was so far from stopping his Mouth that he reproved him to his Face and that too in a matter that few men besides would have adventured on He missed of his Preferment indeed but saved his own Soul He could not fawn or flatter cringe and comply for his own gain and worldly advantage Upon this consideration his Acquaintance and Friendship were very desirable by every good man that would be better He would in him be very sure of a Friend that would not suffer sin upon him I may say of him what Pliny says of Corellius Rufus whose death he laments amisi vitae meae testem c. I have lost a faithfull witness of my Life and may add what he said upon that occasion to his Friend Calvisius Vereor ne negligentiùs vivam i. e. I am afraid says he lest for the time to come I should live more carelesly Certain I am that his Friends and Familiars have a great loss upon this account They have lost a great Pattern of Vertue and a very faithfull Monitor and Reprover of Vice and Folly A faithfull Reprover is a very great help in our Christian Course He is to be valued above the greatest treasure He that would be safe says one of the Ancients must have a faithfull Friend or a bitter Enemy that he may fly from Vice by the Monitions of the one or Invectives of the other We need one of these to set us right We read that the Grandees of Japan do each of them maintain in their several houses one or two persons whose office and business is to observe the actions of their Masters and freely to admonish them when they do any thing imprudently or wickedly 'T is worthy of our imitation and highly expedient Great men are followed and corrupted by Flatterers they have but few Friends who have Courage and Honesty enough to tell them of their faults But this may be thought too great a Digression I therefore return to give a farther account of this excellent Man He was now in better circumstances as to the world than he had been but not less diligent and laborious He went on in his Master's work with most unwearied labour and spent his whole time and strength in it And it was his delight and his choice Indeed those who were about him thought he did more than he was able long to bear He grew soon after this very infirm and sickly He fell into dangerous fits of the Stone made very little and that a bloody Water He walked with difficulty and could hardly bear a Coach I have often told him that he could not long continue under the labour which he underwent and I plainly saw that he declined and would do so more and more unless he did remit his very great labours I convinc'd him abundantly of the truth of what I observed of him He was sensible of it and seem'd very inclinable to retire from the multiplicity of business with which he was almost overwhelm'd He went on in his accustomed labours to Christmas 1696. Then his work increased upon him and whereas other men's labours are then intermitted his were augmented For at that time he had more frequent Communions besides an incredible number of Applications from poor People who then expect relief and assistance which gave him great diversion and trouble He nevertheless went through all this labour and trouble with as great chearfulness as was possible But not long after I found a plain alteration in him for the worse On the 23d of January I was much concern'd for him He was to preach the next day at the Savoy and I was of opinion that it was not safe for him to do it I was very earnest with him to spare himself that day but could not prevail He preached there and it was the last Sermon that he preached In the Evening I found him to my great sorrow in great disorder From that time his illness encreased upon him His Urine upon the matter totally stopped he was in pain and greatly indisposed all that Week And yet when I ask'd him which I frequently did if he were not in great pain all the answer that I could get from him was that the pain he felt was tolerable There was nothing wanting that could be thought of towards giving him ease
The ablest Physicians were consulted and they consulted and advised upon his case and attended him with great diligence and tenderness but without success On Sunday Morning January 31st he was worse than ever he had been insomuch that those about him thought him dying about eleven in the Morning I was then at Westminster-Abbey and was sent for out of the Church to pray with him I found him very sensible I asked him if he were sensible that he was dying he replied that he was I asked him if he were also resigned and willing to die he replied very readily that he was willing to die I asked him if he had considered the words Heb. II. 14 15 and whether or not he found himself delivered from all the slavish fear of death he replied very quick looking up to Heaven that he was delivered from that fear He was in an excellent frame and joyned with the Prayers which the Church appoints on such occasions with great expressions of Devotion Sometime after this I found him delirous and not long after speechless After some few hours Groans he expired viz. at Eight a Clock that Evening being then about the 56th year of his Age His Body was opened and it appeared quickly what was the cause of his Death Both his Ureters were stopped One of them was stopped as a Bottle with a Cork with a Stone that entered the top of the Ureter with a sharp end the upper part of which was thick and much too big to enter any farther The other was stopped also with Stones of much less firmness and consistence than the other His Body was interred on Feb. 4. in the Abbey Church of Westminster with great Solemnity and a vast number of Attendants Several of the Lords the Bishops very many of the most eminent Clergy about the City and an incredible number of other Persons were present on that occasion And it must be said that the Church of Westminster shewed the great kindness they had for him by the great care they took of his very decent and solemn Interment Before I proceed any farther I shall reflect upon his undaunted Courage when Death look'd him in the face 'T is certain that there were a great many considerations that might have disposed him to desire a longer life at that time I well knew his circumstances and those of his Family and how desirable his life was upon many accounts But yet this pious man was not only willing to die but was entirely delivered from the fear of it and did with great cheatfulness and alacrity receive the tidings and sentence of Death St. Hierom tells that Hilarion just when he was expiring spake these words Egredere quid times Egredere anima mea quid dubitas Septuaginta propè annis servisti Christo mortem times i. e. Go out O my Soul why dost thou fear Why dost thou doubt Thou hast served Christ near seventy years and art thou afraid to dye There was it seems some fear and some doubt in Hilarion This Servant of God was by his Grace delivered intirely from all such fear or doubt I say by the Grace of God he was delivered and special Grace it was Very good Persons when they come to die have their doubts and their great fears too It is an easie thing to discourse wisely and Philosophically of the Contempt of Death but they which do so have not the same Presence of Mind when Death looks them in the face We have a famous story to this purpose concerning the Father of Clinias who was wont to despise Death in his Health and was in great dread of it when it drew near to him as Plato relates it It must be confessed that this good Man had taken the right course to be freed from the fear of Death by leading a very painfull and laborious a very usefull and charitable a very devout and pious Life His Life was very painfull and laborious Few men ever took the Pains which he did He was mortified to all worldly Pleasures and sensual Satisfactions and used himself to great Labours and most exemplary Diligence There is nothing renders us more afraid to die than a soft and voluptuous Life Oh Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth in rest in his possessions Ecclus XLI 1. We have an example of this in Agag He came delicately and was pinguissimus tremens i. e. very fat and trembling and no wonder then that he should comâ—â—â—in of the bitterness of death For so certainly he does however our Interpreters come to render his words Death must be bitter where voluptuousness makes life sweet His Life was also very usefull and very charitable Multitudes they were that received relief and advantage by him And there is a particular promise to such men that God will strengthen them upon the bed of languishing and make their bed in their sickness Psal. XLI 3. Our Saviour wouâ—d have his followers pray that their flight might not be in the Winter or on the Sabbath One of the Fathers accommodates the words to my present purpose Happy is that man that does not when he leaves this World lead an unfruitfull life nor yet an idle one The Winter is the barren time of the year and the Sabbath was a time not of Labour but of Rest. His Life was also very devout and pious of which more afterward I mention only in this place his very devout and frequent receiving the Holy Communion which is a great Preparative to a comfortable Death I will repeat the Doctor 's own Words which many years ago fell from him to his hearers at the Savoy and which were verified in him many years after A worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper says he is the best preparative for death No man can die uncomfortably that makes it his business as often as he comes to this Table to receive worthily Death cannot hurt him c. for by his worthy receiving he hath laid up a good foundation for the time to come c. I shall now more particularly give the Character of this excellent Person and the kindness I had for him shall not prevail with me to exceed in his commendation First I shall begin with his Religion and Piety towards God of which he was a very conspicuous Example His Religion had its full power and force upon him it transform'd him into the image and likeness of God It hath always been esteemed safe advice imitare eum quem colimus i. e. to imitate him whom we worship On this account some of the Heathens excused their vices because their Poets and men of the Stage represented their Gods as having practised the same things He worshipped the true and living God the holy and mercifull the God of truth and righteousness and not only the greatest and most powerfull but the best of Beings He was a follower of God and his Divine Image was fairly
or venting some charitable Wishes that he might be instrumental in their Reformation But as I said to do so a Man must have the Spirit of Christ to be touch'd with the Temporal Misfortunes and Calamities of Men a Man needs no more than common and natural Pity So the Persian Monarch fell a weeping when from a Hill he beheld his well disciplin'd Army to think that in less than a hundred Years all these brave Men would be dead and gone but to be touch'd with the everlasting Misery of Men's immortal Souls there must be an Illumination from above and the Spirit of Christ and a deep Consideration that must affect the Heart with a profound Sense of it A Soul taken up with the World and the Pleasures of it is unconcern'd who perishes or who is saved But he that understands what Salvasion means and labours hard after it himself and understands that the threatnings of the Gospel are no Bug-bears but very real things cannot but spend many a sad Thought about a concern of that consequence And oh that there were such a Heart not only in all the Ministers of the Gospel but in other private Men even in you all and that in your actual Endeavours to reclaim your wicked Neighbours you might discover the concern you have for their spiritual and everlasting Welfare If the World did not grow better under this Attempt your own Souls however would grow in Grace and in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost 2. The Multitude came to hear Christ so do you at this Day It 's true you cannot hear Christ in Person but you hear him in his Messengers of whom he hath said He that heareth you heareth me Take heed therefore how you hear Faith comes by hearing but if you hear and for all that hearing believe not your hearing will aggravate your Condemnation It 's true you do believe but it is after the common Rate By believing I mean obeying which is the true Scripture Notion of believing how you are to hear the Blessed Virgin hath taught you by her Example for hearing the wonderfull things spoken of her Son it is said she kept them and ponder'd them in her heart Luke II. 19. This is true hearing to ponder in our Minds what we hear to ponder the reasonableness of the things which are spoken to us in the Name of the Lord to ponder the consequences of them and what will become of us if we neglect things of that importance and to rouze our selves into to suitable Actions Actions that may bear witness of our deep Sense of our danger and that we are really concern'd about our everlasting State and that our resolutions are strong and invincible to secure God's Love Such men as they hear so they shall see in the City of our God They hear of very glorious things in the Mansions Christ is gone to prepare for all his true Disciples and their Eyes shall see them and they shall see more than their Ears did hear and look so long upon the charming Objects till their sight is turned into Ravishment and Extasie 3. The Multitude came to Christ to be healed So do you at this day come to the Ministers of the Gospel I hope with the same intent It 's true we cannot cure the Dropsie and Stone and Gout and Strangury and such other Diseases of the Body But we can cure Diseases in your Souls which are very like the Distempers I just now spoke of the Tympany of Pride the Fever of Lust the Dropsie of Covetousness the Leprosie of Sensuality the Consumption of Envy and the Stone in the Heart c. When I say we can cure all these the meaning is not by our own strength and power but by prescribing such Remedies and Medicines which if you will but take you will recover infallibly Infallible Medicines I know are matter of sport among Men but here we may talk for we have God on our side of infallible Remedies very seriously Cicero wonders since Man consists of Soul and Body that the Cure of the Body should be so industriously sought after and admired insomuch that they are not ashamed to referr Aesculapius into the Number of the Gods but few or none touble their Heads about curing their Souls but the Wonder will soon cease if we consider that Men feel the Diseases of their Bodies but have no sense of the Distempers of their Souls and indeed how should they feel them when they cover their sins with Names of Vertue and Titles of Innocence their Luxury by generosity their being ashamed of the Gospel of Christ by modesty their breaking their most solemn Vows and Promises by weakness and infirmity their notorious mispending their time and extravagance in their Speeches Dresses and Behaviour by Christian liberty their Covetousness by discretion c. To be cured of your Sins which are the Diseases of your Souls the first thing to be done is to take off the Vizour from them to abjure the false Glosses and to renounce the soft Interpretations you put upon them And yet after all one cannot but wonder that at this time of day there should be so many Souls sick Is there no Balm in Gilead Are there no Physicians there Yes yes There is Balm in Gilead there are Physicians and very faithfull ones But O Jerusalem Jerusalem How often would I have gather'd thy Children as a Hen doth gather her Chickens and you would not Ay! that 's the dreadfull Cause why so many of you are sick and sick to death and find no cure There are excellent Medicines given there are admirable Remedies prescribed but like untowardly Patients you will not make use of the Physick that 's administred to you and thus you perish and thus you are undone But 4. St. Luke takes notice that when Christ intended to deliver this Sermon he was a whole Night before engaged in Prayer to God Surely this was to teach us not to attempt or begin any thing of Concernment without Prayer This is to be observed both in rellgious and civil matters Even before you go to Prayer send up some short Ejaculations in your mind to God to give you Hearts to pray and Power and Wisdom to offer to him the desires of your Hearts Before you read a Chapter in the Bible beg of God to enlighten your Minds and to work upon your Wills that you may chearfully do what he requires of you in his Word and to bestow spiritual Wisdom upon you that you may understand what you read Before you go to Church beg of him to give you attentive Minds sober Thoughts and a great sense of his Presence in the Assembly of the Saints Before you begin a religious Fast beg of him to quicken your Hearts to raise your Devotion to assist you with humble thoughts and to accept of your Humiliation and teach you to perform it so that it may be acceptable in his sight This Rule is to be observed in all other
And that matter relating to this Bliss and Happiness of the Soul are matters of the greatest moment and consequence will appear from the following Particulars 1. Name me any one Concern in the whole World that is so great or of that Moment The Prosperity of a Kingdom is a great Concern but you cannot reap half the Comfort and satisfaction from that Prosperity which you can do from the Bliss and Happiness of your Souls The welfare of a Family is a great Concern but the bliss of your Souls is much greater for the want of the former may be sweetned by Arguments but the want of the other cannot be excused or qualified by all the Logick in the World Health is a great Concern but the bliss of your Souls is greater the former makes you robust and fit to bear Burthens but the latter enables you to conquer Sin to overcome Temptations and to vanquish Lusts and vain Desires A livelihood or competency in the World is a great Concern but the bliss of your Souls is greater The former indeed may give you credit and reputation among your Neighbours but the other is a motive to God and his holy Angels to respect and honour you A good Name is a great Concern but the bliss of your Souls is greater for if you be deprived of the former you are still in a capacity of being loved of God and enjoying the light of his Favour but wanting the other God can have no kind thoughts no favourable inclinations towards you 2. Matters which concern the bliss and happiness of your Souls relate to Eternity and therefore must needs be the weightiest Concern whatever is in this World fades perishes and dies Nothing is firm or stable or permanent and therefore what lasts but for a few moments cannot be comparable in Excellency to that which lasts for ever The happiness we speak of hath indeed a beginning but knows no ending it is a Bliss which doth not fade with your Death nor expire when the Breath goes out of your Nostrils but a happiness which as the end of your days qualifies you for the embraces of Angels and these deliver you into the Arms and Care and Protection of an Omnipotent God who will love you with an everlasting Love and whereas your Comforts here were in the Nature of dim-burning Candles he 'll increase that shine into a light equal to that of the Sun and the light of that Sun he will multiply seven times and make it as the light of the seven days in the first Creation The things which are seen are all Temporal saith the Apostle 2 Cor. IV. 18. but the things which are not seen and such are our Souls and the Bliss they are design'd for they are Etergal and then it is soon decided which are the weightiest Concerns the Temporal or Eternal 3. The very Heathen have look'd upon the things belonging to the Bliss of their Souls as things of the greatest moment It is enough to astonish the considerate Reader what Pagans and Infidels have done for their Bliss more than they would have done for Father and Mother for Brethren and Sisters for Wife and Children for Women and Concubines It 's granted that with all this they have retain'd their customary Sins and Vices yet the Punishments and Acts of Justice and Revenge or Cruelty rather they have sometimes inflicted upon themselves Punishments they would not have undergone for the dearest Friends they had sufficiently shew in what esteem the things belonging to the Bliss of their Souls were with them Time was when they sacrificed their dearest Children unto Moloch and caus'd their Sons and Daughters to pass through the Fire to the Honour of that God or Devil And at this day in Japan and China some starving themselves to Death others shutting themselves up in Caves and Dens and receiving Air thro' some hollow Canes or Pipes others charging themselves with heavy Iron-Chains others putting themselves to most uneasie and tormenting Postures and continuing in them a considerable time and all this for the Bliss of their Souls is an Argument that they look upon the Concerns relating to the Bliss of their Souls as Concerns of the greatest weight and moment 4. The wisest Men in all Ages have thought so Who wiser than Solomon He hath God's own Testimony that none was so wise before him and none should be so wise after him It 's true in his Old-age be plaid the fool but while his Wisdom was vigorous and in its Prime and Glory he was fully perswaded that these Concerns were of the greatest Importance and made it his business to draw others into the same Belief and what is the Book of Proverbs and the other of Ecclesiastes but a Demonstration of this Truth Nay men of all Conditions have been of this Judgment how different soever in other matters If Divines and Preachers of the Word only had spread this Doctrine the profaner Sort would have imagin'd that it was Interest which made us cry up these Concerns as the weightiest of all but men of divers Callings Employments and Professions have judg'd so David a King Sergius Paulus a Governour of a Province Cornelius a Captain the Souldiers that addressed themselves to John the Baptist Zenas a Lawyer Luke a Physician Lydia a Purple-seller Simon a Tanner Stephanas a Jaylour Aquila and Priscilla Tent-makers Zachaeus a Publican Nicodemus a Ruler Joseph a Rich man Lazarus a Beggar and when Men of various Professions do all concurr in this Assertion their Testimony deserves to be valued 5. Even wicked Men either in some great Affliction or upon their Death-beds do look upon the things belonging to the Bliss of their Souls as the greatest and their Testimony is the more considerable because it is press'd and forc'd out of them as it were Take them in their natural bent and inclination or in their Prosperity they profess nothing less than this but at such times by a secret instinct or strong impulse which they are not able to conquer they are compell'd to acknowledge so much A wicked Man ordinarily is a profess'd Enemy of this Truth viz. that the Concerns relating to the Bliss of his Soul are of any great importance for he labours hard and doth what he can to ruine the Happiness of his Soul but upon a Sick-bed or Death-bed sometimes he is not able to smother this Truth and now you hear him cry out O how have I hated Instruction how hath my Heart despised Reproof O that I had obeyed the Voice of my Teachers O that I had inclined mine Ear to instruction O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Now he would give all he is worth for the Bliss of his Soul This was the Sense of Manasseh when the Iron enter'd into his Soul This was the Judgment of the Prodigal when he was denied so much as the Husks that the Swine did feed on this is the Sentiment of thousands
purchase it and when he had done to apply it to those for whom it was purchas'd If a rich Man buys an Estate for a Beggar the Beggar may justly call it his for he that had right and means and power and ability to buy it bought it for his Use. 2. Theirs by possession taken already in their Name The same Jesus that purchas'd this Kingdom for them he it is that hath taken possession of this Kingdom for them and in their Name For in my Father's house are many mansions If it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you saith Christ John XIV 2. All the Christian World knows that Christ ascended into Heaven There he actually enjoys the Kingdom of Glory which he keeps for the humble He is the great Trustee that secures and manages that vast Estate for their Use So that it may juâ—â—ly be call'd theirs because of the forerunner Jesus who is enter'd into Heaven being made a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck as it is said Heb. VI. 20. There he appears for them as their Advocate and keeps their places for them against they come thither As a Guardian takes care and possession of the Orphan's Estate till the Pupil comes to Age so Christ takes possession of this Kingdom with an intent to deliver it up to the humble when they come in the Unity of the Faith unto a perfect Man in Christ Jesus to the measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. IV. 13. 3. Theirs by promise for so we read Matth. XVIII 3 4. Except ye be converted and become as little Children ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Whosoever shall humble himself as this little Child the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven He hath promis'd it who is able to give it even God who cannot be worse than his word The humble Man may depend upon this Promise more than he can upon Bonds and Bills and Securities that Men can give him of an Estate in the World God cannot fail him he cannot disappoint him He not only will not but cannot as the Apostle saith He cannot lye Tit. I. 2. because that would imply an imperfection If a Man of Honour doth faithfully promise his Neighbour a living a place or an office in his gift the Man makes bold to call it his for he hath confidence in his honesty and word knowing him to be a Person that stands upon his credit and reputation and scorns to do any thing that 's base and mean How much more then may the humble Soul call the Kingdom of Glory hers since the God the Fountain of Truth and Truth it self hath peremptorily said it shall fall to her share and though such Persons do not actually as yet enjoy it yet they shall enjoy it as surely as if they did already walk through that Jerusalem and view the Towers and Bullworks and all because they have to deal with a God who changes not Mal. III. 6. 4. Theirs by way of earnest In humane Contracts men give earnest and that makes the Bargain sure and tho' the Covenant God makes with Men is not such a formal Contract as is betwixt Man and Man in buying and selling yet some resemblance there is in that God a most bountifull Master is willing to give earnest to the humble Soul to assure her that this Kingdom of Glory shall be hers This earnest is his Spirit which is therefore call'd The earnest of our future inheritance Eph I. 14. This Spirit is no fancy but a real thing which the humble Soul feels as much as other Men do the moving of the Wind by the effects This Spirit of God is discover'd by its operations which are kindly and great and powerfull and make a very wonderfull alteration in the Soul for the better This Spirit works Grace and that Grace is the earnest of Glory III. How and in what manner a Title to this Kingdom makes the poor in Spirit or the Humble blessed In the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men that may rejoyce much or who have very great reason to rejoyce or as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men not subject to Death or Corruption the word answers to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which imports a perfection or confluence of all good things The Isle of Cyprus was anciently call'd Macaria because of the mighty affluence and abundance of all good things that wer to be had there which was the cause why the Romans seiz'd it for their use But what is all this to the Kingdom of Heaven to the Kingdom of Grace and Glory Where all things that can make a Man truly and eternally happy do concur where there is no want of any thing that Reason can desire and all things that fill and satisfie the Soul are present where God gives himself the perfection of Beauty and Wisdom and Greatness and Love and Delight which gift as it is begun in the Kingdom of Grace so it shall be perfected in the Kingdom of Glory The humble Man is blessed 1. Blessed in himself 2. Blessed in the sight of God 3. Blessed in the Eyes of all good Men 4. blessed in the midst of all his outward Miseries 5. Blessed in the opinion of all Reprobates 6. Blessed because he hath a Title to the Kingdom of Heaven 1. Blessed in himself He hath reason to rejoice His humility gives him that content and secret Satisfaction that it may justly be call'd the Philosopher's-stone Content which surpasses all the Satisfaction that the luxurious the proud the voluptuous the sensual the carnal part of Mankind boasts of He hath Riches within and Pleasures within and a new Name within him even the white Stone which no Man knows save he who receives it Nor is he subject to corruption for when he dies he dies into an immortal life There is nothing of him dies but the garment of flesh nothing of him corrupts but the Clay and Dust he wears about him the earthly Tabernacle in which his Soul that noble Inhabitant lived decays and moulders and falls but his Soul at his Death is born again gets new life new light new irradiations nay and his Body must at last follow his Soul to Glory and therefore blessed blessed in himself for he feels that Bliss within which all the Gold of Ophir cannot purchase So true is that saying of our Saviour He that believes in me shall never die Joh. XI 26. 2. He is blessed in the sight of God God counts him so God looks upon him as happy and he must needs be so whom God judges to be so God cannot be mistaken He cannot be out in his Verdict He sees his heart sees the lovely the amiable the charming Vertue he is most enamour'd withal a Vertue very agreeable to his Divine Nature a Vertue which very much resembles the
righteousness sake when God calls him to it and flinches and shrinks and like the Children of Ephraim turns back in the day of battle is so far from conquering that he falls basely loses ground cowardly kisses the Temptation and is enthralled by the worst of Enemies and therefore must necessarily fall a Prey to that Enemy by whom he suffers himself to be conquered and judge you whether such a Man can be blessed And now that I am talking of the Kingdom of Heaven I speak of the very blessedness which attends those that are persecuted for righteousness sake and consequentâ—y this calls me to explain the third and last Point III. How the Kingdom of Heaven shall be theirs This reward you see is the same with what was promised to poverty of Spirit or deep Humility v. 3. Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven And the reason why Christ promises the same recompence to the persecuted for righteousness sake he doth to the humble is because there is a very great affinity betwixt humility and suffering for righteousness sake Suffering for righteousness sake is the deepest Act of Humiliation especially if that suffering be accompanied with death Humility can go no lower a Man in suffering and dying for righteousness sake pulls down all his lofty thoughts makes all stoop to the Cross of Christ submits his Faith to the Gospel and for things invisible denies himself in all the visible comforts of this life and that 's Humility in its Glory Therefore the reward is express'd in the same language but then as suffering for righteousness sake is the deepest Act of Humiliation so we must suppose that the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs in a peculiar manner and how that is the following particulars will declare And here to keep to the rule I have so often mention'd in the preceding Beatitudes that these rewards respect both this present and the next life 1. The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs on this side Heaven because even here they feel Heaven in their Souls and the Kingdom of Heaven is within them There is hardly any History of Martyrs and Confessours hardly any Martyrology but gives an account of the wonderfull joy that poor persecuted Christians have felt in the heighth of their Persecutions and what is this but a Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth what is it but a Heaven in their Souls The three young Men Dan. III. sang in a fiery Furnace St. Paul and Silas in a Dungeon lifted up their Voices in Hallelujah's The Apostles when beaten and whipt and scourged departed from the Council rejoycing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name of Christ and St. Paul 2 Cor. VII 4. I am filled with comfort yea I exceedingly rejoice in all our Tribulation But not to mention any more passages of this nature out of ancient Histories our own Book of Martyrs shall serve to furnish us with instances I mean of the Protestant Martyrs that suffer'd in Queen Marys Days One Rogers coming to the Stake where he was to be burned fetcht a great leap for joy One Dr. Taylour approaching the Fire in which he was to be sacrificed danced and skipt to the Wonder and Admiration of the Sheriff I thank God for this Prison said one Bradford more than for the richest Parlour more than for any pleasure I ever found for here I find God my sweet God always After I came into this Prison said one Glover in a Letter to his Wife and had repos'd my self there awhile I wept for joy and gladness my belly full and said to my self Lord what am I that I should be counted worthy to be numbred among those that suffer for the Gospel's sake I am now in the Coal-house said one Philpott as dark and ugly a Prison as any is about London but I have six other faithfull Companions who merrily rouz upon the Straw and in our darkness do cheerfully sing Hymns and Praises to God I was never merrier in Cbrist than I am now in Prison said one Tims One Pierson with a cheerfull Countenance embraced the Stake at which he was to be burnt and kissing it said Now welcome my sweet Wife for this day thou and I shall be married together O how my heart leaps and skips for joy said another One Bainham when his Arms and Legs were half consumed by the Fire cry'd out in the Midst of the Flames Behold ye Papists ye are much for Miracles Here you may see a Miracle for in this Fire I feel no more pain than if I lay on a Bed of Down it is to me as a Bed of Roses Abundance more I could name to this purpose and what was all this but a Kingdom of Heaven in their Souls 2. In the next World the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs in a peculiar manner too because of the high degree of Glory they arrive to in the next life This hath been the belief of the Church in all Ages that for the Martyrs the higher and loftier Mansions of Heaven are reserv'd the ruines of this truth are preserv'd among Mahometans and Heathens The Mahometans fancy that those who die in the War against Christians are Martyrs and they assign them a higher place in Paradise and Geographers tell us of a People in the West Indies who believing the Immortality of the Soul fancy that those who die in defence of their Country are advanced after death to a very high degree of felicity These are nothing but reliques and remains of the Chriâ—â—ian Doctrine which Tradition hath left among them that those who are persecuted for righteousness sake are and shall be made partakers of higher degrees of Glory It 's certain their Bodies shall rise before the Bodies of other Men for so we read Revel XX. 4 5. And I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark in their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand Years But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand Years were ended This is the first Resurrection And in the Kingdom of Heaven they will out-shine other Saints in brightness and splendour All those that by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality shall inherit Eternal life but those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake their sufferings work for them a far more exceeding Eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. IV. 17. a reward enough to make a Man fond of dying in love with suffering enamour'd with a Prison and desirous of Chains and Fetters for righteousness sake Wonder at this Blessing O my Soul For Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Inferences I. As one place of Scripture gives light to another so by this we are upon we may judge of
interests and circumstances there may and will be mistakes committed both by those that punish Men for different opinions in matters of Religion and by those who suffer for such opinions However let us throughly acquaint our selves with the Will of God in the Gospel that we may know what things we ought to suffer for and what not And if it be so that we suffer for the Name of Christ happy are we for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon us 1 Pet. IV. 14. And in such sufferings we have reason to be not only patient but cheerfull which gives me occasion to put you in mind IV. Of a fault We that are so impatient under ordinary Afflictions what should we be if Persecution should come among us Blessed be God we have for many Years sat under our own Vines and under our own Fig-trees have enjoy'd the Gospel and the truth of God without any considerable disturbance and I hope we shall do so still But should it please God to send a Persecution among us because of the Word it is to be feared that abundance with Demas Ecebolius and the Traditores of old would embrace this present World and preferr their ease before suffering though they buy it at a very dear Rate with the loss of truth and the Shipwrack of a good Conscience Indeed there are very few of us that prepare themselves for such a Providence We pamper our Bodies we consult the interest of the Flesh we give our selves all the ease we can we do not deny our selves in things pleasing to our Appetite Every thing our Flesh craves and our Purse can procure we are eager for we dread any thing that 's irksome to our Bodies we do not acquaint our selves with voluntary sufferings do not keep under our Bodies nor bring them into subjection and is this a due preparation for Persecutions Nay under any loss or cross or ordinary sickness or sad accident how faint how weak how impatient how uneasie how discontented are we Thou that frettest for the loss of ten or twenty Pound what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution thou shouldst be plunder'd and turn'd out of all Thou that complainest so much if thy Finger doth but ake what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution thy whole Body should be burnt Thou that lookest upon thy self as a very miserable Man because an ordinary distemper hangs about thee what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution thou shouldst be tormented with Pincers and Tongs and Irons heated in the Fire Thou that canst not bear the loss of a Child or a Husband what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution all thy Relations and Friends should be torn away from thee thy Children murther'd before thine Eyes their Brains dasht out against a Stone and barbarous Soldiers embruing their Hands in thy Father or thy Mother's Blood Thou that art so discontented now because thou canst not have such outward accommodations as thou wouldst have what wouldst thou do if in time of Persecution thy Body should be broken on a Wheel or nailed to a Cross or thy Skin pluckt off or thy Tongue cut out or thy Flesh kill'd with Cold or starved with Hunger and so left naked to the open shame of the World Such considerations surely cannot be improper for Men who fear and talk of a Persecution And were these thoughts often upon our minds in all probability they would make us less anxious about the felicities of this World lay a restraint upon our wild Appetites and the foolish desires of the Flesh and with the Martyr move us to try our Finger in the Candle before our Bodies come to feel the Fire Nay this very consideration would make us more patient under our ordinary Troubles and thank God he lays no greater Trials upon us that he deals so gently with us and as yet suffers no Temptation to befall us but what is common to Men Whatever affliction befalls us let us think of the various Torments of the Saints of old and think this is nothing to what St. Paul endured or to what St. Peter suffer'd or to what such aâ— Apostle such a dear Servant of God felt Setting the greater Trials before us will make our common sicknesses and crosses seem less in our Eyes as Men forget the pain of the Gout or the chilliness of an Ague when they find the House over their Heads on fire V. And now that we speak of Persecution who sees not that Persecution for Righteousness sake is a certain sign there is a Kingdom of Heaven if we believe there is a God that sees all and knows all and takes pleasure in them that serve him is it possible that he can see Men suffer for him and bleed and die for his Gospel and not reward them It is certain they have no reward here and therefore they must necessarily have a reward hereafter The Apostle therefore might very well say 1 Cor. XV. 19. if in this life only we had hope in Christ we should of all Men be most miserable As the impunity of Men abominably profane and the uninterrupted Prosperity of very wicked Men is a Demonstration that there must be Punishments in the next life so the sufferings the continued the exquisite the grievous sufferings of Men that truly love God that obey him stand in awe of him and fear him more than the greatest Monarchs can forego all for his Name sake and rather lose Lands and Houses and Goods and Life it self than offend him Their sufferings I say without any visible reward or recompence here are Items sufficient to any rational and considerate Man that there must be a Kingdom of Heaven or a wonderfull felicity in another World that is to be their individual companion and attendant If there be a God it stands to reason he must be infinitely perfect if infinitely perfect he must be infinitely good and if infinitely good how is it possible for him to see Men live and die to him and for him and do nothing remarkably for them A great Man here on Earth that hath any generosity in him if a Man hath worn himself out in his Service or for his sake hath lost all he hath in the World even life it self thinks himself in Honour obliged to make some provision for his Wife and Children if he leaves any or to erect a Monument for him or to do something after his Death to testifie his gratefull acknowledgement of his faithfull service And what is the goodness and generosity of Man compared with the Infinite goodness of God a meer shadow an atome a grain of sand compared with the Sun or a Mountain or the vast Globe of the Earth And as God is infinitely good so the rewards he gives must be suppos'd infinite like himself and that 's it we mean by the Kingdom of Heaven This Argument is needless to you that believe the Word of God however to such as never
seriously ponder'd the Promises of the Gospel and who pretend they can believe nothing but what is agreeable to their reason to such I say this Argument must needs be of very great Weight provided that they seriously think of it for let a thing be never so rational if it be not minded or ponder'd it will do no good and neither Moses nor the Prophets nor a Man's rising from the Dead will make any impression upon them Whether a Man can comprehend the Immortality of his Soul or the Nature of its subsistence and operations after Death or not still if he believes a God this is a very natural and rational inference that this God will not let Men who give themselves up to his Conduct and make his Will the rule of their life and death go unrewarded and having no reward considerable here there must be one hereafter and then there is a Heaven and an everlasting Kingdom and an immense Felicity which deserves striving and wrestling and working and watchfulness and circumspection and self-denial and industry and a diligent care not to be barren or unfruitfull in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And as dismal and rugged as the Way seems to be that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven Let me add VI. That it is a glorious thing to be persecuted for righteousness sake glorious with respect to the Company glorious with respect to the Honour which attends it glorious with respect to God's Account and Esteem of it glorious with respect to the present advantages which arise from it and glorious with respect to the reward to come The Company such a persecuted Christian suffers in is no less than the Company of the Son of God who was made perfect by suffering the Company of the Holy Apostles the Pillars and Foundations of our Religion the Company of so many admirable Men Saints and Martyrs who have wash'd their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb and whose Names and Memories are dear to us at this Day To suffer in such Company must needs be a very great Honour It 's true the generality of us can be very well content without this Honour and we count our selves very prudent for being so but surely there were wise Men before us who understood themselves and Religion better and were not so corrupted with ease and luxury and love of the World as we are now and they thought it a very great Honour to be Martyrs and sufferers for Righteousness sake We are grown more effeminate more luxurious more soft in our way of living and that makes us have so low an Esteem for those noble Sufferings It 's glorious with respect to the Account and Esteem God hath for such Sufferers These are the Champions of the Almighty the Hero's in his Army the Worthies of God and the Men that have lost an Eye a Hand an Arm a Leg or Life it self for his Name of these the Sanhedrin of Heaven is made up and they are the Elders of that City which hath Foundations for in Heaven rewards and preferments go not according to seniority or rank or quality or breeding but according to the degrees of suffering and self-denial It is glorious with respect to the present advantages arising from it This cancels and blots out all sin wipes away all offences and makes the Blood of Jesus most effectual and beneficial to the Soul This persecution for righteousness sake is the great deletory of guilt the great purgative of all uncleanness this opinion the primitive Church had of these sufferings especially when they were accompanied with the loss of life in God's Cause and this was it that made so many thousands desirous to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus It 's glorious with respect to the reward to come a reward which we are forced to express by little emblems and similitudes taken from things here on Earth but it surpasses all Rhetorick and Eloquence to express it Happy sufferers Their Wounds will be turned into Trophies their Scars into Sun-beams their wallowing in Blood into being rapt up into the third Heaven their Prison into a Banquetting-House the Banner whereof is Love their Dungeon into a Palace made without Hands their Stripes into Marks of Honour their Buffetings into Ensigns of Victory their Tears into Laughter their Mourning into Dancing their Poverty into Riches which perish not their Sack-cloath and Ashes and all their Mourning-dresses into triumphal Chariots and Acclamations and Joys and Hosannahs and Hallelujahs Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven SERMON XI St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 11. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil-against you falsly for my sake THE preceding Verse which I have already considered treated of Persecution in general this I have read to you of a particular or peculiar Persecution in which the Tongue is chiefly instrumental and Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you is as much as Blessed are you when men shall so persecute you as to revile you and speak all manner of evil against you falsly for my sake Persecution is not only a Sin of the Hand or Actions there is a smiting with the Tongue as well as with the Hand Jer. XVIII 18. and Ishmael who was a Scoffer is said to persecute him that was born of the Spirit i. e. Isaac Gal. IV. 29. I need not tell you what it is to Revile for there are few of you but are very sensible of it without a Monitor or Interpreter when it falls to your share to be reviled however it is either to load a Person with reproachful Names or to object Crimes to him great and base odious and abominable and if this be done without a just Cause falsly and for the Name of Christ because Men will not sin against Christ it seems by the Rule of the Text that it turns to very good Account to those who lie under the Pressure or sharp Arrows of such evil and slanderous Tongues for Blessed are you when men shall revile you c. To entertain you with something useful and edifying I shall enquire I. What Instances there are of Men who have reviled and do revile and speak all manner of Evil of Persons who sincerely and conscientiously believe in Christ. II. What it is that moves them to be so base as to revile and to speak evil of such Conscientious Persons III. How that which is a Sin to one can be a Blessing to another Reviling innocent Persons being a great Sin how that can make those blessed who are reviled 1. What Instances there are of Persons who are guilty of the Crime in the Text. When a Sin looks black a charitable Man hopes that few or none are guilty of it So here reviling Men and speaking all manner of evil of Persons who conscientiously believe and obey their God and Saviour seems