SEVERAL SERMONS UPON THE Fifth of St. Matthew Being Part of CHRIST's SERMON On the Mount. By ANTHONY HORNECK D.D. Late Preacher at the Savoy The SECOND Volume Compleating the Chapter LONDON Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1698. THE Texts of the Sermons IN THIS SECOND VOLUME SERMON XVI ST Matthew the Fifth Verse 15. Neither do Men light a Candle and put it under a bushel but on a Candlestick and it giveth Ligth to all that are in the House Page 1. SERMON XVII Verse 16. Let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven p. 16. SERMON XVIII Verse 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil p. 35. SERMON XIX Verse 18. For verily I say unto you till Heaven and Earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled p. 53. SERMON XX. Verse 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandements and shall teach Men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven but whosoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom p. 73. SERMON XXI Verse 20. For I say unto you that except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven p. 91. SERMON XXII Verse 21 22. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say to his Brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire p. 119. SERMON XXIII Verse 23 24. Therefore if thou bring thy Gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy Gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift p. 139. SERMON XXIV Verse 25 26. Agree with thine Adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him lest at any time the Adversary deliver thee to the Judge and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer and thou be cast into Prison Verily I say unto thee thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing p. 161. SERMON XXV Verse 27 28. Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time thou shalt not commit Adultery but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a Woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart p. 179. SERMON XXVI Verse 29 30. And if thy right Eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell And if thy right Hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell p. 195. SERMON XXVII Verse 31 32. It hath been said Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the cause of Fornication causes her to commit Adultery and whosoever Marries her that is Divorced commits Adultery p. 213. SERMON XXVIII Verse 33. Again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths p. 273. SERMON XXIX Verse 34 35 36. But I say unto you swear not at all neither by Heaven for it is Gods Throne nor by the Earth for it is his Foot-stool neither by Jerusalem for it is the City of the Great King neither shalt thou swear by thine Head because thou can'st not make one Hair white or black p. 309. SERMON XXX Verse 37. But let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these comes of Evil. p. 329. SERMON XXXI Verse 38 39. Ye have heard that it hath been said an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth But I say unto you that ye resist not Evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right Cheek turn him the other also p. 349. SERMON XXXII Verse 40 41. And if any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain p. 385. SERMON XXXIII Verse 42. Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn thou not away p. 401. SERMON XXXIV Verse 43. Ye have heard that it hath been said thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy p. 417. SERMON XXXV Verse 44. But I say unto you Love your Enemies Bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you p. 434. SERMON XXXVI Verse 45. That you may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven for he makes the Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth Rain on the Just and Vnjust p. 459. SERMON XXXVII Verse 46 47. For if you love them which love you what Reward have you Do not even the Publicans the same And if ye salute your Brother only what do you more than others Do not even the Publicans so p. 479. SERMON XXXVIII Verse 46 47. For if ye love them which love you c. p. 501. SERMON XXXIX Verse 48. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect p. 527. ADVERTISEMENT THIS Worthy Author hath likewise left Sermons of the Sixth and Seventh Chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel Compleating our Blessed Saviour's Sermon on the Mount making an excellent Body of Divinity Which will be suddenly Printed Uniform to this Volume SERMON XVI ON THE Fifth of St. Matthew VOL. II. St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 15. Neither do Men light a Candle and put it under a Bushel but on a Candlestick and it giveth Light to all that are in the House HAD I consulted Brevity I might have handled the 13 14 15 and 16 th verses together because they all speak of the same Subject viz. The Exemplary Lives of Christians But being willing to examine the Emphasis of every Expression I have resolved to treat of these distinctly As our Saviour hath compared his true Followers to the Salt of the Earth with respect to their Reforming others To the Sun or Light of the World with respect to their Enlightning and Enlivening others To a City set on an Hill with
but that thou approvest of it And supposing thou approvest of it if the Grace of God restrains him not he soon begins to think that what is lawful for thee may be lawful for him and thus he learns of thee though thou doest not open thy Lips to him There are few Men so bold as in their Words and Speeches to defend and justify things directly contrary to the Will of God in the Gospel but you do mischief enough to the Souls of Men by your evil Practices The Mutes among the Turks teach by their Gestures much more may Men be taught by Actions especially where there is already a Disposition to embrace that which is Evil. Physicians and Naturalists talk of transplanting Diseases from Men into Beasts nay some go so far as to prescribe ways to transfer Distempers from Men into Herbs and Plants Whether it be so I enquire not but sure I am that the Diseases of the Soul are and may be transplanted and conveyed from one Man to another even by evil Practices and this is teaching and making Proselytes to Hell and to the Kingdom of Darkness the readiest way to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven which will give me occasion IV. To represent to you what it is to be the least or to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven Fancy you saw a poor miserable Man starving with hunger and so placed that directly over against him he could see the richest Banquet the most delicate Dishes huge plenty of Victuals of all sorts the Company eating their fill and satiating themselves with all the Variety that Earth and Sea and Air can yield and the poor Wretch that is over against this Company but a few paces removed from them unable to get the least Morsel of Bread ready to tear his own Flesh from off his Shoulders and yet in an utter impossibility to get so much as the Crums that fall from those Rich Mens Tables Do not you think this would be as great a Torment as can well be imagined Why this is the Emblem of being the least or excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven The Soul that is so unhappy as to miss of it will see Abraham a far off and Lazarus in his Bosom be ready to perish ready to burst see all the Glory and Joy of blessed Creatures before his Eyes the Delicates the Dainties the Pleasures the Festivals the rich Entertainments they enjoy and swim in passing before him and yet not able to touch not able to reach the least Extremity of all though his Soul be big with ten thousand desires after them What a Torment what a Plague what a Vexation must this be What Grief what Sorrow what Anguish must this cause And if this must continue to Eternal Ages what Tongue is able to express the Torment And can you after all this call any of the Commandments of the Gospel little ones and break them and pass by them as if they did not belong to you and tempt others to do so too when this is the high way to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven But V. Are there no Ambitious Men here Are there none among you that desire to be Great Have none of you a mind to be prefer'd and exalted to eminent Places You must be either very mortified or very dull if Greatness can make no Impression upon you Preferment What is there that is more hunted after How do many break their Sleep and fall into Discontent and Vexation because they cannot be advanced What waiting at Court What cringing what bowing to Great Men What running to this Friend and to th' other Friend What Flattery what Dissembling what Compliances are used and all to be Great Behold We can tell you a way to be Great greater than Caesar or Pompey or Alexander greater than all the Kings or Rulers of the Earth Great Where Not at Court not in the Camp or Army Not in Church-Dignities or Preferments but great in the Kingdom of Heaven And is not the Kingdom of Heaven a more lofty and more spacious Empire than the whole Roman Monarchy in all its greatest Extent and Glory It 's true we cannot shew you this Kingdom we cannot make it visible to your Eyes but we can tell you that St. Paul saw it and Christ did enter into it and he that hath power to dispose of all the Glories of it hath sent us to tell you That you may be great and he 'll make you so great as Angels great as the Worthies of God greater than Kings greater than all the Princes of the Earth greater than all the proud things which make so great a noise in the World now and all this if you will close with his Desires and both do and teach the Commandments Christ recommends to in his famous Sermon Little they may seem and contemptible they may appear in the Eyes of the Men that have their portion in this Life But as little as they may seem to be your Conscientious and Impartial Respect to them all to the least as well as to the greatest shall exalt you exalt you far above all the Glory and Splendor of this World raise you from the Dunghil take you out of the Dust and set you with Princes even with the Princes of God's People If you are great already this shall make you greater Lay up therefore these Commandments in your Hearts and in your Souls bind them for a Sign upon your Hands let them be as Frontlets between your Eyes teach them your Children speak of them when you sit in your Houses and when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up Assure all those you Converse with that these Commandments are Life and Peace and Rational and Equitable and Just and Necessary and Health to the Soul Foretasts of Happiness and Prefaces to an endless Glory Thus do and thus teach Teach by your Discourses teach by your Actions teach by your Example So Noah taught the unbelieving World by building an Ark to the saving of his House to save themselves from the Wrath to come So do you and build upon the Word of the Son of God That you shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven SERMON XXI St. Matt. Ch. v. Ver. 20. For I say unto you That except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven A Preface or Introduction will be needless It 's enough that these Words are part of Christ's Famous Sermon on the Mount The Method I shall observe in handling them shall be this following to Enquire and Consider I. Who these Scribes and Pharisees were II. What their Righteousness was and wherein it consisted III. How and in what our Righteousness is to exceed their Righteousness IV. The danger if we do not ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven I. Who these Scribes and Pharisees were 1. The Pharisees You
almost all they did and they did not would not know what a contrite and humble Heart meant and what it was to lie low before God with a deep Sense of their Unworthiness and of the great Imperfection of their Services and though they Fasted often yet that was not so much to arrive to an humble Sense of their Corruptions and Infirmities as to increase their Merits and to do Things which might Challenge Gods kinder Inclinations and this was the Rock against which these Men stumbled And as they were unacquainted with true Humility toward God so they understood not what it was to condescend to Men of low Estate In Humility therefore we are to exceed them in Humility toward God and Man for as there is nothing that separates more betwixt the Creator and the Creature than Pride and Self-Conceitedness for which Reason God is said to behold the Proud afar off so nothing unites Heaven and Earth God and the Soul more than Humility for thus saith the High and Lofty One who inhabiteth Eternity I dwell in the High and Holy Place with him also that is of a contrite and humble Spirit Es. lvii 15 4. In Charity or a compassionate Temper toward all sorts of distressed Persons I say all sorts for that of the Pharisees was narrow and sneaking and confined to People of their own Sect. I need not tell you that Charity consists not only in giving Alms that 's but one part of it nay it may happen so that it may not be so much as a part of it according to the case St. Paul puts 1 Cor. xiii 3 where he makes it possible for a Man to bestow all his Goods to Feed the Poor and yet to have no Charity Had Almsgiving been all the Charity that was necessary to Salvation the Scribes and Pharisees had been considerable Men for they were free and liberal enough of their Purses toward Men of their own Party but Charity is a larger and nobler Virtue if it be of the true Eagle kind an unfeigned Love of God is the cause of it and the effect is ever answerable to the Beauty which produces it St. Paul hath given so genuine a Character of it 1 Cor. xiii that it 's impossible to mistake the Nature of it except Men be wilfully Blind It extends its Arms not only to all sorts of Objects whether Friends or Foes whether Relations or Strangers but as far as it's Ability reaches and opportunity offers it self to all sorts of Distresses It doth not only Feed and give Drink and Cloth and Visit but Admonish too and Reprove and Teach and Entreat and Counsel and Advise and help and assist and sometimes Correct and Punish It embraces Enemies and like the wounded Earth receives even those that cut and digg'd it into its Bosom and like the kind Balsom Tree heals those that made Incisions upon it It Judges favourably of Pious Heathens much more of Pious Christians tho differing from it in Opinion it Damns none whom God hath not Damned in a Word it works no Evil to its Neighbour but is ready unto every good Word and Work And in this Charity we are to exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees 5. In Vniversality of Obedience or in making Conscience of the several Commands of the Gospel of one as well as of another Joh. xv 14 Then we exceed them without any danger of being over-much Righteous when at the same time that we are fervent for Circumstances in God's Worship we are not forgetful of the substantial part of Religion when we do not let our Publick Devotion justle out our private nor the private the publick when we do not make the Practice of one Precept an argument to justify our neglect of another nor excuse our not doing Good by our not committing of Evil but are impartial in our Obedience and cheerfully submit not only to the gentler but harder Injunctions of the Gospel not only to such as are agreeable but to those also which are contrary to our natural Temper and Inclination The Pious Christian will not easily get the better of the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees except his Obedience becomes larger and spreads more than theirs Had these Men carried on their Obedience to that Extent I speak of as St. Paul a Pharisee and the Son of a Pharisee afterwards did there would not have been greater Men in the World than they and the Proverb which was unjustly made concerning them would not have been altogether False viz. If there were but two Men to be Saved the one would be a Scribe the other a Pharisee And these are the particulars in which our Righteousness is to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees If it doth not we shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The Danger and the Last Part which will deserve our Examination IV. The Danger Except Your Righteousness shall exceed the Rigteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees Ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven This Word one would think should rouze every Soul here present and put us all upon a serious Inquiry Whether our Righteousness doth actually exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees If it doth not we hear our Doom And can any Man think Christ was very serious in saying so without being concerned how to prevent and escape that fatal Exit All Ye that have any Care of your Salvation and believe another World and know what the Terrors of the Lord mean and what it is not to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Awake awake why should you not when Your Great Redeemer calls and take this Threatning into serious Consideration Either it will be fulfilled or not If it will not be fulfilled where is Christ's Veracity If it be where is Your Security I say unto You Thus the Commination begins which shews the Thing is firm and like the Laws of Medes and Persians unalterable Our Master even He whom we believe to be God as well as Man hath spoke the Word He that is Truth it self hath said it and thus it must be nor will all the Intreaties of Men and Angels oblige him to depart from his peremptory Declaration You that hear and now read all this cannot pretend Ignorance that you did not know the dreadful Consequence of this Neglect We suggest we intimate so much to you we pull you by the Sleeve we proclaim these Words in your Ears as poor as mean as inconsiderable Creatures as we are I would to God they might sink into your Hearts We beg of You to lay aside your Divertisements and your Businesses for a while and allow this Threatning some Attention of Mind If you go no farther in your Righteousness than these unhappy Men did not all your Cries at last Lord Lord open to us Not all your Tears and Calls Lord have Mercy upon us Not all your Arguings and Pleadings with God Not all your dying Groans not
all your mournful Accents will open the Kingdom of Heaven to you If you go no farther than these Men by this Rule of Christ you must inevitably be Miserable and all your Wealth and Grandeur and Estates and Relatives cannot help you If you go no farther you sink into a State of Hypocrisie and I need not tell you that the Portion of Hypocrites is a very sad Portion for it is to be cast into outward Darkness where there is Howling and Gnashing of Teeth so saith your Master and mine Matth. xxiv 51 In speaking to You I speak to Christians even to Men who believe that to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is beyond all the Bliss that this or Ten Thousand Worlds do afford and that not to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is to be Wretched and Miserable Odious and Contemptible beyond Expression and to Groan in Torments to Eternal Ages This is the Notion You have of these Things as You own Your selves Christians Men Fathers and Brethren do you believe the Prophets Do you believe the Apostles Do you believe the Son of God that came into the World to save Sinners I know you believe and surely this is Motive sufficient to suffer the Word of Exhortation If therefore any of you have hitherto laid the stress of your Devotion upon the External Task and been Strangers to the inward frame of Mind which is in the sight of God of great Price If you have been Zealous for small little inconsiderable Things in Matters of Religion and have wilfully neglected the more Substantial and Self-Denying part of it If you have been Selfish in your Acts of Piety and Righteousness and been Devout and Good for Worldly Ends more than from a Sense of your Duty If you have taken some care to Purifie your outward Man from Clamorous and Scandalous Sins and have been careless of rectifying what is amiss within you even of subduing that immoderate Love of the World and Pride and Revengeful Thoughts and Desires and Anger and wrathful Temper and other secret Sins which do so easily beset you If you have thought it your Duty to observe some of the greater Commandments of the Gospel and made no Conscience of the lesser All this Fabrick must be pulled down undone and unravell'd and you must turn over a new Leaf and apply your selves to a true Gospel Life and Temper else there is no entring into the Kingdom of Heaven Flatter not your selves with the Merits and Sufferings and Death of Christ Jesus for poor Sinners I grant I own this is a very Glorious and comfortable Truth and there is no sincere Believer but confesses to thy Praise and Glory O Blessed Jesu That there is no Name under Heaven given whereby Men may be Saved but thine alone But still it is this exceeding the Scribes and Pharisees in their Righteousness that must give you a Title to the benefits of the Death of Jesus Christ By this the Pardon of your Sins which was purchased by that Death must be sued out and applied and rendred comfortable to your Souls and if the Death of Christ doth not kill in you that Hypocrisie and Partiality which made the Righteousness of the Pharisees defective that Death cannot will not profit you All the Christian World knows that the design of Christ's dying for Sinners was That they which Live should not henceforth Live unto themselves but unto him that Died for them and rose again They are the express Words of the Holy Ghost 2 Cor. v. 15 and it is as certain that you cannot Live unto him that Died for you except your Righteousness be a Righteousness without Guile and therefore beyond that of the Scribes and Pharisees I suppose you are sensible that Christ cannot contradict himself when he spake these Words He knew he was to Die for Sinners yet to these Sinners for whom he was to Die he protests Except your Righteousness shall exceed c. And therefore certainly the Mercies of his Death cannot clash with our Duty and whosoever means to enjoy the Benefits of that Death must Die to the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and a Righteousness more Rational an Evangelical Righteousness must Live in him even that which St. Paul speaks of Phil. iii. 9 And that 's the Life of God as it is called Ephes. iv 18 If we are to exceed these Men in their Righteousness we must do more than they did and if we do more can we do less than what hath been hinted in the preceding Particulars of Sincerity Simplicity Humility Charity and Vniversality of Obedience For these Qualifications rectifie what was amiss in the Righteousness of these Men and set us in the right way from which those Self-Conceited Men deviated and wandred in a Wilderness of Vulgar Errours Should any of you be so Unfortunate what I say here is nothing but a plain and easie Comment upon the Commination of the Text I say should any of you be so unfortunate as to come before the Gate of the Kingdom of Heaven and be denied entrance there how like a Thunder-bolt would this strike you And yet I see not how it is possible to prevent it if these Words of Christ make no impression upon you or do not oblige you to go beyond these Men in their Acts of Devotion and Piety Their Righteousness was an External Mechanical starcht kind of Righteousness it was not Free not Natural and they took no care to reform their Thoughts Desires Lusts Affections and such Things as Human Laws take no notice of and it 's to be feared that this is the Disease of too great a number of Christians Nay Thousands there are which do not come up to so much as the Negative Virtues of the Scribes and Pharisees They were no Drunkards no Swearers no Whoremongers no Adulterers and yet how many that profess themselves Illuminated by the Gospel of Christ are so and worse than so And if even those who do not exceed the Righteousness of these Men shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven how shall those that are not so good as they And but that Unbelief and Stupidity reigns so much in the Hearts of Men certainly here is enough to fright them from the Carnal Life they lead There stands before the Gate of the Kingdom of Heaven an Angel with a Flaming Sword as much as there did before the Gate of Paradise to keep out all those who voluntarily chuse Death before Life and do not you chuse Death before Life when you had rather forfeit your share in the Kingdom of Heaven than exceed the Scribes and Pharisees in their Righteousness Surely it must be a dismal and deplorable Condition when Men have flattered themselves all their Life time with hopes of entring into the Kingdom of Heaven to find themselves at last thrust out and may not this be the condition of some of you And is not the very possibility of it enough to oblige you to Purifie and
Cleanse your Righteousness and to take care that none of the Leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees stick to it Here on Earth Men Fight for a great Estate and venture Fortune Friends Interest Honesty Life and all Strange The Kingdom of Heaven should lie under that Misfortune that Men must be entreated to enter into it and yet will not be prevailed with after all to enter Yes you 'll say we all are very ready to enter into it were it not for the hard Conditions that are required and do you really think the Conditions so hard Would you think them so if you lay Howling in Eternal Flames Certainly nothing would seem hard then and why should it seem so now when it is evident and apparent you are in danger of those Flames Behold God is ready and willing to succour to assist to support and to strengthen you that your Righteousness may Triumph over the Righteousness of these Hypocrites The same Spirit the same Grace the same Influences the same Assistances he hath afforded to St. Paul to St. Peter to Lydia to Martha to Mary to Magdalene to the Jaylour to the Penitent Publican to Zachaeus to others the same he offers to you all But then if these kind Offers be slighted and rejected and a Farm a Yoak of Oxen or some thing worse be preferr'd before it it is not God so much that deprives you of the Kingdom of Heaven as you your selves Were you actually possess'd of this Kingdom of Heaven you would wonder at the Folly and Madness of Men who can complain that the Conditions are hard when such a Glory such a Bliss such a Kingdom is to be had a Kingdom for which the Apostles and the Primitive Believers whose Faith and Constancy we Admire forsook Father and Mother and Lands and Houses and all that was dear to them in this World I could give you such a Description of that Kingdom as should make all the Glories of this World look pale and dim and dark in Comparison of it But I forbear Were such Considerations as these made use of in the cool of the Day I mean when your Thoughts are cool and composed and the Grace of God upon your Endeavours earnestly implored they would inspire you with Courage Invincible to go not only beyond Heathens and Philosophers but beyond Scribes and Pharisees in Righteousness and in the serious Exercises of Virtue and Self-Denial It 's possible you may not remember all the Motives I have given you but one thing you will be able to Remember which contains all that I have said and that 's the Text and therefore I repeat it once more Except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven SERMON XXII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 21 22. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whosoever shall say to his Brother Raca shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell fire FAlse Teachers without doubt are very dangerous Men. The Murtherer kills the Body these the Soul and by the false Doctrines they Sow in Mens Heads and Minds they not only obstruct their Salvation but lead them into Perdition Indeed if the Errors be light and trivial the hurt that 's done is not great and while the erroneous Doctrine reaches no farther than Speculation it can deserve no very severe Censure but when it spoils and sullies the Worship of God or proves an impediment to the faithful discharge of our Duty to God and Man Poison is not so prejudicial to the outward as such Opinions are to the inward Man and the better part And such were the erroneous Doctrines of the Scribes and Pharisees Blending the Traditions of their Fathers with the Law of God and entertaining both with an equal Faith and Veneration they made an odd kind of Divinity and quite perverted the design of Religion which was to make Men universally good This was particularly visible in the notion they had of the sixth Commandment which they interpreted to the carnal advantage and worldly Interest of their People teaching them that if they did but use that Care and Circumspection as not to kill a Man they did not only answer the design of the Lawgiver but would prevent the Penalty annex'd and their being taken notice of by the Magistrate and punished accordingly but as for Wrath and Malice and reproachful Language whereby Murder and such bloody Practices are too often occasion'd and promoted these they told them were things not forbid in the primary Intention of the Law of God and consequently they need fear no Punishment To which preposterous Exposition our Saviour opposes his Divine Authority proves the gloss of their Elders upon the sixth Commandment to be false and shews That what they thought did not deserve so much as a temporal Judgment God would punish with eternal Vengeance if not forsaken or repented of betimes Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be c. This is a Text upon which Criticks and Learned Men have bestow'd many excellent Observations because the words relate to some antient Customs of the Jews in their Judicial Proceedings against Malefactors and others But as I do not think it proper to entertain you with Curiosities so if there be need of making use of any of those Observations I shall do it no farther than they serve to elucidate some of the obscurer Passages of the Text and make way for the practical Points I shall insist upon for your Edification As to the Sense of the Words it 's briefly this 1. Whether we render the Expression in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It hath been said by them of old time or to them of old time as some Translations read it the difference is not very material for as by those of old time are meant either the antient Masters of Tradition who lived some hundred years before that time or the Ancestors of the Jews to whom those Masters of Tradition pretended to deliver an oral Exposition of the Law of Moses so if we read by them of old time the meaning is You have heard that it hath been deliver'd and said by the antient Masters of Tradition And if we render it to them of old time the sense is You have heard it delivered to your Ancestors and Fore-fathers by those antient Masters of Tradition I restrain you see this Passage to Tradition for though the Sense of it is to be found in the Law of Moses yet the Maxim as it is related by our Saviour here is not expressed there neither with that
than the Words of the Law where it was so that the Law and the Tradition clasht they Interpreted the Law by the Tradition not the Tradition by the Law and hearken'd more to the Dictate and Suggestion of a groundless and whimsical Tradition than to an express Text of the Written Word of God as is evident from what Christ tells them Matth. xv 3 Why do ye Transgress the Commandment of God by your Tradition for God Commanded saying Honour thy Father and thy Mother and he that Curses Father and Mother let him die the Death but ye say Whosoever shall say to his Father or to his Mother though ready to Starve and Perish for want of Necessaries it is Corban it is a Gift I have Dedicated it to the Temple by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me and Honour not his Father or his Mother he shall be Free Thus have ye made the Commandment of God of no effect by your Tradition Indeed where Men invent new Doctrins and Articles of Faith there the good Old Word of God will do them no Service but they are forced to make and run to Traditions and broken Cisterns which can hold no Water 6. To Sum up all They were very severe and strict in keeping some Commandments of God but very supine and negligent as to others They hated Extortion but were Malicious to a Prodigy they would not be Drunk but were abominably Proud they were for giving Alms to People of their own Sect but look'd upon it as Sinful to releive a poor Samaritan They were for strictness of Life before People and Spectators but loose and wicked in Secret they abhorred Adultery but were Slaves to Ambition and Vain-Glory they bound heavy burthens on other Mens Souldiers but would not touch them with one of their Fingers and while they pressed a severe observance of the Sabbath Day forgot they were to rest from Sin and Envy as well as from servile Labour Matth. xii 12 13 14. Indeed this was one of their pernicious Traditionary Principles That if a Man or Woman were but industrious in the Practice of any one Command of God though they neglected the other Precepts that service was sufficient to entitle them to a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Portion of the Blessed in another World To be short they served God at the best by halves were quick-sighted as Eagles in spying out other Mens faults but blind as Moles in discovering their own and while they divided their Affections betwixt God and the World allow'd the World the far greater share These were the Distempers and Diseases of the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and how we are to exceed them is the third particular I am to speak to III. Except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and how or in what Things we are to exceed them is soon guess'd at for 't is evident from the preceding Discourse that it must be in Sincerity in Simplicity in Humility in Charity and in Vniversality of Obedience 1. In Sincerity in being that within which we seem to be without Christ is not against external Devotion hath no dislike of an outward Profession never declared against decent external Ceremonies but he requires we should be Devout and Serious within as well as without and take care that what we do without do arise from a sense of God within and that a rellish of Spiritual Things in the Soul within do put us upon Devotion without that the Heart and the Lips and the Hands be all of a piece and moreover that we use the same diligence to Mortifie our inward Lusts which we use to restrain our selves from evil Actions in Company or in the presence of Men. In a Word that we do not only pretend to Religion but Practise it not only talk and dispute and entertain our selves with Speculations and Discourses of it but Live up to the Holy Rules of it not only make Profession of it but shew out of a good Conversation our good Works with Meekness of Wisdom as it is said Jam. iii. 13 2. In Simplicity and having pure and holy Ends in our Religious Actions and particularly in our Religious Severities and Self-Denials Ends suitable to the Holiness of God and the Edification of our Neighbours in a Word Ends Rational and such as may be justified before God and Man This is part of the single Eye we read of Matth. vi 22 Indeed the Ends and Designs of Actions make a strange alteration in their Worth and Value render them either Good or Bad either Commendable or Abominable either Sacrifices of Righteousness or Sacrifices of Fools Christ is so far from discouraging his Followers from Religious Self-Denials and Severities that his Doctrin and Discipline presses nothing more insomuch that the greater Your Self-Denials are the better Christians You are But the right end is the thing our Master presses and insists upon Fast and Pray and continue in Prayer a long time spend whole hours in it if Your Strength and Sense and Affections will serve give Alms and give very liberally deny Your selves in a Thousand Vanities the World doats upon Mortifie Your Bodies in a decent manner but take heed of secret hopes of Meriting by all this and of secret Designs either to promote Your Worldly Profit and Interest or to gain the Commendations and Admiration of Your Neighbours or to make God amends for some Sins You are loath to part withal Have no Worldly Ends in all this but let a Sense of Your Duty and Your Gratitude to God and an earnest desire to Crucifie the Flesh to die to the World to imitate the Saints of Old to encourage Your Selves in a Spiritual Life and to prepare for Heaven and Happiness Let these be the Principles and Motives that put You upon all this and You will undoubtedly exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees 3. In Humility not only in having a just Sense of our Errors and many Infirmities which render us unworthy to appear before God without the Assistance and Intercession of a Mediator not only in abhorring our selves for those many defects which cleave to our best Services not only in accusing our selves before the All-seeing Eye as Wretched Naked Poor Blind and Miserable from a Sense of his Infinite Majesty and Purity but also in having low and humble Thoughts of our Religious Performances acknowledging that by the Grace of God we are what we are and that by the Influence of that Grace those Performances are wrought and confessing from the Heart when we have done all that we are Commanded to do that we are unprofitable Servants and have done no more than what was our Duty to do Luke xvii 10 This humble Temper the Scribes and Pharisees were very great strangers to who look'd upon their Religious Services as Things which God was obliged in Honour and Equity to look upon and Reward Pride Self-Conceitedness and Self-Admiration mingling with
a Feast what Consolation the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper will be to you if you let your Light break forth and shine How chearfully may you come to this Holy Table where you may expect that the Lord Jesus the Son of God will meet you and communicate himself to you and make the Union between him and you closer the Friendship greater the Correspondence more endearing the Agreement sweeter the Reconciliation surer and the Application of his Promises firmer and more comfortable You bear his Name before Men and he will write his Name and the Name of God on your Foreheads and enter your Names in the Book of Life Christians Let the Light of your Piety shine forth c. and behold the Sacrament is the Treasury-chamber where you are to receive your Reward What Reward Even a Reward which the unhappy Spirits in Hell would give ten thousand Worlds for if they had them even forgiveness of your Sins and being wash'd in the Blood of the everlasting Covenant Heaven Eternal Life is consign'd into your hands and Christ enters at it even into Bonds and Obligations that you shall inherit it when your Race is run And thus the Sacrament proves to you the Suburbs of Heaven the Anti-chamber to the Mansions of Glory and in this outward Court if I may so call it you receive Assurances that e're long you shall be admitted into the very Palace of him who dwells in Light inaccessible and surely this must be a great encouragement to let your Light shine forth before Men. SERMON XVII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 16. Let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven WHAT is sweeter than Light and what is more amiable than Goodness Goodness the Image of the Almighty the Similitude of the Living God the Transcript of the Divine Nature Favour is deceitful and Beauty is vain in comparison of it and all the Glories of this present World fall short of it God loves it and Angels love it and Men that imitate them or desire to be like them cannot but love it God is Goodness it self and therefore must necessarily love it Angels of all Creatures are the most perfect and as Perfection is the Object of their Love so must Goodness for Goodness is Perfection Men that long after Happiness cannot but long earnestly after it for there is no true Happiness without Goodness If there be any rational Creature that is not enamour'd with Goodness it is because they do not see its Charming Rays To the Blind-man the Sun himself is invisible so is Goodness and all the Glories which encircle its Head to him in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Eyes of his Understanding Goodness is Light and the better a Man is the more Splendid he is and consequently the greater is the Glory that shines in and about his Soul a Glory which God delights in and Angels prize and which sheds blessed Influences on all that are round about us And therefore Christ had reason to exhort Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Having already told you That by Light is meant Goodness I need not spend any Time in Explication of the other Terms and Phrases of the Text which may easily be understood That which will be most edifying will be to resolve the Words into these following Propositions I. A Christian must not stop at a low degree of Piety Let your Light so shine So i. e. to that degree II. Our good Works do not shine except Men see them Let your Light so shine that they may see your good Works III. Where our good Works are any way considerable Men will certainly take notice of them This is also implied in this Saying That Men may see i. e. They will certainly see and take notice therefore let your Light so shine that they may see your good Works IV. The great end of our letting our good Works shine before Men must be to endear Religion to others and to make them Glorifie God That they may see your good Works and Glorify c. V. One great Motive to let the Light of our good Works shine before Men is this consideration That God is our Father which is in Heaven That they may see and glorify your Father which is in Heaven I. I begin with the first viz. That a Christian must not content himself with a low degree of Piety Let your Light so shine i. e. To that degree What the meaning of this expression is you may plainly guess by the parallel place John iii. 16 God so loved the World Whereby we all understand a very high degree of Love and indeed the words in the Text are so express and the antecedent Passages have so near a relation to them that we can believe no less then that they do import what is hinted in the Proposition There is nothing more common among Men that profess Christianity than to content themselves with very ordinary degrees of Godliness and if they are once arrived to such a pitch of negative Vertue that they are not scandalous or do not commit Sins which make them a by-word a hissing a Proverb or the talk of their Neighbours they look upon themselves as tolerable Saints and therefore take no farther care to improve their Talents or to bless their Souls with richer Graces But surely this is an Argument that either you do not rightly understand what Religion is or that a fatal Laziness the Scurvey of the Soul hath over-run all your Faculties And to cure your selves of that Distemper I beseech you examine your selves Whether the stop you make be agreeable to the frequent Commands of the Gospel to grow in Grace to add to our Faith Vertue to grow strong in the Lord to abound more and more in Faith in Love in Patience And Whether a Man may not be in a state of Nature and in an unregenerate Condition still who is come no farther yet than a bare freedom from clamourous and notorious Sins I suppose you look upon some Heathen Philosophers who arrived to some degrees of Morality such as Socrates Plato Cicero Seneca c. as natural Men and that notwithstanding the Progress they made in Vertue they were still without the Pail of Grace and the Precint of Christ's Kingdom and if so judge ye whether you are passed from Death to Life when you go no farther than they or perhaps not so far as they Grace is a state of Life which consists in Progress and if Goodness be Light as our Blessed Master stiles it it must go on like the Sun unto a perfect day He that doth not desire to be better surely was never very good and he cannot be said to desire it that doth not endeavour after it If you find Sweetness or Consolation in that degree of Goodness you are arrived to
fully ver 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein will be burnt up The same he repeats ver 12. which is conformable to what the Stoicks either from the light of Nature or from Tradition gather'd would be and to what Josephus saith of Adam That he prophecied the World should be destroy'd first by Water and afterward by Fire But then as it is ver 11. of the aforesaid Chapter seeing that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Whether the Christians in St. Peter's time believed that the day of Judgment was at hand and that it should be upon them in that Age is not my business to enquire Now. That which makes the Exhortation seasonable at all times even at this day is the uncertainty of the time of Christ's coming to Judgment and whether this day of Judgment may come in this Age or in the next as it is probable it is not far off especially if the old saying of R. Hillel be true That the World shall continue two Thousand Years before the Law two Thousand under the Law and two thousand under the Messiah but as I said whether it will be this year or next is not material but this I am sure of that the day of our death is the most uncertain thing in the World and as Death finds us so will the Great day And since the day of our death is so uncertain the Inference drawn from the uncertainty of the day of Judgment will also fit the uncertainty of the day of our death It 's a marvelous thing how Men delay their Holy Conversation and Godliness even till Death comes and surprizes them I know this is a very common Theme but how can we forbear to speak of it when we see that Men instead of mending run deeper and deeper into the Gulf young and old Death comes Lord How unprepared doth it find most Men How few can welcome it How few can with Simeon rejoyce at its coming I know Pain and extremity of Misery makes many Men long for it but that alone is no rational ground while that Holy Conversation and Godliness is wanting We all dread an unprepared death and we pray against it We think sometimes in a serious fit how sad it would be with us if it should be our case And yet how few arm themselves against its Terrors and dreadful Consequences The Day the Hour is very uncertain and we see Men are catch'd and snatch'd away before they are aware yet we take no warning still we wait for a convenient Season for a fair Opportunity and when we have got in the World what we would have when we have setled our Affairs on such a Basis or Foundation once and when our Condition is better and our Circumstances more favourable then we 'll set about that seriousness which becomes Candidates of Eternity God sees our Folly and pities us for he sees how we fool our selves He calls and intreats us to redeem the time O that we were wise and would consider our latter End Heaven and Earth must pass away and we must pass away therefore this I say Brethren nay the Apostle says so 1 Cor. vii 19 It remains that they that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and those that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this World as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passes away Indeed that which ought to make us reflect very seriously on all this is that the Word of God is unchangable which calls me to the last Proposition V. Sooner shall Heaven and Earth perish than the least tittle of Gods Word shall fail In this Sense the Words and Expressions used in the Text are sometimes taken so that here is a double Asseveration which makes the Truth Christ delivers here the weightier 1. Verily I say unto you In the Original it is Amen which the Jewish Interpreters of the Old Testament affirm to be an Oath and that 's a very immutable thing 2. Till Heaven and Earth pass i. e. Sooner shall these be hurl'd into their former Chaos and Confusion than the least tittle of his word shall prove false And if so then the Threatnings and Promises of the Gospel and of the Law of God will undoubtedly be fulfilled And I beseech you Beloved Hearers Consider what the Veracity of Gods Threatnings and Promises doth import If the Promises of the Gospel will certainly be fulfilled why cannot the wonderful Rewards promised prevail with you to fulfil the Conditions upon which those Rewards are promised God promises Eternal Life upon patient continuance in Well-doing the Kingdom of Heaven upon striving against Sin and conquering Temptations and a Crown of Glory to those who keep under their Bodies and bring their sensual Desires into Subjection Upon these Terms and no other the great Felicity is promised Will any of you after all these Protestations of God promise himself this Happiness upon other Terms and Conditions What then becomes of Gods Veracity If God be true to his Word then those who come not up to these Terms cannot enjoy the Bliss spoken of If God saves Men upon other Terms he cannot be true to his Word and then how can he be God To these Absurdities Men reduce themselves when they promise themselves Heaven without any regard to the Conditions upon which God doth promise it It 's God that must bestow it the same God that hath promised it and since he will bestow it only upon these Terms Why Christians why will ye feed your hopes with Air and Wind and Vanities Is it possible that God will prove false Is it possible that he will depart from his Word I am sure you cannot think so if you will consider it in cool Blood And shall the World and your present Gain and Profit blind you into Ruin The same must be said of the Threatnings of the Gospel Take but a serious View of them God protests for you believe the Scripture to be the Word of God That no unrighteous Person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Covetous nor Extortioners nor Drunkards nor Lascivious nor Quarrelsom nor Envious nor Malicious Persons nor Men that mind Earthly Things altogether shall enter into that Glory The Scripture is full of these Protestations Is there any of you here that 's guilty of any of these Sins and yet do ye hope to be happy 'T is true you 'll say none can be so that continues in these Sins but I hope I shall leave them all before I die But why Man Dost thou know when thou
be cast into Hell And if thy right Hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell THese Words relate either to all the Precepts that go before or to the Command or Prohibition immediately preceding either to all the Rules and Lessons and Vertues which we have already treated of such as Humility Meekness Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness purity of Heart Peaceableness and Peace-making exceeding the Scribes and Pharisees in Righteousness leading an Exemplary Life c. or to the Law and Command which prohibits harbouring Adulterous and impure Desires Intentions and Lusts even that whosoever tooketh on a Woman to Lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart The Words of the Text are Metaphorical or Hyperbolical to be sure cannot be understood in a literal Sense for though it hath happen'd so and Providence sometimes hath so ordered it for reasons great and weighty that some good Men have had their right Eyes pulck'd out by others and their right Hands cut off by Enemies by Tyrants and Persecutors yet to think that Christ would command his Followers to pluck out their own right Eye and cut off their own right Hand be Butchers and Executioners upon themselves practise that Inhumanity upon their own Bodies and go beyond the Priests of Baal who only cut and hackt their Flesh till the Blood gush'd out this seems not at all agreeable with the design of him who came to save that which was lost and hath charged us not to hate our own Flesh but to cherish it as a Servant that the Soul may be the better for those kind Usages shewn to her Minister And therefore the meaning of our Saviour must needs be this If thy right Eye offend thee or if thy right Hand offend thee i. e. If these parts of thy Body administer occasion to Sin if looking upon an Object or touching it causes or is apt to cause evil Thoughts and impure Desires Lusts and Designs within thee pluck out and cut off the Occasions of that Evil. Forbear looking that way as much as if thine Eyes were pluckt out and avoid touching that Object as much as if thy Hands were cut off it is better for thee that thou enter into Life with one Eye or maimed or that one of thy Members should perish i. e. It s better for thee that thou shouldest miss that Satisfaction which thine Eye gave thee and thy Hand prompted thee to than with that Satisfaction to be cast into Hell So that these Words are a Metaphor taken from Surgeons who in a Gangrene cut off a Limb a Hand or Foot or an Arm to preserve the other Parts and cause one to perish that the other may continue whole and untainted This is at least part of our Saviours meaning here But as I told you the Words relate not only to unlawful Lust shewing how that is to be cured but to all the preceding Precepts and Vertues and therefore something more must be intended by them and that you may see the full extent of them I shall comprehend it as near as I can in these three Propositions I. Vertue and Watchfulness against Sin is of that mighty Consequence that if it were not otherwise Attainable it were worth loseing an Eye or a Limb to get it rather than be cast into Hell for want of it II. To attain to a truly Spiritual Life or to root up Habits of Sin if gentler Means will not do a Christian must apply himself to a more painful Discipline III. To avoid or to be rid of unlawful Lust whether Adulterous or other impure Desires a Christian must give not the least Encouragement to the Sin by Actions that feed it nor cherish any thing that provokes to it I. Vertue and Watchfulness against Sin is of that mighty Consequence that if it were not otherwise Attainable it were worth loseing an Eye or a Limb to get it rather than be cast into Hell for want of it This is as little as we can draw from our Saviour's words and there is none so weak but will be able to inferr from them that so much at least is supposed in these Expressions If thy right Eye or thy right Hand offend thee c. Whatever Opinion the World may have of Vertue and Watchfulness against all sorts of Sin God hath other thoughts of it and judges the Attainment so necessary that he holds it Advisable rather to endure any thing and to run any Hazard of the Body than go without it And indeed all wise and good Men who have any lively Apprehensions of the reason of the Thing are and have been of the same Opinion not only Christians but even the Heathen Philosophers had an Insight into this Truth There is a remarkable saying of Seneca to this Purpose Projice quae Cor tuum laniant quae si aliter extrahi nequirent Cor ipsum cum illis evellendum erat i. e. Throw away those base Lusts which war against thy Soul which if there were no other way to cure it were worth pulling out the very Heart with them Nay some of these Philosophers have actually deprived themselves of the use of some considerable Members of their Bodies for the study of Philosophy and its hard if the study of Piety should not deserve as much if it were so that it were to be procured no other way Vertue and Watchfulness against Sins are of infinitely greater Value than all outward Advantages whatsoever and since we ordinarily part with things of a lesser for those of greater worth seems it to you so hard a Bargain to part with an Eye or Limb for a greater Blessing The loss of an Eye or Limb is nothing to the loss of a Soul He that loses either of these if he be Vertuous and Holy and Watchful against Sin may yet enter into Life but he that is destitute of this Watchfulness can never enter in with all his Parts about him The loss of an Eye or Limb cannot hurt the Soul for all that loss the Soul may be Happy and Blessed and Glorious and a Favourite of Heaven and he that loses an Eye or a Limb upon the account of Righteousness shall have that Eye or that Limb restored to him in a more splendid manner in the Resurrection of the Just so that he shall be no loser by it whereas he that is a stranger to this Watchfulness here can never have it restored to him in the last Day for as the Tree falls so it shall lie and he that continues filthy here shall continue so till Dooms-day Add to all this that Hell is so tremendous a Torment that if a Man had any lively Notions of it he would suffer any thing rather the Rack the Gibbet the Wheel and the Bull of Phalaris than venture falling into that Misery I grant very few Men
in taking an Oath in most Nations do import and why they are used V. Whether an Oath may in no case be broken I. What an Oath or taking an Oath or Swearing is 1. Whether with Tully we say it is a Religious Asseveration or with others That it is a Religious act in which for the confirmation of a thing doubtful God is call'd in as a Witness or whether with the Inspir'd Writers we call it a binding of the Soul with a band or whether we define it to be a solemn appealing to God as a Witness and Judge the difference is not great for all this is included in the notion of an Oath or Swearing and when the Apostle Heb. vi 16 saith Men verily swear by the greater meaning God who is over all the supream Judge and Law-giver who is able to save and destroy he points at all that I have said and intimates That Men in an Oath do solemnly and religiously call God to witness the Truth or in case they swear falsly or do not perform their Oath imprecate to themselves the heavy Judgments of God and this is also the import of that Saying Deut. vi 13 where God directs the Israelites that if there be a necessity for their Swearing That they should Swear by his Name And for this reason it 's call'd The Oath of God or The Oath of the Lord Exod. xxii 10 2. To omit other Distinctions An Oath is either Assertory or Promissory i. e. in an Oath we either assert and affirm the Truth of what is past or of what is present or we Promise to say or do or not to say or do a thing The former is commonly made use of in Courts of Judicature the latter in Contracts Commerce and Compacts Of the former we have an Instance in the Woman suspected of Adultery who was to take an Oath that she was not Guilty Numb v. 19 Of the other in Abraham's Steward Gen. xxiv 9 in the chief Men and Princes of Israel swearing to the Gibeonites to protect them as their Confederates Josh. ix 15 and in others The words of the Text though they include the Assertory yet do chiefly relate to a Promissory Oath 3. In every Oath a Man hath to deal with two Parties God and Man with God as the searcher of Hearts and the grand Witness and with Man for whose Satisfaction and Acquiescence in the matter the Oath is taken which shews the difference betwixt an Oath and a Vow In a formal Vow a Man addresses himself directly to God and God and he are the only Parties concern'd but in an Oath Man as well as God is made a Party though the Obligation be the same in both which is the reason why they are promiscuously used Numb xxx 2 4. In every Oath a Man obliges and ties himself to the manifestation of the Truth whether the Oath be Assertory or Promissory whether it be concerning something past or present or to come and therefore 't is call'd a binding of the Soul or Conscience by a band which a Man cannot escape or slip away from but he must leap into Hell Numb xxx 2 so that a Person Swearing is bound to stand to what he has said and to perform what his Lips have utter'd and the Obligation rises not only from hence because it is a voluntary Act and Promise without the performance of which he cannot be Just but because he engages the most Sacred Being in the Promise and gives God for his Security God who hath not only Power but is concern'd in justice to avenge the Perjury So much of the nature of an Oath Let 's consider II. Whether an Oath or Swearing even in a modest serious and judicial way be lawful 1. That taking an Oath is not unlawful in it self is evident from hence because God himself hath upon occasion used it By my self have I sworn saith the Lord Gen. xxii 16 upon which Passage the Apostle makes this Remark Heb. vi 13 When God made Promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself and again Psal. xcv 11 so I sware in my Wrath that they should not enter into my rest And the like we find practised by the Angel of God Dan. xii 7 who lift up his hand to Heaven and sware by him that lives for ever and ever Nor can it be absolutely unlawful if we consider the end of an Oath which is a confirmation of the Truth in things doubtful where other Proofs and Evidences fail The End being necessary in Humane Affairs the Means which is an Oath must at least be Lawful And this will farther appear from the nature of an Oath which contains nothing in it self unlawful A Religious Act cannot be unlawful nor Confirmation of the Truth in things doubtful unlawful in it self nor the Invocation of the Divine Testimony unlawful and if the Parts which make up and constitute an Oath be not unlawful an Oath cannot be unlawful Add to all this the consent of all Nations which in other Cases particularly in asserting the Being of a God is counted a considerable Proof where-ever any Civility or orderly Government takes place Men led by the Light of Nature make use of an Oath in doubtful Cases to which universal Custom the Apostle alludes in saying Heb. vi 16 For Men verily swear by the greater and an Oath for Confirmation is to them an end of all strife 2. That the use of an Oath was Lawful to the Jews is so evident that it needs no Proof The Patriarchs used it Abraham Gen. xiv 22 23. Isaac Gen. xxvi 31 Jacob Gen. xxxi 53 And Moses by the Command of God orders that if a Controversie did arise that an Oath should decide it Exod. xxii 11 It was an express Command of God given to the Israelites Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his Name i. e. If there be occasion to take an Oath thou shalt not swear by Idols or by Heathen Deities but by the Name of thy God who is Omniscient and Omnipresent and will not hold him guiltless that takes his Name in vain and to this purpose it is that the Prophets give Directions how the Jews should swear in what manner and with what Limitations as we see Jer. iv 2 And Punishments severe and dreadful are threatned to him that despises his Oath Ezek xvi 59 But 3. The greatest Difficulty is whether it be lawful for a Christian to take an Oath for not only Christ in the following Verse saith But I say unto you swear not at all but we find the Primitive Christians were very cautious how they ventur'd upon an Oath they not only dreaded those vain and light Oaths so common among the Children of the Devil but they had a reluctancy to Swearing even on solemn and serious Occasions thinking a Christian ought to be believ'd upon his bare Word and Affirmation And indeed many of the sober Heathens by a
allow our selves in nothing that comes to more than bare Affirmations and Negations 2. It is to direct us that in our Discourses we are to be calm not to be moved into a Passion and from thence into Asseverations and impertinent Confirmations of what we say or promise 3. It is to tell us that we are to confine our selves to the Rule of Plainness in all our Speeches and Discourses and keep within the compass of plain Affirmations and Negations and take care that our Discourses what length soever we think fit to allow them be conformable to that Rule without mingling any thing of an Oath or vehement Asseveration with it And this being the chief Subject of the command here given it will be necessary I insist upon it and enquire I. Into the Reasons which make this plainness in our Speeches Answers and Promises expedient and necessary II. Into the Causes which move Men to act contrary to this Rule and the Vanity of them I. As to the Reasons which make this plainness very necessary they are these following 1. This is part of that Universal Simplicity which is to run through all the parts of our Life and Behaviour and Deportment in the World I suppose I need not tell you that when I speak of simplicity here I do not mean simplicity in a bad Sense as it is used for childishness want of understanding or foolishness I grant that even that true Simplicity I am discoursing of may appear folly and want of Wit in the eyes of the World but the best answer to that Cavil is that we must be such Children and Babes if We mean to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and it is a Mans Duty that means to be wise unto Salvation to become a fool in the Opinion of the World 1 Cor. iii. 18 By Simplicity therefore therefore I mean want of Guile and as we call it down-right Honesty a temper without tricks and sinister ends and aims and plain-heartedness or a plain honest endeavour to please God and to do our Duty without Subtil Evasions and Distinctions and cunning Devices to excuse our selves from what is incumbent upon us and without Pomp and Ostentation Now it 's evident that an Universal Simplicity is required of us 2 Cor. i. 12 where it is made the Foundation of our Peace and Joy and Matth. x. 16 particularly a Simplicity in our Dresses 1 Pet. iii. 1 A simplicity in our way of living 1 Tim. vi 8 A simplicity in our Dyet Philip. iii. 19 A simplicity in our Designs and Intentions Matth. vi 22 and if it must be Universal it must be in our Speeches Answers and Promises too If it fail there the Simplicity is not uniform the thred is not spun even and things are not answerable one to another nay the Tongue being the chief Member of our Bodies the best Member we have as the Old Translation of the Psalms renders the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ps. cviii 1 If Simplicity should be wanting there the frame would look ill and be defective in a principal part and consequently deformed And that these bare Affirmations and Negations are Arguments of Simplicity is evident from hence because they are freest from mixture not compounded of things Heterogeneous and therefore simple and plain and like Christianity which is the plainest and the honestest thing in the World 2. If our Speech must be always with grace season'd with Salt according to the known Rule of our Religion Col. iv 6 it 's soon made out that this plainness must be necessary for it hath all the looks of grace What is grace but converting our Souls and Bodies to those Uses for which God hath appointed them and who can deny that these plain Affirmations and Negotiations are the use for which God intended our Tongues and the faculty of Speech since God always intends that which is like to do most good as this plainness certainly doth Grace discovers it self in a holy watchfulness over our outward and inward Man and these plain Affirmations and Negations are an Argument of this Watchfullness and as grace makes a Man stand in awe of God so this plainness is a sign that the Man is over-awed by a Supream being whose Will he hath a greater regard to than the Opinions of Men so that if our Speech must be with grace this plainness must needs be part of that wherein this grace is to be expressed 3. Hereby abundance of Sins are prevented and several excellent vertues are promoted The particular Sins which are prevented by it are lying and equivocating flattering and dissembling cheating and scurrility and foolish jesting pride and wrath loquaciousness and garrulity qualities which do very ill become a Person who names the Name of Christ and is to do nothing that 's childish and mean and impertinent and the Reason why this plainness is the way to prevent these Sins is because they are of a contrary Nature and incompatible with it as Darkness and Light and Fire and Water The Vertues it promotes and preserves are Gravity and Justice Veracity and Modesty Decency and Sobriety Affability Meekness and Steddiness in Goodness for these are the effects of it and this plainness if invincibly maintained runs out naturally into these Vertues so that it becomes necessary upon the account of profit and interest But 4. The Reason Christ urges in the Text is as pregnant as any we have alledged What is more than these comes of evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which relates either to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Evil one the wicked Adversary the Devil or to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Evil Nature or Evil Custom or Sin in General 1. If these strong Asseverations whether Oaths or other solemn Protestations in common Discourses proceed from the Devil who instigates Men and suggests Arguments to use them and who intends to debilitate and weaken their graces by this means they cannot be good It was a rash Question Can any good come out of Galilee But here the Expostulation is more Just Can any good come from him who Sins from the from the Father of Lyes and the Author of all Impiety If it proceed from the Devil it must be naught for he cannot it is not in his Nature to prompt to any thing that 's pleasing to God and if he should it is with an intent to deceive him another way 2. If this were not it proceeds however from an evil Temper of Mind and where Men are so fond of such strong Asseverations in common Discourses it 's a sign their Minds are not season'd with a true sense of Gods Holiness nor have they that love to the Gospel they should have and their Inclinations to Sin are strong though they may have made a shift to part with some things scandalous yet they are not willing to part with all that clashes with the design of the Gospel nor to follow Christ whithersoever he goes which argues a Root of bitterness