Neighbour for Mercy and Compassion for Repentance and the like It is also hereby made more serious more considerative and reflecting more recollected more setled and composed which is to be considerably better For as Sorrow is the Principle of Consideration so is Consideration the Principle of Repentance and Well-living according to that of the Psalmist I considered my own ways and turned my feet to thy testimonies Psal 119. And of all this we have a very signal Example in the Nation of the Jews who till the Time of the Babylonish Captivity were very gross and carnal notwithstanding so many Miracles of God both in their Deliverance out of Egypt and in their Passage through the Wilderness And when they were brought into the Land of Canaan tho' they had such open and clear Testimonies of the Divine Presence among them so many Prophecies so many Miracles and so many Apparitions of Angels yet we find them ever now and then relapsing into Idolatry But after the Captivity when they had gone through a Course of Sorrow and Affliction they presently began to behave themselves more orderly and seemed like Gold to refine upon the Trial of the Furnace For we do not read that after that time they ever fell into Idolatry And accordingly God began to deal with them now no longer as Children but as Persons of some Maturity by withdrawing from them his Visible Presence and the Spirit of Prophecy thinking them to have learnt enough already in the School of Affliction to supersede all other Methods of Instruction and Discipline And from that Time forwards the Minds of Men began to be more generally erected towards Heaven and the Good Things of a better Life when they saw that the strictest Observers of the Law fell oftentimes into those Evils which were denounced against the Transgressors of it By which means they were by degrees prepared for the Reception of the Gospel This is the present Blessedness of those that mourn What the Future is we are told by our Saviour who says they shall be comforted that is shall be received into a State or Place of Bliss and Happiness Joy and Delight and be infinitely rewarded in Heaven for all their pious and charitable Mourning upon Earth According to that of the Psalmist Psal 126. He that now goes on his way sorrowing and bringeth forth good seed shall doubtless come again with joy and bring his sheaves with him They shall be received into the City of God the New Jerusalem where there is no more Mourning nor Cause of Mourning and where not only all Sin but even those very Vertues which are founded upon the least Imperfection shall be done away Here therefore there will be no Room left even for Godly Sorrow but all shall be Joy and Gladness Harmony and Thanksgiving And Blessed are they who so mourn here that they may enter into this Joy of their Lord hereafter Discourse the Third Matth. V. ver v. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth THE Judgment of God differs so very widely from that of Man that his Thoughts are seldom as our Thoughts nor his Ways as our Ways But in nothing is the Difference so signal as in the Conclusions concerning Good and Evil Happiness and Misery Our Judgments are seldom conformable to the Divine in Matters of mere Truth and Notion but much seldomer in Practical Maxims and Moral Resolutions Here if any where is chiefly to be found that Vain Philosophy which we are cautioned against by the Apostle Col. 2. 8. and that Tradition of Man and those Rudiments of the World which are not after Christ Herein it is that the Wisdom of God and the Wisdom of the World which seldom meet in one Point stand yet most divided and opposed to each other and tho' the latter be always in some Respect or other Foolishness to the former yet never so much as in her Resolutions concerning Good and Evil Happiness and Misery the World for the most part calling that Evil which God calls Good and those Miserable whom God pronounces in an especial manner Happy This is very remarkably verified in the Matter now before us For tho' there has been great Diversity of Sentiments in the Gentile-Philosophy about the Objects of Human Happiness some placing it in one thing and some in another yet among all their Variety we do not find any that placed it in Humility or Meekness These they scarce acknowledged as Vertues much less to be such as wherein the Happiness of Man should in great part consist Nay they rather looked upon these as mean servile Dispositions such as were fit for Men o◠low Fortunes and lower Minds and which were so far from conducing to Happiness that they rather exposed Men to Misfortunes and Miseries But now these are the Dispositions of Mind which our Lord and Saviour who was the Wisdom of his Father and the Light of the World singles out and marks for a peculiar Excellency and Happiness Nor need we wonder over-much at the Singularity of this Christian Paradox since the whole Course of our Saviour's Life and Doctrin was a direct Contradiction to the Maxims and Practice of the World Thu◠Men hate to unsay or undo what they have either done or said and to confess their former Folly by an After-Retractation But now this is the principal thing of our Saviour's Institution whose whole Gospel is a Doctrin of Repentance which is a Retractation of Judgment and Choice Thus again Men love Riches but Christ chose to be Poor They are altogether for Honours and Greatness but he hid himself that he might not be made a King They again greedily pursue after Pleasures but both his Life and Doctrin was all over Rigour and Mortification The World thinks Affronts intolerable and it is reckoned a piece of Gallantry and Honour to revenge them but our wise and good Lord chose to be reviled and spit upon They are impatient of Calumnies and Slanders but he chose to be condemned being innocent They Lastly as the Prophet complains Mal. 3. 15. call the Proud happy and despise the meek Man as a miserable Slave and Fool whereas says our Lord in Opposition to the former Blessed are the poor in spirit and in Opposition to the latter Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth From the Words I shall discourse of these two Things in general the Duty and the Blessedness of Meekness In treating of the first it will be requisite 1. To consider what Meekness is II. To shew that it is a Christian Duty III. To state the Measures of its Obligation in its more general Cases IV. To inforce the Practice of it as far as it obliges First therefore As to the Notion of Meekness Aristotle has long since defined it to be a Mediocrity about Anger 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are his Words in the Fourth of his Ethicks This Difinition tho' it be true as far as it goes yet like the
Sermon on the Mount This was he that was pointed at by the eminent Prophecy I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him Deut. 18. And now it was that this Prophecy had its full Accomplishment Christ was now entring upon his Prophetick Office and was to shew himself a Prophet like unto Moses This great Trust he discharged with as great Care and Fidelity and as the Author to the Hebrews observes was faithful to him that appointed him as also Moses was faithful in all his house Heb. 3. 2. As therefore Moses gave a Digest of Laws to the People with whom he was intrusted so it became this Divine Prophet also to give Laws and Precepts for the Instruction and Order of his Disciples He was to be a Law-giver as well as Moses and to carry on the Proportion yet farther he thought fit to imitate him in the very Manner and Circumstance of delivering his Law and accordingly ascended up into a Mountain from whence he showr'd down his Heavenly Manna upon his Hearers So also making good another Instance of Resemblance relating to Moses who speaks thus of himself My doctrin shall drop as the rain my speech shall distil as the dew as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass Deut. 32. 2. But the Parallel will not run throughout For the Divine Oracles were not now accompanied with Thundrings and Lightnings with Blackness and Darkness and Tempest but were deliver'd in the small still Voice of Blessing and Consolation 'T was with a Beatitude that David began his Collection of Divine Hymns and in like manner does the Son of David usher in his sublime Instructions And this was very suitable and agreeable both to the Character of his Person and to the Genius of his Doctrin As to his Person Blessing became the Mouth of him who was the Reconciler of God and Man the great Ambassador of Peace the Author of Salvation and Happiness and at whose Nativity the Angels sang Peace on Earth and Good Will towards Men. And as to his Doctrin The Precepts he was to deliver were of so refined and high-raised a Nature so little agreeable either to the Maxims of the World or to the grosser Relishes of the Animal Life that they would have found but cold Entertainment had they not come recommended with a Reward and been guarded on each Side with a Beatitude 'T was requisite therefore that the Duty and the Blessing should go hand in hand and accordingly our Lord who well understood the Temper of the Sons of Men how passionately we pursue any thing that looks like Happiness and how apt we are to ask that Question Who will shew us any Good thought it expedient to join them both together in his Discourse as they will be in the Event and to pronounce them Blessed here whom he intends to pronounce so hereafter when he shall say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Mat. 25. And the better to win us over to the Practice of his Divine Sermon our Lord like a wise Master-builder lays the Foundation of his Discourse where we must lay that of our Obedience and assigns the first Place among his Beatitudes to Humility and Poverty of Spirit for Humility is the Foundation of Obedience We must be first poor in Spirit before we can be rich in Good Works first humble before we can obey and first obey before we can reign And therefore with good Reason does our Lord lay down this as the first Principle and Ground-Work of his Institution Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven In my Discourse upon these Words I shall I. Resolve what we are to understand by Poor in Spirit II. Shew that this Poverty of Spirit is a Christian Duty and the Reasonablness of it III. Shew the Happiness of those who are so disposed As to the Resolution of the First I consider that this Poverty of Spirit here recommended by our Saviour is not a State of Life but a State of Mind and we may take it either in Opposition to Covetousness or in Opposition to Pride and High-mindedness If in Opposition to Covetousness then to be poor in Spirit is to have our Souls so disposed as First Not to be eagerly carried out in our Desires after any created Good particularly the good Things of this lower World whether Honors Pleasures or Profit especially not to be greedy and craving in our Desire of Riches But Secondly To be so moderately and indifferently affected towards all these as to be well contented without them and also ready to resign and part with them when either God shall think fit to deprive us of them or when we can no longer retain them with a good Conscience This is to be poor in Spirit considered in Opposition to Covetousness But it may also be considered as opposed to Pride or High-mindedness and then to be poor in Spirit will denote First A just that is a low and mean Sense and Apprehension of our own selves of our Souls and of our Bodies of our Intellectuals and of our Morals of our Acquirements and of our Performances And Secondly As a Consequent of this a Contentedness when-ever any or all of these are disesteemed or disparaged either tacitly and interpretatively by Affronts and dishonourable Treatments or else directly by express Undervaluations a Readiness to prefer others before our selves and a Willingness that the same Preference should be given them by others an utter Captivation of our Understandings to the Obedience of Faith and a modest Submission of them in all doubtful Cases to the Dictates of our Superiors a declining of Fame and Popularity and a studious Concealment of our own Praises and Excellencies but when either the Glory of God or the Good of our Brother is concerned in the Publication In short to use the Description of the Psalmist he is truly poor in Spirit who from his Heart can say to the Searcher of Hearts Lord I am not high-minded I have no proud looks I do not exercise my self in great Matters which are too high for me but I refrain my soul and keep it low like as a child that is weaned from his mother yea my soul is even as a weaned child Psal 131. Having thus briefly shewn what it is to be poor in Spirit both with respect to Covetousness and with respect to Pride and High-mindedness I come now in the second Place to shew that this Poverty of Spirit is a Christian Duty and withal the great Reasonableness of it And First That Poverty of Spirit according to the first Acceptation of it is a Christian Duty 't would be Conviction enough to consider how often we are called upon in Scripture to withdraw our Affections from the
PRACTICAL DISCOURSES UPON THE BEATITUDES Of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST VOL. I. Written by JOHN NORRIS M. A. Rector of Bemerton near Sarum To which are added Reflections upon a late Essay concerning Human Understanding With a Reply to the Remarks made upon them by the Athenian Society The Fourth Edition LONDON Printed for S. Manship at the Ship near the Royal-Exchange in Cornhill 1699. To my much Honoured Friend and Patron JOSEPH LANGTON Esq SIR 'T IS a Maxim of Prudence given by some of the Nicer Describers of the Bounds of Gratitude That it ought to be temper'd between a total Neglect and a full and just Requital To strike off all Scores is they say as uncivil as to discharge none and every whit as disingenuous not to suffer as not to acknowledge an Obligation Now Sir 't is one of the proper Happinesses of my little Fortune to be necessarily cast upon this Measure I am got too far in your Accounts to be able to requite to the full some part of them I must ever leave uncrossed as a standing Hold upon me and tho my Gratitude it self be never so strong and pregnant yet the most forward Instance of it can rise no higher than an Acknowledgment And as this is the utmost I can do so of doing this too I have so few Capacities and Opportunities that I am the less willing to let go any that offer themselves which indeed has given a speedier Issue to my Deliberation whether I ought to Address these Discourses to your Patronage or no which perhaps without the Formality of a Dedication would of right belong to you as falling within your District and as being the Fruits of that Retirement which by your Free Bounty I enjoy As an Acknowledgment therefore of this and your other constant Favours I presume to put these Discourses into your Hands which I hope will be able to do both You and Me that Justice as to convince the World that as you proceeded by generous and uncorrupt Measures in disposing of this Publick Trust so you was not altogether mistaken in your Choice when you thought fit to Oblige Your Humble Servant John Norris Newton St. Loe. April 21. 1690. TO THE READER I Here commend to thy serious Perusal a Set of Select Discourses upon the Beatitudes which were at first undertaken and are now publish'd for the Publick Benefit of all well-disposed Christians The Subjects themselves are as Great and Noble as any perhaps that occur in all Practical Divinity being the Prime and Capital Aphorisms of our Saviour's excellent Sermon upon the Mount and containing the Fundamental Principles of all Christ's Practical Instructions and of a true Christian Temper and Life Here we may see what the Philosopher so much desired the true Living Idea of Vertue and Goodness nay more what 't is to be a Christian an Interiour Christian a Christian indeed And I heartily wish that those whose Orthodoxy is chiefly employed in giving out Marks and Signs of Conversion and Saintship wherein their end seems rather to be the distinction of a Party than any real Promotion of Godliness would choose rather to dress their Interiour by this Glass and afterwards try it by this Measure For here they will find that Real Christianity consists in Poverty of Spirit Humility Self-denyal Mortification Meekness Mercifulness Purity of Heart Peaceableness and such like inward Dispositions of Soul and not in a few outward Formalities Sighs and Groans Looks and Postures Words and Phrases and such other affected Badges of a fond Distinction And as the Subjects themselves are Great and Noble so I hope these Discourses will be found in some measure to rise up to their Dignity I am sure there has been no care wanting on my part to make them worthy of their Subjects to which I have endeavoured to do the utmost Justice But however I may fail of that yet I hope the Reader will not be altogether disappointed of his Expectations or repent of his Labour but will find here sufficient Entertainment both for his Speculation and for his Devotion It may perhaps be a Surprize to some to see me appear again so soon in publick To this if there needs any Apology that which I shall offer is That if these Discourses be not worthy of publick View then 't is not fit they should ever be sent abroad but if they be I cannot understand how they can be published too soon The Truth is considering the shortness and uncertainty of Life I have been lately very much of Opinion That a Man can never live too fast the Heathen will tell you Never fast enough nor make too much haste to do good especially when a Man's Sphere is such that he has but Few ways and Opportunities of doing it which by Experience I am all convinc'd to be my Case I am afraid wherever the fault lies that it will not be my Happiness to be able to do that good where I am which I might have done in some other Station Which makes me the more frequent in Publick that I may supply this Defect by the Service of my Pen having some reason to hope that my Discourses will meet with better liking Abroad than they usually do at Home and that there are some in the World to whom I shall not be a Barbarian What has been here the performance of my Pen was as I learn from Dr. Rust intended and in part performed by the Excellent Bishop Taylour who while he was meditating upon the Beatitudes was receiv'd up into the Enjoyment of them And I have lately spoken with a Gentleman who told me That he himself saw a Manuscript of it in the Bishop's own Hand I am very sensible how much the Subject has lost by the Change of its Author All that I can say is That I have done my Best and I hope God will accept of my good Intention and that the World will be something the better for my Peformance John Norris THE CONTENTS DIscourse the First on Matth. V. Ver. iii. pag. 1 Discourse the Second on Matth. V. Ver. iv p. 25 Discourse the Third on Matth. V. Ver. v. p. 47 Discourse the Fourth on Matth. V. Ver. vi p. 74 Discourse the Fifth on Matth. V. Ver. vii p. 101 Discourse the Sixth on Matth. V. Ver. viii p. 120 Discourse the Seventh on Matth. V. Ver. ix p. 145 Discourse the Eighth on Matth. V. Ver. x. xi xii p. 169 The Conclusion of the whole in a Discourse concerning the Beatitudes in general p. 196 Cursory Reflections upon a Book call'd An Essay concerning Human Vnderstanding p. 1 Remarks upon the Athenian Society in the Supplement to the Third Volume Christian Blessedness OR DISCOURSES UPON THE BEATITUDES VOL. 1. Discourse the First Matth. V. ver iii. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven THus the Divine Angel of the Covenant Christ Jesus begins that Great and Noble Institution of Christian Philosophy his Sublime
Creature Colos 3. 1. to seek those things which are above to set our affection on things above not on things of the earth to mortifie our members which are upon earth among which is reckoned inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry Again We are bid to beware of Covetousness Luk. 12. 15. and to have both our Treasure and our Hearts in Heaven Luk. 12. 33. to be as indifferent in the very Enjoyment of any Worldly Good as if we enjoyed it not 1 Cor. 7. 29. and if in the Enjoyment then certainly much more in the Desire Lastly to add no more We are cautioned by St. John not to love the World neither the things that are in the World And lest we should take this only as a Matter of Advice and Counsel not express Command he farther adds If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him 1 John 2. 15. But that 't is a Christian Duty to be thus poor in Spirit will be farther evident from the very Nature and Design of the Christian Institution The grand thing intended in the Christian Religion was to reduce straying Man to his true Good and Happiness to sublimate refine and spiritualize his Nature to loose him from the Cords of Vanity and from his fast Adhesions to created Good to purge him from all Earthly Concretions and Alloys to dis-engage and separate him not only from the World about him but even from one part of himself In one Word to raise him from Earth to Heaven not only by a Local but by a Moral and Mental Elevation Indeed 't was much otherwise under the Jewish Dispensation There was then great Indulgence afforded to the Animal Inclinations and Worldly Affections of Men and their very Religion was indeared to them by Temporal Promises and Blessings Not that God intended hereby to express any Liking or Approbation of Covetousness and Earthly-mindedness but only to comply with the Infirmity of that gross stupid People which renderd them incapable of being won upon by more noble Proposals And besides it being a received Notion among the Idolatrous Inhabitants of the Land as is observed by a late learned Author that the Worship of their Idols and false Gods did procure them fruitful Seasons and Increase of all manner of Store it was in proportion requisite that God also should promise his Votaries the like Worldly Affluence to keep them from running over to the Gentile Superstitions Upon these and the like Accounts much was indulged to the Jewish State and People They were never expresly required to abstract their Desires from the Things of the World nor unless they proceeded to covet unjustly that is what belonged to another were they ever taxable for a too Earthly and downward Disposition of Soul Not but that Earthly-mindedness was as much an Imperfection in it self as it is now and was really forbidden according to the more retired and involute Sense of the Law but the Letter did not reach it because then was the Time and State of Imperfection and it was the only Handle which that People could be took hold of by whose Hardness of Heart was the Occasion of this as well as of some other Indulgencies But now they that shall think themselves obliged to no higher Measures of Perfection under the Christian State know not what manner of Spirit they are of Christ as he has introduced a Better Hope Heb. 7. 19. so has he annexed to it more excellent and more exalted Precepts and as his Kingdom was not so neither is his Religion of this World The Christian Law is Lex Ignea a Law of Fire a Law that purifies and refines that warms actuates and enlightens that separates also and dissolves those strong Ties whereby the Soul sticks glued to the Earth And therefore the Apostle calls the Christian Institution the law of the Spirit of life Rom. 8. 2. and in another place the ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3. And what our Saviour said of some Words of his may truly be applied to all The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life Joh. 6. 63. This therefore being the Design of the Christian Dispensation to perfect Holiness to advance the Interest of the Divine Life to elevate us to the utmost Degree of Moral Perfection our Nature is here capable of and as far as is possible to make us Partakers of the Divine 't is utterly inconsistent with the End of such a Law as this to suffer us to lie groveling with our Faces on the Earth to seek Rest and Happiness in things more ignoble than our selves and to grow one as it were with the dirty Planet upon which we live We ought rather as the Philosopher speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aspire to the Measures of Immortality shake off the Clogs of Earth that weigh us down and make haste to be Angels as fast as we can We are obliged by the Design as well as by the Rule of our Religion to be as loose from the Creature as may be not to love the World nor the Things of the World whether the Lust of the Flesh or the Lust of the Eye or the Pride of Life but to be poor in Spirit and empty of the Creature that we may be rich towards God and filled with the Fulness of him that fills all in all And now that to be thus poor in Spirit is a reasonable Duty as well as a necessary one will sufficiently appear upon these two Grounds I. Because these Worldly Enjoyments are not our True Good II. Because they hinder and divert us from that which really is so That they are not our True Good is certain for if they were we should then find Rest and Satisfaction in them But this we are so far from doing that we are as dissatisfied under our Enjoyments as without them For though by Fruition our Appetite be abated as to that particular Object which we prosecuted yet still we desire on farther and our general Thirst after Happiness is as unsatisfied as ever Which plainly argues that our True Good is not to be found in these things but that they are altogether Vanity and Vexation To place therefore our Happiness in such Objects is utterly absurd and against Reason and argues us to be grosly ignorant of one of the two Things either of our selves or of the Things of the World We are either ignorant of the Dignity and Excellence of our Natures of the Designs and Ends of our Creation and of the Strengths and Capacities of our Appetites which can be satisfied with nothing less than Infinite Or if we do know and consider all this then are we so much the more grosly ignorant of the World about us to think there is any thing to be had in this Circle of Vanity that may satisfie the Importunity of such craving and capacious Appetites Poverty of Spirit therefore is reasonable because the Things
Man is a Creature and this is a very reasonable Ground for Humility and Poverty of Spirit We usually think it a very humbling Consideration to re-mind a Person of the Meanness of his Original But now What Original can be so mean as to be from Nothing It is enough to take down the Spirit of the brightest Intelligence to consider that nothing was his Original a State more vile and dishonourable than the Chaos it self Now this is the Condition of Man He had his Rise from nothing and derives his Pedigree by his Mother's Side from Darkness and Emptiness And though now by the Omnipotency of his Creator he is something yet still he holds his Being as precariously as he first received it and depends as much for his Existence upon the Will of his Creator as Light does upon the Sun or the Image in the Glass upon the Presence of the Body If God does but turn his Face from him and cease to behold him he will vanish into nothing God spake the Word indeed before he was made but to unmake him there needs no contradictory Fiat he need only be silent and not sustain him by the Word of his Power And shall that Being be proud which was once Nothing and has still such a Natural Bent towards Annihilation as to need only a bare Negative to make him Nothing again No says the Wise Man Pride was not made for man nor furious anger for them that are born of a woman Man must forget his Extraction to give the least Admittance to Pride and he need but study and consider that to have the most inward and feeling Sense of Humility This Consideration is yet farther improveable if we admit the Hypothesis of those who say that to be a Creature involves a State of Nothing as well as an Origination from Nothing that there is nothing Real or Positive in any Creature but what is from God and that though a Creature be Something as of God yet he is nothing as of himself nor can exert any positive Act or Operation from himself as a distinct Principle of Action being still as to that as much a Nothing as before If this be true and he that shall consider and well understand what is alledged by M. Poiret in Defence of this Notion will scarce find it in his Power to think otherwise certainly Man has infinite Reason to be poor in Spirit and to descend into the lowest Abyss of Humility and Self-Abdication as becomes a Being that not only was once but is still a mere Nothing Man therefore as a Creature has sufficient Reason to be humble and poor in Spirit But if we consider him 2ly as a Sinner he has Cause not only to be humble but to lie down flat upon his Face and look upon himself to be more base and vile than the very Dust whereof he was form'd and whereon he treads To be a Sinner is much more vile than to be the meanest Creature and the Non-Entity of Sin is more dishonourable than that of Nature This latter tho' it cannot actually conform yet it is not disobedient to the Will of God But the former Nothing contradicts and resists his Will This is as I think one of the Fathers calls it Nihil Rebelle in Deum ar matum an Armed Nothing Indeed to be a Creature involves Weakness and Imperfection in it but then it also involves Good because nothing can be but by partaking of the Perfection of God But now to be a Sinner involves nothing but pure and unmixt Evil and is withal a farther Remove from Good than to be nothing since it is not only negatively but contrarily opposed to it 'T is indeed the greatest Monstrosity and Deformity in the World the greatest Contradiction to Order and Harmony to Reason and Proportion to Well-being and Happiness In one Word 'T is the only Thing which God hates What great Reason then has Man to be humble and poor in Spirit poor even to Emptiness and Self-Annihilation who is not only a Creature but a sinful Creature Having now shewn the Duty and Reasonableness of Poverty of Spirit in the full Latitude of the Word I proceed to shew in the Third Place the Happiness of those who are so disposed Blessed are the poor in spirit says our Saviour for theirs is the kingdom of heaven That 's the only Blessedness which is here expresly mentioned But they are happy also in other Regards For in the first place What an happy Disposition of Soul must it be always to carry about one such a strong and lively Conviction of the Vanity of all created Good as not to run out into vehement Desires after it For Desire it self to go no farther is always a great Torment 'T is the same to the Soul that Thirst is to the Body and Hope deferr'd as the Wise Man tells us makes the heart sick Prov. 13. But that is not all for here will come in the Trouble of Disappointment as well as of Desire Not that which the World generally understands by Disappointment the not compassing what you designed tho' that also will often happen but the not enjoying what you have compassed the Disappointment of Fruition But now to be poor in Spirit is the Way to avoid all this Such a Person expects no Happiness from the Creature and consequently not to find it there will be to him no Disappointment He does not lean upon any created Good with any Stress and therefore though it should fail under him his Fall will be but slight and easie And indeed it is not to be imagined what a deal of Anxiety Care Restlesness Disappointment Sorrow fruitless Labour and Endeavour are saved by this Poverty of Spirit And I think this is no small Degree of Happiness Again Is it not a great Happiness to be so moderately and indifferently affected towards the World as to be contented with any Condition in it To be of a quiet sedate resigned and dis-interessed Disposition He that is thus disposed is above or rather below the Reach of calamitous Accidents The Storm flies over his Head he has nothing for Fortune to take hold of Nor will he be under the Hazard of parting with his Religion to secure his Worldly Interest No he can do his Duty tho' at the Expence of Martyrdom and tho' highly deserving of the best Times may yet be trusted in the worst Then as to the Happiness attending upon Poverty of Spirit as it stands for Humility there is no one Vertue that is more her own Reward than this Pride is the most uneasie thing in the World and withal the most odious uneasie to the Patient and odious to the Observer And as it is uneasie in it self so is it the Parent of many troublesom and uneasie Passions such as Anger Contention Revenge Envy Impatience c. So that it is hard to determin whether the proud Man be more ridiculous or miserable But now to be humble is to
in the Inferiour part whether Sensitive or Plastic that which is exercis'd about Objects of Sense or that which moves and forms the Body but in the highest and noblest part in the Spirit of our Minds which answers to the Platonical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very Flower and Essence of the Soul Here 't is we are to be renew'd as indeed we must if we be renew'd at all this being in all regards the Principal and the only moral part of Man To this purpose it must be further consider'd that this Intellectual Heart the Spirit and Soul of Man is the Fountain and Source of all Action This is that which sees in the Eyes and hears in the Ears This is that which understands and wills loves and hates Here are all the Springs and Powers of Life and Motion here is the last resort of all outward Impressions and from this Central Point are derived all the Lines of Action and Motion even as all the Arteries and Veins are from the Natural Heart which it diffuses and disperses throughout the Body and has its Pulses in every part If therefore this general Head-Spring be not kept pure and clean how can the Streams run clear And upon this was grounded that signal Advice of the Wise Man Prov. 4. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life Parallel to which I find a passage in the Meditations of the Royal Philosopher Marcus Antoninus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Look within for within is the Fountain of Good Further yet this Intellectual Heart is not only the Fountain of Action and Motion but the most active and most rapidly moving thing in the World This Heart is always Beating the Pulses of it never rest Thought rises upon Thought and Desire succeeds Desire The Motion is perpetual constant and vehement so vehement that the swiftest Bodily Motion no not that of the Starry Orb is comparable to it so vehement that it cannot be discern'd or number'd and comes nearer to a Rest than a Motion as the swiftest turnings round of a Globe look like standing still Now what a dangerous thing is such a Motion as this if not rightly determin'd Of what vast heights in goodness is it capable And to what vast heights of wickedness may it rise if not well govern'd There is therefore great necessity that this Heart of Man should be kept with all Diligence and that it should be kept pure and undefiled Fourthly and Lastly the Necessity of Purity of Heart in order to Holiness will appear as from the Christian Law the Nature of God and the Nature of Man so also from the intimate Vnion that is between the Divine and Human Nature All things are full of God who is therefore call'd in the Sacred Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Place But there is nothing so intimately united to him as the Spiritual part of the Creation God is the immediate Place of Spirits and Souls who all live move and have their being in him and are joyn'd to him by a Central Touch as the great Plotinus speaks The Apostle says that even our Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost our Souls then must be at least his Sanctuary and most Sacred Recess But what Was not God just now supposed the Place of Spirits and are Spirits now made the Place of God Yes and without any Absurdity For so St. John describes our Union with God by our dwelling in God and by God's dwelling in us John 4. 16. The Union is Double on God's part and on Ours God dwells in us by his special Presence by the Spirit of Grace and Benediction But we dwell in God Essentially and Totally God dwells only in some certain Spirits such as are of a Disposition fit to receive and entertain him those who as the Jews love to speak are worthy to have the Shechinah rest upon them But all Spirits good and bad however qualified dwell in him For where else should they dwell since he is all and fills all Now both these Unions infer the Necessity of Purity of Heart in order to Holiness For first if we consider the Soul of Man as dwelling in God what infinite reason is there that that part of him especially should be kept pure which is essentially joyn'd to touches and inhabits so pure and so awful an Excellence Put off thy Shoes from off thy Feet said God to Moses for the place whereon thou standest is holy Ground Exod. 3. 5. And if so much Reverence be due to the Dwelling-place of God what Reverence is there then due when God himself is the Dwelling-place How dares any Man lodge an impure Soul in the Bosom of so pure a Majesty Or how can he in any measure be esteemed Holy tho in all other respects never so unblamable who is polluted in that part which is so inwardly united to the Beauty of Holiness Then Secondly if we consider God dwelling in the Soul and Body of Man there is great necessity of Purity of Heart And that upon a double Account I. Because the Spirit of God which is the Principle of all Grace and Holiness will not enter but into a pure and clean Heart II. Because no other is worthy of so Divine a Presence And first the Holy Spirit will not enter but into a pure and clean Heart For this special and gracious Presence of God is not like his General and Essential Presence universal and unlimited but fixt and confined to certain Laws and depending upon certain Conditions and Qualifications And tho the first Addresses influential Visits and distant Overtures of the Holy Spirit prevent all previous dispositions of Man who as our Church expresses it in her 10th Article cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength yet to his fix'd Dwelling and residential Abode in us 't is necessary that there be an antecedent Preparation of Heart Which I conceive to be the reason that tho all Men are at some time or other Partakers of the common and ordinary Motions of the Spirit who is said to have striven even with the old World Gen. 6. 3. yet none but very good Men have the Priviledge to be the Temples of his Residence And this whole matter I take to be distinctly represented in those Words of St. John Behold I stand at the door and knock If any Man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him Rev. 3. 20. Where by standing at the Door and knocking is meant common and preventing Grace And this indeed is used to all without any previous Qualifications But he does not come in and sup that is take up his Residence and be a familiar Ghest till his Voice be heard and the Door open'd that is till the Man has well attended to and complied with those his antecedent Motions and Suggestions till he has swept and made clean the inner Room of his Heart So that
conclude that he intended some peculiar Honour and Priviledge to this holy disposition of Soul and to signifie that it has a more than ordinary Title to the Happiness of the Beatific Vision This will include two things I. That the Pure in Heart shall have a clearer and more inlarged sight of God II. That they shall take a greater delight in what they do see of him And First They shall have a clearer and more enlarged sight of God This will depend upon two Suppositions I. Upon the peculiar Aptness of this Disposition for the Vision of God II. Upon the Will of God to afford a greater and clearer manifestation of himself to a Soul so disposed That Purity of Heart has a peculiar aptness in order to the Vision of God we need not doubt if we consider that the only reason why we see not God now is the grossness of this Tabernacle wherein the Soul is incased This is that Glass through which we now see so Darkly and which makes us do so 1 Cor. 13. 12. This is that black Skreen that parts the Material from the Intelligible World The more abstract therefore we are from the Body and from the Bodily Life the more fit we shall be both to behold and to indure the Rays of the Divine Light We find that even now the purer and finer our Blood and Spirits are the freer and clearer are our Thoughts The more bright and transparent this Glass is the more the Ideal Light will dart in upon our Souls And the same will hold in proportion hereafter The purer the Soul is the purer will all its Faculties and Operations be the less it will retain of corporeal Gusts and Relishes the more recollected and undivided will be its Powers for Unity of Thought follows Unity of Desire and the fewer things a Man desires the fewer will be his Thoughts and consequently the more strong and vigorous upon the Object where they fix To which we may add that the purer the Soul is the purer will also be her Resurrection Body which is of great moment to the Vision of God as well as to other Spiritual Operations For we must then see through a Glass as well as now only the Glass will be clearer according to the different Purity of the Soul which even in this Life gives a particular Brightness of Air to the Countenance and makes the Face to shine with an unimitable Lustre Purity of Heart therefore even upon this single account has a peculiar aptness in order to the Vision of God But to this may be added Secondly the Will of God to afford a greater and clearer manifestation of himself to a Soul so disposed For 't is highly rational to believe that God who is so great a Lover will also be a liberal Rewarder of inward Purity and that he who delights to dwell in pure Hearts now will reveal himself in a very plentiful measure to such hereafter So that both from the aptness of the Disposition and from the Will of God we may conclude That the Pure in Heart shall have a larger share of the Beatific Vision Nor shall they only see more of God but Secondly take a greater Delight in what they do see of him And this is the principal Ingredient of their Happiness For 't is not the meer having but the delighting in a thing that makes a Man happy And this is the Condition of Pure Souls The same Purity which procures them a more inlarged sight of God will also make them to delight in the Vision of him so that they shall Taste as well as See how good God is Psal 34. For the purer the Soul is the liker it is to God who is Essential Purity and the more it resembles God the more it must needs love and delight in him Likeness is the greatest indearment of Love and the most natural Foundation of Delight and Complacency We see this in all the Orders of Being and in all the Degrees of Life In the Sympathetic Associations of Vegetables in the Voluntary Consortings of Animals and in the chosen Friendships of Men. But most of all may this be seen in God himself What is it but the most perfect Likeness and Conformity of Essences Understandings and Wills that renders the Sacred Persons of the mysterious and adorable Trinity so infinitely lovely and agreeable to each other This was that which made the Father say of the Son Heb. 1. 3. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased because he saw there the Brightness of his Glory and the express image of his Person And upon this is founded that mutual Delight which the other Sacred Persons enjoy from each other That therefore which makes the Persons of the Holy Trinity delight in one another must needs make the pure Soul delight in the Holy Trinity A pure Soul cannot but delight in a pure God and the purer she is the more she will love and delight in him Purity of Heart does even here Anticipate much more then will it hereafter increase the Joys of Heaven It remains therefore that having this excellent Hope we study to purifie our selves even as God is pure and so endeavour to resemble and transcribe the Divine Perfections here that we may contemplate them with the greater Complacency and Delight hereafter To which purpose let us now and always Pray in the Words of our Holy and Devout Church O God make clean our Hearts within us And take not thy Holy Spirit from us Amen Discourse the Seventh Matth. V. ver ix Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be call'd the Children of God THE Words very well become the Mouth of him that spake them who was himself the greatest Peace-maker in the World He made Peace in Heaven by the Blood of his Cross and endeavoured to promote it on Earth He first reconciled God to Man and then tried to reconcile Men to one another He chose to be born in the most quiet and peaceful state of the Roman Empire when Augustus in token of an Universal Peace had shut up the Mystical Gates of Janus his Temple And when he came into the World his Proclamation by the Angels was Peace and when he was to leave the World the same was his Legacy John 14. Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you The Order of his whole Life was a constant Compliance with the Peace of the State whereof he gave two signal Instances in Paying Tribute when not obliged and in Forbidding Resistance of the Officer that seized him and his last Prayer was for the Peace and Unity of the Church And now since by this great Love and Study of Peace he shewed himself to be the Genuine Son of God who is styled the God of Peace 1 Cor. 14. 33. he might with the better Decorum make the same Disposition of Mind the Measure and Argument of our Filial Relation to him as he does when he tells us Blessed are
every Period of his Advance 't is still in his Power by compliance to recede from his dreadful undertaking and there calmly and deliberately submit himself to certain Execution and feel himself die with all his Thoughts Reflections and Passions about him this is Courage indeed and such a Noble Spectacle as might well deserve to be a Theatre to Angels and Men yea even to God himself These are some of those great things that illustrate the excellency of Martyrdom and shew it to be one of the highest Degrees of Vertue and consequently that it is intitled to an higher Degree of Glory Which the Scripture also expresly makes to be the Portion of Martyrs who are said to indure tortures and not to accept of deliverance that they might obtain a better Resurrection Heb. 11. A Better Resurrection that is a Resurrection to a Better State of Happiness that being the only Measure whereby one Resurrection may be said to be Better than another And says the Angel to St. John concerning those who are clothed with white Robes and had Palms in their Hands Rev. 7. 14. These are they which came out of great Tribulation and have wash'd their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the Throne of God and serve him day and night in his Temple And he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among them And now since there is a brighter Crown of Glory prepared for Martyrs and those that suffer Persecution for the sake of Righteousness all that further remains is to commend from the Premises these two Practical Inferences First That we entertain no hard Thoughts of the Justice or Goodness of God for suffering so many severe Persecutions in the Christian Church some whereof were violent as under the Roman Emperors some Fraudulent by Hereticks as Arius Nestorius c. And some of a mixt nature consisting both of Fraud and Violence when both Temporal and Spiritual Power did combine together as now in the Papal See against the Lord and his Christ I say we should learn from hence not to censure the ways of God for this nor to charge him foolishly since there is so plentiful a Reward laid up for those that suffer in the Cause of Righteousness Secondly That we do fortifie our selves with the Consideration of this Beatitude That if God should ever honour us so far as to call us to the Trial of the Cross we may be so true to God to Religion and to our own Souls as to suffer couragiously and thankfully ever looking up to that glorious Crown that white Robe and those Triumphant Palms which distinguish the Noble Army of Martyrs who eternally sing Hymns and Praise to God for the Blessing of those Crosses which now spring up into Crowns and in bearing of which they find so great Reward Glory be to God on High The Conclusion of the Whole in a Discourse concerning the Beatitudes in general HAving hitherto Discoursed upon every Beatitude particularly by it self I think it may not be improper for the further Accomplishment of this Work to conclude all with a Discourse concerning the Beatitudes in General Where there are three Material Enquiries that seem to demand Satisfaction The First is Concerning the Manner and Way of this Divine Sermon Why our Lord chose to deliver his Laws and Precepts by the way of Blessing The Second is Concerning the Number of the Beatitudes The Third is Concerning their Order and Method For Satisfaction to the first Enquiry I consider first That Christ who came into the World upon an Errand of Love the greatest Love that an infinitely good God could express to a Creature and who no doubt had also a Soul well tuned and a Body well temper'd and both set to the softest Key of Harmony and Sweetness was willing to deliver his Laws in the most indearing and charming manner that could possibly be that he might the better recommend both Himself and his Doctrin to the good Will of his Auditors and reconcile them thro the Love of the Former to the Obedience of the Latter Which is a very laudable affectation of Popularity first to engage Men's Affections to our Persons that we may the better win them over to the Acceptance and Entertainment of our Doctrins This indeed ought to be the Care and Endeavour of all Preachers but there was this more particular reason for it in our Lord because the Love of his Person was not only an Indearment of Obedience but also a very considerable part and instance of it He therefore instead of using an Imperative Style by down-right commanding such and such things chose rather in a more gentle and condescending way to insinuate what was his Will and our Duty by pronouncing them Blessed that do so and so Secondly I consider that our Lord Christ being to act the Counter-part to Moses and to relax the rigour of his Law by being the Author of a milder Dispensation thought fit to give an early and a solemn Specimen of his greater Mildness by varying the Style of his Legislation from that used by Moses And therefore whereas Moses deliver'd his Law after an Imperatorial way by saying Thou shalt not do this and Thou shalt not do that Our Good Lord chose rather to express his Law more tenderly and Humanly by declaring the Blessedness of those that should observe it And the rather because Moses had armed and immured his Law with Curses and Maledictions First in General Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them Secondly more particularly by annexing a Curse to particular Transgressions as in that famous Commination in the 27 of Deuteronomy to evey Clause of which the People were to say Amen And therefore to shew of what a different Spirit the Christian Institution was from that of Moses our Lord chose to administer his Law in a form of Blessing in Opposition to Moses his Cursings thereby verifying those farewel words of St. Peter's Sermon to the Jews in a larger sense than he intended them God having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities Act. 3. 26. Thirdly I consider that our Saviour was to deliver a Law of Love a Law that required Love both as the Matter and as the Principle of Obedience Love was both the thing to be done and the Motive of doing it The Son of God was to be the great Prophet of Love 'T was reserved for him as being the Express Image of him who is Love it self and therefore the only Master fit to teach it This was the Fire which he came to kindle upon Earth Luk. 12. 49. the most ardent and affectionate Love towards God and towards Men. This was to be the Substance and Accomplishment of his Law and the distinguishing Badge of those that profess'd Devotion to it By this shall all Men know