Works Volume 4, Sermon 2
The II. SERMON.
MATTH. 11.30.
My yoke is eaſie, and my burthen is light.
THat the Chriſtian's Heaven ſhould be acknowledged his only bliſsful ſtate, and yet they which pant for bliſs, never think fit to enquire after it; That Chriſt, the way to that heaven, ſhould be truly ſtyled by one Prophet, the deſire of all Nations; and yet they that look on him, be affirm'd by another Prophet, to ſee nothing in him that they ſhould deſire him; That a rational creature ſhould be made up of ſuch contradictions, as to deſire life moſt importunately, and yet as paſſionately to make love to death; to profeſs ſuch kindneſs to immaterial joyes, and yet immerſe and douz himſelf in carnal; to groan and languiſh for Salvation, i. e. an eternal ſtate of purity, and yet to diſclaim and flie it whenſoever any impure delight is to be parted with; might have leave to exerciſe and poſe a conſidering man, were there not one clear account to be given of this prodigy, one reaſon of this fury, the many evil reports that are brought up of the way to this good land, the prejudices, fatal prejudices infuſed into us, the vehement diſlikes and quarrels to all Chriſtian practice, that only paſſage to our only bliſs. We have heard of an Angel with a flaming Sword at the gate of Paradiſe, which our poetick fears and fancies have transformed into a Serpent at the door of the Heſperides garden, (that Angel fallen, and turned into a Devil;) we have heard of the Cannibal Anakims in the confines of the promiſed Land, that devour all that travel toward that Region: and our cowardly, ſluggiſh, aguiſh fancies have tranſplanted all theſe into Chriſtendom, made them but emblems of Chriſt's duri ſermones, the hard tasks, unmerciful burthens that he laies on his Diſciples; yea and conjured up a many ſpirits and Fairies more, ſad direful apparitions, and ſent them out all a commanded Party to repel or to traſh us, to intercept or incumber our paſſage toward Canaan, to pillage and deſpoil the Soul of all Chriſtian practice, of all that's duty in Diſcipleſhip.
Three of theſe prejudices our Saviour ſeems to have foreſeen and prevented in the words of this Text.
1. That there is no need of doing any thing in Diſcipleſhip; Chriſt came to free from yokes, to releaſe from burthens, the Goſpel's made all of promiſes, Obedience to precepts is a mere unneceſſary: And for the preventing of that prejudice, you have here as a yoke and a burthen, ſo both of Chriſt's owning, foreign & foreign, my yoke, and my burthen.
A ſecond prejudice of them that, being forc'd to confeſs the neceſſity of Chriſtian obedience, do yet reſolve it impoſſible to be perform'd, diſcerning the burthens in my Text, muſt have them unſupportable burthens, no hope, no poſſibility for us to move under them; and then ſtudium cum ſpe ſeneſcit, their induſtry is as faint as their hope, Deſperation ſtands them in as much ſtead as Libertiniſm did t'other, they are beholden to the weight of their burthens for a ſuperſedeas for taking them up. And for the preventing of that prejudice, you have here this character of Chriſt's burthen, not only ſupportable, but light; my burthen is a light burthen.
A third prejudice there is yet behind, of thoſe that having yielded the both neceſſity and poſſibility of Chriſtian obedience, are yet poſſeſt of the unpleaſingneſs and bitterneſs of it, like thoſe in the Prophet, cry out [The burthen of the Lord, the burthen of the Lord,] the yoke. a joyleſs melancholick yoke, the burthen a galling pinching burthen; and to them hath our Saviour deſigned the foreign here, as the moſt ſignificative epithet to expreſs the nature of the Chriſtian yoke. We have rendred it but imperfectly, my yoke is eaſie; it ſignifies more richly, my yoke is a benign yoke, all pleaſure and profit made up in the word: foreign, the Lord is gracious, 1 Pet. 2.3. foreign, Rom. 2.4. ſignifies the bounty, we render it, the goodneſs of God, that which immediately before is, the riches of his bounty; and proportionably the foreign, a gracious bountiful yoke, a mine, a treaſure of bounty, a good, a joyous and a gainful yoke.
And he that is thus anſwered in all his objections, confuted in all his fears, and prejudices, and excuſes for Libertiniſm, if he do not acknowledge the reaſonableneſs of Chriſt's advice, [take my yoke upon you,] take it for its own ſake, though it were not laid upon you by Chriſt, my neceſſary, my light, my gracious yoke; he that will not accept of ſome office in the houſe of ſo good a Maſter, I know not what kind of addreſs to make to him, I muſt leave him to Pythagoras's Sponde's, that could cure a Mad man, foreign, rectifie the errours of his appetite firſt, and then his mind, firſt of his ſpleen, and then his brain, before any portion of this bread of life will be diet for him.
I have drawn you the lines which lie folded up in this Text: the filling each up with colours in the ſhorteſt manner I could deviſe, would prove a work of more time than is now my portion. The expedient I have reſolved on is, to leap over the two former, and only faſten on my laſt particular, as that which includes and ſuppoſes the two former, as that which will bring its reward with it, invite and feed your patience, and in all probability obtain your belief, becauſe there is never an intereſt, never a paſſion about you that it contradicts.
Your patience being thus armed with a fight of the gueſſes, but one ſtage, and that the ſmootheſt you ever paſs'd, I ſhall preſume you ready to ſet out with me; and it is to conſider that anticipation of the third prejudice, in the Epithet affixt to Chriſt's yoke, in the fulneſs of its ſignificancy, foreign, my yoke is a benign, a gracious, a pleaſant, a good and a gainful yoke.
Yea, and that in this life, at the taking the yoke upon you; a preſent gooodneſs in it here, though there were never a treaſure of rewards, never a heaven after it: at leaſt as the preſent paradiſe of a true Diſciple is conſidered apart, abſtracted from that future expectation, my yoke is a good yoke, is for the preſent; the [foreign, Is] hath an influence on the foreign, as well as on the foreign, on the gainfulneſs of the yoke, as well as the ſupportableneſs of the burthen. And ſo you ſee the full of my ſcope, the utmoſt of my deſign, the preſent advantages of a Chriſtian courſe, the inſtant goodneſs of Chriſt's ſervice beyond all other callings and preferments in the world; a yoke, but that a good one, a yoke that ſhall never be repented of by him that bears it, whatever it be apprehended to coſt him at the taking up.
And 1. you may pleaſe to obſerve that a yoke hath nothing of hardſhip in it, 'tis ſmooth'd and fitted to the neck, rather to eaſe than preſs, rather to defend than gall; not as a weight or burthen, but only an inſtrument of advantage, to make the burthen that is to be undergone, more eaſie and ſupportable: and therefore our Saviour counts of it as that which a rational man would be content to take up of his own accord, if he knew the benefit of it, [Take my yoke upon you,] and be richly rewarded in the taking, and you ſhall find reſt unto your Soul. The entrance on Diſcipleſhip, making the New Vow, converting to God, is this taking Chriſt's yoke upon us, (as the performing the Vow, the practice of the ſeveral duties, is the moving under the burthen.) And, to prevent miſtakes, to foreſtal all poſſible objections, I ſhall acknowledge to you that there is ſome difficulty in that taking, though not in that yoke, foreign, ſome difficulty in the firſt ſetting out, in the breaking off from the former courſe, whatſoever it were; ſomewhat of fancy, ſomewhat of intereſts againſt it.
Of Fancy: To take leave of an old familiar, to carry out the whole body of ſin to its funeral, (that pompa mortis, ſo much more grievous than death it ſelf) to give up the earth to earth, corruption to corruption, with all the pompous ſolemnities attendent on an hearſe; this, I ſay, hath ſomewhat of ſadneſs in it, eſpecially to the inferior brutiſh part of the man, like the Perſian Commander in Herodotus, his fall is lamented by the Horſes and Oxen and Boeotians, all the Beſtial, rude herd of man joyning in the foreign.
So beſides, there is ſomewhat of intereſts, ſome uneaſineſs again in the motion neceſſary to ſo vaſt a change, ſome injury to the old poſſeſſors, aliquid iniqui, ſomewhat of preſſure in the change it ſelf; ſome pain in ſpiritualizing of fleſh, racking it, fetching it from the lees, ra…ifying and attenuating the foreign, the ſpirit incraſſate by vicious diet, as Philoponus calls the habituate ſinner, of returning the groſs habit of ſin to a ſpareneſs and ſlenderneſs of ſtature, an exinanition of that carnal appetite which hath brought in all the groſſer joyes which hitherto we have fed on. And the truth is, this even with Saint Paul himſelf, goes for a myſterious piece, 1 Cor. 15.51. Behold I ſhew you a myſtery, we ſhall all be changed: the change of the natural to a ſpiritual body, is a greater work than the riſing of the dead. No wonder then that the natural man generally is not ſo well ſatisfied with this. Saul is fain to be ſtruck down in the place; a kind of foreign or ſwooning fit, an expiration of the animal man, neceſſary to ſo great a change; as the LXXII. have caſt Adam not into a ſleep, (as the Hebrew Text) but into an foreign, a being hurried out of himſelf to make him capable of an helper. Thus when Chriſt was firſt born in Bethlehem, Herod the King was troubled and all Jeruſalem with him. Such great ſtupendious felicities are not brought forth without ſome pangs at birth, ſome unpleaſant throes at the delivery; the very earthly Canaan is not come to, but by paſſing through a proemial wilderneſs. Thus much by way of conceſſion of the ſome difficulty to the carnal man in taking up of Chriſt's yoke, the minute of the new creation. But that being ſuppoſed,
Let me now tell you, this is all that is of hardſhip in the Chriſtian's life, all the unacceptable even to fleſh and bloud, the inſtant of putting on the yoke, of entring into the traces, of harneſſing for the future race, foreign, as the Greek in the Acts reads it, the child-birth pangs of dying to ſin, of mortifying foreign, the affections that are ſo faſten'd on the earth, that, like a Plantagnus torn from its ſoil, they bleat and roar again; the concuſſion or fleſh-quake that follows the ſudden ſtop in the vehement courſe, the Vertigo that the forcible turn in the rapid motion begets, the ſmart that the paſſing through the purgative fire coſts us: and the fear of this one ſharp minute is that that betraies us to all the drudgery and torments in the world, that which makes us ſo ſhie of piety, ſo afraid of all ſpiritual conceptions. As you know that one terrour of dying, parting of ſuch ancient mates, makes ſome good men not over-willing to be with Chriſt, though they acknowledge it never ſo much a more valuable ſtate: Whereas could we but arme our ſelves for this one act of ſpiritual daring, the pain of aſcending the Mount Tabor, and being transfigured with Chriſt, we ſhould ſoon reſolve of the bonum eſt eſſe hic, it is good for us to be here, and ſet preſently to build us Tabernacles never to return to our old ſhapes or tents again. Could we but reſolve to ſet out on this voyage, incounter this one Giant, ſon of Anak, the breaking off from our old cuſtoms, there were then nothing but Canaan behind, that foreign, as once Homer called Greece, the pap of the earth, that fountain of milk and hive of hony, (all the Bees and Hornets driven out of it) a ſucceſſion of uninterrupted felicities ſtreaming through it. Could we but repel the fancy, or ſupport the pangs of one ſhort travail, in contemplation of the joy which the man-child will within a few minutes bring into the world with him,Heſ. l. 1. (foreign,) I am confident, Chriſt would be once more, not only foreign in Jacob's prophecy, not only the expectation, but withal the joy, the ſenſuality of the very Gentiles, that which fleſh and bloud, man in every of his moſt inferiour capacities, the rational, the moral, yea and the carnal man would thirſt with more joy, taſt with more raviſhment, devour with leſs ſatiety, than ought which his preſent confections of luxury did ever yield him, and thence break out into the Virgin-Mother's Magnificat, a tranſportation of joy for the approach of the birth of ſo much bleſſedneſs; or into old Simeon's Nunc dimittis, deſire no more joy in this life, than that which infallibly attends the taking a Saviour into his arms, thoſe intimate embraces of Chriſt in the regenerate heart.
To make this more viſible and acknowledged in the retail than 'tis in the groſs, in the coyn than 'tis in the bullion, I ſhall require your patience but to theſe two heads of probation. One, by viewing ſeverally ſome of the chief duties of Chriſtianity. The other, by enumeration of the ſpecial good things which have ever been prized by mankind.
The firſt, I ſay, by ſurveying the duties of a Chriſtian, the tasks that are preſcribed him by Chriſt, the particulars of his yoke and burthen. Conſider them a while, and if they be not the object of all other mens envy, if his toyls be not demonſtrably the vaſteſt pleaſures, his exerciſes the moſt joyous divertiſements and higheſt rank of entertainments that any mortal hath arrived to, I ſhall be content with Caſſandra's fate, never to be credited in my affirmations.
For inſtance, Well-doing in general, in the firſt place, the conſcience of any degree of having diſcharged any part of duty, that [euge, bone ſerve] from the God within thee, what a raviſhment is it to any the meaneſt undertaker? what an olio of all high taſts compounded together? Their very enemies could ſay it of the Athenians in ‖foreign.Thucydides, That there was nothing that they could count feaſt or banquet, but the having done what they ought. And the *Herod. l. 8.Perſians, when they beheld the ſolemnity of the Grecian Olympick games, ſuch courage and patience of the combatants, and no reward expected but an Olive crown, expoſtulate with Mardonius, Why doſt thou bring us to fight againſt thoſe, who fight not for mony, but vertue? A conſcience of having done well, ſerv'd in with a few leaves about it, was it ſeems the daintieſt diſh, and moſt animating emboldning reward in nature. And if a Chriſtian cannot outvie thoſe Heathens, if it be not in our breaſts, as it is in the Tranſlations of our Bibles [a merry heart, all one with a good conſcience] and the attribute of that, a continual feaſt to thee as it was to Solomon, believe it, thy taſt is mortified, thou art no competent judge of dainties. And that is one part, or indeed the ſumme, of all Chriſt's yoke, foreign, in all things a good conſcience.
In the ſecond place, not to lead you out of the moſt vulgar rode, that our diſcourſe may be the more demonſtrative, the Trinity of Theological vertues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, what are they, but ſo many elevations of the Soul above all that's mean and painful; ſo many ſteps of entrance into obedience and bliſs, into diſcipleſhip and paradiſe together?
For Faith, 'tis S. Peter's expreſſion, foreign, believing you do exult for joy; 1 Pet. 1.8.Faith naturally hath that acquieſcence and joy in it, and that a foreign, an inexpreſſible and glorified joy, even in this life. Take it but in the meaner of its offices, as it is a truſting God with our temporal weal, a full ſubmiſſion not only to the will, but wiſdom of God, a reſolution that God can chuſe for us better than we for our ſelves, that whatever he ſends, his hotteſt or bittereſt potion, is fit for our turns, and ſo abſolutely better, and even to us (when we ſee 'tis his will) more eligible, more deſireable than any thing we could have prayed for. That chearful valiant reſignation of all into God's hands, with an old Eli's Dominus eſt, It is the Lord, let him do what ſeemeth him good, what a bleſſed pill of reſt is this unto the Soul? what a Sabbath from all that ſervile work, thoſe horrid perjuries, thoſe baſe ſubmiſſions, that the covetous Mammoniſt or cowardly trembler drudges under? Though the earth ſhake, or the hills be carried into the midſt of the Sea, he is the Cube indeed that Socrates pretended to be, he hath a baſis that will not fail, his feet ſtand faſt, he believeth in the Lord. He hath gotten a ſuperiority of mind, that all this region of meteors cannot diſquiet; he hath rifled all the Sects of the old Philoſophers, robb'd each of them of his maſter-piece; the Sceptick of his foreign & foreign, indifference and untroubledneſs; the Stoick of his foreign, he hath none of the tragical complaints how tragical ſoever his ſufferings be; and Epicurus of his foreign, tranquillity or calm of mind, to the acquiring of which all his philoſophy was deſigned, a thing ſo hugely pleaſurable, that he hath been taken for a carnal voluptuous ſwine ever ſince, upon no other merit but for ſeeking out thoſe great compoſers of the Soul, ſo much beyond all other Senſuality. Thoſe boaſts, I ſay, and prides, thoſe dreams and wiſhes of thoſe Philoſophers, are now the reality and acquiſition of a Chriſtian, an Epicuriſm which faith, and only faith, undertakes to furniſh us with. A thing ſo deeply conſiderable, that I cannot but reſolve all the differences of mens eſtates and fortunes, as well as Souls, their ſecular felicity and infelicity, as well as piety and impiety, to proceed from this one fountain opened by Chriſt to the Houſe of David: No Prince more happy than the Peaſant in the preſent advantages of this life, but as he hath more faith than he; the ſpring of our daily miſery, as well as our ſins, is the [foreign, O ye of little faith.]
And ſo certainly for Hope, that ſecond Chriſtian Gemm, that Royal High Prieſt of ours that enters within the Veil, takes poſſeſſion before-hand of all that's rich or ſecret, brings down all the Treaſures of another world to be our daily portion in this, hope of Eternity, hope of Heaven, you will not wonder if I aſſure you; 'tis a far pleaſanter Companion than the poſſeſſion of all worldly preferments. You would be amazed to hear a Papiſt deſcribe his Purgatory flames ſo ſcorching, and yet go chearfully out of this world into the midſt of thoſe flames: but he will ſatisfie your wonder when he tells you, that the expectation of the heavenly joys that thoſe flames do confirm and aſcertain to him, though after never ſo many hundred years *foreign.the precious hope that dwells there, and the aſſurance of a ‖foreign.Title in Heaven, a portion in that glorious foreign or inrolment, is richly ſufficient to allay thoſe flames to make thoſe ſcorchings ſupportable. And then judge what a confluence of pleaſures is this one grace ſuppoſed to be, which is reſolved ſufficient to ſweeten and recommend a Tophet, to make torments deſirable; like the kind gales and benign vapours under the Line that Menardus tells of, which make the Torrid'ſt Clime habitable; and the preſence of that Fourth in Nebuchadnezzar's Fornace, which makes the Three Children ſing in the midſt of flames.Ep. med.
As for Charity, that is certainly the foreign, ſuperiour to either Faith or Hope, for joy and pleaſure, as well as uſe and excellency. Can there be any thing ſo raviſhing as love, love of ſo for-ever-ſatisfying a beauty, that heroical improvement and elevation of Soul, the want of which is as great a puniſhment as 'tis a ſin, as much of hell in the extinction of this flame as in the raging of that, in the chill, numm'd, as in the raving tormented ſpirit, as fatal a Lethargy from the one, as Fever from the other? If any man love not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, let him be Anathema Maranatha, ſaith St. Paul. Bleſſed Apoſtle! I cannot imagine thy Goſpel-ſpirit could permit thee to deliver thoſe words as a wiſh, or prayer for curſes on any, even enemy of Chriſt; may not this form of ſpeech be a Scheme of Apoſtolick Rhetorick? If any man love not the Lord Jeſus, he is and ſhall be, for the very preſent he is the interpretation of thoſe thundring ſounds, anathema maranatha, a miſerable accurſed creature; the very not loving, the chilling of that bleſſed paſſion within his breaſt, is the ſaddeſt curſe that the Devil could deſign his hated'ſt enemy.
Add unto this that other branch of Charity, that ray which Prometheus in the figure ſtole from heaven, to inſpire and warm the world with, that inferiour elementary fire, love of our fellow-men, our fellow-Chriſtians; and tell me if there be any thing ſo capable not only of the quàm bonum, but the quàm jucundum too, that hath ſo much of the pleaſant as well as the vertuous in the compoſition. The ground of all pleaſure is agreement and proportionableneſs to the temper and conſtitution of any thing; the reaſon, ſaith Boethius, that men love Muſick ſo well, is the anſwerableneſs of the Notes in that, to thoſe obſerved by nature in the fabrick of our bodies: And ſay we, is there any thing ſo agreeable and harmonical, ſo conſonant to our reaſonable nature, to the ingenuity of our kind, and conſequently, ſo univerſally delightful to all that have not put off Man in exchange for Panther and Tigre, as that which Chriſt hath left us our duty, yea, and our reward, the loving of the brethren, that language, that Song of love that we are to practiſe here, that we may chant it in heaven eternally? 'Tis ſaid to be a ſpeech of Chriſt's which the Nazaren Goſpel hath recorded, though our Bibles have not, (and it ſeems by St. John, all was not written which Chriſt ſpake to them) Nunquam laeti ſitis niſi cum fratrem in charitate videritis; There is no ſpectacle of delight to a Chriſtian, nothing of value ſufficient for a Diſciple to rejoyce at, but to ſee his fellow-Diſciples embracing one another in love: And they ſay, Mahomet was ſuch an admirer of this quality, that he once reſolved to have inſerted a Precept of good-fellowſhip among his Laws, becauſe he thought he had obſerved (though moſt ridiculouſly miſtaken) that that which is indeed the bane, was a promoter of this Charity. I conceive I have the ſuffrage of all mankind, that Charity is a pleaſing grace; and of the wiſeſt and moſt pondering obſervers, that Friendſhip is *foreign.the only ſweet neighbour and companion of life, that which being drained from its baſer mixtures (which would otherwiſe cauſe ſatiety) becomes the prime ingredient in the glorified Saints, of whoſe ſtate we underſtand little, but that they are happy and love one another, and in that for ever happy, that they for ever love one another; charitas nunquam excidit, and ſo their bliſs nunquam excidit, neither. And then, behold and admire the goodneſs of this yoke; Chriſt's deſign even in this life to ſet up charity, friendſhip above all vertues, as high as it is above all felicities, to ſettle that for the prime Chriſtian duty, which hath moſt of preſent bleſſedneſs in it, to make that our burthen which is our bliſs, our yoke which is our boon; and withall to ſeparate it from all thoſe mixtures which would either imbitter or ſhorten, cool or ſatiate our love, the luſts and exceſſes and the prides that would make the moſt ingenuous delight either leſs ingenuous or leſs delightful; that love of my Brother's vertues, love of his Soul; love of the Nature that Chriſt aſſumed, and died for, and carried to Heaven with him; love of the Image of God in him, that moſt tranſporting, durable pleaſure. And all this will be abundantly ſufficient to make up a ſecond inſtance of the foreign, the graciouſneſs and pleaſantneſs of this yoke.
A Third ſhall be, by referring you to the moſt extemporary view of the commands of the Decalogue, which Chriſt came not to deſtroy, but to fill up and perfect. Temperance is the only Epicuriſm; Continence or Conjugal Chaſtity the only Superſedeas to that black flame, that is the Incontinent's daily Hell even in this life: But above all, that Precept of the Old, and Myſtery or Craft of the New Teſtament, [Thou ſhalt not covet] that of Contentment with whatſoever lot, the prohibition of *foreign.all deſire, which ſeemeth ſuch a galling reſtraint to the carnal man, with his ‖foreign.bored tub of inſatiate deſire (as Jamblichus calls it) about him; but to him that hath taken this yoke upon him, is the gainfulleſt, not duty, but donative, not burthen, but purchaſe and preferment, that any mortal is capable of. The Philoſopher could reſolve it the way to help any man to whatever he wanted, detrahere cupiditatibus, to pare ſo much off from his deſires, as his deſires were larger than his fortune. To bring down his ambitions to his lot, would be as rich a prize as the compaſſing and acquiring all his ambitions. Contentment is (in earneſt) the Philoſopher's Stone, that makes Gold of any thing; the Pandora's Box, that hath all wealth and honour and pleaſure in its diſpoſing; makes the pooreſt Eremite the richeſt poſſeſſor; the moſt ſcorned abject, the moſt honourable perſon; the Recluſe, or the mortified Chriſtian, the moſt voluptuous liver in a Kingdom; every diminution that can come by the malice of men or devils, *foreign. Heſ. foreign. l. 1.a pleaſurable calamity; whilſt the largeſt poſſeſſions in nature without this one skill, [foreign] this ſovereign piece of Alchymy, are ſtill the perfecteſt beggery imaginable. The Devil's whole Map or Landskip of all the Kingdoms and glory, if (as liberally offered, ſo) actually beſtowed, is not able to ſatisfie the luſts of one eye, much leſs to fill up the angles and vacuities of one heart without it. That one prudent inſtruction of [Quod ſis eſſe velis, nih…lque malis] in one Poet, or [Permittes ipſis expendere numinibus] in another,Od. 19. or [foreign] in a third, [Stand ſtill and ſee the ſalvation of our God] is a far richer proviſion than all their more glittering fictions of Golden Apples,Od. 16. and Golden Showers, and Golden Fleeces, and Golden Rods, that could make ſuch ſudden metamorphoſes, yea, and of the foreign, the Golden Nets, the Golden Ages can afford us. In heaven, ſaith Chriſt they neither eat nor drink, marry, nor are given in marriage, and yet are better ſatisfied and pleaſed than they below, that are fed in Mahomet's Dining-room, or lodged in his Seraglio: The not deſiring thoſe pleaſures of life is to them the ſame thing with advantage, that the enjoying them is to others, (as the Poet that begs two things of Mars, *foreign. Hom. hym. in Mart.Either valour for war, or peace that he may not need that valour, would be richly provided for, which ſoever was granted him.) And this is, in Chriſt's language, being foreign, equal to the very Angels. It ſeems, 'tis the Angels ſpecial advantage above us men, that they deſire not the foreign, the all theſe things, which the luggage of fleſh about us, makes to us ſo neceſſary; and no ſuch Crane, ſuch Engine to elevate our nature to this foreign, to this ſo Angelical a ſtate, as foreign, this ſo liberal a Science of Contentment, which not only makes Romances creditable, finds mines in our Cloſets, under every Cuſhion we kneel on, rains down both the Indies into our Treaſury, ſatisfies all our needs, fills all our vacuities; but is withall the nobleſt act of wiſdom, of ſuperiority of mind, of proweſs, and conqueſt of our ſelves, that any Book but that of Life, any place but Heaven can give us ſtory of; and therefore ſure a foreign, a yoke, a command of Chriſt, but that a benign and gainful yoke, in the third place.
A fourth inſtance I cannot omit, though I ſuppoſe the moſt vulgar fancy hath prevented me in it, becauſe Ariſtotle hath a Note in his Rhetoricks, that ſome kind of Auditors are moſt wrought upon by ſuch; and that is from the Catalogue of the bleſſing Graces, in the Fifth of Matthew, Bleſſed are the poor in ſpirit, the meek, &c. In the preſent, they are bleſſed, yea, and would be ſo, though there were never a Heaven of bleſſedneſs behind for them. Will you examine the truth of this in a few of them?
1. Poverty of Spirit: whether a preparation of ſpirit to be poor, and then 'tis bleſſed Contentment that juſt now we parted with; or whether it be Humility, bleſſed humility, and then, beſides the advantages it hath toward another life, grace to the humble, to the humble more grace, and at laſt, heaven to the humble, yea, and more heaven (as in the learned rules of Husbandry they are appointed *foreign, Heſ. l. 2.to plough, to ſow, and to reap too all naked, humility, pourtraied by that nakedneſs being the only auſpicious poſture, the only catholick qualification for all ſeaſons,) beſides theſe advantages, I ſay, 'tis over and above, even in the eye of the world an amiable graceful quality, hath a preſent ſecular bleſſedneſs in it, a calm of Soul to it ſelf, a controlling lovelineſs in reſpect of others, and a world of conveniences attending it. 'Tis that wherein heaven and earth are met as Rivals: God himſelf a making court to it, With him will I dwell, and in the Oracle,—foreign there are two Reſidences, Palaces, Thrones for God, Heaven, and an humble Soul: and for men, a plain foreign and foreign to them, an Enchantment or Charm of reſpect and love, whereever 'tis met with; whereas in the mean time Pride goes alone in ſtate, only with a train of menial ſcorns and curſes after it; 'tis a kind of excommunicating ſin, drives away confidents, counſellors, ſervants, graces, the very credit and reputation which it courts, all kind of company but devils and paraſites, that peſſimum genus inimicorum, that worſe kind of devil of the two. So true is that of Solomon, Prov. 16.19. Better is it to be of an humble ſpirit with the lowly, than to divide the ſpoil with the proud: the compariſon there is ſet as betwixt the lowly and proud, ſo betwixt the humble ſpirit and dividing the ſpoil; there is no need to mention any benefit of humility, the humble ſpirit, it ſeems, is reward enough to it ſelf, and all the proud man's prizes are not comparable to it in this life.
So for Meekneſs, 'tis a lovely grace again, The ornament of a meek and quiet ſpirit, 1 Pet. 3. a more gallant embroidery, more enamouring dreſs, which hath more of the Agreeable in the look of it, than all the other helps of beauty can afford that Sex which is there ſpoken of: but eſpecially that notion of meekneſs that conſiſts in obedience to our lawful Superiours, which (beſide the many other conveniences of it, that thy days may be long in the land, &c. long life in a Canaan) is a moſt advantageous gainful duty, ſuch as, if it had applications made to it, would infallibly leave the Prince the only uneaſie perſon in the Kingdom, becauſe he only were aſſigned the task, the painful, thankleſs, yet neceſſary, task of commanding, and deprived of the obſequii gloria, that far more glorious, I will add and pleaſant, way of obeying. The glory of it is ſuch, as that Gerſon having diſcerned in the Angels two habitudes, one of *Mentémque profundam circumeunt. Boeth.waiting upon God, the other in the ruling and managing of things below, reſolves, that if that Angel were to ſet himſelf out in a luſtre, to triumph in a Magnificat, it would be certainly in the Virgin Mary's ſtyle, humilitatem famuli, that he were a meek ſervant of God's, rather than a Prince of ſo many Myriads of ſubjects. And for pleaſure, I ſhall profeſs my ſenſe ſo far from doting on that popular Idol, Liberty, that I hardly think it poſſible for any kind of obedience to be more painful than an unreſtrained liberty: Were there not ſome bounds of Magiſtrate, of Laws, of Piety, of Reaſon in the heart, every man would have a Fool, they ſay, I add, a mad Tyrant, to his Maſter, that would multiply him more ſorrows than the briars and thorns did Adam, when he was freed from the bliſs at once and the reſtraint of Paradiſe, and was ſure greater ſlave in the Wilderneſs than he was in the Encloſure. Would but the Scripture permit me that kind of Idolatry, the binding my faith and obedience to any one viſible infallible Judge or Prince, were it the Pope, or the Mufti, or the Grand Tartar, might it be reconcileable with my Creed, it would be certainly with mine intereſts to get preſently into that poſture of obedience. I ſhould learn ſo much of the Barbarian Ambaſſadors in Appian, which came on purpoſe to the Romans to negotiate for leave to be their ſervants: 'Twould be my policy, if not my piety, and may now be my wiſh, though not my faith, that I might never have the trouble to deliberate, to diſpute, to doubt, to chuſe, (thoſe ſo many profitleſs uneaſineſſes) but only the favour to receive commands, and the meekneſs to obey them; ſo demonſtrably true is the foreign, (the very meekneſs is their bleſſedneſs) and from thence this part of the gainfulneſs of this yoke.
I will detain you but with one more of that Catalogue, that of Mercifulneſs, the pleaſurableſt burthen in the world; there's no ſuch kind of inward delight and ſenſuality, as it were. *foreign. Heſ. l. 1.Liberality is a kind of tickling to the Soul, 'tis hard to conceal the pleaſure of it, to keep it from boiling over, from running out at mouth in vain-glory. To make a poor man happy, and by a ſeaſonable alms to reprieve and reſcue him that was, as it were, appointed to death, is that God-like quality, as Pythagoras agrees with Chriſt, that kind of creative power, that of all things men are beſt pleaſed with; and therefore naturally they love thoſe better, as their creatures, whom they have thus obliged, than any their liberalleſt benefactors. This the good-natur'd Tyrant Phalaris, if his Image be truly drawn in his Epiſtles, took more joy in, than in all his other Greatneſs, deſign'd that Tyranny (that coſt him and others ſo dear) to no other end, than that it might yield him that one pleaſure, the power of obliging many and accordingly he wooes and beſeeches to be allowed this favour, nay quarrels and threatens his Bull to thoſe that would not afford him this joy, of pouring out his largeſſes upon them. This ſo delightful a piece of duty, ſo perfect voluptuouſneſs to any ingenuous man, is withal, let me tell you, be it never ſo incredible, the gainfulleſt trade, the thrivingeſt way of merchandiſe for the wealth of this world, that any Projector can direct you to. Give me leave for once to interpoſe in ſecular affairs thus far, as to aſſure you of that, that I will pawn my whatever is mine for the truth of it, (and for which I conceive I have ſo many plain promiſes in the Scripture, that 'twere infidelity (in me, I am ſure) to doubt of it) That the exerciſe of this duty of alms-giving was never the impoveriſhing of any Family, but conſtantly the enriching. Let it be tried, and I will once ſet up the Enſurers Office, that whatever goes out on that Voyage ſhall never miſs to come home with gain: there is no man that parteth with any thing for Chriſt's ſake, ſaith he, but he ſhall have an hundred-fold more in this life. Add but this foreign to the foreign, this of gain to that of delight, the policy to the even ſenſual raviſhment of it, and you will reſolve that Chriſt was a good Maſter; that if you had been call'd to counſel at that great Parliament, had had your Negative in that power of making Laws for Mankind, you would not have choſen a ſmoother and more agreeable yoke for your ſelves than this that Chriſt hath deſign'd for you.
I promiſed to make this as evident by another head of probation, the enumeration of the ſpecial goods that have ever been prized by Mankind; but that were a new Deep, and you have no ſtock of patience to hold out that Voyage. Among all that have ever pretended to that Title, I will ſuppoſe that of Honour hath gotten the Primogeniture, ſupplanted all other Pretenders, in an ingenuous Auditory; and therefore one word to that, and I ſhall think I have made good my undertaking.
Honour I conceive to be the Daughter of Heroick action, and ſpecially of Victory: And is there any ſuch ſweeping triumphant Conqueror in the world as the regenerate Chriſtian? foreign, he overcometh the world: overcomes himſelf, that Lion and that Bear that David combated with, his furious rageful Paſſions, Achelous in all his ſhapes; and is always in purſuit of that Victory, foreign, ſtill in the preſent, he is always overcoming: overcomes enemies, *foreign.the injurious perſon, by not retributing of injuries, the very tyrant perſecutor, (whoſe adoration he hath, when he can get none of his mercy, whilſt t'other that is frighted out of his conſcience and integrity, is ſcorn'd and kick'd into hell by him) yea, and the Devil, that foreign, the evil one, whom when the Chriſtian reſiſts, he conquers, (fugiet, he ſhall flie from thee;) yea, and overcomes, and reproaches, and triumphs over all the world beſides, practiſes thoſe duties upon Chriſt's commands, which neither Jew nor Heathen ever thought themſelves obliged to. Athenagoras can challenge all the Philoſophers and Law-givers of the world to equal Chriſt in one Precept, or Chriſtians in one practice of theirs, that of bleſſing of enemies; and no Goliah of Gath being able to anſwer his challenge, no uncircumciſed Philiſtine of confidence to meet him, (foreign,) the Chriſtian is the only victor, he conquers the whole world about him, yea, and thoſe glittering Courtiers of the ſuperior world, outvies and conquers Angels in that one dignity of ſuffering for Chriſt, and ſo becomes the renowned'ſt Champion under heaven.
To this I ſhould add again, if I had not ſaid ſo much of it already, and if 'twere not a baſer earthier conſideration, the profit and ſecular advantage, of which the Chriſtian life (let the inſenſate worldling think what he will) hath the peculiar only promiſe from him which hath the ſole diſpoſing of it. Some miſtakes there are in judging what worldly Proſperity is. Let it be reſcu'd from theſe miſtakes, as particularly from that of ſignifying a preſent few months viciſſitude of power and wealth, (ſo ſure to be paid (and confuted from deſerving that Title) by that of the Prophet, When thou ceaſeſt to ſpoil, thou ſhalt be ſpoiled;) let it ſignifie, as alone it doth truly ſignifie, that competency, not that ſuperfluity, which hath all the advantages, and none of the pains, of wealth in it; and no queſtion the doing our duty (though it be the preſent leaving of all for Chriſt's ſake) is that which doth not uſe to fail of the liberalleſt ſort of harveſt, the hundred-fold more in this life, i. e. all the true advantages of thoſe poſſeſſions, without that addition, which would be bare profitleſs incumbrance, and which, if it were added, would prove a moſt diſadvantageous diminution. I ſhall venture the brand and puniſhment that belongs to the moſt infamous Cheat, whenever any Diſciple of Chriſt ſhall think fit to call me his underminer or enemy for this doctrine, when he ſhall think fit to tell me really, that Honeſty is not the only Prudence, the ſureſt foundation and treaſure of worldly bliſs.
I have done with the particulars I promiſed: And now put all together, and you will never think the Preacher a Tyrant more, never pity the Melancholick, but envy the raviſhments of him that hath taken up this yoke (yea, though it have a Croſs annexed to it) to follow Chriſt; you will never put in for your part in Mahomet's Paradiſe, exchange your purer Goſpel for a groſſer Alco…an, having in this very yoke of Chriſt a ſatisfaction to all your longings, a richer harveſt of joys in the preſent poſſeſſion than all the falſe Prophets and falſe Chriſts could feign for their Clients in the lateſt reverſion. And having thus fortifi'd you, I ſhall now challenge the Rival Satan to come out to thee, to bring forth his pleas and pretenſions for thee, to interpoſe his exceptions, if he have any, why this hour ſhould not be the ſolemn Aera, the date of thy long farewel to the Kilns and Fleſh-pots of Aegypt, why this minute ſhould not be that of the bleſſed ſhrill Trumpet's ſound, that of proclaiming a Jubilee, a manumiſſion for thee (and all thy fellow captives) never to return to his Gallies again, who art offered ſo far a more gainful, more eaſie, more pleaſant, and more liberal Service. Satan, I am confident, dares not ſay, his wages are comparable to thoſe that here I have tendred thee from Chriſt: let him ſhew me in all his Kingdoms of the earth, in his Treaſury of gold, or Gynaeceum of beauty, any thing fit to be a Rival with the Graces, not which the Poets feign, but, which the Sermon on the Mount preſcribes, (ingredient and conſtitutive of a Chriſtian) both for the gain and pleaſure, the commodity and the delight of them even to fleſh and blood, (when the one Bedlam-heat of youth, or Lethargick cuſtom of ſin is over) and I ſhall no longer pretend to get any Proſelyte out of his hands.
And if after all this, I muſt be content with the fate of other Sermons, to have play'd a vain-glorious prize, foreign, wounding none but the air this whole hour together; if I muſt miſcarry in this ſo charitable undertaking, and may not be heard when I come but to comply with you in all your intereſts, to direct you through one Canaan to another, to lay you out a Paradiſe here for your rode to an eternal Heaven; I confeſs I am fallen upon a peeviſh auditory, a company of ſick phancies and creſt-faln ſouls: For whoſe cure,
I might yet farther ſet off all this, and improve it into little leſs than a Demonſtration, by the view of the contrary not only unpleaſant and unprofitable, but even painful, tormenting, trade of ſin; thoſe ſo many Limbo's in paſſage to the deeper hell; that Sodom of filth and burning, in the way to a Tophet of worms and flames. But I had rather fanſie you the Sheep in Ariſtotle which the green bough would lead, than the Goats in the ſame Philoſopher that the nettles muſt ſting; whom the cords of a Man might draw, than the whips of Scorpions drive into Paradiſe, into Canaan; being confident that I have at this time revealed ſuch pretious truths unto you, that he whom they do not melt, and charm, and win to enter into this ſo neceſſary, ſo fecible, ſo gainful a ſervice, Father Abraham's Divinity would prejudge and conclude againſt him, that neither will that man convert, though one ſhould riſe from the dead and preach unto him. If there be any here of this unhappy temper, the only reſerve I have to reſcue him is my prayer, that God would touch his heart, that he would ſay Ephphatha; that if there be an… conſolation in Chriſt, any comfort of love, any vertue, any praiſe, any ſuch thing as Paradiſe here, or Heaven hereafter, we may every of us think of theſe things, and having entred into the bleſſed Family of this good Maſter, we may all ſerve him acceptably here, fight under his Banner, overcome by his conduct, and reign with him triumphantly hereafter.
Now to him which hath elected, created, redeemed, called, juſtified us, will conſummate us in his good time, will proſper this his Ordinance to that end, will lead us by his grace to his glory; To him, &c.