Tropes and Figures, Treatise 1 · Head 8 · Part 16
Saints compared to Light.
Mat. 5.14. Ye are the Light of the World; a City that is ſet on a Hill cannot be hid.
IN this Metaphor the Lord Jeſus commends unto us an holy Duty, viz. to ſhine before others in a holy Life and Doctrine. Saints ſhould be like John Baptiſt, burning and ſhining Lights.
1. Light is taken properly.
2. Metaphorically.
1. Properly, for that noble Quality that enlightens the World. Lux, claritas & ſplendor in corpore luminoſo, vel extra, à corpore luminoſo exiens, quae & Lumen dicitur. God ſaid, Let there be Light, and there was Light, &c.
2. Metaphorically, it is put for ſeveral Things. See the Firſt Volume, Book 3. p. 1, 2. Ye are the Light of the World, &c.Joh. 1.9. Mat. 4.2. Principally Chriſt himſelf is the Light of the World, the great Light that gives Light to the other Luminaries. The Saints receive Light from Chriſt, as the Moon receives her Light from the Sun, and thereby gives Light to the World in the Night. The Saints are but ſmall Lights, hence called Stars, who give but little Light in compariſon of the Sun; or they are rather as Candles, which God hath lighted and ſet up.
| Metaphor. | Parallel. |
| LIght diſcovers and makes manifeſt the Nature of Things to Men; it hath a directive Quality in it, Men thereby know which way to go; it directs Travellers in their Way. | SO the Saints of God, by their holy Life and Doctrine, reveal and make manifeſt, not only the Works of Darkneſs, but alſo the Excellency of Chriſt, Grace, and Divine Things to Men; nay,Eph. 3.10. the holy Angels are ſaid to know many Things by the Church. The Saints, by their holy Lives and Doctrines, teach and dlrect others how to live, how to behave themſelves towards God, and towards Men. |
| II. Light ſhines forth, and is viſible to all; every one that hath Eyes may ſee the Light. A Candle ſhould not be lighted, and put under a Buſhel, but on a Candleſtick, that it may give Light to all that are in the Houſe. | II. So the Saints ſhould let their good Works appear to all.Mat. 5.16. Let your Light ſo ſhine before Men, that they may ſee your good Works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. Tho the Saints ſhould do nothing through Vain-Glory, i. e. to be ſeen of Men; yet their good Works, and holy Walkings ſhould be ſo done, that others ſhould ſee it. |
| III. It is a great Mercy and Bleſſing to ſee the Light; Light is ſweet, &c. Light drives back, or expells Darkneſs. | III. So 'tis a great Bleſſing to enjoy the Company of God's People, to dwell among ſuch whoſe Converſations ſhine; for ſuch godly ones drive back or ſcatter Wickedneſs. As Solomon ſaith,Prov. 20.26. A wiſe and godly King ſcattereth the Wicked, and bringeth the Wheel over them: So every wiſe and godly Chriſtian does what in him lies to to the like: What Darkneſs did Martin Luther (that Star of the firſt Magnitude) drive away! That bleſſed Light which he afforded the World hath ſhone ſo gloriouſly, that the Devil, the Pope, and all their Adherents, notwithſtanding all their Skill, have not been able to put out to this Day. |
| IV. When the Light of the Candle is put out, which is to give Light to the whole Houſe, how do Men ſtumble, and grope in Darkneſs? | IV. So when the Saints ſhine not in Grace and Holineſs, or fall into Sin, and wickedly comply with the Evils of the Times in which they live, how do the ungodly World ſtumble and fall; the which made our Saviour to ſay,Mat. 18.7. Wo to the World becauſe of Offences, &c. 'Tis a great Judgment to the Wicked, to have thoſe who ſhould be as Lights in the World, darkened, or give occaſion of Stumbling. |
Inferences.
THis ſhews, what a great Bleſſing the World receives by means of the Godly: They are ſet up as Lights in a dark Night, to direct Men in the right Way, that they may not ſtumble and fall upon the dark Mountains.
II. Let this teach Believers their Duties; let them remember to have their Converſations honeſt among the Gentiles. Let your Light ſhine forth to others, not that you may be praiſed, but that the Praiſe may be given to God, &c. In all your holy Walking, propoſe this as your ultimate End, not that you may be magnified, and lifted up, but that God by you, and through your good Works, may be magnified, and his glorious Name advanced on high.
III. It may be an Uſe of Caution to them to take heed of Sin. If they comply with Satan, and yield to Temptations, and thereby let their Light go out, no wonder if the World ſtumble. Sometimes Profeſſors, inſtead of being Lights, prove dark Stumbling-Blocks. As to inſtance in two or three things;
1. When Profeſſors fail in their Morals, i. e. are not juſt in their Dealings between Man and Man, they give juſt cauſe of Offence.
2. When they are like the World, and none can diſcern any great difference between them and others, in reſpect of their Converſation, how can they then be ſaid to be the Light of the World?
3. When they are overcome with ſcandalous Sins, viz. are proud, covetous, Backbiters, Tattlers, Drunkards, &c.
4. When they want Love and Bowels of Compaſſion to their Brethren, they ceaſe to be the Lights of the World. They are no more a Bleſſing to the World, who thus degenerate from what they ſhould be, but rather the contrary.
Therefore if you want Motives to ſtir you up to take heed how you walk and live among Men, that you may not give occaſion of Offence or Stumbling to them, but contrary-wiſe, be as Lights to them, take theſe following,
1. Your good Works, and holy Converſation, will greatly tend to glorify God; but the contrary will greatly diſhonour him.
2. Your good Works, and godly Life, will greatly tend to the Profit of the World, but the contrary will prove to their great Hurt.
3. Your holy Life will make your Profeſſion ſhine, and alſo further the Promulgation of the Goſpel; but the contrary will bring a Stink or ill Savour upon your Profeſſion, and hinder the Promulgation of the Goſpel.
4. An evil Life hinders poor Souls from enquiring after the Truth, and ſtumbles them in the way of their Obedience to it.
5. It ſtumbles weak Chriſtians that are in the Ways of God.
6. It weakens the Hands, and grieves the Hearts of ſtrong and ſincere Ones.Phil 3.18.
7. A holy Life will free thee from Blood-guiltineſs; I mean, thou wilt not have the Blood of other Mens Souls to anſwer for: but the contrary may make thee culpable.