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theological ^cmiuiivUt 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J". 
 
 BR 45 .B35 1803 
 Hampton lectures 
 
SERMONS 
 
 ON THE ' 
 
 MISSION AND CHARACTER OF CHRIST, 
 
 AND ON 
 
 THE BEATITUDES: 
 
 COMPREHENDING WHAT WERE PREACHED 
 
 BEFORE 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, 
 IN THE YEAR MDCCCIII. 
 
 AT THE LECTURE 
 
 FOUNDED BY THE LATE JOHN BAMPTON, M. Ajt^ctu 
 
 CANON OF SALISBURY: t OO ^ 
 
 BY JOHN FARRER, M. A. 
 
 OF aUEEN's COLLEGE, 
 
 RECTOR OF THE UNITED PARISHES OF 
 
 ST. CLEMENT EASTCHEAP AND ST. MARTIN ORGARS, 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 OXFORD: 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, FOR THE AUTHOR ; 
 
 Sold by j. cooke, oxford; and by f. c. and j. rivington, 
 ST. Paul's church yard, London. 
 
 1804, 
 
TO 
 THE RIGHT REVEREND 
 
 GEORGE 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN, 
 
 AND 
 
 DEAN OF ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL CHURCH, 
 LONDON. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 In publiflilng thefe Difcourfes 
 I am prompted by a powerful motive to the 
 liberty now taken of ii:ifcribing them to your 
 Lordfhip. It was by a former Work of a 
 kindred nature that I had firft the happinefs 
 of engaging your notice : And I am anxious 
 to embrace the opportunity thus afforded, of 
 making my pubUc acknowledgement for the 
 creditable ftation in which you have lately 
 placed me. The value of your Patronage is to 
 me much enhanced by the confideration, that 
 a 3 in 
 
[ vi ] 
 in the field of Chriftian Theology your Lord- 
 fliip holds a diillnguiflied and venerable name. 
 The Benefit conferred by fo rcfpedable a Pa- 
 tron refledis an honour on the Receiver him- 
 iclf, and alfo ftamps a credit on his Profeffional 
 
 Exercifes. 
 
 I remain. 
 My Lord, 
 With profound refped: and gratitude, 
 Your Lordfliip's moft obliged 
 and moft obedient Servant, 
 
 JOHN FARRER. 
 
 St. Cllmkn't's, London, 
 1804. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 _l HE Subjed: of this Volume comprehends 
 an extenfive range in Divinity, as, when 
 conlidered in its different views, it embraces 
 both the Teftimonles of Chriftian Faith and 
 the Elements of Chriftian Dodrine. On 
 this account the Author trufts that it may be 
 regarded as no unfuitable Thefis for that 
 Courfe of Lecture Sermons, wdiich he has 
 been appointed to preach before the Univer- 
 fity of Oxford. 
 
 Without attempting a more fyftematic 
 form, the method here purfucd is to take for 
 the grounds of the feveral Difcourfes certain 
 Texts or Portions of the Prophecies of Ifaiah 
 and of the Gofpels, w^hich appear to be moll 
 replete with argument on the fubjecl pro- 
 pofed. This plan may be thought more fa- 
 vourable to unity of defign in detached or 
 fmgle Sermons, than in a Courfe of Sermon§ 
 confidered as a Whole. Yet in this point of 
 view he prefumes his work is not materially 
 deficient, as from the order here adopted 
 fome appearance may be traced of regular 
 
 progreffion,. 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 progreffion, from the Evidences to the Prin- 
 ciples, from the Principles to the Duties, 
 from the Duties to the Motives, of the Chrif- 
 tian Religion. 
 
 It may readily be conceived, that a fub- 
 jed: of this nature cannot always without 
 difadvantage be exa(flly apportioned to a pre- 
 fcribed nvimber of Lectures or a limited 
 meafure of Difcourfe. This he hopes will 
 be accepted as his apology to the Univerfity 
 for taking a larger compafs in his work, 
 when prefented to the Public, than he had 
 opportunity of doing, when delivered from 
 the Pulpit. It may be proper to flate, that 
 two additional Sermons are inferted, namely, 
 the Second and the Fifth, adapted to the 
 two great Solemnities of the Chriftian Year, 
 the Nativity and the Paffion of our Lord. 
 And the Portion of difcourfe on the Beati- 
 tudes, which w^as delivered in two Parts, is 
 amplified into a feries of Sermons correfpond- 
 ing to the fubjeds of the feveral Beatitudes. 
 
 At the fame time he hopes, that this En- 
 largement of his Plan will be admitted as 
 fome excufe for the unavoidable delay of the 
 publication. 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 REV. JOHN BAMPTON, 
 
 CANON OP SALISBURY. 
 
 — " I give and bequeath my Lands and 
 
 ** Eftates to the Chancellor, MafVers, and Scholars 
 *' of the Univerlity of Oxford for ever, to have 
 " and to hold all and lingular the faid Lands or 
 " Eftates upon truft, and to the intents and pur- 
 " pofes hereinafter mentioned ; that is to fay, I 
 *' will and appoint that the Vice-Chancellor of 
 *' the Univerlity of Oxford for the time being fhall 
 *' take and receive all the rents, ifTues, and pro- 
 ** fits thereof, and (after all taxes, reparations, and 
 *' necelTary dedu6lions made) that he pay all the 
 *' remainder to the endowment of eight Divinity 
 " Le6lure Sermons, to be eftablifhed for ever in 
 " the faid Univerlity, and to be performed in the 
 ** manner following : 
 
 " I direct and appoint, that, upon the firft 
 " Tuefday in Eafter Term, a Ledlurer be yearly 
 
 " chofen 
 
C ^ ] 
 
 *' chofen by the Heads of Colleges only, and by 
 '* no others, in the room adjoining to the Print- 
 *^ ing-Houfe, between the hours of ten in the 
 " morning and two in the afternoon, to preach 
 " eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year fol- 
 *' lowing, at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the 
 "^ commencement of the laft month in Lent Term, 
 " and the end of the third week in A6t Term. 
 
 " Alfo I dived: and appoint, that the eight Di- 
 " vinity Le6lure Sermons fhall be preached upon 
 " either of the following Subje6ls — to confirm 
 " and eftablifh the Chriftian Faith, and to con- 
 ** fute all heretics and fchifmatics — upon the di- 
 '^ vine authority of the holy Scriptures — upon 
 *' the authority of the writings of the primitive 
 " Fathers, as to the faith and practice of the pri- 
 " mitive Church — upon the Divinity of our 
 '• Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrifl — upon the Di- 
 " vinity of the Holy Ghoft — upon the Articles 
 *' of the Chrillian Faith, as comprehended in the 
 '' Apoftles' and Nicene Creeds. 
 
 *' Alfo I direc^V, that thirty copies of the eight 
 " Divinity Ledure Sermons fhall be always 
 '' printed, within two months after they are 
 *' preached, and one copy fhall be given to the 
 " Chancellor of the Univerfity, and one copy to 
 "' the Head of every College, and one copy to the 
 *' Mayor of the city of Oxford, and one copy to 
 " be put into the Bodleian Library ; and the.ex- 
 
 " pence 
 
[ ^i ] 
 
 **^ pence of printing them fhallbe paid out of the 
 *' revenue of the Land or Eftates given for efla- 
 " blifhing the Divinity Le6ture Sermons ; and 
 " the Preacher fhall not be paid, nor be entitled 
 " to the revenue, before they are printed. 
 
 *^ Alfo I direft and appoint, that no perfon 
 " fhall be qualified to preach the Divinity Lec- 
 *' ture Sermons, unlefs he hath taken the Degree 
 " of Mafter of Arts at leaft, in one of the two 
 '' Univerfities of Oxford or Cambridge; and that 
 '' the fame perfon fhall never preach the Divi- 
 '^ nity Le<5ture Sermons twice." 
 
A List of Persons who have preached the BAMP- 
 TON LECTURES from their firft Eftablifhment. 
 
 In 
 
 780. James Bandlnel, D. D. of Jefus College. 
 ;8i. Timothy Neve, D. D. of Merton College. 
 
 782. Robert Holmes, M. A. of New College. 
 
 783. John Cobb, D. D. of St. John's College. 
 
 784. Jofeph White, B. D. of Wadham College. 
 78^. Ralph Churton, M. A. of Brazen-nofe College. 
 786. George Croft, D. D, of Univerfily College. 
 ;^787. William Hawkins, M. A. of Pembroke College. 
 
 788. Richard Shepherd, D. D. of Corpus Chrifti College. 
 
 789. Edward Tatham, D. D, of Lincoln College. 
 
 790. Henry Kett, M. A. of Trinity College. 
 
 791. Robert Morres, M. A. of Brazen-Nofe College. 
 
 792. John Eveleigh, D. D. Provoft of Oriel College. 
 
 793. James Williamfon, B. D. of Queen's College. 
 
 794. Thomas Wintle, B. D. of Pembroke College. 
 
 795. Daniel Veyfie, B. D. of Oriel College. 
 
 796. Robert Gray, M. A. of St. Mary Hall. 
 
 797. William Finch, LL. D. of St, John's College. 
 
 798. Charles Henry Plall, B. D. of Chrill Church. 
 
 799. William Barrow, LL.D. and F, S, A. of Queen's Coll. 
 
 800. George Richards, M. A. of Oriel College. 
 
 801. George Stanley Faber, M. A. of Lincoln College. 
 
 802. George Frederick Nott, M. A. of All Souls' College, 
 
 803. John Farrer, M, A. of Queen's College. 
 
THSOLOGIOi^. 
 
 r,i 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 Isaiah ix. 6, 
 
 For unto us a Child is born ; unto us a Son is given : and 
 the government Jh all be upon his Jhoulder : and his name 
 Jhall be called, Wonderful, Counfellor, The Might/ 
 God, The Everlajling Father, The Prince of Peace. 
 
 P. I. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 Isaiah liii. 5. 
 He was wounded for our tranfgrefjions ', he was Iruifed 
 for our iniquities. The chafiifement of our peace ivas 
 upon him ', and with his firipes we are healed, P. 29. 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 Isaiah Ixi. i, 3. 
 (Luke Iv. 18, 19.) 
 
 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; hecaufe the Lord hath 
 anointed me. He hath fent me to publi/Jj good tidings 
 to the meek ; to bind up the broken-hearted ; to proclaim 
 deliverance to the captives ; and the opening of the pri- 
 fon to the bound ', to proclaim the acceptable year of the 
 Lord. P. 59. 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 John i. 14. 
 And the Word was made Flefh, and dwelt among us ; 
 {cnid we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten 
 of the Father -,) full of Grace and Truth, P. 89. 
 
 SER- 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 Luke ii. 13, 14. 
 
 And fuddenly there ivas tvith the Angel a multitude of 
 
 the heavenly Hojl, praijing God, and faying ; Glory to 
 
 God in the highejl, and on earth peace, good ivill to~ 
 
 •wards men. P. 1 19, 
 
 SERMON VL 
 
 Matthew iv. 23. 
 
 And Jefus went about all Galilee, teaching in their fyna~ 
 
 gogues, and preaching the Gofpel of the Kingdom, and 
 
 healing all manner offtcknefs and all manner of difeafe 
 
 among thepcople. P. 139. 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 Mark i. i^. 
 
 The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at 
 
 hand: Repent ye, and believe the Gofpel, P. 173, 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 Mark i. 15. 
 
 — ' — The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at 
 band: Repent ye, and believe the Gofpel, P. 30l. 
 
 THE BEATITUDES. 
 
 Matthew v. 3—10. P. 329. 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 Matthew v. 3. 
 
 Blefjed are the Poor infpirit : for theirs is the Kingdom of 
 Heaven. P. 339. 
 
 SER- 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 ) Matthew V. 5. 
 
 Bleffed are the Meek : for ihejyjhall inherit the Earth, 
 
 P. ^Sh 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 Matthew v. 4. 
 Blejfed are they that mourn : for theyjhall he comforted, 
 
 P. z'js. 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 Matthew v. 6. 
 Bleffed are they that hunger and thirfl after righteoufnefs, : 
 for they f hall he fatisfed. P. 293, 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 Matthew v. 7. 
 Blejfed are the Merciful : for theyjhall obtain Mercy, 
 
 P. 309. 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 Matthew v. 8. 
 Blejfed are the Pure in heart : for theyjhall fee God. 
 
 P. 329. 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 Matthew v. 9. 
 Bleffed are the Peacemakers : for they Jhall he called the 
 Children of God. P. 345. 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 Matthew v. 10. 
 Blejfed are they that are perfecuted for right eoufnefs* fake : 
 for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. P. 367. 
 

 ^'j^ 
 
 ■^ ,^i 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 Isaiah ix. 6. 
 
 For unto us a Child is born ; unto us a Son is given : ajid 
 the government Jhall he upon hisjhoulder: and his name 
 Jhall he called, Wonderful, Counjcllor, TheWlighty God, 
 The Everlajling Father, The Prince of Peace. 
 
 J- HE fubjed:, that I propofe for this year's 
 courfe of Lectures, Is the MifTion and Cha- 
 racter of our bleifed Lord, as prophetically 
 delineated in the Old Tellament, as hiftori- 
 cally recorded in the New. This theme, it 
 mu-ft be admitted, is not calculated fo much 
 to vindicate the dodrines of our religion againft 
 the Infidel and Heretic, as to elucidate thofe 
 doctrines for the Orthodox Believer. I truft 
 however that it falls fufficiently within the 
 compafs of our Founder's views ; inafmuch 
 as it embraces the more elTential Articles of 
 the Chriftian Faith ; and as far as it tends 
 to fhew the unity and harmony of Revealed 
 Religion through the feveral Covenants that 
 were made with man, it contributes one fpe- 
 cies of evidence to the divine authority of 
 the Holv Scriptures. 
 
 B That 
 
2 Unto us a Child is born ; 
 
 That great myftery of godlinefs, which 
 it was the purpofe of our Saviour's miffioii 
 both to manifefh and to accomplifli, had been 
 prefignified from earheft times to man. At 
 that very hour, when God denounced upon 
 our firft progenitors the fentence they had 
 incurred by their fatal difobedience, he was 
 pleafed to give them a ray of confolation in 
 the gracious promife then voi!ichfafed, that 
 one of their progeny Ihould bruife the head 
 of their infidious and mahgnant foe, fliould 
 reheve them from the punifliment that was 
 due to their tranfgreffion, and fliould re-eftab- 
 Hlli peace between God and Man *. 
 
 And though, in confequence of their un- 
 happy fall, a thick veil of moral darknefs 
 overfpread the world for a continued length 
 of time, yet the God of mercy and of truth 
 was pleafed, through a feries of ages to make 
 a gradual communication of that light, which 
 was finally to break forth into perfed: day. 
 That light was imparted firft to one Perfon, 
 then to one Family, afterwards to one Na- 
 tion, and finally to all Mankind. And as it 
 extended in compafs, fo it alfo increafed in 
 brightnefs. Through the feveral ages of an- 
 tiquity we may trace a progreffion of di- 
 
 * Gen. Hi. i^. 
 
 vine 
 
Unto us a Son is given. 3 
 
 vine light and truth. In heathen dimes 
 the whole horizon was overfpread with the 
 deepeft Ihades of night. On the Patriarchs 
 a flarry radiance broke amid the general gloom. 
 On the children of Ifrael a lefler light arofc 
 like that of the moon, the fymbol of the Le- 
 gal Economy, which in its fliadowy rites 
 and ceremonies was a refledion of the greater 
 light that rules the day. In the Prophets 
 a dawn began to gild the heavens, the wel- 
 come promife of the coming brightnefs. And 
 at length in Jefus Chrift, the light and life 
 of men, the Sun of Righteoufnefs arofe to 
 cheer and animate a flumberlng world. 
 
 To the Patriarch Abraham, the Father of 
 the Faithful, and the Friend of God, was 
 given an intimation of this great Minlfter of 
 grace and truth, when God declared to him, 
 that with him he would eftablifh an ever- 
 laftlng covenant, and that through him Ihould 
 all the nations of the earth be blefled ^. This 
 promife he by a lively faith was enabled 
 to comprehend. He defired to fee the day 
 of Chrlft ; he faw it, and was glad'. He 
 faw it with prophetic eyes, and he rejoiced 
 in that happinefs, which through one of his 
 lineage was to be diffufed over all people. 
 
 ^ Gen. xvii. ^. xxii. iS, "^ John vlii. ^6. 
 
 B 2 And 
 
4 Unto us a Child is born ; 
 
 And the virtual facrifice of his only Son, which 
 at the command of God he fcrupled not to 
 offer, he mofl probably underflood for a pro- 
 phetic emblem of a real facrifice in time to 
 come, the precious only Son of God, to be 
 offered a fufficient ranfom, a full fatisfadion 
 for the fins of the world. 
 
 The whole economy of the Law of Mofes, 
 whether moral, ceremonial, or political, may 
 be regarded, as indeed it was defigned, for a 
 fliadow or emblem of the Chriftian Difpenfa- 
 tion. And Mofes himfelf exprefsly taught 
 the children of Ifrael to expe6l another Law- 
 giver fent immediately from God, to whom 
 they were to pay obedience -, '* The Lord 
 your God will raife up unto you a Prophet 
 from among you, of your brethren, like unto 
 me ; unto him fhall ye hearken '^Z' 
 
 The fame intimations were repeated by 
 the Pfalmift, who was called from the flieep- 
 fold to rule his people Ifrael. Illumined by 
 the Spirit of divine truth he frequently made 
 allufion to fome exalted perfonage in time to 
 come, who lliould be the Shepherd of the 
 fpiritual Ifrael, and fhould hold a divine do- 
 minion over the fons of men. 
 
 This promife was more clearly and more 
 
 ^ Deut. xviii, 15. Adls iii. 22. 
 
 copioufly 
 
Unto 2is a Son is given. 5 
 
 copioufly delivered by the feries of Prophets, 
 who rofe to comfort Ifrael; of thefe more efpe- 
 cially by Ifalah, who for the ftriklng dehnea- 
 tions, which he gives of the Meffiah and his 
 kingdom, is ftyled by way of em.inence the 
 Prophet of the Gofpel. And therefore, not 
 attempting any wider range through the fpa- 
 cious field of prophecy, to this copious fource 
 of evangelical truth I fhall principally refort for 
 fuch illuftrations as my fubjed may require. 
 
 Among the facred band of Prophets the 
 firft in excellence, as the firft in order, is 
 Ifaiah. In the beauty and fublimity of his 
 language, in the weight and dignity of his 
 argument, he ftands above his brethren un- 
 rivalled and alone. Through the whole of 
 his writings he engages the common intereft 
 of men under both difpenfations of the Law 
 and of the Gofpel. Inveiled with authority 
 from heaven he impartially admoniilies or re- 
 proves his people; and according to the Hate 
 of religion and piety among them he declares 
 to them the mercies or the judgments of 
 God. Yet in this minifter of Heaven the 
 true and loyal Ifraelite is continually feen. 
 Even while he fupports the high characfler of 
 the Prophet, he never fupprefles the affec- 
 tions of the Patriot. AddrelTuig himfelf more 
 
 B3 
 
 imme- 
 
6 Unto us a Child is born ; 
 
 immediately to his countrymen, he rejoices 
 in their virtues, he laments over their apofta- 
 fies; he looks on their profperity with compla- 
 cence, on their calamities with condolence. 
 Though called in his prophetic office to un- 
 fold the deflinies of Tyre and Egypt, Syria 
 and Babylon, and all the more diftinguilhed 
 nations of the ancient Eaftern world, yet the 
 fortunes of Ifrael dill engrofs his principal re- 
 gard. Though enabled to contemplate the 
 long feries of ages yet unborn, yet he con- 
 tinually views them as they bear a reference 
 to the houfe of Abraham, Their various vi- 
 cifiitudes of fortune, their elevations and de- 
 preffions, their difperfions and rellorations are 
 the chofen themes of his prophetic fong. It 
 may therefore be reafonably fuppofed, that 
 every pious and loyal foul in Ifrael would be 
 encouraged by his admonitions, and warned 
 by his reproofs, would be moved in profperi- 
 ty to love and gratitude, in adverfity to refig- 
 nation and repentance. 
 
 But interefting as he muft have been to his 
 own people, he engages a ftill deeper intcreft 
 among the whole family of Chrillians. For 
 while in the literal fenfc his prophecies apply to 
 the temporal houfe of Ifrael, in their fpiritual 
 and more important fenfc they finally point at 
 the Kingdom or Church of Chrift, the genuine 
 
 houfe- 
 
Unto us a Son is given. 7 
 
 houfeholdof the faithful, the true Ifrael of God. 
 While he refers immediately to a Prince, who 
 lliould fit on the throne of David, and rejgn 
 over the houfe of Judah, he muft be under- 
 ilood to defignate a Prince of the fame royal 
 ftock, whofe dominion fhould not be cir- 
 cumfcribed either in time or IJDace. Thefe 
 two important views are continually blended 
 through all his prophecies. Repeatedly as 
 he treats of the charad.ers and fortunes of his 
 countrymen the Jews, his vifion almoft inva- 
 riably extends to the Chriftian economy. 
 Whatever be the intermediate objed;, this 
 ufually conflitutes the final aim. Thus in 
 the general prophecy, with which he opens 
 his miniftry, after lamenting the degeneracy 
 and corruption of his people, he exhorts them 
 to repentance and amendment of life, as the 
 neccllary means of obtaining the forgivenefs 
 and clemency of God. A profpecl of fo great 
 a change in the hearts and habits of the peo- 
 ple he contemplates with prophetic eye in 
 that new Economy of grace and truth, when 
 the fpiritual Sion Ihall be redeemed with 
 judgment, and Jerufalem fhall be called the 
 City of righteoufnefs ; and he anticipates that 
 happy time in the laft ages of the world, 
 when the true Kingdom of God fliall be 
 fully eftablilhed upon earth, when all nations 
 B 4 . fliall 
 
8 Unto us a Child is horn ; 
 
 Ihall flow unto it, and Ihall pay a willing 
 homage to its righteous and peaceable do- 
 minion % 
 
 Of the fame complexion is the pafTage, of 
 which mj text is the concluding part. This 
 portion of his prophecies was delivered in the 
 early part of his miniftry, as appears from the 
 context, at a time when the realm of Judah 
 was difturbed by the confederate arms of two 
 holVile Kings, In the height of the terrors, 
 which the Jews then experienced, he gives 
 them affurance of immediate protedion from 
 the God of their fathers; and he foretels a 
 change of fortune, to take place before another 
 generation fhould be paft, when both thefe 
 enemies fhould be totally fubdued, and Ju- 
 dah, though diftrelTed and reduced to immi- 
 nent danger, fliould furvive and profper under 
 the tutelary care of Heaven. Herein he al- 
 ludes more immediately to the fucceeding 
 reign of Hezekiah, who faw thefe two con- 
 federate Itates overthrown by the overwhelm- 
 ing ftream of the Aflyrian power ; while he 
 and his people were relieved from this terrible 
 inundation, when it overflowed the land of 
 Paleftine, and approached even to the hill 
 of Sion *", by the protection of that Almighty 
 
 ^ Ifaiah i. ii. ^ Ifa. vlii. 7, 8. 
 
 King, 
 
Unto us a Son is given. 9 
 
 King, who faid unto the deep, Hitherto llialt 
 thou come, but no further ; and here lliall 
 thy proud waves be flayed ^' 
 
 But in the clofe of this prophecy he ex- 
 tends his viiion beyond the temporal king- 
 dom and the tranfitory reign of Hezekiah to a 
 fpiritual kingdom under an eternal King : both 
 which he reprefents in terms too lofty to be 
 applied to any temporal potentate or domi- 
 nion, and which could not be fulfilled in any 
 other perfon but in that Anointed of the Lord, 
 who is the final theme of all divine revela- 
 tion. It is to this clofmg portion of the pro- 
 phecy that I would engage the prefent atten- 
 tion of this learned Audience. 
 
 And here it may be convenient to premife, 
 that our common tranflation of this pafTage is 
 neither fo clear nor fo correal, as it is generally 
 found to be; and therefore I (hall relbrt, as I 
 fee occafion, to a verfion better calculated to 
 give the fenfe and fpirit of the Hebrew Seer. 
 
 In the beginning of this chapter the Pro- 
 phet had declared, that the land, which was 
 then cverfpread with gloom, in confequence 
 of temporal calamities, fhould afterwards be 
 gladdened with extraordinary light. Never- 
 thelefs there fiail not hereafter be darknefs in 
 
 g Job xxxviil. II. 
 
 the 
 
10 Unto us a Child is horn ; 
 
 the land ivbicb was dijirejfed» 'though in the 
 former time, when the prophecy was given, 
 he had debafed the land of Zebidon and the land 
 of Naphthali ; yet in the latter time he would 
 make it glorious ^ even the way of the fea^ beyond 
 for dan, Galilee of the nations. Herein he ex- 
 prefsly points out the region, that in future 
 days would be diftinguifhed by the dawn of 
 the gofpel revelation. For in this region did 
 our Saviour enter upon his divine miffion, in 
 this did he principally exercife his miniftry 
 of grace. To this region therefore do the en- 
 fuing words more efpecially belong ; T^he peo- 
 ple that walked in darknefs have feen a great 
 light: they that dwelt in the land ofthejhadow 
 of deathy unto them hath the light Jhined. This 
 undoubtedly applies to him who is called in 
 prophetic language, ** The Sun of righteouf- 
 nefs with healing on his wings ^;" and who 
 was afterwards acknowledged, even in his in- 
 fant years, at his firil prefentation in the 
 temple, for " a light to lighten the Gentiles, 
 and the glory of his people Ifrael ^" 
 
 The Prophet now in different images de- 
 fcribes the various bleffings that would enfue 
 from this divine vifitant : Thou haji multi- 
 plied the nation ; thou haji increafed their joy, 
 
 ^ Malachi iv. 2. ' Luke ii. 32. 
 
 The 
 
Unto us a Son is given. 1 \ 
 
 The multiplying the nation was the promife 
 originally given to Abraham, and repeated to 
 the Patriarchs in lucceffion. And though 
 literally fulfilled in the numerous pofterity of 
 Abraham by natural defcent, it was moil ef- 
 fed.ually accompliflied in the far more nu- 
 merous progeny by fpiritual birth in thofe, 
 who were his children by the adoption of 
 grace, and heirs of the promifes by the right- 
 eoufnefs of faith ; that is, in all thofe, who 
 are of the houfehold of the Church of Chrift. 
 The promife of this bleffing is repeatedly 
 made in the prophets. Thus to the fpiritual 
 daughter of Sion Ifaiah fays, in allufion to 
 the mode of fojourning by the Ifraelites in 
 the ' wildernefs, " Enlarge the place of thy 
 tent, and let the canopy of thy habitations 
 be extended ; for on the right hand and on 
 the left thou ihalt burft forth with increafe; 
 and thy feed fhall inherit the nations, and 
 fliall inhabit the defolate cities^." Now 
 this was to be accomplifhed in the diffufion 
 of the gofpel beyond the pale of Ifrael, the 
 adoption of the Gentiles into the covenant of 
 promife, and the progreffion of Chriftian 
 light over all the nations of the earth. In 
 like manner the increafe of their joy, the con- 
 
 V 
 
 J' Ifa.liv. 2, 3. 
 
 tinual 
 
12 Unto us a Child is horn; 
 
 tinual theme of Ifaiah in the latter feries 
 of his -writings, is the peculiar charad;er of 
 the gofpel ; which was glad tidings of great 
 joy to all the world, fince it imparted to 
 mankind the means of recovery from the 
 bondage of fin and death, it opened to them 
 the hopes of reconciliation and favour with 
 Almighty God, and brought life and immor- 
 tahty to light. 
 
 T/jey rejoice before thee as with the joy cfhar- 
 veji; as men rejoice when they divide the fpoil. 
 Two images are here introduced to exprefs this 
 gladnefs of the foul; the one from rural, the 
 other from military life. Having found a plen- 
 teous harveft of every thing effential to their 
 Spiritual nurture, and partaking in the prize 
 which enfues firom the Meffiah's conqueft 
 over his enemies and theirs, the people of the 
 Lord are filled with joy and gratitude, and 
 are ready to exprefs it in public hymns of 
 praife. 
 
 For the yoke of his burthen, the ftaff on his 
 Jhoulder, the rod of his oppreffor, hajl thou broken, 
 as in the day of Midian. For the greaves of the 
 armed warrior in the confiioi, and the garment 
 roiled in much bloody Jhall be for a burning, even 
 fuel for the f re. By thefe united images, of 
 breaking the weapons of tyranny, and of burn- 
 ing the accoutrements of battle, the Prophet 
 
 boldly 
 
Unto us a Son is ^iven. 1^ 
 
 boldly iignifies the full attainment of conqueft, 
 the complete eftablifliment of peace; an ani- 
 mated pidlure of that divine difpenfation, 
 which would finally prevail over every carnal 
 and every iJDiritual foe, and would be diftia- 
 guifhed as a reign of univerfal and eternal 
 peace. 
 
 The Prophet, having flated fome of the 
 blefTed fruits of this divine economy, pro- 
 ceeds to declare the Minifler, by whom thefe 
 bleffings fliould be conveyed ; and this he 
 does by feveral titles defcriptive of his cha- 
 racfler and miffion ; in which, though he re- 
 prefents him as a Prince of the houfe of Da- 
 vid, yet he afcribes to him marks of dignity 
 and authority far fupcrior to fuch as diftin- 
 guifli any of the fons of men. 
 
 For unto us a Child is born ; unto us a Son 
 is given. This folemn declaration mufl be 
 underftood in union with a foregoing pro- 
 phecy, given immediately for the prefent 
 confolation of Judah, but looking for accom- 
 plifhment to a diftant age ; Behold a Virgin 
 fhall conceive and bear a So?i, and fi:e jJjali call 
 bis name hnmanuel^ . A miraculous birth por- 
 tended a more than ordinary pcrfon, no lefs 
 indeed than the Son of God ; and the name 
 
 ' Ifa. vii. 14. 
 
 alTigned 
 
1 4 Unto us a Child is horn ; 
 
 affigned him bore a teftimony to the dignity 
 of his chara6ler, as it fignifies God with us, or 
 in the language of the gofpel, that incarnate 
 Word, in whom dwelt bodily all the fulnefs 
 of the Godhead "^. 
 
 The perfon thus to be born into the 
 world is ordained for the higheft offices of 
 authority and power : 'The government fiall 
 be upon his Jhoulder : which phrafe corre- 
 fponds with the words of that falutation, with 
 which the Angel hailed the Virgin Mary 
 for the mother of our Lord : " He Ihall 
 be great, and fhall be called the Son of the 
 Higheft : and the Lord God fhall give unto 
 him the throne of his father David. And 
 he fhall reign over the houfe of Jacob for 
 ever : and of his Kingdom there ihall be no 
 end"." 
 
 The Prophet then defignates the character 
 of this exalted Potentate by appropriate and 
 expreffive names. The firft of thefe is, Won- 
 derful. By which may be underftood, that 
 he fhould be dlftinguifhed above all other 
 Prophets and Minifters of heaven by mod 
 miraculous notices and powers. At his birth 
 he was revealed unto the world by the fong 
 of Angels, and by the light of an extraordi-" 
 
 "^ Col. ii. 9. " Luke i. 32,35. 
 
 nary 
 
Unto us a So?2 is given* ' 15 
 
 nary Star. Thus at the dawn of the fpiritual, 
 as once of the natural creation, the morning 
 Stars fang together; and all the Sons of God 
 fliouted for joy °. And at his initiation into 
 his miffion, the heavens were opened, the di- 
 vine glory defcended upon him, and a voice 
 from heaven proclaimed him the beloved Son 
 of God. And through the term of his abode 
 on earth the dignity of his perfon and cha- 
 ra<5ter was repeatedly attefted by the mini- 
 ftry of Angels, by the converfation of de- 
 parted Saints, by the attending glory of the 
 Divine prefence, and by the approving voice 
 of Heaven. But this title was moft evident 
 in the miracles that he wrought himfelf, 
 which were great and numerous and mani- 
 fold. Thus in the beginning of his mini- 
 ftry he turned water into w'ine ; from the 
 fmall fupply of a few loaves and fillies he fed 
 many thoufands in the wildernefs ; he was 
 liberally employed in healing every kind of 
 ficknefs and difeafe. Before his- prefence 
 every malady of human nature fled ; the 
 blind received their fight, and the deaf heard, 
 the palfied were reftored to foundnefs, and 
 the fevered to health, the lepers were cleanfed, 
 the demoniacs were dlfpoHeiTed, and the dead 
 
 * Job xxxviii. J, 
 
 were 
 
i Unto us a Child is bom ; 
 
 were raifed. Thefe wonderful powers were 
 not only in themfelves unqueftionable evi- 
 dences of his divine miffion and authoritv, 
 but they derive additional force from their 
 concurrence with the voice of ancient pro- 
 phecy, which afcribes all thefe powers to 
 the Meffiah. And therefore when he was 
 queftioned whether he was the perfon long 
 foretold in ancient revelation, he appealed to 
 the works on which he was then employed, 
 as giving evidence of his miffion, and at the 
 fame time illuftration of his character. 
 
 With the title of Wonderful is combined 
 that of Counjellor ; which implies that he 
 knew the councils of God, and that he had 
 authority to impart them unto men. All 
 this is fignified in the title, that is given him 
 by the Apoftle and Evangelift, of the AOrOS 
 or the Word of God ; which comprehends 
 not only the counfel determined in the mind 
 of God, but alfo the fame exprelTed in the 
 economy of his grace to men. It is alfo fig- 
 nified in other parages, and indeed it pervades 
 the whole tenor of the gofpel revelation ; 
 which reprefents him as having come from 
 God, to open to mankind that myftery of di- 
 vine grace, which had hitherto been kept fe- 
 cret, or at molt only partially divulged, from 
 the foundation of the w-orld. 
 
 Im- 
 
Unto us a Son is given. 17 
 
 Important are the truths, which this di- 
 vine Counfellor has therein brought to Hght. 
 He hath taught us to confider God as a fpi- 
 ritual Eflence, who is therefore to be wor- 
 iliipped in a fpiritual manner; inflexibly juft, 
 yet abounding in clemency and benevolence. 
 He hath taught us alfo to know ourfelves, 
 as fallen indeed from that divine image, in 
 which we were originally made, yet ftili re- 
 taining fo much intereft at the throne of 
 grace, as to engage the Son of God himfelf 
 to take our nature upon him, that he might 
 become our Mediator and Advocate with his 
 lieavcnly Father : in which capacity he has 
 undertaken, as a Prophet, to teach us our 
 duty by repentance and obedience; as a Prieft, 
 to make atonement and interceffion for us by 
 the price of his own blood ; and as a King, 
 to govern us by his laws, to place us in a 
 ftate of grace, and to open to us the gate of 
 everlalling life. 
 
 In thefe two names of Wonderful, Coun- 
 fellor, he is reprefented as the energy of di- 
 vine power, and the efFufion of divine wif- 
 dom. But he has a title to a ftill more diftin- 
 guifhed name, as hi partakes of the divine 
 eflence. He is called ^he Mighty God. In 
 this fulnefs of divinity he is chara<flerizcd by 
 Ifaiah in other places; efpeciully in the open- 
 
 c ino: 
 
l6 Unto us a Child is borw, 
 
 ing of the latter feries of his prophecies, 
 which has a more exprefs relation to the 
 Meffiah and his kingdom. For therein he 
 foretels a Meffenger, who fliould prepare the 
 way of the Lord in the wildernefs, and 
 lliould declare to Judah, Behold yottr God^! 
 And in this fiilnefs of divinity he is repre- 
 sented by St. John in the opening of his 
 gofpel : He was not only in the beginning 
 with God, but he was God himfclf. And in 
 that high charader he bears the attributes of 
 a Creator and a Prefer ver: *' All things were 
 made by him, and without him exilled no 
 created thing ^.'' Of himfelf our Lord de- 
 clares, that " he and his Father are one '." Of 
 him St. Paul exprefsly fays, that ** he is over 
 all, God blefled for ever *." In his Epiftle to 
 the Hebrews he declares, that God hath now 
 fpoken to us by his Son, fuperlor to the An- 
 gels, and partaking of the effence of the 
 Godhead, by whom he made the worlds, by 
 whom he upholdeth all things, and whom he 
 bath appointed Heir of all things \ And 
 thus he is ftill more forcibly reprefented in 
 the book of Revelations : He is feated with his 
 Father on his throne of eminence, he is dig- 
 nified with this name infcribed upon his vef- 
 
 P Ila. xl. 3, 9. q John 1. i, 2, 3. "■ John x, 30. 
 * Rorn.ix, ^. * Heb. i. i, &c. 
 
 ture 
 
UntD us a Son is given. IQ 
 
 ture and his perfon. King of Kings, and Lord 
 of Lords. And he takes to himfelf this pe- 
 culiar title of fupreme divinity, ** I am Alpha 
 and Omega, the beginning and the end, the 
 firfl and the laft, who was, and who is, and 
 who lliall be, the Almighty "/' By which he 
 fignifies that his exiftence is from eternity to 
 eternity, that the whole fyftem of the uni- 
 verfe originated from his power and wifdom, 
 is fuftained and governed by his providence, 
 and is finally directed to his will. Thus to 
 him may be applied thefe peculiar attributes 
 of the Deity, as expreffed by the Apoftle, 
 that " from him, and through him, and to 
 him, are all things ^." 
 
 The name that follows next is, H/verlaJling 
 Father, If we take this word in the cuf- 
 tomary fenfe, it feems to repeat what is com- 
 prehended in the preceding term, that he is 
 felf-exiftent through all eternity, and that he 
 is the fource and origin of all things. But a 
 more diftind and expreffive fenfe will be 
 drawn, if we underftand it as accepted by 
 fome learned men, Tihe Father of the ever- 
 lajling age-, that is, the Founder of an Eco- 
 nomy that lliall have no end j namely, that 
 Economy which is called in Scriptural lan- 
 
 ^ Rev, i. 8, li.six, i6. '^ Rom. xi. 25. 
 
 c 5 guage, 
 
^0 Utito i(s a Child is horn ; 
 
 guage. The Kingdom of Heaven ; that Dif- 
 penfation of divine grace and truth without 
 limit or period, which the Meffiah would 
 eftablifh in the w^orld. In which refpe6l it 
 flands in contrail with the conftitution both 
 civil and rehgious of the Jews ; which was 
 limited to a certain people, and was to fubfift 
 for an appointed time. The eternity, as alfo 
 the univerfality of this kingdom, is repeatedly 
 foretold in the Pfalms and in the Prophets ; 
 " Afk of me, and I will give thee the heathen 
 for thine inheritance, and the utmoft parts of 
 the earth for thy poireflion^." — ** Thy throne, 
 O God, is for ever and eVer : the fceptre of 
 thy kingdom is a fceptre of righteoufnefs^." — 
 ** They fhall fear thee as long as the fun and 
 moon endure, throughout all generations. He 
 ihall have dominion from fea to fea, and from 
 the river to the ends of the earth ^." 
 
 Thus alio the Prophet, when to the carnal 
 and temporary inftitutions of the Law he 
 oppofes the fpiritual and eternal inftitutions 
 of the Gofpel ; " All flefli is grafs, and all 
 the goodlinefs thereof is as the flower of the 
 field. The grafs withereth, and the flower 
 fadeth ; but the word of the Lord endureth 
 for ever ^." And this is fully delineated in a 
 
 y Pf. il. 8. * Vi. xlv. 6, » Pf. Ixxii. $, &c. 
 
 ^ Ha. xl. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 vifion 
 
Unto us a Son is given. *Xl 
 
 viiion to Daniel, which, after defcribingfeve- 
 ral temporal dynaflies riling and falHng in 
 fucceffion, reprefents one advancing hke the 
 Son of Man, invefted with the clouds of hea- 
 ven. ** And there was given him dominion and 
 glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, 
 and languages fliould ferve him. His domi- 
 nion is an everlafting dominion, which fliall 
 not pafs away ; and his kingdom that which 
 Ihall not be deftroyed ^.'' With this agrees 
 the term with which our Lord continually 
 defignates his difpenfation. The Kingdom of 
 Heaven implies a conftitution widely different 
 from the partial and tranfitory monarchies of 
 men. Though it begins on earth, it fliall ex- 
 tend to heaven ; though it commences in 
 time, it fliall endure to eternity. 
 
 The laft of thefe titles is, T'he Prince of 
 Peace. The foregoing names bear abundant 
 evidence of his kingly dignity : This delineates 
 the peculiar feature of his kingly character. 
 The allufion might be drawn from Melchife- 
 dec, King of Salem, whofe perfonal name de- 
 noted, King of righteoufnefs, as his official 
 title fignified, King of peace ; for thefe two 
 qualities the holy Scripture frequently com- 
 bines in reprefenting the true kingly charader. 
 
 *= Dan, vii. 13, 14. 
 
 c z In 
 
0,2 Unto us a Child is horw. 
 
 In both which capacities this ancient Prince 
 is reprefented by the Apoftle for a type of 
 Chrill ^. Again, the allufion might be taken 
 from Solomon the fon of David, whofe reign 
 correfponded with the fignification of the 
 name, fince there was peace in-Ifrael all the 
 days of Solomon*. Indeed the feveral paf- 
 fages of the Pfalmift, which convey a bene- 
 diction to his immediate fon and fucceiTor on 
 the throne of Ifrael, have a prophetic appli- 
 cation to a greater than Solomon, the true 
 Prince of Peace. ** He fliall come down 
 like rain upon the mown grafs ; as fliowers 
 that water the earth. In his days fliall the 
 righteous flourilli ; and abundance of peace fo 
 long as the moon endureth ^" 
 
 And the fame chara(5ter of peace Ifaiah 
 gives of the Meffiah's happy reign ; " He 
 fhall judge among the nations, and fliall 
 convince many peoples. And they Ihall 
 beat their fwords into plough-lliares, and their 
 fpears intopruning-hooks: nation fhall not lift 
 up fword againft nation ; neither fliall they 
 learn war any more ^." And in a fubfequent 
 paflage he gives a fuller picture of the peace- 
 ful reign of the fon of JeiTe, when he repre- 
 fents all the more ferocious animals of the 
 
 *' Gen. xiv. iS. Heb. vii. i, &c. ' i Kings iv. 25. 
 
 * Pf. kxii.6, 7. g Ifa. ii. 4. 
 
 creation 
 
Unto ics a Son is given. 0,3 
 
 creation as laying afide their nature, and 
 aflbciating with thofe that they are wont to 
 perfecute ; ** The wolf fliall dwell with the 
 lamb, and the leopard fliali lie down with 
 the kid ; and the calf and the young lion 
 and the fatling fliall come together; and a 
 little child fhall lead them ^\" 
 
 In language like to this was the Prince of 
 Peace introduced into the world. For the 
 Angels in their gratulating fong fung peace 
 on earth, and good will towards men '. This 
 chara<Pcer he ailumes when he ftyles himfelf 
 the Son of Peace ^. And when he is depart- 
 ing from the world, he offers his Difciples 
 peace, as the moft valuable bequeft which he 
 had to leave ^ 
 
 Now this gracious charad;er he maintained 
 herein, that he was the Minifler of reconcili- 
 ation between heaven and earth, he re-efta- 
 bliflied peace between an offended God and a 
 guilty race of men. By coming among us 
 in our nature he reftored that chain of har- 
 mony between the upper and the lower 
 world, which had been broken by the firft 
 apoftafy of man. And in his lafh labour of 
 love he furrendered himfelf a peace-offering 
 
 ^ Ifa. XI. 6. > Luke ii. 14. '' Luke x. 6. 
 
 ' John xiv. 27. 
 
 c 4 in 
 
24 Unto us a Child k born ; 
 
 in our behalf ; and by this precious ranfom 
 he procured for us the covenant of eternal 
 peace. 
 
 The fame gracious character he alfo main- 
 tained by promoting and eftabhfhing a fpirit 
 of harmony and concord among mankind. 
 This he did in the firft inftance by that rule 
 of righteoufnefs, which he promulgated as 
 the bond of equal dealing between man and 
 man ; " Whatfoever ye would that men 
 fliould do to you, do ye alfo to them." And 
 this he did in a more impreffive way by giv- 
 ing energy and compafs to that ancient law, 
 *' Thou llialt love thy neighbour as thyfelf ;" 
 which rule he explained by inculcating thofe 
 peculiar duties of his religion, the forgivenefs 
 of injuries, the love of our enemies, the render- 
 ing of. good for evil, and the impartial diftri- 
 bution of benevolence and charity to all. And 
 this he alfo did in the moft impreffive way 
 by the virtue of his own example, which 
 was one continued exprefiion of grace and 
 peace to men. For all his days on earth 
 were fpent in doing and diffufmg good ; and 
 his life at length was yielded a peace-offering 
 for the world. 
 
 In fequel to thefe titles, defcriptive of the 
 Meffiah, Ifaiah thus proceeds : Of the increafe 
 
 of 
 
Unto us a Son is i(iven. 25 
 
 of his government ajid peace there fiall be no 
 end; upon the throne of David, and upon his 
 Kingdom ; to Jix it and to ejiablifb it, with 
 judgment and with jujiice, henceforth even for 
 ever. In which words, befide expreffing the 
 pecuHar characters of his kingly government, 
 that it lliall be advanced in peace, and that it 
 fliall be eftabUilied in righteoufnefs, he xie- 
 fcribes the progreffion of his kingdom in the 
 world. And herein, though he reprefents 
 the Meffiah feated on the throne of David, 
 and reigning over the kingdom of Ifrael, yet 
 is it well underftood what this throne and 
 kingdom in the fpirit of prophetic language 
 mean; a dominion, not in the body, but in the 
 foul; not over that nation only, to whom the 
 covenant of the Law was given, but over all 
 people in every clime and country under hea- 
 ven, to whom the kingdom, of the Gofpel is 
 proclaimed. This fpiritual government fhall 
 continually increafe, and fliall go on con- 
 quering and to conquer, not with the fword 
 of war and violence, like the kingdoms of 
 this world, but with the fceptre of peace and 
 righteoufnefs, till it embraces all the peopled 
 earth ; till *^ the kingdoms of the world are 
 become the kingdoms of our God." And 
 when all temporal governments have dif- 
 appeared, when the world itfelf is brought to 
 
 diiTolution, 
 
0.6 Unto lis a Child is born ; 
 
 difTolution, it fhall ftand without impair; un- 
 changeably the fame, it ihall never have an 
 end. 
 
 The Prophet now concludes his fubHme 
 embafly of grace with ftamping the fan(5lion 
 of God himfelf upon it; 'T/je zeal of the Lord 
 of Ho/is win do this. The Lord of armies 
 both in heaven and earth hath expreffed a 
 zeal for the eftabUfhment of this heavenly 
 kingdom: and the fame Almighty Power, who 
 decreed all this, will infallibly perform it. 
 
 May the zeal of the Lord in decreeing 
 and in performing fuch great things for us 
 enkindle in our fouls a correfponding zeal to 
 glorify him for his goodnefs to the fons of 
 men ! And how fhall we glorify him other- 
 wife, than by gratefully receiving and affidu- 
 Gufly improving his ineiliimable gift ? " In 
 this was manifefled the Love of God to us, 
 that he fent his only begotten Son into the 
 world, that we might live through him "*." 
 Let us gratefully acknowledge the Son, that 
 is fent us for fo bleffed a purpofe, in the fe- 
 veral charadiers in which he is prefented for 
 an obje6l of our faith, and for a guide and 
 pattern of our obedience. Let us devoutly 
 contemplate all that feries of miracles, which 
 
 "" I John iv, 9. 
 
 attefl 
 
Unto us a Son is given. ^ 
 
 atteft his miffion and illufiirate his character. 
 Let us receive all his docflrines as the certain 
 oracles of divine truth, and obey all his pre- 
 cepts as the faithful dired:ories of our hearts and 
 lives; continually bearing in mind that moft 
 important truths which in his own refurrec- 
 tion he has demonftrated to men, of a gene- 
 ral refurrecftion to another life ; when all, 
 who have been zealous in their allea;iance to 
 him through the prefent ftate of difcipline, 
 fhall be received into his heavenly Kingdom, 
 and fhall reign with him for ever and ever. 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 Isaiah llil. 5. 
 
 He was wounded for our tranfgrejjions ; he icas hrulfed 
 for our iniquities. The chajiifement of our peace was 
 upon him 3 and with hisjlripes we are healed. 
 
 Among the fevcral prophecies of Ifaiah, 
 which reprefent the miffion and chara(fter of 
 Chrift, a more particular confideration is due 
 to that portion of which my text is a part ; 
 as it not only gives an hiftorical defcription of 
 our Saviour's fufferings, but alfo unfolds that 
 great myftery of godlinefs, the expedience of 
 thofe fufFerings for the peace and happinefs 
 of men. This prophecy is diftinguiflied in 
 the writings of Ifaiah, as it ftands indepen- 
 dent of all temporal and national themes. 
 Neverthelefs, to underftand it with more ad- 
 vantage, it may be of ufe to take a brief re- 
 view of that feries of prophecy which goes 
 before it, as far as it bears a more expiefs re- 
 lation to the gofpel economy. In the latter 
 divilion of his facred book the Prophet ap- 
 pears 
 
30 He was wounded for our tranfgrejfions 5 
 
 pears in his moft engaging charafler, as a He- 
 rald of bleffings to the people of God. The 
 bleflings, that he foretels, combine both a 
 temporal and a fpiritual good. While in the 
 letter he reprefents the deliverance of the 
 Jews from the oppreffive yoke of their Ba- 
 bylonian Conquerors, and the reftoration of 
 the Hebrew government and law, in the fpi- 
 xit he conveys to the underftanding of the 
 fincere believer a far more important and 
 valuable truth, the deliverance of all man- 
 kind from the bondage of fni and death, and 
 the eftablifliment of the Kingdom of God, 
 both militant on earth and triumphant in 
 heaven. 
 
 In the name of God he publiflies confola- 
 tion to his people ; he declares to Jerufa- 
 lem, that her warfare is fulfilled, that her fms 
 are expiated, and that bleflings double to her 
 fufFerings await her from the hand of the 
 Lord : All which was accompliflied on the 
 fpiritual Jerufalem, the true City or Church 
 of God, by the Captain of her falvation, when 
 he overcame the powers of death, and opened 
 unto men the gate of everlafting life. He 
 announces a Herald, who fhould go before 
 the face of the Lord in the wildernefs, to 
 prepare the way for his coming ; w^iich was 
 accompllfhed in John the Baptift, who pre- 
 pared 
 
He was bruifedfor our iniquities, 5! 
 
 pared the people for their fplritual King by 
 the baptifm of repentance for the remiflion of 
 lins. In oppofition to the carnal covenant of 
 the Law, which was frail and tranfient as the 
 grafs or the flower of the field, he proclaims 
 the fpiritual covenant of the Gofpel, which 
 ■was to endure to all eternity. He publifhes 
 glad tidings, the appropriate name of the 
 Gofpel economy, to Sion and Jerufalem, and 
 he calls upon the cities of Judah to behold 
 their God. He ftates his authority both to 
 avenge himfelf of his enemies and to re- 
 compenfe his faithful fubje^ls. At the fame 
 time he reprefents the gracious nature of his 
 tutelary government, under the image of a 
 Shepherd very tenderly attentive to the weir 
 fare of his flock, fupporting the fick and 
 weak, and affording fuflenance to all ^ 
 
 In a fubfequent palTage he defcribes the 
 mild exercife of his authority ; '' He lliall 
 not cry aloud, nor lift up his voice in the 
 ftreets ;" the tendernefs of his government 
 toward thofe, who would have funk under 
 the full feverity of difcipline ^ " The bruifed 
 reed he fliail not break, and the dimly burn- 
 ing flax he Ihall not quench ;" and his perfe- 
 vering zeal in diffufmg his kingdom over all 
 
 * Ifa. xl. I — II. 
 
 the 
 
32 He was ivounded for our tranfgrejjions ; 
 
 the world ; " He Ihall not fail, nor be dif- 
 couraged, till he have fet judgment in the 
 earth, and the ifles fliall wait for his law." 
 He declares him to be called for a righteous 
 purpofe, to be a covenant to the people, and 
 a light to the nations ^. 
 
 Through the courfe of thefe prophecies he 
 invariably fhews this Minifter of grace, as 
 fupporting the authority of a King, yet 
 mingling this authority with grace and gen- 
 tlenefs. 
 
 In the prophecy now before us he repre- 
 fents him in a very different light, in every 
 circumftance of humiliation and depreffion, of 
 fbrrow and fuffering. At the fame time 
 however he repeatedly takes occafion to fug- 
 geft, that in his humiliation there would be 
 field for triumph, that in his fufferings there 
 would be argument of joy. Even in the 
 opening of this mournful narrative he declares 
 in the name of God his final exaltation and 
 profperity : 
 
 Behold, my Serva?2t JJmll profper -, he JJmll 
 he raifed aloft and magnified and very highly ex- 
 alted. As many were afioniflded at him ; (Ins 
 countena?2ce loasfo disfigured, more than that of 
 man\ and his form more than the fons of me7i ;) 
 
 •> Ifa. xlii. I — 7, 
 
He was bridfedfor our iniquities, 33 
 
 Jo many nations Jljall look upon him with admi- 
 ration ; before himJJdall Kings JJjut their mouths; 
 Fcr what was not before declared to them, they 
 fiall fee ; and what they had not heard, they 
 jhall attentively confider ^, 
 
 Notwithftanding all his afflictions, he fliould 
 eminently profper ; notwithftanding all his 
 ignominies, he fhould be very highly glori- 
 fied. As in his fufferings, the fevereft and 
 moft terrible that were ever laid on man, he 
 Ihould be a temporary theme of aftonilhment 
 to many of his own nation, who would ex- 
 pe<3: to fee the promifed Meffiah in the flyle 
 and charad;er of a profperous and triumphant 
 King ; fo even in his fufferings he iliould be 
 a perpetual theme of homage to many na- 
 tions, to many princes of the Gentiles. For 
 they fhould fee the light of heavenly truth 
 opened to them by the Son of God, of 
 whom they had received no promife before, 
 as had the people of Ifrael ; and in the hu- 
 miliation and flifFerings of a degraded and 
 crucified Saviour they iliould contemplate the 
 means of exaltation and happinefs to all the 
 fons of men. 
 
 This however, when it was firft promul- 
 gated, was a theme by no means engaging to 
 any clafs of men. To the Jews it w^as a 
 
 « Ifa. lii. 13, 14, 15. 
 
 D flumbling- 
 
34 He was wounded for our tranfgreffions; 
 
 flumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolifli- 
 ncfs. Accordingly the Prophet thus en- 
 quires ; /F/6<? /jai/j believed our report ? and to 
 whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed ? 
 By which he fignified, that the dodrine, 
 which the Mefliah was to impart, would ob- 
 tain at the time but fmall belief in the world; 
 that the purpofe, which he was to accomplifli, 
 of eftablifhing the kingdom of our God upon 
 earth, would not immediately be made ma- 
 nifeft to men. Thus he came unto his own, 
 and his own received him not. Prejudiced 
 by ambitious hopes of feeing the Meffiah 
 feated on the throne of David, and giving to 
 Ifrael pre-eminence among the nations, they 
 could not comprehend him in the Ihade of 
 humility in which he came among them. 
 
 And yet the Prophet has reprefented in 
 expreffive images the lowlinefs of ftation, in 
 which he was to appear : For he groweth up 
 in their Jight as a tender plant, and as a root 
 from a thirjiy foil. Though adually a branch 
 from the noble ftem of Jefle, though a cion 
 from the royal flock of David ^, as he is de- 
 fcribed in another prophecy, yet fliould he 
 to the eyes of men originate from a very 
 lowly root, and be nurtured on the unpro- 
 mifing foil of indigence and obfcurity. 
 
 ^ Ifa, xi. I. 
 
 He 
 
He was bruifedfor our iniquities, 35 
 
 He hath no firm nor comelmefs, when we 
 fialljee him ; nor is his countenance fuch, that 
 we Jhould dejire him, Defpifed and rejedfed of 
 ?neny a ma?i of forrows, and acquainted with 
 grif, as one that hideth his face from us ; 
 he was defpifed, and we efeemed him not. 
 This indeed is no other than a hiHory of his 
 manner of Hfe on earth from his entrance on 
 his miniftry to his departure on the crofs. He 
 had no femblance of fuperior dignity and 
 worth to engage the regard of men : He had 
 no endowments of pleafures, riches, and ho- 
 nours to attradl the defires of the world. 
 Unacknowledged and difefleemed by Pha- 
 rifees and Sadducees, by Chief Priefts, by 
 Elders, and by Scribes, he acquired attention 
 only in the humbled walks of life. Through 
 all his adlive labours he was cxpofed to ca- 
 lumny and detradrion ; and when we come 
 to the hiflory of his palTion, was there ever 
 any forrow like to his forrow ? 
 
 The Prophet now more explicitly declares 
 the forrows and fufferings, to which he 
 would be expofed ; and at the fame time he 
 very largely and repeatedly opens the caufes, 
 for which they would be laid upon him. 
 Though he feemed in the eyes of men to be 
 judicially fmitten by the hand of God, yet he 
 did not endure this feverity of judgment for 
 
 D 2 ^nv 
 
36 He IV as wounded for our tran/grejions ; 
 
 any tranfgreffions of his own. It was for 
 guilty man he fufFered. To efFecl our peace 
 with God, he furrendered himfelf to the chaf- 
 tifnig hand of juftice; and to heal our wounds, 
 he fubmitted to be feverely w^ounded. 
 
 Surely our ififirmities hath he borne , and our 
 farrows hath he carried', while we thought 
 him Jiricken, f mitten of God, and a.ffli6led. But 
 he was wounded for our tranfgrefjions ; he was 
 bruifed for our iniquities : The chafiifement of 
 our peace was upon him ; and by his firipes we 
 are healed. All we like Jloeep have frayed-, 
 we have turned afide every one to his own way; 
 a?2d the Lord hath laid en him the iniquity of 
 ■lis all. It was exaBed, and he was made an- 
 fwerable ; yet he opened not his mouth. As a 
 lamb that is led to the flaughter, and as a fieep 
 before her fhearers is dumb, fo he opened not his 
 7nouth. From confinement and from judgment 
 was he taken : and who fiall declare his gene- 
 ration ? For he was cut off from the land of the 
 living; for the tranfgrefjions of my people was he 
 firicken. A?2d his grave was appointed with the 
 wicked; and with the rich man was his tomb. 
 Although he had done no wrong, neither was 
 there atiy guile in his mouth -, yet it pleafed the 
 Lord to bruife him; he hath put him to griefs. 
 
 * In the feveral quotations from Ifaiah through this feries of 
 difcourfcs, the Author has paid a deference to the valuable verfion 
 
 of 
 
He was bruifedfor our iniquities. 37 
 
 I do not interrupt this prophetic narra- 
 tive ; as it very clearly expofes the whole 
 hiftory of the Mefliah's fuffcrings, of which 
 his Difciples were eye-witneiTes ; and at the 
 fame time it declares again and again, what 
 was not immediately obvious to the under- 
 ftandings of his Difciples, the great dodrine 
 of atonement, which our Saviour by his fuf- 
 ferings wrought for guilty man. On him 
 
 of Bifliop Lowth; but has not invariably followed him. For In- 
 ftance, in this portion, he has retained the phrafe of theold Tranl- 
 lation, — to bru'ife bi?n; he bath put him to grief , as having more of 
 the folemn fimplicity of Ifaiahthan — to cnijh hmiu'ith affl'iSl'ion. 
 He has retained the term, Whojhall declare his generation ? ra- 
 ther than, bis manner of life who fhall declare ? as the latter of 
 thefe renderings limits the claufe to a particular fenfe, which 
 in the old Tranflation as well as in the Original is left more 
 indefinite. The Prophet's idea may have been, according to 
 the Bifhop's acceptation, "Who fhall come forward at this hour 
 of trial to atteft the general innocence and integrity of his life 
 and converfation ?" But with equal fhew of reafon we may un- 
 derftand it to have been, " Who (hall atteft his divine origin ? 
 Who (hall publicly acknowledge that he is the Son of God, or 
 that his milfion and doctrine are of God ?" He has ventured 
 however to adopt the Bifhop's rendering, A7id ivith the rich man 
 luas bis Tomb J on grounds for which he mull refer the Reader 
 to the Bifhop's note upon the paffage. Yet he muft not omit 
 to notice, that this rendering is controverted by Parkhurft in the 
 laft edition of his Lexicon, under the article DD. But what- 
 ever be the difference of opinion among Interpreters on gram- 
 matical and verbal points, the leading fenfe of the paffage is 
 clear, and the general application of the prophecy remains un- 
 atfefted. 
 
 D 3 was 
 
38 He was wounded for our tranfgrejjions ; 
 
 was laid the burden of our fuis. He was the 
 peace-ofFering defigned to reconcile us to 
 God. He was the Lamb of God, that was 
 facrificed to take away the fins of the world. 
 And here it defcrves our ferious attention, 
 that whenever the Prophet touches on the 
 punilhment inflitled on this innocent Perfon, 
 he reverts to the caufc for which he endured 
 it ; as if he were anxious to imprefs on all, 
 v»^ho fliould afterwards believe his report, the 
 dodrine of a Saviour's fuffering for the fins of 
 men. Though innocent himfelf both in 
 word and deed, yet according to the deter- 
 minate counfel and foreknowledge of God 
 it behoved him to fuffer, " the juft for the 
 unjuft, that he might bring us to God ^" 
 
 Before we proceed, it may be ufeful to 
 take notice of fome circumftances in this 
 eventful prophecy, which were particularly 
 fulfilled. When led as a lamb to the facri- 
 fice, he opened not his mouth. To all the 
 contumelious chars:es of the Jews, when he 
 flood before the High Pricit, before the Ro- 
 man Governor, and before Herod, he an- 
 fwered nothing. *' When he was reviled, 
 he reviled not again -, when he fuffered, he 
 threatened not ; but committed himfelf to 
 
 f I Pet. iU. 1 8. 
 
 him 
 
He was hruifedfor our iniquities, 3 9 
 
 him that judgeth righteously ^." — ^* He made 
 his grave with the wicked, and with the rich 
 man was his tomb ;" or according to the 
 common rendering, which impHes, though 
 not fo diilindly, the fame thing, " and with 
 the rich man in his death." Though he 
 fuffered an ignominious death with the 
 wicked, being crucified between two Male- 
 factors, yet was he diftinguifhed by an ho- 
 nourable grave. For on the evening of his 
 death there came a rich and honourable man, 
 namely, Jofeph of Arimathea, who with 
 the Governor's permiffion took the body 
 down from the crofs, and refpedfully laid it 
 in his own new tomb. 
 
 From thefe his fufFerings the moll bene- 
 ficial confequences would accrue to men; and 
 the bleffings, w^hich he fo dearly purchafed 
 for others, would redound to the high confo- 
 lation of the Sufferer himfelf. When his foul 
 fhall be made an offering for JiUy he poall fee a 
 feedi that fliaU prolong their days', and the plea- 
 fure of the Lord Jhall profper in his hand. Of 
 the travel of his foul he Jloall feey and Jlmll 
 be fatisfed. By knowledge of him fiall my 
 righteous Servant jufiify many ; for he f:all 
 bear their iniquities. 
 
 S J, Pet. ii. 25. 
 
 D 4 Ha\ing 
 
40 He was wounded for our tranfgreffions ; 
 
 Having rendered his life a propitiatory fa- 
 crifice for fin, he fliall fee, and fliall be com- 
 pletely fatisfied in feeing, the fruit of his tra- 
 vels in that fpiritual progeny, that holy na- 
 tion, that peculiar people, compofed of the 
 faithful of every clime and lineage under 
 heaven, who through him fhall be born to 
 fpiritual life, and be rendered Sons of God by 
 adoption, and co-heirs with him of immortal 
 happinefs. Under his miniftration the gra- 
 cious purpofe of the Lord, the redemption 
 and falvation of the world, fliall be fuccefl- 
 fully accomplifhed. For having borne their 
 iniquities, he Ihall cancel all their guilt ; and 
 by the merit of his own obedience he fliall 
 render many righteous ^; that is, the multi- 
 tude of true Difciples, who by a vital faith 
 confide in his merits, and acknowledge him 
 for the Redeemer and the Lawgiver of men. 
 
 For all thefe meritorious fuffcrings he fliall 
 And an abundant recompence : T^herefore will 
 I dijlribute to him a poi'tion in the great ; and 
 in the mighty fiall he JJjare the Jpoil : Becauje 
 he poured out his fold unto death t and was num- 
 bered with the tranfgrejjors -, and he bore the 
 Jin of many, and made inter cefjion for the tranf 
 greffors. Becaufe he fubmitted to offer up 
 
 *• Kom, V. 19. 
 
 his 
 
Ue was hriiifedfor our iniquities, 41 
 
 his foul a ranfom for us, and, though inno- 
 cent himfelf, to fuffer puniiliment with ma- 
 lefactors ; becaufe he undertook thofe two 
 great offices of atonement, of a Sacrifice to 
 bear the fins of men, and of a Priefi: to make 
 intercefldon for a tranfgr effing world ; He 
 therefore fhould acquire to himfelf an extra- 
 ordinary conqueft in thofc multitudes of peo- 
 ple, who fliould conftitute his kingdom both 
 militant on earth and trium.phant in heaven. 
 All which is in clofe correfpondence with 
 the argument of the Apoflle; ^' Being found 
 in fafliion as a man, he humbled himfelf, and 
 became obedient to death, even the death of 
 the crofs. Wherefore God alfo hath highly 
 exalted him, and hath given him a name 
 which is above every name ; that at the name 
 of Jefus every knee fliould bow, of thofe in 
 heaven, and thofe in earth, and thofe under 
 the earth; and that every tongue fhould con- 
 fefs that Jefus Chrifh is Lord, to the glory of 
 God the Father ^" 
 
 Having thus examined through its feveral 
 claufes the defign and objed of this mofh 
 important and interefting prophecy, I pro- 
 
 ' Phil. il. 8, kc. 
 
 ceed 
 
42 He was wounded for our tranj'grejjions ; 
 
 ceed to explore the general inflrudion to be 
 colledled from it. 
 
 And firft, it eftablifhes the truth of our 
 Religion ; inafmuch as it fo dlflin6lly and 
 circumftantially ftates, many ages before his 
 birth, the chara6ter and fufferings of him, 
 who is the Author and Finifher of our faith. 
 In this it is pre-eminently diftinguifhed from 
 all other prophecies, being clear of every tem- 
 poral theme, and exclufively appropriated to 
 our great Redeemer. It defcribes, what indeed 
 can be applied to no other man, an innocent 
 Pcrfon by the counfel of God judicially fmltten 
 for the guilty, a Prince by his forrows pro- 
 moting the happinefs of his people, and by 
 Ills patient endurance of fufferings extending 
 his kingdom over the nations. Hence this 
 has been the prophecy, which has taken the 
 greateft effed: in converting the Heathen, in 
 confirming the wavering Believer, and in re- 
 claiming the Apoftatc. 
 
 In the time of the Apoftles it was fuccefT- 
 fuUy applied to the converfion of the Ethio- 
 pian eunuch by the deacon Philip. Directed 
 by an Auigel he encountered this ftranger on 
 his return from fome public a6l of worlliip at 
 Jerufalem, and found him pioufly employed 
 in reading the Prophet Ifaiah. When Philip 
 
 afked 
 
JJe ivas hruifedfor our iniquities, 43 
 
 allied him, whether he underftood what he 
 was reading, he profeiTed his ignorance, and 
 befought his affiftance to underftand it. It 
 was on this extraordinary paiTage that his at- 
 tention was engaged. The firfl: inquiry was, 
 whether the Prophet Ipoke of himfelf, or of 
 ibme other man. There was nothing in the 
 hfe of Ifaiah, that gave it any fliadow of ap- 
 pUcation to himfelf; and it equally fails of 
 application through the whole hiftory of the 
 houfe or ftate of Ifrael. Then it was that 
 Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at 
 the fame Scripture, as the ground of the faith 
 which he had authority to teach, he preached 
 unto him Jefus. In him this word of God 
 was verified, and not one tittle of the pro- 
 phecy had failed. Which bore fuch convic- 
 tion on the Ethiopian's underftanding, that 
 he was ready to acknowledge Jefus for the 
 Son of God. And when they came to water, 
 he was immediately baptized in his name ''. 
 
 In like manner on this prophecy more espe- 
 cially the Defenders of our faith have laid 
 the greateft ftrefs, in the evidence, which 
 they draw from the prophecies at large, of 
 the truth of our religion. And an inilance 
 is on record in our own country, of the Pro- 
 
 ^- AiSls viii. 26, &:c, 
 
 fljgate 
 
44 He ivas wounded Jor our tranfgrcjfiona ; 
 
 fllgate and Infidel from a ferious peruilil of 
 this paffage being reclaimed, and from an 
 open difavowal, not only of the Chriftian 
 Religion, but of every moral and religious 
 principle, being brought to confefs that Law- 
 giver and Redeemer, to whom he had done 
 continual defpite through life ; acknowledg- 
 ing that Man, who was wounded for his tranf- 
 grefTions, and bruifed for his iniquities, and 
 on the merit of his fufferings foliciting the 
 remiffion of his fins. 
 
 Again, While it eftablifhes the truth of 
 our Religion in general, it ilamps a fan^lion 
 on that peculiar tenet of our holy Faith, the 
 atonement, that its Author made for the uni- 
 verfal fins of men. That man flood in need 
 of fome propitiation was a fentiment very 
 general in the ancient world ; fince it not only 
 was believed among the Hebrew race, who 
 retained a more corre6t knowledge of the 
 fatal difobedience oi our firft Progenitors, but 
 may alfo be traced through the various cor- 
 ruptions and idolatries of the Heathens ; as 
 may be coUedled from the rite of facrifice, 
 which almofl univerfally prevailed under every 
 modification of ancient faith and worfliip. In 
 accord with this opinion was that i^'flem of 
 facrifice eftablifhed by the Mofaic ritual : 
 Whereof the Apoftle thus obferves, that '' al- 
 
 mod 
 
He was hruifedfor our iniquities. 45 
 
 mod: all things by the Law were purified 
 with blood, and without fliedding of blood 
 was no remiffion^" Among a multitude of 
 inftitutions to this effedl was the daily facri- 
 fice both at morn and eve of a fpotlefs iamb 
 at the door of the tabernacle or the temple ; 
 as alfo was the yearly obfervance of the 
 Paflbver, when a fpotlefs lamb was (lain in 
 every family, to conftitute a feaft holy to the 
 Lord. This in its immediate view was to 
 commemorate the deliverance of Ifrael from 
 the Egyptian bondage, when the Angel of 
 the Lord in his miniilry of avenging juftice 
 pafled over the houfes of thofe families, 
 which were diftinguiflied by the blood of the 
 lamb they had flain. But it evidently points 
 to a far more valuable facrifice, conneded in 
 like manner with a far more important de- 
 liverance ; the blood of which v/as to be of 
 fufficient price to ftay the accumulated wrath 
 of Heaven, to make atonement for the guilt 
 of man, and to render God propitious to a 
 ranfomed world. 
 
 The doctrine, thus conveyed in emblems 
 through the Law of Mofes, is m.ore exprefsly 
 fignified by the Prophet of the Gofpel Ifaiah, 
 efpecially in the prophecy now before us, 
 which very clearly and explicitly teaches 
 
 ^ Heb, ix, 22. 
 
 the 
 
46 He was wounded for our tranfgrejjions ; 
 
 the propitiatory facrifice of the gofpel cove- 
 nant. While he gives a very feeling rela- 
 tion of the facrifice of a Perfon, that was in- 
 nocent himfelf of every guilt, he continually 
 reverts to this great do6lrine of religion, that 
 he fuffered all for the tranfgreffions of his 
 people, to atone for their fins, and to obtain 
 and ratify their peace with God. 
 
 When therefore he appeared on earth, as 
 was written of him in the volume of that 
 prophetic book, to fulfil the whole will of 
 God "', his Harbinger the Baptift difplayed 
 him to his difciples in this moft important 
 function of his mediatorial chara6ler ; *' Be- 
 hold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the 
 iin of the w^orld "!" 
 
 Of this part of his charader our Lord him- 
 felf did not ^ery openly fpeak through the 
 courfe of his miniftry, as it was one of thofc 
 myfteries of godlinefs, which could be fully 
 manifefted only in the event itfelf ; nor even 
 then could be fufficiently underftood, fo as 
 to make an effential part of the Chriftian 
 faith, till the whole fcheme of his miffion as 
 the incarnate Word of God was totally ful- 
 filled in his refurredion and afcenfion. Yet 
 in feveral of his converfations with his Difci- 
 ples he prepared them for the reception of 
 
 "» Pf. xl. 7. Heb, X, 7. " John i. 29. 
 
 this 
 
He was hruifedfor our iniquities. 4/ 
 
 this important truth ; more efpeciallj, as the 
 time drew near, he repeatedly told them, 
 that he muft go up to Jerufalem, and be ex- 
 pofed to all manner of ignominious and cruel 
 ufage, and finally be put to death, as he 
 fignified, by the crofs ; to which however he 
 generally added, that this dominion of death 
 iliould be but for a fliort time over him ; 
 for on the third day he lliould rife again. 
 
 When the appointed hour was come, every 
 tittle of w^hat the Prophets had formerly, and 
 himfelf had recently, foretold, was fulfilled 
 upon him. He was betrayed by his own fa- 
 miliar friend into the hand of his enemies °. 
 He was perfecuted with all manner of cruel 
 and ignominious ufage. He was numbered 
 with the tranfgreffors. He was lifted up from 
 the earth for the healing of thofe that looked 
 upon him ^, They pierced his hands and his 
 feet ^. They parted his garments among 
 them ^ A bone of him was not broken ^. And, 
 They looked on him whom they pierced \ 
 More efpecially was this prophecy fulfilled, 
 which reprefents him wounded for our tranf- 
 greffions ; and bruifed for our iniquities. As 
 a victim on an altar, fo our Redeemer on 
 
 * Pf. xll. 9. P Numb. xxl. 9, John iii. 14, 15. 
 
 1 Pf. xxii. 16. ' Pr. xxii, 18. ' Exod. xii. 46. 
 
 * Zech. xii. 10. 
 
 the 
 
48 He was wounded for our tranfgrejjions % 
 
 the crols poured out his foul unto death, a 
 full, perfect, and fufRcient ranfom for a tranf- 
 grelTing world. 
 
 This dread event the Difciples witnefTed 
 v/ith confufion and dlfmay. They had long 
 expe6led him to come forward in the ftyle 
 and character of a temporal King, and to have 
 enjoyed a long continued reign of prosperity 
 and glory. And though he repeatedly dif- 
 claimed all ideas of fuch an elevation, and 
 had frequently foretold his painful and ago- 
 nizing death, yet they could never reconcile 
 themfelves to the thought. " That be far 
 from thee, Lord "!" faid Peter, when he was 
 once alluding to this mournful theme. How 
 much therefore may we fuppofe them to 
 have been overcome with defpondence, when 
 it really came to pafs ! Deprived of their head 
 they were as fheep without a lliepherd ^. 
 And that ray of hope, which he had given 
 them of his rifmg again, feems to have been 
 totally loft in the difmay that they now en- 
 dured. 
 
 But this defpondence was not to continue 
 long. Though he yielded for a time to the 
 powers of death and hell, he yielded only, 
 that he might effedt a more decifive con- 
 
 « Matth. xvi. 22, " Zech. xlii. 7. Matth, xxvi.3T. 
 
 qucft. 
 
He was hruifedfor our iniquities* 49 
 
 queft. On the third day the tomb, to which 
 he had been configned, furrendered its tem- 
 porary prifoner, and he rofe in triumph from 
 the dead. They then recollected the prophe- 
 cy, that he had given them of this great event, 
 and again they were collected, as Iheep around 
 their Shepherd. While gladdened with the 
 fight of their departed Lord, they began to 
 comprehend the myftery that had taken place. 
 And foon after his afcenfion, while they were 
 aflembled together on the day of Pentecoft, the 
 Holy Ghoft fell on them, and their eyes were 
 opened. The purpofe of his death, which had 
 hitherto remained under a veil, was now fully 
 manifefted unto them. And being now fent 
 to preach the Gofpel both to Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, even to all the world, they more efpe-« 
 cially dwelt on the theme of Chrift crucified. 
 The^ Crofs, hitherto a mark of odium, was 
 the mofi: difi:inguiflied badge of their profef- 
 fion; and they brought it forward in all their 
 difcourfes, as the fign both of their faith and 
 of the benefits thence derived. 
 
 This among others is the peculiar dodlrlne 
 of St. Paul, whofe labours in the office of an 
 Apoftle are better known to us than any of 
 the refi:. He preached Chrift crucified, to 
 the Jews a fliumbling-block, and to the 
 Greeks fooliflmefs, but to them which are 
 E called 
 
50 He was wounded for our tranfgreffions ; 
 
 called to the faith, both Jews and Greeks, 
 the wifdom and the power of God '. And on 
 this he copioufly dwells in his Epiflle to the 
 Hebrews ; in which he explains the whole 
 economy of facrifice and interccffion accord- 
 ing to the Law of Mofes, to be a type or 
 emblem of the great propitiation by the 
 blood of Chrill, who by this one offering 
 of himfelf has perfected for ever them that 
 are fandlified ^. 
 
 And to this the Apoflle John continually 
 reverts in that vifion of the Revelations, in 
 which he faw heaven opened, and the whole 
 company of heaven attendant round the 
 throne of God. Though he reprefents the 
 Son of God in all the fulnefs of celeftial 
 happinefs and glory, yet through the whole 
 of this book he reprefents him with a refe- 
 rence to his mediatorial character, as the pro- 
 pitiation for the fnis of men. Thus in the 
 beginning of his divine volume he calls him 
 " the faithful Witnefs, the firft begotten of 
 the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the 
 earth ; who loved us, and wafhed us from 
 our fms in his own blood, and hath made us 
 Kings and Priefts unto God and his Father %'* 
 
 y I Cor. i. 23, 24, 2 Heb. x. 14. 
 
 * Rev. i, .5, 6. 
 
 And 
 
He ivas hruifedfor our iniquities. 5 1 
 
 And in the courfe of the vifion, when this 
 divine Perfon undertakes to open the myfte- 
 rious book of God, he calls him the Lamb, 
 that was ilain, and hath redeemed us to God 
 by his blood, out of every kindred and 
 tongue and people and nation ^." 
 
 It remains for me now, in conclufion of 
 this difcourfe, to deduce an application to 
 our own improvement both in the docflrine 
 and the practice of godhnefs. 
 
 In point of doctrine, this prophecy tends 
 to eftablifh and to regulate our faith in all 
 thofe articles of our religion, which it is moft 
 expedient for us to know, whether of God 
 or of ourfelves. 
 
 It fets before us all thofe attributes of 
 God, in which confifls the excellence of his 
 nature : the holinefs of God, who is of purer 
 eyes than to behold iniquity, and therefore 
 cannot regard us in our fmful ftate with 
 complacence, nor without fome expiation ad- 
 mit us into favour : the righteoufnefs of God, 
 who would not fuffer fm to pafs without a 
 fevere atonement : the mercy of God in ac- 
 cepting a ranfom in our ftead ; and the 
 wifdom of God, in adopting fo wonderful 
 
 ^ Rev. V. 9. 
 
 E z a fcheme 
 
52 He tvCis ivouiided for our tranfgreffions ; 
 
 a fcheme of making his mercy to harmonize 
 with his juftice. 
 
 In like manner it fets before us the mifery 
 of man in confequence of that corruption, 
 which he derives from the original fm of his 
 firft Progenitor, and which in his natural ftate 
 he continually aggravates by liis own aliena- 
 tion from God and 2!;oodnefs. At the fame 
 time it opens to us the gladfome profpedl of 
 recovery from our unhappy ftate, through 
 the merits and mediation of our divine Re- 
 deemer : bv whom, if we refort unto him 
 in fmcere and vital faith, we have the aflur- 
 ance of every good and precious gift, which 
 the Father of mercy can beftow upon us ; 
 the pardon of all our fnis, the affiftance of 
 divine grace to promote our recovery, the 
 hope of juftification in the fight of God, of 
 adoption into his houfehold, and acceptance 
 into his inheritance. 
 
 But befide this impreffion on our faith, it 
 has a commanding influence on our practice. 
 For we muft not exped; to have any portion 
 in the bleffings, which our Redeemer by his 
 precious blood hath purchafed for us, unlefs 
 we verify and fubftantiate our faith in his 
 merits, by repentance from all thofe fms, from 
 which he came to fave us, and a diligent 
 endeavour to conform to his character and 
 
 to 
 
Me loas hndfedfor our iniquities. 53 
 
 to cultivate his law in all manner of holineis 
 of heart and life. Weak and helplefs as we 
 are in our natural ftate, yet by the affiftance 
 of that holy Spirit, which he has rendered 
 propitious to our earneft prayers, we are en- 
 abled to do whatever is efTential to our fpiri- 
 tual weal. His grace is fufficient for us ; 
 and from thofe, who devoutly feek it, ft will 
 never be withholden; from thofe, who dili- 
 gently improve it, it will never be with- 
 drawn. 
 
 In the £rft place, it teaches us to repent of 
 our fms. If they are fo odious in the fight of 
 God, and have thrown upon us fo great a 
 wxight of guilt, as to require the propitia- 
 tory facrifice of one, fo dear in his fight, and 
 in himfelf of fuch tranfcendent dignity and 
 holinefs, it furely concerns us to mourn fe- 
 verely for our fms ourfelves, to confefs them 
 before God in fervent fupplication of his 
 mercy, and, as far as we have grace to enable 
 us, to forfake and abandon them for ever. It 
 concerns us alfo very frequently and very 
 ftridly to examine ourfelves, whether we 
 have made any progrefs in our repentance, 
 more efpecially of thofe fms, to which from 
 habit or conftitution we are mod inclined ; 
 to be vigilant and circumfped: in all our 
 condud, qnd to make a facrifice of every 
 
 E z affec- 
 
54 He was wounded for our tranfgrejjions ; 
 
 affedlion repugnant to the law and will of 
 God. 
 
 After engaging our repentance from every 
 fin, it urges the cultivation of every virtue. 
 And firft of humility towards God : If it was 
 expedient for fo great and fo innocent a Perfon 
 as the Son of God to fufFer an agonizing 
 death, in order to make atonement for our 
 fins, fliall we prefume on our own righteouf- 
 nefs to engage his favour, or to merit his 
 reward ? Of refignation to the will of God : 
 If Chrift his only Son condefcended on our 
 account to do and to endure the whole will 
 of God, fhall we hefitate on our own ac- 
 count to do and to endure whatever he re- 
 quires ? Of thankfulnefs under bleffings and 
 of patience under fufferings : If Chrift, a 
 Perfon of unblemifhed innocence and of tran- 
 fcendent worth, fubmitted to forego the hap- 
 pinefs of heaven and to fuffer the extre- 
 mities of evil in our nature, lliall we, who 
 are unworthy, be unthankful for unmerited 
 favours ? fhall we, who are guilty, pre- 
 fume to murmur when we fufFer for our- 
 felves ? Of readinels to fuffer for righteouf- 
 nefs fake : If our blefted Lord, for the pur- 
 pofe of fulfilling all righteoufnefs, was con- 
 tent to endure the crofs, and to defpife the 
 fliame, Ihall we, who profefs ourfelves his 
 
 difciples. 
 
He was hruifedfor our iniquities. 55 
 
 difclples, hefitate to take up our crofs with 
 him, and to fubmit to all thofe partial evils, 
 which we may be called to undergo, in 
 vindication or teftimony of virtue and re- 
 ligion ? 
 
 It urges us to peace and charity with 
 our brethren. . If Chrift fo loved us, as to 
 lay down his life a peace-ofFering for us, 
 ought not we alfo to love one 'another? 
 And how ihall we more adequately exprefs 
 this love, than in ftudying to maintain a fpi- 
 rit of unity and benevolence among all thofe, 
 who have a common intereft in his precious 
 facrifice, and in labouring by exhortation, 
 by example, and by interceffion, to reftore 
 them to the peace and love of God ? 
 
 It urges us to purity both of heart and 
 life. If Chrift " hath given himfelf for us, 
 that he might redeem us from all iniquity, 
 and purify to himfelf a peculiar people, zea- 
 lous of good works," fhall not we be careful 
 and vigilant to purify ourfelves, even as he 
 is pure, fo that we may be in a condition 
 " to prefent our bodies, a living facrifice, 
 lioly, acceptable, to God ?'* 
 
 To conclude. It preffes on us a frequent 
 and thankful remembrance of his death, in 
 the manner that he has appointed, by par- 
 
 E 4 taking 
 
56 He tvas wounded for our tranfgreffions ; 
 
 taking of his Supper in the congregation of 
 the faithful. For we cannot be true in our 
 allegiance to him, unlefs we obey him in 
 his pofitive, as well as in his moral injunc- 
 tions, more efpecially by doing this in re- 
 membrance of him. And this, though ap- 
 parently no more than a pofitive duty, will 
 be full of moral improvement ; fince it will 
 make a more fenfible impreffion on our 
 mind, of that Lamb of God, who taketh 
 away the fm of the world. And while it 
 operates on our faith, it will alfo animate 
 our practice : it will difpofe us, more care- 
 fully to examine our hearts and lives, to re- 
 view our repentance for all our former fms, 
 to confirm our good refolutions of leading a 
 new life, and to give the whole application 
 of our faculties to be poor in fpirit, to be 
 pure in heart, to be at peace with God, and 
 to be in charity with all men. 
 
 If thus with the eye of faith we look 
 upon that Lamb of God, that taketh away 
 the fm of the world, we may hope here- 
 after to behold him face to face in the 
 realm of heavenly blifs, and to be admitted 
 into the number of that blefled multitude, 
 who join in this divine doxology : '* Unto 
 him, that loved us, and wafhed us from our 
 
 fms 
 
He was bruifedfor our iniquities, 5? 
 
 fins In his own blood, and hath made us Kings 
 and Priefts unto God and his Father, to him 
 be glory and dominion for ever and ever^ 
 AmenM'* 
 
 « Rev. I. ^, 6. 
 
S E R M O N III. 
 
 Isaiah Ixi. i, 3. 
 (Luke iv. 18, 19.) 
 
 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; becatife the Lord hath 
 anointed me. He hath fent me to pnhlijh good tidings 
 to the meek ; to bind up the broken-hearted ; to proclaim 
 deliverance to the captives ', and the opening of the 
 frifon to the bound i to proclaim the acceptable year of 
 the Lord. 
 
 XN thefe animating words the Prophet Ifaiah 
 announces the moft valuable benefits, which , 
 a gracious Providence can confer on man. 
 They muft therefore be particularly welcome^, 
 to all thofe, who have an intereft in the tid- 
 ings they communicate. A mighty Year of 
 grace^ deHverance, and happinefs is proclaimed; 
 which the Prophet reprefents by art allufion 
 to the periodical obfervance of every fiftieth 
 year, as ordained by the Law of Mofes, 
 when the trumpet of Jubilee founded through 
 the land, and liberty was proclaimed to all 
 its inhabitants, and they returned every man 
 to his own poiTelTion, and every man to his 
 
 own 
 
6o The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; 
 
 own family*; in other words, when every 
 debt was cancelled, every flave was freed, 
 and every inheritance reverted to its original 
 houfe. 
 
 Before we examine thefe words in that 
 point of view, wherein they more immedi- 
 ately intereft ourfelves, it may be convenient 
 to inquire, how they were underilood by the 
 people to whom they were originally given. 
 From that preeminence of character, which 
 Ifaiah bore in Ifrael, the cotemporary Jews 
 might at firft imagine, that he fpoke imme- 
 diately of himfelf. They could not be Grangers 
 to thofe hish notices, with which he had 
 been privileged above his Brethren, in feeing 
 the Lord in his temple, and being touched 
 by the Seraph with the hallowed fire ^. They 
 might therefore be prepared to fuppofe, that 
 as the Spirit of the Lord was upon him in 
 this embafly of grace, fo he was himfelf the 
 perfon thus efpecially anointed by the Lord, 
 for the purpofe not only of proclaiming, but 
 alfo of adminiftering every valuable gift. But 
 this acceptation they muft have relinquiflied, 
 if they confidered the tenor of the prophecy 
 with a reference to the complexion of the 
 time when it was given. The bleffmgs which 
 
 « Lev. XXV. 8, &c, ^ Ifa. vi. i, &c. 
 
 it 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me. 0\ 
 
 it enumerates imply a deliverance from fome 
 very great and general calamities, of which 
 they had no experience in the days of Ifaiah; 
 for the age in which he flouriilied, except for 
 fome few transient clouds, was a feafon to the 
 Jews of eminent profperity. It muft there- 
 fore of necellity be referred to fome future 
 period, when the Prophet's mlnlflry was 
 clofed. 
 
 It was no uncommon ufage in the pro- 
 phetic ft)'le for the Prophet to afTume the 
 character of the Agent, when he was no 
 other than the Harbinger, of heavenly coun- 
 fels and difpenfations. And thus unquefliona- 
 bly mufi: we underftand Ifaiah in this place. 
 He prefages bleffings, not to be adminlftered 
 immediately by himfelf, but to be accom- 
 pliihed afterwards by fome otherMlnifter of the 
 divine will. He could not but forefee a for- 
 midable train of evils, which by the righteous 
 judgment of God were to involve his people, 
 when the meafure of their fms vv^as full. But 
 this mournful theme was more congenial to 
 the plaintive Jeremiah, than to the elevated 
 fpirit of the Son of Amos. Taking mod 
 complacence in images of public peace and 
 happlnefs, he paffes his eye with a rapid 
 glance over the calamities of his country, 
 that he may fix it on thofe years of brighter 
 
 fortune. 
 
61 The Spirit of tfie Lord is tipon me 3 
 
 fortune, when the Sun of Ifrael fliould again 
 arife, and the glory of the Lord fhould again 
 be difFufed upon them. 
 
 As far as the prophecy admitted of appU- 
 cation to temporal and national themes, it 
 muft be referred, as indeed it was underftood 
 by the Jews of a later age, to the deliverance 
 of that people from the Babylonian yoke ; a 
 revolution marked with the mofl: welcome 
 viciffitude of fortune, from flavery to freedom, 
 from mifery to happinefs, from exile to their 
 country. This great event was accompliflied 
 by the miniftry of Cyrus, the illuftrious 
 Founder of the Perfian Empire, whom the 
 fame Ifaiah had foretold by name fome ages 
 before his birth, with every circumftance, 
 that could give dignity and fplendour to a 
 fpecial Agent of the will of Heaven. God 
 himfelf pronounces him his Shepherd, and his 
 Anointed Prince, whom he would raife in 
 righteoufnefs, and hold by the right hand, to 
 fulfil his pleafure, and to execute his coun- 
 fels, to releafe his captives, to reftore his 
 exiles, to reeftabhfli the commonwealth of 
 Ifrael, and to rebuild the City and Temple 
 of the Lord*^. Under his aufpicious rod of 
 empire good tidings were publillied to the 
 
 <= I fa. xllv. 28. xlv. 1, <StC. 
 
 meek, 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me. 03 
 
 meek, and healing was admlniftered to the 
 broken-hearted, and deliverance was granted 
 to the captives, and the prifon was opened 
 for the bound, and the gracious year of ac- 
 ceptance with the Lord, the year of general 
 reftitution and releafe, proclaimed. 
 
 But great as this deliverance under Cyrus 
 was, the Prophet had a nobler and more im- 
 portant theme in view. The Jews them- 
 felves, though the veil of carnal prejudice 
 was upon their eyes, were difpofed to under- 
 ftand thefe prophetic words as defcriptive of 
 fuperior bleffings, yet in ilore for God's pecu- 
 liar people, under the banners of a Perfon to 
 be born among themfelves, of that Meffiah 
 or Anointed Prince, to whom from earlieft 
 to lateft times their prophecies continually 
 and invariably point. To this divine Per- 
 fonage they folicitouily bent their hopes; and 
 from hi? tutelary care, as they underftood 
 .their Prophets, they expelled every kind of 
 national profperity and glory, the indepen- 
 dence of Judah, the reftoration of the feat- 
 tered tribes, a conqueft of their enemies, and 
 a preeminence of dominion over all the 
 world. 
 
 When Jefus Chrift appeared, he by no 
 means anfwered the defcription, which they 
 had fancied to themfelves, of the promlfed 
 
 Meffiah ; 
 
64 The Spirit of the Lord is upon mi9*, 
 
 • Meffiah ; nor indeed to external view did he 
 juftify the expedations, which they had fondly 
 cheriflied of a temporal Prince. But invefled 
 as he was by the power of the Spirit, which 
 approved him mighty both in word and deed, 
 he could not but engage attention from every 
 difpofition and character of men. While he 
 travelled through the land of Galilee, a fame 
 of him w ent abroad through all the region 
 round ; and he taught in their iynagogues, 
 being glorified of all ^^ 
 
 In the circuit that he made in Galilee, he 
 came to Nazareth, where he had been brought 
 up. And as his cuftom w^as, he went into 
 the iynagogue on the fabbath-day. And he 
 ftood up for to read, agreeably to the ufagc 
 of the public fervice among the Jews, of re- 
 hearfing a portion of the Law or the Pro- 
 phets, accompanied with an expoiition or pa- 
 raphrafe. And there was delivered unto him 
 the book of the Prophet Ifaiah : when by a 
 fpecial direction of providence the book was 
 opened on this memorable text. When 
 therefore he began to readi he would natu- 
 rally engage the ferious notice of the whole 
 aflembly. Whatever prejudice they might 
 entertain againft him, (for this prejudice was 
 
 ^ Luke iv. 14, 15. 
 
 the 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me. (35 
 
 the greateft in his own country, and among 
 his own kindred,) thej would be curious to 
 hear, what a Teacher, fo diftinguifhed by 
 the voice of fame, could fay upon fo intereft- 
 ing a theme. During the paufe, that enfued 
 after he had clofed the book, the eyes of all 
 in the fynagogue were failened on him. 
 
 And he began to fay imto them, " This 
 day is this fcripture fulfilled in your ears." 
 Inftead of applying it to any temporal or any 
 national deliverance, whether paft or to come, 
 he brought it home to the fpiritual and uni- 
 verfal deliverance of the world. The Spirit 
 of the Lord, which had been upon Ifaiah, 
 was now diffufed in more than double por- 
 tion on the holy Jefus. He was anointed in 
 a more divine manner ; he had tidings of fu- 
 perior good to preach ; and he had a far 
 more important redemption to accomplilh. 
 And therefore, without detracting any thing 
 from the high character of Ifaiah, we may 
 truly fay, Behold a greater than Ifaiah is here. 
 
 The Jews had been accuftomed to receive 
 the Scriptures in a literal and temporal fenfe. 
 An Interpreter from heaven was now rifen 
 among them, who undrew the veil of flia- 
 dows from the Law and the Prophets, and 
 explained them in their full and true defign, 
 as reprefenting fpiritual themes, as delineating 
 
 F better 
 
66 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me \ 
 
 better things to come. The Covenant of 
 the Law, when rightly underftood, was em- 
 blematic and predidive of the Covenant of 
 Grace. The ceremonial fervice of the Law 
 was a type or pidure of the fpiritual fervice 
 of the Gofpel. In like manner the whole 
 Civil Hiftory of the Hebrews, in the feveral 
 changes which they fo oft experienced, from 
 the difcipline of adverfe to the recompence of 
 profperous fortune, from poverty to plenty, from 
 warfare to peace, from flavery to freedom, 
 from pilgrimage to a fettled habitation, from 
 exile to their proper country, may be regarded 
 as a prophetic parable of the Spiritual Hiftory 
 of that holy Nation, that peculiar People, 
 which conftitutes the Kingdom of the Mef- 
 fiah in its two different flates, of difcipline 
 and trial upon earth, of recompence and 
 happinefs in heaven. Of this complexion is 
 the paiTage now before us. In its literal and 
 more immediate fenfe it may fignify the 
 temporal deliverance of the Jews from the 
 Babyloniili yoke, and their reftoration by 
 Cyrus to their patrimonial home. But in its 
 final and moft important aim it reprefents the 
 fpiritual deliverance of all mankind by Jefus 
 Chrift, the true Shepherd and Anointed of 
 the Lord, from the bondage of fm and death, 
 'ind their final eftablifliment in the fpiritual 
 
 Sion, 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me. 67 
 
 Slon, the City of the living God, in the hea- 
 venly Canaan, the true land of promife for 
 the chofen and the bleft of God. 
 
 To tbiiL^ intent was the interpretation of 
 our Lord in the fy nagogue of Nazareth. 
 Though the difcourfe itfelf is not recorded, 
 yet the purport of it is fufficiently implied ; 
 and the efFe6l which it had upon his au- 
 dience is explicitly told. So great was the 
 energy of truth in what he faid, that, not- 
 withlianding tlie prejudice entertained againft 
 him, a temporary fentiment of his prophetic 
 charad:er prevailed. " They all bore him 
 witnefs, and wondered at the gracious w^ords 
 which proceeded out of his mouth." 
 
 Thus guided by our Lord himfelf in the 
 interpretation of this Prophecy, let us exa- 
 mine and apply it in that evangelical fenfe 
 which he has fixed upon it. 
 
 This embaiTy of grace is opened with a 
 declaration of the authority on which it was 
 delivered. In the charader of a perfon greater 
 than himfelf the Prophet fays, T/je Spirit of 
 the Lord is upon me, for the purpofe, for 
 'which he hath anointed me. The Spirit of the 
 Lord had been on the ancient Prophets 
 through a feries of ages ; by which they 
 wTought righteoufnefs, and obtained pro- 
 mifes ; by v/hich they performed miracles, 
 
 F 3 and 
 
68 T/ie Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; 
 
 and foretold events to come. But if there 
 ever was a perfon, on whom this divine Spirit 
 was diffufed in unlimited abundance, it was 
 that fpecial Minifter of grace, in whom dwelt 
 bodily all the fulnefs of the Godhead. Thus 
 he is ftyled in prophetic language, Immanuel, 
 or, God with us. And indeed through the 
 whole of his miniftry he fliewed himfelf to 
 have been not merely gifted with an extraor- 
 dinary meafure of divine wifdom and power, 
 but to have been himfelf the wifdom and 
 the power of God. This indeed was par- 
 tially acknowledged even by the Jews, who 
 were witnefles of his miniftry. When they 
 heard his do^lrines, they teftified, faying, 
 *« Never man fpake like this man." And 
 when they faw and felt his miracles, they 
 alfo teftified, faying, " It was never fo feen 
 in Ifrael." 
 
 Our Lord indeed was not anointed with 
 oil, according to the letter of the Legal ordi- 
 nance. But in the fpiritual import of that 
 external rite he was anointed in a manner 
 incomparably more divine, " he was anointed 
 with the Holy Ghoft and with power." 
 Which may be referred to the time of his 
 Baptifm; immediately upon which the Spirit 
 of God defcended in a vifible form upon 
 him, and a Voice from heaven proclaimed, 
 
 '« This 
 
Becmife the Lord hath ayiointed me. 69 
 
 *' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
 well pleafed." 
 
 Now this gift of the Spirit was conferred 
 upon our Lord for that important purpofe 
 for which he was anointed ; namely, to per- 
 form all thofe more exalted offices, to which 
 among Jews anointing was the inaugurating 
 rite : of a Prophet, as he was to declare the 
 will of God to man : of a Prieft, as he was 
 to yield a facrifice, and to make an intercef- 
 lion, for the people : of a King, as he was to 
 eflablifli a Kingdom over men, very different 
 indeed from the kingdoms of this world, of 
 a divine and fpiritual kind, confifting of two 
 different Hates, of prefent grace and of future 
 glory. And hence he derived his mofl dif- 
 tinguifhed name, as expreffed in different 
 languages to the fame effedl, of the Meffiah, 
 the Chrift, or the Anointed. 
 
 After ftating the commiilion and authority 
 of Chrift, the Prophecy enumerates the blef- 
 fmgs which he was to adminifter. All thefe 
 may be taken in a literal and in a figurative, 
 in a temporal and in a fpiritual fenfe. In the 
 former fenfe they were limited to the Cotem- 
 poraries and Countrymen of Jefus, in the latter 
 they were extended to the whole Chriftian 
 World. But thefe two fenfes have a clofe 
 and intimate connexion ; inafmuch as the 
 F 3 temporal 
 
70 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; 
 
 temporal benefits, which he conferred on 
 thofe within the fphere of his perfonal mi- 
 niftry, were no other than pledges and em- 
 blems of the fpirltual bleffings, which he 
 diftributes impartially to all ages and nations 
 of Believers. 
 
 He hath fent me to pubiijl: good tidwgs to the 
 Meek ; or as we read in our verfion of the 
 Evangelift, to preach the Gofpel to the Poor, 
 Through all the holy Scriptures the Gofpel is 
 reprefented as an embafly of gladnefs. In this 
 charad:er it \vas repeatedly foretold by the Pro- 
 phets : In this it was announced by the An- 
 gels at the birth of Chrift : And thus was it 
 invariably llyled by Chrift himfelf and his 
 Apaftles. And well does it deferve the name 
 and charad:er ; fnice it communicates the 
 greateft bleffings, w^hich could flow from the 
 fource of every good ; comprifmg no lefs 
 than redemption from fui, and pardon on re- 
 pentance, the affifting and fupporting grace 
 of God, acceptance into his favour here on 
 earth, and adoption into his houfehold in the 
 realms of heaven. 
 
 Now thefe blefTed tidings he was pleafed 
 more immediately to communicate to the 
 Meek, or to the Poor, for thefe in holy writ 
 are frequently combined as kindred charac- 
 ters, and are fometimes put indifferently for 
 
 one 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me. 7 1 
 
 one another. The Meek in the language of 
 the Prophet are the fame with the Poor in 
 the language of the Evangelift. And how 
 well thefe prophetic words were fulfilled in 
 our Lord appears from that appeal, which he 
 made to the common exercife of his mini- 
 ftry. Among the feveral w^orks of benevo- 
 lence, in which he was continually employed, 
 he mentions this the lafi:, as giving more ap- 
 propriate evidence of the true Anointed of 
 the Lord, than all thofe miracles which pro- 
 duced aftonifhment among the people. Under 
 his miniftration ** the blind received their 
 fight, and the lame walked, the lepers were 
 cleanfed, and the deaf heard ; even the dead 
 were raifed." But a fuller exercife of mercy 
 ftill remained to teflify his million and to il- 
 luftrate his chara(5ter; *' And the poor had 
 the Gofpel preached unto them ^." Paffing 
 by the great, the wealthy, and the wife of 
 this world, who were too much attached to 
 the things of this life, to receive with due re- 
 gard an embalTy from heaven, he vifited the 
 dwellings of the lowly, he converfed with 
 the common people, he chofe his difciples 
 from the unlettered orders of fociety. We 
 are not however to underftand that he looked 
 
 « Mat. xi. 5. 
 
 F 4 with 
 
72 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; 
 
 with fuch peculiar favour on the flate of po- 
 verty itfelf, but only as it cheriihed and im- 
 proved a difpofition moft congenial to his 
 fpirit, and therefore beft adapted for the re- 
 ception of his GofpeL Humility of circum- 
 ftance was a favourable foil for humility of 
 mind, that root and principle of the Chriftian 
 character. And therefore we may underlland 
 it was, that while he opened the treafures of 
 divine grace to all, he offered them in the 
 firfl place to the Poor and to the Meek. 
 
 And the fame difpofition of mind, which 
 he favoured fo eflentially in his perfonal mi- 
 niftry, is flill expedled and enjoined as a pri- 
 mary qualification for becoming and for con- 
 tinuing his difciples. Whatever be our fta- 
 tion or condition in fociety, whether high or 
 low, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, if we 
 would have any portion in this offered good, 
 we rnufl learn of him to be meek and lowly 
 in heart. We mufl entertain an humble 
 opinion of ourfelves in regard to fpiritual 
 things, a devout fubmiffion to the law, and 
 a patient refignation to the will, of Heaven. 
 For fuch a character of mind is not only a 
 pofitive condition, but alfo a virtual qualifica- 
 tion for admiffion into his kingdom, whether 
 in the ftate of grace or of glory. Accordingly 
 to perfons of this characfter our Lord afligns 
 
 the 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me, 73 
 
 the firft of his beatitudes ; " BlefTed are the 
 Poor in fpirit ; for theirs is the Kingdom of 
 Heaven." 
 
 Another objed; of our Saviour's miffion 
 \VLi3, 'To bind up the Broken-hearted. While 
 he went about doing good, he found abun- 
 dant fcope for the exercife of his benevo- 
 lence in alleviating the afflictions of a wounded 
 fpirit ; more sfpecially fuch as exceed all hu- 
 man cure, as when a Sifter mourns over the 
 tomb of her beloved Brother, or when a be- 
 reaved Widow follows the corfe of her only 
 Son to the grave. In this cafe he was ready 
 to adm^inifter a fupernatural confolation. To 
 the tenant of the filent tomb he faid^ " Come 
 forth." To the Young man borne upon the 
 bier he faid, ** Arife." Thus he effedually 
 jdifpelled the Sifter's tears i thus he turned 
 the Widow's forrows into joy. 
 
 But the relief, which he thus adminiftered 
 to thofe, who were pierced to the foul for 
 the natural afflid;ions of human life, was a 
 pledge of that more extenftve and more ef- 
 ficient relief, which he was always ready to 
 adminifter to thofe, who were broken-hearted 
 with a fenfe of their fms and a fearful appre- 
 henfion of the wrath of God. To them he 
 was always liberal of his mercies. As foon as 
 they difplayed the feeling forrows of a con- 
 trite 
 
74 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; 
 
 trite heart, with repentance towards God and 
 faith in him, he was ready to addrefs them 
 in the language of confolation and forgive- 
 nefs. 
 
 And the fame heahng power he is ready 
 ftill to exercife toward all, who labour under 
 the fame afflidion, the angulfh of a broken 
 heart, arifing from the confcioufnefs of fins, 
 and the terrors of the divine difpleafure. And 
 who among us can prefume to fay that he is 
 innocent in the fight of God ? Who can 
 boaft he never hath offended ? If we truly 
 know ourfelves, we all have reafon to lament 
 our unhappy ftate. For we all without ex- 
 ception labour under the maladies of a cor- 
 rupted nature ; and to all of us indifferently 
 belongs the confeffion in our daily prayers, 
 that there is no health in us. But no fooner 
 are we confcious of our unhappy ftate, than 
 ■we learn for our comfort where a remedy is 
 to be found. To thofe, who refort in peni- 
 tence and tears to Chriff, he fl:ill prefents 
 himfelf tlie true Phyfician of the foul. To 
 them he is underftood to fay in the ftill fmall 
 voice of confcience, " Your faith hath healed 
 you; go in peace." To this purpofe he de- 
 clares in his Sermon on the Mount ; " Blef- 
 fed are they that mourn ; for they fhall be 
 comforted," 
 
 Another 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me. 75 
 
 Another part of our Saviour's mlniftry 
 was, T(3 proclaim, or, I'd preach deliverance to 
 the Captives. By Captives in the primary 
 fenfe we may underftand all thofe, fo fre- 
 quently mentioned in the gofpel hiftory, who 
 laboured under the burden of bodily difeafes 
 and infirmities, which arrefted the liberty of 
 a6lion and impeded the faculties of life. No 
 fooner did our Lord appear, than all thofe 
 maladies which are incident to human nature 
 fled. Whatever was the difeafe or depriva- 
 tion under which they laboured, were it ever 
 fo fevere or inveterate, they had only to re- 
 pair to him, and at a touch, or at a word, they 
 were inftantaneouily loofed from the bonds of 
 their infirmities. 
 
 By thefe benevolent operations on the 
 bodies of men, he fliewed his authority to ac- 
 complifli a far more important and beneficial 
 work, the deliverance of their fouls from the 
 bondage and the yoke of fin. Having ocular 
 proof of his divine authority, when he faid to 
 the impotent, *' Arife, and walk," and to the 
 fick, " Be whole," they could not queftion 
 the efficacy of his abfolution, when he faid 
 to the Captive in the fpiritual life, " Thy fins 
 be forgiven thee." To them, who were op- 
 prefTed with a galling fenfe of their iniquities, 
 and found no alleviation of their burden from 
 
 thofe, 
 
76 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; 
 
 thofe, who fate in the chair of Mofes, and af- 
 liimed the authority of Mailers in Ifrael, he 
 addreifed this language of compaffion and 
 confolation, *' Come unto me, all ye that la- 
 bour and are heavy laden; and I will give you 
 reft." 
 
 And the fame deliverance he continues to 
 extend to all the fons of men ; more efpe- 
 cially to thofe, who feel the burden under 
 which they bend, and acknowledge and ad- 
 drefs him as the Deliverer of the foul. Herein 
 we have all a common intereft. Unconfcious 
 as we feem of the fervitude we bear, we are 
 all too much the flaves of our vicious palfions 
 and propeniities, which are the moft defpotic 
 m afters that can bear dominion over us, and 
 the moft fatal enemies to our final peace. Ap- 
 proving in our hearts what is good, we find 
 in our bodies no difpofition to perform it. 
 Our reafon would perfuade us to lov£ and 
 cultivate the law of God; but with a ftronger 
 fway our paflions bend us to the dominion 
 and control of fm ^ In this unhappy ftate 
 we are not left without a powerful and a 
 wiUing Friend. Our bleffed Lord prefents 
 himfelf to our regard, as the means of de- 
 liverance from this deadly bondage. If we 
 
 Rom. vii. i8. 
 
 truly 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me, 77 
 
 truly feek his aid in penitence and faith, wc 
 Ihall be made free from fm. If we take his 
 yoke and learn of him, we lliall find reft unto 
 our fouls. 
 
 With Deliverance to the Captives is com- 
 bined a correfpondent image in the text of 
 Ifaiah ; ^fid the opening of the prifon to the 
 Bound, or as it may be rendered, And all man- 
 ner of opening to the Bound: which is accepted 
 by the Evangeliil, as it had been before in- 
 terpreted in the verfion of the Septuagint, to 
 fignify the opening of the eyes. And recovering 
 of fight to the Blind \ a rendering, which is 
 countenanced by a parallel paffage of the fame 
 Ifaiah, relating equally to the fame deliver- 
 ance; *' I will give thee for a covenant of the 
 people, for a light of the nations; To open 
 the eyes of the Blind, to bring the Captives 
 out of prifon, and out of the dungeon them 
 that fit in darknefs ^." Now this reftoration 
 of fight is one of the moll: diftinguilhed of 
 our Saviour's miracles. And therefore this is 
 mentioned firft in his enumeration of thofe 
 mighty works, to which he appeals in evi- 
 dence of his being the promifed Minifter from 
 heaven. In his travels through the land this 
 energy of grace was very frequently exerted. 
 
 g Ifa. xlil. 6, 7. 
 
 Thofe, 
 
78 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; 
 
 Thofe, who had loft their fight, were cheered 
 again with the gladfome light of day, and 
 every thing defirable to the human eye. And 
 thofe, who had never fecn, were ftill more 
 aftonifhed with the welcome opening of a 
 new fenfe to the perception and underiland- 
 ing. 
 
 In this acl of benevolence he gave an ear- 
 nefl of his authority to recover the fpiritual 
 iight of thofe, who were blind in ignorance 
 and error. This he did in his preaching to 
 the common people of the Jews, who were 
 deftitute of all beneficial aid from thofe, who 
 profefled themfelves to be guides of the blind 
 and lights to them that were in darknefs. 
 He taught them, what they would have 
 fought in vain from the Scribes and Teachers 
 of the Law, whatever is requifite for a ftate 
 of grace on earth, as an eifential qualification 
 for a ftate of happinefs in heaven. Thus 
 under his miniftration was fulfilled the wel- 
 come prophecy of the fame Ifaiah ; ^' The 
 people, that walked in darknefs, have feen a 
 great light : They that dwelt in the land 
 of the ftiadow of death, unto them hath the 
 ii.dit lliined \" 
 
 And the fame gracious exercife he con- 
 
 ,/5 
 
 ^ Jfa, ix. 2. 
 
 tinue? 
 
Becaiife the Lord hath anointed me. 79 
 
 tinues In the world by the diffulioii of his 
 holy word, and by the operation of his holy 
 Spirit. For he came to be the light and the 
 life of men. Hence he Is called In prophetic 
 language, ** The Sun of righteoufnefs with 
 healing on his wings." Ever fince he rofe 
 upon the world, it has been his benevolent 
 office to illuminate the minds and to ani- 
 mate the hearts of men, to remove that mift 
 of carnal paffion, which obflrucls their moral 
 fight, and to open their eyes to the percep- 
 tion and enjoyment of celeftlal truth. He 
 dife6ls us on the way of holinefs in our 
 iourney through the wildernefs of life. And 
 he opens to our view, for the end of our pil- 
 grimage, the City of the heavenly King, 
 where the Pure In heart fliall be for ever blell: 
 •In the vifion of their God. 
 
 In concurrence with thefe energies of grace, 
 it was a like exertion of our Saviour's mi- 
 tt iftry, To Jet at liberty them that are bruifed. 
 Though this is not exprefTed in the original 
 text of Ifaiah, it is fupplied In that of the 
 Evangellft ; and is indeed no other than a 
 kindred, if not a fynonimous image, with de- 
 liverance to the Captives, and opening of the 
 prifon to the bound. To accept it in this 
 place with fome little difference of fignifica- 
 tion ; by them that are bruifed we may un- 
 
 derftand 
 
80 The Spirit of the Lord is upon 7ne ; 
 
 derftand more immediately thofe unhappy per- 
 fons, who laboured under a dreadful malady 
 more peculiar to that age and land, being ex- 
 pofed in their bodies to the mahgnant opera- 
 tions of the Devil. Thus they were bound 
 with his chain, they were bruifed with his rod. 
 To thefe unhappy objects was our Lord's 
 compaflion very frequently fhewn. Amid the 
 various miracles which he wrought, the Gof- 
 pels more efpecially dwell on fuch, as he ex- 
 ercifed on thofe who were pofTefTed with de- 
 vils. He fet them at liberty from this moft 
 afflid:ive fervitude, and he healed the bruifes 
 to which they had been expofed. 
 
 And in this exercife of his power toward 
 thofe, who were unhappily bruifed in the 
 body, he gave a pledge of his authority to fet 
 at liberty thofe, who by the fame tyrannic 
 foe were bruifed in the foul. For this pur- 
 pofe he was manifefted in the flefh, that 
 he might deftroy the works of the Devil. 
 And the whole aim of his miffion was di- 
 rected to overturn the dominion of this fpiri- 
 tual tyrant, and to break the rod of the op- 
 prefTor. At his entrance on his miniftry, he 
 began a conflidl with this general foe, when 
 he refifted his temptation in the wildernefs. 
 Through the whole courfe of his life he car- 
 ried on the fame fuccefsful w^arfare. In his 
 
 precious 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me. 8 1 
 
 precious death he engaged in mortal combat 
 with the powers of darknefs. And by his 
 glorious refurredtion and afccnfion he difplayed 
 his triumph both in heaven and earth. 
 
 And as he was employed, while he fo- 
 journed among us, in a perfonal conflict with 
 his enemies, fb from his feat in heaven he 
 contributes the affiflance of his holy Spirit to 
 all, who are confcious of their captive flate, 
 and figh for redemption from the galling 
 chain. 
 
 For though by his painful encounter on 
 the crofs he hath fpoiled principalities and 
 powers, who had fo long maintained a defpo- 
 tic empire in the world ; yet as long as the 
 prefent ftate of difcipline fubfifts, thefe ene- 
 mies of our peace are ftill fuffered to annoy 
 us with every kind of fedu(5tion and aifault. 
 Although not fubjedt to their vifible dominion 
 in the body, we ftill are liable to the rod of 
 their oppreffion in the foul. As long as we 
 continue in the militant ftate of the Chriftian 
 life, we are called upon to contend, not only 
 againft the common temptations of flefli 
 and blood, but againft principalities, againft 
 powers, againft the rulers of the darknefs of 
 , this world, againft fplritual wickednefs in 
 high places '. In this arduous conflidl we 
 
 ' Eph. vi. 12. 
 
 G have 
 
S'2 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; 
 
 have a certain ground of confidence in the 
 Captain of our Salvation, provided we conti- 
 nue with fortitude under his banner, and re- 
 folutely fight the good fight of faith. If in 
 fteady defiance of the power and the wiles of 
 the Devil we preferve our allegiance to our 
 fpiritual King, he will give his Angels charge 
 over us to keep us in all our ways. And 
 when the fcene of trial and of difcipline is 
 paft, when he Ihall have put all enemies un- 
 der his feet, when the powers of darknefs 
 lliall be bound in everlafting chains, and fin 
 and death fliall be fwallovved up in vi6lory, 
 we fhall finally partake in the triumph of that 
 divine Hero, who hath overcome the world. 
 
 The laft of the blefiQngs enumerated in the 
 text, and what comprehends and completes 
 the whole, is, To proclaim the acceptable Tear 
 of the Lord, or in other words, the Year of 
 Acceptance with the Lord. As the procla- 
 mation of Jubilee under the Mofaic Law an- 
 nounced to the Jews a releafe from every fer- 
 vitude, a remiffion of every debt, and a refti- 
 tution of every inheritance ; fo the publica- 
 tion of the Gofpel announces to all the Sons 
 of men, not only a releafe from the bondage 
 of legal rites, and a reftitution to that liberty 
 in which Chrift has made us free, but alfb 
 the remiilfiion of fins upon repentance and 
 
 faith. 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me. 83 
 
 faith, and a reftoratlon to the privileges of 
 adoption and grace, which had been forfeited 
 by an aHenation from the will of God. Thus 
 "when our Lord was born into the world, a 
 multitude of Angels celebrated this event, 
 as the era of a happy fcene of things, " of 
 peace on earth and of good will to men." 
 In like manner the beloved Difciple in the 
 front of his facrcd hiftory declares, in oppofi- 
 tion to the gloom and ihadows of the Law 
 of Mofes, that " grace and truth came by 
 Jefus Chrift." His Gofpel was a publica- 
 tion of grace, inafmuch as it reprefented 
 God, not as a Mafter, ftri(5l in exa6iing every 
 tallc, and fevere in punifning every failure, 
 but as a Father, tenderly difpofed toward all 
 mankind, and folicitous for their peace and 
 welfare, requiring of them indeed a fmcere 
 and faithful fervice, yet willing to forgive 
 their tranfgreffions upon repentance, and to 
 fupply them with affiilance in what he has 
 appointed them to do. It was alfo a publi- 
 cation of truth, inafmuch as it not only 
 lliewed more clearly the attributes of God 
 and the nature and bufmefs of man, but as it 
 alfo brought to light, what had been under 
 the Law but obfcurely fignified and but par- 
 tially underflood, an everlafting inheritance in 
 the Kingdom of Heaven, in clearefl language 
 G 2, promifed 
 
84 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ; 
 
 promifed and by infallible proofs aflured to 
 all, who feek admiffion into this kingdom, 
 by repenting of their fins and believing the 
 Gofpel. 
 
 This inheritance is the crown of all other 
 bleffmgs adminiftered by Chrift ; and to this 
 the whole prophecy in its mod important 
 fenfe conclufively applies. While it more 
 immediately reprefents the flate of grace, it 
 is finally defcriptive of the ftate of glory : 
 when glad tidings fliall be publifhed to the 
 Poor ; for they fliall be invefted with the 
 treafures of the heavenly Kingdom : v/hen 
 healing fhall be adminiftered to the Broken- 
 hearted ^ for their temporary forrows fliall 
 be converted into everlafting joy : when de- 
 liverance Ihall be granted to the Captives ; 
 for they fliall be redeemed from the bondage 
 of corruption to the glorious liberty of the 
 Children of God : when fight fhall be re- 
 ftored to the Blind ; for the film of worldly 
 darknefs fhall be totally withdrawn, and they 
 fliall fee God as he is in all the light of life : 
 when liberty fliall be wrought for the Bruifed ; 
 for our great Deliverer fhall effectually break 
 the rod, fhall decifively bruife the head of 
 their fpiritual Oppreffor, and fhall put all 
 enemies under his feet : and when that great 
 and glorious Year fhall commence of univer- 
 
 fal 
 
Becaiife the Lord hath anointed me. 85 
 
 fal peace and happinefs to all the ranfomed of 
 the Lord. 
 
 Thus are we invited to contemplate Chrlll: 
 in all thofe endearing characters, in which he 
 is foretold by the Prophets and is more dif- 
 tin6lly manifelled in the Gofpel, as a Mini- 
 fter of grace, a Phyfician of the ibiil, a De- 
 liverer from the moft oppreffive fervitude, , 
 and an exceeding great Reward. 
 
 But while we contemplate him in his 
 mercies, let us not forget to regard him alfo 
 in his judgments. Reverting to the fequel 
 of this prophetic text we find, that the fame 
 great era which is called, T/je Tear of Accept- 
 ance with the Lord, is alfo called in the cor- 
 refponding claufe, l^he Day of Vengeance of 
 our God. And fuch will be the ftate of 
 things at that great and awful day, when 
 he, that came before in the character of a 
 Deliverer and a Lawgiver, will finally vifit 
 the world in the character of a Judge. 
 In that tremendous hour, while he tem- 
 pers judgment with mercy to thofe, who 
 have gratefully received his proffered grace, 
 and by repentance and faith have turned unto 
 him with all their hearts, he will adminifter 
 judgment without mercy to thofe, who have 
 refifted or fet at nought his grace, who in 
 fpite of warning have continued in impeni- 
 
 G 3 tence, 
 
86 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; 
 
 tence, who agaiiift convi6lion have remained 
 in virtual unbelief. 
 
 In the economy of his government our 
 Lrord employs every means confiftent with 
 a ftate of difcipline, to engage us to his law 
 and to retain us in his fervice. He hath fet 
 before us life and death, and thus he appeals 
 at once to our hopes and to our fears. In- 
 deed he rather feeks to draw us by his grace, 
 than to compel us by his power, to entreat 
 us by his mercies, than to control us by his 
 judgments. But if men are not moved to re- 
 pentance by the goodnefs of God '', it is ex- 
 pedient to perfuade them by the terrors of 
 the Lord^ 
 
 By which of thefe two motives fhall we 
 be bound in our allegiance to our heavenly 
 King ? Shall we yield him our fervice out 
 of a fpirit of fear? — Far rather let us yield 
 it out of a fpirit of gratitude and love. Con- 
 vinced as we are of the intolerable miferies, 
 from which he has redeemed us, and of the 
 ineflimable benefits, which he has purchafed 
 for us by his precious blood, let us facrifice for 
 him every unlavs'ful and irregular defire, and 
 let us commit ourfelves, both bodies and 
 fouls, to his government and guidance : con- 
 
 ^ Rom, ii. 4. ■' 2 Cor. v. ir. 
 
 tinually 
 
Becaufe the Lord hath anointed me, 87 
 
 tlnually waiting our appointed time of difci- 
 pline on earth, in devout and humble hope 
 of having an intereft in that great Year of 
 Acceptance with the Lord, when all, who 
 are Ifraelites indeed, ihall be called to their 
 proper home, the Sion of the living God, and 
 j[hall for evermore enjoy the full beatitude of 
 the heavenly Kingdom. 
 
 G 4 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 John 1. 14. 
 
 Ami the Word was made FleJIy, and dwelt among us j 
 {^and zee beheld hts glory, the glory as of the only begotten 
 of the Father ',) full of Grace and Truth. 
 
 In preface to the hiHory of our Saviour's 
 life and converfation upon earth, the Apoftle 
 and Evangehffc reprefents him in the fulnefs 
 of his chara(fler, as the AOFOS, or the Word 
 of God ; a term of more extenfive and im- 
 portant meaning in the original Greek, than 
 we are accuftomed to affix to it in the vulgar 
 tongue ; fnice it implies both the reafon and 
 the fpeech of God, both the counfel deter- 
 mined in the divine mind, and the fame ex- 
 preiTed in the operations of his providence 
 and grace. He declares, that in the begin- 
 ning was the Word, that the Word was 
 with God, and that the Word was God : 
 that all things were made by him, and that 
 without him exifted no created thing : that 
 in him was hfe ; and the life was the hght 
 of men. As he was the fource of natural life 
 
 to 
 
QQ TAe TFord was made Flejli ; 
 
 to the whole creation, fo was he the fource 
 of fpiritual life to the whole race of men ; 
 inafmuch as he imparted the light of hea- 
 venly truth to illuminate their minds and to 
 animate their fouls. To him the precious 
 embafTy belonged, to unfold the hopes and to 
 difplay the means of falvation to mankind. 
 For him was the great and glorious miniflry 
 referved, to abolifli the power of death, and 
 to bring life and immortality to light ^. 
 
 But fo much in general are the eyes of 
 men obfcured by fmful paffions and diverted 
 by worldly cares, that they do not appreciate 
 or acknowledge the heavenly gift. The light 
 fliineth in darknefs, and the darknefs com- 
 prehendeth it not ^. 
 
 Before he was more openly manifefted to 
 the world, there v>^as a Man fent from God, 
 "whofe name was John. He came for a 
 witncfs and harbinger of this divine Light, 
 m order to prepare the people for the bleffmg 
 that would fbortly be revealed. He was not 
 the promifed Light himfelf, as he ingenuoufly 
 confeffed to the inquiries of the people. He 
 was no other than a morning Star before that 
 Sun of fpiritual day, who foon iliould rife to 
 fhed his healing and benignant beams, with- 
 
 3 John i. I — 4, *" Ver. 5. 
 
 out 
 
A7id dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. 9 1 
 
 out refpedt of clime or nation, on all the 
 peopled earth \ 
 
 This Fountain of light and life was indeed 
 from earlieft time, though not vifibly and 
 fenfibly, yet fpiritually prefent in the world. 
 For as the world was by his miniftration 
 made, fo by his miniftration it has been 
 continually fuftained. But fo deeply was 
 it funk in corruption and idolatry, as not 
 to acknowledge and regard him. He came 
 unto his own, to the people of Ifrael, who 
 had long been diftinguiflied above all other 
 nations by the fpecial countenance of Hea- 
 ven. For as he had been partially fignified 
 to them in the Law and in the Prophets, ib 
 to them he perfonally came, when he vifi- 
 bly appeared on the earth. But fo much 
 had the veil of prejudice overfpread their 
 hearts, that his own in general received 
 him not. But as many as received him 
 in the character which he bore, as many 
 as believed on him as the Word of God, the 
 organ and minifter of the divine will, to 
 them gave he power to become the Sons of 
 God ; being admitted to the privileges of 
 this divine relation, not in confequence of 
 their carnal origin from the Father of the 
 Faithful, or of their adoption into the legal 
 
 ^ John i, 6 — 9. 
 
 covenant 
 
g'l The PTord ivas made Flejh\ 
 
 covenant as profeljtes of the Gentiles, but by 
 the fpeclal grace of God '^. 
 
 The Apoflle, having thus eftabhdicd the 
 dignity of that Perfon whom he ftylcs the 
 Word, proceeds to declare the manner of 
 his appearance in the world. That he might 
 more etfe<5lually accomplifli the work of grace 
 and peace to men, The Word was made FleJJo. 
 Notwithflanding the dignity of his nature, he 
 did not confine himfelf to the feat of happi- 
 iiefs in heaven ; nor was he fatisiicd to be 
 prefent with us merely in fpirit ; but he con- 
 defcended to vifit us in perfon ; and, that he 
 might anfwer the great purpofes of divine 
 counfels, he was pleafed to alTume our nature, 
 and to fojourn among us in a human form. 
 
 Of this Incarnation prophetic notices had 
 been vouchfafcd from earlieft times. To 
 cheer our firft Parents in the midft of their 
 defpondence on finding fm and death through 
 their tranfgreffion introduced into the world, 
 it was gracioufly fignified, that the Woman's 
 Progeny fliould bruife the Serpent's head^. 
 And in the long feries of continued revela- 
 tion the fame great myftery of godlinefs was 
 foretold, under the feveral circumfl.ances of 
 the Nativity, the Time, the Place, the Fa- 
 mily, and the Parent. 
 
 "^ John i. 10 — 13. « Gen, iii. 15. 
 
 His 
 
And dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth, t)3 
 
 His Nativity itfelf is thus declared by 
 Ifalah the great Prophet of the Gofpcl, to- 
 gether with thofe titles which diflingulflied 
 him above the moil exalted of the earth ; 
 ** Unto us a Child is born ; unto us a Son is 
 given. And the government fliall be upon 
 his Ihoulder ; and his name fhall be called. 
 Wonderful, Counfellor, The Mighty God, 
 The everlafLing Father, The Prince of Peace ^" 
 The Time was marked in the dying prophe- 
 cy of the Patriarch Jacob ; which declared, 
 that " the fceptre fliould not depart from 
 Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his 
 feet, till Shiloh," or the Pcrfon fent, *' fhould 
 come^." The Place had been exprefsly fig- 
 nified by the Prophet Micah ; *' And thou, 
 Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little 
 among the thoufands of Judah, yet out of 
 thee fliall come a Ruler, who fiiall rule my 
 people Ifrael ^." His Lineage from the houfe 
 of David was frequently Implied, and occa- 
 fionally expreiTed, in the Pfalms and in the 
 Prophets. Thus Ifalah fignifled; *' And there 
 fliall come forth a Rod out of the ftem of 
 Jeile, and a Branch fliall grow out of his 
 roots. And the Spirit of the Lord fliall reft 
 
 ^ Ifa. IX. 6. K Gen. xlix. lo. 
 
 *^ Micah V. 2. 
 
 Upon 
 
94 The If^ord was made Flejh ; 
 
 upon him '." The fame Prophet alfo iigni- 
 fied his fupernatural Parentage ; " Behold, a 
 Virgin fliall conceive and bear a Son ; and 
 ihe Ihall call his name Immanuel ^." Though 
 coming into the world in a human charad:er 
 and perfon, yet his miraculous birth fliould 
 be a teftimony of his being fuperior to the 
 fons of men. 
 
 To exprefs this aiTumption of our nature 
 the Apollle adds, He dwelt among us, kk] la-K^i- 
 vua-ev ev tijuv : wherein is an allufion to the 
 manner, in which the divine prefence was 
 nianifefled unto Ifrael at the lirft promulga- 
 tion of the Law. As God fojourned of old 
 in the Tabernacle of the congregation, and 
 the people of Ifrael faw the glory of the 
 Lord ^; fo under the New Covenant, the 
 Word of God fojourned in the Tabernacle of 
 a human body, and the Apoftle teftified in 
 the name of all his Brethren, And we beheld 
 his glof-y, the glory as of the o?ily begotten of the 
 Father. While he dwelt among us in a hu- 
 man form, his divinity was not fliaded from 
 the obfervation of thofe, who looked upon 
 him with the eye of faith. Though he did 
 not appear in all thofe terrible fplendours. 
 
 * Ifa. xi. I, 2. ^ Ifa. vii. 14, 
 
 ^ Exod, xl. 34. 
 
 which 
 
And dwell a?nong us, full of Grace and Truth. gS 
 
 which invefted the Father when he delivered 
 the Law, yet he had graces to inveft him, 
 wdiich abundantly teftified him to the world 
 for the brightnefs of his Father's glory, and 
 the exprefs image of his perfon. This glory 
 the Apoftles beheld at his Baptifm and at his 
 Transfiguration, at both which times the 
 Divine radiance broke upon him, and a Voice 
 from heaven proclaimed, *' This is my be- 
 loved Son, in whom I am well pleafed," 
 They beheld it in his Miracles, when at his 
 word the maladies of human nature fled ; 
 when the powers of death and hell furrendered 
 to him their refpedlive prifoners; when mul- 
 titudes in the wildernefs were fed by a few 
 loaves and fifhes ; when the winds and the 
 feas were fubjed: to his control. They be- 
 held it even in the temporary fliade of his 
 PalTion, when all Nature m agony feemed 
 to fympathize with him, when the fun was 
 darkened, the earth trembled, the rocks were 
 rent, and the graves were opened; which drew 
 this confeffion even from a Heathen Wit- 
 nefs, '^ Truly this Man was the Son of God." 
 They beheld it at his Refurredion, w^hen he 
 was declared the Son of God with power, when 
 the earth again trembled, and Angels again 
 came to minifler unto him.. They beheld it 
 at his Afcenfion, when he was taken up from 
 
 tJiem 
 
9^ The JVord luas made Flejli ', 
 
 them triumphantly to heaven, to be for ever 
 feated with his Father on his throne. Even 
 after his afcenfion they occafionally beheld 
 his glory communicated to them by a fpecial 
 revelation. Thus St. Stephen faw it at his 
 martyrdom : St. Paul faw it at his conver- 
 iion : and St. John, who teftified all this, 
 was admitted to behold him refeated on 
 his Father's throne, and reinvefted in that 
 glory, which he partook with him before the 
 creation of the world. 
 
 But the great and prominent advantage of 
 our Saviour's miniftry, when he dwelt among 
 us in our nature, was, that he was Fu// of 
 Grace and 'Truth. In thefe two efTential 
 points the Gofpel far excelled the Law. For 
 that the Apoflile intended to purfue the allu- 
 fion taken up before, and to mark the fupe- 
 riority of the Chriftian over the Mofaic Dif- 
 penfation, is evident from the text which 
 fhortly follows, l^he Law was given by Mofes-, 
 but Grace and 'Truth came by Jefus Chriji. To 
 this claufe of my text, as equally defcriptive 
 of the miffion and of the chara(5ler of Chrift, 
 our principal regard is due on this occafion. 
 Whether confidered by himfelf, or contrafted 
 with the Minifter of the Legal Covenant, 
 the Word of God was full of Grace and 
 Truth. 
 
 LThe 
 
And dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. g7 
 
 I. The Word of God was Jul/ of Grace y 
 I, In the whole fyftem of his mediation 
 between God and Man ; 5, In his perfonal 
 miniftry upon earth ; 3, In the nature of his 
 Laws ; And, 4, in the diftribution of his 
 favours. 
 
 I . The Word of God was full of grace in 
 the whole iyftem of his mediation between 
 God and Man. Ever fince the tranlgrelfion 
 of Adam the nature of man had become 
 exceedingly corrupt. He had fallen deeply 
 into fin and error ; and was neither compe- 
 tent to make fatisfad.ion to divine juftice, nor 
 to recover himfelf from the evil of his way. 
 AH this was partially underftood in the Legal 
 Economy ; and Ibme method of reftoration 
 and fatisfa6lion was fignified in its numerous 
 rites and offerings. But the demand of that 
 law for a continual recurrence of fuch infli- 
 tutions was a mark of their deficiency to take 
 away fm, and to reflore the original integrity 
 of man. To effe6l this beneficial fervicc the 
 Word of God was pleafed to offer himfelf a 
 Mediator between God and Man. For this 
 purpofe it was expedient that he fhould par- 
 take of the nature both of God and Man. 
 Of the nature of God he had intimately par- 
 taken from all eternity. Of the nature of 
 Man he equally partook by condefcending to 
 
 H be 
 
08 The Word ivas made Flejli ; 
 
 be born into the world, and dwelling among 
 us in the fubftance of a human body. In 
 the body of our nature he undertook to exe- 
 cute the whole will of God, whether pofi- 
 tive or moral ; for fo, as he declared at his 
 baptifm, it became him to fulfil all righteouf- 
 nefs ''\ In the body of our nature he fub- 
 mitted to become a propitiation for our fms. 
 In his great love to man he furrendered him- 
 felf to be wounded for our tranfgreffions, to 
 be bruifed for our iniquities. And that we 
 might want no proof of the fufficiency of 
 bis righteoufnefs in life and of his facrifice in 
 death to our pardon and juftification with 
 God, he refumed that body which had been 
 facrificed for us ; and having ftaid on earth a 
 convenient time for the aflurance of his difci- 
 ples that he was adlually rifen, in the body 
 of our nature he afcended into heaven, and 
 refumed that glory which he poiTefTed with 
 his Father before the foundation of the 
 world, hy which two regal adis he has 
 given us alfo full aflurance, that if we avail 
 ourfelves of his merits by faith, and regulate 
 our lives by his law, we alfo fhall be raifed, 
 fhall afcend into heaven, and Ihall dwell with 
 him in glory. 
 
 "" Mat. iii. ij;. 
 
 a. He 
 
And dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth, 99 
 
 2. He was full of grace In his perfonal 
 minlftry upon earth. In delivering the Law, 
 God manifefted himfelf to Ifrael in all the 
 terrors of his divinity. Though not perfon- 
 ally feen, yet his prefence was difplayed upon 
 Mount Sinai in thunders and lightnings and 
 in fmoke and fire ; and fo tremendous was 
 his voice, that the people intreated they 
 might hear it n6 more. 
 
 In a very different manner was the Gofpel 
 adminiftered by the Word of God. For this 
 divine Perfon having afTumed our nature con- 
 defcended to converfe with men in a free 
 and familiar manner. In every thing, but 
 fm, which was totally repugnant to his cha- 
 ra(5ler and purpofe, he fubmitted to become 
 like one of us, and was contented for our 
 fakes to bear our forrows and to fuftain our 
 infirmities. Thus having reduced himfelf to 
 a capacity of converfmg face to face with 
 men, he went about the land of Paleftine, 
 feeking opportunities to exercife the work of 
 mercy and benevolence. Through all his 
 miniflry upon earth he was inceffantly em- 
 ployed in promoting both the temporal and 
 the fpiritual good of men. For this, as the 
 Prophet had foretold, the Spirit of the Lord 
 was upon him ; for this he was anointed 
 with the Holy Ghofl and with power, to 
 H 5 publiih 
 
100 The fVord was made FleJJi ; 
 
 publifh glad tidings to the poor, to heal the 
 broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to 
 the captives, and recovering of fight to the 
 blind. All thefe great works of charity and 
 mercy he vifibly performed on the bodies of 
 mien, whatever were the maladies under which 
 they groaned ; by which he gave an earneft 
 of his power and authority for a far more im- 
 portant and beneficial purpofe, to heal the 
 maladies and to work the deliverance of their 
 fouls. This appears in the tenour of all his 
 converfation. For though to the Pharifees 
 and Scribes, who were zealous for the form, 
 while they wanted the power, of godlinefs, 
 he was occafionally fevere in his reproofs, 
 yet to thofe, who had an humbler fenfe of 
 their fpiritual ftate, the mildnefs of his doc- 
 trine is well reprefented by Ifaiah ; " A 
 bruifed reed he fhall not break, and the 
 dimly burning flax he fhall not quench." 
 For the general complexion of his difcourfe 
 was pardon to the penitent, and confolation 
 to the forrowful, and encouragement to the 
 pious and well-difpofed, and grace to all, 
 who came to him in faith, and liftened to his 
 words in lincerity and truth. 
 
 Another great advantage refulted from his 
 miniftry in a human perfon, that he was 
 competent to illuftrate his dodrines by his 
 
 own 
 
And dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. \0\ 
 
 own example. For in affuming the nature, 
 he fubmitted to the duties, of man ; and as 
 it became him to fulfil all righteoufnefs, fo he 
 was a pattern of every branch of righteoufnefs 
 to men. In all his conduct whether perfonal 
 or relative, in every duty whether pofitive or 
 moral, he has left us an example, that we 
 Ihould follow his fteps. As in his doctrine 
 he was to us a Preceptor in godhnefs, fo in 
 his life and converfation he w^as a living and 
 perfuading Guide. 
 
 3. He was full of grace in the complexiorv 
 of his precepts, being all of a moral and fpi- 
 ritual nature. The Law had indeed enjoined 
 all thofe moral duties, which are compre- 
 hended in the love of God and the love of 
 Man. For thefe are of eternal obligation ; 
 and whatever be the fate of all pofitive in- 
 junAions, thefe muft continually endure with' 
 out variation or decay. But befide thefe ef- 
 fential duties, the Law required many cum- 
 berfbme, expenfive, and even painful rites. 
 Not to fpeak of- the feal of initiation into 
 that Covenant by blood, it enjoined a tedious 
 procefs of bodily walhings and purifications, 
 a coflly feries of daily facrifices and offerings, 
 and a frequent and punctual obfervance of 
 folemn times and feafons. On the whole it 
 was encumbered with fo great a weight of 
 
 H 3 cere- 
 
102 The IVord was made Flejh ; 
 
 ceremonial duties, that the Apoftle calls it a 
 yoke, which neither they nor their Fathers 
 were able to bear. 
 
 The Word of God requires an eafier and a 
 cheaper fervice. He demands the obfervance 
 of all the moral precepts, as ftridly as the Law 
 of Mofes; or rather he has given them greater 
 weight, inafmuch as he claims obedience to 
 them, not only in the letter, but alfo in the 
 fpirit, not only in the formal homage of the 
 body, but alfo in the vital fervice of the foul. 
 In this refpe6l indeed he does not come to 
 deftroy the Law and the Prophets, that is, 
 to difannul their authority, but to fulfil them. 
 But from the ceremonial Law he has entirely 
 fet us free. He exa6ls neither painful fer^ 
 vices nor expenfive facrifices. Inftead of a 
 continual round of bodily wafhings and bleed- 
 ing vidims, he requires no other rites than, 
 Baptifm, to be once undergone at our ad- 
 miffion into his kingdom, the feal of that 
 faith and the fymbol of that purity, in which 
 we engage ourfelves to live ; and the Supper 
 of our Lord, to be frequently received as a 
 ftanding memorial of a Saviour's love, in of- 
 fering his body to be broken and his blood to 
 be Ihed for the remiffion of our fms. To 
 thefe we muft add the obfervance of the 
 Sabbath. For though more exprefsly en- 
 joined 
 
And dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth, 103 
 
 joined under the Law, it has been always un- 
 derftood to retain its obhgation over Chrif- 
 tians ; not fo much indeed as a pofitive infli- 
 tution; for in this refped; the Chriftian Church 
 has departed from the letter of the ancient 
 ordinance, by transferring the obfervance 
 from the Seventh day of the week to the 
 Firft; but as a moral fervice, expedient for our 
 growth in grace and in the knowledge of our 
 Lord Jefus Chrifl ; inafmuch as the confe- 
 crating a certain portion of our time to pious 
 contemplations and divine exercifes is the beft 
 and moft acceptable offering, which we can 
 render to a pure and holy God. Well there- 
 fore might our heavenly Teacher fay, ** Come 
 unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy 
 laden, and I will give you reft. Take my 
 yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am 
 meek and lowly in heart ; and ye fhall find 
 reft unto your fouls. For my yoke is eafy, 
 and my burden is light "." 
 
 4. He is full of grace in the diftribution of 
 his favours. Even under the Law, which dif- 
 plays thejuftice more than the mercy of God, 
 he is frequently reprefented as gracious and 
 indulgent to his people. Yet in general he 
 appears in the character of a Mafter, impof- 
 ing a rigid fervice, and exading the perform- 
 
 " Mat. xi. 28, &c. 
 
 H 4 ancc 
 
104 The Word was made Flejk ; 
 
 ance of the whole on certain penalties for 
 every tranfgreffion or deviation. Hence the 
 people of Ifrael were faid to be under the 
 fpirit of bondage, and to be compelled to 
 obedience by a fervile fear. 
 
 Under the Gofpel economy God invariably 
 appears in the milder characters of tenderneis 
 and love. On confideration of a Saviour's 
 merits he is pleafed to regard us with the af- 
 fections of a Father. Through the powerful 
 interceffion of the Son of God, the elded 
 born in heaven, we have pardon of our pad 
 errors upon repentance and faith in him, we 
 have affiftance from above upon our fervent 
 fupplication and our earned endeavours to do 
 his holy will. Thus we are moved to obe- 
 dience by a filial love ; we are animated in 
 our duty by a fenfe of God's paternal coun- 
 tenance. " For we have not received the 
 fpirit of bondage to fear," as was the cafe 
 under the Law ; " but we have received 
 the fpirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, 
 Father. The Spirit itfelf beareth witnefs 
 with our fpirit, that we are the children of 
 GodV 
 
 But the great benefit of this adoption is 
 not merely the favour of God on earth, but 
 
 * Rom. viii. 15, 16 > 
 
 alfo 
 
And dwelt among us, fall of Grace and Truth. 105 
 
 alfo his inheritance in heaven. For as the 
 Apoftle infers from this relation ; *Mf chil- 
 dren, then heirs j heirs of God, and joint 
 heirs with Chrift." The crown of all the 
 bleffings, which we derive from our gracious 
 Mediator, is the tenure of that full, per- 
 fed;, and eternal happinefs, which he has pur- 
 chafed and aflured for all his faithful fol- 
 lowers in the life to come. This ineftimable 
 offer may be regarded as peculiar to the 
 Gofpel. To the Children of Ifrael the Law 
 had conditionally given no greater promile 
 than that of a temporal inheritance in a good 
 and fruitful land : though certainly their 
 Prophets and righteous men entertained more 
 exalted hopes, and were defirous to look into 
 that myftery of future grace, which was par- 
 tially concealed from view. This glorious 
 and aiTured hope " is now made manifeft by 
 the appearing of our Saviour Jefus Chrift, 
 who hath abolillied death, and brought life 
 and immortality to light through the Gof- 
 pel ''." Hence the Gofpel is called. The grace 
 of God, which bringeth falvation to all men. 
 For the obje(5l of his coming into the world 
 (to adopt the words of his declaration to Paul, 
 wh^n he called him in fo miraculous man- 
 
 * a Tim, i. ip, 
 
 ner. 
 
106 The IVordwas made Flejh'f 
 
 ner, to make him a minifter and a witnefs of 
 his faith) was " to open the eyes of men, 
 and to turn them from darknefs to hght, and 
 from the power of Satan unto God ; that 
 they might receive forgivenefs of fins, and in- 
 heritance among them which are fand:ified, 
 by faith in him ^." 
 
 II. I proceed to confider the Second cha- 
 racter of this divine Word : He was full of 
 Truth. In this point alfo we may obferve 
 an oppofition to the Law of Mofes. Not 
 that we muft imagine truth to be here op- 
 pofed to error. For the Law was from the 
 fame fource of truth as the Gofpel. But the 
 Revelation of Chrift was a greater truth in 
 oppofition to a lefs. The Law was the fha- 
 dow, but the Gofpel was the fubftance. 
 The Law was the refle^ed light of the 
 Moon ; the Gofpel was the noonday fplen- 
 dour of the Sun of righteoufnefs. This may 
 be obferved in thefe feveral articles ; i , in its 
 Difcoveries ; 2,, in its Precepts -, and, 3, in 
 its Motives. 
 
 I. The Difcoveries of religion relate both 
 to God and Man. — Under both Difpenfations 
 we are taught of God, that he is a Being of 
 
 1 A6lsxxvi. iS. 
 
 infinite 
 
And divelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. 107 
 
 infinite power, wifdom, and juftice ; that he 
 created the world by his word, and ftlll up- 
 holds it by his providence ; that he has a pri- 
 mary regard for Man, whom he placed at the 
 head of his creation ; and that he makes all 
 human adiions fubfervient to his own wife 
 defigns. 
 
 But under the Law God is frequently re- 
 prefented in the femblance of a corporeal Be- 
 ing, as more adapted to the rude conceptions 
 of a carnal people. In this point of view we 
 behold him fetting apart fome particular fpot 
 for the feat of his immediate prefence, and 
 feled:ing a peculiar people for the fpecial no- 
 tice of his providence. Under the Gofpel 
 God is reprefented as an incorporeal and fpi- 
 ritual Nature, as calling the light of his 
 countenance over all the world, and difFuiing 
 his fpiritual as well as natural bounties indif- 
 ferently on all men. In this dilpenfation he 
 hath no refped: of perfons, he maketh no dif- 
 tinclion of nations or communities of men ; 
 but in every nation he that feareth God and 
 worketh righteoufnefs is accepted with him'. 
 Being every where prefent, he is every where 
 attentive to the homage of his faithful fer- 
 vants, who pay him a reverence correfpon- 
 
 ' A6lsx, 35. 
 
 dent 
 
JOS The Pf^ord was made Flejh ; 
 
 dent to his nature, and worflilp him in fpirit 
 and in truth. 
 
 Under both Difpenfations Man is con- 
 fidered as degenerate from that image of God, 
 in which he was originally made. The per- 
 ception of this degeneracy and the expedience 
 of a refloration to his original character are 
 equally acknowledged in the prevailing rite 
 of facrifice, which was common to all Hea- 
 then States, even before it was prefcribed in 
 the ritual of the Hebrews, and which de- 
 clared in fymbolic language this principle of 
 divine juftlce, that ** without fliedding of 
 blood there is no remiffion ^" It is difficult 
 to difcover by the light of reafon, how taking 
 the life of a brute animal could contribute to 
 the expiation of human guilt. Indeed it was 
 not poffible, as the Apoftle argues, that the 
 blood of bulls and of goats Ihould take away 
 fms*. But the whole myftery is folvcd, 
 when we underftand this religious rite to be 
 a type or iymbol of the great propitiation, 
 which would afterwards be made by the 
 death of Chrift. This doctrine was copioufly 
 reprefented in the whole iyftem of facrifice 
 under the Mofaic Law. It is more efpeci- 
 aljy difplayed in the facrifice of the Pafchal 
 
 * Heb. ix. 22. t Heb. X. 4. 
 
 Lamb 
 
jind dwelt among lis, full of Grace and Truth. 1 09 
 
 Lamb without fpot or blemilh, an unqueftion- 
 able emblem of that Lamb of God who tak- 
 eth away the fm of the world. It is ftill 
 more circumftantially fhadowed forth in the 
 whole procefs of the Feaft of Expiation, when 
 the High Prieft facrificed a fpotlefs Viftim 
 at the door of the Tabernacle, and then en- 
 tered with the blood into the Holy of Holies, 
 and fprinkling it on the Mercy-feat made a 
 virtual interceffion for the people. This de- 
 lineates the whole doctrine of atonement by 
 the blood of Chrift, as is largely demonftrated 
 in the Epiftle to the Hebrews. He is the great 
 High Prieft, who offered himfelf for the iins 
 of men a facrifice on the crofs ; and on the 
 merit of that facrifice is entered into the 
 moft holy place, the refidence of God him- 
 felf, and is our prevailing Interceflbr at the 
 Mercy-feat of Heaven, having obtained eternal 
 redemption for us. 
 
 2. The fame comparifon will hold between 
 thefe two Difpenfations, when we confider 
 their refpe^live Precepts. The Law required 
 a long and tedious round of rites and cere- 
 monies, of w afliings and facrifices and folemn 
 obfervances ; which, whatever might have 
 been their relative advantage to the people 
 of Ifrael, do not feem to have much intrinfic 
 worth ; for it does not appear to the eye of 
 
 reafon 
 
110 The PFord was made Flejh ; 
 
 reafon how they could render men more ac- 
 ceptable to God. The Prophets in fome 
 meafure opened the defign of thefe inftitu- 
 tions, and fhewed them to be emblems of a 
 moral and fpiritual fervice. But it was left 
 for Jefus Chrift to undraw the veil entirely 
 from them, and to fliew them in the fulnefs 
 of truth. Illumined by this light of men we 
 learn, that the ablutions of the body accord- 
 ing to the Hebrew ritual, implied the puri- 
 fication of the foul according to the Chrif- 
 tian fervice, " by the walhing of regenera- 
 tion and renewing of the Holy Ghoft ;" that 
 the facrifices of animals prefcribed to the 
 Hebrews, befide that myftery, which they 
 iymbolized, of atonement by the blood of 
 Chrift, implied what was neceflary on our 
 part, the furrender of ourfelves and all our 
 faculties to God's honour and fervice. 
 
 At the fame time it is to be obferved, that 
 in accommodation to our underftandings, 
 which require external and vifible figns for 
 the conveyance and impreflion of fpiritual 
 truth, our Lord has appointed two plain 
 and eafy Rites, bearing fome analogy to the 
 walhings and facrifices of the Mofaic Law ; 
 namely, Baptifm, and the Supper of our 
 Lord. 
 
 But he has taken care, that both thefe 
 
 Rites, 
 
^nd dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. Ill 
 
 Rites, plain and eafy as they are, fhould have 
 a moral and internal ufe. For while they 
 are emblems of a fpiritual grace imparted to 
 thofe, who pioully and faithfully receive 
 them, they are alfo inducements and encou- 
 ragements to grow in grace and to improve in 
 godlinefs. Thus Baptifm, while it ftands for 
 an emblem to us of purification from the 
 ftains of fm, continues to us, when fo ini- 
 tiated, a perfuafive exhortation, that we per- 
 form the conditions, on which this grace 
 is adminiftered, by repentance toward God 
 and faith toward our Lord Jefus Chrift. Thus 
 the Supper of the Lord, while it induces the 
 divine grace on us who devoutly and wor- 
 thily receive it, contributes to ftrengthen our 
 faith, to reanimate our love to Chrift, to open 
 t)ur hearts and hands in charity to all, who 
 are partakers of the fame fpiritual graces. And 
 furely this a(5l of commemorating our Sa- 
 viour's love in prefenting himfelf a mortal 
 facrifice for us, muft be a powerful induce- 
 ment to us to fulfil the law of Chriftian love 
 to our brethren, and to prefent our bodies a 
 living facrifice to God. 
 
 We may extend the comparifon even to 
 thofe moral precepts, which are common to 
 the Law and to the Gofpel. Under both Dif- 
 penfations thefe two duties wxre enjoined, 
 
 the 
 
112 The Word was made Flejh ; 
 
 the love of God, and the love of our neigh- 
 bour. This commandment was holy, juft, and 
 good ; but, as accepted by the Jews, it pro- 
 duced a formal, rather than a vital fervice i 
 They honoured God in the letter ; but they 
 did not honour him in the /pirit. They 
 loved their Neighbour in profeffion; but they 
 did not love him in lincerity of heart and 
 application of pradice : Befide that they re- 
 flrided the term of Neighbour, according to 
 the literal fenfe, to thofe who were near 
 them, or were partakers with them in the 
 fame country and religion. The Gofpel gives 
 an energy to the moral law, which was rarely 
 and but faintly apprehended among the Jews. 
 Inftead of an outward and ceremonial fervice, 
 we are required fo to love the Lord, as to 
 worlhip him in fpirit and in truth; to mould 
 our difpofitions and characters to his, fo as to 
 chufe whatever he commands, and to refufe 
 whatever he forbids, without hefitation or re- 
 luctance. By this ftandard of our love to 
 God is regulated alfo our love to our Neigh- 
 bour. We account ourfelves obliged, not only 
 to abftain from (inful ad:s, fuch as murder, 
 adultery, theft, falfe witneis ; but even to 
 fupprefs intemperate anger, to reftrain all 
 lafcivious and licentious thoughts, to con- 
 trol all inordinate inclinations after worldly 
 
 wealth. 
 
uind dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. 113 
 
 wealth, to forbear all uncharitable judging of 
 others ; on the whole to do to others, not as 
 others ufe to do, but as we would have others 
 do to us ; and inftead of confining our love 
 to thofe, who are our neighbours in the lite- 
 ral fenfe, to extend it indifferently to all, who 
 are partakers in the bounties of the fame 
 providence, in the bleflings of the fame 
 grace. 
 
 3. The fame comparifon will apply to 
 the motives, which thofe two Difpenfations 
 hold forth for the obfervance of their refpec- 
 tive precepts. The effential motives of all 
 religion confifl in rewards and punifliments ; 
 which have the ftrongefl hold on the human 
 mind, as they operate on the hopes and fears 
 of men, the two chief fprings and principles 
 of ad:ion. The Law was fan61ioned to the 
 children of Ifrael by the promife of a certain 
 good to obedience and by the threatening of 
 a certain evil to difobedience. If they obeyed 
 the Lord with all their faculties, they were 
 to acquire and to retain poffefiion of the land 
 of promife, to enjoy long life and health, to 
 have peace and plenty in their borders, and a 
 numerous and flourifliing posterity. If they 
 difobeyed him, they were to be opprefTcd 
 with famine, peftilence, and plague, to be 
 annoyed by the fword of the enemy, to be 
 
 I ' kd 
 
114 The f'f^ord was made Flejk; 
 
 led into bondage and exile, to be deprived of 
 pofterity, to be cut off themfelves in the 
 ftrength of their days. And thele promifes 
 and threatenings, according as they incurred 
 them, by a fpecial providence were remarka- 
 bly fulfilled. 
 
 Thus the recompence propofed in the 
 Lyaw was confined in the letter to the pre- 
 fent life. Yet in the fpirit it was defigned, 
 and fo it was underftood and occafionally fig- 
 nified by the Prophets, for a type and earneft 
 of a far more weighty recompence in th^ 
 life to come. But though the Jews were 
 difpofed in general to entertain this expecta- 
 tion, they could not receive it with full af- 
 furance of faith, as it had not been exprefsly 
 declared. And they looked to a future life, 
 as through clouds and lliades, that did not 
 admit of a diftindl and certain vifion. 
 
 In this important article our Lord was 
 eminently full of truth. He has placed this 
 dodtrine in the cleareft light, that an hour 
 will come, when he will call the world to 
 judgment; " when all that are in their graves 
 Ihall hear his voice, and fhall come forth, 
 they that have done good to the refurredioti 
 of life, and they that have done evil to the 
 refurre6lion of damnation." 
 
 In 
 
And divelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. 115 
 
 In all thefe refpeds the Incarnate Word 
 was full of Grace and Truth. — This declara- 
 tion of John the Apoftle and Evangelift had 
 been prcvioufly intimated by John the Bap- 
 tift, when he bore witnefs of him faying, 
 He that cometh after me is preferred before me. 
 In every eflential of a Minifter of Heaven 
 our Lord had the preeminence, not only over 
 him, but over all the Prophets of the He- 
 brew Difpenfation. Of this the Apoftles had 
 a ftill more fenfible experience than the Bap- 
 tift. As they were bleft above the Prophets 
 and righteous men of old, in feeing the 
 W'Orks and in hearing the words of their di- 
 vine Mailer, fo they alfo were bleft above them 
 by a liberal participation of his grace and 
 truth : Of his fulnefs we have all received, and 
 grace for grace. For the haw was given by 
 Mofes ; but grace and truth came by "Jefus 
 Chrifi, In his difpenfation God is made ma- 
 nifeft to men in all his faireft, all his bright- 
 eft attributes. It muft indeed be allowed, 
 that literally No man hath feen God at any 
 time. For being a fpiritual eflence he is 
 not vifible to carnal eyes. But the otily 
 begotten Son, who is in the bofom of the Fa- 
 ther, who partakes of his fubftance, and 
 intimately knows his moft fecret counfels, 
 I 2 the 
 
Il6 The Word was iftade Flejli ^ 
 
 the fame hath openly declared him to the 
 world. 
 
 Thus the Preface of the Evangelift affords 
 a fummary view of the Miffion and Charac- 
 ter of that divine Perfon, vs^hofe life and 
 converfation, while he dwelt among us, he is 
 about to write. 
 
 If we pi'ofefs to know and to receive him in 
 the character, in which he difplays his glory 
 to us in the Gofpel, as the Incarnate Word 
 of God, let us humbly adore the counfels of 
 divine wifdom, juftice, and benevolence, in 
 adopting fo wonderful a fcheme of grace to 
 accomplifli our falvation. And while we 
 contemplate him in thofe features of grace 
 and truth, in which he is manifefled to us 
 in the Gofpel, let us gratefully accept and 
 afiiduouily improve all thofe advantages im- 
 parted to us before the wifeft and the beft of 
 Heathens, before the Prophets and righteous 
 men of the Legal Economy; continually ftriv- 
 ing to " grow in grace and in the know- 
 ledge of our Lord Jefus Chrift." Thus may 
 we hope, that as we are now empowered 
 to become the Sons of God, fo we llaall fi- 
 nally partake of the inheritance of Sons ; 
 that as we are privileged in this life to receive 
 
 of 
 
And dwelt among us, full of Grace and Truth. 1 1 7 
 
 of his fulnefs in grace and truth, fo we may 
 be admitted in the life to come to partake of 
 his fulnefs in happinefs and glory ". 
 
 " In this difcourfe the Author muft acknowledge that he has 
 fallen, not intentionally, but of neceffity, intofome fimilarity of 
 argument with that of Dr. John Scott on the fame text, at the 
 clofe of his " Chriftian Life." He thinks it a point of juftice 
 to mention this : otherwife it would have been a point of pru- 
 dence to fupprefs a remark, which may engage a comparlfon 
 with fo refpedlable a Divine. 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 Luke ii. 13, 14. 
 
 ^ind fuddenly there tvas with the Angel a multitude of 
 the heavenly Hojly praijing God, mid faying^ Glory to 
 God in the highejl, and on earth 'peace, good will to- 
 wards men. 
 
 X HE Birth of a Redeemer is an event of 
 the firfl importance in the fpiritual hiftory of 
 Man. Agreeably to which importance it had 
 often been prefignified in the long feries of 
 ancient revelation : fo that at the time, when 
 it actually came to pafs, a general expe<fta- 
 tion of this welcome Vifitant was entertained 
 among the Jews ; and had even extended to 
 the nations of the Gentiles. In regard to 
 the Jews, to whom thefe prophetic notices 
 were more immediately given, they had 
 Ibme general intimation of the time when 
 he was to come, they were more diredly 
 inftruded in the lineage from which he was 
 to fpring, and they were diftindly guided to 
 I 4 the 
 
120 Glorij to God in the higheji, 
 
 the very place that was to be honoured with 
 his birth. But the manner of his coming did 
 not correfpond with the fentiments of thofe 
 who expelled him the moft. Accuflomed 
 to regard him as the Heir and Reprefentative 
 of David^ they looked for his firft appearance 
 in fome ftately palace, meet as they fancied 
 for his kingly character, and with enfigns of 
 dignity, correfpondent with his future great- 
 nefs. How little were they prepared for 
 the tidings to be given, when this mighty 
 Prince was born, that they might find him 
 wrapt in Twaddling clothes, and. lying in a 
 manger ! 
 
 Yet humbled as he was in the fight of 
 men, he ftill was glorified among the inhabit 
 tants of heaven. Although no courtiers of an 
 earthly kingdom were prepared to receive the 
 Son of David at his coming, yet the courtiers 
 of the heavenly kingdom were ever ready to 
 attend him and to miniflcr unto him. If 
 Men were filent, when this Defire of all eyes 
 appeared among them, Angels were at hand 
 to open their lips, to proclaim his arrival on 
 an embaffy of grace, and to celebrate the 
 bleffmg fent with a fong of joyful praife. 
 
 The theme, that now required their fong, 
 was well adapted to thofe bleffed Beings, 
 v/ho continually ftand before the throne of 
 
 God, 
 
And on earth peace, good will toivo,xds men. 121 
 
 God, and tune their voices and their harps in 
 adorations to that Almighty King, who dwells 
 in light ineffable, and whofe mofl engaging 
 attribute is sfoodnefs. 
 
 The firft time, that we read of their be- 
 ing fo employed, was at that eventful hour, 
 when this fabric of the World was called 
 into exiftence at the word of the Creator. 
 When the foundations of the globe were fafb- 
 ened, and the corner-ftones were laid, then 
 indeed, as the holy Scriptures intimate, the 
 morning Stars fang together, and all the Sons 
 of God fliouted for joy ^. Are we folicitous 
 to hear their fong on this occaiion ? In the 
 vifion of the Evangelifl we find one appro- 
 priate for this mighty theme j ** Holy, holy, 
 holy Lord God Almighty, ivho was, and is, and 
 is to cofne I T^hcii art worthy, O Lord, to re- 
 ceive glory and honour and power ; for thou 
 hajl created all things ; and for thy pleafure 
 they are, and were created'^.'' 
 
 if there was any thing in this goodly work 
 to demand a fuperior drain of gratitude and 
 joy, it mufi: have been the formation of man, 
 the laft and nobleft work of God, who, though 
 the Hiell of his body was fafliioned of the 
 duft of the earth, yet in his fpiritual part 
 
 * Jobxxxvlii. 7. ^ Rev, Iv. 8, 10. 
 
 was 
 
1 22 Glory to God in the kighejlj 
 
 was made in the image and likenefs of God. 
 The place, which he then held in the fcale of 
 the creation, is beautifully defcribed by the 
 Pfalmift, in a ftrain not unfuitable for the 
 harp of heavenly Beings : " Thou haft made 
 him a little lower than the Angels ; and haft 
 crowned him with glory and honour. Thou 
 haft made him to have dominion over the 
 works of thy hands ; and haft put all things 
 in fubjediion under his feet ; all flocks and 
 herds, the beafts of the field, the fowls of 
 the air, and the fifties of the fea. O Lord 
 our Governor, how excellent is thy name in 
 all the world ^ !'* 
 
 There was one happinefs above the reft, 
 which in this ftate of innocence he liberally 
 enjoyed, that he had continued intercourfe 
 with heavenly Beings. God himfelf occa- 
 fionally talked with him ; and all the Sons 
 of light vifited his dwellings, and formed a 
 chain of harmony between heaven and earth. 
 This chain conditionally was to be clofer 
 drawn. If he obeyed one prohibitory law, 
 which was given him for the teft of his in- 
 tegrity, he fhould be removed in convenient 
 feafon, without tafting death, to the more 
 immediate prefence of God, and fliould be 
 
 ^ Pfal. viii, 5 — 9, 
 
 aflbciated 
 
And on earth peace, good imll tBwards men, 123 
 
 aiTociated with celeftial Natures in the bhff- 
 ful exercife of praifing and magnifying God 
 for ever. 
 
 But this communion did not long fubfift, 
 nor was this profped: long maintained. Too 
 foon for human peace our firft Parents yielded 
 to the fedu(5lions of an enemy ; and mifery 
 followed their too fatal difobedience. God 
 averted the light of his countenance from 
 them, and the Sons of God no longer vifited 
 the abodes of Men. One moft unhappy 
 confequence enfued. The guilt of their tranf- 
 greflions entailed a moral corruption on all 
 the human race. 
 
 Neverthelefs, God would not abandon his 
 creatures to all the fatal efFed:s of their apo- 
 ftafy. In the midft of judgement he remem- 
 bered mercy ; which in the fulnefs of time 
 he refolved to exercife, in a way that man 
 could never have prefumed to hope. Mean 
 while fome partial communications were in- 
 dulged to mortals by the miniflry of Angels. 
 But it was only on rare occafions, and to pe- 
 culiar favourites of heaven, that an open and 
 audible conference was allowed. They re- 
 peatedly vifited the Patriarchs ; they cheered 
 them in their wanderings with the aflurance 
 of God's favour and the promife of better, 
 things to come. They were prefent in the 
 
 miniftrv 
 
1 24 Glory to God in the higheji, 
 
 miniflry of the Law, for that, Saint Stephen 
 teftifies, was given by the difpofition of An- 
 gels*^; Saint Paul affirms, that the word of 
 the Law was fpoken by Angels ^j and it has 
 been conjedlured, that a multitude of thefe 
 lieavenly Beings compofed the glory of the 
 Divine Prefence, whenever it was manifefted 
 under that difpenfation. They alfo vifibly 
 appeared to fome of the Prophets. Thus 
 Ifaiah teftifies, that he faw the Lord fitting 
 on a high and lofty throne, and his train filled 
 the temple : And before his prefence the 
 Seraphim cried one to another in alternate 
 fong, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord ef hojis I 
 The whole earth is full of his glory K'"^ 
 
 But an event of much greater importance 
 was now drawing nigh. That fcheme of 
 divine grace, which the Father of mercies 
 had determined in his counfels, for reftoring 
 man to his own image, and for reconciling 
 the world unto himfelf, was now to be put 
 in execution. For this high purpofe the 
 Son of God undertook for us what we could 
 never do for ourfelves. In order to effect 
 the miniftry of reconciliation, he confented 
 to leave the bofom of his Father, and to 
 
 ^ Afts vii. 53. ^ Heb. ii. 2. 
 
 •^ Ifa. vi. I, 2,3. 
 
 come 
 
And on earth peace, good will toivards men. 125 
 
 come among us in the body of our natiu'c. 
 iFor fo it was expedient, that he might be 
 quaUfied to become a Mediator between 
 God and Man. When the fulnefs of time 
 was come, God fent forth his Son, to be 
 born indeed of a woman ", but to be born out 
 of the ordinary courfe of nature, according to 
 the declaration of the Prophet, ** Behold a 
 Virgin fhall conceive and bear a Son^." Jt 
 had lately been the office of one of thefe 
 Children of light to announce the Virgin 
 Mary for the Mother of our Lord. And 
 when the promifed hour w^s come, the whole 
 band of Angels welcomed the event with 
 gratulations. When they fav\^ the means of 
 grace and the hopes of glory again expanded 
 to the race of men, they confidered this as 
 the dawn of a new Creation. For as far as 
 related to the fpiritual condition of man, 
 God herein had created all things new '. 
 And as they had originally fung to the glory 
 of God at his creation, fo alfo at his renova- 
 tion they fung to the fame effecfl. *' Thus 
 when he bringeth in the firft begotten into 
 the world, he faith, And let all the Angels of 
 God worfliip hirn^." 
 
 sGal. iv, 4. ^ Ifa. vii. 14. 
 
 ^ Rev. xxi. 5. ^ Heb. \. 6, Pf. xcvll, 7. 
 
 It 
 
I'l6 Glory to God in the liighejl, 
 
 It was fuitable to the benignant nature 
 of the Sons of God to impart fuch welcome 
 tidings to the Sons of men. But to whom 
 aiiiong the Sons of men fliould they impart 
 them firft ? To the wife, the noble and the 
 great of this world? To the Sages among the 
 Heathens, to the Scribes among the Jews, to 
 Kings, to Captains, and to Counfellors ? All 
 this in the fentiment of men would have 
 been moft agreeable to the dignity and ho- 
 nour of the Perfonage proclaimed. But the 
 thoughts of God are not our thoughts, nei- 
 ther are our ways his ways ^ It was agree- 
 able to his counfels in this economy of grace, 
 that the great Mediator between God and 
 Man ihould come into the world in the 
 humblefb charader and ftation, yet at the 
 fame time fliould retain fufficient evidence 
 of the divinity within him. As being the 
 Son of God, the brightnefs of his Father's 
 glory and the image of his perfon, the bright- 
 efl Sons of hght were employed to minifter 
 in his fervice, and to ullier him into the 
 world. As humbling himfelf to be made in 
 the likenefs of man, and even to take upon 
 him the form of a fervant, the perfons chofen 
 before all others to receive this truth were in 
 
 'Illj.lv. 8. 
 
 the 
 
And en earth peace, good iv'ill towards men. 127 
 
 the lowed orders of men and in the humblell 
 conditions of life. They were fliepherds at- 
 tendant on their flocks. Yet wxre they not 
 fo diftinguifhed, it may be reafonably pre- 
 fumed, but for fome congeniality of difpoii* 
 tion and charader to the tidings now deli- 
 vered. Employed in a peaceable and lowly 
 occupation, they were free from thofe paf- 
 fions and prejudices, which obfcured the un- 
 derftandings and corrupted the hearts of men 
 in fuperior ftations and more public walks of 
 life. They probably came under the defcrip- 
 tion, fo miich approved by the Author of 
 our faith, of being poor in fpirit and meek 
 and lowly in heart. And therefore they w^ere 
 beft difpofed and beft qualified for the recep- 
 tion of thofe glad tidings, which the band of 
 Angels had now to communicate. 
 
 But let us attend to the relation of the 
 Evangelift, making fuch obfervations as the 
 ftory may fuggeft. 
 
 And there were in the fame country Shepherds, 
 abiding in the field y keeping watch over their 
 fiock by night. And lo, the Angel of the Lord 
 came upon them, and the glory of the Lord fone 
 round about them; and they were fore afraid. 
 Under the Law, whenever God gave any itx).- 
 fible notice of his more immediate prefence, 
 he was invefted with fuch awful glories as 
 
 were 
 
1^8 Glorij to God in the highefi, 
 
 were the ground of apprehenfion and alarm. 
 Under the Gofpel he is prefented to hu- 
 man regard in the milder chara6lers of grace. 
 The communication now to be made was a 
 matter not of terror, but of gladnefs. And the 
 Angel /aid unto them, Fear not. For behold I 
 bring you good tidings of great joy which fiall be 
 to all people. The difpenfation to be now im- 
 parted had been invariably foretold by the name 
 of good tidings. Thus Ifaiah fays in addrefs to 
 that perfon, who fliould proclaim the com- 
 ing of the Meffiah j ** O thou, that bringeft 
 good tidings to Sion, get thee up into the 
 high mountain : O thou, that bringeft good 
 tidings to Jerufalem, lift up thy voice with 
 ftrength, lift it up, be not afraid ; fay to 
 the cities of Judah, Behold your God'"!" 
 And thus he alfo fays in the perfon of that 
 Anointed, wiiom he repeatedly foretold ; 
 ** The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; be- 
 caufe he hath anointed me. He hath fent 
 me to publilli good tidings to the poor '^." 
 And furely thofe muft be tidings of great joy, 
 which offered healing to the broken-hearted, 
 and deliverance to the captives, and recover- 
 ing of fight to the blind. The value of thefe 
 tidings was incomparably the greater, that 
 
 ™Ifu. xl.9. ^ LO. Ixi. I, 
 
 thej' 
 
And on earth peace, goodwill towards men. 129 
 
 they were not to be limited to bne nation 
 like the Jews, but were to be extended with- 
 out referve or exception to all people. The 
 grace of God was now publicly divulged, 
 which brought falvation indifferently to all 
 men. 
 
 For unto you is borti this day, in the city of 
 David, a Saviour, who is Chriji the Lord. He 
 is called a Saviour, agreeably to the language 
 of preceding communications. For thus he 
 is fignified in thofe feveral paiTages of the 
 Prophets, which foretel him in the charac- 
 ter of a Redeemer and Deliverer. And thus 
 was he announced by the Angel before his 
 birth, in the name, which was given him, of 
 Jefus, or a Saviour, for he fliould iave his 
 people from their fms *; that is, he fhould 
 redeem them from the guilt and punilliment 
 of fin, as well by his own facrifice for fni, as 
 by preaching repentance for the remiffion ot 
 {in. For both by his dodrine and by his 
 fuffering he fliould redeem them from all 
 iniquity, and purify to himfelf a peculiar peo- 
 ple zealous of good works. He is alfo ftyled 
 \yj the name of Chrifh the Lord, being the 
 fame perfon who had been foretold by the 
 title of the Meffiah or Anointed ; which cha- 
 
 ^ Mat. i. 21. 
 
130 Cloty to God in the higheji, 
 
 ra^er he was to fulfil in the feveral capacities, 
 to which anointing was the rite of confecration 
 among the Jews ; of a Prophet, in declaring 
 the whole counfel of God to man ; of a 
 Prieft, in offering facrifice, and making inter- 
 ceffion to God for man ; of a King, in efta- 
 blifliing a fpiritual dominion on the earth, and 
 ruUng in the power of God over man. 
 
 In the laft of thefe characters he had been 
 reprefented by the Angel at the annunciation 
 of his Virgin Mother ; the fame not impro- 
 bably, who now addrefTed the ihepherds, 
 when this promifed Heir was born : " He 
 Ihall be great, and lliall be called the Son of 
 the High eft. And the Lord God will give 
 unto him the throne of his Father David. 
 And he ftiall reign over the houfe of Jacob 
 for ever ; and of his kingdom there fhall be 
 no end p." With a reference to the fame 
 royal characSter and lineage, the Angel de- 
 clares him to be born in the City of David, 
 according to the prophecy of Micah ; *' And 
 thou, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, art 
 not the leaft among the cities of Judah ; for 
 out of thee fliall come a Governor, who fliall 
 rule my people Ifrael*'." As being of the 
 houfe and lineage of David according to the 
 
 P Luke i. ^2, 33. 1 Mic. v. 2. Mat. ii. 6. 
 
 fiefh. 
 
And on earth peace, good ivill towards men. 131 
 
 flefh, he was born in the City of David. So 
 far indeed he condefcended to comply with 
 the carnal expectations of the Jews ; though 
 in all other circumftances of his birth he had 
 no external figns of a royal parentage. Not- 
 withftanding the real dignity of his perfon 
 and charad:er as he was acknowledged in hea- 
 ven, yet in the eyes of men he appeared in 
 every garb and circumftance of humility. As 
 the Prophet had foretold, '* he had no form 
 nor comelinefs, when men fhould fee him ; 
 nor was his countenance fuch, that they 
 fhould deiire him ^" Accordingly the Angel 
 adds, " Ajid this fiall be ajlgn imto you ; 2> 
 jhalljind the Bahe wrapped in J waddling clothes y 
 lying in a manger'' 
 
 This lowly circumftance would have been 
 an ungrateful hearing to the Pharifees and 
 Scribes, to the wife and great of this world. 
 Predifpofed to receive him in a palace, they 
 would have turned with dlfappointment and 
 averfion from a.fcene fo unworthy, as they 
 might conceive, of the promifed Heir. But 
 humble Shepherds had no fuch prejudices of 
 worldly ambition to impair the value ot the 
 tidings given. Confcious of the bleffing now 
 imparted to the world, they were gratefully 
 
 '^ Ifa, llii. 2. 
 
 K z difpofed 
 
132 Glory to God in the higfiej}, 
 
 difpofed to receive this divine Perfonage in 
 whatever form he came. And perhaps they 
 might eftimate the bleffmg more, as it was 
 brought the nearer on a level to their ftations 
 and capacities. 
 
 This declaration of the Angel was immedi- 
 ately followed by a fong of praife from the 
 full chorus of eeleftial Beings: '^ A?tdfudde?2ly 
 there was ivith the j^72gel a inultitude of the 
 hea'venly Hoji, praijing God and faying. Glory to 
 God in the higheji, and on earth peace, good ivill 
 toward menJ' ^ 
 
 To glorify God is the conftant, as it is the 
 moft delightful talk of thofe high orders of 
 Beings, who have the fuprerae beatitude of 
 ftanding in the prefence and beholding the. 
 face of God. They glorify him, as we have 
 the countenance of revelation for believing, 
 by celebrating all thofe attributes, in which 
 confifts the excellence of his nature, that is 
 to fay, his power, by which he created, his 
 w^ifdom, by which he guides, and his juftice, 
 by vt^hich he controls the world : above all 
 other chara6lers his goodnefs, by which he dif- 
 penfes far and wide his benefits. They glorify 
 him for the happinefs, which they fo copioufly 
 enjoy themfelves, and which he difirifes freely, 
 according to the nature of things and the ef- 
 tabliflied order of his government, on the vaft 
 
 multi- 
 
And on earth peace, good will towards men. 133 
 
 multitude of created Beings. This, as far as 
 we can colled; from the book of Revelations, 
 is the general fubjed: of their fong in heaven. 
 But when they fmg on earth, and gladden 
 human ears with fong, they chufe a theme, 
 in which the fons of men have a clofer and 
 more immediate intereft. The glory of God, 
 as it fills their hearts, flill animates their 
 fong : but they fing his glory, as it operates 
 to the good of this inferior world : and 
 accordingly the fubjed of their fong on 
 this extraordinary occalion was, peace on 
 earth, and good will to men ; that is. They 
 afcribe glory to God for peace reftored be- 
 tween Heaven and Earth, for good will re- 
 eftablifhed between God and Man, by the 
 Mediation of that Perfon, who is called in 
 prophetic language, The Prince of Peace. 
 Full of gratitude for the happinefs they enjoy 
 themfelves, they feel an intereft in feeing 
 this happinefs diffufed among their fellow- 
 fervants upon earth ; and they gladly under- 
 take to impart the tidings of this divine grace 
 to men. 
 
 And ftlU animated by a zeal for their wel- 
 fare and happinefs, they continue to forward 
 that great fcheme of redemption, which this 
 Prince of Peace has fo eifedually accom- 
 
 K 3 pliflied. 
 
134 Glory to God in ike highcj}, 
 
 pllflied. Even while they behold their hea- 
 venly Father's face, they continually watch 
 over thofe who are babes in fpiritual things : 
 they keep the righteous in all their ways: they 
 minifter to them who iliall be heirs of falva- 
 tion. And as they ftrenuoufly labour to fub- 
 due that evil Spirit, who has ufurped fo much 
 power in the heart of man, fo they have fa- 
 tisfi6lion in their conqueft; they rejoice even 
 in the prefence of God over one finner that 
 repenteth. Thus by affifting in the mili- 
 tary conflict againft their fpiritual enemies 
 they promote the interefts of the Kingdom of 
 God among the Sons of men. And by in- 
 ffcilling into their hearts good difpofitions and 
 defircs they apply their endeavour, that his 
 will be done on earth, as it is in heaven ; be- 
 ing animated with the welcome hope, that 
 they, whom they have once affifted in the 
 feverer tafk of difcipline, will be for ever af- 
 fociated with them in the blifsful exercife of 
 gratitude and praife. 
 
 It remains for me now to make fome 
 practical inferences from this engaging theme. 
 
 If Angels take dehght in fmging to the 
 glory of God for thofe great things which he 
 has done for men;, it certainly behoves us to 
 
 follow 
 
And on earth peace, good will towards men, 133 
 
 follow their example in a matter, in which 
 we have a much more immediate intereft 
 than they, to take their fong of praife, and to 
 fmg it for ourfelves. 
 
 In this offering of gratitude it is a pleafing 
 contemplation to us, that through the media- 
 tion of his beloved Son the ears of God are 
 again open to our devotions. The all-pre- 
 vailing interceffion of our great high Prieft 
 has procured acceptance to all our offerings, 
 to the facrifice of our prayers and to the in- 
 cenfe of our praifes ; and now we are privi- 
 leged to addrefs him every w^here and at every 
 time, in glad affurance that he is difpofed to 
 yield a favourable ear. 
 
 Yet let us not forget, that though vre have 
 a powerful Advocate at the throne of hea-- 
 venly grace, our prayers and praifes will af- 
 cend in vain, unlefs they proceed from hearts 
 conformed to the will and character of God. 
 In A^ain ihall we attempt to glorify God in 
 our fongs, if we do not alfo glorify him in 
 the temper of our minds and in the tenour 
 of our lives. 
 
 That we may fmg with advantage to the 
 glory of God, for the bleffings that enfue ta 
 us from the nativity of his Son, it is expedi- 
 ent, firft, that we make our peace with God 
 by a fmcere repentance of all our fins, and ^ 
 
 K 4 lively 
 
136 Glory to God in the higkejl, 
 
 lively faith in all his revelations ; and fecond- 
 ly, that we ftrive to maintain his favour by a 
 fteady cultivation of all thofe Chriftian graces, 
 w^hich are the fruits of a fmcere repentance 
 and a lively faith : for inftance, in our per- 
 fonal deportment, of purity of heart and 
 holinefs of life ; in our duty tow^ards men, of 
 juftice, charity, and peace ; in our duty to- 
 wards God, of humility, patience, content, 
 and gratitude. On the whole, that we may 
 be qualified to fmg with Angels to the glory 
 of God, it is incumbent on us to apply our 
 endeavours according to the purport of our 
 daily prayers, that his will be done on earth, 
 as it is in heaveUi " "^ 
 
 But by no other means can we more effec- 
 tually glorify God, than by copying his exam- 
 ple in the moil glorious of his attributes, in 
 doing and diffufmg good to men. This we may 
 do in feveral ways j more efpecially, as we 
 may gather from the text, by labouring ac- 
 cording to our flations and capacities to pro- 
 mote and eftablifh peace on earth, and to 
 maintain or to reflore among mankind a fpi- 
 rit of good will and benevolence one towards 
 another. For fo, as our Lord affirms, " Ihall 
 we be the children of our heavenly Father, 
 who maketh his fun to rife on the evil and 
 on the good, and fendeth rain on the juft 
 
 and 
 
And on earth peace, good ivill towards men. 137 
 
 and on the unjuft." Or to extend our bene- 
 volence from temporal to fpiritual concerns, 
 we may imitate God in his goodnefs more ef- 
 fentially, by labouring to promote their peace 
 with heaven, and to place them in a condi- 
 tion for acceptance and good will Vv^ith God. 
 This alfo we may do by feveral means ; by in- 
 terceffionto God in their behalf; by admoni- 
 tion, exhortation, and reproof; and above all 
 by the filent yet moft perfuafive argument of 
 a good example. This our Lord himfelf ad- 
 vifes, as an effecSual means of rendering glory 
 to God ; *' Let your light fo fliine before 
 men, that they may fee your good works, and 
 glorify your Father which is in heaven." 
 
 While thus we glorify God in the temper 
 of our hearts and in the tenour of our lives, 
 we fhall bring our difpofitions in unifon with 
 thofe, who continually ftand before the throne 
 of God ; we Ihall harmonize our affe(5lions to 
 the melodies of the; heavenly Sion, and fliall 
 prepare ourfelves in fome degree to bear our 
 part in the chorus of celeftial fong ; when 
 having made our peace with heaven, and ob- 
 tained acceptance and good will with God, 
 we fhall find it not merely our delightful of- 
 fice, but our moffc honourable privilege, our 
 iupreme beatitude, to fing glory to God in 
 the higheft. 
 
 Of 
 
138 Glory to God in the highejl, &c^ 
 
 Of this blefled exercife fome brief examples 
 are given us by the beloved Difciple and 
 Evangelift Saint John, who was admitted 
 even in the body to look into the heaven of 
 heavens, to fee the glories, and to hear the 
 melodies of that blifsful realm. All thefe no 
 doubt are recorded for our edification in a 
 ftate of difcipline. May we therefore fo me^ 
 ditate upon the fubjeds they prefent, as to 
 be qualified through the mercies and the 
 grace of God to partake hereafter in thefe 
 heavenly {trains ! 
 
 «' Hallelujah ! for the Lord God omnipotent 
 reigneth — T^he Kingdoms of this world are be- 
 come the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
 Chrijiy and he fhall reign for ever and ever \ — • 
 King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. — Great 
 and marvellous are thy ivorksy Lord God Al- 
 mighty: Juji and true are thy ways, thou King 
 of Saints. — BleJJing afid honour and glory and 
 power be unto him that fitteth upon the throne 
 and unto the Lamb for ever and ever \" 
 
 5 Rev. xix, 6. ^\. 15. xix. 16. xv. j. v. 13. 
 
S»5 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 Matthew iw 23. 
 
 ^4nd Jefus went about all Galilee, teaching in their fyna^ 
 gognes, and preaching the Gofpd of the Kingdom, and 
 healing all manner ofjicknefs and all manner of difeafc 
 among the people, 
 
 JL HE Apoftle in thefe words relates the 
 tranfadlons of Jefus Chrifl at the beginning 
 of his miniftry ; all which difplayed an ac- 
 tive and unwearied zeal both for the fpiri- 
 tual and the temporal welfare of men. And 
 as he perfevered, while he abode on earth, in 
 the pradice of the fame benevolent opera- 
 tions, they form a compendious hiftory of 
 his human life, and they prefent a general 
 view of his miffion and character. At the 
 fame time they delineate, what I propofe for 
 the fubjedl of our prefent meditation, the 
 method and economy employed by the Au- 
 thor of our faith, in preaching the Gofpel of 
 his kingdom through the world. 
 
 The wifdom of God has adopted various 
 
 modes 
 
HO And Jefus went about all Galilee, 
 
 modes of reprefenting his nature and of im- 
 parting his will to men. To the Heathens 
 he was manifefted in the operations of his 
 providence. In tha beauty and order of the 
 works of nature, in the grateful viciffitudes 
 of the leafons, in the general and impartial 
 dilbibution of genial funs and fhovvers, they 
 might readily contemplate the great Founder 
 and Upholder of the univerfe in all his attri- 
 butes of power and wifdom and benevolence. 
 From this conception of his nature they 
 might reafonably infer, by what kind of fer- 
 vice they might pleafe him beft, and render 
 him their Friend. But this train of inference 
 was very rarely drawn among the nations of 
 the Heathens, except by a very few of fupe- 
 rior penetration and reflexion : And even 
 among thefe it feldom produced any folid in- 
 fluence on their moral pradice ; fmce .they 
 continued to do what was right in their own 
 eyes, and to confult their own pleafure rather 
 than, the will of God. 
 
 To the Children of Ifrael he was fhewn in 
 a fuller and more conspicuous manner. Be- 
 iide an immediate communication under Mo- 
 fes the Miniiler of the Legal Economy, he 
 revealed himfelf to all the people by figns 
 and by wonders beyond the ordinary courfe 
 of nature. Having inflided an exemplary 
 
 vengeance 
 
Teaching in their fyna^ogues^ &c. 241 
 
 vengeance on their Egyptian tyrants, he 
 wrought their dehverance by a mighty hand. 
 He divided the red fea before them, and di- 
 redled their march through the bottom of 
 the deep. He went before them in the 
 pillar of a cloud by day and of fire by night. 
 Thus having prepared them by unqueftiona- 
 ble tokens of his immediate prefence, and 
 having ratified them by fpecial teftimonies 
 for a chofen generation, a peculiar people, he 
 gave them a Law in thunders and light- 
 nings from Mount Sinai. This method of 
 communicating his counfels was no doubt 
 very pov^erful and impreffive. But then it 
 was calculated not fo much to conciliate as 
 to alarm. It compelled by fear rather than 
 engaged by love. And highly as they were 
 diftinguiihed above all other people by this 
 divine vifitation, they flirunk with trembling 
 from this awful fcene, as appears from their 
 fupplication to Mofes, " Speak thou with us, 
 and we will hear; but let not God fpeak 
 with us, left we die ^." 
 
 In the laft Revelation of himfelf by the Gof- 
 pel he has taken a method which is equally 
 conciliating and impreffive. In this difpenfa- 
 tion of united grace and truth he appears in a 
 
 * Exod, -XX. 19, 
 
 clearcf 
 
142 And Jefus tvent about all Galilee, 
 
 clearer and more expreffive way, than through 
 the operations of nature ; yet he does not 
 break upon us, as he did under the miniftry 
 of the Law, in the overwhelming fplendours 
 of his divinity ; but he comes before us in a 
 more endearing and familiar form. The 
 Word of God, the organ of divine counfels, 
 the effufion of his gloryj the image of his 
 perfon, condefcends to dwell among us. 
 Shrouding the feverities of the Godhead from 
 human eye, he prefents himfelf to our con- 
 templation in the form and characfler of 
 man : and this not by a temporary fem- 
 blance, but by an entire alTumption of our 
 nature, not in occafional appearance, but 
 through all the flages of human life. In this 
 combination of the divine and human na- 
 ture, though the divine glory was veiled, 
 yet the divine energy remained. In him 
 dwelt bodily all the fulnefs of the Godhead. 
 But to engage the affection, as well as the 
 veneration of men, to draw them by the 
 bonds of gratitude and love, as well as to 
 control them by the power of his authority, 
 he fubmitted to pafs through life like one of 
 us ; and he took the moft interefling and af- 
 fed:in2: means to induce our allegiance to 
 his government and our obedience to his 
 law. 
 
 What 
 
Teaching in their Jynagogues, &c. 143 
 
 What engages our attention firft in the 
 hlftory of his human life is his acftive and un- 
 v/earied application to promote the good and 
 welfare of mankind. Though famenefs oi 
 charader might difpofe him to perpetual 
 converfe with his heavenly Father, yet while 
 he dwelt on earth, he promoted the counfel., 
 he performed the will of God by a free and 
 conftant intercourie with men." He went 
 about doing good : he fpared no labour, he 
 omitted no opportunity, to teach them the 
 way of truth, and to guide them in the path 
 to eyerlafling life. 
 
 I. The leading purpofe of our Saviour's 
 miflion, whether we regard him in his pro- 
 phetic or his kingly charad:er, was to publifh 
 the good tidings, or to preach the Go/pel of the 
 Kingdom ; that is, to proclaim and to com- 
 municate a new Difpenfation of divine grace 
 and truth, which had been foretold from ear- 
 lieft times, aad had been the final theme of 
 all preceding revelation. Of this great order 
 Jefus Chriil: himfelf was both the Prophet 
 and the Kins;. He came to be the h2:ht and 
 the life of men. He unfolded all the myf- 
 teries of divine knowledge ; he imparted all 
 the treafures of divine grace. While he ex- 
 pofed the corruption, the error, the infuffi- 
 
 cicncy 
 
144 And Jejus went uhouL all Galilee, 
 
 clencj of men, he offered hlmfelf to them a 
 Phyfician, a Guide, and an Affiftant. He 
 gave them the confolation of fpiritual health 
 upon repentance toward God and faith in 
 him. He diredled them in that way of ho- 
 linefs, which terminates in happinefs. He 
 aflured them on their prayers of the free 
 grace of heaven^ to ftrengthen and fupport 
 them in all their labours after righteoufnefs. 
 And on condition of their allegiance to his 
 government, he fet before them the adoption 
 of fons into the houfehold of God, and the 
 inheritance of fons in the kingdom of hea- 
 ven. Thus all his a(5ls and offices on earth 
 have been directed to this benelicial end, to 
 turn men from darknefs unto light, and from 
 the power of Satan unto God. 
 
 The fame wifdom and benevolence, fo con- 
 fpicuous in all his do<flrines, may be traced 
 in the method or economy employed in com- 
 municating his Gofpel to the world. To 
 enlarge the fphere of his beneficence he fre- 
 quented the places of public worfliip. He 
 taught in their fynagogues, being glorified of 
 all. But the exercife of his miniflry was not 
 limited to time or place. As he went about 
 doing good, he made ufe of all times and 
 places and opportunities. In the city, or in 
 the wildernefs, on a mountain, or on the 
 
 fea- 
 
Teaching in their fyna go gues, &c. 145 
 
 fea-lhore, in the public temple, or in the pri- 
 vate houfe, with his chofen difciples, or with 
 a promifcuous multitude, among the rich and 
 great, and among the poor and humble, with 
 Pharifees and Scribes, and with Publicans and 
 fmners, he was equally employed in execut- 
 ing that work, for which he came into the 
 w^orld. 
 
 On fome occafions he delivered his doc- 
 trines in a more profefTed and continued form 
 of difcourfe ; efpecially in the Sermon on the 
 Mount ; wherein he aftoniflied the people 
 with his dodlrine, for he taught them in a 
 manner very different from the Scribes, and 
 in a tone of authority as an immediate Mi- 
 nifler of God. In the opening of his fermon 
 he (hews himfelf a Teacher of a far fuperior 
 kind, fmce he pronounces the beatitudes of 
 his kingdom on tempers or difpofitions very 
 different from thofe, which ufually engage 
 the cultivation and attracfl the applaufe of 
 men, on difpofitions produdlive of vital ho- 
 linefs, and conducive to genuine and fub- 
 fiantial happinefs. But while he inculcates 
 more godlike difpofitions and propofes a more 
 heavenly recompence than the cuftomary 
 teachers of the Jews, he difclaims all inten- 
 tion of abrogating or even impairing the 
 fpirit of the Mofaic Law. He had no defign 
 .:. . h to 
 
\a6 And Jefus went ah out all Galilei, 
 
 to eftablilh a religion altogether new, but t(5 
 give life and energy to the old, to fulfil the 
 typical, to illuftrate and improve the moral. 
 In particular what the Law forbade in acH:, 
 he forbade in meditation and in thought ; 
 what the Law enjoined in the letter, he en- 
 joined in the fpirit ; and what was cultivated 
 in the form, he cflablifhed in the heart. He 
 taught the people, what they could not learn 
 from thofe who were Mafters in Ifrael, to 
 lay up treafures not on earth, but in heaven ; 
 to give their fervice not to Mammon, but to 
 God ; and inftead of a fretful folicitude for 
 the neceffaries of this life, to feek before all 
 other things the kingdom of God and his 
 righteoufnefs, and to confide in his provi- 
 dence for the fupply of every need. He taught 
 them not to truft to a mere profefTion of 
 their faith, but to fhew their profefTion in 
 their pradice : for not the callers on his 
 name, but the doers of his will Ihould have 
 admiflion into his heavenly kingdom. 
 
 But his common way of teaching was by 
 eafy and familiar converfation ; in which he 
 was always ready to avail himfelf of every in* 
 cidental circumflance, which might be made 
 fubfervient to the purpofe of inflruClion. 
 Whatever fcene appeared in viev/, whatever 
 topic of difcourfe arofe, he rendered it an ar- 
 gument 
 
Teaching in their Jynagogues, &c. 147 
 
 gument or vehicle of moral and fpiritual 
 truth. Thus on meeting the woman of Sa- 
 maria at the well, he took occafion from the 
 circumilance before him to recommend thofe 
 living waters, which he alone was able to 
 beftow. And when a reference enfued to 
 that violent fchifm then fubfifling between 
 the Jews and the Samaritans refpec^ing the 
 proper feat of public worfliip, he alTured her 
 that the time was come, when there lliould 
 neither be local feat, nor peculiar people fet 
 apart for the fervice of God; for that all divine 
 worfliip, in w^hatever place it was paid, and 
 by whatever people it was offered, would be 
 impartially accepted, provided it was offered 
 in a way moft agreeable to his character, in 
 fpirit and in truth. 
 
 In all his infl:rud:ions, whether given in a 
 continued form of difcourfe, or in colloquial 
 converfation, he frequently reiorted to the 
 language of Parable ; in which by fenfiblc 
 and material images he delineated moral and 
 fpiritual truths. Thus in the opening of his 
 Sermon on the Mount he calls his Difciples 
 the Salt of the earth ; by which he fignified, 
 that they were to purify and prefer ve man- 
 kind from all moral corruption : he calls 
 them the Light of the world ; by which he 
 alfo fignified, that they were to illuminate 
 L 5 the 
 
148 AndJefus went about all Galilee^ 
 
 the world by their dodrlne, their converfa- 
 tion, and their example. 
 
 Thus alfo in the clofe of the fame difcourfe 
 he reprefents the indifpenfable agreement of 
 the heart and the life by a good tree bearing 
 good fruit, and a corrupt tree bearing evil 
 fruit. In fequel to which he likens the man, 
 who hears his words, and does them, to a 
 wife man, who built his houfe upon a rock j 
 fo that it was able to withftand the violence 
 of every ftorm. On the other hand he 
 compares the man, who hears his words and 
 does them not, to a foolifh man, who built 
 his houfe upon the fand, fo that it was un- 
 able to refill the contention of the elements. 
 
 In the progrefs of his miniftry, a change is 
 perceptible in the ftyle of his parable. From 
 the brief fimilitude or metaphor it is expanded 
 into the fuller form of continued narrative ; 
 as is mofl obfervable in that ferics of para* 
 bles, which he fpoke from a fliip on the 
 coaft of the fea of Galilee to the multitude 
 extended on the fhore. For this change 
 of ftyle a reafon is afTigned, in anfwer to 
 the inquiry of his difciples, why he fpoke to 
 the multitude in parables. They were fo 
 much under the influence of prejudice and 
 pafTion, that they were not competent at the 
 time to receive the myfteries of the kingdom 
 
 of 
 
Teaching in their fi/nagogues, &c. 14() 
 
 of heaven. And therefore, as in ancient 
 times the counfels of divine providence and 
 grace had been reprefented to their Fathers 
 under the types and fhadows of the Legal eco- 
 nomy, fo when thefe counfels were at length 
 fulfilled in the Gofpel difpenfation, they were 
 ftill for a time reprefented under the veil of 
 parable, which might gradually be removed, 
 as the fhades of paffion and prejudice were 
 difperfed from their underftandings, and their 
 hearts. 
 
 Yet may it be obferved, that this anfwer 
 of our Lord applies more dired:ly to that clafs 
 of parables, which he fpoke on that occafion ; 
 fuch as the Sower, the Tares among the 
 Wheat, the Mullard feed in the field, the 
 Leven in the mafs of meal. All thefe being 
 prophetic pi(5lures of the rife and progrefs, 
 the condition and conftitution of the Mef- 
 fiah's kingdom, may be clafied under thofe 
 myfteries, which it was not expedient for the 
 common people to apprehend, till the whole 
 fcheme of this revelation was fulfilled. He 
 told thefe things before they came to pafs, 
 that when they were come to pafs, they might 
 believe. 
 
 - But though the parables, more expreffive 
 of the myfleries of the Gofpel, were not 
 open at the time to the apprehenfions of the 
 
 L 3 people 
 
150 And Jefus went about all Galilee^ 
 
 people in general, nor even of the Difciples, 
 before they were expounded to them by 
 their Lord ', yet whatever were of pradlical 
 defign and ufe, feem not to have been con- 
 cealed from the underftandings of thofe who 
 had ears to hear ; that is, who had faculties, 
 or rather difpofitions to receive the truth. 
 Thus vs^hatever might be the partial and 
 temporary defign of fpeaking to the multi- 
 tude of our Saviour's time and age in para- 
 bles, they will be found, in their general ap- 
 plication to the Chriftian world, to embrace 
 thefc great advantages, that they illuftrate 
 and exemplify moral truth, that they give 
 an agreeable exercife to the underftanding, 
 and that they leave a durable impreffion on 
 the memory. 
 
 The parables comprehend a very fpacious 
 field of inftrucftion. In fome are propheti- 
 cally reprefented the rife and progrefs, the 
 nature and conftitution of the Gofpel Eco- 
 nomy. Of this complexion are thofe in ge- 
 neral, in which the Kingdom of heaven is 
 likened to any image, whether on the face of 
 nature, or in civil or domeftic life. Thus 
 our Lord compares himfelf, as a Preacher of 
 the Gofpel, to a Sower going forth to ibw 
 his grain, which failed in various ways, or 
 throve in various degrees, according to the 
 
 qualities 
 
Teaching in their fyna go giics, &c. 151 
 
 qualities of the foil on which it fell. In 
 fome is manifefted the economy of divine 
 providence and grace to men. Thus the 
 difpofition of God tovs^ard repenting iinners 
 is reprefented by a father receiving a re- 
 covered prodigal w^ith every token of com- 
 panion and tendernefs, of pardon and of 
 peace. In fome are delineated the feveral 
 duties of the Chriftian life. Thus the duty 
 of neighbourly love, the peculiar character of 
 the Chriftian profeffion, is pourtrayed in the 
 cafe of the benevolent Samaritan, who find- 
 ing a traveller half expiring on the road, has 
 an acflive compaffion on him, and treats him 
 ■with every kind of hofpitable care. In fome 
 are difplayed the great motives of obedience 
 in the retributive juftice of God, as is in- 
 ftanced in a Lord or a Prince delivering to 
 his Servants talents, which they were required 
 to ufe, and for which afterwards he called 
 them to account, and rewarded or puniflied 
 them according as they had improved or neg- 
 leded their feveral trufts. 
 
 Another manner of teaching, ftill more 
 impreffive than thefe, was by Example. And 
 this, it may be prefumed, was one of the 
 reafons in the divine counfels, why the Son of 
 God fliould come among us in our nature, 
 that of all thofe virtues, which he taught in 
 
 L 4 his 
 
15.2 And Jefus went about all Galilee, 
 
 his dod:rine, he might be a pattern to us in 
 his Hfe. The advantage of example to re- 
 commend inflrudion is univerfally allowed. 
 The example of a teacher is not only the 
 iureft argument of his iincerity, it is alfo the 
 beft illuflration of his do(5lrine. Thereby he 
 reprefents the virtues that he teaches, not in 
 femblance or in pidlure, but in fubftance and 
 in adual life. And while he points out the 
 path of duty, he gives us encouragement to 
 walk therein. But the beft examples among 
 the fons of men are imperfect. Among all 
 human teachers of moral truth the life is not 
 uniformly corred; and faultlefs as the pre- 
 cept. The light, which they exhibit fo clear 
 in the doctrine, has fome portion of iliade in 
 the pradice. Even the Prophets and right- 
 eous men, whom our Lord himfelf com- 
 mends, were not fo exempt from the common 
 frailty of our nature, as to be entirely pure 
 from errors and infirmities in their lives. And 
 therefore, when we take them for models of 
 conduct, it behoves us to copy them with 
 fome degree of caution and refcrve.: — It is 
 the peculiar charader of our holy Teacher, 
 that his life on earth was entirely free from 
 every moral fliade, that he was a perfed: 
 model of every moral excellence. Though 
 fubjedt to our infirmitiess, and in all points 
 
 tempted 
 
Teaching in their fijnagogueS, &c. 153 
 
 tempted like as we are, yet he was continu- 
 ally pure from all taint of fm. And in every 
 active and in every paflive virtue he has left 
 us an example, that we Ihould follow his 
 fteps, who did no fm, and who fulfilled all 
 righteoufnefs. 
 
 Indeed, there are many parts of his life on 
 earth, which as they belong to his divine and 
 mediatorial charader, are not for men to 
 imitate ; for inftance, when he performed 
 miracles, and when he forgave fms. Yet 
 the moral, which is difplayed in thefe feveral 
 adls of authority, is not beyond the reach of 
 human cultivation. If we are not able to 
 follow him in performing miracles, yet we 
 may take for our pattern in the ordinary 
 courfe of nature that example of benevolence 
 to the body, which he performed by the im- 
 mediate hand of God. According as we have 
 received of the gifts of providence, we may 
 communicate to others by feeding the hun- 
 gry, by comforting the fick, by folaclng the 
 maladies, and by foftening the afflidions of 
 human life. If we muft not prefume to fol- 
 low him in remitting fms, yet we may take 
 for our pattern in the ordinary courfe of grace 
 that example of benevolence to the foul, 
 which he performed by an immediate autho- 
 rity 
 
154 And Jefus went about all Galilee^ 
 
 rlty from heaven. According to our ftatlon 
 or influence in fociety, we may take oppor- 
 tunities to admonifh, to exhort, and to re- 
 prove, {o as to convince the finner of his er- 
 rors, to move him to repentance, and to re- 
 concile him to God. 
 
 The fame eminence of charadler precludes 
 him from being an immediate object of hu- 
 man imitation in fome points of difcipline, 
 "which form an eflential exercife in the fpiri- 
 tual life of his followers. As being an objecl 
 of faith himfelf, he could not be a pattern of 
 faith to others. As being without fm, he 
 could not be a pattern of repentance. Yet 
 in thefe feveral points his preeminence of 
 character contains an energy of inftrudlion, 
 fuperior in fome manner to diredl example. 
 If we do not actually fee him a pattern of 
 faith, yet while we contemplate him in every 
 relation that he bears to man, as a Prophet, 
 as a Prieft, and as a King, we fee him a liv- 
 ing and perfuading Guide in every point, 
 which is neceflary to our pardon and juftifi- 
 cation with God. If we do not fee him a 
 pattern of repentance, yet while we contem- 
 plate him as bearing our griefs and carrying 
 our forrows, as wounded for our tranfgreffions 
 and bruifed for our iniquities, we fee him 
 
 a living 
 
Teaching in their fynagogues, &c, 155 
 
 a living and perfuading Precept to mourn for 
 our own tranfgreffions and to forrow for our 
 own iniquities. 
 
 But in every branch of holinefs, whether 
 in difpofition or practice, we may without 
 exception immediately look unto Jefus, the 
 Author and Finifher of our faith, who has 
 exemplified in his life, whatever he has incul- 
 cated in his doctrine. While he taught us 
 by his precept, he equally taught us in his 
 pwn perfonal deportment, to deny ungodli- 
 nefs and worldly lufts, and to live foberly, 
 righteoully, and godly in this prefent world. 
 In humility of fpirit, in meeknefs of temper, 
 and in purity of heart, in compaffion and 
 forbearance, in mercy and charity to men, in 
 piety and refignation, in truft and patience 
 towards God, we may take him for a fure 
 and unqueftionable Guide. When therefore 
 we receive him as a Teacher come from God, 
 it concerns us, not only to attend his precepts 
 and obferve his laws, but to ftudy his life, 
 and to contemplate his character, that on fo 
 complete a model we may regulate our 
 own. 
 
 Indeed after all we do, we fliall fall infi- 
 nitely fhort of that unblemiflied, of that 
 perfe<5l chara^er, whom we profefs to imi- 
 tate. For in this imperfecfl ftate of our na- 
 ture 
 
Y56 And Jcfus ivent about all Galilee, 
 
 ture we fhall be neither free from fm, nor 
 fhall we be able to make any great advance 
 in righteoufnefs. But provided we fmcerely 
 obey him, and faithfully follow him with all 
 our heart and might, in the word that he 
 has left, and in the example that he has 
 given, we have every encouragement to hope, 
 notwithftanding all our errors and deficiencies, 
 through his merits and by his aid to have an 
 intereft in the glad tidings that he came to 
 impart, and finally to have an entrance into 
 the everlafting Kingdom of our Lord and 
 Saviour Jefus Chrift. 
 
 II. In concurrence with this a6l of mercy 
 to the fpiritual ftate of men was the atten- 
 tion, that he paid to their temporal benefit 
 and welfare. While he was thus benefi- 
 cially employed in preaching the Go/pel of the 
 kingdom, he omitted no opportunities of heal^ 
 ing all manner off chiefs and all manner of difeafe 
 among the people. Though the latter of thefe 
 gracious works was in fubfervience to the 
 former, yet was it of important ufe in thefe 
 two refped.s, as it gave an evidence of his mif- 
 fion, and was an illuftratlon of his chara<5ler. 
 
 Whenever God is pleafed to manifeft 
 himfelf to men, he is pleafed at the fame 
 time to give fome token or evidence that the 
 
 mani- 
 
Teaching in their fyna go gues, &c. 157 
 
 inanlfeftation is of God. In the common or- 
 der of providence he reveals himfelf no other- 
 wife, than in the common operations of na- 
 ture. Even in the dark eft ages of the Hea- 
 then world he did not leave mankind with- 
 out fome witnefs or memorial of himfelf; 
 inafmuch as the whole lyftem and order of 
 created things bore abundant evidence of the 
 divine Artificer. Well therefore does the 
 Apollle reafon in his addrefs to the Lycao- 
 nians, when he fought to turn them from 
 the vanities they worfliipped, to ferve the 
 living God who made heaven and earth and 
 all things that are therein ; ^* Although in 
 times paft he fuffered all nations to walk in 
 their own ways ; neverthelefs he left not 
 himfelf without witnefs, in that he did good, 
 and gave us rain from heaven and fruit- 
 ful feafons, filling our hearts with food and 
 gladnefs^" 
 
 But when he w^ould reveal himfelf in a more 
 peculiar manner by a fpecial embafiy from 
 heaven, he teflified this embafly by miracu- 
 lous deviations from the ordinary laws of na- 
 ture. Thus when Mofes was appointed an 
 EmbalTador of God, his legation was efta- 
 bliflied by figns and by wonders and by a 
 
 ^ A6ls xlv. 17. 
 
 mighty 
 
158 And Jefus went about all Galilee, 
 
 mighty hand and by an outftretched arm, as 
 exerted in the plagues of Egypt, the exod of 
 Ifracl, and the deUvery of the Law. All 
 which being out of the ordinary fphere of 
 nature were unqueftionable teftimonies, that 
 his miffion was derived from him, who has 
 the control of nature and of nature's laws. 
 
 And when another Minifler of Heaven, a 
 greater than Mofes, even the Son of God, 
 the Anointed of the Lord, appeared, he was 
 equally invefted with preternatural tefti- 
 monies of his miffion and chara(5ler. He 
 was ufhered into the world by the fong of 
 Angels, and by the guidance of an extraordi- 
 nary Star. And when he entered upon his 
 miniftry, the fpirit of God defcended upon 
 him in a vifible form, and a voice from 
 heaven proclaimed him the beloved Son of 
 God. In various manners through the courfe 
 of his miniftry did he exercife a ftrong com- 
 mand over the laws of nature, as when he 
 walked upon the fea, or when he bade the 
 ftorm to ceafe, and the winds and the weaves 
 were ftill. But the common evidence of his 
 miffion and the common exercife of his au- 
 thority were moft in harmony with thofe 
 good tidings of the kingdom, which it was 
 the purpofe of his coming to impart. His 
 miracles in general were ad:s of mercy and 
 
 com- 
 
Teaching in their fyna go gues, &c, 159 
 
 compaffion. His preternatural power was 
 very rarely exerted, but for the moft benefi- 
 cial, the moft falutary purpofes. To give 
 evidence of his authority to preach the gof- 
 pel of the kingdom, " he healed all manner of 
 ficknefs and all manner of difcafe among the 
 people." In fequel to which it is further 
 faid, that '^ his fame went through all Syria ; 
 and they brought unto him all fick people, 
 that were taken with divers difeafes and tor- 
 ments, and thofe which were poiTefled of 
 devils, and thofe which wxre lunatic, and 
 thofe which had the palfy ; and he healed 
 them." 
 
 In almofl every chapter of the Gofpel, 
 ■which is not entirely occupied by his doc- 
 trine, we meet with fome a6l or miracle of 
 compaffion. There was no malady, however 
 fevere or inveterate, which he did not in- 
 ftantaneoufly fubdue. With a touch or at a 
 word, not only in the prcfence of the fufFer- 
 ing objed:, but alfo at a diftance, the various 
 fofms of human mifery fled. The eyes of the 
 blind were opened, the ears of the deaf were 
 unftopped, the tongue of the dumb was 
 tuned, to the fevered was given the cheer- 
 ing glow of health, to the pallied the re- 
 covered ufe of limbs, and foundnefs of under- 
 ftanding to the deiiioniacs. To the multi- 
 tude. 
 
l6o And Jefus went about all Galilee , 
 
 tude, who were pining with hunger in the 
 wildernefs, he repeatedly adminiftered a mi- 
 raculous fupply. But to give a fuller tefti- 
 mony of his miffion and character, he repeat- 
 edly called the departed fpirit into the infen- 
 late corfe. Thus he feverally raifed to life 
 the daughter of Jairus on her bed, the 
 young man of Nain on his bier, and the 
 man of Bethany from the tomb. And there- 
 fore well might he appeal to thofe extraordi- 
 nary powers as an evidence not to be dif- 
 proved, that he was the Perfon, whom the 
 company of Prophets had foretold, who was 
 to come from God to confer fome great 
 and unexampled good on men. " Go, and 
 fliew John again the things which ye do hear 
 and fee : The blind receive their iight, and 
 the lame walk, the lepers are cleanfed, and 
 the deaf hear, the dead are raifed up ^." 
 - All thefe miraculous adls were not only 
 infallible iigns of his being a Teacher come 
 from God : but they alfo illuftrate that pe- 
 culiar purpofe for which he came to men. 
 In their moft important and comprehenfive 
 aim they gave a moral evidence of his au- 
 thority to impart a much more valuable and 
 enduring good. In all thefe energies of mer- 
 
 ^ Mat, xi, 5. ... 
 
 cy 
 
Teaching in their Jynagogues, &c. lOl 
 
 cy he may be underflood to preach the good 
 tidings of the kingdom, as every miracle, 
 that he performed on the body, might be 
 conftrued into a pledge and /ymbol of that 
 grace and companion, which he adminiftercd 
 to the foul. Did he open the eyes of the 
 bhnd ? He equally reftored the moral fight 
 of men, he removed the film of fpiritual 
 darknefs, and opened to them the light of 
 heavenly truth. Did he reftore to the palfied 
 the ufe of their limbs ? He alfo renovated 
 the intelledtual faculties of men with the 
 ftrengthening and fupporting grace of God. 
 Did he cleanfe the lepers ? He was no lefs 
 competent to cleanfe the foul from every 
 moral taint, and to fay to the confcious of 
 their guilt, Your fins be forgiven you. Did 
 he cafl evil fpirits out of the bodies of men ? 
 He had alfo authority to difpoffefs their fouls 
 of the fame malignant enemies, and to dif- 
 card from their hearts every fmful pafiion 
 and propenfity. Did he fupply the multi- 
 tude, when they hungered in the wildernefs, 
 with food ? He alfo adminillered to all man- 
 kind in their fpiritual indigence the true 
 bread that cometh down from heaven, the 
 bread that nourilheth to eternal life. Did 
 he raife the dead to life ? In that very chief 
 of miracles he fliewed his. power to reani- 
 
 M mate 
 
1^2 u4nd Jefus went about all Galilee^ 
 
 mate mankind who were fpiritually dead, to 
 raife them from the death of fm to the Hfe of 
 righteoufnefs. To this purpofe therefore we 
 may prefume it was, that to the teftimonies, 
 which he gave of his miffion in his miracles 
 of heahng, he added this, as moft illuftrative 
 of his own character and alfo that of his doc- 
 trine ; " And the poor have the Gofpel 
 preached unto them." 
 
 III. One circumflance remains to be con- 
 fidered in the Economy of our Saviour's mi- 
 niflry on earth, to which we are directed by 
 the words of the Text ; namely, the Scene, 
 on which it was exercifed; which induces 
 and involves a coniidcration of greater weight, 
 the People, to whom it was addreffed. 
 
 Though the benefits of his miffion were 
 intended for the whole race of men through 
 all the peopled earth, yet his perfonal mini- 
 ftry was neceffarily limited to a certain range 
 of country and a certain community of men. 
 Now what region was more fuitable for the 
 fcene of his miniftry, than the fame land of 
 Faleftine, which from the time of Abraham had 
 been diftinguilhed by the more peculiar pre- 
 fence of God ? And to what people could he 
 manifeft himfelf to more advantage and ef- 
 fect, than to the chofen Race of Ifrael, to 
 
 whom. 
 
Teaching in their fj/nagogues, &c. l63 
 
 whom from ancient time God had revealed 
 his will and had imparted the promife of this 
 Ipi ritual kingdom ? 
 
 Of this tra<5l of country the principal fcenc 
 of his miniftrj was the land of Galilee ; a 
 region, proverbially difparaged by the Jews 
 in the precindls of Jerufalem, yet preordained 
 of heaven for the firft promulgation of the 
 Gofpel. For ib it had been foretold by the 
 Prophet Ifaiah ; ** Though in the former 
 time he debafed, yet in the latter time he 
 fhall render glorious, the land of Zebulon 
 and the land of Naphthali, even the way of 
 the fea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gen- 
 tiles. The people, that walked in darknefs, 
 have feen a great light : They that dwelt in 
 the land of the fhadow of death, upon them 
 hath the light fhined '^." In this land of 
 Galilee did our Lord begin to preach the 
 Gofpel of the kingdom ; from this he princi- 
 pally chofe his twelve Apoftles ; through this 
 he made repeated circuits, diftinguifliing his 
 progrefs with the grace and energy of his 
 words and works ; yet occafionally travel- 
 ling through Samaria, Judea, and the re- 
 gion beyond Jordan, and paying frequent 
 
 ■* Ifa. ix. I, 2. Mat. iv. 15, 16. 
 
 M 2 vifits 
 
l64 And Jefus ivent about all Galilee, 
 
 vifits to Jerufalem, efpecially at the public 
 Feafts. 
 
 Though he came to be the light of the 
 World, yet he came more immediately to 
 the houfe of Ifrael. To them before other 
 nations the Kingdom of heaven was an- 
 nounced and the terms of acceptance were 
 propofed. But here again it merits obferva- 
 tion, that while for the fcene of his minillry 
 he preferred the difparaged land of Galilee to 
 the land of Judea, diftinguiflied as it was for 
 the city and temple of Jerufalem, fo alfo he 
 cliofe to addrcfs his converfation to the com- 
 mon people and the poor, rather than to the 
 rich and great. Thus the perfons, whom he 
 chofe at the commencement of his mini- 
 ftry for the companions of his travels, the 
 wdtnelfes of his words and works, and the 
 future Apoftles of his Gofpel, were taken out 
 of the humbleft orders of life, the moft me- 
 morable of them being fifliermen on the fea 
 of Galilee. To this diftindlion they were 
 raifed, not on account of any extraordina- 
 ry talent or endowment, but for their hu- 
 mility of difpofition and their readinefs of 
 faith on the earlieft teftimony to receive him 
 for a Teacher come from God ; though in- 
 deed it is evident from the fequel of their 
 
 life 
 
Teaching in their fynagogues, &c, l65' 
 
 life and converfation, that they were flow in 
 apprehending the true nature of his mif- 
 fion and the final purpofe of his coming into 
 the world. 
 
 Thus alfo he did not feek the fociety of 
 thofe, who profefled a fuperior knowledge of 
 the Law, and claimed to themfelves extraor- 
 dinary merit from a ftridt obfervance of its 
 inftitutions. He did not addrefs himfelf to 
 the wife in their own conceits, or the 
 righteous in their own efteem, as was the 
 general character of the Pharifees and Scribes, 
 the Chief Priefts and Elders of the Jews. He 
 was not difpofed to walle the precious over- 
 tures of Gofpel grace on thofe, who were 
 totally averfe to receive it ; though he did 
 not omit opportunities, when they fell in his 
 way, of friendly, though unwelcome admo- 
 nition and reproof. But his attentions were 
 paid more dire(5lly to thofe, who were favour- 
 ably difpofed toward his perfon and miniftry; 
 efpecially to fuch as felt their deficiency in 
 fpiritual attainments, and were anxious to 
 receive iriflrad:ion and affillance ; to fuch as 
 were fenfiblc of their deviations from right- 
 eoufnefs, and were anxious to obtain the 
 pardon and the peace of God ; to Publicans 
 and fmners, to thofe, whom the Pharifees 
 and Scribes confidered as ftrangers to the co- 
 
 iM :; venant 
 
l65 And Jefus went about all Galilee, 
 
 venant of promife and aliens from the com- 
 monwealth of Ifrael. Wherever he came, 
 by the power of his words and works he was 
 diftinguifhed for a Minifter of divine grace 
 and truth; his fame went through all the 
 land ; and from every part of Paleftine there 
 followed him great multitudes of people, 
 who were anxious to hear his voice, and to 
 be healed of their infirmities. 
 
 Nor did he confine his regard to thofe, 
 who were pure in their defcent from Abra- 
 ham, and correal in their obfervance of the 
 Law of Mofes. In his travels through Sa- 
 maria he did not hefitate to extend the bene- 
 fits of his Gofpel to the people of that coun- 
 try, whofe defcent from Abraham was alloyed 
 with Gentile blood, and whofe Law of Mo- 
 fes was corrupted with many heathen fu- 
 pcrflitions and idolatries. Thus he entered 
 into an inflrudive converfation at the well 
 of Sychar with a woman of that nation, to 
 whom he fignified his character, and offered 
 the benefits of his GofpeL And when the 
 Samaritans in confequence of her report came 
 out to meet him, he congratulated his Difci- 
 ples on the profpe<51; of that fpiritual harvefl 
 now ripening in their view. And for the 
 few days that he tarried among them, he 
 made fo great a progrefs in their converfion, 
 
 that 
 
Teaching in their fynagogues^ &c. 1C7 
 
 that many believed on him becaufe of his 
 word ; and having heard him themfelves, 
 they acknowledged that he was indeed the 
 Chrift, the Saviour of the world ^ 
 
 The Samaritans might have fome preten- 
 fions to a common notice with the Jews, in- 
 afmuch as they acknowledged the fame Law of 
 Mofes, and boafted of the fame Defcent from 
 Abraham. But as opportunities arofe, he did 
 not fcruple to extend the benefits of his million 
 to thofe, who had no ihadow of title, either 
 by profeffion of faith, or by diftincftion of li- 
 neage, to the privileges of God's peculiar 
 people. Indeed as the fcene of his perfonal 
 miniftry was confined to the land of Palef- 
 tine, fo the immediate benefits of his million 
 were in a good meafure limited to the Houfe 
 of Ifrael. But inftances occur in the Gofpel 
 hiftory, of his admitting the Gentiles, when 
 they came in his way, to the fame common 
 benefits both temporal and fpiritual. Thus 
 immediately after his Sermon on the Mount, 
 when he was entered into Capernaum, he re- 
 ceived a fupplication from a Roman Centu- 
 rion, in behalf of his fervant, who lay at his 
 houfe feverely afflicted with the palfy. Jefus 
 did not hefitate to anfwer, that he would 
 
 * John iv. 5 — 42. 
 
 M 4 come 
 
i58 And J ejus went about all Galilee, 
 
 come and heal him : But while he was on 
 the way, he received a fecond meflage from 
 the Centurion confeffmg his unworthinefs to 
 receive fo great a Prophet under his roof, 
 and requeuing only that he would fpeak the 
 word, in full aiTurance that his fervant would 
 be healed. Jefus hearing this profefled to the 
 multitude who followed him, that he had 
 not found fo great a faith in Ifrael : and he 
 declared unto them, that many fhould come 
 from the various quarters of the world, and 
 fhould fit down with the Patriarchs in the 
 Kingdom of Heaven, as children of the king- 
 dom through the righteoufnefs of faith, and 
 heirs of the promifes that were made to the 
 faithful ; while many, who were children by 
 natural defcent, ihould be rejected from the 
 Kingdom, for want of that faith to which 
 thefe promifes were given. Hereupon he im- 
 mediately declared, that the mercy he im- 
 plored was granted : and his fervant was 
 healed in the felf fame hour ^ 
 
 Thus alfo when he came into the coafls 
 of Tyre and Sidon, a Woman of Canaan, 
 who was a Heathen, addrefled him as the 
 Son of David, and implored him to have 
 mercy on her daughter, who was grievoufly 
 
 ^ Mat. viii. 5 — 13. Lukevii. 1 — 10. 
 
 vexed 
 
Teaching hi their fi/na go gues, &c. 169 
 
 vexed with an impure fpirit. For a while 
 he feemed to pay no attention to her fuit. 
 But when Ihe continued her importunities, 
 he declared, with a view (as appears from 
 the fequel) to elucidate her faith, that his 
 miffion was to the houfe of Ifrael, and he 
 urged the impropriety of taking that bread 
 which belonged to the children, and giving 
 it to aliens. The woman, not difcouraged 
 from perfeverance in her fuit, expreffed her 
 hope, that though the hrft portion in this di- 
 vine houfehold was due to the children, yet 
 in the riches of divine grace there was an 
 overflowing abundance for all other fuppli- 
 cants. Hereupon Jefus commended her faith, 
 and for her faith affured her, that it fhould 
 be done as flie defired^. Thus admitting 
 the Heathens to partake in his temporal 
 mercies, he gave them an aiTurance, that he 
 admitted them alfo to partake in his Spiritual 
 bleffings ; that though the iirft overtures 
 were to the houfe of Ifrael, yet now, on the 
 promulgation of peace on earth and of good- 
 will to men, this houfe had no longer an ex- 
 clufive title to the favour and regard of Hea- 
 ven ; that the bounties of divine grace, now 
 laid open in the Gofpel, were impartially ex- 
 
 s Mat, XV. 21 — 28. Mark vH, 24 — 30. 
 
 tended 
 
1 70 And Jefus went about all Galilee, 
 
 tended to all perfons and orders and commu- 
 nities of men ; and whoever accepted this 
 faith and complied with thefe terms, Ihould 
 be received into the privileges of the heavenly 
 kingdom. 
 
 Thus we fee the wifdom and benevolence 
 difplayed, not only in the Gofpel Covenant it- 
 felf, but in the method or economy employed 
 of imparting this Covenant to men. The 
 Founder of our faith ailumed our nature, and 
 dwelt among us, and through the courfe of 
 an active and laborious life made ufe of all 
 means and occafions, by every mode of doc- 
 trine, and in every form of example, to un- 
 fold the counfels of divine grace, and to im- 
 prefs upon us the conditions of his Covenant. 
 He gave evidence of his miffion and illuftra- 
 tion of his character by healing all manner of 
 ficknefs and difeafe. And though his per- 
 fonal miniftry was neceffarily limited to a 
 certain region and to a certain people, yet has 
 he given us full affurance, that his Kingdom 
 comprehends every clime and age, and that 
 the benefits of his gofpel are laid open in- 
 differently to all nations and communities of 
 men. 
 
 If we do not perfonally fee and hear him 
 
 in 
 
Teaching in their Jj/nagogues, &c. lyi 
 
 in his miniflry of grace, we virtually fee and 
 hear him in that facred word, which by the 
 acflive zeal of his Apoftles and Evangelifts, il- 
 lumined by the Spirit of God, is left on per- 
 petual record for the inftrudlion and edifica- 
 tion of men. In the hiftory of the Gofpel 
 we in fpirit may attend him in his travels of 
 benevolence through the land ; we may hear 
 him teaching in the fynagogues, arid preach- 
 ing the Gofpel of the kingdom ; we may fee 
 him healing all manner of iicknefs and all 
 manner of difeafe among the people. Thus 
 looking unto Jefus the Author and Finifher 
 of our faith, let us pay the fame attention to 
 him, as if we perfonally witneffed all his 
 words and works. Let us walk by faith, as if 
 we walked by fight. So fhall we have the full 
 benefit of his preaching: fo fliall we be healed 
 of all the difeafes and infirmities of our fouls: 
 and fo may we hope to be partakers of his 
 kingdom both in the prefent flate of grace 
 nud in the future flate of glory. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 Mark i. 15. 
 
 The time is fulfilledj and the Kingdom of God is at 
 
 hand : Repent ye, and believe the Go/pel. 
 
 X HESE words have a peculiar claim to the 
 regard of Chriflians -, not only as they are 
 the firft on record, which the Founder of our 
 faith employed, when he entered upon his 
 miniftry ; but, what is of more eiTential con- 
 cern, as they comprize the fubftance of what 
 he came to teach. They announce the arri- 
 val of that fpiritual State, which had long 
 been foretold in all preceding Revelations ; 
 I'he time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is 
 at hand : And they propofe to mankind the 
 conditions of acceptance into that fpiritual 
 State ; Repent ye, and believe the Gofpel. — To 
 each of thefe two claufes I mean to affign a 
 feparate difcourfe. 
 
 The Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of 
 Heaven, as it is indifFerently ftyled by the 
 Evangelilis, is a conftitution very different 
 
 from 
 
174 The time is fulfilled, 
 
 from the kingdoms of this world, being 
 founded immediately by the power of God, 
 and being modelled on the polity of Heaven. 
 A kingdom of this kind originally fubfifted 
 on the face of the earth. When Almighty 
 God had finiflied his creation of the world, 
 " he faw every thing that he had made, and 
 behold it was very good." The laft of all 
 his works, as the crown of the whole, was 
 Man ; for he was made in the image of God, 
 that is, in the fiafhion of his own moral good- 
 nefs. And while he refembled him in holi- 
 nefs, he alfo partook of his happinefs. Thus 
 the Kingdom of Heaven was indeed on earth, 
 and Man was immediately under the go- 
 vernment of God. 
 
 But though a fcene of happinefs, it was 
 yet a fcene of difcipline to man. In that 
 free conversation, which he held with hea- 
 venly Natures, it was fignified to him, that 
 If in a temporary ftate of trial he conformed 
 himfelf entirely to the will of God, he lliould 
 be translated to a place of fuperior happinefs 
 in heaven itf6lf, the more immediate feat of 
 the divine prefence, and the fulnefs of beati- 
 tude. For the exercife of his faith and the 
 teft of his obedience one plain prohibition 
 was enjoined. Among all the fruits of para- 
 dife, which were freelv given him to enjov> 
 
 he 
 
And the Kingdom of God i-i at hand. 1/5 
 
 he was reftrlded from the tafte of one. Bv 
 the reductions of an Enemy he was prevailed 
 upon to violate the exprefs command of 
 God. By which fatal a6l he broke his alle- 
 giance to his heavenly King, and incurred 
 the penalty denounced on his difobedience ; 
 he was degraded from that image in which he 
 was lately made ; he was expelled from para- 
 dife ; he was deprived of a communion with 
 Heaven. The Kingdom of God was now 
 withdrawn from the earth. The earth itfelf 
 on his account loft its primitive beauty and 
 order. Tlie Foe of God and Man ufurped a 
 tyrannic fway therein : and {n\ and mifery 
 entered into the world. For the confequence 
 of his guilt did not fall upon our firft Proge- 
 nitor alone ; but the taint of his corruption 
 extended to all his pofterity. 
 
 Yet fallen as he was from his firft integri- 
 ty, God would not abandon him to the fatal 
 confequence of his tranigreffion. In the 
 midft of judgment he remembered mercy. 
 Even when lie pronounced the threatened 
 fentence on the guilty Pair, he would not 
 overwhelm them with the feverities of his 
 wrath. Ill the depth of their forrow for 
 their lapfe from innocence, he gave them 
 the promife of confolation in one of their 
 offspring, who, not without fome facrifice on 
 
 his 
 
1/6 The time is fulfilled, 
 
 his part, fliould bruife the head of their ma- 
 lignant Foe, filiould reconcile to God the 
 fallen race of men, fliould reftore them to 
 the image in which they were created, and 
 fhould reeflablifh for them the Kingdom of 
 Heaven. 
 
 This however was not to take place till a 
 long term of time had intervened ; during 
 w^hich mankind might be convinced by long 
 experience, of the weaknefs of their reafon, 
 the deficiency of their powers, their flrong 
 propenfity to evil, and their deplorable con- 
 dition without God in the world. 
 
 In a diflant age God feledled Abraham 
 from a degenerate and corrupted race, to 
 maintain among mankind fome memorial of 
 their Creator, and to keep alive in his houfe- 
 hold fome image of the heavenly Kingdom. 
 
 In the energy of his faith he Oiewed him- 
 felf worthy of that celefiiial choice. For the 
 firmnefs of his allegiance to his divine King 
 he was diflinguiflied as the Father of the 
 Faithful, and the Friend of God. To him 
 were given thofe feveral promifes, which were 
 afterwards repeated to Ifaac and to Jacob, 
 that he would make him a Father of many 
 nations, and would multiply him as the flars 
 of heaven ; that with them he would eflablifh 
 a perpetual Covenant, and would give them 
 
 an 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. 177 
 
 ail everlafting inheritance ; that he would be 
 their God for ever ; that he would be to 
 them an exceeding great reward ; and that 
 in him, or in his feed, fliould all the nations 
 o^ the earth be bleffed ^. 
 
 Thefe promifes undoubtedly belong, not 
 merely to thofe who fliould be Children of 
 Abraham by natural defcent ; nor were they 
 limited to the inheritance of the land, on 
 w^hich the Patriarchs then fojourned. Ac- 
 cepted in their full and final iignification, 
 they extend to all thofe, who fliould be his 
 Children by fpiritual birth, who fhould be 
 heirs of the Covenant by the adoption of 
 grace ; and they would be completed in the 
 inheritance of that heavenly Kingdom pre- 
 pared for the righteous from the foundation 
 of the world. Of this the Patriarchs enter- 
 tained a general hope. Though the promifes 
 received by them conveyed no exprefs affur- 
 ance, yet were they perfuaded, that God had 
 provided fome better things for them : and 
 while they confeffed that they were Grangers 
 and pilgrims on the earth, they defired a 
 better country, that is, a heavenly : they 
 looked for a city, which hath foundations 
 
 * Gen.xii, 2., 3, xvii. 2, ^c. xxli. 17, 18. 
 
 js" more 
 
178 The time is fulfilled, 
 
 more durable than the works of men, whofe 
 Maker and Builder is God ''. 
 
 The intercourfe, thus opened with the Pa- 
 triarchs in their refpecPcive houfeholds, was 
 extended to their progeny the race of Ifrael. 
 The whole Economy of Mofes was defigned 
 for a fliadow or emblem of a fpiritual King- 
 dom, which was afterwards to rife. Thus 
 the moral Law was the outline of that law 
 of righteoufnefs, to be completed and con- 
 firmed in the Gofpel precepts. The Civil 
 Law was a figure of the Chriftian Difcipline. 
 The Ceremonial Law in its facrifices and in- 
 terceffions, its purifications, and atonements 
 delineated the myfteries of the Chriftian Re- 
 demption. Even the Hiftory of the Chil- 
 dren of Ifrael, from their exod out of Egypt 
 to their polTeffion of the land of promife, was 
 molded into a prophetic parable of the fame 
 defign. Their deliverance from Egyptian 
 bondage, as commemorated in the Pafchal 
 facrifice, pourtrays the deliverance of all man- 
 kind from the bondage of fin and Satan, as 
 accomplifhed in that great ranfom offered by 
 the Lamb of God, who taketh away the fin 
 of the world. Their pilgrimage through the 
 wildernefs of Sinai reprefents the pilgrimage 
 
 ^ Heb. xi. 9, &c. 
 
 of 
 
And the Kingdoin oj God is at hand. 179 
 
 of the fpiritual Ifrael through the wildernefs 
 of mortal hfe. And their eftabhlliment in the 
 promifed land of Canaan delineates the final 
 eftablilhment of every true Ifraelite in the 
 promifed Inheritance of the heavenly King- 
 dom. 
 
 This communication of divine truth was 
 continued by the Prophets, who rofe at dif- 
 ferent times to admonifn, to reprove, and to 
 comfort Ifrael : Of thefe more efpecially by 
 Ifaiah, the peculiar Prophet of the Chriflian 
 Difpenfation. In the general ftruclure of 
 his prophecies, though the fubjed: in the 
 literal acceptation relates more immediately 
 to the people and the land of Ifrael, yet the 
 principal and final aim is the fpiritual King- 
 dom or Church of God, as afterwards to be 
 eftabliflied under the banners of the Meffiah. 
 Thus in the commencement of his infpired 
 volume, after lamenting the degeneracy of 
 Jerufalem, and the calamities which on that 
 account were brought upon her inhabitants, he 
 looks for confolation to that diflant age, when 
 the Lord would turn his hand upon her, and 
 w^ould entirely purge away her drofs, and 
 would reflore her judges and counfellors, and 
 Ihe fhould be called. The City of righteouf- 
 nefs, The faithful City ^ Then breaking 
 
 ' Ifa. i. 
 
 N 2, forth 
 
l80 The time is fulfilled ^ 
 
 forth into a clearer ftrain, he anticipates i\\t 
 time, when this divine Kingdom fliould be 
 eftabhfhed and exalted in the earth, and all 
 nations fliould flow unto it > when out of 
 Sion fliould go forth the law, and the word 
 of the Lord out of Jerufalem : when he 
 fliould judge many nations, and convince 
 many people ; when they fliould beat their 
 i words into plough-fliares, and their fpearsinto 
 pruning hooks ; when nation fliould not lift 
 up fword againfl: nation, neither fliould they 
 learn war any more ^. Thus alfo in the pro- 
 grefs of his divine revelations, whenever he 
 ipeaks of the deliverance of his people from 
 the invaflon or opprefflon of the feveral Hea- 
 then powers of Syria, Egypt, Aflyria, and 
 Babylon, he is led infenfibly to mix there- 
 with the fpiritual deliverance of the true 
 Ifrael of God from the yoke of their enemies 
 by a Prince of the houfe of David, who 
 fliould efl:ablifli a Kingdom of unbroken 
 peace and happlnefs and glory. 
 
 But this defign is fliill more confplcuous in 
 the latter portion of his writings ; in which 
 the Prophet may be obferved, more exprefsly 
 by civil benefits to forefliadow fpiritual blef- 
 flngs, and more difl:ind:ly through things tem- 
 
 •i Ifa. ii, 1—4. 
 
 poral 
 
^nd the Kingdom of God Is at hand. 181 
 
 poral to look to things eternal. In the letter 
 indeed he delineates the fignal ads of mercy, 
 to be wrought for Ifrael by Cyrus, the 
 Anointed and the Shepherd of the Lord ; 
 namely, their redemption from the fevera 
 countries in which they were difperfed in 
 fervitude and forrow, their reftoration to the 
 land of Sion, and their refettlement on their 
 paternal inheritance: But in the fpirit he de- 
 lineates farfuperior things, to be accompliflied 
 by Chrift, the true Anointed of the Lord, 
 the true Shepherd of his people, namely, 
 the redemption of mankind from fpiritual 
 bondage, that worfl of evils, their reftoration 
 to the profpe<^ of the Jerufalem which is 
 above, and their final eftablifliment in the 
 inheritance of heaven, the proper home of all 
 the faithful ^ Hence at the clofe of his pro- 
 phetic book, under the fame image of Jerufa- 
 lem reftored he defcribes the divine Citv, the 
 Kingdom of the Church of God, breaking 
 forth into tranfcendent light and life, admit- 
 ting into its courts the multitudes of the 
 Gentiles, flourifhing in eternal peace, profpe- 
 rity, and plenty, invefted with the brighteft 
 beams of heavenly glory, animated with the 
 divine prefence, filled with a righteous peo- 
 
 ^ Ifa. xl — xliv, xlv, &c. 
 
 N 3 pie, 
 
182 The time is fulfilled, 
 
 pie, and fpeedily multiplying into an im- 
 menfe and mighty nation ^. 
 
 Among other prophetic intimations of this 
 heavenly Kingdom, was that fulnefs of time 
 when it was to be eftabliflied. Now this 
 was fignified by Jacob in his dying addrefs to 
 his Sons ; wherein he declared, that ^' the 
 fceptre fhould not depart from Judah, nor a 
 Lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh, 
 or the perfon fent, fliould come ^." Now 
 the fceptre muft be underfiiood to be departed 
 from Judah, when the land of Judah was 
 deprived of its native Kings, and became a 
 province of the Roman Empire. This was 
 accomplifhed in the degradation of Archelaus 
 the Son of Herod, on whofe removal from 
 the throne a Roman Governor was appointed. 
 Which event took place, as nearly as can be 
 collected, in the very year, when Jefus then 
 a Child gave the firfl: public tokens of his 
 mlffion, when he fate among the Doftors, 
 both hearing them and ailving them quef- 
 tions '. 
 
 The time was alfo fignified by Daniel in 
 the memorable vifion and prophecy of the 
 Seventy Weeks: which, though varioufly in- 
 terpreted in minuter circumftances, is gene- 
 
 S Ifa. Ix. 1' Gen. xlix. lo, "' Luke ii. 4(5. 
 
 rally 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. 1 83 
 
 rally underftood to deiignate the time of our 
 Lord's appearance, while it equally foretels 
 the important purpofe for which he was to 
 appear, namely, ** to finifh the tranfgreffion, 
 to make an end of fin, to make reconciliation 
 for iniquity, to bring in everlafting righteouf- 
 nefs, to feal up the vilion and prophecy, to 
 anoint the moll: holy ^/' 
 
 Hence at the time, when Jefus began to 
 preach, a general expedation of the Meffiali 
 was entertained among the Jews, as appears 
 from the enquiries that were made relative 
 to the Baptift, as well as to himfelf It was 
 alfo entertained among the Samaritans, not- 
 withftanding their fchifmatic creed, as ap- 
 pears from the converfation that Jeiiis held 
 at the well of Sychar with the woman of 
 Samaria. It had even extended among the 
 Heathens ; for a tradition had obtained, 
 which moft probably was derived from the 
 Prophets of the Hebrews, that one ihould 
 come out of Judea, who Ihould have domi- 
 nion over all the world. 
 
 The circumftance of this Kingdom's rife 
 had alfo been repeatedly foretold, by Ifaiah 
 the firll of the Prophets, and by Malachi the 
 
 ^ Dan ix. 24. 
 
 N 4 laft, 
 
184 The time is fulfilled, 
 
 laft, that a Harbinger lliould go before the 
 exped:ed King, to announce his coming, and 
 to prepare the way before him '. Thefe pro- 
 phetic notices were fulfilled in John the 
 Baptift, who was ordained even before his 
 birth for this fpecial purpofe, that he fliould 
 come in the power and fpirit of Elias, to 
 make ready a people prepared for the Lord"*. 
 And when the appointed hour was come, 
 the Spirit of God was upon him in the 
 wildernefs, and he came into the more in- 
 habited parts of the country, proclaiming 
 the Kingdom of Heaven, and difpofmg the 
 people for the reception of their King. 
 
 In purfuance of the fame defign it was 
 his office to affift at the inauguration of his 
 Superior. The part which he had to exe- 
 cute was to adminifter to him the rite of 
 Baptifm. The fame rite, which was to others 
 an emblem of preparation to receive their 
 King, was to Chrift himfelf an emblem of 
 inveftiture into his kingly fundion ; as ap- 
 pears from what immediately enfues. For 
 as foon as he afcended cut of the water, the 
 heavens were opened unto him, and he faw 
 the Spirit of God defcending like a dove, and 
 
 ' Ifa. x). ,3. Mai, iii. i. ' "> Luke i. 17. 
 
 lighting 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. 185 
 
 lighting upon him, and lo a voice from hea- 
 ven faying, *' This is my beloved Son, in 
 whom I am vs^ell pleafed." 
 
 In this folemn ad: was Jefus anointed with 
 the Holy Ghoft and with power, and ordained 
 to be a Sovereign over all the race of men. 
 And therefore, after paffing through fome 
 preparatory trials in the wildernefs, he af- 
 fumed the chara(5ler in which he had been 
 proclaimed ; and the iirft earneffc which he 
 gave of that exalted office was to affi.rm 
 the arrival of this divine Kingdom, and to 
 publifh to mankind the terms of admiffion. 
 into its blefled immunities. 
 
 He had indeed no external fhew of royalty 
 about his perfon ; for inftead of pomp and 
 ftate of office and deportment, he was meek 
 and lowly both in manner and in heart -, in- 
 ftead of worldly goods, he was fcantily fup- 
 plied even with the neceffaries of life ; in- 
 flead of territorial domains, he had not • even 
 a place whereon to lay his head ; inflead of 
 armies to attend, his motions, he had only a 
 company of poor and unlettered fifhermcn. 
 This humble appearance was fo very different 
 from the prevailing expectations of the Pha- 
 rifees and Scribes and all the fuperior orders 
 of the Jews, who had entertained the moll 
 ambitious hopes of the Mefliah's reign, that 
 
 they 
 
1 86 The time is fulfilled, 
 
 they totally rejedled his government, and dif- 
 allowed him for their King. And they con- 
 tinued to look for fome glorious Prince in 
 human eilimation, of a charader and temper 
 more congenial to their own, who Ihould 
 affert a dominion over other Kingdoms, and 
 make Judea the Mifbrefs, and Jerufalem the 
 Metropolis of the world. 
 
 And yQt if they had looked upon him with 
 unprejudiced regard, they might have dif- 
 covered under this fliade of humiliation 
 abundant evidence of his title to the kingly 
 name, and fuch as would eclipfe the moft 
 ambitious views of worldly potentates. If 
 he had no ftate of office, he had the divine 
 glory to vifit and to greet him, not in fpirit 
 only, but in vifible manifeftations from above. 
 \i he had no worldly riches to enjoy himfelf 
 or to communicate to others, he could in- 
 ftantly convert water into wine, or multiply 
 a few loaves and fifties into an ample fufte- 
 nance for thoufands. If he had no territo- 
 rial domains, he had the entire control of na- 
 ture and of nature's laws. If he had no 
 armies to attend his ileps, he had angels to 
 m.inifter unto him, he had legions of angels 
 at his immediate call to guard him. If he 
 had not the means, which are oft fo fla- 
 grantly abufed by the Potentates of the earth, 
 
 of 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. 187 
 
 of dealing incurable calamities on the human 
 race, he had the power, which he omitted 
 no occafion to exert, of healing all manner of 
 ficknefs and all manner of difeafe. 
 
 Great however as thefe teftimonies were, 
 the fuperior orders of the Jews either obfli^ 
 nately fhut their eyes againft them, or impi- 
 oufly afcribed them to the agency of evil 
 Spirits. On the common people they ope- 
 rated to more advantage. When they faw 
 fuch exertions of fupernataral power, as were 
 never feen before in Ifracl, they were dif- 
 pofed to regard him as the Meffiah, whom 
 they had defired fo long. Yet fo much had 
 worldly prejudice overpowered their under- 
 ftandings, that they were greatly difappointed 
 to behold him in fo humble and obfcure a garb, 
 and could no otherwife be reconciled to the 
 lowlinefsofhis appearance, than by the hope to 
 which the}/ clung, that he would fliortly break 
 forth from his temporary ihade of obfcurity 
 and indigence, and manifeft himfelf to Ifrael in 
 the ftyle and authority of a temporal Prince. 
 This common prejudice w^is alfo entertained 
 by his perfonal Difciples, who had been the 
 comjpanions of his travels in his circuits of 
 benevolence, and had been the conflant wit- 
 neffes of all his words and works. Notwith- 
 flanding they had received many teftimonies 
 
 in 
 
188 The time is fulfilled, 
 
 in his converfation, of the fpiritual nature of 
 his kingdom, they continually exped:ed his 
 advancement to the throne of David in a li- 
 teral fenfe, and in their fond imaginations 
 they ambitioufly aflumed the higheft offices 
 of truft, authority, and honour in his king- 
 dom. Nor could they be convinced till he 
 expired upon the crofs, that all their expecta- 
 tions of an earthly monarchy vrere vain. 
 
 That fcene was undoubtedly fufficient to 
 extinguifli every hope of temporal aggran- 
 dizement : for death is the certain termina- 
 tion of all worldly projects, and there is no 
 W'ork or device of ambition in the grave.- — 
 Yet here the energies of his fovereign power 
 moft efFe6lually prevailed. In that very fcene 
 of depreffion and of futfering even to death 
 he became the Prince of life to men. In his 
 arduous encounter on the crofs he wrought a 
 dcciiive conqueft over the powers of darknefs, 
 which he focn triumphantly difplayed in his 
 refurredlion from the dead. The time was 
 now come, when he fully manifefted himfelf 
 to his Difciples in the real purport of his 
 kingly chara(5ter. He plainly told them that 
 ** all power was given unto him in heaven 
 and in earth." And having appointed them 
 his AmbaiTadors to all the nations of the world 
 he publicly afcended to his throne of glory 
 
 in 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. 18Q 
 
 in the heaven of heavens, and was for ever 
 feated at the right hand of God. 
 
 Suftahied by his grace, and armed with 
 his authority of working miracles themfelves, 
 they proclaimed his Kingdom to all peoples, 
 nations, and languages. Weak and ignorant 
 as they were before, and fearfully ilirinking 
 from the very fhadow of danger, they now 
 couragcoafly difpLayed the wdfdom and the 
 power of God. The fame Difciples, who 
 timoroully forfook their Lord, when he was 
 arraigned as a criminal, were now forward to 
 publifli his gofpel at the hazard of life and 
 every thing which could be dear in life. And 
 he in particular, who had recently denied 
 ■him, when he was capitally accufed before 
 the High Prieft and the council of the Jews, 
 now boldly teftified before the fame autho- 
 rities, that the fame Jefus, whom they had 
 ignominioufly flain, was now exalted by the 
 immediate operation of the Godhead, to be 
 a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance 
 to Ifrael and reraiffion of fms". Unfup- 
 ported by an arm of ilefh, or by the wea- 
 pons of carnal warfare, and no otherwife ac- 
 coutred than with the iliield of faith and the 
 fword of the fpirit, which is the word of 
 
 ° Afts V. 31. 
 
 God, 
 
100 The time Is faljilled , 
 
 God, they went forth every where t6 reduce 
 mankind to the obedience of the Gofpel. 
 And though inceflant labours were their 
 portion, and perfecution in every form im- 
 pended over their heads, yet they ftill per- 
 fevered in their heroic enterprife to death. 
 In confequence of their labours the banner of 
 the Crofs is eftablifhed over all mankind, 
 and the Kingdoms of the world are be- 
 come the Kingdom of our God and of his 
 ChrilL 
 
 Thus Jefus of Nazareth, the obfcure and 
 lowly Peafant of Galilee, is advanced to be 
 *•' the Prince of the Kings of the earth." 
 When contemplated with the eye of faith, he 
 is indeed the " Lord of Lords and King of 
 Kings." And though his Kingdom cometh 
 not with obfervation, or is not ofbenfibly dif- 
 played in external a6ls of royalty, yet he has 
 completely executed, or is continuing ftill to 
 execute, in its beft and nobleft purpofe, every 
 branch of the kingly function. Whatever 
 has been done in their feveral kingdoms, that 
 merits the praife and gratitude of men, by- 
 Princes famous in their generation, and de- 
 fervedly ftyled the great and excellent of the 
 earth, has been more amply and efFedually 
 done by Jefus Chrift in his ipiritual Kingdom, 
 whether in fupport of his own authority, or 
 
 in 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. 19 1 
 
 ia advancement of the general good and hap- 
 
 pinefs of his people. He came in his kingly 
 
 charad:er, to effe(5l the deliverance of the 
 
 human race from a bondage far more griev- 
 
 011s and more fatal than that of Egypt, from 
 
 the bondage of iin and Satan, the tyrants and 
 
 opprefTors of the foul. He came to reHiore 
 
 them not to civil life, as had been done to 
 
 Ifrael on their exod out of Egypt by giving 
 
 them a name among independent ftates, but 
 
 to moral and fpiritual life by renewing them 
 
 in the inner man, by giving them a nzw heart 
 
 and a new fpirit, and by re-creating them in 
 
 the image and likenefs of God, He came to 
 
 eftabhlh for them a covenant of peace, not 
 
 with the Kings of other nations, but with 
 
 the fovereign Lord of all the earth. He 
 
 came to confer his kingly bounties on thera, 
 
 not in remiffion of temporal debts, not in 
 
 largeffes of worldly goods, not in fplendid 
 
 \eftments, and in rich repafts, but in for- 
 
 givenefs of fins, in all manner of fpiritual 
 
 gifts, in the white robe of righteoufnefi, in 
 
 the true bread of life, and in every help ef- 
 
 fential to their juftification and acceptance 
 
 with God. He came to give them, not a 
 
 ceremonial law^ for the government of the 
 
 body, not a civil law for the guidance of 
 
 the ftate, but a fpiritual law for tlie diredion 
 
 of 
 
I92 The time is fulfilled, 
 
 of the foul. He came to guide them, not 
 through fuch a wlldernefs as that of Sinai to 
 an earthly Canaan, but through the wilder- 
 nefs of this mortal life to that blefled land 
 of promife, the Canaan of another world. 
 And to crown his a(fls of kingly government, 
 he came to recompenfe his faithful fubjed:s, 
 not by affigning them portions of a temporal 
 inheritance on earth, or by appointing them 
 to offices of truft and authority in a tranfi- 
 tory kingdom, but by infuring to them an 
 incorruptible inheritance in the realms of hea- 
 venly blifs, by referving for them a crown of 
 glory that fadeth not away. 
 
 It remains for me now to offer a few 
 words on the nature and conftitution of that 
 Kingdom, which our Lord himfelf at the 
 opening of his miniftry proclaimed. — His 
 Kingdom was oppofite in all its charadlbrs to 
 every idea of temporal opulence and honour ; 
 as was abundantly teftified in the manner of 
 his a.ppearance, as well as in the fubftance of 
 his doctrine. His Kin2;dom was not of this 
 world, though for a time to be maintained 
 and exercifed therein. It was of a divine 
 and fpiritual kind. And whether we con- 
 fider its origin, its nature, its influence, or its 
 end, it was called with great propriety the 
 
 Kingdom 
 
And the Kingdojn of God is at hand. 193 
 
 Kingdom of Heaven. In its origin it is 
 founded by the Son of God, who came 
 down from heaven to eftablifh it on earth, 
 and who ftill governs it from his throne in 
 heaven. In its nature it is modelled on the 
 laws and government of heaven. In its in- 
 fluence it aims to have the will of God fo 
 done on earth as it is in heaven. In its end 
 it offers to mankind, after a temporary difci- 
 pline upon earth, an everlafting home and in- 
 heritance in heaven. 
 
 But a more particular view of this King- 
 dom in its more ftriking charad;ers may be 
 taken at once from a moft interefting portion 
 of the Prophet Jeremiah, as applied by Saint 
 Paul to the difpenfation of the Gofpel. In 
 the forrows that he had in his heart for the 
 afflid:ions of his country, the Prophet looked 
 for confolation to the time, when God would 
 make a new Covenant with his people, hold- 
 ing forth fuperior privileges, and to be efta- 
 bliflied upon better promifes °. 
 
 The firft circumftance, that engages our 
 regard in this important embafly of grace, is 
 the People to whom this Covenant belongs. 
 This indeed, if we were to underftand it li- 
 terally, would be confined altogether to the 
 
 • Jer. xxxi. 31 — 34. Heb. vHi. 8 — la. 
 
 o houfs; 
 
Ig4 'Phe time isfuljilkd, 
 
 houfe of Ifrael. But this mode of fpeech we 
 are conftantly taught by the Apoftle to ac- 
 cept in a figurative fenfe. According to his in- 
 terpretation they conftitute the realm of Ifrael, 
 they are the children of Abraham, not who 
 are fo by civil relation, or by natural defcent, 
 but who conform in the fpirit to the whole 
 law of God, who are followers of Abraham in 
 the righteoufnefs of faith. To all, who receive 
 the Gofpel as the light and the life of men, 
 and comply with the terms which it pro- 
 pofes to mankind, is given the peculiar pri- 
 vilege of acceptance into the fellowfliip, of 
 adoption into the houfehold of the faithful, 
 of being partakers of the Covenant of pro- 
 mife, of being members of the Common- 
 wealth of Ifrael. 
 
 " Behold, the days come, faith the Lord, 
 when I will make a new Covenant with the 
 houfe of Ifrael and with the houfe of Judah : 
 not according to the Covenant that I made 
 with their fathers, in the day when I took 
 them by the hand to bring them out of the 
 land of Egypt." As God in ancient times had 
 eftablifhed a civil Covenant with the houfe 
 of Ifrael by nature, when he redeemed them 
 from Egyptian bondage, and formed them 
 into a civil community j fo he would make 
 a Covenant of another kind with the houfe of 
 
 Ifrael 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. 1Q5 
 
 Ifrael by adoption and grace, when he fliould 
 redeem them from the bondage of their 
 moft oppreffive Tyrant the Prince of the 
 darknefs of this world, and fliould eftabUfli 
 them into a fpiritual community, the King- 
 dom or the Church of God. As he had a 
 greater deliverance to accomplilh, fo he had 
 a difpenfation of fuperior good to beftow 
 upon them. 
 
 ** But this is the Covenant, that I will 
 make with the houfe of Ifrael after thofe 
 days, faith the Lord : I will put my laws 
 into their minds, and write them in their 
 hearts." Under the ancient Covenant he 
 had enjoined a multitude of political and 
 ceremonial fervices. In particular he had 
 commanded in continual round the facrifice 
 of beads, the wafhings of the body, and the 
 obfervance of folemn times and feafons. In 
 this new Difpenfation he would enjoin, not 
 a carnal, but a fpiritual, not a formal, but a 
 vital fervice ; he would impofe his law upon 
 the inner man ; would require his fubjedis 
 to purify their fouls from all moral defile- 
 ment by the baptifm of repentance, and to 
 prefent their bodies a living facrifice, holy, 
 acceptable to God. It was the purpofe of 
 our heavenly King, to teach us to deny un- 
 o 2 2:odlinefs 
 
196 The time isjuljilled) 
 
 godlinefs and worldly lufts, and to live fb- 
 berly, righteoufly, and godly in this prefent 
 world, having given himfelf for us, that he 
 might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify 
 to himfelf a peculiar people zealous of good 
 works P. 
 
 This indeed is exprefsly fignified in the 
 enfuing claufe of the prophecy; "And I will 
 be their God, and they fhall be my people." 
 In the conftitution of Mofes he had proclaimed 
 himfelf the God of Ifrael, and Ifrael he had 
 ftyled his peculiar people. But this high re- 
 lation was qualified by thofe features of aw- 
 ful dignity, in which he difplayed himfelf to 
 the underftandings of that generation. Hence 
 they were led to confider him in the charac- 
 ter of a Mafter ; and were fwayed in their 
 obedience by a fpirit of fervile fear. In this 
 new Difpenfation he would prefent himfelf 
 to them in the character of a Father, tender- 
 ly folicitous for their peace and welfare, and 
 anxious to bring them to his happinefs and 
 glory. Hence being led to confider them- 
 felves as children, they would be moved to 
 obedience by a fpirit of filial love, they would 
 be animated to every duty by a defire of 
 
 P Titus ii. 12, 14, 
 
 pleafing 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. 1 97 
 
 pleafing him, and would efteem it their 
 greatefl happinefs to obtain his approbation 
 and to Uve in his favour. 
 
 " And they ihall no more teach every man 
 his neighbour, and every man his brother, 
 faying, Know the Lord ; for they all iliall 
 know me from the leafl: unto the greateft." 
 They fhall not depend on merely human 
 inftrud:ion and inftitution for knowledge 
 and edification in religious truth. For God 
 himfelf will impart to all his faithful fubje<R;s, 
 without refpecl of ftation, order, or profef- 
 fion, the animating graces of his holy Spirit. 
 To all, whofe hearts and affedlions are dif- 
 pofed to receive our heavenly King in his 
 mediatorial charad:er, he is ever ready to pre- 
 fent himfelf. He will guide them into all 
 truth effential for them to know ; he will 
 fliew the Father to them in all his attributes 
 of grace and goodnefs ; and he will teach 
 them all thinsrs that are neceffarv for the at-^ 
 tainment of falvatlon and happinefs. 
 
 " For I will forgive their unrighteoufnefs, 
 and their fms and iniquities I will remember 
 no more." Under the Law God appeared 
 as a God offtridtand inflexible juflice. Hav- 
 ing prefcribed a fentence, he exacted a pu- 
 nilhment for every tranfgreffion. The foul, 
 that fmned in any capital offence, was doomed 
 
 03 to 
 
igS The time is fulfilled, 
 
 to die Vvlthout mitigation or reprieve. Under 
 the new Difpenfation he appears as a God of 
 mercy. The Covenant which he now pro- 
 pofes is a Covenant of grace. On the merit 
 of that atonement, which our great High 
 Prieft has made, he is plcafed on our re- 
 pentance to blot out our tranfgreffions, and 
 to receive us again into favour as if we never 
 had offended. 
 
 In all thefe refped:s we cannot but look 
 upon it as a far fuperior Covenant to that of 
 Mofes, we cannot but regard it as a far 
 more valuable Kingdom than that of Ifrael 
 or any temporal ftate. — But its great and prin- 
 cipal excellence muft be referred to the ful- 
 nefs of its bleffings in another life. And 
 therefore the Apoftle fays, in comment on 
 this prophecy when applied to Chrift; " But 
 now hath he obtained a more excellent mi- 
 niftry, by how much alfo he is the Mediator 
 of a better Covenant, eftablilhed upon better 
 promifes ^." Thefe better promifes, though 
 they certainly comprehend the benefits of the 
 prefent life, as vouchfafed to the Jews under 
 the difpenfation of Mofes, have a principal 
 regard to the blefTings, which our heavenly 
 King has by unqueflionable flgns aiTured to 
 
 1 Heb. viil. 6. 
 
 all 
 
And the Kingdom of God is at hand. IQQ 
 
 all his faithful fubjedls in the realms of hea- 
 venly blifs. To all who comply with the 
 terms of this Covenant, to all who are faith- 
 ful in their allegiance to his perfon and go- 
 vernment, he is difpofed to give, not only of 
 the fulnefs of his grace and truth in this life, 
 but alfo of his glory and happinefs in the life to 
 come. He admits them to that kingdom which 
 cannot be moved, a kingdom of tranfcendent 
 light and everlafling reft ; where being pu- 
 rified from all the frailties and corruptions of 
 this mortal nature, they fliall be aflbciated 
 with the companies of Angels and the fpirits 
 of juft men made perfedl, and fliall be bleft 
 above all other bleffmgs in feeing God the 
 fource of every good, in receiving with Chrift, 
 the peculiar Son and Heir of God, the inhe- 
 ritance of Children, and in partaking with 
 him a crown of glory that fadeth not away "". 
 
 "■ The fubjeft of this difcourfe has been previoufly difcuffed, 
 upon a larger fcale, and with fome fliades of difference both in 
 matter and in method, under the title of The King of Ifrael, 
 by the fame Author in his two concluding Sermons on the Pa- 
 rables. 
 
 04 
 
!-BB» 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 Mark i. 15. 
 
 -—-—The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at 
 hand : Repent jye, and believe the Gofpel, 
 
 vJUR Saviour's Miflion comprehended theie 
 tv\^o purpofes ; to propofe a new Covenant 
 on the part of God, and to ftate the con- 
 ditions on the part of man for acceptance 
 and continuance therein. The former of 
 thefe purpofes is exprelTed in the former 
 claufe, l^he time is fuljilledy and the Kingdom 
 of God is at hand: That was the fubjed: of 
 my laft difcourfe. The latter of thefe pur- 
 pofes is exprefled in the latter claufe. Repent 
 ye, and believe the Gofpel : This remains for 
 pur prefent confideration. 
 
 To repent of their fms, and to believe in 
 the word of God, were duties which he fre- 
 quently propofed to his people, as terms of 
 acceptance under the Covenant of the Law. 
 They are continually afferted under the Co- 
 venant of the Gofpel, as indifpenfable condi- 
 tions 
 
202 Repent ye, 
 
 tions for having an entrance into the King- 
 dom of God. And therefore on thefe 
 did the Baptift principally infift, when he 
 came in the charad;er in which he had 
 been foretold, as the Herald and Harbinger 
 of the promifed King. The flrain of his 
 preaching was agreeable to the language, 
 which the Prophet of the Gofpel had put in 
 his mouth : " In the wildernefs prepare ye 
 the way of the Lord : make ftraight in the 
 defart a highway for our God ^." And how 
 w'ere they to prepare the way ? This the 
 Prophet had reprefented in very figurative, 
 but at the fame time moft expreffive images : 
 ** Every valley fliall be exalted, and every 
 mountain and hill Ihall be made low ; and 
 the crooked fhall be made ftraight, and the 
 rough places plain : And the glory of the 
 Lord fhall be revealed ; and all fiefli fliall fee 
 it together : for the mouth of the Lord hath 
 fpoken it." It was the ufage of Eaftern na- 
 tions to receive Kings and Conquerors with 
 great folemnities of preparation. The roads 
 were opened and the ways were levelled with 
 the united labour of the people, that they 
 might enter into the country without ob- 
 ftruclion and with greater dignity. Agreea- 
 
 * Ifa. xl. 3, &c. 
 
 ble 
 
And believe the Go/pel. 203 
 
 ble to this ufage is the language here em- 
 ployed. But the preparation thus announced 
 mull be taken, not in a literal, but in a fpiri- 
 tual fenfe. The humble were to be exalted, 
 and the proud were to be abafed ; the ftony 
 heart was to be ibftened, and the perverfe 
 and crooked fpirit rendered ftraight. This 
 indeed was the manner in which the Baptift 
 undertook to prepare the way of the Lord. 
 Perfuaded that a habit of fm and a bias to 
 evil would necefTarily preclude both a difpo- 
 iltion to receive, and a qualification to obtain, 
 the privileges of the Gofpel covenant ; he 
 was anxious firft to purify mankind from the 
 ftains of Hn by repentance, and then to open 
 their eyes in faith to the reception and ac- 
 knowledgment of their heavenly King. 
 
 To prepare them for his appearance, it 
 was the objed, of all his exhortations to the 
 people, that they Ihould be ready to meet 
 him, not in fplendld garments and In proud 
 array, but In purified and humbled hearts. 
 The fpirit of this exhortation was implied In 
 the rite which he admlniftered. By the bap- 
 tifm of the body he fignified the purification 
 of the foul, as the moft acceptable garb In 
 which they could meet their King. Hence 
 he is faid to have come " preaching the bap- 
 tifm of repentance for the remllfion of fms." 
 
 To 
 
204 Repent ye, 
 
 To give effect to this general exhortation, 
 he addrefled the feveral orders and charadcrs 
 of his hearers with a fpecial caution againft 
 thofe vices, to which from their habits of Ufe 
 they were moft expofed. The PubHcans 
 he cautioned againft extortion and diflionefl: 
 dcahng j " Exa6l no more than what is ap- 
 pointed you." The Soldiers he cautioned 
 againft fedition, difcontent, and oppreffion ; 
 *' Do violence to no man, neither accufe any 
 falfely, and be content with your wages." 
 The People in general he exhorted to a 
 liberal communication of benefits ; *' He 
 that hath two coats, let him impart to him 
 that hath none ; and he that hath meat, 
 let him do like wife." To the Pharifees 
 and Sadducees, who prefumed on their de- 
 fcent from Abraham without an endea- 
 vour to imitate his virtues, he addrefled him- 
 felf in a feverer tone of indignant reproof; 
 ** O generation of vipers, who hath warned 
 you to flee from the wrath to come ? Bring 
 forth therefore fruits meet for repentance ; 
 and feiy not within yourfelves. We have 
 Abraham to our father : For I fay unto you, 
 that God is able of thefe ftones to raife up 
 children unto Abraham." To give weight 
 to his reproofs he declared the imminent 
 danger of continuing in their fms ; ^' And 
 
 now 
 
And believe the Go/pel. 205 
 
 now alfo the axe Is laid unto the root of the 
 trees. Therefore every tree, that brhigeth not 
 forth good fruit, is hewn down and cafh into 
 the fire." The energy of his do6lrine was 
 difplayed in its fruits : For the people reforted 
 to him from every part of Paleftine, and 
 were baptized of him in Jordan, confeffing 
 their fins ^. 
 
 During all this miniftry of repentance, he 
 took equal care to predifpofe them to believe 
 on him who was now to come. Difclaiminsc 
 all thofe honours which they were ready to 
 afcribe lo him, he profeiTed that he was no 
 better than the Herald of a Perfon far fupe- 
 rior to himfelf, for whom he was unworthy 
 to do the humbleft offices of a menial fer- 
 vant ; ** I indeed baptize you with water 
 unto repentance : but he that cometh after 
 me is mightier than I, whofe ilioes I am not 
 worthy to bear. Fie fhall baptize you with 
 the Holy Ghoft and with fire. Whofe fan 
 is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge 
 his floor, and gather the wheat into his gar- 
 ner ; but he will burn up the chaff with un- 
 quenchable fire." In like manner he de- 
 clared afterwards ; " He that believeth on 
 the Son, hath everlafting life ; but he that. 
 
 ^ Mat. iii, I — 10. Mark i. i — j. Luke ill. i — 14. 
 
 believeth 
 
206 Repent ye, 
 
 belie vetli not the Son, iliall not fee life, but 
 the wrath of God abideth on him." According 
 to the office of a herald and harbinger he re- 
 peatedly teftified, faying ; ^' I favv the Spirit 
 defcendina; from heaven like a dove, and it 
 abode upon him. And I faw, and bore re- 
 cord, that this is the Son of God." He con- 
 tinually gave his teftimony to the characters 
 in which Jefus came ; more efpecially did 
 he point him out to his followers, as the 
 propitiatory facrifice for the whole race of 
 men ; " Behold the Lamb of God, that tak- 
 eth away the fm of the world !" In confe- 
 quence of what he taught we obferve in the 
 firft Difciples various teftimonies of their faith. 
 Thus Andrew fald to his brother Simon ; 
 ** We have found the Meffiah," or the An- 
 ointed. Thus Philip faid to Nathanael; " Wc 
 have found him, of whom Mofes and the 
 Prophets wrote." Thus Nathanael teftified 
 to Jefus ; ** Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, 
 thou art the King of Ifrael ^." 
 
 The fame conditions, which the Baptill 
 had prefcribed when he announced the pro- 
 mifed King, were urged by our Lord him- 
 felf, as foon as he entered upon his kingly 
 miniftry ; Repent ye, and believe the Go/pel. 
 
 « Mat. ili. II, 12. Lukeili. i^,i6, 17. John i, 26, &c, iii. 56. 
 
 In 
 
And hdieve the Gojpel. 20/ 
 
 In regard to the former of thefe two 
 duties, it was the objeft of bis daily care to 
 work a change in the difpofitions, in the 
 habits, and the hearts of men. But before 
 he apphed any efFe6lual remedy to their cor- 
 rupted nature, he fought to convince them 
 of their unhappy flate. When this was 
 once attained, he pointed out to them the 
 ncceffity of renouncing all their fms, in order 
 to obtain remiffion and forgivenefs. At the 
 fame time he offered every aid conducive to 
 this happy change ; and he held forth every 
 encouragement in returning to the way of 
 godlinefs. This change of heart and life he 
 in common with the Baptifl inculcated as a 
 duty incumbent, not only on Publicans and 
 Sinners, who were brought to a fenfe of their 
 unhappy flate, but alfo on the Pharifees and 
 Scribes, who trufted in themfelves that they 
 were righteous, and arrogantly thought that 
 they needed no repentance. And though in the 
 general aim of his inftrud:ions he always in- 
 lifted on purity of heart and holinefs of life, yet 
 to the docflrine of repentance he continually 
 reverted, as the ground of all his precepts, 
 and as the necelTary difcipline of all who par- 
 take of the defcent from Adam. And in all 
 his exhortations and reproofs this is continually 
 implied as a primary and effential duty. 
 
 To 
 
208 Jtepent ye. 
 
 To encourage this religious exercife he was 
 full of confolation to the truly penitent. To 
 thofe, that mourned a godly forrow to repent- 
 ance, his language ufually was, "Your fins be 
 forgiven you." And the indulgence of Hea- 
 Ten toward a repenting finner he reprefents 
 ■under the image of a Father tenderly receiv- 
 ing an unhappy prodigal, when reclaimed 
 from the error of his ways, and addreffing 
 him in the language of pardon and of peace. 
 He likewife teaches the quality of that re- 
 pentance in order to be accepted in the fight 
 of God. It muft be fevere and radical, fuch 
 as operates to a change of heart, of habit, 
 and of life. For of this complexion, as he 
 ihews in parable, was the repentance of the 
 Publican, when he came into the temple to 
 pray. Confcious of his unworthinefs, he 
 prefumed not fo much as to lift up his eyes 
 to heaven, he flood at a diftance from the 
 more holy place, and he fhiote upon his 
 breafl, faying, " God be merciful to me a 
 fmner !" This he places in a ftill more im- 
 preflive light in his difcourfe to Nicodemus, 
 when he reprefents it as confifling of an en- 
 tire change of nature and a total renovation 
 of the fpiritual man. So great is the tranf- 
 formation from fin to righteoufnefs, that he 
 defcribes it by the expreffive metaphor of 
 
 a fe- 
 
And believe the Gofpel. log 
 
 a fecond birth ; *' Verily, verily, I fay unto 
 thee, Except a man be born again, he can- 
 not fee the Kingdom of God." To effed: 
 this extraordinary change in the foul of man, 
 he taught the neceffity of reforting in fervent 
 prayer to God for the affiftance of his holy 
 Spirit, without which all human efforts w^ould 
 be of no avail. 
 
 The other eifential article of acceptance 
 was. That they believed the Gofpel, in other 
 w^ords, that they believed in Jefus, as the 
 Meffiah, preordained of Heaven to deliver 
 men from fpiritual darknefs and bondage, to 
 inftrudl them in the way and will of God, 
 to diffufe upon them the divine grace, and 
 to guide them in the way to final happinels. 
 For the foundation of this belief he came 
 with the united evidence of prophecy and 
 miracle. In the tenour of his life he fliewed 
 himfelf to be the Perfon foretold by the 
 whole company of Prophets, as the Minifter 
 of divine grace and truth to men ; and in 
 the conduct of his miniflry he fliewed him- 
 felf a Prophet mighty both in word and 
 deed ; in particular, he healed all manner of 
 ficknefs and all manner of difeafe among the 
 people. By which he not only teflified his 
 prophetic mifiion, but alfo difplayed that 
 character of grace and benevolence peculiar 
 
 P to 
 
210 Repent ye, 
 
 to a Minifter of peace on earth and of good 
 will to men. Hence in anfwer to the in- 
 quiry, which the Baptift made by two of 
 his Difciples, (for the conviction of others, 
 not his own,) whether he was the perfon 
 to come for the welfare of the world, he 
 made this appeal to the united evidence of 
 prophecy and miracle, as the moft decifive 
 alTurance that he came from God ; " Go, 
 and fhew John again the things, which ye 
 do hear and fee : The blind receive their 
 ilght, and the lame walk, the lepers are 
 cleanfed, and the deaf hear, the dead are 
 raifed up, and the poor have the Gofpcl 
 preached unto them." Well therefore might 
 he add ; " And blciTed are they, who fhall 
 not be offended in me." 
 
 The Pharifees and Scribes were indeed of- 
 fended in him. Having fanned their ambi- 
 tion with the delufive hope of a temporal 
 Kingdom under the banners of the Meffiah, 
 they could not reconcile their minds to the 
 idea of beholding him in a poor and lowly 
 form. In the humbler walks of life he found 
 more notice of his works and more attention 
 to his words. It was from the fhades of ob- 
 I'curity and indigence, that he fele<fted thofe, 
 who fliould be witnefTes of his miracles and 
 apoftles of his dodrines to the nations of the 
 
 world. 
 
And believe the Go/pel. 211 
 
 world. Thefe were the firfl; fruits of his 
 Church or Kingdom upon earth. And in the 
 progrefs of his miniftry the fpiritual harvell 
 was plenteous, efpecially among the poor, 
 who had an humbler fenfe of their moral 
 and their intelledual attainments. Having 
 ocular evidence of his authority to heal all 
 manner of ficknefs and infirmities, they were 
 convinced that he derived his authority from 
 God, and were therefore ready to receive 
 every dodlrine that he imparted as an oracle 
 of divine truth. To them thus favourably 
 difpofed to hear him he expounded the leading 
 articles of Chriftian faith and hope. He did 
 not indeed unfold to them the whole defign 
 of his million, and the full furvey of his cha- 
 rader. According to the general plan of 
 providence in the whole feries of preceding 
 revelation from the beginning of time, he 
 judged it expedient to make a gradual com- 
 munication of heavenly light according to 
 the difpofitions and capacities of men to re- 
 ceive it. As the people in general with 
 whom he converfed were full of many na- 
 tional prejudices, and flovs^ to apprehend the 
 truth, he thought it prudent in his more open 
 or public difcourfe to confine himfelf in 
 points of faith to the general afiertion of the 
 charader which he bore, as the Son of God, 
 
 p 2 and 
 
212 Repent ye, 
 
 and on the bafis of that beHef to inlifl on 
 the difpolltlons and duties of godlinefs. And 
 whenever he had occafion to touch upon 
 thofe peculiar truths of his rehgion, which 
 he Ityles the myfteries of the Kingdom of 
 heaven, he deUvered them under the veil of 
 parable, referving his interpretation for the 
 private ear of his Difciples, who by long 
 attendance on his life and converfation were 
 better qualified to comprehend their pur- 
 ])ort. 
 
 Nor yet to his Difciples, who alfo had 
 their prejudices, and fuch as were not eafily 
 to be removed by the argument of words, 
 did he openly unfold all the doctrines of his 
 religion. He fometimes indeed alluded to 
 the Crofs, on which he was to yield his life 
 a ranfom for the world. He fometimes alfo 
 ipoke of bis rifuig again the third day, and 
 of his departure to his Father. But thefe 
 were fayings, which the Difciples did not 
 yet underftand. They were imparted in 
 the way of prophecy, which might be dark 
 and obfcure at the time of their delivery, but 
 when once accomplifhed would not only be 
 clear and luminous themfelves, but would 
 alfo throw a light on the whole of his 
 economy. He told thefe things before they 
 came to pafs, that when they came to pafs 
 
 they 
 
And believe the Go/pel. ^13 
 
 they might believe. But as foon as the whole 
 plan of divine grace to men w^as fulfilled in 
 his paffion and death, his refurred:ion and 
 afcenfion, it was time to unfold to them all 
 the myftery of godllnefs. According to the 
 promife which he made them before his de- 
 parture, the Holy Ghoft fell on them, and 
 their eyes were opened. By the aid of this 
 divine Vifitant they were guided into all 
 truth. They not only underftood thefe myf- 
 teries themfelves, but they were authorized 
 and enjoined to impart them to the world. 
 
 The fame terms of acceptance, which he 
 taught through all his miniftry, he repeated 
 at his departure. The final charge, which he 
 gave to his Dlfclples immediately before his 
 afcenfion, was that they fhould *' go and 
 teach all nations, baptizing them in the name, 
 of the Father and of the Son and of the 
 Holy Ghofb '^." Wherein is implied, not 
 only that they fliould lnftru6l them in the 
 principles of the Chrifllan Faith, but alfo 
 that they fliould cleanfe and purify them 
 from every ftain of moral pollution, that fo 
 they might be prepared for admiffion into a 
 flate of grace. 
 
 Thefe therefore were the primary doc- 
 
 ^ Mat. xxviii, 19. 
 
 p 3 trines 
 
214 Repent yc, 
 
 trines of all the Apoftles. Thus the fum of 
 Saint Peter's preaching to the Jews on the 
 firft diftufion of the divine Spirit was, " Re- 
 pent, and be baptized every one of you in 
 the name of Jefus Chrift for the remiffion of 
 fins, and ye Ihall receive the gift of the Holy 
 Ghoft. — Unto you firft, God, having raifed up 
 his Son Jefus, fent him to blefs you in turn- 
 ing away every one of you from his iniqui- 
 ties ^." In like manner Saint Paul comprized 
 the purport of his facred embafty in " teftify- 
 ing both to the Jews and alfo to the Greeks 
 repentance toward God, and faith toward our 
 Lord Jefus Chrift ^" Thus the tenour of his 
 epiftles to the Churches among the Gentiles 
 is to expofe the fhame, the mifery, and the 
 fatal confequence of their former courfe of 
 life, and to lliew them the means of recovery 
 from their unhappy ways by repentance from 
 dead works and renovation to fpiritual life in 
 Chrift, On fo great a change they might 
 hope to obtain remiffion of their fms, to have 
 a portion in the covenant of the Gofpel, to 
 become by adoption the children of grace, 
 and heirs of the promifes given to the faith- 
 ful, and to be rendered in the fpiritual, what 
 Ifrael was in the temporal fenfe, '* a chofen 
 
 « A6ls il. 38. iii. 16. ^ Afts XX. 21. 
 
 genera- 
 
And believe the GofpcL 215 
 
 generation, a royal prleflhood, a holy nation, 
 a peculiar people." 
 
 After this general flatement of the terms 
 of acceptance into that divine Kingdom, as 
 originally propofed both to Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, I defign in the fequel of this difcourfe 
 to give this argument a practical application 
 to ourfelves, who are differently circumftanced 
 both from Jews and Gentiles, inafmuch as 
 we were admitted in our infancy into the 
 Church of Chrift by baptifm: which is equally 
 a fymbol of both thofe duties, which our 
 Lord enjoined in the front of his religion, 
 that we repent of our fins, and that we be- 
 lieve the Gofpel. 
 
 In regard to Repentance, our Baptifm is 
 not only a pledge of our conditional releafe 
 from the taint of original fm, but is alfo a 
 token and memorial to us, as foon as we 
 come of age to underftand its purport, that 
 we will fulfil thofe engagements, which were 
 then made in our name, by repenting of our 
 fms, and leading a new life correfpondent 
 with the faith we hold. For though admitted 
 at our baptifm to the privileges of the Chrif- 
 tian covenant, yet the corruption of our na- 
 ture, though in fome degree controlled, is 
 p 4 not 
 
'il(i Repent ye ;, 
 
 not overcome, but will predominate, unlefs 
 we renew and ratify our baptifmal vows by 
 repentance ; or as it is therein exprelTed to 
 nearly the fame eftecft, by renouncing the 
 devil, the world, and the Hefh. In this re- 
 ligious exercife it is incumbent on all, who 
 bear the Chriftian name, very ferioufly to 
 engage. The expedience of this is evident 
 in the cafe of thofe, who either through 
 want of inftru6lion from others, or want 
 of confideration in themfelves, have over- 
 looked or neglec^led their Chriftian vows, 
 and have followed altogether the devices and 
 delires of their own hearts ; who like the 
 younger Son in the parable have feceded from 
 their heavenly Father's government, and fur- 
 rendered themfelves to a life of fpiritual pro- 
 digality. It is certain that they can have no 
 title to a reinftatement in their Father's 
 houfehold, or to a portion in his inheritance, 
 till they have renounced and abandoned all 
 their evil ways, have repaired in contrition 
 and humility to the throne of heavenly grace, 
 and with a full confeffion of their unworthi- 
 nefs have fupplicated pardon for their paft 
 offences, and have fmcerely fubmitted them- 
 felves to his authority and guidance. In 
 which cafe indeed the doors of mercy are 
 
 freely 
 
And believe the Gofpel. 217 
 
 freely open to them, and they are again re- 
 ceived with compaffion and tendernefs to 
 pardon and to peace. 
 
 But the duty of repentance, though not 
 fo difficult and fb fevere, is no lefs expedient, 
 in the cafe of thofe, who have been brought 
 up, and who continue fliill to live, under a 
 general fenfe of their religious calling, who 
 have ftudied with fome diligence and appli- 
 cation to grow in grace and in the know- 
 ledge of our Lord Jefus Chrift. For we 
 muft not imagine, that we ever Ihall have 
 made fo great a progrefs in the Chrillian life, 
 as not to ftand in need of a frequent recur- 
 rence of this falutary difcipline. Encum- 
 bered as we are with the infirmities of our 
 corrupt nature, wc are continually deviating 
 from that line of rectitude, which the Law 
 of Chrift requires us to purfue. After all our 
 endeavours to put on the Chriftian difpofi- 
 tions and habits, we are tranfgreffing every 
 day, whether by doing what we are forbidden, 
 or by leaving undone what we are com- 
 manded to do. Now though it is not expe- 
 dient for us to repeat the rite of baptifm, yet 
 it is highly neceiiary, that we frequently re- 
 fort to the laver of regeneration for the 
 fprinkling of our hearts from an evil confci- 
 ence, that we frequently undergo in the fpi- 
 
 ritual 
 
2 1 8 Repent ye^ 
 
 ritual import the baptifm of repentance for 
 the remiffioQ of fins. 
 
 Now this exercife of repentance is not an 
 eafy difciphne, even to thofe, who in their 
 general deportment have lived in allegiance 
 to their heavenly King; fnice it implies a for- 
 row for having deviated in any cafe from that 
 royal law, to which they had vowed obedience. 
 But then this forrow is productive of the 
 moft blefled fruits, as it worketh repentance 
 to falvation not to be repented of, and clofes 
 in joy and peace and confolation. But to 
 thofe who have walked according to their 
 own ways, without any fenfe of God and 
 religion, and confequently in the ways of fm, 
 this exercife is indeed fevere, if duly and ef- 
 ficiently performed ; fmce it Implies fuch 
 contrition and remorfe, as is exprefled in holy 
 Scripture by a wounded fplrlt and a broken 
 heart ; fmce it produces a total change and 
 renovation of nature, in difpofition of foul 
 and in habit of life. On which account it 
 is therein alfo defcribed under very flrong and 
 expreffive images, by being born again, and 
 by becoming a new creature, by being dead 
 unto fm, and alive unto God, by being 
 buried with Chrlft, and being rifen again 
 with Chrift from the dead, by putting off 
 the old man, which is corrupt in the former 
 
 con- 
 
And believe the Gojpel. 21 9 
 
 converfation, and by putting on the new- 
 man, which after God is created in righte- 
 oufnefs and true holinefs ^. 
 
 The repentance, which the law of Chrift 
 requires, muft have thefe effentiai quaUties 
 to give it acceptance in the iight of heaven. 
 It muft be immediate ; as foon as the fniner 
 is convinced of the guilt under which he la- 
 bours, he muft without delay apply himfelf 
 to obtain a releafe from his fnis by thofe 
 means which the Gofpel has pointed out. 
 It muft be fmcere ; not confifting in form, 
 but proceeding from the heart* It muft be 
 univerfal ; not refervlng the indulgence of 
 any darling habit of tranfgreffion, but aban- 
 doning every fmful paftion and propenfity 
 without exception. It muft be productive; 
 having fo much influence on our practice, 
 as to bring forth in us fruits meet for re- 
 pentance, namely the fruits of a good and 
 holy life : And when through infirmity of 
 nature or any ftrong temptation we are fur- 
 prized and overcome by fm, we muft makc^ 
 no delay to renew our repentance. 
 
 For this important exercife we muft pre- 
 pare ourfelves by all the religious means in 
 our power ; by ferious examination, how far 
 
 « a Cor, V. 17. Rom. vi. 11, 4. Eph. Iv. 22, &c, 
 
 WC 
 
'i20 Repent ye, 
 
 "vve are conformed in our difpofitions and ha- 
 bits to the law and will of God ; by un- 
 feigned forrow for our iins, confidering that 
 they are of fo malignant a nature, as to 
 alienate us from our heavenly King ; by con- 
 feffion of them in all contrition and humility 
 to God; by fupplication of pardon for the fake 
 of Chrift our jrreat Mediator and Advocate 
 in Heaven ; by invocation of the divine 
 grace for affiftance and fupport, convinced 
 that wanting this we have no power to do 
 any good, or to offer any acceptable fervice ; 
 by refolutions in concurrence with this affiil- 
 ing and fupporting grace to live under a 
 fenfe of our religious obUgations for the time 
 to come. Having thus engaged the coun- 
 tenance and protet^Hon of the holy Spirit, 
 who is never far from thofe who fincerely 
 and diligently feek him, we may hope to fur- 
 mount all the difficulties of our Ckriftian 
 warfare ; and when once we are pafled the 
 feverer trials of our profeffion, we fliall find, 
 as our Lord himfelf affures us, that his yoke 
 is eafy and his burden is light. Thus fliall 
 we verify our allegiance to our heavenly 
 King, which we vowed at our baptifm, when 
 enrolled under his banner ; and notwith- 
 ftanding repeated failures, which may require 
 the repeated excrcife of repentance, we may 
 
 hop? 
 
And believe the Go/pel. 221 
 
 hope through his grace and mercy to find 
 acceptance at the laft. 
 
 Again, in regard to Belief in the Gofpel, 
 our Baptifm is a memorial to us of the faith, 
 to which we then virtually gave ailent, and 
 an engagement to us, that we will perfevere 
 in that belief. For this purpofe it may be 
 convenient to examine and review the faith 
 we have received, under thofe two leading 
 articles which the Apoftle has advanced, that 
 " there is one God and one Mediator be- 
 tween God and Man, the Man Chrift Je- 
 ihs, who gave himielf a ranfom for all ^." 
 
 That there is one God, is the primary 
 dod;rine of all religion. That he has a provi- 
 dential eye over the world, and takes cogni- 
 zance of the difpofitions and ad:ions of rea- 
 fonable creatures, is a do6lrine that necelTa- 
 rily follows next. Without this eiTential 
 faith it is impoffible to pleafe him. For he 
 that Cometh to God muft believe, that he is, 
 and that he is a Rewarder of them that jdi- 
 ligently feek him '. This was the firft prin- 
 ciple of faith under the Law. The children 
 of Ifrael were required to believe in him 
 alone, to contemplate and adore him in his 
 attributes of infinite power, wifdom, juflice, 
 
 ^ I Tim. li. 5. ' Heb, xi. 6. 
 
 and 
 
222 Repent ij€, 
 
 and goodnefs, to look up to him as the Crea- 
 tor and Preferver of the world, the Re- 
 warder of moral good and the Avenger of 
 moral evil ; and in confequence they were 
 taught to worfliip him alone, to reverence 
 his name, to hallow his fabbath, and to love 
 him with all their hearts and all their fa- 
 culties. 
 
 And in this light alfo w^e are taught to 
 contemplate him under the Gofpel difpenfa- 
 tion ; though with additional motives of gra- 
 titude and love ; as therein he is manifclled 
 more diftin^tly to us under the charadler of a 
 Parent, who regards us as his children, and is 
 felicitous for our welfare and happinefs. For 
 though Man is degenerate from that image 
 of God in which he was originally made, and 
 byreafon of his fall from his primitive upright- 
 nefs is rendered unworthy of divine favour 
 and regard, yet the Father of all in his con- 
 fummate wifdom has formed an expedient 
 to reconcile his inflexible juftice wath his un- 
 bounded benevolence. This wonderful fcheme 
 of grace he has manifeftcd to the world in 
 the laft difpenfation of his counfel : " God 
 ib loved the world, that he fent his only be- 
 gotten Son into the worlds that whofoever 
 believeth on him fhould not perifh, but have 
 everlalling life." 
 
 This 
 
^nd believe the Gofpel. 123 
 
 This brinsis me to the confideration of 
 that other article of our faith, that there is 
 one Mediator between God and Man, the 
 Man Chrifl: Jefus, who gave himfelf a ran- 
 fom for all. This docftrine is peculiar to the 
 Gofpel. It is that myftery of godlinefs, 
 which had been concealed for ages from the 
 world in general, had been fignified only 
 through the fhade of types and parables to 
 the Jews, but was openly revealed to all 
 men in the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift. In this 
 mediatorial characfler he prefents himfelf to 
 the eye of faith in thefe three capacities, for 
 which he was anointed with the Holy Ghoil: 
 and with power, of a Prophet, of a Prieft, and 
 of a Kin a:. 
 
 As a Prophet, he came to declare the 
 whole counfel of God to men, to teach 
 them what they had to do in this life, and 
 what they had to look for in the life to 
 come ; to dire(5l them in the way of holinefs 
 on earth, as the neceiTary road to happinefs 
 in heaven ; of duty, what he taught in 
 precept, to illuftrate in example, and of re- 
 compence, what he declared in dodrine, to 
 aflure to all men by his own rcfurreclion from 
 the dead. 
 
 As a Prieft, he has undertaken the mini- 
 ftry of reconciliation between God and Man. 
 
 Being 
 
224 Repent ye^ 
 
 Being holy, harmlefs, undefiled, Separate 
 from finners, he was prepared and qualified 
 to yield an acceptable facrifice for the fins 
 of men. And this he effected, not by fuch 
 offerings as the Mofaic Law required, but 
 by the ineftimable offering of himfelf. By 
 furrendering his precious life upon the crofs 
 he gave himfelf a ranfom for all. And on 
 the merit of that ranfom he is now entered 
 into the moffc holy place, even into heaven 
 itfelf, where he continually makes a moft 
 prevailing interceffion for us. Thus being 
 redeemed, not with corruptible things, but 
 by the precious blood of Chrifl, as of a lamb 
 without blemilh and without fpot '', we are 
 encouraged to hope not only for the par- 
 don and remiffion of our fms, but alfo for ac- 
 ceptance and adoption into the grace and in- 
 heritance of heaven. 
 
 As a King, he has undertaken to deliver 
 us from the bondage of fni and Satan, having 
 entered himfelf into warfare with our Spiri- 
 tual Foe, and by his arduous conflid: on the 
 crofs having refcued us from his dominion. 
 He has given us laws for our government 
 and guidance : He has condud.ed us on the 
 way in which he would have us go. And 
 
 ^ I Pet. i. i8, rp. 
 
 now 
 
And believe the Gojpel, 225 
 
 now that he is returned in triumph to his 
 throne of glory, he ftill continues by his pro- 
 vidence and grace to defend us from all the 
 aflaults and feducfhions of our enemies. From 
 that high and holy place he diiFufes every 
 fpiritual gift upon his Church, to the truly 
 penitent the forgivenefs of fms, and to the truly 
 faithful every divine fupport and afliftance, 
 to cheer them in a ftate of warfare, and fi- 
 nally to bring them to a ftate of triumph. 
 And when this fcene of difcipline is clofed, 
 he will return in the ftyle and authority of a 
 King, to take vengeance on thofe, who know 
 not God and obey not his Gofpel, and to re- 
 ceive all his faithful Soldiers and Servants into 
 his heavenly Kingdom. 
 
 Such are the dodrines of that Gofpel, 
 which we are required to believe, as one of 
 the two principal conditions of acceptance 
 into the Kingdom of God. 
 
 But how are we to believe? — Not merely 
 by aiTenting to them with our lips, nor yet 
 by acknowledging them with our underftand- 
 ings, for fo fuperficial a faith would not 
 avail us in the fight of God, but by receiving 
 the impreffion into our hearts. The belief, 
 which we are called upon to yield, is fuch as 
 is animated by love and gratitude to Chrift, 
 as produces in us good difpofitions and defires, 
 
 Q and 
 
226 Repent ye, 
 
 and manlfefts itfelf in the habit of a holy 
 hfe. 
 
 Our Belief in one God, when duly efta- 
 bliflied in the heart, induces and implies a 
 feriops difpofition and fincere endeavour to 
 ferve him with reverence and with godly 
 fear ; to love him in his mercies, to adore 
 him in his judgments ; to be thankful for his 
 -favours, to be patient under his corrections ; 
 to trufl to his providence, to be refigned to 
 his difpofal; to imitate his charadler, to con- 
 form to his will ; to regard him as a Father, 
 who is tenderly folicitous for our true and 
 final welfare, and, provided we avail ourfelves 
 of his fpiritual gifts, is promoting the defign 
 of our redemption and adoption, is working 
 in us a releafe from fm, is difpofmg us to ho- 
 linefs, and preparing us for happinefs. 
 
 In like manner our Belief in one Media- 
 tor between God and Man, when equally 
 grounded in the heart, both induces and im- 
 plies an earnell refolution to pay him the ho- 
 mage of our hearts and of our lives. 
 
 While wc believe in him as a Prophet, wc 
 accept his word as an embaffy of pardon and 
 of peace, we adore him in the myfteries that 
 he hath opened to us, we attend to all his 
 do(^trines with gratitude and reverence, we 
 arc animated by his exhortations, we are 
 
 corrected 
 
And believe the Go/pel. 227 
 
 correded by his reproofs, we obey him in 
 his precept, and we follow him in his ex- 
 ample. 
 
 While we believe in him as a Prieft, who 
 gave himfelf a ranfom for all, we are moved 
 by this ftupendous adt of grace to entertain 
 the greateft horror for fm, and the higheffc 
 gratitude to our Redeemer ; and we thence 
 determine to renounce our fms, to take up 
 our crofs with him, to prefent our bodies a 
 living facrifice to God ; in full afTurance of 
 faith, that through his interceffion they will 
 not be offered up in vain. 
 
 While we believe in him as a Kins;, we 
 fhall be touched with gratitude for the great 
 deliverance he has accompliilied for us ; we 
 fhall be perfuaded to reverence his Laws, and 
 to fubmit ourfelves to his government ; we 
 ihall be encouraged to refort to him for par- 
 don of the fnis of which we repent, for af- 
 iiftance and fupport in all our religious la- 
 bours, for prote6lion and defence againft all 
 our enemies ; we fhall be refolved to ar- 
 range ourfelves under his banner againft the 
 feveral adverfaries of the Chriftian caufe, and 
 to continue his faithful Soldiers for the re- 
 mainder of our days. 
 
 If thus we comply with the terms of ac- 
 ceptance, as propofed by our Lord himfelf, 
 
 Q 3 by 
 
228 Repent ye^ and believe the Gojpel. 
 
 by repenting of our fms and believing the 
 Gofpel, it is humbly to be hoped on the 
 promife he has given, that we have an inter- 
 cft in the Kingdom of God both in the prefent 
 and the future Ufe. Even while we continue 
 in this field of difciphne, we are partakers in 
 the Kingdom of Grace ; and when the fcene 
 of difcipline is clofed, we fliall have our por- 
 tion in the Kingdom of Glory. 
 
SERMONS ON THE BEATITUDES. 
 
 Matthew v. 3 — 10. 
 
 Blejfed are the Poor 'in.fpirit : for theirs is the Kingdom 
 of Heaven: &'c,&c. 
 
 JL HE great purpofe of our Saviour's miffion 
 was to procure and advance the happinefs of 
 men. It was therefore the leading object of 
 his miniftry to inculcate all thofe difpofitions 
 and habits of holinefs, which in the difpenfa- 
 tion of divine providence and grace are ef- 
 fential to this important end. For which 
 intent he commands our reverence and regard 
 in the character of a Lawgiver, who has a 
 certain courfe of duty to propofe, fupported 
 and fan^ioned by a certain train of recom- 
 pence. The laws which he delivered are 
 fpread through all his difcourfes : But they 
 feem to be collected and comprized in his 
 Sermon on the Mount. This valuable dif- 
 courfe was delivered it is probable in the 
 early part of his miniftry, foon after he had 
 Q 3 begun 
 
-230 The Beatitudes. 
 
 begun to preach the Gofpel of the Kingdom ; 
 and feems intended for a fummary to his 
 Difciples both of Chriftian duty and of Chrif- 
 tian hope. It does not indeed unfold thofe 
 myfterics of godHnefs, which are now pro- 
 pofed for the objects of our faith, fuch as our 
 redemption and juftification by the merits, 
 the atonement, and interceffion of our Re- 
 deemer : For thefe it was expedient to re- 
 prefent, not fo much in words, as in fadls ; 
 and thefe accordingly our Lord expreffed, not 
 fo much in his doctrine, as in his paffion and 
 crucifixion, his refurred:ion and afcenfion. 
 But it inftrud:s us very fully in thofe vir- 
 tuous difpofitions, which all who name 
 the name of Chrift muft cultivate ; and it 
 aiTures us very clearly of that divine recom- 
 pence, which awaits our fidelity and obe- 
 dience. 
 
 This is placed in a confpicuous light in the 
 front of his difcourfe. With a fpirit of be- 
 nevolence, congenial to the character of a 
 Minifter of grace and peace from God to 
 Man, he opens his difcourfe with a feries of 
 Beatitudes : he pronounces a bleffing on all 
 thofe virtuous qualities, which are eflential 
 to his true Difciples ; and to each of thofe 
 qualities he affigns a correfponding recom- 
 pence. 
 
 It 
 
The Beatitudes, 231 
 
 It was unqueftionably the defign of our 
 holy Teacher through all this ferles of Beati- 
 tudes to re(5lify the difpofitions and purfuits 
 of men, which are generally too intent on 
 worldly things, and to fix them on objects, 
 wherein alone true happinefs is to be at- 
 tained. According to their feveral propen- 
 fities of mind the Children of this world are 
 proud and ambitious after worldly confe- 
 quence, are turbulent and grafping after 
 worldly pofTeflions, are inordinate lovers of 
 pleafures, are intemperate followers after the 
 luxuries of this life. But in all thefe pur- 
 fuits, even if they attain the fummit of their 
 wiflies, they never find that fovereign good 
 they feek, as it does not centre in any tem- 
 poral acquifition. It continually evades their 
 grafp, and difappoints their hope. Thus by 
 the ordinary courfe of providence, even in 
 this life, the denunciations of our Lord are 
 feverally fulfilled upon them : " Woe unto 
 you that are rich! for ye have received your 
 confolation. Woe unto you that are full ! 
 for ye fliall hunger. Woe unto you that 
 laugh now ! for ye fhall mourn and weep*." 
 In oppofition to thefe vain purfuits our 
 bleffed Lord inflruds his Difciples to feek 
 
 ^ tuke vi 24, 25. 
 
 Q 4 for 
 
•232 The Beatitudes, 
 
 for happinefs by very different means, and 
 to place their happinefs in very different 
 ends. 
 
 In concurrence with this general defign of 
 Chrift, as it relates to the w^orld at large, it 
 has alfo been fuppofed with fome plaufibili- 
 tjf that he had it in contemplation to redify 
 thofe erroneous opinions entertained among 
 the Jews, of the Kingdom of the Mefliah, an4 
 of the qualities expedient for a place therein. 
 Led away by worldly prejudice they took 
 the prophecies relative to this expected Prince 
 in a literal fenfe, and they molded this King- 
 dom in their fond imaginations on the model 
 of the Kingdom of Ifrael in its moff flourifh- 
 ing ffate. They fuppofed, that he would 
 literally fit upon the throne of David, and 
 would gratify his followers in the feveral 
 vain defires of their carnal hearts, that to the 
 proud and ambitious he would give dominion 
 and authority, to the turbulent and grafping 
 territorial poffeffions, to the lovers of pleafure 
 feflive revelries and pageants, to the followers 
 after luxuries all manner of luxurious gratifi- 
 cations. It might therefore be fuitable to our 
 Lord's defign, to corre<ft thofe errors, that 
 feverally prevailed among the Gentiles and 
 among the Jews, by publifhing to the world, 
 that the Beatitudes of his Kingdom were 
 
 propofed 
 
The Beatitudes. 233 
 
 propofed to different charaders, and were in 
 themfelves of a different kind, from what 
 they might feverally imagine or defire. Thus 
 the inftruAion contained in thefe fentences 
 will bear an application both to the Gentiles, 
 who had little or no conception of this hea- 
 venly reign, and to the Jews, who had en- 
 tertained erroneous notions of its character 
 and government. Inftead of animating the 
 ambitious with the hope of temporal domi- 
 nion and authority, he faid, " Bleffed are the 
 Poor in fpirit : for theirs is the Kingdom of 
 Heaven." Inftead of encouraging the turbu- 
 lent and grafping with the hope of worldly 
 poffeffions, he faid, " Bleffed are the Meek : 
 for they fhall inherit the Earth." Inftead of 
 gratifying the lovers of pleafure with feftive 
 pageants and triumphal fhews, he faid, 
 ** Bleffed are they that mourn: for they Ihall 
 be comforted." Inftead of indulging the 
 followers after luxuries with every dainty 
 that the ranfacked world fupplies, he faid, 
 " Bleffed are they that hunger and thirft 
 after rlghteoufnefs : for they Ihall be fatif^ 
 fied." 
 
 On thefe Beatitudes I have now to treat, 
 as they form a conftituent part of the fub- 
 jed: on which I am employed. On a clofe in- 
 
 veftigation 
 
234 The Beatitudes. 
 
 veftigation they will be found, with equal 
 advantage to difplay the tniffion and to il- 
 luftrate the charader of him who fpoke 
 them. 
 
 But before I proceed to difcourfe upon 
 them feparately, it may be convenient to 
 premife a few remarks on their ftrudiure and 
 arrangement, for that may be of ufe in un- 
 folding their defign. Now it deferves our no- 
 tice, that as they are formed on the model of 
 certain introductory fentences in the Pfalms, 
 which pronounce a bleffing on virtuous dif- 
 pofitions ^, fo they are delivered in the fame 
 fententious and proverbial ftyle. Hence they 
 bear the complexion of the Poetry of the 
 Hebrews, which in its prevailing character is 
 combined of parallel fentences and claufes, 
 wherein propofition correfponds with propo- 
 fition, and term is anfwerable to term. Thus 
 every fentence in this feries is compofed of 
 two claufes, of which the former pronounces 
 a certain difpofition bleffed, and the latter 
 ftates wherein this blellednefs confifts. But 
 befide the general parallel that pervades the 
 whole, the fentences appear to be difpofed in 
 couplets, bearing a ftill clofer analogy to one 
 
 * Pialnis i. xxxli, xli. cxix. 
 
 another 
 
The Beatitudes. 235 
 
 another both in conftru(5lion and in ipirit : 
 as will be more diftind:ly feen, if we read 
 them in the order, which they hold in fomc 
 very ancient and well approved Manufcripts 
 of the Gofpel, and in which they are quoted 
 by fome diftinguilhed Fathers of the Chriftian 
 Church : 
 
 " Bleffed are the Poor in fpirit : for theirs 
 is the Kingdom of Heaven. 
 
 *' Bleffed are the Meek : for they (hall in- 
 herit the Earth. 
 
 " Bleffed are they that mourn : for they 
 lliall be comforted. 
 
 " BlelTed are they that hunger and third 
 after righteoufnefs : for they ihall be fatif- 
 fied ^" 
 
 According to this arrangement the fecond 
 fentence is parallel to the firft. The Meek 
 are of a kindred chara6ter with the Poor in 
 fpirit : And the inheritance of the Earth 
 bears an evident antithefis to the poffeffion 
 
 ' It may fuffice to ftate, that this is the Order of the Cam- 
 bridge Manufcript both in the Greek and the Latin Text : 
 which is further fan6lioned by the following lift of authorities 
 from Wetftein's Edition : — Verfio Latina, Clemens, Origenes, 
 Eufebius, Gregor. Nyff. Juvencus, Ambrofius, Chromatus, Hie- 
 ronymus, 
 
 of 
 
1236 The Beatitudes. 
 
 of the Kingdom of Heaven. A fimilar cor- 
 refpondence holds both in difpofition and in 
 recompence between the third and the fourth: 
 They that mourn are comforted : They that 
 hunger and thirft are fatisfied. 
 
 This arrangement I am the more difpofed 
 to note, as it contributes in fome degree to the 
 perfpicuity of the fentences, and fixes in fome 
 cafes a precifion of meaning, which in the 
 common order of reading is not fo obfervable» 
 We fhall more diftind:ly underftand who arc 
 meant by the Poor in fpirit,on which there is 
 fome difference of opinion, when we find them 
 collated with the Meek. We Ihall more clear- 
 ly apprehend who are meant by them that 
 mourn, on which there is alfo fome degree of 
 doubt, when we find them collated with thenx 
 that hunger and thirft after righteoufnefs. 
 
 In treating on this important and compre- 
 henfive theme, I propofe to aifign a feparate 
 Difcourfe to each Beatitude. And here alfo 
 it may be convenient to ftate in general terms 
 the plan to be purfued. As the Sentences 
 themfelves are parallel, I would endeavour 
 to render thefe Difcourfes parallel, as far as 
 the fubjed: will conveniently admit. Now 
 as every fentence is compofed of two claufes, 
 the argument thereupon is accordingly dif- 
 pofed 
 
The Beatitudes, 237 
 
 pofed Into two heads of difcourfe, the Cha- 
 ra(fter commended, and the BleiTednefs af- 
 iigned. After ftating, and occasionally ex- 
 plaining, the Character propofed, I have to 
 confider it firft, as it was feverally regarded, 
 both in fpeculation, and in pradtice, among 
 the Heathens, and among the Jews, and 
 then, as it was more fully illuftrated, and 
 more forcibly enjoined, as well in exam- 
 ple, as in dod:rine, by the Author of our 
 faith : whence I collect a general outline 
 of the Chara^er propofed to the cultivation 
 of Chriftians. In a fimilar method I have 
 alfo to treat of the latter claufe. After ftat- 
 ing in general terms the nature of the Blefled^ 
 nefs affigned, I have to coniider it iirll, as it 
 was feverally regarded, both in fpeculation, 
 and in pra(3:ice, among the Heathens, and 
 among the Jews, and then, as it was more 
 clearly and decifively propofed by our Lord 
 himfelf in the fulnefs of divine revelation : 
 whence I proceed to explain it in its different 
 views, of the prefent, and of the future life i 
 And conclude the difcourfe by fhewing the 
 correfpondence, in the nature of things, and 
 in the difpenfations of grace, between the 
 Virtue thus commended, and its appropriate 
 Reward, 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 Matthew v. 3. 
 
 BleJJed are the Poor infpirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of 
 Heaven. 
 
 X HE firft Beatitude of our heavenly- 
 Teacher is affigned to perfons, who do not 
 attract the notice or engage the applaufe of 
 men. Inftead of approving the ambitious, 
 and encouraging the hopes of thofe who afpire 
 after worldly confequence and honours, as is 
 a prevailing fentiment w4th the children 
 of this world, he pronounces a blefling on an 
 oppofite difpofition and character : Blejj'ed are 
 the Poor infpirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of 
 Heaven. 
 
 By poverty of fpirit, as thus commended 
 and encouraged by our Lord, may be under- 
 ftood humility in general in contradiftindlion 
 to pride and ambition of every kind : But 
 efpecially and principally I would underftand 
 humility of heart in relation to God and in 
 reference to fpiritual things ; a fenfe of our 
 
 low 
 
240 Blejfed are the Poor in fpirit : 
 
 low condition in the more effential qualities 
 of man, in the attainment of divine know- 
 ledge, and in the growth of divine grace. 
 
 A difpofition of this nature was fo little 
 cultivated by the Heathens, that it was dif- 
 couraged and defpifed. For their Sages en- 
 tertained a proud conceit of the dignity of 
 human nature ; and confidently boafted of 
 their moral and intellectual powers. The 
 confequence of which was darknefs of un- 
 derflanding and depravity of heart. Profeff- 
 ing themfelves wife they became fools ; and 
 being extravagantly vain in their imagina- 
 tions they were alienated from the life of 
 God. Being hardened in their hearts againft 
 all moral feeling, they did what was right in 
 their own eyes ; and having loft the true 
 knowledge of a holy God, they furrendered 
 themfelves to their own lawlefs and unprofit- 
 able devices ^ 
 
 A fpirit of pride, though diffimilar to theirs, 
 prevailed among the Jews, more efpecially 
 among thofe, who from their ftation and 
 charad:er ought to have fet a better example, 
 among thofe, who profeiTed themfelves to be 
 teachers of the ignorant and guides of the 
 blind. According to the moft unqueftiona- 
 
 ■* Rom. i. 22, &c. 
 
 ble 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 241 
 
 ble evidence they were elated with extrava- 
 gant ideas of their own merit, they trufted 
 in themfelves that they were righteous, and 
 they arrogated to themfelves, as children of 
 Abraham, and heirs of the promifes, a pecu- 
 liar title to the care and recompence of Hea- 
 ven. And yet it had been the conftant lan- 
 guage of the Law which they profefTed to 
 teach, that one of the principal duties requir- 
 ed and infifted on by their heavenly King 
 was to walk humbly with their God. In 
 like manner it was the tenor of inftrudlion by 
 the whole band of Prophets, that pride was 
 odious in the fight of Heaven. And God 
 himfelf declares by his chofen Minifter Ifaiah, 
 that though he is fupreme over all, yet hath 
 he a peculiar refped: unto the lowly ^ though 
 his immediate feat is in the high and holy 
 place, yet he alfo dwells with the contrite 
 and humble Ipirit^. 
 
 But a more powerful and perfuailve Teacher 
 than Mofes and the Prophets was requisite to 
 overcome this prevailing and original fm in 
 the nature and heart of man. To cherifh 
 the difpofition of humility, to encourage the 
 charader of the poor in fpirit, was the firft: 
 aim of Chrift on proclaiming his kingdom to 
 
 *> Ifa. Ivii. 15. 
 
 R the 
 
242 Blejfed are the Poor injpirit : 
 
 the world. This engages our regard in the 
 primary circumftance of his appearance upon 
 earth. Thousih beina: in the form of God, 
 he condefcended to aiTume the form of man, 
 and from the higheft eminence of divine 
 glory he fubmitted to the loweft condition 
 of human life. Born and brought up in ob- 
 fcurity and indigence, he came forth upon his 
 miniftry in circumftances moft unpromifuig 
 to ambitious minds : he was deftitute of the 
 comforts of humble poverty ; he wanted even 
 the common refuge of the indigent, a place 
 whereon to lay his head. Thus according 
 to the Prophet he had no form nor comeli- 
 nefs, when men ihould fee him ; nor was 
 his countenance fuch, that they fhould defire 
 him'^. 
 
 The character of humility he continually 
 exemplified in all his converfation and de- 
 portment. He avoided all thofe honours, 
 which the people in their ftarts of admiration 
 were eager to beftow upon him. He chofe 
 for his companions poor and artlefs and un- 
 lettered men, with whom he travelled on 
 foot through the land of Paleftine. To thefe 
 he was rather a fervant than a mafter, being 
 come, as he declared, not to be miniilered 
 
 ^ Ifa. lili. 2. 
 
 unto, 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 1A3 
 
 unto, but to minifter j as was inftanced in 
 that fignal aft of humiliation, when he girt 
 himfelf with a towel, and wafhed the feet of 
 his Difciples : By which expreflive emblem 
 he not only diflTipated their falfe expectations 
 of a temporal kingdom, but alfo taught them 
 humility of difpofition and demeanour both to 
 God and Man. Well therefore might he pro- 
 pofe himfelf as a pattern of imitation in this 
 preliminary grace of his religion: " Take my 
 yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am 
 meek and lowly in heart ^." 
 
 Correfpondent with his appearance upon 
 earth was the tone and direction of his teach-' 
 ing. The firft of thofe gracious characters, 
 which the Prophet afcribes to this Minifter 
 of grace, was that he fliould *' preach the 
 Gofpel to the Poor." And accordingly he 
 declares in evidence of his divine miffion, 
 what was continually feen and heard under 
 his miniftration, that " the Poor have the 
 Gofpel preached unto them." To the Poor 
 before others he imparted the benefits of 
 his miniftry, whether temporal or fpiritual. 
 He healed their infirmities, he difpelled their 
 forrows, he fupplied their wants. Their 
 bodily neceffities might engage his compaf- 
 
 ^ Mat. xl. 29. 
 
244. BleJJed are the Poor infpirit : 
 
 fion, which was never flow to adminiiler re- 
 lief. But it was not their external condition 
 in itfelf, which could recommend them to 
 his favour above other clafles of men, but 
 the temper of mind and heart, which this 
 condition cheriflied and improved. He look- 
 ed with complacence on the poor in fortune, 
 becaufe in them he ufually found the poor 
 in fpirit. In this refpedl only could they en- 
 gage his more peculiar notice, as the humility 
 of their ftation difpofed them to humility of 
 heart. The fcantinefs of their lot in tempo- 
 ral riches prepared them for the fearch after 
 Ipiritual treafures ; and the lowlinefs of their 
 ftate in this life pre-engaged their cares for 
 the glories of the life to come. To fuch he 
 imparted liberally of the abundance of his 
 grace ; he difpelled their doubts and fears ; 
 he aflured them of the divine companion 
 and indulgence ; and he encouraged them to 
 look up to the high and mighty God for ap- 
 probation and acceptance. 
 
 And while he was thus full of folace and 
 encouragement to the poor in fpirit, he was 
 alfb full of reprehenfion to perfons of an op- 
 pofite temper, which he generally found in 
 the fuperlor walks of life ; to fuch as were 
 elated with a vain conceit of their moral and 
 intelled:ual attainments, as was the prevailing 
 
 character 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 245 
 
 chara(5ler of the Pharifees and Scribes. In 
 his intercourfe with perfons of this defcrip- 
 tion he omitted no occafion to reprove their 
 fpiritual pride, and to inculcate a temper of a 
 contrary nature : which he commonly did 
 under the covert form of parable, being the 
 mildeft vehicle of fevere reproof. This was 
 the fpirit of his admonition at the table of 
 one of the chief Pharifees, when he marked 
 the difl:ind:ion of precedence, which the guefts 
 were fedulous to maintain in fitting down to 
 meat. He advifed them, when invited to a 
 feafl, not to take the higheft place, from 
 which they might with fhame be degraded 
 to a lower, but to take the lowefi: place, 
 from which they might with honour be ad- 
 vanced to a his/her. Thus under the fern- 
 blance of infl;rud;ion in regard to their civil 
 and focial intercourfe he conveyed a leflbn of 
 much more important admonition, peculiarly 
 necelTary to that clafs of men who fate at 
 table with him. He reproved their fpiritual 
 pride, as tending to abafe them in the fight 
 of God ; and he recommended fpiritual hu- 
 mility, as mofL conducive to advance them 
 in his favour ^. Thus alfo to certain of the 
 fame defcription, who trufted in themfelves 
 
 * Luke xlv. 7 — II. 
 
 R 3 that 
 
246 BleJJed are the Poor infpirit : 
 
 that they were righteous, he propofed as a 
 leffon of admonition and reproof the oppofite 
 deportment of a Pharifee and a Publican, 
 when they went into the temple to pray. 
 The Pharifee prefumptuoully thanks God, 
 that he is better than other men in his obferv- 
 ance both of the pofitive and the moral law. 
 While the Publican at a diftance from the 
 more holy place prefumes not fo much as to 
 lift his eyes to heaven, but fmites upon 
 his breaft, faying, God be merciful to me 
 a Sinner. " I tell you," fays our Lord, 
 " this man went down to his houfe juflified 
 rather than the other." To both which pa- 
 rables he attaches this maxim of divine juf- 
 tice -y " He that exalteth himfelf fliall be 
 abafed ; and he that humbleth himfelf fhall 
 be exalted ^" 
 
 From this general view we may colled: 
 who the perfons are, who come under the 
 privilege of this Beatitude. By the poor in 
 Ipirit we may underftand without exception 
 all, whether rich or poor in worldly fub- 
 llance, whether high or low in worldly rank, 
 who are lowly in heart and foul, who have 
 an humble fenfe of their own qualities and 
 attainments ; more efpecially in the know- 
 ledge and the grace of God. Cafting down all 
 
 ^ Lukexvlii.9 — 14. 
 
 proud 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, 247 
 
 proud imaginations of temporal confequencCj 
 renouncing every vain defire after temporal 
 dignities and honours, which are commonly 
 at variance with the knowledge of God as 
 laid open in the Gofpel, they freely furrender 
 every thought to the obedience of Chrift^. 
 Under the impreffion of that knowledge, 
 which he has imparted to the world, they 
 entertain a feeling fenfe of their own weak- 
 nefs, ignorance, and want in fplritual things i 
 they pay an awful deference to the power, 
 the wifdom, the juftice, and the benevo- 
 lence of God, and a profound fubmiffion to 
 all his difpenfations. And while they dif- 
 claim all merit and fufficiency of their own, 
 they commit themfelves entirely in devout 
 and perfevering prayer to God, being fo- 
 licitous to receive the benefit of his affift- 
 ance and fupport, the light of his truth, 
 and the riches of his grace, in whatever 
 manner and by whatever means it may 
 pleafe the great Fountain of bleflednefs to 
 beftow them. Thus conforming to the pri- 
 mary infl:ru6lion, as alfo to the leading dif- 
 pofition and character of the lowly Jefus, they 
 have the firfl: diflinclion in the feries of his 
 beatitudes: For theirs is the Kingdom of Hea- 
 ven, 
 
 s 2 Cor. X. 5. 
 
 R 4 The 
 
248 Blejfed are the Poor infpirit : 
 
 The promife of a Kingdom, as accepted 
 in the worldly fenfe, might be welcome to 
 multitudes, as it coincides with a ruling paf- 
 fion in the mind of man. Among the diffe- 
 rent objed:s of human defire and purfuit there 
 is none that has a more general and more 
 commanding fway than that of eminence 
 above their fellow-creatures. It is the lot of 
 ■very few to reign : But moft men are am- 
 bitious of obtaining confideration, authority, 
 and power. Accordingly a fpirit of ambition 
 from the high eft to the loweft ranks of men 
 has univerfally prevailed. This operates in 
 common life by the pains that are taken 
 through the feveral gradations of fociety to 
 advance themfelves in the fcale of Ibcial or- 
 der, and to obtain a preeminence in rank and 
 ftation over thofe around them. In public 
 life it operates with more baneful effects. It 
 has prompted men by all manner of lawlefs 
 and fanguinary means to ufurp a dominion 
 over their fellow mortals. The love of em- 
 pire has been the great fpur of human enter- 
 prize in all ages and nations of the world. 
 Hence the military atchievements of the 
 Greeks and of the Romans. Hence the ar- 
 dour of Alexander to conquer other nations, 
 of C^far to enllave his ow n. 
 
 In this purfuit after fancied happinefs how 
 
 little 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 249 
 
 little do they really attain what they fo 
 anxioully and afliduoufly feek ! for they feek 
 it where it is not to be found. In common 
 life, if they fucceed in their defigns, they 
 find the elevation they have attained to be 
 at beft but an ideal good, but in general no 
 better than vanity and vexation of fpirit. In 
 public life the objed: that they feek is flill 
 more chimerical and full of fearful and con- 
 tinual hazard. Among the feveral candidates 
 for empire and dominion how few can pofli- 
 bly attain that gilded prize, that glitters in 
 the eyes of the multitude ! If they fall, de- 
 flrud:ion is almoft the certain confequence ; 
 and to thofe very few, who by a fingular 
 combination of fortunate events attain the 
 mofl lofty ftation which ambition could pro- 
 pofe for the fummit of their deiires, what 
 real happinefs is in flore to recompence the 
 dangers long encountered and anxieties long 
 endured? More dangers and anxieties in long 
 fucceflion mufl attend their fteps. In the 
 midft of a palace they are ill at eafe. In 
 the height of their dominion and in the ful- 
 nefs of their authority they are continually 
 encompaiTed by jealoufies and terrors. In 
 the revelries of the feflive board, in the fe- 
 creiies of their chambers, the pointed fword 
 
 perpetually 
 
250 Blejfed are the Poor in fpirit : 
 
 perpetually hangs over their guilty heads. 
 They have no real enjoyment of the prefent 
 hour ; and they have no hopes to gild the 
 profped; of futurity. 
 
 In oppofition to this common aim, our 
 holy Teacher propofes to the defires and 
 purfuits of his Difciples a bleffing of another 
 kind. He has alfo a kingdom to offer : but 
 his Kingdom is different in all refpe6ls 
 from thofe, which animate the defires and 
 enterprize of the ar/.bitious of this world. It 
 mufl be fought by other difpofitions, and cul- 
 tivated by other means. The Kingdom of 
 Heaven is the fcriptural exprelTion for the 
 reign of the Meffiah, the general theme 
 of ancient prophecy, the final hope of the 
 Children of Ifrael. This Kingdom the He- 
 brew Prophets, for want of terms and 
 images appropriate to fpiritual themes, moft 
 ufually reprefent under types or fymbols of 
 temporal dominion and authority. In this 
 form of imager)^ it very powerfully engaged 
 the expectation of the Jews. Aduated by- 
 ambition and a love of w^orldly greatnefs, 
 they equally miftook the nature of this King- 
 dom arid the temper eflential for a place and 
 interefl therein. Accordingly they looked 
 for a temporal dominion fupported by the 
 
 fword. 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 251 
 
 fword, in which they iliould triumph far 
 and wide, and hold a preeminence of power 
 over all the nations of the earth. 
 
 Far different was the Kingdom which 
 the Meffiah came to ellablifli ; for it was not 
 of a temporal, but of a fpiritual kind, after 
 the model, not of men, but of God. This 
 indeed was expreffively fignified in the form 
 of his appearance upon earth, which bore no 
 external femblance of dignity and power; 
 fmce he came in every circumftance of po- 
 verty and humility. He had no lure to offer 
 to worldly ambition : He had no pofts of 
 honour, no fund;ions of authority, to beftow 
 vipon his followers ; for his Kingdom was not 
 of this w^orld. And this he himfelf ex- 
 plained in anfwer to the enquiries of the 
 Pharifees : " The Kingdom of God cometh 
 not with obfervation ; neither iliall they fay, 
 Lo here, or lo there ; for the Kingdom of 
 God is within you ^." It is not attended by 
 external images of worldly grandeur : It is 
 not circumfcribed within local or temporary 
 bounds. It is an invifible dominion, which, 
 without any fliew or form of jurifdidion over 
 the body, is exercifed with power in the fpi- 
 rit and on the foul. It is a Kingdom of 
 
 ^ Luke xvii, 20, 21. 
 
 grace 
 
252 Blejfed are the Poor infpirit : 
 
 grace in this life, of glory in the life to 
 come. 
 
 This alfo our Lord had repeated occafion 
 to explain to his Difciples ; who, before 
 they had received of the fulnefs of his truth, 
 entertained very worldly fentiments both of 
 the nature of his Kingdom, and of the dif- 
 pofition requifite for a place therein. Thus 
 on one occafion, when there had -been a dif- 
 pute among them, who fhould be the great- 
 eft in this promifed Kingdom, he took a lit- 
 tle child, and fet him in the midft of them, 
 and faid, ** Verily, I fay unto you. Except 
 ye be converted, and become as little chil- 
 dren, ye fhall not enter into the Kingdom of 
 Heaven. Whofoever therefore fhall humble 
 himfelf as this little child, the fame is great- 
 eft in the Kingdom of Heaven '." 
 
 On another occafion, when the fame con- 
 tention was renewed among them, as they 
 were partaking of the Pafchal Supper, he 
 took another mode of correcting their am- 
 bitious aims and hopes. After he had pre- 
 pared them for a very different lefTon by the 
 exprefiive emblem of wafliing their iett, he 
 taught them in a plainer ftrain, that it was 
 for the Kings of this world to exercife autho- 
 
 * Mat. xvlii. I — 4. 
 
 rity 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom oj' Heaven. 253 
 
 rity and to difplay munificence among the 
 children of men. But a contrary lot awaited 
 the Difciples of the lowly Jefus. It was 
 theirs in this life to fubmit with their Mafter 
 to every kind of humiliation, felf-denial, and 
 fuffering for his fake. Yet would not their 
 labours and facrifices in fo good a caufe be 
 vain. As during his miniftry they had con- 
 tinued with him in all his trials, and had yet 
 further trials to undergo in preaching his 
 Gofpel through the world, he had appointed 
 unto them a Kingdom, as his Father had ap- 
 pointed unto him, that they might partake of 
 his heavenly feaft, and might fit on twelve 
 thrones judging the twelve tribes of Ifrael ^. 
 
 Thus the Kingdom of Heaven is propofed 
 as the appropriate recompence of the Poor in 
 fpirit ; becaufe in the temper and habit of 
 their fouls they are beft prepared and qua- 
 lified to receive it. The benefit of the Gof- 
 pel is indeed laid open to the whole race of 
 men, to high and low, rich and poor, learn- 
 ed and ignorant. But in order to partake of 
 this ineftimable gift, a correfponding difpofi- 
 tion is indifpenfably required. And there- 
 fore, though our Lord precluded none from 
 admittance into his covenant, yet he made 
 
 ^ Luke xxii. 24 — 30. 
 
 the 
 
'2,54 Blejfed are the Poor infpirit : 
 
 the firft overtures of his grace, not to the 
 ambitious after worldly dignities, neither to 
 the wife in their own conceits, nor to the 
 righteous in their own efteem, but to the 
 poor in fpirit and the lowly in heart : to, 
 luch as did not give their fouls to a vain de- 
 fire after worldly preeminence, as had an 
 humble fenfe of their moral and intelleftual 
 worth, and a feeling convi<3:ion of their want 
 and ignorance in fpiritual things. Having 
 this preliminary qualification for allegiance to 
 their heavenly King, they are predifpofed for 
 the reception of all his dodlrines and the cul- 
 tivation of all his laws. To fuch as thefe he 
 preached in perfon, when he appeared in our 
 nature: To fuch he ftill preaches in his writ- 
 ten word through all ages and nations of 
 men : To fuch he more freely opens the un- 
 fearchable riches of his grace : And of fuch 
 he has given alTurance is the Kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 In the prefent ftate of difcipline they have 
 the favour and acceptance of their heavenly 
 King ; from which they derive whatever is 
 effential to their grow^th in grace and their 
 advancement in godlinefs, a deliverance from 
 the bondage and affaults of their fpiritual 
 enemies, a conqueft over all their fmful paf- 
 fions and propenfities, affiftance and fupport 
 
 in 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 255 
 
 in maintaining their allegiance to the law 
 and government of Heaven, and a peace of 
 foul more valuable than all the kingdoms of 
 the world and the glory of them. 
 
 But this kingdom of our God in the pre- 
 fent ftate of grace is no more than prepara- 
 tory to a future ftate of glory : when they 
 who have humbled themfelves on earth fliall 
 be exalted in heaven. Then they who have 
 cultivated this lowly dlfpofition of their once 
 defpifed, but now glorified Lord, ihall be ad- 
 vanced above the greateft Potentates of this 
 lower world. For all the felf-abafement, 
 to which they have fubmitted here, they 
 Ihall be tranfcendently glorified hereafter ; 
 for all the contempt and Ihame, which they 
 have incurred among the children of this 
 world, they lliall be remunerated with un- 
 fpeakable applaufe among the children of 
 light. Being received into the immediate 
 prefence of their heavenly King, they fliall 
 partake in his triumph who has overcome the 
 world : they fhall obtain the crown of life, 
 which the Lord has promifed to them that 
 love him ; and lliall reign with him for ever 
 and ever. 
 
,_tL,.n«nitJ«aja!-A>ia8JdUH-aMiiiB 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 Matthew v. ^. 
 BleJJed are the Meek : for theyjhall inherit the 'Earth. 
 
 Having treated on the Beatitude of the 
 Poor in fpirit, I proceed in the order which 
 I propofed to take, to difcourfe on that of 
 the Meek. Thefe two difpofitions are fo 
 clofely related, that they are oft aflbciated in 
 holy Scripture ; and indeed in fome inftances 
 they are put indifferently the one for the 
 other. Thus the prophetic claufc of Ifaiah, 
 *' To publilh good tidings to the Meek," is 
 rendered by the Evangelift, " To preach the 
 Gofpel to the Poor ^" But as fome diftinc- 
 tion of character feems defigned in this place, 
 it may be proper to regard it through the pre- 
 fent difcourfe. Now as I have underftood 
 the Poor in fpirit in relation to God and 
 with a reference to the things of heaven, fo 
 I would underftand the Meek in relation to 
 
 ■ Ifa, Ixi. I. Luke iv. i8. 
 
 s men 
 
258 Blejfed are the Meek : 
 
 men and with a reference to the things of 
 earth ; an acceptation, which derives fome 
 countenance from their refpediive Beatitudes: 
 To the Poor in fpirit is affigned the Kingdom 
 of Heaven, and to the Meek the Inheritance 
 of the Earth. 
 
 It cannot efcape our obfervation, that the 
 recompence here propofed of a temporal in- 
 heritance has a fingular afped: in the feries of 
 Beatitudes, fmce to every other character the 
 blefTednefs affigned is, not indeed entirely, 
 but in the principal and final aim, of a fpi- 
 ritual nature and in the life to come. Perhaps 
 the fmgularity of this exception may be re- 
 moved, if we attend to that peculiar ftrudlurc 
 of language in which this feries is given. It 
 is agreeable to the fententious ftyle of He- 
 brew Poetry, which our Lord appears to 
 have adopted on this occafion, to diftribute 
 into feparate, yet parallel claufes two parts 
 of a proportion, which are to be under- 
 ftood in union. On this principle we may 
 accept the two firft of thefe Sentences, as if 
 they were thus difpofed : " Bleffed are the 
 Poor in fpirit, and the Meek : for theirs is 
 the Kingdom of Heaven, and they fliall inhe- 
 rit the Earth :" They, who cultivate thefe 
 two kindred difpofitions, iliall be bleft both 
 in temporal and in fpiritual things ; they 
 
 have 
 
For they Jliall inherit the Earth. 15Q 
 
 have the promife both of this hfe and of that 
 •which is to come. 
 
 I propofe this remark for the confideration 
 of thofe who are iludious of the holy Scrip- 
 tures. But as this acceptation is probably 
 new, and may therefore be hable to the im- 
 putation of being more fanciful than folid, I 
 do not prefume to ground the argument of this 
 difcourfe upon it. Nor indeed is it neceffary 
 to have recourfe to any novel and unapproved 
 interpretation ; fmce the fentence before us 
 will admit of a plain and clear conftrudlion 
 as a diftind: and independent text. In this 
 point of view I fliall now difcourfe upon it ; 
 though it may not be without its ufe to keep 
 in our remembrance the near relation which 
 it bears to the preceding Beatitude of the Poor 
 in fpirit. And I truft, that on a clofe exa- 
 mination of the bleffednefs affigned it will 
 be found to harmonize fufiiciently with the 
 reft. 
 
 Underflanding therefore the Meek with a 
 relation to men and a reference to the 
 things of earth, I conceive them to be fuch as 
 are uniformly mild and placid, forbearing 
 and forgiving in their communion with their 
 fellow-creatures, fuch as cultivate an equal 
 mind in the extremes and viciffitudes of life, 
 being content and fatisfied in every ftation, 
 
 s 2, being 
 
260 BleJJed Cire the Meek : 
 
 being moderate in profperity and patient 'n\ 
 adverfity. 
 
 This quality was not overlooked by the 
 Heathen Philofophers ; but it was very feebly 
 cultivated in the general pradice of the Hea- 
 then world. It was too much the manner 
 of men, uncorrecSied by divine inftrudlion 
 and unenlightened with celeftial truth, to be 
 turbulent and violent in averting their own 
 caufe and infringing the rights and properties 
 of others, to give way to pride and arrogance 
 in the heights of profperity, to impatience and 
 difcontent under troubles andafflid:ions. Even 
 the wifeft and the befl of Heathen Sasres, 
 who has written a code of moral law making 
 fome approach to the Chriftian inftitutes, was 
 fmgularly deficient in that equanimity, which 
 he commended in theory, being too much 
 elated with a profperous tide of fame and 
 fortune, and ftill more extravagantly dejedled, 
 when he came to experience an unforefeen 
 reverfe. 
 
 The quality of Meeknefs was much bet- 
 ter taught under the difpenfation of the Law. 
 It was alfo frequently commended and pro- 
 pofed for cultivation in the Pfalms and in 
 the Prophets. But like its fifter virtue Hu- 
 mility it obtained but a feeble hold upon the 
 pradice of the Jews. And though exempli- 
 fied 
 
For tliey Jhall inherit the Earth. iOl 
 
 fied in fome of their fuperior men, efpeclally 
 their Lawgiver himfelf, who ** was very meek 
 above all men upon the face of the earth ^,^' 
 yet in later times it feems to have been dif- 
 miiTed, if not from the do6lrine, however 
 from the prad:ical cultivation of thofe, who 
 profeiled to be their Teachers and their 
 Guides. 
 
 It remained for our Lord, a fuperior 
 Teacher of righteoufnefs, to give this quality 
 its proper influence on the heart and pradice 
 of mankind. He has made it a primary dif- 
 pofition of all who would be truly his difci- 
 ples, and he has attached a bleffing to thofe 
 that are invefted with this moral grace : 
 BleJJ'ed are the Meek : for they jhall inherit the 
 Earth, . 
 
 The virtue thus propofed to the cultiva- 
 tion of his followers is firft exemplified in 
 the tenor of his own chara<5ler and converfa- 
 tion. The mildnefs of his manner in exe- 
 cuting his divine miffion is thus reprefented 
 by the Prophet of the Gofpel ; " He fliall 
 not cry aloud nor lift up his voice in the 
 ftreets. A bruifed reed he fliall not break, 
 and the dimly burning flax he fliall not 
 quench ^." All which was remarkably ful- 
 
 ^ Numb, xii, 3. <= Ifa. xlii. 2, 3. Mat. xii. 19, 30. 
 
 S ^ filled 
 
262 BleJJed are the Meek : 
 
 filled in his public miniftry. He did not 
 conie among mankind with a rod of difci- 
 pline or with the fword of the civil power, 
 but in peace and love and in the fpirit of 
 meeknefs. He made no public parade of the 
 exalted office which he bore, but he commu- 
 nicated his doctrines in the mildeft, freeft, 
 eafiefl manner. And though he fpoke with 
 the energy of a Teacher come from God, yet 
 in the tone of his preaching, as well as in the 
 fubftance of his doctrine, he was gentle, apt 
 to teach, patient; fliewing allmeeknefs to all 
 men ^. Thofe, who were bruifed with a 
 fenfe of their irreligious and fmful flate, he 
 did not overwhelm with the feverity of 
 judgment, but he raifed them with the lan- 
 guage of compaffion and confolation. And 
 whenever he found a feeble and half extin- 
 guiflied fpark of religion in the foul of man, 
 he gently fanned it into a living flame. Even 
 to the Pharifees and Scribes, v/ho vilified his 
 perfon and minifiiry, he was mild and temper- 
 ate in the tenor of his converfation, feeking 
 rather to corred them than to irritate. And 
 when he had urgent occafion to reprehend 
 them, he ufually conveyed his fentiments by 
 the circuitous, yet more conciliating mode 
 
 ^ 2 Tim. ii, 24. Tit. iii. a. 
 
 of 
 
For they Jliall inherit the Earth. 263 
 
 of parable, rather than by open and dired: re- 
 proof. 
 
 Such alfo was his charadler in his ordinary 
 dealings and converfation. In all his inter- 
 courfe with men, and during all his fojourn 
 upon earth, he was forbearing and forgiving, 
 patient and content. Thus when fome of his 
 Difciples fuggefted to him the infli6tion of an 
 exemplary vengeance on the inhofpitable Sa- 
 maritans, he rebuked their fanguinary zeal, 
 and told them, that he was not come to de- 
 ftroy, but to fave ^. And when the extremes 
 of calamity were coming upon him in his 
 agony in the garden, though indeed he prayed 
 that the cup of anguifh, if it were poffible, 
 might pafs away from him, yet he fubmitted 
 with refignation to his Father's pleafure ; 
 *' Neverthelefs not my will, but thine be 
 done^" So alfo in the fevereft of his trials, 
 when he was arraigned before an iniquitous 
 tribunal, " as a fheep before her fhearers is 
 dumb, fo he opened not his mouth : when 
 he was reviled, he reviled not again ; when 
 he fufFered, he threatened not -, but com- 
 mitted himfelf to him that judgeth righte- 
 oufly ^." And when they wreaked their ut- 
 
 * Lukeix. 54, &c. ^ Luke xxli. 42. 
 
 S Ifa. liii. 7. I Pet. ii. 23. 
 
 s 4 moft 
 
264 Blejfed are the Meek : 
 
 moft cruelty upon him, and he was enduring 
 the moft dreadful agonies of human nature, 
 as he hung upon the crofs, he prayed for 
 their pardon ; " Father, forgive them, for 
 they know not what they do ^." According- 
 ly he is faid by the Apoftle in this very in- 
 ftance to have '* left us an example, that we 
 fliould follow his fteps." And in like manner 
 he recommends his own difpofition as a pat- 
 tern to his followers ; '' Learn of me ; for I 
 am meek and lowly in heart'." 
 
 Of the fame complexion alfo was his doc- 
 trine. Thus in his Sermon on the Mount, 
 it was his inflrud-ion to his Difciples, that 
 they be not angry with their Brother, with- 
 out a reafonable caufe ; that they agree with 
 their adverfary without delay ; that they re- 
 fift not, nor retaliate evil ; that they forbear 
 all impatient and fretful folicitude for the 
 neceflaries of life ; and that they commit 
 themfelves contentedly to his wife providence, 
 who fupplies to all his creatures their refpec- 
 tive wants. 
 
 To the fame purpofe are the frequent ex- 
 hortations of the Apoftles, who had imbibed 
 from the do(5lrine and example of their Lord 
 this eflentlal fpirit of his religion. Thus 
 
 ^ Luke xxiii, 34. » Mat, xi, 29. 
 
 Saint 
 
For they JJiall inherit the Earth, 265 
 
 Saint Paul teaches, that the fruit of the fpirit 
 is meeknefs ; and exhorts his Chriflian Con- 
 verts, to walk worthy of their vocation, with 
 all lowlinefs and meeknefs and long fuffer- 
 ing, forbearing one another in love '. Saint 
 James admoniflies the Brethren, to receive 
 with meeknefs the engrafted word ; and re- 
 commends it as the character of a man truly 
 wife and endued with knowledge, that he 
 Ihew out of a good converfation his works 
 with meeknefs of wifdom"^. And Saint Peter, 
 after commending in Chriftian Matrons above 
 all other ornaments the jewel, highly precious 
 in the fight of God, of a meek and quiet 
 fpirit, makes it a general exhortation to 
 Chriftians, that they be all of one mind, 
 having compaffion one of another, that they 
 love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous ". 
 
 And hence wx may colle<5l a general view 
 of the character thus propofed for the culti- 
 vation of Chriftians. As far as relates to 
 other men, the Meek may be defcribed with 
 the fame features of chara<5ler, which the 
 Apoftle has affigned to charity or Chriftian 
 love. They f^afFer long the injuries and in- 
 fults of others, before they exprefs a fpirit of 
 
 ' Gal. V, •Jj. Eph. iv. i, 3. *" Ja, i. 3i, iii. 13. 
 
 -' I Pet, iii. 4> 8. 
 
 refcnt- 
 
266' BlcJJed are the Meek .• 
 
 refentment or reilftance : they are kind and 
 gentle in the feveral relations, which they 
 bear in focial and domeftic life, as well as in 
 their common treatment of all men : they 
 do not envy the more fortunate condition of 
 others : they do not vaunt themfelves on 
 their poffeffions or endowments : they are not 
 puffed up with any peculiar advantage above 
 others : they do not behave themfelves with 
 unfeemly aifumption in their converfation 
 or deportment ; they are not forward or im- 
 portunate in feeking or infifting on their 
 own : they are not eafily provoked to exprefs, 
 or even to conceive any harfh or uncharita- 
 ble fentiments of others : they think no evil 
 of thofe around them : they rejoice not in 
 any thing to the prejudice of others ; but 
 they rejoice in what is juft and right °. 
 
 Thus alfo in their perfonal deportment, 
 they are contented with their ftation and 
 condition in life, whatever be the place which 
 providence affigns them. They are moderate 
 and equal minded in both extremes and in all 
 viciiTitudes of fortune. If their lot is pro- 
 fperous, they endeavour to apply it to the glory 
 of God and the benefit of men, as alfo to 
 their own advancement in godlinefs : they 
 
 * iCor. xiii. 4^ ^,6. 
 
For they Jhall inherit the Earth. ^idf 
 
 enjoy it with moderation, and dlfFufe it with 
 cheerfulnefs : If their lot is adverfe, they 
 bow with refignation to the divine difpofal ; 
 they are patient under corredion ; and they 
 improve it alfb to their final good. 
 
 Such are the characters which our Lord 
 pronounces blefled ; and to which he af- 
 figns this Beatitude, that t/jey JJjall Inherit the 
 Earth, 
 
 The words of this Beatitude are adopted 
 from the Pfalmift, who exprefsly fays^ that 
 " The Meek Ihall inherit the Earth ?:" al- 
 luding moft probably to that inheritance of 
 the Land of Canaan, which was promifed 
 to the Ifraelites, on condition of their con- 
 form.ity to the will and character of God. 
 In reference to this promife under the Law, 
 our Lord has given to perfons of the fame 
 defcription a correfponding promife under 
 the Gofpel, that they fhall inherit the Earth : 
 not that they fliall have an appropriate al- 
 lotment like the Children of Ifrael in the di- 
 vifion of the land ; but they fhall have a full 
 fufficiency of worldly goods. 
 
 In the literal fenfe of this promife our 
 Lord coincides with the general wilhes and 
 
 P Pfalm xxxvil. ii. 
 
 defires 
 
a(58 Blejfed are the Meek ,♦ 
 
 defires of men. To enjoy an abundance of 
 worldly goods has engaged the very ferious 
 purfuits of mankind under every fyftem of 
 religious faith. Whatever they may believe 
 or hope of a future recompence, to this they 
 look as a certain, immediate, and elTential 
 good. For this they compafs land and fea : 
 for this they encounter every danger and 
 fubmit to every toil : for this they rife up 
 early, and go late to reft, and eat the bread 
 of care. The great objeA of human labour 
 and enterprize is a portion or poiTeffion of 
 the earth, as what they commonly fuppofe 
 will yield the happinefs they feek. And 
 fome degree of comfort it no doubt implies ; 
 otherwife it would not be propofed as one, 
 though indeed a fubordinate, recompence of 
 godlinefs. 
 
 It is true, the Religion of Chrift does not 
 dwell in general, like that of Mofes, on a 
 temporal recompence ; becaufe it has in 
 ftore an exceeding great reward, which to- 
 tally eclipfes all the tranfitory goods of this 
 life. As the light under which we live has 
 given us a far clearer view of better things to 
 come, we cannot repine that the providence 
 of God is not fo exad; in apportioning to us 
 the benefits of this life, as it was to the 
 Jews, who had received no explicit afturance 
 
 of 
 
iFor they Jfiall inherit the Earth. 26^ 
 
 of a full remuneration in the life hereafter. 
 But though the chief beatitude of Chriftians 
 is placed in another world, our Lord has 
 not omitted to fet before us a partial recom- 
 pence in the prefent world, as a more imme- 
 diate incitement to the cultivation of holi- 
 nefs. 
 
 For though he difcom mends and diifuades 
 all inordinate anxiety for the neceiTaries of 
 this life, as of fmall concern when put in 
 competition with our eternal weal, yet he 
 alTures us of the divine care to provide for all 
 our temporal wants, if we give our principal 
 attention to the interefts of futurity. '^ Be 
 not full of care, faying, What fhall we eat, 
 or what fhall we drink, or wherewithal fhall 
 we be clothed ? For your heavenly Father 
 knoweth that ye have need of all thefe 
 things. But feek ye firft the Kingdom of 
 God and his righteoufnefs ; and all thefe 
 things fhall be added unto you ^." 
 
 But how, it may be aflced, is this promife 
 of our Lord fulfilled upon the Meek ? In the 
 common courfe of things do they really in- 
 herit or enjoy the earth ? Does it not rather 
 appear from the hiftory of mankind and from 
 our own experience, that the men of an op- 
 
 < Mat. vl. 31, 32, 33. 
 
 pofite 
 
•270 Blejfed are the Meek : 
 
 pofite temper and charadler have ufually con- 
 trived to fecure to themfelves the faireft por- 
 tion of this inheritance ? 
 
 It muft be acknow^ledged, that the grafping 
 and the turbulent by their art or by their 
 enterprize have ufually acquired a more often- 
 fible inheritance of earthly goods. Placing all 
 their happinefs in worldly poirefrions,they em- 
 ploy all means to attain them -, without fcru- 
 puloufly confidering whether the means be 
 right or wrong. But it is their fate continually 
 to ftrive, yet never to attain the happinefs 
 they feek. The obje<5l is purfued with unre- 
 mitting care and difquietude of foul. And 
 when they have fecured to themfelves an 
 ample competence of worldly wealth, they 
 are no nearer happinefs than when they be- 
 gan the fearch. They are flimulated w4th a 
 vain and infatiable defire of adding to their 
 poiTeffions, they are harafTed with appre- 
 henfions of lofmg by difmgenuous means 
 what they have by difmgenuous means ac- 
 quired. And a ferious reflexion, as life ad- 
 vances, muft frequently intrude upon their 
 troubled hearts, that while they have been 
 fo intent on amalling worldly riches, they 
 have negle(5led to lay up treafures in heaven 
 which alone are incorruptible and enduring, 
 and that an hour is drawing nigh, when this 
 
 inheritance 
 
Tor tkey Jhall inherit the Earth. 271 
 
 inheritance which they have fought on earth 
 muft entirely fail them, and having no better 
 inheritance in referve, they muft be poor in- 
 deed. 
 
 The Meek on the contrary may be truly 
 iaid to inherit the Earth, becaufe they really 
 enjoy the comforts which the Earth fupplies. 
 In fome rare circumftances indeed the caufe of 
 righteoufnefs may demand extraordinary facri- 
 fices. But in the common courfe of things this 
 truly Chriftian difpofition adminifters to tem- 
 poral enjoyment, and conftitutes their por- 
 tion of worldly goods a valuable inheritance. 
 
 By contradiing their defires and by regu- 
 lating their purfuits they inherit the earth 
 more effedually than thofe, whofe portion is 
 abundance. A fmali provifion by content 
 and economy is rendered equal to great opu- 
 lence. ** A little that the righteous man 
 hath is better than the riches of many wicked. 
 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord 
 than great treafure and trouble therewith ^" 
 By fobriety and temperance in all lawful in- 
 dulgences they retain a relifh for the bounties 
 of providence, and health to enjoy them to a 
 good old age. By induftry and diligence in 
 their ftations and capacities in life they pro- 
 
 ^ Pfalm xxxvii. i6, Prov. xv, 16. 
 
 vide 
 
27a Blcffhd are the Meek : 
 
 vide a ftore of comfort to themfelves and 
 their families, and obtain refpedl in the fo- 
 ciety, to which they contribute their ftock of 
 ufeful and beneficial fervice. By the mild- 
 nefs of their manners they conciliate the 
 love of men, fo as to prevent every dlfpofl- 
 tion to do them harm or wronsi;, and to en- 
 courage every dlfpofition to do them good. 
 Thus they pafs through the vale of life with 
 little or no moleflation ; and fo quiet a pof- 
 feffion of a moderate portion is better than a- 
 contefted title to the inheritance of king- 
 doms. By their patience under trials and 
 refignation to the will of God they acquire 
 his favour, who by fecret means of provi- 
 dence makes all their affairs to profper; or if 
 he occafionally vifits them with affliction, who 
 yet fupports them with his grace, and makes 
 even afflidlion fubfervient to their genuine 
 and their final good. Beyond other blefi[ings 
 they have, what the world can neither give 
 nor take away, the peace of confcience ilied 
 abroad into their hearts by the Spirit of God, 
 which puts a value upon all they have. 
 Without it the pofi^effion of the whole world 
 would be no better than vanity and vexation 
 of fpirit ; and with it the whole world is to 
 every genuine ufe their own. 
 
 But the moft valuable recompence of 
 
 the 
 
For theyjhall inherit the Earth, 11 di 
 
 the Meek is not in temporal things, but in 
 ipiritual, is not in this, but in the future 
 world. And this we may conclude is im- 
 plied in the promife that they fliall inherit 
 the Earth, when we confider the ufage of 
 the holy Scripture, by the fhadows of the na- 
 tural to delineate the truths of the fpiritual 
 world, and by the images of the prefent 
 life to defcribe the realities of the life to 
 come. This interpretation in the prefent 
 inftance is countenanced by the Apoftle in 
 the general ftrain of his Epiille to the He- 
 brews. The inheritance of an earthly Ca- 
 naan, as promifed to the Ifraelites by natural 
 defcent, is a type or earnefl of the inheri- 
 tance of a heavenly Canaan, as promifed to 
 all who are Ifraelites indeed by adoption and 
 grace. This is in a peculiar fenfe the recom- 
 pence of the Meek, inafmuch as they are 
 conformed in difpofition and character to the 
 inftrucflion and image of their blelTed Lord. 
 Having learnt of hirri to be meek and lowly 
 in heart, they fhall find a temporary reft 
 unto their fouls in the favour and approba- 
 tion both of God and Man : And when this 
 earth, and all the prefent fcene of things is 
 diflblved, they Ihall find an eternal reft in 
 that new heaven and that new earth where- 
 in dwelleth righteoufnefs ^ 
 
 «■ Matt. xi. 29. 2 Pet. iii. 15, 
 T 
 
SERMON XL 
 
 Matthew t. 4. 
 
 BleJJed are they that mourn : for they /hall be comforted* 
 
 J-T is a prevailing fentiment among the 
 Children of this world to place their happi- 
 nefs in revelries and pageants and licentious 
 mirth. And according as they have the 
 means of diffipation, they intemperately en- 
 joy them. Whatever their eyes defire, they 
 keep not from them ; they withhold not their 
 hearts from every joy ^. But fhort is the gra- 
 tification and unfatisfa<5lory the end of turbu- 
 lent and immoderate mirth. In the midft of 
 laughter they are often ill at eafe ; and by 
 too free an indulgence their pleafures are 
 converted into pain. A cheerlefs, if not a 
 miferable void enfues. They have no com- 
 fort now to gild their adverfity ; and as they 
 lived without any thought of futurity, they 
 
 " Ecclef. ii, id, 
 
 T z have 
 
27^ Blejfed are they that mourn : 
 
 have no hope to cheer them from another 
 life. 
 
 Our Lord has taught a different difpofition, 
 and has given the promife of an oppofite 
 confequence : Blejfed are they that mourn: for 
 they fiall he comforted. 
 
 As the final purpofe of our Saviour's mif- 
 fion was to promote the happinefs of men, 
 it may feem extraordinary to a flight obfer- 
 vation, that he fliould enjoin and encourage 
 mourning as the means of attaining fo very 
 different an end. But when we explore the 
 nature and aim of this Beatitude, we fhall 
 equally fee the wifdom and the benevolence 
 of our holy Teacher, in propofmg this as a 
 neceflary branch of the Chriftian difcipline. 
 
 By the mourning thus propofed for the 
 objed: of beatitude we are by no means to 
 underftand a gloomy fretfulnefs of temper 
 for trivial or imaginary evils, or even an in- 
 dulgence of immoderate and unavailing for- 
 row for the real af[li<5lions and calamities of 
 life : For thefe are totally repugnant to that 
 fpirit of patience and content and refignation 
 fo much commended and approved by the 
 doctrines of our religion. The perfbns, 
 whom our Lord pronounces bleifed, are they 
 that mourn in a religious fenfe and to a reli- 
 gious ufe. They mourn for the miferies of 
 
 humanity, 
 
For they Jhall he comforted. IT] 
 
 humanity, whethef natural or moral. They 
 mourn for calamities, whether public, domef- 
 tic, or perfonal, as the trials, the corredions, 
 the judgments of a juft, a wife, a gracious 
 God. They mourn for fni, with which the 
 world continually groans, and of which they 
 feehngly know the power themfelves. 
 
 A mourning of this defcription was neither 
 cultivated in pradice, nor even cherillied in 
 contemplation by the Heathens. They might 
 mourn for the afflid:ions and calamities of 
 life, no doubt the more feehngly, as they 
 wanted hope, which religion alone can fup- 
 ply, to affuage and moderate their grief. 
 But they never thought of turning them to 
 any moral good. When therefore forrow 
 and adverfity came upon them, they con- 
 fidered it as the trueft wifdom to drown re- 
 flexion in every fpecies of carelefs dlffipatlon. 
 It was a maxim of a confiderable fed: among 
 the Heathen, *' Let us eat and drink, for to- 
 morrow we die :" Since we have fo fhort a 
 time to live, let us croud all enjoyments into 
 the prefent hour. Thus the (liortnefs of life 
 and the certainty of death, which our religion 
 propofes as the great argument for ferious 
 meditations on another ftate, they perverted 
 into a plea for all voluptuous indulgence. 
 
 A mourning of this defcription was che- 
 T Q rifhed 
 
278 Blejfed are they that mourn i 
 
 rilhed among the people of Ifrael in the doc- 
 trines and examples of their Prophets and 
 righteous men. They were taught to con- 
 fider afflictions and adverfities as the chaften- 
 ings and corre<5lions of the Lord , and there- 
 fore they received them as falutary difciplines 
 to turn them to religious thoughts and to 
 move them to repentance. This we learn 
 from the example of David. When he was 
 in the funfhine of profperity, he was tempted 
 to forget his God, to violate his neighbour's 
 honour, and being entangled in a chain of 
 guilt, to confpire againft his life. But when 
 the corrections of God were upon him, he 
 was brought to refled: on the lieinoufnefs of 
 his tranfgreflion. Then indeed he humbled 
 himfelf, and repented of his fm ; and after a 
 feyere and painful difcipline he was reconciled 
 to God. Hence he is led to fay for our in- 
 ftrudion and admonition ; *' In the day of 
 my trouble I have Ibught the Lord. Before I 
 w^as afflidled, I went aftray : but now have I 
 kept thy word. It is good for me that I 
 have been afflided, that i might learn thy 
 ftatutes ^." 
 
 This alfo we learn from the example o£ 
 Solomon his Son. Having abundant means 
 
 ^ Pfa. Ixxvii. 2. cxix. 67, 71. 
 
 of 
 
For they JJiall he comforted. 279 
 
 of indulgence in all that wealth and empire 
 could fupply, he poffefTed himfelf of every 
 thing which his heart could defire ; he de- 
 nied himfelf no pleafure which could be 
 found under the fun. The confequence of 
 which was, that he became depraved in his 
 nnoral fenfe, and his heart was turned away 
 frofti God. But when adverfity came upon 
 hirA, he faw the vanity of his former life, 
 and in trouble he confefled his vexation of 
 fpirit. He then could teftify from his own 
 experience, that ''it is better to go to the 
 houfe of mourning, than to go to the houfe 
 of feafting. For by the fadnefs of the counte- 
 nance," or in other words, by fobriety and 
 ferioufnefs of demeanour, ** the heart is 
 made better : For the heart of the wife is iii 
 the houfe of mourning'^." And the refult 
 of his contemplations in the feafon of af- 
 fliction was this caution to others, to guard 
 againft that rock on which he fuffered fhip- 
 wreck of his confcience : ** Remember thy 
 Creator in the days of thy youth, while the 
 evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, 
 wherein thou Ihalt fay, I have no pleafure in 
 them^" 
 
 And what is thus exemplified in their fu- 
 
 * Ecclef. vii. 1, .5, 4, ^ Ecclef. xii, i, 
 
 T 4 perior 
 
28d BleJJed are they that mourn : 
 
 perior men whether for civil confequence or 
 intellectual endowment, is alio to be obferv- 
 ed in the whole houfe of Ifrael. In the 
 courfe of profperous fortune they were too 
 apt to forget their God, who had done fuch 
 great things for them, and while they were 
 at eafe in Sion, they did not think of the 
 moral miferies of Jacob. But when the 
 judgments of the Lord v/ere in the land, the 
 people learned righteoufnefs^. Whenever any 
 public or national afflidtion came upon them, 
 •whether the peftilence or the famine inflicted 
 immediately by the hand of God, or invafion 
 or deflrudion from the hands of men the in- 
 ftruments of his avenging juftice, then they 
 turned unto the Lord with all their hearts, 
 they fan^ified a faft, they alTembled in the 
 houfe of God to offer up one general fervice of 
 confeffion and penitence, they wept for their 
 fms, which had brought thefe heavy judg- 
 ments upon them, and they devoutly called 
 on God to ftay his hand, to have compaflion, 
 to pardon, and to fpare. 
 
 Our blelTed Lord has inculcated a leflbn 
 upon this head more impreffive than what 
 had been taught under any former dlfpenfa- 
 tion. He came indeed, as he himfclf pro- 
 
 * Ifa. xxvi. 9. 
 
 felTed, 
 
For theyjhall he comforted. '281 
 
 felled, in contradiftlndlion to the auflerities 
 of the Baptift, indulging his Difciples, not 
 only in the common gifts of providence, but 
 alfo in the innocent feflivities of focial life ; 
 by which he fufficiently difplayed the com- 
 plexion of his religion, that it did not de- 
 mand fevere and continual mortification ei- 
 ther of the body or of the fpirit, but only 
 ■what was neceflary to detach men from the 
 things of this world, and to fix them on the 
 more important concerns of eternity. For 
 this purpofe it was that he taught the expe- 
 dience of mourning for their genuine and their 
 final peace. 
 
 And what he taught to others he pradlifed 
 firft himfelf. Of this mourning he himfelf is 
 a prototype and a pattern. Of his charadler 
 as a Mourner a very afFe(fling defcription is 
 given us by the Prophet of the Gofpel; " He 
 is defpifed and rejected of men, a man of for- 
 rows, and acquainted with grief; as one that 
 hideth his face from us, he was defpifed, and 
 we efteemed him not. Surely our infirmities 
 hath he borne, and our forrows hath he car- 
 ried : yet we did efleem him flricken, fmitten 
 of God, and afflicfled ^" And this prophetic 
 defcription was fulfilled in his hfe on earth, 
 
 5 Ifa. llii. 3, 4. 
 
 wherein 
 
'ZS'2 BleJJed are they that ihourn : 
 
 wherein he was indeed a Mourner. He did 
 not however mourn for the evils which he 
 endured himfelf, for fevere as they were, they 
 were freely undergone for our fakes. Much 
 lefs did he mourn for any fm committed in 
 his own perfon ; for though he condefcend- 
 ed to become a fin for us in the phrafe of 
 the Apoftle, that is, a propitiatory facrifice 
 for our fms, yet he had no iins of his own to 
 mourn, being entirely pure and innocent and 
 fpotlcfs. When he offered himfelf to re- 
 deem us from the miferies that are derived 
 from fin, he fubmitted to be like us in every 
 thing but fm. In this indeed he would have 
 no part with us. But he mourned for all 
 that fm under which the world was groan- 
 ing, and for all that mifery in which it was 
 by confequcnce involved. Thus we fee the 
 tendernefs of his heart for others, when 
 he contemplated the City of Jerufalem in its 
 prefent ftate of eafe and fecurity. He wept 
 over thofe calamities, which the accumulated 
 guilt of her inhabitants was drawing down 
 upon hcr^. Thus alfo we fee what a weight 
 of mifery he fubn;\itted to undergo in that 
 terrible agony, through which he paffed on 
 the eve of his paffioii and crucifixion, when 
 
 ^ Luke xix, 41. 
 
 his 
 
For theyJJiall be comforted. 283 
 
 his fweat was as it were great drops of blood 
 falling down to the ground. In the dread- 
 ful contemplation of what he had to under- 
 go, and for what purpofe he had to undergo 
 it, he broke out into thefe impaffioned words, 
 " My foul is exceeding forrowful even unto 
 death ^." Surely on confidering this we may 
 take up the lamentation of the mournful 
 Jeremiah : " Behold and fee, if there be any 
 forrow like unto his forrow '." Yet even in 
 the extremities of his pafiion, when the wo- 
 men followed him in tears, he turned from 
 his own forrows to fympathize with them ; 
 " Daughters of Jerufalem, weep not for me, 
 but weep for yourfelves and for your chil- 
 dren^." When w^e thus confidcr how he 
 mourned for us, we may learn from him to 
 mourn for ourfelves. 
 
 The example of our Lord will guide us to 
 underftand the inftrudiion conveyed in this 
 Beatitude. Whether we confider the na- 
 tural or the moral evil that is in the world, 
 whether we contemplate the condition cf 
 others, or more clofely examine our own^ 
 w^e have abundant caufe to mourn. But in 
 order to mourn in the fenfe in which it is 
 recommended here, it is expedient that we 
 
 ^ Mat. xxvi. 38. * Lam. i. 12, *= Luke XTtiii. 28. 
 
 mourn 
 
284 Blejfed are they that mourn : 
 
 mourn a godly forrow, that we mourn witli 
 a reference to our fpiritual ftate and to a reli- 
 gious end. 
 
 If we look abroad into the world, or even 
 if we confine our view to home, we find 
 many fources of fevere afflid:ion. The lofs 
 of friends united to us by all the tender cha- 
 rities of life, the lofs of fortune by the infla- 
 bility of all fublunary things, the lofs of 
 health by various kinds of maladies, and the 
 approach of death in all the various forms of 
 wretchednefs. All thefe are evils grievous 
 to be borne, and which by religion only can 
 be made fupportable. But all thefe are de- 
 signed, as our religion teaches, by a wife and 
 gracious providence for the true and final 
 benefit of man ; and in the Gofpel we may 
 learn how to turn them to our genuine 
 and fubftantial good. Therein we are taught 
 that God has withholden natural, good and 
 inflidled natural evil, as the means of corred:- 
 ing moral evil and of improving moral good. 
 In profperity we are all too apt to turn our 
 attention from the Giver to the gift, to wor- 
 Hiip the creature more than the Creator, and 
 to fix our minds on earthly rather than on 
 heavenly things. It is the great ufe and be- 
 nefit of adverfiry to rectify our thoughts, de- 
 fires, and purfuits, to detach our minds from 
 
 too 
 
For theyJhaU he comforted, Q^^ 
 
 too intenfe a love of the world, and to turn 
 them to a ftate more worthy of our choice, 
 to corred: what is evil in us, to improve and 
 fortify what is good, and to engage us in 
 fuch exercifes as are conducive to our gene- 
 ral and eternal welfare. In this fenfe in part 
 we may underftand the inftrudion here con- 
 veyed to mourn. 
 
 But that religious quality, which is more 
 efpecially commended in this fentence, is a 
 forrow for the moral unhappinefs of the 
 world. It is the inflru6tion of our religion, 
 that Man is fallen from that ftate of inno- 
 cence in which he was originally placed. 
 Thus being born in fin he is born to forrow, 
 and by the accumulation of actual tranfgref- 
 fion he aggravates his unhappinefs; for by 
 the righteous judgment of God in the whole 
 plan of his providence the neceflary confe- 
 quence of guilt is inifery. Now when we 
 contemplate the wretchednefs of man in a 
 moral point of view, we have abundant caufe 
 to mourn. And as far as this mourning is 
 conducive to apply our hearts to wifdom, 
 and to move our confcience to repentance, it 
 conftitutes a part of the Chriftian character 
 recommended by our Lord and propofed for 
 the cultivation of all his true Difciples. It. 
 was to inftigate this religious mourning, that 
 
 our 
 
2«^ Blejed are they that mourn ! 
 
 our Lord converfed fo much with Publicans 
 and Sinners. He fought to inftil into their 
 ibuls a feeling fenfe of their unhappy flate, 
 to make them confcious of their degeneracy 
 from God and goodnefs, that fo he might 
 lead them to a ferious contrition for their 
 former fins, and bring them back in tears of 
 undifTembled penitence to their heavenly Fa- 
 ther's home. 
 
 From this general view we may colled: 
 the charader of thofe, to whom this Beati- 
 tude is affigned. They mourn to a religious 
 ufe thofe various evils of human life, which 
 they either experience themfelves, or endure 
 by iympathy in their families, in their coun- 
 try, or in the world at large. They confider 
 their afflictions either as the judgments of 
 God for lin, and therefore they fubmit with 
 patience to his afflidting hand, or the chaflen- 
 ings of his parental care, and therefore they 
 are earneft in their repentance and amend- 
 ment, or the trials of their faith, and there- 
 fore they refolve to perfevere in well doing. 
 Thus they improve a tranfient and a partial 
 evil to fubflantial and eternal good. Moved 
 alfo by hig warning they mourn that greater 
 evil, the moral wretchednefs of the world, 
 more efpecially that, of which they have the 
 mpftlively fenfe, their own iins and tranfgref- 
 
 iions. 
 
Tor tlwy Jliall ^e comfqrie^, 5B7 
 
 fions. While they lament the fins that are 
 prevalent in the condition of all men, they 
 moft heavily lament their own. But they 
 do not reft in unproductive grief: They 
 Jiiourn a godly forrow to repentance. 
 
 To thofe that mourn in this religious fenfe 
 cur Lord affigns a correfpondent bleffing: 
 For they Jhall be comforted. 
 
 This is a Beatitude which the world Is 
 unable to beftow. Amid the afflidions and 
 miferies of life there is but faint and cold con- 
 folation in all fublunary things. Philofophy, 
 though proud of its refources, could yield no 
 efficient relief. And the grave, when con- 
 fidered without any vievv' beyond it, is but a 
 melancholy refuge from the forrows of our 
 nature. This we may obfervc in the pra6lice 
 of the Heathens. Having but faint notions of 
 a fuperintending providence and the remu- 
 nerative juftice of a holy God, they were 
 ready to fmk under the preflure of calamity. 
 
 The Jews, when opprefled with afflic- 
 tion, were taught to refort for confolation 
 to the God of their Fathers, who had pro- 
 mifed, that if they turned unto him, he alfo 
 would turn unto them, that if they adhered 
 to him with all their hearts, he would never 
 leave them nor forfake them. It was the of- 
 fice 
 
28S Blejfed are they that mourn i 
 
 fice of the Prophets, not only to call them 
 to repentance, but alfo to comfort them in 
 all their depreffions. It was the frequent 
 theme of Ifalah, the Herald of moft welcome 
 tidings to the Houfe of Ifrael, to invite his 
 people to pious a^ls of joy and gratitude : 
 For God would comfort Sion, and would 
 have mercy on them who had been afflidled* 
 He declares it to be one important and moft 
 gracious part of his prophetic office, " to heal 
 the broken hearted, to comfort them that 
 mourn, to give them beauty for allies, the 
 oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praife 
 for the fpirit of beavinefs \" And in the 
 opening of his more exalted feries of prophe- 
 cy he breaks out into this cheering and ani- 
 mating ftrain : *' Comfort ye, comfort ye my 
 people, faith your God. Speak ye to the 
 heart of Jerufalem, and cry unto her, that 
 her warfare is accomplilhed, that her iniqui- 
 ties are expiated, that ihe fhall receive at the 
 hand of the Lord bleffings double to the pu- 
 nifhment of all her fms'"." 
 
 All thefe promifes of divine consolation 
 were fulfilled in the letter on the people of 
 Ifrael, in their redemption from captivity to 
 freedom ; in their refloration from exile to 
 
 ' li'a. Ixi. T, 2, 3. "> Ifa. si. i^, 2. 
 
 the 
 
For they Jhall he comjorted. 289 
 
 the land of their Fathers. But in the fpiritual 
 fenfe they have a plenary accomplifhment on 
 all that are Ifraeiites indeed, in their redemp- 
 tion from the bondage of corruption to the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God. It 
 was the peculiar charad:er of our blelTed 
 Lord to be the Minifler of peace and confo- 
 lation to the world. Thus at his nativity the 
 company of heaven announced to their fel- 
 low-fervants upon earth good tidings of great 
 joy, which was to extend to all people. And 
 when he entered upon his miniftry, it was 
 his gracious office, as Ifaiah had prefignified 
 in his own perfon, to bind up the broken 
 hearted, and to comfort them that mourn. 
 He did not indeed gratify the carnal and am- 
 bitious views of thofe, who waited in a hteral 
 fenfe for the confolations of Ifrael. Yet to 
 thofe, who mourned in a truly religious aim, 
 he gave confolations of another kind, which 
 did not depend upon the revolutions of earth- 
 ly ftates or the viciffitudes of worldly things. 
 And as he was liberal of his mercies to all, 
 who laboured under the maladies and afflic- 
 tions of human life, by reftoring fight to the 
 blind and health to the fick, by giving found- 
 nefs of body to the palfied and the lame, and 
 foundnefs of underflanding to the lunate 
 and the demoniac, fo he was alfo liberal of 
 
 u his 
 
290 BleJJecl are they that mourn : 
 
 his comforts to all thofe, who mourned with 
 undiflembled forrow for their fins. To the 
 truly penitent he laid open for their confola- 
 tion the pardon and the peace of God. And 
 as to thofe who laboured under the burden 
 and anguifli of bodily difeafe, he faid, " Be 
 whole/' fo to thofe, who laboured under the 
 heavier burden and the keener anguilh of a 
 troubled confcience, he faid, " Your fms be 
 forgiven you." 
 
 The fame confolation, which he gave in 
 his perfonal miniftry, he ftill extends in the 
 difpenfation of grace to all who mourn after 
 a godly fort. Though he does not fuf- 
 pend the operations of nature to adminifter 
 relief, yet in his written word and in the 
 ftill fmall voice of confcience he whifpers 
 peace to the troubled and dejected foul. The 
 words, which he addrefTed to his primitive 
 Difciples, will apply to all who look upon 
 him in full aiTurance of faith : " Ye fhall be 
 forrowful ; but your forrow fliall be turned 
 into joy." Whether they mourn the mife- 
 ries and calamities, which await this fcene 
 of difcipline, or whether they mourn that far 
 greater evil the moral miferies, which they 
 fee in others, and more fenflbly experience in 
 themfelves, they find in his Gofpel a certain 
 fource of confolation. Therein they have 
 
 aflurance. 
 
For they Jliall he comforted, 29 1 
 
 aiTurance, that thofe natural affli(5lions, under 
 which they groan, are defigned by a wife 
 and gracious providence to promote their 
 own and the general good, that the moral 
 evils, by which they are ftill more heavily 
 opprefled, are upon their repentance abfolved 
 and forgiven through the atoning merits of 
 their Redeemer. This indeed is a comfort 
 beyond all fublunary bleffings ; it is fuch a 
 fatisfadlion as the world cannot give. To all 
 that truly mourn confolation is given in the 
 words of their Redeemer : " Ye now there- 
 fore have forrow : But I will fee you again, 
 and your hearts lliall rejoice, and your joy 
 no man taketh from you. Thefe things have 
 I ipoken unto you, that in me ye might 
 have peace. In the world ye Ihall have tri- 
 bulation: but be of good cheer; I have over- 
 come the world '^." 
 
 But the full and perfed: fruit of this re- 
 ligious mourning is referved for the life to 
 come. In the prefent ftate of being, how- 
 ever we may ftrive to elevate our minds 
 above terreftrial forrows by the contemplation 
 of celeftial joys, yet as long as we bear about 
 us the relations and the paflions of mortali- 
 ty, we muft neceifarily feel as mortal men : 
 
 " John xvi 20, 22, 33. 
 
 u 2 nor 
 
292 Bleffed are ihcy that mourny &c. 
 
 tior is it the defign of providence to de- 
 tach us altogether from the cares of the 
 body, till this corruptible fhall have put on 
 incorruption, and this mortal fhall have put 
 on immortality. Again, whatever advances 
 we may have made in righteoufncfs, yet 
 in our prefent ftate of frailty we ftill are 
 liable and prone to fm ; and whenever we 
 do fin, we renew to ourfelves the neceffity 
 to mourn. In the future life, to all the 
 truly faithful in Chrift every fource of mourn-* 
 ing fhall for ever ceafe. It is the eflentlal 
 chara(fler of the heavenly ftate, that the 
 tears fliall be wiped from all eyes, and there 
 fliall be no more ibrrow nor wailing : for 
 the former things are pafled away ". There 
 will then be no room either for natural or for 
 moral evil, the two great objects of mourn- 
 ing now. For death and fm ihall be fwal- 
 lowed up in vidtory. Then they, who have 
 improved their afflidlions to a religious ufe, 
 and they, who have cherifhed a godly for- 
 row to repentance, fhall clofe their mourning 
 in eternal confolation. 
 
 " Rev. xxi. 4. 
 
«*™«a 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 
 Matthew v. 5. 
 
 Blejfed are they that hunger and th'irjl after right coujnefs : 
 for ihey fhall he fatisfed. 
 
 Among the different objeds of human 
 defire there is none perhaps more prevalent 
 than that of gratification in meats and drinks. 
 It is good and comely in the general opinion 
 of men to eat and to drink, and to enjoy 
 the good of all their labour all the days of 
 their lives : more efpeclally, if God hath 
 given them riches and fubftance and means 
 of enjoyment, do they account it wife to 
 take their portion, and to rejoice in their 
 abundance *. 
 
 Among the Heathens in general, whofe 
 view^s were limited to the prefent life, it 
 was the folicitous enquiry, as our Lord him- 
 felf obferves, " What fhall we eat, and what 
 Ihall we drink, and wherewithal fliall we be 
 
 * Ecclef. V 1 8, 19. 
 
 u q clothed ?'* 
 
294 Ble/Jed are they that hunger^ &c. 
 
 clothed ?" Attending entirely to the wants of 
 the body, they totally overlooked the necef- 
 Uties of the foul. 
 
 And this fentiment alfo predominated 
 among the Jews. When therefore they 
 hungered and thirfted in the wildernefs, and 
 cried unto the Lord for relief, it was agree- 
 able to the divine wifdom to inftrud: them, 
 " that man doth not live by bread alone, 
 but by every word that proceedeth out of 
 the mouth of God '^i" He requires, not only 
 material bread for the fuftenance of the body, 
 but alfo fpiritual food for the nurture of the 
 foul. And when they were replenifhed with 
 the corn and wine, the milk and honey of 
 the promifed land. It was illll more neceflary 
 to remind them again and again of thofe 
 more important wants eifentlal to the fpiri- 
 tual life, which required a fuperior diligence 
 and care to fatisfy. 
 
 Some few indeed among them, more fe- 
 rioufly touched with a fenfe of what was 
 neceffary for their better part, exprefled a 
 defire for a more folid and permanent repaft. 
 Thus David, when he fojourned In a dry 
 and barren wildernefs, wherein his tears had 
 been his food day and night, declared his 
 
 ^ Peat, vlli, 3, Mat. iv. 4. 
 
 hunger 
 
For they Jhall befatisfied. 1QS 
 
 hunger and thirft after fpiritual things ; and 
 foHcitoufly bent his hopes to the time of his 
 reappearing in the fan^tuary of the Lord, 
 when his foul fhould be fatisfied vith plenty 
 in performing the duties of devotion to his 
 God% 
 
 It was one part of our Saviour's teaching 
 to incite this defire after fpiritual food. He 
 diredled that folicitude, which is commonly 
 employed in making proviHon for the body, 
 to the fuftenance which is neceflary to the 
 ftrengthening and refrefhing of the foul. To 
 this intent he faid, Bleffed are they that hunger 
 and thirji after righteoiifnefs. 
 
 The righteoufnefs, which is here propofed 
 for the defires of men, has been accepted by 
 fome in the more limited fcnfe of equity in 
 their dealings toward one another. From 
 the ftation and order, which it holds in this 
 place, I do not fcruple to underftand it in 
 the moft comprehenfive iignification of holy" 
 Scripture, namely, the whole of what we 
 owe both to God and Man, the cultivation 
 and exercife of all religion, the ftudies of its 
 dod:rines, and the obfervance of its laws. 
 As in the foregoing fentence our Lord pro- 
 nounces a bleiTmg on them that mourn, that 
 
 *= Pfalms xlii. xlili, 
 
 u 4 mourn 
 
ig6 Blnjjed are they that hunger, &c, 
 
 mourn after a godly fort, and to a religious 
 ufe and end ; fo in this he pronounces a 
 bleffing on thofe, who, leaving the principles 
 of Chriftian difcipline, refolve to perfevere, 
 and to go on to perfection ; who, having al- 
 ready laid the foundation of their religious 
 life in repentance from dead works and faith 
 towards God, are animated with a holy zeal 
 to be fruitful in every good work, and to in- 
 creafe in the knowledge of God, to he filled 
 with the fruits of righteoufnefs, and, to adopt 
 a ftill more forcible exprcffion of holy writ, 
 to be filled with all the fulnefs of God ^. 
 
 Of this religious hunger and thirft our 
 Lord was an eminent example. When he 
 took upon him a human form, he fubmitted to 
 fuftain the feelings and infirmities of human 
 nature. Thus immediately before he entered 
 upon his miniftry, when he was tempted in 
 the wildernefs, he fafted forty days and forty 
 nights, and was afterwards a- hungered^. And 
 in his travels through the land in the exerciie 
 of his miffion he was frequently expofed to 
 the fame bodily want. But while he occa- 
 fionally hungered and thirfted after tempo- 
 ral fuftenance, he continually hungered and 
 
 d Heb. vi. I. Col. i. lo, Phil. I. ii. Eph. iii, 19. 
 
 * Mat. iv, 3. 
 
 thirfted 
 
For they Jhall hefathjied. 2^7 
 
 thirfted after rlghteoufnefs. Thus when his 
 Difciples after the fatigue of a journey brought 
 him food to eat, and urged him to take it, be- 
 ing then engaged in the contemplation of a far 
 more important concern, the inftru6lion and 
 eonverfion of the Samaritans, he anfwered; '*I 
 have meat to eat, that ye know not of." And 
 when they queftloned among themfelves, whe- 
 ther any man had given him aught to eat, he 
 again made anfwer ; " My meat is to do the 
 will of him that fent me, and to finifh his 
 workV He hungered and thirfted after 
 righteoufnefs, inafmuch as he cherlflied an 
 ardent deiire " to fulfil all righteoufnefs ^ ;" 
 in other words to execute the great fchemc 
 of providence and grace in becoming righte- 
 oufnefs to us, that we might be made the 
 righteoufnefs of God in him ^. This we may 
 contemplate both in his retired and in his 
 foclal life, when he fafted in private, and 
 when he fate dow^n to meat in company, 
 when he prayed alone, or when he preached 
 to the multitude, when he fupplied them 
 with material food, or when he adminiilered 
 to them the bread of life. 
 
 Among the feveral exerclfes, in which he 
 difplayed his hunger and thirfl after rlghte- 
 
 ^ John iv. 3 i — 34, s Mat, iii, 15. 
 
 *' 1 Cor. i. 30. aCor. V. 21, 
 
 oufnefs. 
 
208 Blejfed are they that hunger ^ &c, 
 
 oufnefs, was the zeal that he invariably fliew- 
 ed, to turn mankind from the love of tem- 
 poral to the love of fpiritual things, to direct 
 that anxiety, which is commonly entertained 
 for the aliment of their mortal bodies, to 
 that more eflential food, which promotes the 
 nurture and conduces to the welfare of their 
 immortal fouls. Thus in the fequel of his Ser- 
 mon on the Mount he cautions his Difciplcs 
 againft that immoderate folicitude, fo much 
 indulged by thofe who had no notion of a fu- 
 perior good : *' Be not full of care, faying. 
 What fliall we eat, or what fhall we drink, 
 or wherewithal ihall we be clothed ? For after 
 all thefe things do the Gentiles feek. But feek 
 ye firft the Kingdom of God and his righte- 
 oufnefs, and all thefe things fiiall be added unto 
 you *." According to this inftrudion muft we 
 underfland that petition in our daily prayer, 
 which in the fame difcourfe he has given us, 
 both as a model how we ought to pray, and 
 as a fummary of all we have to afk. When 
 we implore of God to give us every day our 
 daily bread, we are taught to implore not 
 only material bread for the nurture of the 
 natural, but alfo the bread of life for the fuf- 
 tenance of the fpiritual man. The fame 
 was the moral application of the miracle 
 
 ' Mat, vi. 31, 32, 33. 
 
 which 
 
For they fliall befatis/zed, Q,gQ 
 
 which he wrought, when from a cafual and 
 very fcanty ftore of food he fed many thou- 
 fands in the wildernefs. Thus when the 
 people followed him in the hope of a con- 
 tinual fupply of the fame provilions, he re- 
 prehended them for the motive on which 
 they came, and he added this hiftrud:ive 
 caution ; " Labour not for the meat which 
 perifheth, but for that meat which endureth 
 to eternal life, which the Son of man fhall 
 give unto you ;" namely, the doctrine of 
 righteoufnefs, which, if duly cherifhed in the 
 heart, and cultivated in the pradice, is eflen- 
 tial to eternal life '\ 
 
 From this general inftrud;ion of our Lord 
 we may colled: the charader of thofe that 
 hunger and thirfl: after righteoufnefs. In 
 general they are fuch, as having already paiTed 
 the feverer difcipline of repentance, at their 
 entrance on the Chriftian life, by mourning 
 in a godly fort for fm, have a fervent zeal to 
 fulfil every branch of Chriftian righteoufnefs. 
 Having learnt to moderate their defires for 
 the aliment of the body, they dired their 
 principal concern to the fuftenance of the 
 foul. Paying only a fubordinate regard for 
 their advancement in the world, or the im- 
 
 * John vi. 27. 
 
 provemcnt 
 
300 Bleffed are they that hunger ^ &c» 
 
 provement of their knowledge in temporal 
 things, they are felicitous to grow in grace 
 and in the knowledge of the Lord Jefus 
 Chrift. Difencumbering their minds, as far 
 as their flation in the world will convenient- 
 ly allow, from the many cares of life, they 
 have chofen that better part which fhall ne- 
 ver be taken from them. Confidering them- 
 felves as candidates for the high prize of their 
 Christian calling, as children of the Kingdom 
 and heirs of immortality, they employ their 
 contemplations on that copious field of hea- 
 venly truth, the ways of divine providence 
 and grace ; and by the ftedfaft cultivation of 
 their Chriftian faith, and a diligent obferv- 
 ance of the Chriftian law, they endeavour to 
 conform themfelves to the will, the cha- 
 rader, and image of God in righteoufnefs 
 and true holinefs. 
 
 To fuch as thefe belongs the promife ex- 
 prefled in this Beatitude, that they fiall be fa- 
 tisfied. 
 
 It is the radical defedl of all temporal 
 meats and drinks, that they can never fatif- 
 fy. This appears more efpecially in thofe, 
 who place their happinefs in luxurious indul- 
 gence. Not confining themfelves to the or- 
 dinary bounties of providence, which almofi: 
 
 every 
 
For they Jliall he fatisfied. 301 
 
 every country liberally fupplles to the needs 
 of its inhabitants, they create to themfelves 
 artificial dcfires ; they hunger and thirft after 
 the luxuries of other climes ; they compafs 
 land and fea, they exhauft the elements to 
 yield them a fuperfluous provifion for their 
 pampered appetites. But in vain do they 
 look for happinefs in all this profufion of 
 imaginary goods. By extravagant indulgence 
 their appetite is cloyed without being fatif- 
 fied ; their bodies are difordered ; their years 
 are diminiflied ; and the evening of life is 
 paffed in a gloomy penance for the excefs 
 and intemperance of their brighter day. 
 
 What the luxuries of this world promife 
 in vain, is only to be found in the purfuit 
 and cultivation of righteoufnefs. By that 
 alone can man be finally and completely fa- 
 tisfied. That alone can yield a folid and 
 enduring pleafure, which will always con- 
 tinue with him, and will remain for evermore 
 his own. 
 
 Of this the Heathens had little or no per- 
 ception. Of righteoufnefs in general accord* 
 ing to the fcriptural fenfe they had no vital 
 knowledge ; and after a good yet uneftimat- 
 ed and unknown they could have no intenfe 
 defire. Of the fruits of righteoufnefs they 
 had made no fenfible difcovery, fufficient to 
 
 animate 
 
302 BleJJed are they that hunger, &c, 
 
 animate their zeal, and to ftimulate their en- 
 deavours to acquire them ; and therefore they 
 continued in the purfuit of fuch frail and 
 tranfient and unfatisfa6lory goods, as the 
 world prefented to their immediate hopes 
 and aims, without confidering what was the 
 will and defign of Heaven, and without en- 
 quiring what was their own bufmefs and 
 end. 
 
 The Jews were better taught of God ; 
 though their practice was by no means cor- 
 refpondent with their inftrudion. It was 
 neceffary to remind them, both when they 
 were miraculoufly lupplied with food and 
 water in the wildernefs, and when they had 
 entered upon the poiTefiion of a good and 
 fruitful land, that the full fatisfadion of man 
 did not confifl in thefe things, but in a faith- 
 ful obfervance of the law and will of God. 
 Is was the obfervation of the Pfalmift, that 
 they who put their confidence in God fhould 
 be abundantly fatisfied with the plenteoufnefs 
 of his houfe ; and he would give them to drink 
 of the river of his pleafures. '' For with thee," 
 he continues, " is the fountain of life; and in 
 thy light Ihall we fee light"'." And this 
 was the refult of all Solomon's inveftigation 
 
 "> Pf. XXX vi. 7, 8, 9, 
 
 of 
 
For they JJiall he falhjied, 303 
 
 of the true good of man. After trying every 
 worldly good, and finding the event of all 
 but vanity and vexation of fpirit, he made this 
 at length the conclufion of his folicitous en- 
 quiry ; " Fear God and keep his command- 
 ments ; for this is the whole of man;" this 
 is the whole bufinefs and duty, the whole 
 happinefs and end of man ". 
 
 In the fame vein of fentiment the Prophet 
 Ifaiah invites men to partake of that fpiri- 
 tual fuftcnance, which God is always ready 
 to beftow on them who diligently and de- 
 voutly feek it : *' Ho, every one that thirfi:- 
 eth, come to the waters ; and he that hath 
 no money, come, buy, and eat ; yea come, 
 buy wine and milk without money and 
 without price. Wherefore do ye fpend money 
 for that which is not bread ? and your labour 
 for that which fatisfieth not ? Hearken dili- 
 gently unto me ; and eat ye that which is 
 good ; and let your foul be repleniflied with 
 fatnefs °." 
 
 This gracious invitation by the Man of 
 God applies, not fo much to that dlfpen- 
 fation under which he lived, as to that 
 which he contemplated with prophetic eye, 
 Avhen the Kingdom of the Meffiah lliould 
 
 ° Ecclef, xii, 15. * Ifa, Iv. I, a. 
 
 be 
 
304 Bleffed are theij that hunger j &c. 
 
 be eftablillied in the world. It was the pe- 
 culiar care of our bleiTed Lord to fatisfy the 
 hungry and the thirfly foul with goodnefs. 
 He omitted no opportunity to relieve the 
 wants and to repair the infirmities of humart 
 nature. But in all thefe acls of temporal 
 benevolence he had a far more important 
 and valuable aim in view. In fatisfying the 
 neceffities of the body he was anxious at the 
 fame time to fatisfy the more important ne- 
 ceffities of the foul. Thus when he had mi- 
 raculoufly relieved the wants of the multi- 
 tude in the wildernefs, when from the fcanty 
 ftore of a few loaves and fiflies feveral thou- 
 fands ate and were fatisfied, he took care to 
 inftrudl his Difciples in the moral purpofe 
 and improvement of this temporal relief : *' I 
 am the bread of life. He that cometh ta 
 me fhall never hunger ; and he that believ- 
 eth on me fhall never thirft." Wherein he 
 affirmed that he was the true fource of fpi- 
 ritual fuflenance, that all, who profefled his 
 faith, and obeyed his precepts, fliould have 
 all their fpiritual wants eiFe^ually and eter- 
 nally fupplied^. And fimilar to this was the 
 language which he employed at the well of 
 Sychar to the woman of Samaria: " Whofo- 
 
 P John vi. 35. 
 
 ever 
 
For tJieyJludl hefati^ed, 305 
 
 ever drinketh of this water Ihall thiril again : 
 But whofoever drinketh of the water that I 
 Ihall give him fhall never thirfh ; but it fhall 
 be to him a wxll of water fpringing up to 
 everlafting life ^" 
 
 The virtue here propofed to the cultiva- 
 tion of Chriftians is attended by its appro- 
 priate reward. To them that hunger and 
 thirfl after righteoufnefs is given a fulnefs of 
 fatisfadion both in time and in eternity. 
 
 In time they have the bleffing of a tran- 
 quil confcience, " that peace of God which 
 pafTeth all underftanding." They have fatif- 
 fadtion in the ways of providence and grace : 
 And having every want of their fpiritual 
 part fupplied, they are indifferent about the 
 enjoyment or privation of inferior good. 
 They have fatisfaclion in the complacence of 
 their own hearts, and in the favour of God, 
 which is better than life and every thing 
 dear in life. In all thefe refpeds " the 
 righteous have a continual feaft," a feaft far 
 fuperior to every temporal feftivity, as it will 
 never furfeit, yet will always fatisfy. It is 
 continued and renewed every day without 
 producing languor and difguft; but invariably 
 yields an undiminifhed and unchangeable fa- 
 tisfadion. 
 
 ^ John iv. 13, 14. 
 
 X But 
 
306 Blejffed are they that hunger, &c. 
 
 But this feaft of the foul on earth is no 
 more than an antepaft or earned of that fpi- 
 ritual banquet in another hfe, provided for 
 them that hunger and thirft after righteouf- 
 nefs. Our Lord himfelf reprefents the hap- 
 pinefs of the world to come by the expref- 
 five image of fitting down as at a Feaft with 
 Abraham and Ifaac and Jacob in the King- 
 dom of Heaven ^" And in the Book of 
 Revelations the beatitude of thofe, who are 
 invefted with the white robe of righteouf- 
 nefs, is reprefented by the privilege of attend- 
 ing the marriage of the Lamb of God, or, to 
 diveft this language of the veil of parable, 
 the fpiritual union of our great Redeemer 
 with his Church triumphant in heaven. And 
 blefied indeed are they, who ihall be called 
 to this Marriage Feaft ! Blefled are they, who 
 are bidden to eat bread in the Kingdom of 
 God ' ! 
 
 In the fame divine Volume the happinefs 
 of the heavenly ftate is pictured to us by the 
 Tree of life, overfhadowing the pure River 
 of the water of life, and yielding fruits 
 through the fucceffion of months in great 
 abundance and variety. If we fo hunger and 
 thirft after righteoufnefs, as to give ourfelves 
 
 ^ Mat. vill. 1 1. s Rev. xix. 9. Luke xiv. i^. 
 
 entirely 
 
For they Jhall hefatisfied. 307 
 
 entirely to the cultivation of holinefs both in 
 heart and life, we iliall partake in that Beati- 
 tude pronounced by the Captain of our fal- 
 vation ; " To him that overcometh will I 
 give to eat of the Tree of life, which is in 
 the midft of the Paradife of God." The 
 Tree of life was originally planted in the 
 Garden of Eden ; and there it throve, while 
 Man continued innocent. But when by 
 tafling the forbidden fruit he fell, the whole 
 earth w^as corrupted by his depravity, and it 
 could no longer thrive on that degenerate 
 foil. But it ftill fubfills in undecaying health, 
 fertility, and bloom in heaven. It there ex- 
 pands its leaves for the healing of the na- 
 tions. It there abounds in falutiferous fruits 
 for the reparation of all thofe diforders, which 
 the mortal tafte of the forbidden Tree pro- 
 duced in all the progeny of Adam. Who- 
 ever hungers and thirfts after righteoufnefs, 
 fliall partake of itSo fruits, and be completely 
 fatisfied '. 
 
 * Rev. xxii. 2. 11. 7. 
 
 X 2, 
 
SERMON XIII. 
 
 Matthew v. 7. 
 
 Blejfed are the Merciful: for theyjhall oltain Mercy. 
 
 In the four firft of his Beatitudes our Lord 
 has delineated the more general features of 
 the Chriftian character. In the fequel he 
 proceeds to fpecify four particular difpofitions, 
 which have a claim to a preeminent and dif- 
 tinguifhed place in the roll of Chriftian Vir- 
 tues. — The firfl of thefe is Mercy, a difpo- 
 fition very nearly allied to Charity or bro- 
 therly Love, and therefore eafily admitting 
 of a joint confideration with it. 
 
 The difpolition of Mercy feems on the firfl 
 reflexion to be congenial to the foul of man. 
 It may be regarded as a primary affedion of 
 our nature to take an intereft in the welfare 
 of our fellow-creatures, to feel a fatisfadlion 
 in being able to increafe their comforts and 
 to alleviate their miferies. When thus it fo 
 immediately arrefts the moral feeling of man- 
 
 X 3 kind. 
 
310 ^kU^^^ fi'^'^ ^'''t" Merciful: 
 
 kind, we cannot wonder that it fliould be 
 approved by the Teachers of moral truth even 
 in the Heathen world. But when w^e bring 
 this fentiment to the teft of experience, we 
 find it had but a feeble hold upon their prac- 
 tice. It is true the Heathens in private life 
 might cultivate friendfliip, and in public life 
 might difplay a zeal for the welfare and prof- 
 perity of their country. Yet if we explore 
 their characters in private, they were ready 
 to give way to a revengeful difpofition to- 
 wards thofe who had given offence ; and 
 they were immoderately fevere to their flaves 
 and dependents : if we furvey their charac- 
 ters in public, they looked with a hoftile 
 eye on foreign ftates ; and when hoftility 
 broke forth, they were fhrangers to the exer- 
 cife of compaffion and clemency. Hence 
 they are reprefcnted by the Apoflle as full of 
 envy, murder, and malignity, without natu- 
 ral affedion, implacable, unmerciful ^ 
 ^ The Children of Ifrael had been inftrudled 
 in better principles. As the firft great com- 
 mandment of their Law was. To love the 
 Lord with all their hearts, fo the fecond bore 
 a clofe refemblance to it and a near degree 
 of kindred, To love their neighbour as them- 
 
 * Rom, i. 29, 31. 
 
 felves. 
 
For they Jliall obtain Mercy. 311 
 
 felves, which unqueftionably comprehends 
 every branch and every form of mercy and 
 charity to mankind. They were more efpe- 
 clally enjoined a practical benevolence to 
 thofe, who ftood more immediately in need 
 of their affiftance, the ftranger, the fatherlefs, 
 and the widow. And there were many 
 equitable laws for alleviating miferles and im- 
 parting mercies, not only to the human fpe- 
 cies, but even to the brute creation. And 
 the Prophet recommends as duties virtuous 
 in themfelves, and more acceptable to God 
 than every kind of formal fervice and ritual 
 obedience, that they undo the heavy burdens, 
 and let the oppreffed go free, that they deal 
 their bread to the hungry, that they cover 
 the naked with a garment, and that they re- 
 ceive the houfelefs poor under their roofs ^. 
 
 But the Jews in general did not live in 
 the exercife of this law ; for they had in a 
 great meafure impaired their fenfe of obliga- 
 tion to it, and thereby virtually rendered it 
 of none effecfl, by their glofles and traditions. 
 This appears from the teftimony of our Lord 
 in his Sermon on the Mount; who after pro- 
 fefling, that he was not come to deftroy the 
 Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil them, has 
 
 ^ Ifa. Iviii. 6, 7. 
 
 X 4 marked 
 
3 1 2 Billed are the Merciful : 
 
 marked in different inftances their erroneous 
 acceptation, and in confequence alfo their de- 
 fediive pra6tice of the Law, and who at the 
 lame time has cllabHflied a more corre6t in- 
 terpretation and a more vital praclice. 
 
 The ancient Law had faid, " Thou flialt 
 not kill," and had fand:ioned this prohibition 
 by the punilliment of death to the tranf- 
 greiTor of that commandment. Our Lord, 
 not fatisfied with prohibiting the ad: itfelf, 
 forbade under far feverer penalties all kinds 
 of calumnious, intemperate, and uncharitable 
 language to the prejudice or offence of their 
 neighbour ; and to flrike at the root of all 
 bitternefs and malice, he forbade men to be 
 angry with their brother without a caufe. And 
 this dlfpofition he inculcated with greater 
 energy and cfJedt, as' he made it a neceflary 
 qualification for approaching God with any gift 
 or offering, that they come in a flate of re- 
 conciliation and charity with their brethren ^. 
 
 On the fame principle of juftice, by which 
 it denounced blood for blood and life for life, 
 the ancient Law decreed retaliation for infe- 
 rior wrongs, " An eye for an eye, and a tooth 
 for a tooth :" or in more general terms. As 
 one man hath done to another, fo be it done 
 
 *^ Exod. XX. ij. Mat. v. 2i — 26. 
 
 -to 
 
For t hey Jliall ohta in Mercy . 313 
 
 to "him. This ordinance for the punifhment of 
 perfonal offences in the public diftributlon 
 of juftice they were too ready to interpret as 
 an indulgence to revenge in their common 
 intercourfe between man and man. Our 
 Lord requires his followers, that they refifl 
 not evil, but rather expofe themfclves to a 
 repetition of wTongs, than violate the law of 
 mercy and benevolence. And for a general 
 rule of condudl in their focial intercourfe he 
 eftablifhed this principle of jufliice and charity 
 combined, which, however it had been mifap- 
 prehended by the Jews, he acknowledged to 
 be the fpirit of the Law and of the Prophets. 
 " Whatfoever ye would that men Ihould do 
 to you, do ye alfo to them." The fame doc- 
 trine of forbearing and forgiving one another 
 he repeatedly afl'erted in the fequel of his mi- 
 niflry. Thus when Peter put this queftion to 
 him, " How often fliall my Brother fni againft 
 me, and I forgive him ? until {^x^n times ?" 
 he received this anfuer ; " I fay not unto 
 thee. Until feven times, but until feventy 
 times feven." He was not to limit his for- 
 givenefs to any certain number or compafs of 
 offences, but he was continually to forgive 
 his brother, whenever he fhewed a difpofition 
 to repentance ^. 
 
 ^ £xocl. xxi. 24. Mat, V. 38 — 42. vii. 13. xvlli. 21, 23. 
 
 The 
 
314 Blejfed are the Merciful : 
 
 The ancient Law had fiiid, ** Thou fhalt 
 love thy Neighbour as thyfelf." This com- 
 mandment was holy, wife, and good. But 
 the Jews had in a great meafure difannul- 
 led its virtue by their contraded inter- 
 pretation. For they limited the relation 
 of neighbour within the pale of their own 
 country and religion. Toward perfons of 
 another ftate and of another creed they con- 
 sidered themfelves as releafed from all obliga- 
 tions of benevolence : and were moved in 
 confequence to regard them in the light of 
 .enemies. Thus the Heathens in general 
 they regarded with contempt ; and the Sa- 
 maritans they beheld with enmity little fliort 
 of abhorrence. Even thofe, who were of the 
 fame communion both civil and religious, 
 they were far from loving with the fpirit of 
 their divine law. As divifions arofe among 
 them, the partizans of one feci confidered 
 themfelves authorized to hate and even to 
 perfecute another fe6l. Our Lord obferved 
 of the Publicans, that they limited their good 
 offices to thofe, who paid them the fame good 
 offices in return. And he gave this charac- 
 ter of the Pharifees, that they laid heavy 
 burdens on the fhoulders of others, which 
 they would not move themfelves with one of 
 
 their 
 
For they Jliall obtain Mercy . 315 
 
 their fingers. Thus their charity was im- 
 paired by any difference of opinion ; and as 
 the circle of their benevolence was gradually 
 contracted, the fcope of their mercy became 
 very limited indeed ^. 
 
 Our Lord on the other hand has given the 
 fulleft compafs and effecfl: to this law of focial 
 love ; for he requires us to confider all under 
 the relation of neighbours, and intitled to the 
 benevolence of this law, who partake in the 
 fame common bonds of nature and the fame 
 common benefits of providence. Hence he 
 requires us to love our enemies, to do good 
 indifferently to all, and inftead of fatisfying 
 ourfelves with paying courteiy for courtefy 
 and benevolence for benevolence, to pay them 
 to thofe who can make us no return, and to 
 render good for evil in every form of charity, 
 by our exertions, by our fer vices, and by our 
 prayers. 
 
 On the fame great focial duty he took all 
 occafions to expatiate in all his doctrines, 
 Let me inftance his converfation with the 
 Lawyer, who, proud of his own attainments 
 in the knowledge of the Law, was difpofed 
 to try the proficiency of our Lord. When 
 
 * Lev, XIX. 18. Mat. v. 43 — 48, xxili, 4, 
 
 they 
 
3 1 6 BleJJed are the Merciful : 
 
 they came to touch on the fecond great com- 
 mandment of the Law, ** Thou llialt love 
 thy Neighbour as thyfelf," the Lawyer put 
 this queftlon, *•' And who is my Neighbour?" 
 To which our Lord difcreetly anfwered by a 
 parable : A Traveller had fallen among Rob- 
 bers, who had flript and wounded him, and 
 left him on the road half dead. A Prieft, 
 and a Levite, as they journeyed on the fame 
 road, feverally looked on him, and continued 
 their journey without extending to him any 
 relief. But a Samaritan coming by had com- 
 paffion on him, and without paufmg to en- 
 quire what his country and religion were, he 
 immediately took him under his hofpitable 
 care, and gave him every neceflary affiftance 
 and fupport. Hereupon Jefus aiks the Lawyer 
 in turn ; " Which now of thefe three think- 
 eft thou was neighbour unto him that fell 
 among thieves ?" Prejudiced as the Lawyer 
 was to his own contradled interpretation of 
 the Law, he could not hefitate to fay in an- 
 fwer; " He that fliewed mercy on him.'* 
 On which our Lord immediately brought 
 the inftrudlion home to his confcience ; and 
 the admonition, that he has given to him, 
 he has given indifferently to all ; " Go and 
 do thou likewife ^.'* 
 
 *' Livkex, 2_5 — 2)1' 
 
 This 
 
For they Jf I all ohtain Mercy. 317 
 
 This virtuous difpofitlon, fo powerfully 
 recommended in our holy Teacher's precepts, 
 was more fully reprefented and embodied to 
 us in his own example. It was in mercy to 
 mankind, that he left his Father's bofom, 
 and fubmitted to experience in his own 
 perfon the infirmities, the forrows, and the 
 wants of our nature. His whole pilgrimage 
 on earth was one continued exercife of cha- 
 rity to men. He went about doing good, 
 difpenfing benevolence both temporal and 
 Spiritual, healing the difeafes of the body, 
 and correding the diforders of the foul, fpeak- 
 ing confolation to the broken-hearted, and 
 preaching the glad tidings of falvation to all. 
 This he did impartially to thofe who valued, 
 and to thofe who defpifed his mercy, to Pub- 
 licans and Sinners, and to Pharifees and 
 Scribes. His beneficence to mankind, thus 
 continued through a life of toil and forrow 
 for our fakes, he ftill more abundantly teflii- 
 iied by his death. To bring us into a ftate 
 of reconciliation with God, and to procure 
 for us that mercy at his Father's hands, 
 which we had forfeited by our fins, and 
 which we were unable to recover by any ad: 
 or fcrvice of our own, he fubmitted to the 
 greateft agonies that can befal our nature. 
 And though they were inflicted on him 
 
 through 
 
318 BleJJed are the Merciful : 
 
 through the malice of his perfecutors, yet fo 
 merciful was his difpofition, and fo felicitous 
 was his mind for the general good of all, 
 not excepting thofe who had done the worft 
 to him, that even in the extremities of his 
 fufFerings he put up this prayer for his mur- 
 derers, " Father, forgive them ; for they know 
 not w^hat they do." 
 
 And this virtuous difpofition, which he 
 exercifed himfelf in fo eminent a degree, he 
 has earneflily recommended to the imitation 
 of all his Difciples : " A new command- 
 ment I give unto you, that ye' love one an- 
 other ; as I have loved you : that ye alfo love 
 one another." As he had given this com- 
 mandment an energy and compafs unknown 
 to the Gentiles and unacknowledged by the 
 Jews, he had good reafon to call it a new 
 commandment ; and he therefore takes the 
 exercife of this virtue for the peculiar badge 
 of his profeffion : *' By this fliall all men 
 know that ye are my difciples, if ye have love 
 one to another ^." 
 
 From this precept and example wx may 
 collect who are the merciful in the eye of our 
 religion. Senfible of the undeferved good- 
 nefs, which they derive from the Father of 
 
 sjohn xiii.34, 35. 
 
 mercies. 
 
For they Jhall obtain Mercy. Sip 
 
 mercies, they are anxious to exprefs their 
 gratitude by mercy to their brethren. They 
 have a feeUng fentiment of affedllon for them, 
 as children of the fame Father, partakers of 
 the fame nature, and inheritors of the fame 
 graces. The charity, which they feel for 
 them in their hearts, they are ready to ex- 
 prefs in their aftions. They grudge no fa- 
 crifice of time or labour or expence or cafe 
 to do them good. They fliew this charity 
 without partiality or refped: of perfons not 
 only to their neighbours in the literal fenfe, 
 but to all with whom they are allied by the 
 common bonds of humanity. But not con- 
 tenting themfelves with this general exercife 
 of benevolence, they pracflife it in cafes, 
 where a facrifice is made of the more tur- 
 bulent paffions of our nature ; they fupprefs 
 all motions of anger and maUce againft their 
 brethren ; they check every difpofition to re- 
 venge or retaliate wrongs ; they freely for- 
 give all injuries received ; and while they are 
 careful not to do injuries or to give offence 
 to others, yet where a fhadow of injury has 
 been given, or offence however groundlefs 
 has been taken, they make no delay to folicit 
 reconciliation. On the whole, that there 
 may be no re{l:rid:ion * in tlieir exercife of 
 
 mercy. 
 
3-20 BJpJJed are the Merciful: 
 
 mercy, they do good even to their enemies, 
 and they render good for evil. 
 
 All they, W'ho in thefe refpecfls obey the 
 lav^^, and copy the example of their divine 
 Mafter, have a title to the name and charac- 
 ter of the Merciful, and confequently have a 
 portion in the bleffmg here affigned, that they 
 Jhall obtain mercy. 
 
 In the ordinary courfe of things they will 
 obtain this recompence with men. When 
 in all their foclal intercourfe they fliew a for- 
 bearing and forgiving, a merciful and charita- 
 ble difpofition, by the natural order of provi- 
 dence they will engage from men the exer- 
 cife of the fame difpofition in return. But 
 the fpirit of our Saviour's promife applies 
 more efpecially, perhaps entirely, to the mer- 
 cy which they may hope from God. 
 
 This motive had little or no influence upon 
 the Heathens, as they had little or no notion 
 of a fuperintending providence and the re- 
 munerating care of Heaven. And therefore, 
 when they had opportunity to exercife a fpi- 
 rit of revenge, they were feldom retrained 
 by the apprehenfion, that in the viciffitude of 
 things they might be expofed to a fevere reta- 
 hation from the hands of men. 
 
 Nor 
 
For theyJJiall obtain Mercy. 321 
 
 Nor did this motive operate with great ef- 
 fe(fl upon the Jews, who Vt^ere taught of 
 God himfelf his nature and attributes, and 
 among thefe his compaffion and clemency. 
 To this people he appeared in the majefty of 
 hisjuftice more than in the fofter beams of 
 mercy, as the Law which he gave them de- 
 nounced certain punilliments for certain tranf- 
 greffions without mitigation or reprieve. Not- 
 withftanding this, even under that feverer 
 Difpenfation he is frequently characterized as 
 long fufFering and of great mercy, as full of 
 compaffion and forgivenefs, even to thofe 
 who had rebelled againft him, provided they 
 returned again in repentance ; as ihewing 
 mercy to thoufands of them that love him 
 and keep his commandments. This divine 
 attribute is the continual theme of the Pfalm- 
 ift, who had known it by experience both 
 in his domeftic and his civil capacity. And 
 there is no fentiment which has a more fre- 
 quent recurrence in the book of Pfalms than 
 this, " that his mercy endureth for ever." 
 This mercy he was always ready to Ihew to 
 them, who repented of their fms, correded 
 and amended their ways, and turned unto 
 him with all their hearts. It was particularly 
 /liewn to them, who copied him in the fame 
 attribute of mercy. Thus the Pfalmill af- 
 
 Y fert 
 
322 BleJJhd are the Merciful : 
 
 ferts it for an eftablillied principle in the go- 
 vernment of God; *' With the merciful thou 
 wilt fliew thyfelf merciful." And it feems 
 to have been in the difpenfations of his pro- 
 vidence a law of retributive juftice, that as 
 men dealt with others, fo alfo would he deal 
 with them. 
 
 It was referved for the Gofpel of Jefus 
 Chrift to reprefent the Lord of all in the ful- 
 ncfs of his mercy, compaffion, and benevo- 
 lence. Of this we have a feeling fenfe, 
 when we confider at the fame time what the 
 Gofpel more fully reprefents, the demerit of 
 mankind. It is one chief element ofChriilian 
 knowledge, that we are all by nature in a 
 ftate of fm, and therefore liable to the wrath 
 of God. Yet if he were extreme to mark 
 our tranfgreffions, we lliould not be able to 
 abide the feverity of hisjuft difpleafure. To 
 cheer our doubtful and dejed:ed hearts under 
 this conviction, he is mani felled to us in the 
 laft revelation of himfelf as the Father of 
 mercies and the God of all comfort. As 
 brotherly love was the peculiar quality, by 
 which our Saviour fought to diftinguifh men, 
 {o mercy was the peculiar attribute, by which 
 he reprefented God to human view. His 
 Gofpel is fitly ftyled by the Apoftle " The 
 grace of God, which bringeth falvation to all 
 
 men." 
 
For they Jhall obtain Mercy. 323 
 
 men." Therein his mercy is'moft confpicu- 
 oully Ihewn in that great myftery of redemp- 
 tion and atonement by his only Son, by which 
 he reconciled the world to himfelf. Therein 
 he is pourtrayed in the charad:er and relation 
 of a tender Father, as taking complacence in 
 the good conduct of his prudent and virtu- 
 ous Children, as lamenting over thofe who 
 go aftray, yet even in their apoftaly looking 
 upon them with parental regard, felicitous to 
 reclaim them, and exerting every means con- 
 fiftent with a ftate of difcipline to recover 
 them from the error of their ways; and when 
 by falutary warnings they are brought to 
 themfelves, as going forth in the fpirit %o 
 meet them on their return, receiving them 
 with compaffion and clemency, readmitting 
 them into his houfehold,^ and rejoicing over 
 their reftoration from the death of fin to the 
 life of righteoufnefs ^. 
 
 But this divine mercy mufi: not be regard- 
 ed as an unconditional indulgence. In order 
 to have an intereft in the atonement of 
 Chrift on the crofs, and his interceffion at 
 the mercy-feat of Heaven, we muft comply 
 with thofe terms of grace, by which alone 
 this mercy can extend to us. We mufi; have 
 
 ^ Luke XV. II — 32. 
 
 y 2 a lively 
 
324 Bleffed are the Merciful: 
 
 a lively faith in God's mercies through Chrift, 
 we *muft repent us truly of all thofe fins 
 which demanded the atonement of his pre- 
 cious blood, and we muft ftedfaftly refolve 
 with the affiftance of divine grace to prefent 
 ourfelves both body and foul a living facrifice 
 to God, to yield him the reafonable fervice of 
 a h.oly life. But the more immediate condi- 
 tion, the more appropriate means of obtain- 
 ing compaffion for ourfelves, is to fhew com- 
 paffion to our brethren. It is highly agree- 
 able to the reafon of things, as well as to the 
 word of God, that if we would prevail on 
 him to be merciful to us, we muft imitate 
 his charadler in being merciful to one an- 
 other. For this purpofe our Lord has taught 
 us in his Sermon on the Mount, when we 
 think of offering any gift upon the altar, in 
 other words, of paying any facrifice of prayer, 
 any tribute of devotion, to confider firft, whe- 
 ther we are in charity with men, and if we 
 recoiled: any matter of offence between us 
 and our brethren, to fufpend on the inftant 
 our tribute of devotion to God, and to feek 
 immediate reconciliation with them ; for 
 then, and not before, we fhall be compe- 
 tient to yield an acceptable offering to God. 
 To the fame intept, having taught us in our 
 daily prayers to fuppUcate of God the remif- 
 
 fion 
 
For they JJi all obtain Mercy. 325 
 
 ifion of our debts, even as we forgive our 
 debtors, he adds in fupport of this inftrudlion, 
 that if we forgive our brethren, we may hope 
 for ourfelves the forgivenefs of God ; but if 
 we do not forgive them, we can have no 
 ground of hope that we fhall be forgiven our- 
 Xelves. 
 
 This do6lrine is w^ell illuftrated in the Pa- 
 rable of the King, who took an account of 
 his Servants. Of thefe one was brought be- 
 fore him, who owed him a fum immenfe, 
 and fuch as he could never pay. In the fe- 
 verity of his juflice he commanded, that he 
 and his family and all his polTeffions fhould be 
 fold, and payment as far as that would reach 
 be made. Hereupon the Servant fell at his 
 feet, and faid, " Have patience with me, and 
 I will pay thee all." His Lord was moved 
 with compaffion, and forgave him all the 
 debt. Notwithflanding this great ad: of cle- 
 mency, the fervant was no fooner releafcd, 
 than he went and arrefted one of his fellow- 
 fervants, who owed him a fum compara- 
 tively very fmall. The poor debtor made 
 the fame fupplication to him, which himfelf 
 had recently made to his Lyord ; ** Have pa- 
 tience with me, and I will pay thee all." 
 But he reje(5ted his fuit, and committed him 
 to prifon till he lliould pay the debt. On 
 Y 3 hearing 
 
326 Blejfed are the Merciful : 
 
 hearing this, their common Lord called this 
 unmerciful fervant into his prefence, and up- 
 braided him for his conduct, faying; ''Ought- 
 eft thou not to have had compaflion on thy 
 fellow-fervant, even as I had mercy on thee?'* 
 In conclufion, he retradted that mercy, which 
 had been lately (hewn to him ; and as he had 
 rigidly infilled on payment from another, fo 
 was payment rigidly required of him '. The 
 application of this parable is obvious. We 
 are all in the condition of this infolvent fer- 
 vant. We owe our Lord an immenfe debt 
 in fms committed and in duties left undone : 
 and if he were rigid in exading what we 
 owe, who indeed would be able to endure it? 
 Yet on our earneft fupplication for pardon or 
 forbearance, with our fmcere refolution and 
 endeavour to furrender all we can, he gene- 
 roufly remits the boundlefs debt we owe him. 
 But one condition on our part is implied in 
 this promife of grace and clemency on his, 
 that we alfo be merciful to our brethren, even 
 as God is merciful to us all : Otherwife we 
 can have no pretenfion to fuppofe, that his 
 overtures of mercy can apply to us. 
 
 But this motive is placed in the cleareft 
 and mofl: impreffive light in that folemn pic- 
 
 ' Mat. xviii. 23 — ;^^. 
 
 ture. 
 
For they JJiall obtain Mercy . 327 
 
 ture, which our Lord has given of the day of 
 judgment, in which the final deftinies of men 
 are ftated to depend on the practice or omif- 
 fion of mercy or charity to others. All thofe, 
 who have neglected their brethren in diftrefs, 
 he will regard in the fame light, as if they had 
 neglected him ; and as they fhewed no mercy 
 to their fellow- Chriftians, in like manner he 
 will fhew no mercy to them. But thofe 
 on the other hand, who have relieved the fe- 
 veral wants, and alleviated the feveral miferies 
 of their brethren, who have adminiflered food 
 to the hungry and drink to the thirfty, who 
 have clothed the naked, and vifited the fick, 
 and comforted the imprifoned, he will re- 
 ceive with the higheft marks of approbation 
 and regard, will accept what they have done 
 to the lead of his brethren as done immedi- 
 ately to him, will call them the Bleffed of 
 his Father, and will invite them to inherit 
 the Kingdom prepared for them from the 
 foundation of the world ^, 
 
 ^ Mat. KXY. 3 1 — 46. 
 
 Y 4 
 
SERMON XIV. 
 
 Matthew v. 8. 
 BleJJed are the Pure in heart : for they Jhall fee God. 
 
 JlN the feries of Beatitudes pronounced by 
 our Lord, with the Merciful are aflbciated 
 the Pure in heart, as forming an eflential 
 character in his Followers, and being entitled 
 to a correfpondent reward. The Difpofition 
 here commended engages no cultivation, the 
 Bleffing here affigned induces no attraction, 
 among the children of this world. Perverted 
 by their carnal paffions they have no eftima- 
 tion of internal purity, they have no defire of 
 feeing God. Such in general has been the 
 cafe ever fmce the firft difobedience of Man. 
 While Man remained in innocence, he was 
 bleffed in the prefence, he had complacence 
 in the fight of God. But when by tranfgref- 
 fion he had loft the purity of his nature, he 
 was no longer worthy of that bleifed privi- 
 lege, he was no longer competent to enjoy 
 it. And feeing he was now become alienated 
 
 from 
 
330 Blejfed are the Pure in heart : 
 
 from the love of God and the defire of his 
 countenance, God withdrew his face from 
 him, and left him to the vain purfuit of his 
 own imaginations. The confequence was 
 evident in the Heathen world. Having loft 
 all perception of the divine prefence, they 
 alfo loft the appreheniion of his providence 
 and government ; they fell into moft extra- 
 vagant idolatries ; they changed the truth of 
 God into a lie ; and they worfliipped the 
 creature rather than the Creator. This per- 
 verfion of their underftandings had its neceffa- 
 ry effed: in the corruption of their hearts and 
 the depravity of their lives. Becaufe they 
 did net like to retain God in their know- 
 ledge, he gave them up to a reprobate mind; 
 and they furrendered themfelves without re- 
 ftraint or remorfe to the vileft afFed:ions and 
 the grofteft impurities ^. 
 
 When God revealed himfelf to the Chil- 
 dren of Ifrael, he reftored in fome degree that 
 knowledge of himfelf which had been loft in 
 the world. But in order that they might 
 continue under the vital fenfe of his more 
 immediate prefence and prote^ion, he re- 
 quired a conformity of charadler in purity 
 and holinefs. Being fet apart from the na- 
 
 ' Rom. i. 25, &c. 
 
 tions 
 
For they Jliall fee God. 331 
 
 tions of the earth for the fervice of a pure 
 and holy God, they were pronounced a holy 
 Nation, a peculiar People ; they were taught 
 to feparate themfelves from every thing un- 
 clean. For this intent was publilhed the Mo- 
 ral Law, which not only prefcribed the ge- 
 neral rule of duty both to God and Man, 
 but alfo regulated their perfonal deportment, 
 being defigned to control and moderate their 
 carnal paffions, and to reftrain them from 
 grofs and impure gratifications^ It guarded, 
 though not indeed with rigid penalties, againfi: 
 the flagrant and irreparable injury of feduc- 
 tion ; it pronounced a fentence of excifion 
 for the violation of the marriage vow ; it 
 fmoked with vengeance againft all inordinate 
 affedlions. Still however fome allowances 
 were made, and fome indulgences were grant- 
 ed, to the people of Ifrael, becaufe of the 
 hardnefs of their hearts. Though the Law 
 of Mofes could not countenance, it feems to 
 have connived at concubinage and polygamy; 
 and it admitted of divorce on very flight and 
 even imaginary grounds. Together with the 
 Moral a Ritual Law was alfo appointed, 
 which appears among other reafons to have 
 been ordained in compliance with the rude 
 conceptions of a carnal people, who are more 
 advantageoufly controlled by external form 
 
 than 
 
332 Bleffed are the Pure in heart : 
 
 than by internal regulations. But the prin- 
 cipal and final aim of all this ordinance was 
 to fiiadow forth the moral purity required of 
 thofe, who would be acceptable in the fight 
 of God. Thus the rite, by which they were 
 inftituted into the Legal Covenant, was ex- 
 preffive of the duty impofed upon them to 
 renounce and abandon every fpecies of impu- 
 rity. To the fame puq)ofe alfo was that va- 
 riety of wafhings and facrifices and other ri- 
 tual obfervance's ordained by the fame au- 
 thority ; the fpirit of all which, as their law 
 exprefsly taught, was " that they might be 
 clean from all their fms before the Lord." 
 And indeed it was allowed by the wife and 
 good among them, that as the Ceremonial 
 was a fhadow of the Moral Law, it was no 
 otherwife acceptable in the fight of God, than 
 as it was accompanied with a faithful obferv- 
 ance of moral purity. Thus the Pfalmift, 
 when he humbled himfelf in penitence for 
 his fm, makes this confeffion to God; *' Thou 
 delireft no facrifice, elfe would I give it thee: 
 but thou delightefl not in burnt offerings." 
 Though facrifices and offerings of various kinds 
 had been exprefsly enjoined by their divine 
 Lawgiver, yet unlefs accompanied by moral 
 fervices, they would not be pleafing to him, 
 nor available to the pardon and acceptance 
 
 of 
 
For' they Jliall fee God. 333^ 
 
 of the worfliipper : ** The facrifices of God 
 are a broken fpirit : A broken and contrite 
 heart, O God, thou wilt not defpifc." Ac- 
 cordingly the Pfalmift thus devoutly and in 
 fpirit prays ; '* Wafli me from mine iniqui- 
 ties ; and cleanfe me from my fin. Create 
 in me a clean heart ; and renew a right fpirit 
 within me ^." 
 
 Thus alfo Ifaiah in reproof of his country- 
 men declares, that the multitude of their fa- 
 crifices, oblations, and folemn obfervances were 
 fo far from being acceptable to God, though 
 they all were of his appointment, that they 
 wxre hateful in his fight, becaufe they were 
 offered by hands that w ere flained with blood 
 and defiled with iniquity. For the recovery 
 of the divine favour he exhorts them to puri- 
 fy themfelves in a moral fcnfe, by a complete 
 repentance from fm and a total amendment 
 of life ; ** Wafli you, make you clean : put 
 away the evil of your doings from before 
 mine eyes } ceafe to do evil ; learn to do 
 well ; feek judgment, relieve the oppreffed, 
 judge the fatherlefs, plead for the widow." 
 On condition of which radical change and 
 renovation of fpirit they might hope for the 
 pardon and the peace of God. " Though 
 
 *' Pfa. li, 2, 10, \6, 17. 
 
 their 
 
334 BleJJed are the Pure in heart: 
 
 their fins were as fcarlet, they Ihould be 
 white as fnow j though they were red hke 
 crimfon, they fliould be as wool ''." 
 
 Notwithftanding this remonftrance of the 
 Prophet, and many more injunctions to the 
 like effedl, it was a prevailing error, even 
 among thofe who profeffed themfelves to be 
 mailers of divine truth in Ifrael, to cultivate 
 the ritual, yet forget the moral Law, to ob- 
 ferve the letter, but overlook the fpirit of the 
 Mofaic ordinances. This eipecialiy was the 
 error of the Pharifees and Scribes j who ac- 
 cordingly are open to our Lord's reproof for 
 wafhing their hands with pun6tilious atten- 
 tion, yet negledling to purify themfelves from 
 the grofler turpitude of extortion and excefs ; 
 for fcrupuloully paying tithe of mint, anife, 
 and cummin, yet carelefsly difregarding the 
 weightier matters of judgment, mercy, and 
 faith; for outwardly appearing righteous unto 
 men, yet inwardly being full of hypocrify and 
 iniquity ^. 
 
 To redify the underftandings and the hearts 
 of men in this important branch of human 
 duty he pronounced a Bleffing on the Pure 
 in heart. In fupport of the character, which 
 he thus propofed to the cultivation of his Dif- 
 
 ' Ifa. i. 10 — 18. ^ Mat. s.xni. 23, &c. 
 
 ciples. 
 
For they JJiall fee God. 335 
 
 ciples, he {lands forward himfelf a full and 
 perfe(fl Exemplar. He was pure and fpotlefs 
 both in heart and life. Though he fubmitted 
 to all the other infirmities of our nature, he 
 was totally free from every moral ftain. When 
 he offered himfelf a propitiation for our fms, 
 he had that eflential quality of an acceptable 
 facrifice in its true and fpiritual purpofe, that 
 he was without blemilh and without fpot. 
 Thus being effentially holy, harmlefs, unde- 
 filed, feparate from fmners, he was not only 
 qualified to make a full atonement for fin, but 
 alfo to yield a complete example of holinefs. 
 And while he fhewed in himfeJf an unex- 
 ceptionable pattern of moral purity, he was 
 able to imprefs it with greater weight and 
 influence on the hearts of his Difclples. To 
 this intent the Prophet Malachi had foretold, 
 that he fhould purify the Sons of Levi, as 
 gold and filver is purified, that they might 
 offer to the Lord an offering in righteouf- 
 nefs ". 
 
 As it became him to fulfil all rlghteoufnefs, 
 he not only exemplified the Moral Law in all 
 its parts, but he fubmitted alfo to the obferv- 
 ance of the whole Mofaic ritual. And as in his 
 infant years he had undergone the initiatory rite 
 
 •^ Mai. lii, 3. 
 
 of 
 
336 BleJJed are the Pure in heart : 
 
 of that Covenant, and in the capacity of eld- 
 eft born had been prefented in the temple and 
 redeemed by the appointed offering; fo when 
 he arrived at maturity of years, he regularly 
 attended the more folemn ordinances of the 
 temple; he paid the accuftomed tributes; he 
 performed the eftablifhed fervices ; and when 
 he had healed any lepers, he enjoined them 
 to Ihew themfelves to the Prieft, and to offer 
 the gift, which Mofes had commanded. Yet 
 may it be colled;ed from the fpirit of his con- 
 verfation, that he did not infift upon a con- 
 tinued obfervance of the Mofaic ritual as an 
 obligatory kw upon the profeffors of his 
 faith. Thus when he fignified, that the time 
 was come, when they fhould no longer wor- 
 Ihip God either at Jerufalem or at any other 
 fixed and peculiar feat of public worfhip, he 
 no doubt implied, that with the appropriate j 
 place the appropriate folemnities of that place i 
 lliould ceafe: as indeed may be clearly infer- 
 red from the fequel; '* For the hour cometh, 
 and now is, when the true worlhippers fliall 
 worfhip the Father in fpirit and in truth : 
 for the Father feeketh fuch to worlhip him*^." 
 Nor was it expedient that men ihould be te- 
 nacious of the femblance, when once they 
 
 *^ John iv, 23. 
 
 were 
 
 I 
 
For they Jliall fee God. 337 
 
 ■were pofi'efled of the fubilance. When a 
 more perfect rule was come, the more partial 
 rule might reafonably be done away. 
 
 But on the obfervance of the whole Moral 
 Law he conftantly and flrongly infifted, as 
 the indifpenfable and unchangeable duty of 
 man. He gave it greater energy, and fpread 
 it into a wider compafs, than had ever been 
 conceived before. He conflantly taught man- 
 kind to deny ungodlinefs and worldly lufls, 
 and to live fobcrly, righteouily, and godly 
 in this prefent world ; having given himfelf 
 for us, that he might redeem us from all ini- 
 quity, and purify to himfelf a peculiar peo- 
 ple, zealous of good works ^. Not fatisfied 
 with the form, he required the power of god- 
 linefs. This might be inflanced in that pu- 
 rity of worfliip, which he taught in reference 
 to God, and that law of equity and charity, 
 which he ■ enjoined in relation to men. But 
 this is moft efpecially to be feen in the obli- 
 gation which he impofed of perfonal purity. 
 The fpirit of his law undoubtedly ftruck at 
 the root of thofe two prevailing indulgences 
 in the ancient world, concubinage and poly- 
 gamy. And the liberty of divcrce, which 
 the Law of Mofes had permitted to the 
 
 s Titus ii. 12, 14, 
 
 z Jews, 
 
338 Blejfed are the Pure in heart : 
 
 Jews, becaufe of the hardnefs of their hearts, 
 he exprefsly difallowed, except in the cafe of 
 adultery on one part ; in which it is granted 
 on a principle of reafon and juftice, that the 
 chafl:e may be feparated from the unchafte. 
 On the whole he reduced the law in this im- 
 portant article of focial life to the original 
 defign of God in creating male and female ^. 
 But in order to purify the whole man from 
 every moral taint, he did not account it fuf- 
 ficient to enjoin the purity of the body, he 
 infilled on the purity of the heart. Not fatif- 
 ■fied with forbidding adultery in ad:, he for- 
 bade it even in imagination and defign ; 
 ** Whofoever looketh on a woman to luft after 
 her, hath committed adultery already in his 
 heart." He therefore taught men to fupprefs 
 every loofe and licentious thought, and to di- 
 vert themfelves of every paffion or defire, 
 though incorporated fo much into the nature 
 and habit, as a right hand or a right eye, 
 which might incite them to tranfgreffion. 
 On the whole he required them to confider 
 themfelves as confecrated both in body and 
 foul to God, and on that principle to keep 
 themfelves entirely pure to his honour and 
 fervice \ 
 
 ^ Mat. xlx.3 — 9. i Mat. v. 27 — ^32. 
 
 And 
 
For they JhaJt fee God, 339 
 
 And hence we may colled; the charadters 
 of thofe, whom our holy Teacher here dif- 
 tniguiflies by the title of the Pure in heart. 
 Affifted and encouraged by divine grace 
 they have made fuch proficiency in Chrif- 
 tian holinefs, as to have brought the body in 
 fubjedlion to the fpirit, and to have furren- 
 dered the will of man to the will of God. 
 Animated by faith in his merits, who hath 
 made a perfed expiation for the truly peni- 
 tent, they have waflied away their fms by 
 the baptifm of repentance, and have purified 
 their hearts by the regeneration of the Holy 
 Ghoft : they have ftedfaftly purpofed, not 
 only to forego the actual indulgence of un- 
 lawful appetite, but alfo, as far as human in- 
 firmity will allow, to keep their hearts with 
 all diligence from entertaining any licentious 
 thought or affedion. Senfible that God is a 
 fpiritual Effence, they are folicitous to yield 
 him a fpiritual fervice. Confcious of his con- 
 tinual prefence and infpedion, they are cau- 
 tious not to commit any thing, which may 
 tempt him to withdraw his countenance and 
 withhold his approbation from them. Fully 
 eftimating the price, that has been paid for 
 their redemption and fandification by the 
 blood of Chrift, they are affiduous to prefent 
 % 2 themfelves 
 
340 Blejfed are the Pure in heart : 
 
 themfelves both body and foul a living, holy, 
 and acceptable facrifice to God. 
 
 To perfons thus difpofed our Lord affigns 
 a fpecial BlcHednefs, that ibey jh all fee God. 
 
 To fee God is a privilege, of which the 
 children of this world do not ferioufly think. 
 It could feldom enter into the minds or en- 
 gage the contemplations of the Heathens ; 
 for fo far were they corrupted in their under- 
 ftandings, that they retained no knowledge of 
 God, and therefore they could not eftimate 
 the happinefs of feeing him. 
 
 To fee God under the ancient economy 
 of the Hebrews was a privilege imparted but 
 very rarely and occafionally to fome few Fa- 
 vourites of Heaven. With the Patriarchs and 
 the Prophets he converfed at fandry times 
 and in diverfe manners, by vifion, by dream, 
 by Urim, by the meffage of an angel. To 
 the moft diftinsfuifhed among; them he dif- 
 played himfelf in a vifible form. Thus he 
 converfed with Abraham as with a friend ; 
 hence he was called the Friend of God ^, 
 He converfed with Mofes face to face ^. And 
 Ifaiah teftifies, that he faw the Lord in his 
 temple encompailed by the Seraphim, who 
 
 ^ James ii. 23. * Exod. xxxiil. 11. 
 
 fung 
 
For they Jliall fee God. 341 
 
 fung his hollnefs and glory "\ But with 
 thefe rare exceptions, he had not perfonally 
 divulged himfelf of old. And from the ter- 
 rors which invefted him, though veiled from 
 public view, when he delivered the Law 
 from Mount Sinai, an opinion had prevailed 
 in Ifrael, that none could fee God and live. 
 
 Under the Chriftian Revelation God is re- 
 prefented, as divefted of all thofe terrors in 
 which he gave the Law, and is arrayed to our 
 conceptions in the moft endearing attributes 
 of paternal grace and goodnefs. And hence to 
 fee God Is propofed to our defires and hopes 
 as the fulnefs of happinefs. To fee God in 
 the literal fenfe is not indeed indulged to us 
 yet, while we remain under the veil of mor- 
 tality. Yet in the fplrltual difpenfation of 
 the Gofpel he is manitefted to us more freely 
 and fully, than under the carnal economy of 
 the Lawi *' For the only begotten Son, who 
 is in the bofom of the Father, he hath re- 
 vealed him"." He hath manifefted the Fa- 
 ther to the eyes of the faithful in the fairell: 
 and brighteft attributes of grace and truth, as 
 continually prefent with them in his holy 
 Spirit, defending them againfh all the alTaults 
 and fedudions of the Tempter, fupporting 
 
 " Ifa, vi. I, 2j 3. " John 1, j8. 
 
 z z them 
 
342 EleJJed are the Pure in heart : 
 
 them in trials both temporal and fp* ritual, 
 promoting in their fouls good defires and de- 
 figns, and finally guiding them to that icene 
 of glory, where being difencumbered of this 
 mortal veil they Ihall fee him face to face 
 among the Saints in light. 
 
 But in order to fee God in any fenfe, it is 
 expedient that we be like him. And in no re- 
 fpecfl can we more clofely refemble him than 
 in being pure in heart. For as God himfelf 
 is pure, and as he is of purer eyes than to 
 behold iniquity, fo he admits none to fee 
 him, but thofe, who are conformed to his 
 image in the inner man, who by purity of 
 heart are in fome degree reftored to that llke- 
 nefs of God, in which man was originally 
 made. They, who are thus conformed to 
 his character, are difpofed by nature, and are 
 qualified by grace, for every thing implied in 
 this Beatitude of feeing God. Being purified 
 from that film of carnal pafTion and prejudice, 
 which obfcures their fpiritual fight, they are 
 enabled to contemplate him in his works of 
 providence and grace. They difcern him as 
 a Parent, a Benefactor, a Guardian, and a 
 Friend, as working their prefent comfort, 
 and making every thing conducive to their 
 final peace. They feel him prefent with 
 them in the fabric and operations of their 
 
 bodies. 
 
For they Jliall fee God. 343 
 
 bodies, in the motions and meditations of their 
 minds : for in him they are convinced that 
 they Hve and move and are : And feeing all 
 that he does contributes to their happinefs, 
 they feek in return to do every thing to his 
 glory. They live under a vital fenfe of his 
 continual prefence and regard ; and they 
 maintain a ftedfaft hope, that when their 
 eyes are clofed to all terreftrial things, they 
 Ihall wake to the true and vivifying fight of 
 God. 
 
 For while they are invefted with the veil 
 of mortality, they fee him only in the natu- 
 ral operations of his providence, or at moft in 
 the fpiritual operations of his grace : Here- 
 after they fliall fee him without any mill: or 
 obfcurity. They fee him now through a glafs 
 darkly ; hereafter they lliall fee him face to 
 face. In what the bleifednefs of this divine 
 vifion ihall confift we are not clearly and dif- 
 tindlly told. For we cannot in our prefent 
 ftate comprehend the nature and extent of 
 thofe faculties, by which the Pure in heart 
 Ihall finally perceive him. " It does not yet 
 appear what we lliall be ; but we know that, 
 when he iliall appear, we (hall be like him : 
 for we lliall fee him as he is °." And there- 
 
 * I Johniii. 2. 
 
 z 4 fore 
 
344 BlcJJed are the Pure in heart, &c. 
 
 fore we may conclude, that all, who purify 
 themfclves as God is pure, lliall be rendered 
 competent to behold his face in righteouf- 
 nefs ; and when they awake from the fleep of 
 death, they Ihall rife in his likenefs, and be 
 completely fatisiied ^. 
 
 p Pfa. xvH. 1 1; 
 
SERMON XV. 
 
 Matthew v. 9. 
 
 Bleffed are the Peacemakers : for they Jhall he called the 
 Children of God, 
 
 Another Chrlftian charader now en^ 
 gages our notice, not commonly efteemed 
 by the children of this world, but eminently 
 diftinguiflied by the beatitude of our Lord. 
 The character of a Peacemaker has always 
 obtained the low or filent approbation of the 
 truly wife : But the loud applaufe of nations 
 has been given to the Warrior. In evidence 
 of this we need only tranfiently look into the 
 records of any people or of any age. The 
 annals of all Barbarians are annals of cruelty 
 and carnage. And if we turn our eyes to 
 more civilized countries, the ftory may be 
 foftened by fome rare chara6lers of heroic or 
 civil virtue, but the prominent feature of 
 their hiftory is war. The feveral States of 
 Greece were continually at variance either 
 
 with 
 
346 Blejfed are the Peacemakers : 
 
 "with foreign nations or with one another. 
 And their wars were conducted with a fero- 
 city little fuitable to our notions of a polifhed 
 people. Through the whole extent of the 
 Roman Government from the foundation of 
 the City to the approach of that aufplcious 
 age, when the Prince of Peace was born, the 
 temple of War had only twice been clofed. 
 They were continually extending the fphere 
 of their dominion by the fword. Whatever 
 nation came in contact with their progreffive 
 empire, opened to them a new field of mili- 
 tary enterprize. And their efforts were ge- 
 nerally clofed by leading kings in chains, and 
 fubjugating another people to their arbitrary 
 power. Amid thefe celebrated empires the 
 name of Warrior was a title of diftinguifhed 
 honour. And on feveral of their Chiefs, who 
 with large opportunities of conferring durable 
 and extenfive good were really the fcourges 
 both of their own and of other States, have 
 been perverfely lavifhed the moft facred appel- 
 lations of, The Fathers of their Country, The 
 Saviours of the People, The Benefad:ors of 
 Mankind. 
 
 A kindred fpirit actuated the Jews. The 
 general injundlon of their Law, to love their 
 neighbour as themfelves, might incline them 
 to cultivate amity and concord within their 
 
 own 
 
For theyjliall he called the Children of God. 347 
 
 own nation ; and the promife of peace with- 
 in their borders, as the recompence of their 
 fidelity to their heavenly King, might en- 
 courage them to fludy peace among them- 
 felves. But the inftrudion, that had been 
 given to them, to poiTefs themfelves of the 
 promifed land by the fword, and the abhor- 
 rence, which they had been taught to enter- 
 tain, of thofe idolatries, to which the nations 
 all around were prone, would naturally difm- 
 cline them to cultivate peace toward other 
 States. Indeed from their peculiar charader 
 and circumftance, as a people fet alone among 
 the nations, it was expedient for their fafety, 
 that a military fpirit lliould be maintained 
 among them. And when once they were 
 prepared for defenfive meafures, the ftep was 
 eafy to oiFenfive war. Hence a fimilar com- 
 plexion of warfare pervades the hiflory of 
 the Jews with that of nations unenlighten- 
 ed with the truth of heaven. Their moft dif- 
 tinguifhed men were warriors: Their Princes, 
 their Judges, and not unfrequently their 
 Priefts, were exercifed in arms. 
 
 Yet men of deeper contemplation among 
 them had notions more agreeable to the true 
 happinefs of men. Even David, who was 
 profefTedly a Warrior, gave his teftimony to 
 the bleffings of peace. Though from the 
 
 hiftory 
 
348 BhJJed are the Peacemakers : 
 
 iiiftory of his a(5llons, as recorded in the book 
 of Kings, it appears that he was continually 
 involved in warfare, yet from the hiftory of 
 his mind, as difplayed in the book of Pfalms, 
 it alfo appears that he continually fighed for 
 peace ; " I am for peace : but when I fpeak, 
 they are for war^." And it deferves obferva- 
 tion, that the Hebrew Hiflorians, whenever 
 they arrive at an interval of peace, infenfibly 
 fall into the language of complacence. After 
 fome time expatiating on the atchievements 
 of David, they feem to enjoy the fatisfacflion 
 of repofe in the pacific reign of Solomon his 
 Son : '* He had peace on all fides round 
 about him. And Judah and Ifracl dwelt 
 fafely, every man under his own vine, and 
 under his own fig-tree, from Dan even to 
 Beerfheba, all the days of Solomon ^." In 
 thefe artlefs expreflions we have a mofh lively 
 picture of the bleffmgs of peace. And the 
 effed: of fuch a reign is told with equal beau- 
 ty and fimplicity : " Judah and Ifrael were 
 many, as the fand which is by the fea in 
 multitude, eating and drinking and making 
 merry ''." This however was a fmgular in- 
 ftance of moderation and happinefs. Through 
 the feries of fucceeding reigns a fpi^ of am- 
 
 * Pfa, cxx. 7. ^ 1 Kings iv. 24, 25 j 20. 
 
 bitlon 
 
For theyjliall he called the Children of God. o4() 
 
 bitlon and turbulence involved them again 
 in continual hoflilities with the nations all 
 around them: And Peace,[a fnort-lived gueft, 
 again became a flrangcr to the people and 
 the land of Ifrael. 
 
 The fame military fpirit, which they culti- 
 vated fo much in practice, they carried into 
 their contemplations of the Meffiah's govern- 
 ment. Taking their conceptions of his pro- 
 mifed reign from that of David, v/hofe throne 
 they imagined that he was literally to £11, 
 they alfo imagined that it would be maintain- 
 ed and extended by the fword ; and predif- 
 pofed to underfland it as a great and glorious 
 Kingdom, they could form no notions of its 
 rifmg to preeminence of power and fplendour, 
 but by extenfive warfare, and triumphant 
 arms. 
 
 And yet how very different wxre thefe 
 conceptions from thofe mild and peaceful 
 chara(5lers, in which his Kingdom is repeat- 
 edly defcribed by the Prophets ! which furely 
 that people could not poiTibly have mifun- 
 derftood or mifapplied, if a thick veil of pre- 
 judice had not been upon their hearts. Among 
 other high dillind:ions, by which he is fore- 
 told by Ifaiah the great Herald of the Gofpel, 
 he is exprefsly ilyled *' The Prince of Peace;'* 
 in fequel to which is added, that ** Of his go- 
 vernment 
 
350 BleJJed are the Peacemakers : 
 
 vernment and peace there fliall be no end.'* 
 Thus alfo in the opening of his prophetic Book 
 he has thefe expreffive images of that wonderful 
 converfion of human fentiments and manners, 
 which, wherever the government of the fpiri- 
 tual King were firmly eftabHfhed in the hearts 
 of men, would by moral confequence moft 
 happily prevail : " They ihall beat their fwords 
 into plough-fhares, and their fpears into prun- 
 ing hooks : Nation fliall not rife againfl na- 
 tion; neither fliall they learn w^ar any more." 
 In like manner, when he announces this ex- 
 traordinary Prince under the metaphor of a 
 rod from the flem, of a cion from the root, of 
 JefTe, he reprefents that fignal change of dif- 
 pofition, which under his mofl powerful in- 
 fluence would be wrought in the hearts of 
 men, by thefe images, among others to the 
 like effecfl, of the wolf and the leopard di- 
 vefled of their favage and ferocious nature, 
 and peaceably afTociating with the lamb and 
 the kid ^ 
 
 Agreeable to thefe prophetic declarations 
 was the charader, which our Lord invariably 
 bore in his intercoufe w^ith men. To this 
 purpofe, when he firfl afTumed the nature 
 and the form of man, the Hofl. of Angels fa- 
 
 "^ Ifa. ix, 6, 7. ii. 4. xi. 1—9. 
 
 luted 
 
For theyjhall he called the Children of God. 351 
 
 luted their fellow-fervants on this lower 
 world with the welcome tidings of great joy, 
 in which all people had an intereft, of a Sa- 
 viour born, the Meffiah, that had been fore- 
 told fo long; which was immediately followed 
 by the gratulating fong of peace on earth, 
 and of good will to men ^, 
 
 Of the fame complexion was the tenor of 
 his miniftry ; whether we regard his dodrine, 
 or his example. Very different from the ex- 
 pe<5lations of the Jews, his whole converfation 
 breathed, not only a fpirit of good will and 
 amity to men, but alfo the more adlive 
 and ardent zeal of conciliating peace among 
 all the feveral orders and relations of man- 
 kind. It was one principal obje6l of his 
 miiiion to break down the wall of repa- 
 ration, which had hitherto fubfifted, and 
 had maintained a fpirit of hoftility, as well 
 between Jew and Gentile, as alfo between 
 the feveral divifions and diftindions of fo- 
 ciety ; in order that he might form them in 
 the unity of faith, hope, and charity into one 
 great houfehold holy to the Lord. For though 
 it was his primary concern to preach theGofpel 
 to the Poor, who were favourably difpofed to 
 hear him, yet, as occafions offered, he alfa 
 preached it to the Pharifees and Scribes, who 
 
 •^ Luke il. S — 14. 
 
 vilified 
 
352 Blejfed are the Peacemakers : 
 
 vilified and oppofed his do6trine. Though he 
 was fent more immediately to the flieep of 
 the houfe of Ifrael, yet, as he declared in the 
 fame fhyle of parable, he had other llieep 
 which were not of that fold, namely, the 
 whole Gentile world : They alfo fliould hear 
 his voice ; and they lliould all become one 
 fold under one Shepherd^. 
 
 This is inftanced on two different occafions, 
 in which he had intercourfe with the Sama- 
 ritans ; who, though acknowledging the fame 
 Law, and pretending to the fame defcent, 
 were divided from the Jews by a fpirit of 
 fchifm, which precluded all kinds of focial 
 communion and all common offices of reci- 
 procal benevolence. In his converfation, hold- 
 en at the well with the woman of Samaria, 
 he had given fuch evidence of his preternatu- 
 ral knowledge, that Hie confefTed him for a 
 Prophet. Hereupon flie put this queftion to 
 him on the principal point of difference be- 
 tween thefe two contiguous nations, whether 
 Jerufalem or Gerizim was the proper feat 
 of public worfliip. In anfwer he acknow- 
 ledged, that according to the ancient in- 
 ftitutions the Jews were more correct in the 
 general forms of divine fervice. But at the 
 fame time he fignified, that the difference be- 
 
 * John X. \6. 
 
 tween 
 
For theyjliall he called the Children of God. 353 
 
 tween them was now become of fmall com- 
 parative importance ; as an Economy was 
 now commenced, in which there would be 
 neither local feat nor peculiar people fet apart 
 for the exclufive fervice of Almighty God ; 
 but all mankind, without refped: of nation or 
 lineage, would be admitted in one common 
 bond of union to v/orfliip him at every time and 
 in every place, provided they worlhipped him 
 in the character, in which he was now made 
 manifeffc to men, in fpirit and in truth ^ 
 
 On another occafion, as he pafled through 
 a village of Samaria, he experienced a ftrik- 
 ing inftance of that rancour of hoftility, 
 which the fchifm between thefe two people 
 had produced. CoUeding from the circum- 
 •ftances of his journey, that he was going to 
 perform fome a6l of public worfhip at Je- 
 rufalem, to the difparagement as they inferred 
 of their temple at Gerizim, the Samaritans 
 refufed to receive him. Provoked at this in- 
 hofpitable treatment, two of his Difciples 
 afked him if he would not call down fire 
 from heaven to confume them, as EHas had 
 done on a fmiilar occafion. But Jefus an- 
 fwered, *' Ye know not what manner of fpi- 
 rit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not 
 
 ' John Iv. 9 — 24. 
 
 A a come 
 
354 Blejfed are the Peacemahers : 
 
 come to deftroy men's lives, but to fave 
 them ^." 
 
 The fame defire of conciliation pervaded all 
 his do6lrines. This is manifelled in that pe- 
 culiar ordinance of his religion, that mx love 
 one another, even as he hath loved us. And here 
 it may be acknowledged, that the fame pre- 
 cepts, which breathe a fpirit of mercy, breathe 
 alfo a fpirit of peace ; as may be exemplified 
 in his feveral injuncftions through the Sermon 
 on the Mount, to forbear all intemperate and 
 caufelefs anger with our brother, to fupprefs a 
 difpofition to retaliate injuries, and to agree 
 with our adverfary without delay; for the ob- 
 fervance of thefe not only ftamps the charac- 
 ter of the Merciful, but alfo of the Peace- 
 makers. Above all, this character is moft 
 feelingly imprefled by that evangelical pre- 
 cept of focial love, which our Lord oppofed 
 to the more contra(5led interpretation of the 
 Teachers of moral law among the Jews ; 
 *■' But I fay unto you, Love your enemies, 
 blefs them that curfe you, do good to them 
 that hate you, and pray for them that defpite- 
 fully ufe you and perfecnte you." For the 
 general cultivation of this precept would moll 
 efFeftually contribute to the maintenance of 
 perpetual and univerfal peace ^. 
 
 e Luke Ix, '51—56. ^ Mat. v. 21—48. 
 
 To 
 
For theyjhall he called the Children of God. 355 
 
 To the fame purpofe alfo were his inter- 
 eeffions to the throne of grace for harmony 
 of fentiment through the whole houfehold 
 of the faithful. *' Holy Father, keep through 
 thine own name thofe whom thou haft given 
 me, that they may be one, even as we are 
 one '." Wherein he fupplicates the Author 
 of peace and Lover of concord, to grant unto 
 thofe who embrace his faith, above all other 
 kinds of fecial unity, an unity of fpirit in di- 
 vine concerns, that all may together confti- 
 tute one compadl and undivided body, of 
 which himfelf is the head ; and being all of 
 one heart and of one foul both in dod:rine 
 and in communion, may with one mind and 
 one voice prefent their devotions through the 
 fame Mediator to the fame great Father and 
 Governor of all. 
 
 Thus was he in an eminent degree a 
 Peacemaker both in his precept and example, 
 inafmuch as he laboured to eftablifh peace be- 
 tween man and man. But he was a Peace- 
 maker in a more important fenfe, inafmuch 
 as he undertook the moft arduous office ofa 
 Mediator between God and man. He came 
 into the world in order to reconcile the world 
 to the Father. This was not only the objed; 
 
 ' John xvii, ii. 
 
 A a 3 of 
 
356 BkJJhd are the Peacemakers : 
 
 of all his labours in life, but of all his fufFer- 
 ings in death. On this account it was, that 
 he furrendered himfelf a fin-ofFcring and a 
 peace-offering to God. Greater love can no 
 man fliew than this, that he lay down his life 
 for his friends. This is an a6l of extraordi- 
 nary virtue, of which a few folitary inftances 
 appear in the extenfive page of human hifto- 
 ry. But while we were fmners, and there- 
 fore in a {late of enmity to him, Chrifl: died 
 for us ^. Great applaufe is ufually paid to 
 thofe, who have devoted themfelves to death 
 for their country. But who can be placed 
 in competition with him, who yielded up his 
 hfe for an offending and in confequence a 
 hoflile world ? By taking upon them the pu- 
 niihment that was due to the fnis of men, 
 he has harmonized the mercy vsdth the juf- 
 tice of God, he has reconciled them to the 
 Father, and procured for them the covenant 
 of eternal peace. 
 
 From this precept and example we may 
 learn what conliitutcs the character of Peace- 
 makers in the Chriffian fenfe. Not confining 
 their attention to the precept of the Apoftle, 
 that as much as lieth in them they live 
 peaceably with all men^, they employ their 
 
 ^ John XV. ij. Rom, v. 8. ' Rom. xii. i8. 
 
 whole 
 
For theyjhall he called the Children of God. 357 
 
 whole influence and endeavour to maintain 
 and to conciliate peace in the fphere of that 
 fociety in which they live. Inftruded by the 
 law of Chriftian charity to extend the relation 
 of neighbours to all who partake of the fame 
 common nature, they labour to promote a fpi- 
 rit of amit}' and affection between perfons and 
 focieties, that are diftinguiflied by difference 
 of fe6l or party, of country or religion ; and 
 they labour to eftablifli upon earth the do- 
 minion of the Prince of Peace both in com- 
 mon and in public life, by promoting a fpirit 
 of brotherly love and focial affection. 
 
 The fame zeal, which they manifeft for 
 the peace of men in their civil relations, they 
 alfo exercife in promoting a harmony of fen- 
 timent in the more important concerns of 
 religion. They earncftly endeavour to keep 
 the unity of the fpirit in the bond of peace. 
 They labour to render men of one accord 
 both in dodrine and difcipline, that there be 
 no fchifm or divillon in the Church of Chrift, 
 that all may be bound together in the fellovv- 
 fliip of the Spirit, ail m.ay be animated with 
 one foul, and as they profefs one faith, and are 
 called in one hope, may with one mind and 
 one mouth glorify God even the Father of our 
 Lord Jefus Chrift '^. 
 
 "^ Eph. iv. 3. Rom. xv. 6. 
 
 A a c> Put 
 
/ 
 
 3 jS Bleffed are the Peacemakers : 
 
 But they do not limit their exertions of 
 brotherly love to the conciliation of peace be- 
 tween man and man. In concurrence with 
 the labours, in imitation of the example, of 
 the Prince of Peace, they are no lefs affidu- 
 ous to promote the reconciliation of man to 
 God. When they fee their brethren both in 
 nature and in grace unhappily withdrav,'n from 
 the prefence of their heavenly Father, and 
 abandoning themfelves without reflexion to a 
 courfe of vice and irreligion, ftill regarding 
 them as children of the fame houfehold and 
 heirs of the fiime promifes, they embrace a 
 fair occafion to warn them of the danger 
 they incur by this inconfiderate courfe of life; 
 and by the united weight of exhortation and 
 reproof, of admonition and example, of fuppli- 
 cation and interceffion, they ftrive to move 
 them to repentance, to reconcile them to 
 their divine Parent, and to bring them back 
 to the houfehold of the faithful. By this truly 
 charitable conduct they elliablifli their claim 
 to the charadler of Peacemakers ; and they 
 acquire a title to the bleffing here affigned, 
 that they floall be called the Children of God. 
 
 A name fo diftinguiibed has engaged the 
 defires of men in different ages of the world. 
 The Heathens of diverfe nations would fome- 
 
 times 
 
For theyJlLall he calledthe Children of God. 359 
 
 times boaft of their cekftlal origin. Whe- 
 ther Greeks or Barbarians, they generally de- 
 rived themfelves from fome divine Founder 
 or Progenitor. The Philofophers in their fpe- 
 culations on the great Firft Caufe would fome- 
 times ftyle him the Father of Gods and Men. 
 And Saint Paul, when addreffing himfelf to 
 the Athenians on the fubjedl of the unknown 
 God, whom they ignorantly worfliipped and 
 whom he now declared unto them, has quot- 
 ed certain of their Poets who had faid : 
 ** Ta 7«p ycou y&vog la-f^Bv' For we alfo are his 
 offspring "." But they derived no privilege 
 from this relation ; and it was to them ra- 
 ther a fource of pride, than an encouragement 
 to virtue. 
 
 The Children of Ifrael had a better claim 
 to boafl of their divine origin. For they had 
 been called by divine authority " A holy Na- 
 tion, a peculiar People." God is pleafed under 
 their Economy to ftyle himfelf the God of 
 Ifrael ; and he acknowledged that People in 
 an appropriate fenfe his own. Accordingly 
 the Apoftle enumerates the privileges which 
 they derived from that relation; " To whom 
 pertain the adoption, and the glory, and the 
 
 " Afts xvll. 28. Thefe words are literally quoted from Ara- 
 tus and Cleanthesj but the fentiment is common to the Greek 
 and Latin Poets. 
 
 A a 4 covenants, 
 
36q BleJJed arc the Peacemakers : 
 
 covenants, and the giving of the Law, and 
 the fervice, and the promifes ; whofe are the 
 Fathers ; and of whom according to the flefli 
 is Chrill:, who is over all, God bleiTed for 
 ever°." But at the fame time he teftifies, 
 that they are not all Ifraelites indeed, neither 
 are they all virtually the Children of God, 
 who are of the Houfe of Ifrael in their civil 
 relation, who are of the feed of Abraham by 
 natural defcent. The high privilege of being 
 his Children in the true and moft important 
 fenfc was referved for thofe, who are Ifraelites 
 in heart, who are of the feed of Abraham by 
 the righteoufnefs of faith. As many as re- 
 ceive the divine Word in the perfon of Jefus 
 Chrift, as many as believe in his name, to 
 them gives he power to become the Sons 
 of God j being admitted to this diftindion, 
 not by natural generation, or by civil adop- 
 tion, but by the fpecial grace of God ^. 
 
 In the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift, who is him- 
 felf in a preeminent and peculiar fenfe the 
 Son, and therefore is fo frequently fljled, the 
 firll, or only, begotten Son of God, we have 
 larger privileges than were ever imparted to 
 the houfe of Ifrael, as the relation to which 
 we are called approaches nearer to the Father 
 of fpirits. And therefore the beloved Apoftle 
 
 " Rom. ix. 4, &:c. P John i. 12, 13. 
 
 invites 
 
For theyjhall he called the Children of God. 36 1 
 
 invites us to contemplate that extraordinary 
 token of afFed:ion, which we have now re- 
 ceived from Heaven ; ** Behold what manner 
 of love the Father hath beftowed upon us, 
 that we Ihould be called the Sons of God ^." 
 
 But while we with gratitude rejoice in the 
 privilege now fet before us, we muft not 
 overlook the means, by which we may call 
 this privilege our own. When by the mi- 
 niftry of our bleflcd Lord it is offered to thoi'e 
 that receive him, it is offered to thofe only 
 that acknowleda;e and res:ardhim as aTeacher 
 come from God : When it is propofed to 
 them that believe in his name, it is propofed 
 to no others but to thofe, w^ho fubflantiatc 
 and verify their belief by cultivation of his 
 precepts and adoption of his charad:er. We 
 cannot otherwife become the Sons of God, 
 than by ftrenuoufly feeking to be like him, 
 by copying into our own difpofitions all thofe 
 graces of the divine nature, that come within 
 the fphere of human imitation, and by la- 
 bouring to be renovated and reftored in mo- 
 ral goodnefs to that image of God in which 
 man was originally made. 
 
 But by no courfe of duty can we be 
 brought to a clofer refemblance to God, than 
 
 ' I John Hi. I. 
 
 by 
 
SQ'I BleJJ'ed are the Peacemakers : 
 
 by comprehending all men in the bonds of 
 brotherhood, and by promoting peace among 
 our brethren both with God and man. To 
 this purpofe our Lord, after enjoining his 
 Difciples to love their enemies and to do 
 good to thofe that hate them, prefents this 
 engaging motive ; ** That ye may be the 
 Children of your Father which is in heaven: 
 for he maketh his fun to fhine on the evil 
 and on the good, and fendeth rain both on 
 the juft and on the unjuft ""." And the fame 
 motive we may reafonably extend from the 
 economy of nature to that of grace, which 
 under the Chriftian government is coextenfive 
 ■with the divine providence over all the na- 
 tions of the earth. As in the common ordi- 
 nances of nature the Father of the univerfe 
 has appointed his fun to Ihlne and his rain to 
 fall indifferently on all men; fo in the difpen- 
 fation of his Gofpel he hath caufed the Sun of 
 righteoufnefs to fliine and the dews of hea- 
 venly grace to fall, without refped: of nations 
 or communities, on all men. 
 
 Inafmuch therefore as we all Indlfcrimi- 
 nately partake of God's paternal care and 
 goodnefs in both economies of nature and of 
 grace, an obligation refts upon us, that we 
 
 ■^Mat. V. 45. 
 
 treat 
 
For theyjliall be called the Children of God. 363 
 
 treat all mankind, however they may be dif- 
 tinguiflied by fec^ or order, by nation or pro- 
 feffion of faith, as brethren, and that we labour 
 in our refpe6tive fpheres, and according to our 
 feveral means and capacities, to promote among 
 them a fpirit of peace and brotherly love in 
 their focial and civil relations, and, if it be 
 poiTible, an unity of fentiment in religious 
 faith and worfhip. And while we thus ftudy 
 to maintain the relation and benevolence of 
 brethren amono; mankind, a further and more 
 important obligation refts upon us, that we 
 labour to reconcile them to him, who is the 
 Parent of the whole family both in heaven 
 and earth, that all may have accefs with one 
 fpirit unto the Father, and, being no longer 
 ftrangers and foreigners, may be rendered 
 fellow citizens with the Saints and of the 
 houfehold of God '. For hereby we fliall 
 fhew ourfelves brethren to all, not onlv in 
 the participation of the fame nature, but alfo 
 in the clofer fellowfliip and unity of the Spi- 
 rit. And hereby fliall we eflablifli our title 
 to that mofl: honourable of all appellations, of 
 the Children of God. 
 
 Nor is this a mere name of honour. The 
 mofl: valuable privileges are attached to that 
 
 » Eph. ii. 1 8, 19. 
 
 relation. 
 
S64 Blejfed are the Peacemakers : 
 
 relation. For it comprehends the paternal 
 favour of God on earth, the paternal inheri- 
 tance of God in heaven. This bleflednefs is 
 affigned on an infallible word to all, who are 
 Peacemakers in the fentiment of the Gof- 
 pel. In the paternal favour of God they Ihall 
 have that peace on earth which the world 
 cannot give. It will enhance thofe benefits 
 which his providence may confer upon them; 
 and they iliall have all the natural goods of 
 cheering funs and fertilizing fhowers, and all 
 the civil goods of calm and peaceful days, as 
 the gifts of a Father moft affed:ionately dif- 
 pofed for the welfare and profperlty of his 
 children. It will equally give them comfort 
 in all the troubles and afflictions of life, 
 w^iether natural or civil, whether national or 
 domeftic. In every trying hour, though they 
 may be troubled for the fins, and for the ne- 
 ceflary confequence of fin, the miferies of 
 men, they will not be afraid for themfelves ; 
 but fupported by the fentiment of their near 
 relation to God, they will ferenely commit 
 themfelves to his protecflion and difpofal, fully 
 trufting in his tutelary care, that, although for 
 a feafon he may fufFer them to endure afflic- 
 tions, yet he will make even their afflic- 
 tions to work together, if not always for 
 their prefent, yet affuredly ibr their future, 
 
 their 
 
For theyjhall he called the Children of God. 365 
 
 their fubftantial and eternal good. By the 
 fame paternal favour they Ihall alfo be in- 
 vefted with all manner of fpiritual gifts ef- 
 fential to their growth in grace, more efpe- 
 cially the continual prefence of the Holy Spi- 
 rit, to guide them into all truth, to fupport 
 them in all dangers, to carry them through 
 all temptations, to animate them to perfever- 
 ance in well doing, and thus conflantly to 
 train them up for their appointed manfion in 
 the realms of happinefs, when they fliall be 
 no longer under tuition or difcipline, as is the 
 necelTary cafe in the nonage of their beings, 
 but being received into their divine Father's 
 more immediate home, fliall be admitted to 
 the full inheritance of Children : For if they 
 are Children, then are they alfo Heirs ; Heirs 
 of God, and Coheirs with Chrift *. 
 
 Of what this Beatitude confifts is equally a 
 myftery to mortal men with that expreifed in 
 the preceding fentence, of feeing God. *' Be- 
 loved, fays the Apoftle John, now are we the 
 Sons of God : But it doth not appear what 
 we ihall be : But we know, that when he 
 fhall appear, we lliall be like him ". When 
 once men have acquired a title to that moft 
 honourable name, they know by experience 
 
 ^Rom. vlii. 11 . " I John lii. 2. 
 
 the 
 
366 BleJJed are the Peaceinakers, &c, 
 
 the bleflings, which attach to that relation 
 here : but in the ftate of mortaUty they do 
 not fo diftindlly comprehend the far fuperior 
 bleffings, which by divine promife await it 
 hereafter. This however may be entertain- 
 ed with full aflurance of faith, that it implies 
 the greatefl good, which their purified natures 
 can be capable of enjoying. For being re- 
 ftored to their divine Parent's image in holi- 
 nefs, they fliall by neceflary confequence be 
 reftored to his image in happinefs. Having 
 faithfully fludied, during their mortal difci- 
 pline, by the practice of impartial and uni- 
 verfal peace and charity to their brethren, to 
 attain fome refemblance of their Father which 
 is in heaven in the feveral difpenfations of his 
 providence to men, they fliall finally be ren- 
 dered both in grace and glory perfed:, even as 
 their Father which is in heaven is perfedl "", 
 
 ^ Mat. V. 48. 
 
miiim^xLaii ! i'*jiiiuAif»iih»ifn m ui.^.tv^sk\imiM^si;s^^ 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 Matthew v. io. 
 
 SleJJed are they that are pcrjccutcd for r'lghtcoiiinefs^ fahc : 
 for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, 
 
 In my laft dlfcourfe I treated on a Charac- 
 ter, illuftrious in the roll of Chrillian graces, 
 and diftinguillied above the reft by energy of 
 a6tion ; namely, that of the Peacemakers. I 
 have now to treat on another Character, 
 placed in parallel to the former, being no lefs 
 iiluftrious in the fame divine catalogue, but 
 diftinguifhed in a very different manner, by 
 fortitude of fuffering ; namely, that of thofe 
 who are perfecuted for righteoufnefs' fake. 
 
 To endure perfecution, abiba^iedly confi- 
 dered, does not feem to fall under the de- 
 fcription of virtue, as it implies Vvhat is mere- 
 ly paffive on the part of the receiver. But 
 to endure perfecution for the fake of righte- 
 oufnefs has every title to that honourable 
 name ; fmce it implies *' out of a pure heart, 
 of a good confcience, and of faith unfeigned^" 
 
 » I Tim. i. 5. 
 
 in 
 
3^8 Blejfed are they that are perfecuted, &c, 
 
 in open avowal of religious truth, a voluntary 
 fubmiffion and a patient rcfignation to every 
 kind and to every degree of perfecution, 
 which the malice of the world can inflid:. 
 This was the fentiment of our bleiTed Lord, 
 an infallible Judge of moral excellence ; who 
 has not only given it a place in the feries of 
 his Beatitudes, but from the ftation he has 
 affigned it at the clofe of all may be under- 
 ftood to have marked it with peculiar praife, 
 as hnifliing the fcale of fpiritual worth, as 
 accomplilliing the Chriftian character, as ren- 
 dering the man of God perfe6l, thoroughly 
 furniflied unto all good works ^. 
 
 A dlfpofition of this kind is peculiar to the 
 true Religion ; as no fyftem, that wanted the 
 ftamp of truth, could engage mankind to ren- 
 der any very extraordinary facrifice. Thus 
 we find it foreign to the fentiment and prac- 
 tice of the Heathen world. The morality of 
 their philofophers was offo loofe a kind, as to 
 recommend a compliance with the religious 
 cufloms and obfervances, and I may add opi- 
 nions, of the age and place in which they 
 lived. And the prad;ice of the people in ge- 
 neral was fo eafy and indifferent, that in the 
 united hiftory of all Heathen States it might 
 
 *• 2Tim. iii. 17. 
 
 be 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 369 
 
 be difficult to produce an unqueftlonable in- 
 flance of perfecution for the fake of righte- 
 oufnefs. 
 
 The Children of Ifrael were animated by a 
 principle of faith, which moved them to make 
 many facrifices and to undergo many fuffer- 
 ings. Thus the Minifler of their Law is 
 commended by the Apoftle, that he chofe 
 rather to endure reproach and to fuffer af- 
 flid:ion with the people of God, than to en- 
 joy all the honours and all the treafures of 
 the kingdom and court of Egypt '. And 
 the fame energy of faith was frequently dif- 
 played among the Hebrews in their inter- 
 courfe with the feveral idolatrous nations 
 round about them. And though it cannot 
 be diffembled, that in the different periods of 
 their more ancient hiftory they fl:iewed many 
 fymptoms of apoflafy from the law and 
 worfliip of the true God, yet in later times, 
 as the recompence of another life gained a 
 firmer hold upon their faith, they fliewed fo 
 zealous an attachment to the religion of their 
 Fathers, as in teftimony thereof to fubmit to 
 every fpecies of perfecution ; as is recorded 
 by the Apoille : They wandered in defarts 
 and in mountains ; they concealed themfelves 
 
 « Heb. xi. 25. 
 
 B b in 
 
370 Bleffed are they that are perfecuted, &c. 
 
 in dens and caves of the earth ; they were 
 expofed to bonds and imprifonments ; they 
 had trial of cruel mockings and fcourgings ; 
 they were ftoned, they were fawn afunder, 
 they were ilain v/ith the fword; they were tor- 
 tured, not accepting deliverance, that they 
 might obtain a better refurred:ion ^. 
 
 But this difpofition muft: have had a deeper 
 hold upon the fouls of men, when a fuller 
 aflurance of a better refurreclion was given. 
 And therefore in that Difpenfation, which 
 brought life and immortality to light, our 
 Lord had firmer ground to eftablifh this as 
 one of the principal virtues of his Religion. 
 Accordingly he not only brings it forward in 
 this catalogue of Chriflian graces, but he 
 dwells upon it in the fequel, as if it had a fu- 
 perior claim to the regard and cultivation of 
 his Follov»ers. Thus he adds, with a more 
 immediate reference to his perfonal Difci- 
 ples, who for the fake of his religion would 
 be expofed to perfecution far beyond the 
 common orders of Chriftians ; " Bleffed are 
 ye, when men fliall revile you, and perfecute 
 youj and Ihall fay all manner of evil againfl 
 you falfely for my fake : Rejoice and be ex- 
 ceeding glad : for great is your reward iix 
 
 ^ Heb. xi. 2$, &c. 
 
 heaven ; 
 
Tor theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 371 
 
 heaven : for fo perfecuted they the Prophets 
 which were before you^." And if the an- 
 cient Prophets were fupported under afflic- 
 tions by the promifes of God, while given 
 only in figures, much more indeed might 
 the Difciples of Jefus, to whom thefe pro- 
 mifes were more diftindly and openly con- 
 veyed. 
 
 In like manner he fays in another place ; 
 *' If any man will come after me, let him 
 deny himfelf, and take up his crofs, and fol- 
 low me. For whofoever will fave his life, 
 Ihall lofe it ; and whofoever w^ill lofe his lite 
 for my fake, fhall find it *^." Thus he incul- 
 cates on his difciples the duty incumbent on 
 them, to follow him, not only in ading, but 
 alfo in forbearing and in fuifering for the fake 
 of righteoufnefs. The fuffering, to which he 
 here alludes, had been foretold many ages 
 before by the Prophet Ifaiah, when he fays, 
 that he was defpifed and reje(fled of men ; 
 that he was wounded for our tranfgreffions, 
 and bruifed for our iniquities ; that he was 
 opprefled and afflicted ; that he was brought 
 as a lamb to the Slaughter, yet he opened not 
 his mouth ; that he was cut off out of the 
 land of the living ; that for the tranfgreffions 
 
 Mat. V. II; 12. ^ Mat. xvl. 24, 3j. 
 
 B b 2 of 
 
372 Blejfed are they tJiat are perfecuted, ^c, 
 
 of his people was he ftricken ^. And all this 
 was accompliflied in the hiftory of his paf- 
 fion. After leading a life of poverty and for- 
 row, after fubmitting to fcorn and ilander 
 during the whole of his miniftry for the fake 
 of righteoufnefs, he was at length arraigned 
 before an iniquitous tribunal ; he was buf- 
 feted ; he was fcourged ; he was nailed to 
 the crofs. The fury of his perfecutors was 
 wreaked upon him ; and the cup which was 
 given him to drink was the bittereft, which 
 ingenious malice could devife to mingle. 
 
 From this great pattern of refignation to 
 fiiffering in fo good a caufe, the Apoftle ex- 
 horts his Difciples to fubmit with patience 
 to griefs and pcrfecutions, even if wrongfully 
 inflided, for confcience toward God : for to 
 this, he aflerts, were they called on taking 
 upon them the Chriftian name ; and it was 
 expedient that they fhould fubmit to thefe 
 things ; " becaufe Chrift alfo fuffered for us, 
 leaving us an example, that we fliould follow 
 his fleps : who did no fm, neither was guile 
 found in his mouth ; who when he was re- 
 siled, reviled not again ; when he fuffered, 
 he threatened not; but committed himfelf to 
 him that judgeth righteoufly : who bore our 
 
 e Ifa. liii. 3,&c. 
 
 fins 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 3/3 
 
 fins in his own body on the tree, that we be- 
 ing dead to iin fiiould live to righteoufnefs : 
 by whofe ftripes we are healed ^." 
 
 On this precept and example was formed 
 the glorious company of the Apoflles, who 
 in obedience to the parting injunction of their 
 Lord went forth to preach his gofpel to all 
 nations, and to eftablifh the fceptre of his 
 righteoufnefs over all the kingdoms of the 
 world. However feeble their minds, how- 
 ever timid their charad:ers had been at the 
 time, when their Lord was delivered into the 
 hands of men, yet as foon as they were in- 
 flrud:ed in the real purpofe of his death, as 
 foon as they comprehended the true nature 
 and conflitution of his Kingdom, they did 
 not hefitate to undergo every toil, to confront 
 every danger, and to encounter every fiery 
 trial, in accomplifliing that work for which 
 they were called: they gloried in tribulation, 
 and rejoiced that they were counted worthy 
 to fuffer Ihame for the name of Jefus '. 
 What the Apoftle Paul has aflerted of his 
 own feelings and fentiments on the certain 
 profpedl or the a6lual endurance of perfecu- 
 tion, may be applied indifferently to all the 
 Apoilles : '* Behold, I go bound in the Spirit 
 
 ^ I Pet. ii. 21 — 24. ' A£ls v, 41. 
 
 B b 3 unto 
 
574 Blejfed are they that are perfecuted, &c* 
 
 unto Jerufalem, not knowing the things 
 that fhall befal me there: fave that the Holy 
 Ghoft witnefTeth in every city, faying, that 
 bonds and afflidiions abide me. But none of 
 thefe things move me ; neither count I my 
 life dear unto myfelf ; fo that I might finifh 
 my courfe with joy, and the miniftry, which 
 I have received of the Lord Jefus, to teftify 
 the Gofpel of the grace of God '^." In his 
 Second Epiftle to the Corinthians he glories 
 in the trials, to which he was expofed as a 
 Minifler of Chrift : *Mn labours more abun- 
 dant, in ilripes above meafure, in prifons 
 more frequent, in deaths oft: — In journey ings 
 often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, 
 in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils 
 by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils 
 m the wildernefs, in perils in the fea, in pe- 
 rils among falfe brethren : In wearinefs and 
 painfulnefs, in watchings often, in hunger 
 and thirft, in fallings often, in cold and na- 
 kednefs^" And in his Epiftle to the Ro- 
 mans he endeavours in thefe folemn ftrains 
 to imprefs upon their hearts the divine Love 
 of their bleiTcd Redeemer : '' Who Ihall fe- 
 parate us from the love of Chrift ? Shall tri- 
 bulation, or diflrefs, or perfecution, or fa- 
 
 ^ Ai£ls XX. 22, 23, 34. 1 3 Cor. xi. 23 — 37. 
 
 mine. 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven ^ 375 
 
 mine, or nakednefs, or peril, or the Iword?-^ 
 Nay in all thefe things we are more than 
 conquerors through him that loved us. For 
 I am perfuaded, that neither the fear of 
 death., nor the dejGre of life ; nor angels, nor 
 principalities, nor powers ; nor things pre- 
 fent, nor things to come ; nor height of 
 profperity, nor depth of calamity, nor any 
 other creature, fhall be able to feparate us 
 from the love of God which is in Chrift Je- 
 fusour Lord "^." 
 
 By the fame precept and example was alfo 
 formed that noble army of Martyrs, who 
 during the feveral perfecutions under the 
 Heathen Emperors Submitted patiently to 
 every kind of evil ; who encountered death 
 in every form of terror ; who fung in the 
 midfl of flames, and gloried in fufFering for 
 the name of Chrift and in the caufe of the 
 Gofpel. All thofe come literally under the 
 defcription of our Lord, of them that, are 
 perfecuted for righteoufnefs' fake. 
 
 In the prefent age of tlie world, when the 
 Faith of Chrift is difFufed far and wide among 
 the nations, and is adopted and eftablifhed for 
 the religion of the State, this charad;er of the 
 Chriftian Soldier cannot literally be put to 
 
 •" Rom. viii, 3^—39. 
 
 B b 4 the 
 
376 Blejfed are they that are perfecuted, &£» 
 
 the proof. Yet without the teft of martyr- 
 dom the true Followers of Chrift will find an 
 ample field for the exerclfe of their religious 
 fortitude. For though they are not expofed 
 to perfecution for the fake of righteoufnefs, 
 yet they are expofed to temptations of va- 
 rious kinds in their common intercourfe with 
 the world. They encounter them in the 
 pleafures and in the pains, in the riches and 
 in the penury, in the honours and in the 
 diflionours of human life. By temporal goods 
 they are tempted to forget their God and 
 their religion ; and by temporal evils they 
 are alfo tempted to fretfulnefs and impati- 
 ence, and fometimes even to difhonefl: means 
 of repairing their unhappy lot. The true 
 Followers of Chrift are not moved with 
 any of thefe things. In every condition and 
 in every viciflitude of life they hold faft their 
 integrity unfliaken, and they continue faith- 
 fully to maintain their ground againft the fe- 
 veral forms and fpecies of temptation. Un- 
 fubdued by thofe trials to which fo many 
 yield, they are determined wath the Apoftle, 
 that nothing fliall feparate them from the 
 love of God in Chrift. Neither difcompofed 
 by the foft fedu(5lions of profperous fortune, 
 nor the rude attacks of adverfe, they con- 
 tinue true to the caufe of Chrift, and under 
 
 his 
 
For tlieirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 377 
 
 his banner they perfevere unto the end. 
 They bear the fame mind with the Martyrs 
 of the primiti\;^ Church ; and if they were 
 called to the fame trials, they would be ready 
 to meet them with the fame fortitude. They 
 may therefore be underftood to be compre- 
 hended in the fpirit of this defcription with 
 thofe that are pcrfecuted for righteoufnefs* 
 fake ; and in common with the Martyrs of 
 more arduous times they fliall be admitted 
 to the fame tranfcendent reward ; For theirs 
 is the Kingdom of Heaven. 
 
 The Kingdom of Heaven, as I have had 
 repeated occafion to obferve, is the fpiritual 
 reign of the Meffiah, or Anointed of the 
 Lord ; in which are comprehended the two 
 different ftates of prefent Grace and of future 
 Glory. Thus containing whatever is effen- 
 tial to the fpiritual man both in holinefs and in 
 happinefs, it is prefented to all, who acknow- 
 ledge Chrift for their fpiritual King, as the 
 great motive to a faithful allegiance, both at 
 the beginning and at the clofe of the Chrif- 
 tian life. And accordingly we find it equally 
 advanced as the appropriate bleffednefs of the 
 firfl and of the lafl in the feries of Chriflian 
 virtues, of the Poor in fpirit, and of them 
 that are perfecuted for righteoufnefs* fake. 
 
 To 
 
378 BleJJed are they that are perfecuted, &c» 
 
 To both thefe charaders it unqueftionably 
 applies in both its parts : For every one of 
 thefe Beatitudes comprehends in a greater or 
 a lefs degree both a prefent and a future 
 good. , But if there be any lliade of diffe- 
 rence in the appUcation of the fame Beatitude 
 to different characters, it may be afTumed 
 with fome colour of reafon, that as offered 
 to them, who commence the Chriftian cha- 
 rad:er in being poor in fpirit, it has a more 
 immediate reference to the State of Grace : 
 as offered to thofe, v;ho complete the Chrif- 
 tian character in fubmitting to perfecution 
 for the fake of righteoufnefs, it more ex- 
 prefsly points at the State of Glory. 
 
 This Kingdom was very different from 
 what was the great objedl of ambition 
 among the Heathens ; who thought a tem- 
 poral crown the confummation of human 
 enterprize, ancj the accomplifliment of all 
 that was defirable for man. Too little did 
 they know or even conceive of things be- 
 yond the grave, to make them objeds of 
 their attention and purfuit ; and lefs did 
 they fix their thoughts on the attainment of 
 a feat or crown in heaven. 
 
 It was alfo very different from what en- 
 gaged the expedlations of the Jews. They 
 had been ftyled in the Law^ a Royal Priefl- 
 
 hood, 
 
"For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 379 
 
 hood, or a Kingdom of Priefls". But this, 
 charader of royalty tbey underilood to be 
 fulfilled in the independent pofTeffion of the 
 land of Canaan, as augmented by the fword 
 of David, and as eilabliflied under the more 
 peaceful, yet fplendid reign of Solomon. 
 Their ambition was further elevated by that 
 animating pidure which the Prophets had 
 given of the Meliiah and his Kingdom. But 
 not comprehending the fpiritual charadler of 
 either, they exalted their ideas to the higheft 
 pitch of worldly greatnefsj and they became 
 ambitious to enroll themfelves under the 
 banners of this promifed King, and to par- 
 take in the triumphs of his glorious King- 
 dom. 
 
 The appearance of the meek and lowly 
 Jefus did not correfpond with thefe ambitious 
 hopes. In the poor and humble Peafant of 
 Galilee they could trace no veftige of the 
 glorious and triumphant King of Ifrael. 
 Hence he was difapproved, defpifed, and re- 
 jed;ed at once by the fuperior orders of the 
 Jews, And though the energy and benevo- 
 lence of his words and works engaged the 
 regard and gratitude of the common people, 
 yet they alfo were difappointed at the humi- 
 
 " Excrl. xix. 6. 
 
 lity 
 
380 Blejfed are they that are perfecuted, &c, 
 
 lity of the form in which he came among 
 them, and could no otherwife reconcile what 
 they faw with what they hoped, than by 
 fuppofing that he was now under a temporary 
 fliade, from which he would fuddenly break 
 forth to public view in all the power and 
 fplendour of a mighty King. The fame pre- 
 judice was entertained by the Apoftles them- 
 felves, who had fuller advantages of contem- 
 plating his characfler and miffion. On this 
 idea the Mother of James and John requeft- 
 ed for her Sons, that the one might fit on 
 his right hand, and the other on his left in 
 his Kingdom 3 in other words, that they 
 might have the two firfl: offices of temporal 
 eminence and honour. But what was the 
 anfwer of our Lord to this ? To fit on his 
 right hand and on his left, he affured them, 
 were not his to give, being referved for the 
 difpofal of thofe, who were appointed to the 
 kingly ftation by the ordinary providence of 
 God. What they had to exped: from follow- 
 ing him in this life would not be honours, 
 but indignities, not preferment, but fufFer- 
 ings. They would have to drink with him 
 of the cup of forrow, to be baptized with: 
 him in the baptifm of calamity. But in 
 compenfation for all thofe indignities and 
 fufferings, which they might endure for his 
 
 fake. 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 381 
 
 lake, he had finally a reward far tranfcend- 
 ing any temporal crown: He had a Kingdom 
 to beftow in the realms of heavenly blifs. 
 Thus he aflured his Apoftles, who had for- 
 faken all and followed him, that in the re- 
 generated world, when he fliould be efta- 
 blifhed on his Throne of glory, they alfo 
 Ihould fit on twelve Thrones, judging the 
 twelve Tribes of Ifrael". 
 
 For a time they were fuffered to mif- 
 conceive the nature of this promife ; and 
 worldly prejudice ftill maintained poiTefTion 
 of their underftandings. But as foon as 
 the great myflery of godlinefs was accom- 
 plifhed in the paffion, the refurredion, and 
 afcenfion of their Lord, the light of ce* 
 leftial truth broke forth at once upon their 
 minds. And they intuitively underftood 
 the purpofe of his fufferings and the na- 
 ture of his Kingdom. They fought no 
 more for temporal honours and diftindions : 
 They ftrove no longer who Ihould be the 
 greatefb upon earth. Animated by the pro^ 
 mife now fufficiently underftood of being 
 finally advanced to that high and holy place> 
 "where their Lord was gone before, they re- 
 folved to take up his crofs, and to follow him 
 
 • Mat, XX. 20—28. Luke xxii. 34 — 30. 
 
 in 
 
382 Blejfed are tliey that are perfecuted, &c* 
 
 in fufFering : they defpifed all worldly ter- 
 rors : they did not hefitate to encounter 
 every kind of danger : they did not fcruple 
 to undergo any labour or perfecution to ad- 
 vance the profeffion of his Gofpel and the 
 eftablifliment of his righteoilfnefs. They 
 were faithful unto death, in full affurance 
 that hereafter they fliould receive a crown 
 of life. As their Lord had overcome by fuf- 
 fering, fo alfo they fhould overcome; having 
 the infallible word of divine truth, that as he 
 was enthroned with his Father, fo alfo Ihould 
 they be enthroned with him p. 
 
 Tranfported with the profpe(5t of this vaft 
 reward, the Apoftle Paul thus expreiTes the 
 bleffed hope, with which himfelf and his 
 Brethren were buoyed up under all thofe ex- 
 traordinary evils, to which they were expofed 
 for the fake of righteoufnefs : " We are 
 troubled on every fide, but not diftrefled ; 
 we are perplexed, but not in defpair 3 perfe- 
 cuted, but not forfaken ; caft down, but not 
 deftroyed : Always bearing about in the 
 body the dying of the Lord Jefus, that the 
 life alfo of Jefus might be made manifeft in 
 our body. — For which caufe we faint not; 
 but though our outward man perifh, yet the 
 
 P Rev. iii. 21. 
 
 inward 
 
tor theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 383 
 
 inward man is renewed day by day. For our 
 light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
 worketh for us a more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory "^Z' On the fame principle 
 this great Apofiile, having paiTed an unwearied 
 life of fpiritual warfare in extending the 
 faith of Chrift over the various regions of the 
 civilized world, was enabled without emo- 
 tion, and even with complacence, to con- 
 template that fcene of martyrdom, which he 
 was confcious was now drawing nigh to in- 
 volve him : " For I am now ready to be of- 
 fered ; and the time of my departure is at 
 hand. I have fought the good fight; I have 
 finiihed my courfe ; I have kept the faith. 
 Henceforth there is laid up for mc a crown 
 of righteoufnefs, which the Lord the righte- 
 ous Judge v/ill give me at that day : and not 
 to me only, but to all them alfo that love his 
 appearing ^" 
 
 Under this defcription muft be compre- 
 hended all thofe faithful Soldiers of the crofs 
 of Chrift, who are fo far animated with a 
 love of their Redeemer and a zeal for righte- 
 oufnefs, as not to fcruple any facrifice, how- 
 ever difficult and painful to human nature, 
 in teftifying his name, in promoting his 
 
 < 2 Cor, iv. S — 17. '" aTim. iv. 6, 7, S. 
 
 faitbi 
 
384 Blejfed are they that are petjecuted, &c. 
 
 faith, in eftabliihi ^g his credit and authority^ 
 Nor need v/e confine the appUcation of this 
 Beatitude to them, who in that facred caufe 
 are called, like the Prophets and Apoftles, to 
 undergo the full feverities of f)erfecution ; as 
 thofe are peculiar to very troublous and ftormy 
 times. We may alfo extend it to them even 
 in a ferener age, who ftrenuoufly ** hold the 
 faith and a good confcience" amid the ordi- 
 nary triak of human life. Although not 
 called in the prefent eftablifhment of the 
 true religion, for the caufe of Chrift and his 
 righteoufnefs to forfake their home, their kin- 
 dred, and their country, to abandon temporal 
 goods, or worldly comfort, yet as long as they 
 have refolved to deny themfelves, to take up 
 their crofs, and follow him, in other words, 
 to mortify their affed;ions for the pleafures, 
 the riches, and the honours of the w^orld, and 
 to cultivate his precept and copy his exam- 
 ple in the uniform pradice of all righteouf- 
 nefs, they iliall be admitted to the fame 
 common reward with thofe, who are called 
 to fuffer perfecution in all its terrors; as they 
 are animated with the fame fpirit, which, 
 if put to the proof, w^ould have equally fuf- 
 tained them under the fame fiery trial. For 
 every privation or affll<5lion, to which they 
 are expofed for the fake of righteoufnefs, 
 
 they 
 
For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 385 
 
 they fliall receive a hundred fold, in the 
 peace of God flied abroad into their hearts, 
 and in the blefled hope which is fet before 
 them in the Gofpel of his Son : and at the 
 clofe of all their temporal forrows this peace 
 Ihall be accomplifhed, and this hope iliall be 
 realized, in eternal life. As they determined 
 manfully to fight, and ftill more ftrenuoufly 
 to fufFer, with the Captain of their falvation, 
 fo fliall they alfo overcome and triumph with 
 him : They ihall be advanced with him to 
 Kingly dignity, and fhall reign with him for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 c c 
 
THE BEATITUDES, 
 
 CONCLUDED. 
 
 J. HUS have I attempted to delineate the 
 feveral Difpofitions, which form the Chrif- 
 tian Charader, and in correfpondence there- 
 with the feveral Beatitudes, which conftitute 
 the Chriftian Recompence. In concluflon 
 of thefe difcourfes it may be expedient to of- 
 fer fome remarks in illuftration or improve- 
 ment of the whole. 
 
 I. In this feries of Beatitudes we behold 
 the neceflary connexion between holinefs and 
 happinefs. To the feveral virtues of the 
 Chriftian life are feverally affigned their appro- 
 priate rewards. — But far be it from us to in- 
 fer from hence, that the feparate cultivation 
 of any fmgle virtue, or indeed of any number 
 lefs than the whole, will fuffice to the attain- 
 ment of the happinefs propofed. All the 
 virtues here commended, though feparately 
 confidered, are connected together by one in- 
 diflbluble chain. They muft all indifpenfably 
 combine to form the perfedl man of God ; 
 nor can one of them be omitted without in- 
 c c ^ fringing 
 
388 The Beatitudes. 
 
 fringing the integrity of the Chriftian cha- 
 rad:er, and in confequence annulling our title 
 to the fulnefs of divine beatitude. It is the 
 ftrong expreffion of the Apoflle James ; 
 ** Whofoever fhall keep the whole law, and 
 yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." 
 And the realbn is, that the feveral command- 
 ments form one entire and indivifible code, 
 being fo many branches of the fame royal 
 Law, and breathing the fpirit of the fame di- 
 vine Lawgiver. " For he that faid. Do not 
 commit adultery, faid alfo, Do not kill ^." 
 And what the Apoftle thus affirms of the 
 prohibitions, will equally apply to the pofitive 
 injun6tions. Whofoever iliall attempt to cul- 
 tivate all the other virtues, yet fliall indulge 
 himfelf in an habitual difregard of one, is de- 
 ficient in the Chriftian life, and hazards his 
 intereft in the Chriftian recompence : For 
 the fame Lawgiver, who faid, BleiTed are the 
 Poor in fpirit, and the Meek, faid alfo with the 
 fame authority, Bleflcd are the Merciful, and 
 the Pure in heart. To all, who have enrolled 
 themfelves under the banners of the Chriftian 
 difcipline, it is not permitted to choofe their 
 favourite virtues, to the negledt of others, 
 which may not be fo agreeable to their pre- 
 
 * James li. lo^ 1 1. 
 
 vailing 
 
The Beatitudes. ^89 
 
 vailing habits and inclinations. As connected 
 in fpirit, they muft not be feparated in prac- 
 tice. As equally enjoined by the fame divine 
 Lawgiver, they muft be equally obeyed by 
 all, who acknowledge his authority to require 
 their obedience. If we would be complete in 
 him to whom we profefs allegiance, we muft 
 cultivate the whole without exception, we 
 muft exercife ourfelves without referve in all. 
 To this purpofe is the exhortation of the Apo- 
 ftle, that " giving all diligence we add to our 
 faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to 
 knowledge temperance, and to temperance 
 patience, and to patience godlinefs, and to 
 godlinefs brotherly kindnefs, and to brotherly 
 kindnefs charity. For if thefe things be in 
 us and abound, they will make us neither 
 barren nor unfruitful in the knowled2;e of our 
 Lord Jefus Chrift." If we thus affiduoufly 
 labour to be pcrfecft in the whole will of God, 
 not however depending on our ow^n powers, 
 but on his grace, not trufting in our own 
 merits, but in his mercies, we may hope for 
 the united recompence of all the Chriftian 
 virtues in the fulnefs of the bleffing of the 
 Gofpel of Chrift. '' Wherefore, my beloved 
 brethren, let us be ftedfaft and unmoveable 
 in the work of the Lord, forafmuch as we 
 
 know. 
 
3Q6 The Beatitudes. 
 
 I now, that our labour Ihall not be in vain 
 in the Lord \" 
 
 II. The cultivation of all thefe difpofitions 
 in union is eflential to all w^ho bear the Chrif- 
 tlan name. For whatever be their ftation or 
 condition in H^e, whatever be their endow- 
 ments by nature or education, it is the pri- 
 mary concern of all, that they adorn them- 
 felves with every grace of the Chriflian cha- 
 racter, that fo they may have an intereft in 
 every branch of the Chriftian recompence. — 
 But if there be any clafs of men, on whom 
 there is a peculiar claim for a more luminous 
 and diftingulfhed exercife of thefe difpoli- 
 tions. It is more efpecially incumbent on 
 thofe, who are profeiTedly Teachers of Chrif- 
 tian righteoufnefs. This was the preeminent 
 advantage of our Saviour's teaching, as has 
 been feverally traced through all this feries of 
 Chriftian virtues, that his chara6ler in every 
 point was in harmony with his miffion, and 
 what he taught in his dodrlne he exemplified 
 in his life. 
 
 And this impreffive mode of teaching he 
 commended to his Difclples to cultivate 
 
 *• I Cor. XV. 5S. 
 
 themfelves 
 
The Beatitudes. 39I 
 
 themfelves in their feveral fpheres of relation 
 and fociety ; more efpecially did he enjoin it 
 as an indifpenfable taik on thofe, who were 
 afterwards ordained to be the Apoftles of his 
 Gofpel, the AmbaiTadors of his Kingdom 
 through the world. Thus in the clofe of 
 his Beatitudes, after inaklug q particular ap- 
 plication of the laft to thofe, who fliould be 
 called to fuffer perfecution for the fake of 
 righteoufnefs, he proceeds to make a general 
 application of the whole. 
 
 He fignifies to them, that in the future 
 miniftration of his dodrine a moft adtive and 
 moft arduous office would devolve upon 
 them. In the language of parable he calls 
 them ** The Salt of the Earth;" inafmuch as 
 it was their concern to purify mankind from 
 the corruptions of fm, and to preferve them 
 a living, holy, and acceptable facrifice to 
 God. To anfwer which purpofe it was in- 
 cumbent on them to maintain very carefully 
 this principle themfelves : Otherwife they 
 would be like infipid fait, which is of no value 
 "either in the houfe or in the field ; they 
 would be totally ufelefs in their appointed 
 offices of dlfpenfmg the Gofpel, and might as 
 well be configned to the meaneft and moft 
 infignificant ftations of common life. 
 
 He calls them " The Light of the World;" 
 
 inaf- 
 
392 The Beatitudes. 
 
 inafmuch as it was their office to illuminate 
 and cheer the world by the radiance of hea« 
 venly truth. And therefore it was incum- 
 bent on them, as they hoped for fuccefs in 
 their miniftry, not to place their lamp in an 
 obfcure pofition, where the efFeft of its ra- 
 diance would be cuiicccilcd and loft, but to 
 expofe ic in fo public and confpicuous a point 
 of view, that it might extend its beneficial 
 influence in as wide a fphere as poflible 
 through the houfehold and family of the 
 faithful. 
 
 In the courfe of the fame fimiUtude he 
 compares them to ** a City fet on a Hill, 
 which cannot be hid." As public Teachers 
 of a new Religion,, as chofen AmbafTadors of 
 the Kingdom of God, they were elevated 
 above the common ranks of men, and were 
 expofed to the notice of the world. And 
 therefore it was incumbent on them to do 
 credit to that facred chara6ler which they 
 bore, by the purity and excellence of their 
 practice. 
 
 In application of thefe fimilitudes he re- 
 quires them to let their light fo fhine before 
 men in the brightnefs of their example, that 
 men beholding the energy of their faith in 
 the good works which it produced, might be 
 moved to learn and embrace the faith them- 
 
 felves. 
 
The Beatitudes. S93 
 
 felves, and might glorify God by a life of 
 holinefs correfpondent with the faith em- 
 braced ^. 
 
 All this admonition of our Lord may be 
 addrefTed with advantage to Chriftians in ge- 
 neral in all conditions and relations of life. 
 For there are none even in the humbleft 
 fpheres, fo totally fecluded from the fociety 
 or detached from the notice and view of men, 
 as to be wholly deftitute of means and oppor- 
 tunities of being ufeful to others in the con- 
 cerns of religion by their converfation and 
 example. But it has an appropriate and moft 
 advantageous application to thofe, who ftand 
 in the fame capacity with the primitive 
 Apoftles, in being Minifters of Chrift, and 
 Stewards of the myfteries of God ^. 
 
 In this place more efpecially it may be ad- 
 drefTed with peculiar advantage to thofe, who 
 are in a courfe of education for the miniftry 
 of the Gofpel, or, in the language of our 
 Lord, are Scribes inftruded for the Kingdom 
 of Heaven^. — Ye are the Salt of the Earth : 
 It is your intended office to purify and pre- 
 ferve mankind from all moral and fpiritual cor- 
 ruption. How highly therefore does it behove 
 you to cherifli and maintain this vital princi- 
 
 « Mat. V. 13—16. '^ I Cor. iv. i, « Mat. xiii. 52. 
 
 D d pie 
 
394 The Beatitudes. 
 
 pie within your own hearts, that fo you may 
 be able to diffufe its faving influence through 
 all the fphere of your appointed miniftry ! — 
 Ye are the Light of the World : It is the 
 purpofe of your future calling to difpenfe this 
 light of religious truth over the great houfe- 
 hold of the faithful. How highly therefore 
 does it become you to give this light its full 
 efFed:, and to place it in the moft confpicu- 
 ous and moft profitable ftation ! For which 
 purpofe it is not fufficient, that you be clear 
 and luminous in the dodrine that you preach: 
 it is expedient alfo that you adorn the dodrine 
 of God our Saviour in all things ; that the 
 feveral difpofitions of the Chriftian charader, 
 which after the model of your divine Mafter 
 you affiduoully preach to others, may like- 
 wife be diflindly read and emphatically taught 
 in the tenour of your Chriftian life and con- 
 verfation. For fo fliall ye moft effedually 
 difplay the Miffion and illuftrate the Charac- 
 ter of him, to whom you are now preparing 
 to devote the fervice of your riper years. 
 
 Thus making your light to fhine before 
 men, you will bring them to acknowledge 
 the beauty, the energy, the excellence of 
 Chriftian virtue. And while they fee it re- 
 prefented, not merely in word, but in deed, 
 not merely in defcription, but in adual life, 
 
 they 
 
The Beatitudes, SQS 
 
 they will be moved to glorify God, not only 
 with their lips, but alfo with their hearts ; 
 they will be taught to adopt into their lives 
 what they approve in yours ; and by putting 
 on the feveral graces of the Chriftian cha- 
 radler will procure to themfelves an intereft in 
 the feveral Beatitudes of the heavenly King- 
 dom. 
 
 While thus you labour for the final happi- 
 nefs of others, it is humbly to be hoped, that 
 you will no lefs advance your own. For the 
 Scripture has aiTigned no common degree of 
 blefiednefs to thole, who convert the fmner 
 from his errors, and who turn many to righte- 
 oufnefs. — Let me therefore conclude with 
 the earneft exhortation of the Apoltle to a 
 Difciple fet apart for the Chriftian miniftry : 
 ** Be ye examples to believers, in word, in 
 converfation, in charity, in fpirit, in faith, in 
 purity. — Meditate upon thefe things ; give 
 yourfelves wholly to them ; that your profit- 
 ing may appear to all. Take heed unto 
 yourfelves and unto your dodrine ; continue 
 in them ; for in doing this ye iliall both fave 
 yourfelves and them that hear you^" 
 
 ^ iTim. iv. 12 — 16. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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1 1012 01130 9509 
 
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