^msrvEPm) YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DISCOURSES OK THE Miracles and parables of our 2$h$£tii %tttti am £>aniouc JESUS CHRIST. BY THE REV. WILLIAM BODD, LL. D. LECTURER OF WEST-HAM, IN ESSEX, AND OF ST. OLAVES', HART-STREET, LONDON. SECOND EDITION, IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : Printed by R. Edwards, Crane Court, Fleet Street ; POIt J. HATCHARD, F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON, MAXWELL AND WILSON, LACKINGTON, ALLEN, AND CO. I. B. SEELEY, W. BAYNES, T. HAMILTON, AND MATHEWS AND LEIGH. 1809. PREFACE, HE reader is here presented with a set oi prac tical Discourses on the MIRACLES and PARA BLES of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : designed at first wholly for the pulpit, and a popular congregation ; but since revised, enlarged, and improved for the press : as it was judged they might be serviceable to the great cause of religion ; and tend, in some degree to promote the true and only valuable interests of mankind. The subjects treated of, are of such a nature as cannot fail greatly to engage the serious reflections of all, to whom they are presented : and serious ren flections on such subjects, cannot fail much to influ ence every mind for its good. The author hoped, therefore, by introducing and recommending such to the public attention, he might be doing service, how ever he himself should succeed in the handling of them. If well, he clearly discerned the. high advan tage ; if otherwise, high advantage he perceived must also arise to his readers, who by his discourses would be led to think more clearly on these important mat ters, to consult the sacred Scriptures more carefully, as well as those able authors, who have done greater justice to the glorious argument. Discourses on the Miracles only were originally intended : and when these were first published, there was not the least design or apprehension of proceed ing farther. But the pressing solicitation of so many, and those, a great part of them unknown to a 2 IV PREFACE. the author, rendered it almost impossible for him to withdraw from the Public, and to refuse the dis courses on the Parables, which accordingly fol lowed. * I. As the Discourses were designed for a popular congregation, it is easy to see, that the author could not properly be led to consider the Miracles in a controversial manner : his chief view and aim was so to explain and enforce them, as to render them in structive and edifying to his hearers. But as to this end, it is highly needful, that any apparent difficul ties in the letter, or any trite objections, raised in the school of infidelity, should be removed: he hath therefore endeavoured, in as brief and plain a man ner as possible, to state the literal facts : and to obviate real or supposed, difficulties. It must be confessed that a right" and clear stating of our Sa viour's Miracles is of very prime consequence in the Christian System : since their evidence tends so much to confirm the truth of his divine mission and revelation.* Hence we find that the enemies of our common faith have ever been busy to weaken this evidence, and to shake this pillar of the heavenly building, against which however we are assured, the gates of hell shall never prevail. Nay, we cannot help observing the depth of Divine Wisdom, who, from that darkness which infidelsvand heretics would draw over his sacred word and works, hath caused the light of his truth to emerge with infinitely brighter lustre : and make the malice and perverseness ofene- mies, serve, by the labours of his faithful servants, to illustrate that very revelation which they meant to darken and decry. Many instances hereof in other respects misfit be given : but a more evident one we cannot have, than * .See Bishop Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrce, B. 2. c. Q. Dr Patten's Christian Apology, and two Defences, in answer to Mr' Ralph Heathcote. And particularly Occasional Annotations tho 28th in the 5th vol. of Parker's Bibliotheca Biblia, p. 683 preface. - V in the case of Wolston, whose infamous attacks ¦upon our Saviour's Miracles, so far from gaining the end he proposed, served only to engage the thoughts and pens of the able servants of their Lord; and so to elucidate and undeniably confirm the evi dence, he meant to confuse and overthrow.* Truth, like genuine gold, will always bear the touchstone, and appear the brighter the more it is examined. From the excellent labours of our Divines, enga ged in that controversy, I have reaped no small fruits : but have not attempted to handle the subjects in that view, which they have done : imagining it sufficient for my purpose, to obviate the general objections without producing them, and to refer to their la bours, such as desire or need fuller information. I must confess, for my own part, that the custom of producing the objections of infidels or heretics, ei ther from the pulpit or the press, (except when ab solute necessity, or an immediate reply to an author calls for it) seems not the most eligible way of in structing, and frequently has, I fear,, been attended with bad consequences. Objections are generally couched in a few strong and plain terms, and so are made level to every apprehension ; the .answers fre quently and necessarily are long, laborious, and dif fuse ; and of consequence not apprehended with that strength and clearness, which is necessary totally to remove the ill impressk>n.'|~ For which reason the more plainly and simply truth is proposed, and the more covertly and passingly, if I may so say, objec tions are obviated, the less probability is there for prepossessions and prejudices to warp the mind. 4 * 'See Bishop Gibson's three excellent Pastoral Letters. ¦J- For which reason Stackhouse's History of the Bible is a book so dangerous, and of so great prejudice to many. The ob jections there will be found more strongly and clearly expressed ' than the answers. The book would be of great use, were it pos sible to remove the objections, and to give the answers, without (inserting the objections at all. VI PREFACE. I have endeavoured to proceed thus in stating the literal facts, where necessary: but my design led me to be but brief,* as having chiefly the practical use of the Miracles in view : and to this end, I have endeavoured to draw fr@m them such moral and spiritual observations, as I hoped through grace, might tend to make men more in love with God and holiness. — Though the chief and primary intention; of our Saviour's miracles is doubtless to confirm his divine mission ; yet I presume, it cannot be denied, that they have other great and good purposes ; amongst which, that which I have chiefly insisted on in the course of these Sermons claims a principal place, from the clear and undeniable testimony of innumerable writers of the first antiquity and credit. " His wonderful works and miracles in nature, were intended to display and prefigure his, no less wonder ful works and miracles in grace."* This I have at tempted to shew in the course of the following Ser mons on the Miracles. The attempt of Wolston, whether more weak or wicked, it is difficult to say, hath brought up an evil report and much prejudice orr the spiritual or alle gorical interpretation of the scriptures in general, but the miracles in particular. He would have all our Saviour's miracles to be merely allegorical, to the utter destruction of the literal story. An ab surdity, which one would conceive, need only have been proposed to confute itself. A desire to steer as clearly as possible from thie Scylla, hath perhaps driven some very learned men too near the opposite Charybdis : who while they have excellently suppor ted the literal story, the sure foundation of all in terpretation, have too hastily denied and excluded all spiritual or allegorical meaning ; and of necessity have set themselves at opposition with the first and * See the first Sermon, vol. i. see also p. 32, &c. of the same vol. and also vol. ii. p. 220, note. preface. vii most valuable writers of the church.f The truth in this, as in most other cases, lies in the midst. The Miracles, though strictly and txulyJitjral, are not confined solely to the letter : though. spiritual or al legorical in their interpretation, are not, cannot be solely allegorical. From the literal fact is derived the evidence for the truth of the divine revelation ; in those facts, spiritually interpreted, are seen the most beautiful representations of Christ's miracles of mercy, and wonders of grace, vouchsafed to souls laden and oppressed, with all the weight and mise ries of sin. Thus the ancient and best writers of the church have interpreted : never putting asunder those which are thus excellently connected. And while thus we proceed in their steps, preserving the literal story in its due honour, there is no fear of going greatly out of the way.* II, The case is very different with the Parables : the outward letter is nothing more than the shell, the vehicle by which the purposed instruction is con veyed to us. So that to hear or read a parable without knowing the interpretation, is to see and per ceive not, to hear and not understand. A parable, as I have had occasion elsewhere to observe, § is a similitude or comparison, " a transferring the ideas or properties, which are in one subject, (generally fa miliar and well known) to another, less known and understood, in order to heighten and enliven that f Dr. Pocock (Not. Mis. 176.) observes well, Multum cert£ omnibus seculis passa est Veritas, a duobus, hominum generibus : altera eorum qui omnia in allegorias, & sensus, qups falso vocant spirituales, vertunt : altero eorum qui omnia nude ac ad literam exponunt, &c. * The reader is by all means referred to a judicious and ex cellent preface of the learned Dr. Waterland,, prefixed to the third edition-of'his Scripture vindicated: wherein he treats of the literal, figurative, and mystical (or spiritual) interpretation of scripture. §, See vol. iv. the last of these Discourses, p. $00. Vill PREFACE. other the more to the mind. "J It is a; putting of one thing for another, that the matter intended to be taught may not immediately appear from the bare letter and the case, put : but, when the key is given, strike more fully and strongly on the mind from the case put to represent and enforce it. For a parable, is exactly what we call " putting a case" — when one thing is said and supposed with a design to teach, illustrate, and enforce some other. And such are our Saviour's parables: so that to understand them we must look beyond the letter ; and in such as he hath not himself interpreted, we shall either find the key from his general application, or from the connection wherein the parable stands, with his miracles or other discourses. And, while carefully attending hereto, we explain the other circumstances agreeably to the subject in hand and the analogy of faith, there is no doubt but we shall obtain all the profit, which was intended to be conveyed, to us by this most pleasing, beautiful, and persuasive method of instruction.That parables were very familiar and much in use among the Eastern nations, and particularly those of Palestine we learn not only from the testimony of St. Jerom, produced in the motto to the third volume of these discourses, but from the concurrent evidence of all writers on the subject. And for the most part, as an able writer* observes, " both Christ and his forerunner John, as well as the old prophets, were wont in their parabolical discourses to allude to + See the 'reverend Mr. Merrick's sermon on Christ the true Vine, &c. Dr. Waterland in the Preface above mentioned, ob serves, that a parable is a kind oi similitude, or fictitious parallel taken up at pleasure to represent some real case. It is a case in fiction aptly made choice of, to signify some case in fact, be it supposed past, present, or future, &c. p. 9. * Sir Isaac Newton on Daniel, p. 148. where he gives many examples, and speaks with great exactness on the subject. The note is too long to be inserted, and therefore the reader is referred to It, PREFACE. ix things present, and such as immediately offered them selves." By this manner of teaching our Saviour fulfilled*!' the prophecies concerning the Messiah in this respect, of whom the Evangelist tells us it was foretold, that he should open his mouth in parables, should utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world: arid hence it is, that the mysteries and secrets of the kingdom of heaven are generally the subjects of our Saviour's parables : his grand and fundamental doctrines being delivered in clear, plain, and express terms : height ened and enlivened however very often by the addi tion of beautiful parables ; which as they are the most simple method of teaching,* and most accom modated to the comprehension of the vulgar and un learned, most easy to be understood, remembered, and applied :§ so are they the finest veil for myste ries, and the best means to convict the proud and ob stinate sinner, as well as to conceal from him those great truths, which his perverseness and infidelity have rendered him unworthy to have more clearly communicated to him. And this seems to be the reason which our Saviour himself gave to his disci ples, why he spoke in parables : The disciples came and said to him, Why speakest thou unto them in Pa rables ? He answered and said unto them, Be cause it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, bid to them it is not given. For whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath f I humbly conceive the blessed Jesus did riot do such and such things merely and solely to fulfil the prophecies j but rather the prophecies foretold these things, because he was to do them, for other and good reasons. See Bishop Chandler's Defence of Christianity, from the Prophecies of the Old Testament, c. 3. and 6. sect 2. and 3. * The words of Erasmus, as produced in the motto to the fourth volume of these discourses. §; This is the reason given by Dr. Markland, in his first Dis course, vol. i. which see. X PREFACE. not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore I speak to them in parables : because they seeing, see not; and hearing, they hear not ; nei ther do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, 8$c as if our Saviour had said, (to use Dr. Goodman's^ paraphrase,) " You my disciples, who are of an humble docible temper, and are content to use means and to resort to me for the understanding of such things as I deliver : to you it shall be no disadvantage that they are clothed in parables : for (besides that I am ready to interpret every thing to you) my discourses are so ordered, as to become plain and intelligible to such unprejudiced minds, the truth will shine through the veil, and the shadow shall guide you to the body and substance. But as for these proud and self-conceited Pharisees, that are transported with their own prejudices, and will neither understand nor practise things plainly delivered : for the just hardening them and such as they are, I deliver myself in such a manner, as will not readily be apprehended by men of their temper. They shall choke themselves with the husks, while you feed upon the kernel." They have brought this willing blindness upon themselves, that in seeing, they see not ; and this wilful deafness, that in hear ing, they hear not, neither do they understand.* $ In his Penitent pardoned, p. 12. where he enlarges on th« reasons why our Saviour spoke in parables. " Much like to this, says he, at the end of the above paraphrase, is the account which Jamblichus gives of the obscurity of Pythagoras. Pytha goras, saith he, studied some obscurity in his dictates, to the intent that those only who were virtuously disposed, and so preparedfor ' his notions, might be benefited by his discourses, but as for others they (as Hpmer saith of Tantalus) should be surrounded with such things as were in themselves desirable, but not be able to touch or taUe them. * See Bishop Hall's Paraphrase on the text, in his Explication of difficult Texts : but above all, Dr. Whitby's very excellent and elaborate note on the place deserves the reader's most careful perusal. Mr. Macknight labours to establish a new interpreta tion, which it must be owned is a good one, if the words would PREFACE. Xi t Upon the whole then, we may say, that our Sa viour spoke in parables, 1 . As a judicial punishment upon those, who were hardened against, and ill-dis posed to the truth : and sometimes as a more lively means to convince and confute them, even from their own mouths, f a. As a means to awaken the atten tion and whet the inquiry of those who were well- disposed ; and to lead them to a serious examination and diligent searching after the truth: and as. a me thod the most natural, beautiful, and instructive, to teach from common and familiar objects the most di vine and important lessons, to imprint them on the memory. 3. As a veil to the mysteries of the king dom, and a method least offensive to convey some very ungrateful and unpalatable truths,* such parti cularly as the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles, &c. 4. As a lesson of man's natural blindness, and ignorance in spiritual matters, unless Christ, by his grace, is pleased to open the under standing, and enlighten the mind — add all this, 5. To fulfil , the prophecies concerning him, in this res pect, as well as to comply with the customs and man ners of the nation, with whom this method of instruc tion was familiar. § III. In interpreting the parables, as well as in explaining the miracles, I have spared no pains to arrive at the truth : my method has always been dili gently and carefully to consider the original, to col late and confer Scripture with Scripture, for which, the marginal references of our Bible, and those of Dr, Mill, J are highly useful : this done, I have made- bear it, but it is feared they will not : and Dr. Doddridge seems fully to have refuted it beforehand. See them on the text. f See vol. iv. of these Discourses, p. gg. * Stanhope's Epistles and Gospels, vol. ii. p. 230, and vol. iii. p. 200. § See Dr. Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 229. and ii. p. 293. % The Amsterdam edition by Westein abounds with the most copious and best selected marginal readings : Canne has collect- XH PREFACE. it my business to consult the best and ablest critics and commentators, ancient and modern : as well as the writings of the first, and most approved fathers of the church, reaping from them all possible advan- -> tage. Our own writers on the New Testament gene rally succeeded these, in my inquiries : and after them any that I could find, who had treated the sub ject in hand. From each of which having derived all the information and profit I was able, it has been my endeavour under the assistance of divine « grace, to express my sentiments, as clearly, plainly, and strongly, as I might : not considering myself as writ ing for the learned, but for the instruction of the many, with whom it is necessary, to use more words, to be more diffuse — to deliver line upon line, and precept upon precept — than if we were speaking to those Whose education and studies lead them to such inquiries, and make them of much quicker discern ment and penetration. It was once my design to have translated and pre fixed Ader's useful Discourse on our Saviour's Mira cles : wherein that learned and pious physician fully proves, that every disease cured by our Redeemer was incurable by all the means of art : but my com pass would not allow me : I cannot however but re commend the work to the perusal of those, who are engaged in these studies.* Nor must I omit here to make my acknowledgments for the very large assist ance I have received from the excellent Harmony of the Gospels, begun in Latin by M. Chemnitz, a learned Lutherian divine, continued by Polycarp Lyser, and finished by the labour of the celebrated Dr. John Gerhard : the book is far less known than its usefulness demands : and when I first met with it ed a great many in his Bible, but frequently without much judg ment. Clark has selected the best, in his Bible with brief An notations. Folio. * It is to be found at the end of the 6th volume of the Critici bacn (Amsterdam edition.) PREFACE. Xlll I found but few of my learned or scriptural acquain tance, who had any knowledge of it. There is in it a great fund of divine instruction, and many of our Harmonists, though they have not thought fit to say so much, have evidently been much indebted to it. For my own part, I have received singular pleasure. and profit from it ; and very frequently translated large paragraphs, for which, I hope, the present performances will not be found the worse. Thus much I conceived myself bound to declare in grati tude to my author, and good-will to my worthy bre thren of the clergy, who may chance not to be ac quainted with the Harmony of Chemnitz. Many of these Discourses, not to say most of them, have in the transcribing and revisal of them been very much enlarged : and so are become longer than the generality of sermons : but since they may be considered as a kind of Comment as well as Discourse, on the portions of Scripture which they handle, it is hoped, their length will easily be par doned — That the same thoughts and expressions are not repeated in them, the author by no means avers : it is indeed scarce to be avoided on subjects so simi lar ; and the pious reader, we trust, will not be of fended thereat, should it not be found to, disgust him with a nauseating frequency. That many expressions might not be altered for the better, many sentences expressed with greater clearness and precision, and many words used with greater propriety and empha sis, the author again is so. far from denying, that he js very sensibly convinced of it. But if he cannot plead an exemption from a same ness of thought and expression, from literal impro priety or error, nor perhaps from mistakes in judg ment : since to err is human, and infallibility only the property of the All-wise : — yet he can plead a^ absolute exemption from all voluntary error, from all design to obtrude any opinions of his own, from any intention to favour one doctrine or recommend fcjy PREFACE. one principle which has not its clear foundation in the Word of God, and the doctrine of that church, whereof he had the happiness to be a minister : and the satisfaction, to believe most exactly conformable, in its doctrines and services, to the holy Scriptures*, and the faith of the primitive church. And he hopes and prays, that he may never receive or embrace any doctrine whatsoever, which cannot be evidently proved from that word, and shewn to be agreeable to the faith of the church of Christ, in the first three centuries; and so to the faith of the church of Eng land, which had happily retained all the fundamen tals of the Christian doctrine. It would be far bet ter, if all were wise enough to follow the excellent advice given in one of our Canons in the reign of queen Elizabeth, in the year 1571: "That the clergy should teach nothing from the pulpit, as being of religious obligation to the people to believe, but what should be consonant to the doctrine of the Old, or New Testament, and what the catholic fathers and ancient bishops had collected or concluded from thence." How would both truth and learning flourish, as the great Dr. Waterland remarks, were but this rule carefully observed ? Men that know little of the fathers will of course speak with con tempt of them. They were men, it is true, but they were withal great and good men : a character which those will never arrive at, who presume to flout or despise them."* Were but the rule above mentioned ¦carefully observed, all our differences would soon be composed : and those opinions and tenets which so divide the church, and destroy brotherly love, would soon be found not capable of enduring the trial, and so of necessity be given up. We cannot, it is true, contend too earnestly for the fundamentals of Our common faith ; but the great misfortune is, that our * See Dr. Waterland's Remarks upon Dr. Clark's Exposition «f the Church Catechism, p. 23. PREFACE. XV disputes and divisions frequently arise from points not fundamental, or rather from tjhat, which we can not too strenuously oppose, from mens making those things fundamental, which really are not so.f " In the rule above given, we ought to abide and there to fix our firm footing : every departure from it will be a departure, so far, from truth, and sobriety : which if carried on, but a little way, will do mischief; but if pursued to the utmost (as it is natural for a spirit of error to be restless) can end in nothing else but the most deplorable confusion." And surely this is not a time for Christians to promote that confusion, to fall out and contend by the way : but to agree and unite all their endeavours towards the repelling the common enemy, and promoting the cause of Christ : which through the boldness of infidelity on one hand, and the imprudence of enthusiasm on the other, is brought into imminent danger; and calls for the joint and zealous labours of ail those, who profess themselves labourers in the Lord's vineyard. f For an excellent discourse upon Fundamentals, I would re- refer my reader to, Two Charges delivered to the Middlesex clergy, by Dr. Waterland, so often mentioned and quoted in these Discourses. He observes (from Sherlock's Vindication of the Defence of -Stillingfleet) p. 14. that " a fundamental doc trine is such a doctrine as is in strict sense of the essence of Chris tianity, without which the whole building and superstructure must fall : the belief of which is necessary to the very being of Christianity, like the first principles of any art or science." — The next step we advance to, and which bears an immediate con nection with the former, is ; that such doctrines as are found to be intrinsical or essential to the Christian Covenant are funda~ mental truths, and such as are plainly and directly subversive of it, are fundamental errors. —The Christian Covenant may be considered as containing the following articles ; 1 . A founder and principal covenanter. 2. A subject capable of being cove nanted. 3. A charter of foundation. 4. A mediator. 5. Con dition^ to be performed. 6. Aids or means to enable to perfor mance. 7- Sanctions also, to bind the covenant and secure obe- dience." The Doctor then enlarges upon each of these, and examines at large all other rules for fundamentals, and shews them defective. See the work. Xvi PREFACE. It is in support of this glorious cause, that I have reached out my— 'alas— too feeble hand : willing, like the poor widow to throw in, at least, my mite, though inconsiderable, into the treasury, towards building up the spiritual house of the Lord. J And having no sect to establish, no party of any kind to espouse, no peculiar principles, but the plain precepts of the Gospel, to recommend :*— I cannot but flatter myself, that the ingenuous and unbigotted part of mankind will receive my labours withcomplacence : and par don at least the well-meant, should they be found, fruitless endeavours of sincerity. — It is ungenerous, not to say highly unjust, to cast our random censures, and to play with the reputation of a clergyman, merely because he happens to be in earnest, and to press the cause of his divine Master, and of the eter nal welfare of his fellow creatures, with some degree of that zeal and importunity, which the greatness of the subjects surely so much demand. Yet thus un just, thus ungenerous are many: doing they know not what injury to the religion of Christ, by robbing. his minister of their due influence, and prejudicing the souls of his hearers, by ill opinions of the doctrine he delivers. The following Sermons, together with the general tenour of my preaching, and the maimer of my life, which I strive, through God's grace, to lead void of offence towards him, and towards man, — will, I trust, on my own behalf, serve sufficiently to remove all such aspersions; and to convince those, whom it may concern, that as closely and strictly attached to our excellent church, I %ve ever disapproved the practice and distinguishing tenets of our modern sectaries : and hope to live and die in the faith and unity of the truly apostolical church, planted by X The gifts cast into the treasury, Theophylact informs us were in tented not only for the relief of the poor, but for sacred uses, and for adorning the Temple, «j Xo and ye shall find perfect, rest and peace *• See Jqhn xii. 48* t, HQnjanifests, here, his c. \\ See Job xiv. I, 2, and the Burial Service, B 2 4 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. burden upon us ; then should we soon discover tha« the loss thereby sustained, would be by ,far the greater part of the gain ; for, the loss would be only of trouble and grief, ,the gain entirely of rest and repose. But present objects strike so sjtrongly on the human sight, that we have no eyes for spiritual things, removed from the view of, sense, and seen only by the eye of faith ; And though in reality, every man born of woman, is thus heavy-laden and oppressed, though all men are not only sinners, but also afflicted with many outward evils to remind them thereof, (for* nothing upon earth is perfectly happy, and death at least is an universal monitor of sin to all mankind)- though all are really thus heavy-laden ; yet while the things that are seen chiefly engross our attention, the inward malady of the soul is but little heeded : soon as it pleases God in his wisdom to scourge and chasten us, soon as our kind Father lays his correcting hand upon us, then, for the most part- — burdened with worldly afflictions, temporal things no longer capable of amusing and engaging us, — then, we turn our eyes inward; then the spiritual grievances of our souls appear to us, and then we are glad and willing to embrace Christ's proposal of rest and repose. * It required no Revelation to teach this ; all mankind from the Pall have had sufficient proof of it from their own experience, and a heathen poet aould say, Nihil est ab omni Parte beatum. Hor. lib. II. ode 16. Nothing is completely blest. Francis. But how beautifully is it set forth by Solomon, in his divine writ ings, than whom no man had greater opportunities to prove the e*tent of .a11 human happiness, and the sum of his experience is this. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Eccles. i. 2. The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. 5 Here we see the great* advantage of affliction : For that must be highly advantageous, which causes the soul to come to Christ ; and none can come, for none are invited, but the labouring and heavy-laden. Hence we find in the gospel, that all, who came to Jesus, for relief, did labour and were heavy- laden^ were oppressed with the burdens of sin and sorrow, and so brought to him : and each one of them was intended to point out to us, not only the proper manner of coming to Christ, but also those spiritual maladies, that spiritual leprosy and posses sion, that spiritual blindness, deafness, dumbness, deadness, yea, that deprivation of all spiritual health and soundness, and that utter inability to every good work, which are, to corrupt human nature, the unhappy consequences of our first pa rents' transgression. And, as I propose to enlarge upon these examples, it seemed not improper, and I hope, will not be unprofitable to introduce my * Dr Young has beautifully enlarged upon this truth, in words which every christian must feel. Great God of wonders, (if thy love survey 'd Aught else the name of. wonderful retains) What rocks are these on which to build our trust ! Thy ways admit no blemish : none I find. Or this alone, " That none is to be found." Not one to soften censures hardy crime, Not one to palliate peevish grief's complaint : Who, like a Demon, murm'ring from the dust, Dares into judgment, call her judge— supreme. For all I bless thee 3 most for the severe : Her death, my own at hand, the fiery gulf, That flaming bound of wrath omnipotent ! It thunders ; but it thunders to preserve : It strengthens what it strikes : its wholesome. dread Averts the dreaded pain : its hideous groans Join heav'n's hallelujahs in thy praise, Great source of good alone ! — How kind in all ? In vengeance., kind! Pain, death, Gehenna, SAVE. Night Thoughts, Consolation. 6 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. intended discourses, with this pathetic invitation of our Lord; wherein, we see that all are invited to him, and that all are in a proper state to come, when labouring and, heavy-laden. In speaking to these words, three particulars naturally occur to our observation : First, in them we have an invitation, Come unto me ; Secondly, the persons invited, those, who will be the accept able guests, All ye that labour and are heavy-laden ; and, Thirdly, what such shall receive, namely, rest, ,and what they must do, in order to the receiving it, who come to Christ as their Priest, Prophet and King, to be saved, taught, and ruled by him ; I will give you rest, on condition that you come to me, Take my yolce upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart ; so shall ye find rest to your souls ; rest to your souls, by learning of me and taking my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. In which, as well as in the coming to Christ, is set forth the duty of those, who are invited, orwhat they must do on their parts, who desire rest to their souls from him': since very vain and de-- ceitful will all hopes of rest be found to such as do not come to Christ, as do not take his yoke upon them, and learn of him, to be meek and lowly in heart. I. First then, here is an invitation, Cometo Me; the word in the original* AE!m, come, expresses not so much a command, as a friendly request ; a familiar exhorting, begging and desiring that we would do * Leigh, in his Critica Sacra, observes : Est hoc adverbiui? hortantis simul c5" accersenfis ; usurpatur ab Mis qui humanissime matant Hf hortantur. ad aliquid faciendum : imprimis autem qucs sunt grata iS jucunda. Chemnitius also in his Harmony makes the same remark. To him I am indebted for many excel lent observaUons, nay, and indeed for much matter, as the learned reader wdl see in the course of these sermons, as I have fully acknowledged »n the general preface. ' The Easiness of Christ's Yoke* f any thing, particularly what is pleasant and profit able to us: as much as to say, Come, I pray, I ad* vise and beseech you- And in this view, the love of Christ is exceedingly magnified, " Come, says he, come, I beseech, I earnestly exhort* I advise and entreat you, as your best friend, come unte me; unto me, who came into the world solely to call you to repentance and life ; unto me, who invites you only to bestow rest and peace add joy upon you ; unto me, who am ever ready and willing to receive you ; unto me, who am your only hope, rock and trust; to whom, whosoever comet h, he shall in no wise be cast out; in whom whosoever helieveth, he shall never die, but have everlasting life, For he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."* And upon encouragement like this, what should keep thee back ? — "What, oh man, should detain thee from coming to this Lord, when thus he not only invites, but so unbounded is his love, so great his desire of thy soul's eternal health, thus pres- singly entreats, thus familiarly advises thee to come to him ? To him, who has all power in heaven and in earth — Well may we rejoice in such an advocate and ransom ; — to him who hath the keys of death and of hell, who openeth, and no man shutteth, who shutteth3 and no man openeth. But that' none may deceive themselves, -or expeet that the Father should reveal the Son to them, should give them rest from sin here, or from its wages hereafter; you find our Lord offers his rest upoii this condition or necessary qualification only, that we do indeed come to him. Unless we come, we ean never expect to be received, unless we seek, we can * See St. John xL 25,26. and vi. 35,36, 37, &c. Whoever carefully reads this chapter, as well as the next, of this evangelist, cannot want to be informed, that coming to Christ is used as as equivalent term to believing in him. § The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. never hope to find. This is our part: And as the poor afflicted blind, and lame, deaf and dumb, #c came to Christ in person, when present upon earth; so now must we, afflicted with spiritual evils, come by faith, to him our great mediator, whose ears are ever open to our prayers, and who ever liveth to make intercession for us, in heaven. He is, the same Lord equally willing to hear, equally ready and able to save: the same yesterday, to-day and for ever : and whenever we come to him by sincere faith, hunger ing and thirsting after his righteousness, heavy-la den and labouring under our burden, desiring, seeking, asking, believing ; most certain it is, that his divine promise will be made good to us ; we shall be comforted by that blessed Spirit, who is the very comforter,* and thus find rest to our souls. For heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or one tittle of his word and faithful promise shall not pass away, \ As thus we can receive nothing from him, unless we come to him, so shall we not desire to receive rest from him, unless we feel a want of it. They who are perfectly at ease, the world at peace with them* and they well satisfied with themselves, in whose land no mighty famine hath yet arisen ; they who are under no remorse for sin, no terrors for its^punishment; who either think it no burden, or expect to be justified by their own merits and de- servings without the blood of a Redeemer: — These, as experiencing no want of rest, can have no long- , ing desires for it, and of consequence will never come to Christ to seek and sue for it; wherefore we find that this , invitation is made. II. Only to those that labour and qse heavy- laden ; but to all of these, Come unto me, all ye . .1 * See the second hymri in the Ordering of the Priests. t See St. Matt. v. 18. xxiv. 35. V- The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. § that labour, Sec. and as all men are sinners, and so heavy-laden, whether they feel and confess it or not, this invitation, like redemption, is universal, and extended to all mankind; a word of inexpressible comfort to every afflicted and heavy-laden soul; and a sufficient answer to all the espousers of that horrible doctrine of election and reprobation, which supposes the grace of God denied to some, and con fined only to those who are elect from the beginning according to some secret and hidden decree of God. To all such impious positions, which make the God of love, a God of the greatest injustice, these sweet and refreshing words of our Lord are a sufficient, and perhaps the best, reply, — Come unto me, all — allye that labour and are heavy-laden, I except, I reject none, for every one thai asketh, receiveth : and he thai seeketh,findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. He» invites not the rich, and the full, the increased with goods, that have need of no thing, but those that see and acknowledge them selves to be wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. From these he removes all scru ples of unwokhiness, " Bring but your burdens, saith he, to me, however oppressed with guilt, how ever laden beneath, the weight and misery of sin, come only to me as your. advocate and propitiation, come only in true trust, confessing your sins, and ye shall find me faithful and just to forgive them; cast all your burdens upon me, on whom the Lord hath laid the iniquity of you all, receive my counsel, and buy of me gold tried in the fire to make you rich, white raiment that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear, anoint your eyes with eye-salve that you may see — draw near with faith, take my yoke upon you, learn of me, and ye shall find rest to your souls; for I came not to call the righteous,= but sinners to repentance, I iO The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. came to seek the lost. sheep, to receive the return-, ing prodigal." - . Christ in these words invites, First, those who were burdened and oppressed beneath the weight of the legal ceremonies, which St. Peter calls, a yoke that neither our fathers nor we were able to bear, % and who from the law could find no reconciliation with God, iif) rest to their own consciences, as ha ving this dreadful sentence always thundering in their ears, Cursedis everyone that cqntinueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law to - do them. Secondly, Those whose consciences so labour and struggle beneath the burden of sin, the wrath of God, and the fear of future judgment, that their heart and spirit is bent down and oppressed, that th<;y go mourning all the day long, and, find no remedy to heal, no means to relieve their woun ded s< tuls. And, Thirdly, those who labeur beneath the burden of troubles, of outward or inward af flictions, so that they can obtain no worldly com fort; but at length broken in spirit, humble and contrite in heart, are led to the knowledge of thek si ns as the cause, and the love of Jesus as the cure of them. This is the great use of afflictions, which unless thus sanctified, become the heaviest of bur dens to us; and as none of us live without afflic tions and troubles of some sort or other, more or less, without some kind chastisements and correct ing calls from our heavenly Father; herein is our wisdom to see and consider them in this view,— as loving rebukes, an happy means to bring us unto him, who hath promised rest to all the labouring and heavy-laden, that come to him for it; and who hath said, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. None have either will or power to come to Christ but such as are thus burdened : These, by whatever means God hath been - pleased to draw them to § Acts xv. 10. and it is called Gal. v. 1. the yoke of bondage, ft The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. 1 1 him, and to open their hearts, by his grace and good Spirit ; by whatever means he hath been pleased to convince them of sin, and of their own vileness, of the vanity of earthly, and the immense value of eternal things : These alone will come to him, these alone are entitled to hisioffers; and these alone are they, who delivered from their present burden, shall find present* rest to their souls in peace of conscience here, and future rest in ever lasting peace with God in heaven. For this, III. Is what . our Lord promises to give ; and the greatness of his gift, as it can be prized by none, but those who really experience the want of it, so will it be ever sufficient to draw every labouring and heavy-laden soul to him. For what so sweet as rest to the weary? what so grateful as refreshment to the hungry and thirsty soul? what so delicious as a cooling shelter from the scorching sun, as the pure fountain to the panting hart. |j Sweeter, far sweeter tham all of these, far more deli cious and grateful, wronged by every similitude, and infinitely above all comparison is the sense of God's forgiving love in Christ, is the sense of his freedom from the ypke and burden, the slavery and guilt of sin, is the sense of his acceptance in the Beloved, to the soul long labouring under the oppression of ini quity, heavy-laden beneath the burden of condem ning guilt, the dread of its eternal wages ! And this rest Christ offers to all% who will come to him : * Christ is to us in reality, yea, and to all the Patriarchs and Prophets, that which Noah was in figure — our rest and consola tion. For Lamech called his son's name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, be cause of the ground which the Lord hath cursed, Gen. v. 20/. || David-beautifully cries out, As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirstethfor God, for the living God, when shall I come and ap pear before God? Psal. xlii. 1, 2. § It is a delightful reflection to every soul, that the grace of 12 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. who will come burdened and heavy-laden, take his yoke upon them, his easy yoke and light burden, learn of him, meek and lowly as he is, and so obtain perfect peace and perfect consolation. We may observe here how excellently the wisdom of God is displayed in the salvation of sinners : for sin is of itself the greatest evil, and, if unrepented of, will constitute the worst part of hell : if we are not saved from it here, we can\\ never enter into hea- God is thus freely offered, that all have in their power, if they will use the due means to obtain eternal life. How different a view of the Father of mercies., and the gospel of peace doth this give us, from the shocking and presumptuous light in which both are represented by the maintainers of particular election and reproba tion ! May the God of power silence all such doctrines amongst us! and as no improper antidote, I subjointhe following ' passage from the excellent Bishop Beveridge's sermon on the Christian race. " In this he (God) would have all run so as to obtain it; this being such a prize, that not only one, but all may have'it, that will but run aright for it ; for God is no respecter of persons, he would have all men to be saved, andt come to the knowledge of the truth, 1 Tim. ii. 4. and accordingly, he so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life, John iii. 1(5. He excepts against no man ; but every one of you may as certainly be a glo rified saint in heaven hereafter, as he is now in this place, if it be not his own fault. God permits, he invites, nay, he commands you all to run, so as to obtain eternal life, and therefore if any of you miss it, they must blame themselves for it ; and so they will when it is too late ; they will blame themselves to all eternity for being such fools and madmen, as to lose such a glorious prize, which once they might have had, but would not. The remem brance whereof will be a great aggravation of the misery, that you will then suffer by your own default. — This is a thing much to be observed, and I wish you would always carry it in your minds, even that whatsoever your outward condition may be at present you are all as yet in a capacity of obtaining the crown of glory. This prize is' set before you all, and you are all, and every one required to run so as to obtain." II Very emphatical are our Saviour's words to Nicodemus, John iii. 3. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He doth not say, he rshall not, he must not — But he cannot, while unregenerate he is pot in a capacity either for the gospel kingdom, or the kingdom The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. • 1,3 ven hereafter: for such as are our passions and de sires when we depart hence, such they will be found when we rise again : since there is no repenting in the grsive, no possibility of any future change, if we neglect the present proffers of grace, the present means of regeneration. So that Christ offers to de liver us from sin, as the greatest evil, and as our sure obstacle to bliss : and that by making us first sensible of it, then leading us to a sufficient atone ment, for it, then giving us a rule whereby to walk, which tends immediately to throw down all the strong holds of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and to fit us for the enjoyment of God and the fel lowship of beatified spirits — Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. To enlarge a little on this point : — Sin is a grie vous and oppressive burden : its service is perfect slavery, the hardest and worst of service it is, to serve divers lusts and passions, to live in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another: But when once the sinner's eyes are opened, and his heart be gins to condemn him, when once he sees the guilt and misery of this state, and knows that the wages of sin are death ; when once he feels the heavy bon dage, and finds that a guilty conscience is its own hell ; when once he sees a good and merciful God set at an everlasting distance from him, and a bleeding loving Redeemer crucified by his enormous iniquities ; when once he beholds the joys of Para dise separated for ever, separated from his approach and blackness, eternal blackness of darkness, re served for impenitent offenders — when once these reflections lay hold of the conscience, and these ter rors of the Lord make the stout hearts to tremble, of glory ; how can a proud, a drunken, an adulterous man have any pleasure, or perceive any joy in the pure love of God, and the chaste delights of the blessed ? 14 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. who can wonder that the load is well nigh too heavy to be borne, that the burden of them is in tolerable ? — who can wonder that when a soul like this is led to the fountain open for all uncleanness,— when a soul like this is led to a Saviour, v? ho is willing and able to remove this more than iEtnean* mountain from his breast, — who can wonder that in the sense of this love, add this full deliverance, he finds unspeakable rest, and in the change of his yoke, full repose to the soul ? For the sinner that comes to Christ, sincerely desirous of this rest, must exchange the hard and heavy yoke of his former Egyptian task-masters for the light and easy one of his present Lord and Saviour : he must cease to sin, and learn to serve God : he must take up Christ's cross, become his disciple, believe his doc trine, submit to his discipline, and give himself up wholly to be ruled and governed by him — must de ny himself, and folloxv his great exemplar. Thus alone can he find rest. For as faith must bring the sinner to Christ, that same faith must cause him to walk as he hath walked, to keep his holy command ments; the spirit of God working in him all those heavenly graces and tempers, which adorn and distinguish the Son of God, and heir of heaven, and which are to the soul the seal and earnest of its inheritance, "j" * The Heathen fables relate, that the burning mountain ./Etna was cast by Jupiter upon the rebellious giant Enceladus, concern ing whom the poets, and amongst the rest the elegant Virgil speaks thus»— On vast Enceladus this pond'rous ioad Was thrown in vengeance, by the thund'ring god : Who pants beneath the mountain and expires, Through openings huge, the fierce tempestuous fires : Oft as he shifts his side, the caverns roar. With smoke and flame the skies are cover'd o'er, And all Trinacria shakes from shore to shore. Pitt, JEn. III. y See Gal. iv. 22. Ephes, i. 13, 14. and iv. 30. } The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. 15 And thereiore our Lord adds, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls. The sure and natural fruit oi meek ness and lowliness or humility, is rest and peace ; of that meekness and humility vt hich comprise almost the whole of our duty to God and to man ;* teach ing us such a perfect resignation and unfeigned submission to the will of tl e one as to be wholly satisfied with whatever he pleases; such an entire renunciation of self-will; and thorough contentment in eyery station, as to desire nothing but that the will of God may be done in us; and with regard to the other, teaching us so to prefer all men to ourselves, as to abound in mildness and love to the good ; in gentleness, forbearance, and compassion to the evil and unthankful. ' These heavenly tem pers were eminently found in our Lord, and he hath set us an example, nay and commanded us, to learn of him, meek, humble and lowly Lamb of God [ — of him who was perfectly resigned to his Father's good pleasure, who came not to do, who desired not his own will; but tht will of him that sent him ; who was so particularly mild, so tender and compassionate, so gentle and patient, no less to the evil than the good. The nearer we approach to him in these divine tempers, the more rest we •* The learned Joseph Mede, in a sermon on this text, and on the part of it, where speaking of these words meek and lowly, observes, " Under these two words our Saviour i omprehends the whole habit, of obedience, they being two such dispositions of the mind, as make it tractable and pliable to put on and wear the yoke he speaks of. As if he had said, I am wholly qualified to obedience, I aru fitted for this yoke : learn of me to put it on, for I am meek and lowly. Now though lowliness and meekness are of very near affinity., and such as both of them do dispose a man for the duties of both tables of God's commandments, yet hath lowliness^ as I take it, a prerogative in our devotion to god- ward, and meekness is more proper for the duties we owe to our neigh bour, &c." He enlarges upon these as the reader may see by •onsulting his sermon, p, 158 of his works. 16 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. shall obtain ; for you observe, this meekness and humility, this resignation to God's will, and re nunciation of our own, this patience, love and gentleness, are the very opposites to that self-suf ficient pride and affectation of independency, that vanity, impatiency, and envy, that hatred and con tempt of others, yea, and that love of every thing tending to sin, — to all and each of these which are the adequate causes of that abounding misery and burning uneasiness reigning and raging in the hu man breast. And these are things which we may all easily learn, for the love of Christ herein is admirable ; he doth not say, (as one of the fathers well observes) " Learn of me, for I am great and glorious :" he doth hot say, " learn of me to make a world and to perform miracles J," but he says, learn of me, fori am meek and lowly in heart : this we may all learn : and no man can say that these are graces and tem pers, which he cannot imitate, and to which he can not arrive ; it is our own faults, if we do not copy herein his divine example: it is and must be our pride and vanity, our love of lust, of sin, and the world, which alone can keep us from being meek and lowly in heart. And in truth, when we reflect that such was the Son of God — i" am meekt Sec. what excuse shall we, poor sinful dust and ashes, have to make, what excuse shall pride, power, orpla.ee'* what excuse shall greatness, pleasure or honour have to offer for themselves, if they disobey the will of God, become not meek and lowly in heart, when he who made the worlds, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person, hath in himself set the example, and made this the only road to present and eternal bliss ? I say the only road; for tho' Christ hath promised % St. Ambrose and Austin. The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. ly us rest, — and his word can never fail : yet it is ma nifestly upon these conditions,* that we do, first, come to him, in sincere faith as the only redeemer of our souls, able and willing to save, as our only advocate and propitiation, as our only 'sure, trust and confidence, truly deploring, heartily lament ing, and stedfastly resolving to forsake all our for mer sins and misdoings : that we do, secondly, take his yoke upon us, obey his doctrine and submit to his discipline, denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, and living righteously, soberly, and godly in this pre- sent world; that we do, thirdly, leant of him, fol low the example of his meekness and lowliness, walk as he walked, and purify ourselves even as he is pure. If we do not on our parts perform these con ditions uniting all our efforts, and seeking for con tinual aid and support from the throne of grace ; with whatever hopes of present or future rest we may lull and delude our own souls, most infallibly * It is to be hoped the word conditions will not disgust any real and sincere christians : that some may be offended . at it, I neither doubt nor regard : some who are for following Christ so far as to receive from him, so iir as vinto the breaking of bread — but are not willing to hear what they must do, and must have done in them in return : if such should be offended, that 1 affirm the promises of present and eternal rest to be conditional, I shall not be surprised : Christians desirous to shew their faith by their works, I am sure will not ; and to the others I cannot recommend a more proper remark, than this which' I find in Dr. Waterland's preface to Blair's Sermons, p. 10 edit. 2d. " I am apprehensive that by our unwary confutation of the Popish errors, concerning merit and supererogation, we have too much depreciated good works them selves : whereas it is most certain they ought to be highly had in estimation : not only as the genuine signs and fruits of a lively faith, but as necessary conditions oi salvation: and not only of salvation, but of our growth in grace, and our advancement to higher degrees of glory." Vol. i. Serm. 21. p. 374. For the justifying the term conditions, the reader who has any scruples, may consult Bishop Bull, in his Harmonia, &c. andBishop Stilling- fleet in his Answer to Mr. Lobb* Vol. I. C £8 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. certain it is, we have no right to expect it" from Christ: most infallibly certain it is, in the end we shall be found miserable deceivers of ourselves, which is of all deceits the worst. But if on the contrary we do come to him in faith, and endeavour to the utmost of our poor ability to lead godly, righteous and sober lives; meek and lowly ; resigned, patient and gentle ; then we shall for ourselves experience the truth of his divine words — my yoke is easy,-\ andmy burden light. We shall then find that his yoke is easy and his burden light, not only in itself, but in comparison of all other yokes and burdens, beneath which we have groaned, as of the law, of sin, the world, and the flesh — and in freedom from which, through the truthj we shall no less rejoice than captives redeem ed from the deep dungeons, and oppressive irons of blood-thirsty tyrants. We shall then find, that the bearing of the cross, and denying ourselves and following Jesus, though hard at first to corrupt hu- f Easy — the original word vfmrof signifies ayctdos good and something more, good in the highest degree, and is rendered 1 Pet. ii. 3. gracious; the Seventy render it, Psal. xxxiv. 8. O taste and see ot< yjinros o xvp ia% , that the Lord is gracious. And so to jCfifor 6eb, Rom. ii. 4. the bounty of God, that which is imme diately before o wAbtoj ^pwTOTuTor, the riches of his bounty. And proportionably here Christ's yoke, the precepts which- he lays on his disciples, (being of all other the things most agreeable to our human rational nature, and which by them who did not think men bound to do them have yet been counted most excellent in them that did practise them, and which, if the one custom of sin did not make us incompetent judges of it, would appear to us the fittest for our turns, the most pleasurable, profitable and honour able of all things) are here said by him not only to be a good, but ' a gracious, benign, bounteous yoke, that any man is the better for taking on him ; and if he considered it well, he would put it on of his own accord, prefer it before liberty or any other service. Hammond on the place. t See St. John viii. 31, 32. If ye continue in my word (said Christ) then are ye my disciples indeed : and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. 19 man nature, will through the grace of God, become the .greatest joy and consolation to the soul. We shall then find that the service of this dear and lo ving master is perfect freedom', that his command ments are not grievous, since every one that is born of God over cometh the world, and this is the victory, even our faith; we shall find all his heavenly precepts plain, and easy to be understood, good. and pleasant to be practised, especially through his grace preventing and ' assisting us, especially through his favour, and merit recommending and completing our weak and imperfect services. Yea, we shall find his testimonies the very joy and de light}; of, our souls, as being all fulfilled in love, whose very nature is sweetness and peace, and which is " so great a good, that it maketh every burden light, and beareth with equanimity all the vicissitudes of life. || We shall soon find that the \ See Psalm cxix. 92. exi. and xix. 8, 10, &c. &c. || See Thomas a Kempis, and particularly ch. 12. b. ii. Our poet Waller, in his poem on Divine Love, canto 3. has these sweet lines j happy had it been for him if, as he beautifully wishes, if O that my youth, had thus employ'd my pen,') no other theme had ever given his soul delight. Love as he lov'd ! — how can we soar so high ? He can add wings, when he commands to fly 5 Nor should we be with this command dismay'd, He that examples give3 will give us aid : , For he took flesh, that where his precepts fail, His practice, as a pattern, may prevail : His love at once and dread, instruct our thought, As man he suffered, and as God he taught. Will for the deed he takes : we may with ease Obedient be, for if we love, we please. Weak though we are, to love is no hard task, And love for love is all that heav'n doth ask. Love ! that would all men just and temp'rate make, Kind to themselves and others for his sake. 'Tis with our minds, as with a fertile ground ; Wanting this love, they must with weeds abound : c a 20 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. natural tendency of Chrisfs doctrine and discipline is no less to inform the judgment concerning the most important points, and to settle the will in the right choice of them, than to direct the passions and affections aright, and to destroy and mortify in us, all those evil and corrupt desires which naturally tend to make men miserable here, and more so hereafter: — for one great end of the Son of God's taking our nature upon him, was that we should be delivered from the present evil nature of sin, and the tyranny of Satan built thereupon ; that we should put off the old man and put on the new, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness: that a new nature by the Spirit should be derived in to us from Christ our head, a new nature aboun ding with all the new fruits of the spirit; and that our old nature should be destroyed and crucified, with all its old affections and lusts — And when by faith coming to Christ, we thus take his yoke upon us, and learn of him, we shall then find in that yoke rest to our souls indeed; rest from all our for-' mer burdens; rest from the thunderings of the law, from the power and condemnation of sin, from the dread and fear of death; rest from the stings of conscience; rest from the dread of future and almighty wrath. And we shall find rest, in the sense of Christ's infinite love to us ; rest in the sense of our free forgiveness and gracious accep tance with the Father ; rest in the happy sense of (Unruly passions) whose effects are worse, Than thorns and thistles springing from the curse. And again, canto v. Love as he lov'd ! — a love so unconfin'd, With arms extended would embrace mankind : Self-love would cease, or be dilated when We should behold as many selves as men : All of one family, in blood ally'd His precious blood, that for our ransom dy'd .! The Easiness of Chrisfs Yoke. 21 cur adoption,' in the comfort and consolation of the Spirit, in the joyful testmony of our own conscience; rest in the pleasing sense that we are doing that work, and discharging that duty for which we. were born ; rest in the glad remembrance that though im perfectly, yet if discharged sincerely and with a true heart, ,our frail and feeble offices will be accep ted of the Father as perfect and entire for the sake and merits of his beloved Son ; rest shall we find in the blessed hope of everlasting life; and when death shall be swallowed up in victory, rest, eternal rest to our souls shall we find and enjoy with God in heaven i And is not the yoke of Christ easy,— is not then his burden light, — is not his service perfect freedom, — is not his rest, oh, Christian ! earnestly to be de sired by thy thirsty, thy labouring and heavy-laden soul — his rest, whose ways are ways of pleasantness^ and all whose paths are peace ? Can the hungry and thirsty soul want persuasions to come, eat and drink when plenteous supplies are freely presented to him? Can the weary traveller refuse refreshing rest kind ly offered ? Can the shipwreck'd mariner want invi tations to come on shore, from raging tempests and the merciless waves? Much less surely can we need persuasion to come and receive this gift from Christ, so beset on all sides with the guilt and power of sin, with the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, with corrupt affections and prevailing lusts — so surrounded with sorrows and disquietude, so unable to procure peace and rest to our souls, in such imminent danger of present ruin, of future and eternal woe ? O come unto the merciful, compas sionate and long-suffering Jesus, Come all ye that labour and are heavy-laden ; Come unto me, are his own affectionate and inviting words : and the spirit and the bride say come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will let him take of this water of 22 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. life freely. Could you, my brethren, refuse this word of love, supposing your Lord himself was standing amongst you, and making this gracious and kind offer to you all? doubtless you would make uncommon haste to fly to him, doubtless you would lay all your burdens at his feet, gladly take up his cross, deny yourselves, and follow the Lamb wheresoever he should lead! Now then we are am bassadors for Christ : as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you. in Christ 's stead, be ye reconciled to God. In Christ's stead, in his place, ashismes* senger, minister and embassador, I pray you, I earnestly entreat, advise and exhort you, to come to him,' and take his heavenly yoke upon you — I be seech you, dearly beloved, in the name of our bleed ing master, and for the sake of your own souls, be ye reconciled to God, come to Christ, your only me diator and redeemer, and learn of him, so shall ye find rest to your souls. But alas, what can his ministers do, when insen sible of sin, and blind to their own unworthiness, men have no desire to attain this rest, for they feel not the want of it ? None but the labouring and heavy-laden can come to Christ : How then can they come who, full of their own fancied righteousness, think themselves strong enough to bear their own burdens, acknowledging neither the weight nor, guilt of sin, nor the want of an almighty sufferer ? How can they come, who place all their religion in form, and depend wholly upon outward services and nominal profession, not on the merits of Christ for salvation — or who, worse than these, — vile and senseless hypocrites,— make the blessed gospel of Christ, a mere stalking-horse for worldly and un righteous purposes ? How can they come, who con tinue in a course of impiety, without remorse, without restraint, regardless of the law, and insen sible of the wrath of God, who have their consciences, The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. 23 seared, as it were, with an hot iron, past feeling, working all uncleanness with greediness ? How can they come, who are so buried and inebriated in the delights of sense, the pleasures, profits and vanities of this poor transitory world, that they never knew a serious thought of the divine grace of God, and the gift of eternal life, that they Tiave never cast one longing look, or raised one pious eye to hea ven ; that they never yet in godly fear have inquir ed, what they shall do to be saved ? How can they come, who, when afflictions befal them, and God lays his heavy and correcting hand upon them, per versely struggle beneath the burden, impatient and discontent, and give themselves up to sour melan choly and black despair, rather than come with all their cares to Christ ? How can any of these receive our Lord's invitation ? And think, my brethren, how large a part of the world is comprised in these : But may God grant better things to each one of you : may he by his Spirit open your eyes to a due know ledge of yourselves and the exceeding sinfulness of sin: and surely, if ye would duly and impartially examine your own hearts and bring to the clear light of the gospel the many evil thoughts, words, and actions which crowd in condemnation against you, the many shameful commissions of evil, the many no less shameful omissions of good — and consider, if ye will not thus judge yourselves here, every thought, word, and action must and will be weigh ed in the exactest balance by a just and sin-aveng* ing judge hereafter,* — would you then but seriously * The inimitable author of Night Thoughts, thus finely expa tiates on the folly of neglecting that awful consideration. Shall man alone, whose fate, whose final fate, Hangs on that hour, exclude it from his thought ? I think of nothing else — I see, I feel it; All nature like an earthquake trembling round : All deities, like summer's swarms, on wing ! 24 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. examine and judge yourselves, " that you be not judged of the Lord, you could not fail being heavy- laden indeed under the sense of so many sins, you could not help feeling and confessing that the re membrance of them is grievous, the burden, of them intolerable ; you could not fail earnestly to repent, and heartily to be sorry for these your misdoings," for the very least of which you can make no amends to God j which have all been committed under such aggravating circumstances, against so much light, and so much grace ; committed even by Christians, by persons baptized and dedicated to the ever bles sed and holy Trinity ; by those, who have promised, — promised even to the faithful God, — to renounce all sin^ the world and the devil, committed against a God, who is all love to assist in every good: course, whose Spirit is continually striving and struggling in the evil and rebellious hearts of men ; against a God, who, to redeem us froni sin, and its certain wages, so great is his love to us, hath given his only-begotten, his best-beloved Son, to die for us, and v to become our prqpitiation and surety ! — And must not the sense of offending such a God and Father, treading under foot and despising the most precious blood of such a Lord and Saviour, of grieving, and quenching the holy admonitions of such a guide and comforter — must hot this stir you up to reflection, and cause you in fear and anguish of soul, to fly to him, who with open arms stands; All basking in the full rneridian blaze ! I see the Judge enthron'd ! the flaming guard ! The volume open'd ; open'd every heart ! A sun-beam pointing out each secret thought ! No patron, intercessor none ! now past The sweet, the clement mediatorial hour ! For guilt no plea ; to pain no pause, no bound ! inexorable, all ! and all extreme ! Consolation, p. 148, The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. 25 ready to receive, yea, and prepared to run and meet every returning,, humbled and suppliant prodigal ! But if these considerations, joined to the know ledge, which you all have of the present misery and disquietude, and the future sore condemnation for a life-of sin ; if these are not sufficient to awaken you,— if these joined to the infinite love oi Jesus, are not sufficient to bring you unto him; yet let' us pray, that by his grace, through some means or other, he may, ere it be too late, cause you to feel and labour under your burden : .and when it doth please him to lay any affliction upon you, whether in mind, body or estate, whether in yourselves or your friends, — when he opens your eyes to see the emptiness of all worldly blessings, the vanity of every thing beneath the sun ; when he causes you to labour and be heavy-laden; then take "special heed that you frustrate not the good favour and grace of God towards you ; that you despise not, nor abuse his loving and fatherly chastisements : but carefully descend into yourselves, examine your own hearts, look to your past lives — and when the true cause of all troubles shall appear, when your sins shall ma nifest themselves, and your conscience shall join in the testimony ; then remember these blessed words of the Lord Jesus, Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest, and as it is the very nature of afflictions to humble the mind, the cross of Christ will be found so much the more easy to you, so much the more easily will you learn of your suffering Lord, to be meek and lowly in heart : Come therefore to^ him with all your bur dens, cast all your care and put all your confidence in him; sit humbly with Mary at his feet, and care fully listen to his divine voice and doctrine ; Come to him, there where he hath promised ever to be pre sent, in his word and sacraments, as rightly and duly administered by his church : attend him dili- 26 The Easiness of Christ's Yoke. gently in all the means of grace; seek him with fervour, with sincerity, with persevering impor tunity; with believing reliance on his sacred pror mise to bless and sanctify the means to every thirsty soul; be resigned wholly to his will, glad to bear his cross, and to be conformed to his divine example; renounce all self-esteem, self- seeking and self-will, and let it be your meat and drink to do your heavenly Father's will : your chief and con stant care, to keep a good conscience, void of of fence towards God and towards man; that so you may be perfected in love, and so possess that hea venly rest and peace which surpasseth all under standing; which Christ here promiseth to all who will come to him for it, and which you may all of consequence obtain ; for you all have it in your power, so that if you receive it not, it will be wholly your own faults, — and which when once obtained, you will find to be indeed the pearl of great price, and think the sale oi all you have but small to give1 in purchase of it. That therefore we may one, apd all of us, so come to Christ, so take his yoke upon us and learn of him, as to procure this blessed and everlasting rest, God of his infinite mercy grant through the merits of the same Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. DISCOURSE II. THE CLEANSING OF THE LEPER. PART I. MATTHEW viii. 1 — 4. When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold there came a Leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make , me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, , I will, be thou clean'. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. VV E are told by this Evangelist chap. iv. ver. 23. that Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people. Having given therefore in the foregoing chapters a notable specimen of his preaching, which serves to prove abundantly that never tnan spake like this man : he now proceeds to 28 The Cleansing of the Leper. give some instances of the power of his divine word, in confirmation of the doctrine, || which he , taught, and as undeniable evidences, that he was indeed a teacher come from God, seeing no man could do the works which he did, except God were with him. The Miracles which he wrought conduce not only to this end, but to shew us the proper application and practice, if I may so say, of our Saviour's doctrine: which will then be experienced with power in all our souls, when we come to Christ, after the example of these sufferers in the gospel, as the almighty re deemer, able and willing to save and to restore. That his readiness so to do, might not ever be doubted by any labouring and heavy-laden soul, he never rejected the suit, or cast out the ' petition of any who applied to him ; fulfilling to our unspeak able comfort, the words of the prophet, himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. And that his power to save might be incontestably demonstra ted to our faith, that power, we find, was exerted over objects, that could be no partners and confe derates in fraud or collusion, — over raging winds and uncontrolable waves ; over devils, that no man could tame, no chains could bind; over diseases and sickness instantaneously removed by his word ; the cure of which, supposing them curable by natural means, 'must have been by very slow degrees; but most, or all of which were far beyond the reach of human skill, and incurable by all the powers of hu man art : for since the world began was it not heard that any man opened (fie eyes of one, that was born blind. -This was eminently the case with the leprosy, the afflicting disease of the first petitioner, who came to Christ for relief, after his descent from the li Recti (says St. Jerom) post preedicationem at que doctrinam, signi offertur occasio, ut per virtutem miraculi, prceteritus apud audientes sermofirmetur. The Cleansing of the Leper. 29 mountain. For so far was the cure of it above the arm of flesh, that it was esteemed the -highest and most impious presumption, even to attempt it. As peculiarly inflicted, and immediately to be cured by God, through means, naturally speaking, the most improbable; weak and unavailing, it was called em phatically the finger of God: and none but the priest, appointed and directed in his course, had power to inspect and determine concerning it. Se paration from society was the unhappy lot of those under this loathsome disease, which was generally esteemed a punishment immediately inflicted for sin : and as on this account, there could be.no doubt of the reality of it in the person applying, (since this separation was the consequence of the priest's inspection and order) so neither could there be any possibility of deceit in the cure, which the Jews well knew, no human power could effect ; which the loathsome nature of the disease would sufficiently manifest, and of which the priests upon the man's shewing himself to theuij must have been abun dantly convinced. , These considerations suggest to us something very remarkable in this address of the Leper to Christ, who having heard, as it is probable, his di vine sermon oh the mount, and thence conceived Strong faith and hope in this blessed person, who' taught as one having authority and not as the scribes —and being under great affliction by means of this horrible malady, fully convinced of Christ's power, but from his own unworthiness greatly doubting of his will to cleanse him, — he came,, fell down at his feet, and worshipped him, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. He knew that no human power could make him clean : he knew that this was the work of God alone. His calamity moved our merciful High-priest to compassion : his faith and prayer obtained the blessing: For Jesus put 30 The Cleansing of the Leper ¦ forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will, be thou clean. And his divine word was attended with power : all nature is at his beck : he saith, unto this servant of his, go and he goeth ; to another come, and he cometh. As soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from the man, and he, was clean sed: the filthiness and defilement of his disorder was removed, he saw that he was cleansed, and pro bably, as in the case of Naaman, his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean* This done, Jesus straitly charged him, that he should tell no man ; but proceed in the due and regular way by shewing himself immediately to the priest, and offering the gift commanded by Moses for a testimony, and undeniable evidence to them, that the cure as being perfectly wrought, must have been wrought by one superior to the law, that of consequence, Jesus, whose divine word effected the cure, was the promised Messiah, * the expected re deemer of Israel ; and that it was their wisdom and duty, if they would not blind their eyes and harden their hearts to receive and confess him, as such.-)" * 2 Kings, v. 14. It is somewhat remarkable that Elihu in Job xxviii. 24,25, after speaking of man in his unregenerate state, adds, upon leading him to the atonement and means of re generation — His flesh shall be fresher than a child's,- he shall re turn to the days of his youth: manifestly, as it should seem, incul cating that doctrine, (a defect in, and ignorance of which some learned men suppose to have been the grand fault of Job, for which he was so severely tried, and upon a sight of which he cries out, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes, xlii. 6.) namely, the doctrine of the natural sinfulness and depravity of his nature, the means of its cure, and the need of a better righte ousness than his own to render him acceptable in the sight of a just, a pure, and a holy God. The whole passage deserves an ac curate survey, and perhaps the Leper's case and cure may be found not wholly inapplicable. f St. Ambrose observes, that our Saviour's cleansing of the Leper follows close after the benedictions, and the rest of his sermon on the mount, in which he had declared, that he came »ot to destroy the law, but to fulfil it ; giving the leper thereby to The Cleansing of the Leper. 31 As winds and storms and unclean spirits were obedient to his word, so here we see the most inve terate disease no less obedient : giving an undeni able attestation to the supreme power and authority of Christ. Men may command actions to be done, but to perform them by a command only is the sure prerogative of Divinity. And as is his power, so is his mercy ; ready to be exerted in behalf of our leprous souls, when in humble faith, and fervent prayer, we seek to the all prevailing merits of our Lord for succour : when like this Leper we fall down at his feet, confessing, that we believe him able, and we hope him willing to make us clean. For we have all need of his cleansing. And as our souls are all spotted over with the filthy contagion and leprosy of" sin, as we are all by nature born in sin, unclean, in our blood,-\\m\esswe apply to Christ for a cure, we must for ever be separated from him and that glorious city, into which there shall in no 'wise enter any thing that defile th. For the fuller manifestation of this important truth, and our better understanding the greatness of the present miracle, I will, I. Give you, from the scripture, a general ac count of the nature, cure, and spiritual designa tion of leprosy ; and, II. I will dwell upon the several points of doc trine, use, and improvement which arise from the present miraculous cure of this disease, by the. commanding word of Jesus. understand, that, being cleansed by the power of Christ, it was not in virtue of the law, but by one much superior that his leprosy was done away. , -T f Who can bring a clean thing out of. an unclean / Wot one. How can he be clean that is born of a woman ? Job xiv. 4. xxv. 4. When I passed by thee, saith God, and saw thee polluted m .thine own blood, 1 said unto thee, in thy blood,' live. Ezekiel xvi. 6. 32 The Cleansing of the Leper. One thing I could wish you always to retain in mind : that in whatever bodily diseases and sick nesses Christ healed, something more was intended than the mere corporal healing. He is the blessed sun of righteousness, that arose .with healing in his wings, not only to dispense health to^the diseases of the body, but to the far more dangerous diseases of the soul. He came not only to raise bodies from the dead, but souls from the death of sin : he came a light into the world, not only to restore sight to the blind, but spiritual sight to the blind in heart and understanding : he came not only to cure the leprous in body, but the leprous in soul also, those who are spotted over with the contagion of sin and deeply infected with the poison of original corrup tion : which, says one, || "that it might be shadowed out by a visible sign, Christ conferred health and soundness of body, as an image or pledge of a cer tain greater health and soundness, on those who be lieved him able to perform it, and to make them cle'an." And, I trust, our reflections on the present disease will be found confirmative hereof: will de monstrate to us at once the power and goodness of God, our Saviour; the misery and depravity of our fallen nature, and the absolute necessity of the blood of a Redeemer, and the blessed unction of the holy Spirit to cleanse and sanctify us. For without blood and oil, no Leper ever could, no sinner (O that the despisers would regard and wonder) no sinner ever can be cleansed ! < I. First then I am to speak of the nature, cure, and spiritual designation of Leprosy: which was a disease of all others the most defiling and hateful ; by human means incurable ; shockingly contagious, so as to pollute even whole houses and garments, and for that reason, by the law, excluding the per il Giotius on the place. The Cleansing of the Leper. 33 son infected from the society of others. It was a very. voracious disease, working its way wide with in, before it shewed itself in any outward part : which it did by horrible boils and loathsome sores overspreading the whole body, arising, as was supposed, from a general taitit and corruption of the whole human mass : there were different de grees and stages of the disorder ; some having only rising spots, some being wholly covered over with it ; to have it in the head was the last and most dangerous stage of all. It rendered the object filthy arid odious to sight and smell : nay, and detestable too for the most part, as the disease was generally esteemed a punishment* inflicted by God for enor mous crimes. It was thought,- and therefore dreaded, as the greatest and worst of all legal pollutions, and was in reality the most painful, melancholy, and foul disorder, depriving the afflicted sufferer of all comforts both of body and soul, of all corporal ease, of all spiritual and civil correspondence. And as it was absolutely incurable, save by the hand and finger, of God, working by the means of the legal ceremonies, (a great variety of which were necessary to perfect the cure, and all of which the priest was to apply) therefore the priests alone were ordained and appointed of God to inspect and judge of those under suspicion of this devour ing malady : in order to which the exactest rules possible are prescribed by the Almighty himself in Leviticus :% And when they determined it to be a real leprosy, all outward demonstrations of shame and sorrow were to be made. The Leper (saith the * See the case of Miriam, Gehazi, Uzziah, &c. Christ, says one, to shew that he came to take away the wrath of God by taking away sin, began with the cure of a Leper. % See ch. xiii ; and for a comment upon it consult Ainsworth, Bihliotheca biblica, Critici sacri, &c. Vol. L D 34 The Cleansing of the Leper, Lord) in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare : and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean; and all the days, wherein the plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled : he is unclean, he shall dwell alone, without the camp shall his habitation be. Levit. xiii. 45, 46*. Such was the disease of Leprosy : and what could in a more full and lively manner represent that original taint and corruption, which hath worked its way wide, and spread itself all through the soul of man, — that hellish poison of the old ser pent, which, with its deadly bane, hath corrupted the whole nature and constitution of man, shewing its inward and fatal efficacy by its outward and loathsome fruits? For those things (saith our Saviour, in testimony to this inward fountain of uncleanness) which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false-witnesses,, blas phemies; these are the things, which defile a man. These are the outward and sure manifestations of the inward taint, the leprosy of the soul : These are as undeniable and unerring proofs of original sin, as the outward plague in the flesh was of the inward plague of leprosy : and these, alas — to all mankind; more or less, are very convincing evidences of that sin, wherein we are conceived, who may say to cor- ruption thou art my father, and to the worm thou art my mother and sister.^ I say more or less, because though all are by nature born in sin, || though every | Jobxvii. 14. I cannot but recommend here Father Calmet's ingenious observations on this subject, which the reader will find in p. 163 of the Hid volume of Bibliotheca biblica, as well as in that writer's own commentary. II Seethe gth article of our church, entitled, Of original, or birth Sin. The Cleansing of the Leper. 35 individual is an heir of that same original death and evil introduced into the world by our first parent's transgression, the seeds of every vice being sown in all our hearts ; — yet every one doth not advance equal steps in iniquity ; those seeds have not in all the same means of sprouting up to full maturity, every one is not equally leprous : some indeed are wholly spotted over and perfectly covered with the contagion, working all uncleanness with greediness : some have only rising spots and burning boils, evil lusts and strong passions, which, or ever they burst into act, they labour to subdue, mortify and keep un,der ; applying to God in due season, and finding his grace sufficient for them: others again have it in head and heart, are utterly gone astray from the commandments of God, heady, high-minded, self- willed, hoping to be cured by their own means^ or vainly thinking themselves well in the midst of sickness, safe and secure in the midst of danger, crying out, peace, peace, when there is no peace. Very dreadful indeed is this same leprosy in the head : doubly unclean is the man in this woful case : the farthest of all others from conversion, because least capable of conviction : self-justified, having eyes and seeing not, ears and yet hearing not : and at the greatest remove from that simplicity of intention, that humble childlike disposition, which places the willing soul in lowly attention at the feet of Jesus : the prophet pronounces his wo upon such : Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight : the wise man tells us, there is more hopes of a fool, than of these men: wherefore he warns us against this false, this self-wisdom, and shews us what is the true : 1st, be not wise in thine own eyes : 2d, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. And to convince us fully of the danger of a fond leaning to our ©wn vain imagination, the great D s 36' The Cleansing of the Leper. apostle St. Paul commands — be not wise in ycuf own conceits.*' This disease was very filthy and loathsome to the sight: it changed the appearance of those who were infected with it: making them' who were before never so lovely to^behold, odious and frightful to the view: so sin renders man, who was created in per fect beauty, the very image and similitude of his Creator, hateful and odious in his sight, an abom ination to him: it makes him a perfect stranger to God, changes his form and visage, and separates between him and his Creator : corrupt in under standing, will and affection, he is loathsome as a dead carcase, abhorred as a vessel wherein there is no pleasure-^ And this pure God gave a signal proof of his hatred and abhorrence of sin, as well as of its' filthy and defiling nature, when he sent 1 his Son to die upon the cross as the only means to atone for the sins of a guilty world ; to shed his divine blood, as the only means to cleanse the infinite filth of a world of leprous sinners ! Should not this cause. us to look upon sin in ourselves and others with abhorrence and holy indignation ? — Should it not advise us to take especial heed,, that we apply this blood of God to the cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God ? The Leprosy was the worst of all diseases : and of all evils sin is and ought to be esteemed by us the very worst ; more formidable than all earthly, ills, than sickness or sorrow, than even death or hell : for so it is both in itself and in its consequences robbing the most high God of, his due honour and glory; and robbing the soul of all present health and peace, of that only true happiness for which it * See Isai. v. 21. Proverbs xxvi. 12; iii. 7. Rom. xii. 16. || Jerem. xxii.28. The Cleansing of the Leper. 37 was created, the love and enjoyment of God< bringing on a detestable crowd of evils; and if per sisted in, finally and for ever excluding from the paradise of bliss : finally and for ever shutting up the self-condemned soul in the flaming pit, with de vils and damned spirits, to howl and gnash the teeth, bewail and curse its own wretched and inex cusable folly, through endless ages, without hope of pardon, without the least expectation of re lease. This disease also was very noisome ; and no won der, when all the humours were vitiated in those infected with it The same is the case with their minds, who are polluted and defiled by sin: whose throats are as open sepulchres. For as an intolera ble stench exhales from sepulchres, where putrid carcases lie : so from that body, wherein the soul is dead, because of sin, nothing but the mOst noi some stench ariseth to offend the great Majesty of heaven. And if, from the acceptable offerings of good men, the Lord is said to smell a sweet savour,^, what a foul stench must daily ascend from the num berless and filthy iniquities of a world of transgres sors ? While this man from the sepulchre of a de filed mouth sends forth nothing but blasphemies, oaths, lies, lasciviousness : while from that pro ceeds nothing but evil thoughts ,, murders, adulteries, &c. even all that hellish crew of barking dogs; conceived and nourished in the fertile womb of sin, from the hellish offspring and poison of their fa ther the devil ! || % This is said of Noah's offering, Gen. viii. 21. || Milton's beautiful allegory ofsatan, sin and death, book IT, line 648, &c. is here referred to. He makes sin the daughter of satan, and death the offspring of both : the incestuous mixture between sin and death produces those monsters and hell-hounds, which enter into her womb and tear her bowels, while her son (death) sits opposite — and sets them on. 08 The Cleansing of the Leper. The very breath of those infected with this dis ease was contagious : it was remarkably defiling ; on which account, the Lepers were excluded from all civil as well as religious communion, and com pelled to dwell alone without the camp. And what is there so contagious, so defiling as sin ? How doth the prevalence of ill example, like a pestilence, spread its malevolent and baneful effects around ? Who' can touch pitch and not be defiled with it? Mens natural corruptions cause them to slide into an imitation of the evil practices of others, and to catch their vices, as easily as dry wood the flame put to it, as tinder the spark from the flint. Where fore St. Paul compares sin to leaven, because a little leaven leavencth the whole lump. Both in com-: munities and in our own souls, one ill example and one vice predominant may continually spread the disease, and bring on the last and most despe rate stage of spiritual leprosy. Let a man loose with*the small-pox full upon him, and none will doubt but that the infection will spread through the neighbourhood. Infinitely more contagious is the leprous sinner. Would God, we were all as care ful to guard against the evil of such contagion, as we are against that of bodily diseases. Every thing the Leper touched was defiled by him ;, nay, the plague not only infected men, but houses, vessels, and garments ; from whence Ave And me his parent (saith she) would full soon devour. For want of other prey, but that he knows His end with mine involv'd ! What can more emphatically paint to our view the origin and sad fruits of sin — or be a nobler and more instructive poetical im provement of St. Janus' s words, i. 15, Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bring- eth forth death ! I cannot wish my reader a finer entertain ment than a perusal of the whole passage as it stands in the in comparable Paradise Lost, which any extract would greatly injure, The Cleansing of the Leper. 39 have a fuller demonstration of the defiling nature of sin, and theevilstateofthesinner, who brings a curse upon himself, his house and possessions — For I will bring forth the curse, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by. my name : and it sliall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof. O ye sinners, that ye would be wise and consider : O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the pro- phets have spoken ! will ye not see your folly, will ye not believe the words of the God of truth? — Will ye not be convinced that the very means ye are ta king to secure worldly things are the sure means of your own and your posterity's loss and destruction ? In particular, O ye false swearers, let me address you, for whose sake the land mourneth, and for the increase of whom amongst us, our Jerusalem, it is to be feared, will at length sit solitary and become as a widow : To what end is the number of your oaths ? See ye not the curse of God that is. gone out against you, and hangs by a thread over your devoted heads? — what will ye do in the end thereof? — it shall consume your houses — it shall bring you and yours to utter ruin ; no profit shall ye reap from your iniquitous swearing, except eternal horror be deemed a profit by you. Repent, repent, I beseech you, and turn to the Lord, that so your sins may be blotted out ; seek him while he may be found : call ye upon him while he is near : let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God for he will abundantly par don. But unless ye do so return' never vainly ex pect a pardon: ye are already condemned! Tophet is ordained of old, the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it:* and it must burn * See John iii. 18. and Isaiah xxx. 33. 40 The Cleansing of the Leper. against you with irresistible fury for ever. For as the Leper was excluded from the camp and Israel of God, shut out and compelled to dwell in misery and. distress alone, so must the sinner, remaining in his sin, unregenerate, unrepenting, for ever be ex cluded from the true camp and Israel of God : and as shut out here from the communion of saints, from the kingdom of grace and salvation, from the church militant on earth, so for ever be shut out from the church triumphant in heaven, the nezv Jerusalem, the general assembly, the church of the first-born, from God, from Jesus, and from glory. And as an ear nest hereof, both to admonish him of his state, and to advise him of the consequences — would God, leprous sinners were so rare as to. enable us con-' tinually to practise it ! — We are commanded to use this wholesome severity ; namely, to mark bad men and those that cause divisions and offences : and to avoid them : to withdraw ourselves from every disor derly walker : not to keep company, if any man, that is called a brother, be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortion - er ; with such a one no not to eat.* And the public censures of the church were doubtless appointed also to this end. But this was not all : the leprosy if uncured, re duced the body to a miserable, mutilated dead car case: eat out the ears, the eyes, the tongue; con sumed the nose, the feet, and destroyed every facul ty. Hence Aaron interceding with God, for his sister Miriam, says, Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed, when he cometh out of his mother's womb. And thus sin, if become ha bitual, corrodes and eats away every faculty of the soul, destroying all spiritual sense and understand- * Rom. xvi. 17. 2 Thess. iii. 6. 1 Cor. v. See Theodoret's Questions upon Leviticus. The Cleansing of the Leper: 41 ing. It consumes the ears, so that they can neither hear nor obey the commands, or regard the threats of God : it blinds the eyes, so that they cannot see the greatness of their misery, the danger of ap proaching death, the horrors of future judgment. It deprives the tongue of any power to pray or to praise, to entreat the mercy or shew forth the merits of a bleeding God. In fine, such leprous sinners have neither hands to perform, nor feet to run in the way of God's commandments : and " this (agreeable to ancient wisdom) is the greatest of all evils, if a man be neither wise himself, nor willing to attend to the wisdom of the wise ;" the unhappy case of those infected with this spiritual leprosy. — Of which whosoever desires to be healed, he must apply to the true High-priest of our profession, with all demonstrations of shame and sorrow, rending his clothes, and making bare his head, rending his heart, in token of grief and contrition, covering his lip* to express his shame ; and to keep silence be fore God, as being under the greatest confusion of face, and unworthy to open his lips before him, ex cept in words of confession and humiliation : crying out, unclean, unclean, woe is me, wretched man that I am, I have sinned, I have done amiss, who will deliver me from the body of this death, God be mer ciful to me a sinner ! Whoever thus apply to Christ in true repentance, with firm faith, and earnest prayer, they will find himfaithful and just to forgive them their sins, and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness : which whatever means of cleansing, whatever methods of X Hesychius upon this place well observes, " the stench of sin is rank and foul from human nature in general, particularly so from the tongue, and most of all so where it happens to be within the lips of a spiritual monitor. For how should he open his mouth against a doctrine or practice, which at the same time his example encourages and propagates ? 42 The Cleansing of the Leper. salvation men may propose to themselves, is the ' only way whereby we can be saved, for there is sal vation in no other, and it is the blood of Jesus Christ only, which cleansethusfrom all sin.* This was very emphatically figured out in the ce remonies used for the cleansing of the Leper, who on the day of his cleansing was to be brought to the priest, and the priest was to go forth out of the camp, (even as our merciful High-priest came from heaven, and his Father's bosom for us miserable sin ners J to meet and inspect him, and to perform the appointed cerernonjfs: upon which I shall be very brief, giving you a general key, whereby you may the better understand them when you refer to, and carefully read God's directions concerning them, in the fourteenth chapter of Leviticus: as I would hasten to the miracle before us, where in we have a sight, without the veil of the law, of the great healer of the nations, the almighty restorer of lost and lapsed human nature. These ceremo nies indeed do point out to us in as full and ex pressive a manner as any perhaps in the whole law — the meritorious and all-sufficient sacrifice of- Christ, both God and man dying for our sins, and rising again for our justification, in the lively fi-» gure of two birds, which yet like the two goatsf on the great day of atonement made but one sacri- * Rom. vii. 24. Luke xviii. 13. 1 John, i. 7 — 9. f Consult the xvith chapter of Leviticus, St. Cyrill of Alex andria in his spiritual interpretation of the leprosy speaks thus, " Sin is the leprosy of the mind. 'Tis its destruction, and when it has got possession of it by the poison of dead works, it deadens all its faculties, and makes it like a distempered body, a burden to itself. — As for the two clean birds they are a type of the two na tures in one Christ, as one sacrifice. And Hesychius observes upon the. letting loose the living bird, — '• Christ's divine nature was impassible, though inseparable from his human, which suffer ed; on which account it was that the human nature being bapti zed in blood, the impassible and that together might be let loos* into the open field, that is, ascend up into heaven. The Cleansing of the Leper. 43 fice, as God and man make but one Christ : one of these birds (figurative of the human nature, which was callable of sufferings and death,) was to be slain in an earthen vessel over running water, that the mingled stream of blood and water might re present that mystic stream which flowed from the broken vessel j; of Christ's body; while the other bird still alive, figurative of the divine nature which was impassible and could not be held in the grave was to be dipt in the blood of the slain one, with Cedar, Hyssop, and Scarlet, and let loose into the open field ; to show the union of the divine and hu man nature, and the influence of that union, in all tho concernments of our peace, and the excellency and efficacy of that blood, which atoned for us, and which is stiled in scripture — wonderful to think — even the blood of God -who from that same blessed union, is said to have laid down his life for us ! Hereby uv perceive the love o/'Gon, because he laid down i 1 1 s live for us* O how should we prize this most precious blood ! — how should we adore the infinite love that pourethit forth in rich streams from his heart, for our sakes ? — and how should we pity and pray for those who are so miserable and deceived as to despise this fountain flowing plente- ously to eomfortthc thirsty soul as to count this blood of thecovenanl an unholy thing ! Blessed Jesus, howlong ! Father forgive them, for tiny know not what they do ! The necessity of an effectual application of this cleansing blood to the heart, is no loss clearly taught us by the sprinkling of the Leper, and that seven times with the blood of the slain bird: For we are elect through sanctified tion of the Spirit, and sprinkling of X See 2 Cor. iv. 7- Rom. ix. 20. from whence it will manifest ly appear, that an earthen vessel is a scripture similitude for a body offlrsh. * I John, ill 10', compare Acts xx. 26. 44 The Cleansing of the Leper. the blood of Jesus Christ. How requisite constant mortification, cutting off all fleshly lusts, that war against the soul, laying apart all filthiness and super fluity of naughtiness, are to an effectual cleansing by this blood sprinkled upon our hearts, we are shewn by the Leper's shaving all his hair off -his head, his beard, and his eye- brows, and washing his clothes and flesh in water. The life of thanks giving and the thorough sanctification by the Spirit, which must follow, and demonstrate the reality of our freedom from the filth of sin, are beautifully pictured out to us by the trespass, sin, and meat offering, to be offered before the Lord ;" and parti cularly by the application of the blood and oil of those offerings to the extreme parts of the body,")" which is the same ceremony with that used in the consecration of the high-priest,':): and the crowning one, as it were, of the whole ;~ for the priest was to put them fthe blood and oil, the blood first, and the oil upon it for a very obvious reasonj upon the tip' of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, upon the thumb of his right . hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, pouring what remained of the oil upon his head, to denote an entire consecration and perfect sanctification of his whole body and mind, who is cleansed from the filth and misery of sin, by the purifying blood of Jesus ; who is renewed and sanctified by the unction of that holy anointing f These rites were to signify, how by the blood of Christ the ear should be sanctified to obey, the hand to work, the foot to walk, in the commandments of God, and so the whole man to be renewed, 2 Cor. vii. 1 ; 1 Pet. i. 14, 15. says our incomparable Ainsworth in his note on the place, whom consult, as well as the excellent Bochart either in Hieroz. p. 2. lib. I. ch. 22, &c. or as abridged in Bibliotheca biblica, vol. iii. p. 192. If the reader is inclined to see the whole subject largely handled, he may find it in Doctor Taylor's Christ revealed, or the Old Testament explain ed, chap. xiv. sect. 3. printed 1635. X See by all means Exodus xxix. 20, &c. The Cleansing of the Leper. 4,5 Spirit, whose comfort to the soul, is like oil to the body, and who is the gift and purchase of Emma nuel's blood. Such then was the leprosy, and such the ceremo nies used for the cure of it; without which no Le per could possibly be cleansed, as without what these ceremonies signified no sinner ever can be saved. In all of them, it is obvious to remark, that there is nothing which, humanly speaking, could be in the least likely to remove the disorder : the sprinkling a Leper with blood, the putting blood and oil upon his ear, hand and foot, the slay ing such and such particular creatures, 8$c. could by no means have been effectual in themselves for the recovery of soundness to a Leper's body : no, it was a divine act, the immediate work of God, the finger of the Almighty ! And as this was univer sally known and believed among the Jews, the Le per who applied to our Saviour, could not but ac knowledge and sincerely believe his divine power : . as his address indeed sufficiently proves — which I come now, II. To consider, with such doctrines and uses, as arise from this instance of our Lord's mercy and might. I need not from what has gone before, advise you of the loathsome, filthy and defiling nature pf sin — nor need 1 produce any examples to prove the truth of what has been advanced ! I sincerely wish vice was so uncommon, as to require proofs of its fla- grancy; but you see it, you hear it every day and every hour; you cannot shut your eyes to it, nor help being offended with the repeated and abound ing instances of the breach of every one of God's holy commandments, of the neglect of the whole law of Christ : while blasphemy and dreadful abuse of the Most High, profane cursing and swearing, hor rible profanation of the sabbath, filthy drunken- 46 The Cleansing of the Leper. ness and brutality, abominable lust, adultery, for nication, murders, revellings — pride, malice, envy, and, not least of all, impious despite to the cove nant of grace, and the God that bought us, with every other vice reigns in full power, and holds despotic empire through the kingdom ! As fully sensible hereof, would God we were as sensible of the fatal effects and dismal fruits of this evil; that so we might each one of us apply to him, who is able and willing to make us clean. No man can tell how far the force of his single example might prevail : if vice is contagious, goodness is diffusive, in this res pect too we may say, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump; and it is more especially the case of those in exalted stations, whose good practices bring virtue into reputation, and who, if they can not wholly stem the opposing tide, will yet at a cer tain hour find unspeakable satisfaction in having made a resolute stand against it. Dare therefore to be singularly good: " when vice is in fashion, sin gularity becomes a virtue :" Look to your languish ing country, ye great ones of the land : it is in you to revive its drooping head, it is in you to make religion flourish, it is in you to recommend that righteousness and truth v>hich are the only bulwarks of a kingdom, and which as reaching even to the highest heavens, no convulsions of the earth can ever remove, no terrors of the Lord will ever shake : for righteousness exalteth a nation, the throne is established by righteousness ; and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever, saith the Lord of hosts. DISCOURSE HI. THE CLEANSING OF THE LEPER. PART II. MATTHEW Viii. 1—4. I COME now, in the second place, to consider the present miracle; and so to explain, enforce, and improve it, as shall be most to your spiritual in struction and advantage.- From this Leper we learn, I. The proper manner of applying to Christ, without which we can expect no favour from him, : for to seeking only, the blessing oi finding is annex ed. He came under the burden of a most grievous disease, which he knew and confessed a punishment for sin : he came in the deepest humility, under the sense of his own manifold unworthiness, falling down at Christ'syee^, with lively faith in his divine power, and with fervent prayer, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Thus mani festly declaring his faith in Jesus, as the Son of God, as the expected Messiah, as endued with power from on high, and able to do, what was confessedly in <6he power of God only, to deliver a Leper from his leprOsy. And if we desire our salvation, thus must we also approach him : conscious of our great and numberless offences, truly humbled beneath the guilt and misery of sin, firmly persuaded that he is 48 The Cleansing of the Leper. not only able, but willing to save to the uttermost all that come to the Father by him, and imploring with fervent prayer this Lord of mercy, this God of all power to make us clean. One great advantage we have over this Leper, in that we are blessed with as strong an assurance of our Saviour's will, as of his ability to save; we who have this example of his compassion before us; we who have heard him with a voice of love call all the labouring and heavy- laden to rest and repose ; and we who know that he laid down his life for us, and thus gave us the greatest proof possible of his friendship: — We sure ly can never doubt of his good-will to save, we surely can never want any motives to persuade us to come to him, to fall down before him, and sav. " Lord, thou art able and willing to make us clean, be it unto us according to thy word ! Sinners though we are, thou earnest into the world to save sinners ; thou wast called by that most sweet and refreshing name Jesus, because born to save thy people from their sins : ii we in sincerity confess our sins, thou art faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Low at thy footstool therefore do we fall, imploring thy mercy, and relying upon thy infinite grace; Jesus, master, have mercy on us, thou Son of David, have mercy on us !" Thus if we come to Christ, we shall for ourselves have full experience of that readiness and ability to save, which the present history, for the confirmation of our faith, and the comfort of every repenting sinner, so beautifully pictures out in our compassionate High-priest. II. The Leper had no doubt of Christ's power : thou canst; all his fearwas from himself — c< if thou wilt do this, for such a miserable, worthless wretch as I."— Oh, happy would it be for us, if our faith was thus strongly established in the divine and al mighty power of our Lord, while we humbly trem- The Cleansing of the Leper. 49 bled before him under a feeling sense of our mani fold unworthiness; for we find that the Leper's loathsome and defiling state, his miserable and foul disease, did not render Christ averse to him: or turn away the bowels of his compassion from him : nay, we are told that' those bowels were moved* to wards him ; he was touched with the most inward pity ; even with such pity as he was moved toward a world of leprous sinners, all' lying in their blood, all lying in defiling guilt and iniquity, when he came to do his Father's will, to cleanse, redeem and save them from all their pollutions ; even with such pity as he is moved towards thee, O penitent and heart- afflicted sinner, when with all thy diseases and all thy sorrows, thou appliest unto him, seeking for mercy, for mercy and forgiveness from that cruci fied Saviour, who desireth not the death of a sinner ; and whose cross for the consolation of all who will look up to it and be saved, is surrounded by a deny ing Peter, an unbelieving Thomas, an adulterous Magdalen, a persecuting Paul ! Who then can doubt 'of his will to save all that in true repentance and sincere faith draw nigh unto him ? And his Power a Christian should blush to question, when he contemplates this Leper, and sees the triumphs of his faith. If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean — said he — I will, said Christ, be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. You have heard from the law a descrip- tion'ofthis loatiisome, inveterate, and obstinate dis ease, which was indeed the finger of God, for the cure of which so many ceremonies were ordained, and so long time was necessary. But the God, who * St. Mark, i. 41 . says expressly, Jesus moved with 'compas sion, erwWxvEo-flE'f the known and usual word in the New Testa ment from mhafx*"* (bowels) to have the bowels moved. Vol. I. E 50 The Cleansing of the Leper. cleansed the Leper, by means of those ceremonies, could as easily do it without them — and you see him here, in an instant, perfecting the miraculous cure. This was an undeniable proof of his divini ty; and the Pharisees, who once reasoned right, proving him the true God— who can forgive sins hut God alone 9 might have reasoned in the same manner here — " who can cure a Leper but God alone," — Jesus both forgave sins, and cured Lepers, and can any human being be blind to the conclu; sion ?* Hence when John Baptist sent messengers to inquire whether he were really the expected Mes siah or not, the Son of the Most High, he returns for answer, amongst other marks of his divinity, that the Lepers were cleansed, as being the peculiar act of God, and never performed by the word of man,! or by any power less than that of Jehovah ; which the king of Israel affirms as a matter well known, when Naaman was sent to him by the king of As syria to be cured of his leprosy; " 'A m la God, (saith he) to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy.'" The very touch of Lepers was defiling; yet Christ in the performance of this cure did not dis dain to touch the man; for we read, that he put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will, 8$c. He could with no less ease have cleansed him by a word (as he did afterwards in anottier case)f than now by his touch, had he thought good so to do ; but he chose rather this method to convince and confute any calumnies, which the Pharisees might raise concerning the true author of the cure; and to^ shew that he was the Lord, yea and fulfiller of the' law, who could not be polluted with the touch of the * See this more fully treated of, in the following sermon on the Paralytic. t See Luke xvii. 14. The Cleansing of the Leper. 51 leprosy, as in the law, but who, on the contrary, by his touch took away the leprosy and all unclean ness. He conversed with Publicans and sinners, yet was harmless, holy and undefiled : separate from sinners, when in the midst of them, for the prince of this world had nothing in him. But he intended principally hereby to shew us the dignity, use and advantage of the flesh, which he assumed ; namely, that by it he restores our corrup ted nature, and becomes our life-giving Saviour ; not by his divinity only, but by the assistance and ministry of that flesh which he took, and which, from the hypostatic union with the divinity, is ren dered life-giving, quickening flesh.* Two birds were necessary to make one complete sacrifice ; the two natures of God and man were necessary to make one Christ. For as the living bird could not cleanse the Leper, without the dead one, nor the dead one without the living : so neither could we be purged from our sins by the divinity without the humanity, nor by the humanity without the divinity. § There fore he, in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwelt, took our flesh, became bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, to give us ah access, and a kind of right to receive grace from that fulness; But it may be objected, that in his most pure and holy flesh the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily : while ours, miserably defiled by the filth of sin, is so polluted, such a cage of unclean birds, that it appears unwor thy the majesty of Christ to hold any communion * John vi. 33. The Bread of God is he, which comet h down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Read the whole chap ter. § These are Bochart's words from his Hierozoicon, as quoted above, p. 44. Nam ut neque avis viva sine mortua, neque mortua sine viva petuil leprosum a lepra purgare : ita nee a Deo sine ho- mine, nee ab honiini sine Deo, debuit fieri peccatorumpurgatio. E * 52 The Cleansing of the Leper. with us, which reason (persuading us to judge like this Leper) would lead us to think he should ab hor and utterly refuse. This objection the present example wholly removes; we see him here, to our great and endless comfort, stretching out his holy, clean, and divine hand, touching a body wholly in fected with a most noisome and contagious leprosy : a, touch which perfect soundness followed, For im mediately the leprosy was cleansed* Such and so great are the benefits of the incarnation of Christ : who taking our nature cleansed it from sin, sancti fied and enriched it with the fulness of the deity. And that this blessing and honour might not be thought to exHend only to that mass of human flesh which he himself took, he again communicates to us his own flesh, which, having received from us, he hath now sanctified, that by this means our corrupt. nature may be reformed and renewed. And unless we do eat of tha.t flesh so sanctified, of that flesh which is meat indeed, how can we expect to have any life in us ?f Let us therefore eat in faith and gratefully acknowledge the immense love of our Saviour Christ, to man, who hath not disdained to touch our leprous nature, with his own most pure and holy flesh, which so far from being defi led itself thereby, wholly cleanses and sanctifies ours. And when we approach his hallowed table to receive the divine food there presented to our souls, let us contemplate this Leper: and remember how powerful the touch of Christ is to cleanse us from all filthiness of flesh and spirit; and when we re ceive that divine food, then let us in humble sort * These are the thoughts and expressions of the divine St. Chry- sostom and St. Cyrill, and which I have taken from them and Chemnitz. t How — since Christ saith positively and peremptorily, Veri ly, verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son 'of man, and drink his bloody ye have no life in you? John vi. 53. The Cleansing of the Leper. 55 entreat him to bless it to the appointed end, to make it effectual to the cleansing and sanctifying of our souls ; let us entreat him to touch and make us clean! III. As from this miracle we are taught the pro per manner of applying to Christ, and the readiness and ability of our Lord, to save all that come to him labouring and heavy-laden — so are we no less fully directed in the due conduct of ourselves afterwards; He orders the Leper to tell no man, that is, till he had shewed himself to the priest, for a testimony to them ; a testimony that Christ came not to des troy, but to fulfil the Law; and that, upon the man's reporting what Christ had done for him, the priests who saw him cured, without the legal means, might have convincing evidence, that this divine healer was indeed the expected Messiah, of whom it was foretold, that he should be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusa lem, for sin and for uncleanness. And when they had such a testimony it argues the greatest hard ness of heart in them still obstinately to stand out, and refuse assent and worship to this despised Gali lean. However they might sooth their consciences we have the fullest testimony from hence, that Je sus is the Christ, the Son of God, able and willing to save: and a sure rule whereby to conduct our selves. For though the cleansing of a Leper was the immediate act of God, and though our Saviour performed the work by a touch of his almighty hand, yet the ceremonies of the Law were by no means to be dispensed with, being rendered necessary and obligatoiy by the command of God himself. The case is the same at present. We must not think to act in religious matters according to our own ca price or fancy, nor do each one of us, what shall seem good in our own eyes ; but whatsoever thing the Lord hath commanded us, that we must observe to do, we must neither add nor diminishfrom it. The word of 54 The Cleansing of the Leper. God and the doctrine of the church, as built there upon, must be our infallible rule, not any private purposes, any delusive self-will, any vain and selfr seeking. And this rule God would have kept so fixed aud inviolate, that he approves not those who depart from it, and without the word either from the traditions of men, private ends, or false zeal, atr tempt any ihing, though apparently and outwardly to the glory of God. They can no more be appro ved of him, than this Leper, who transgressed a plain command of Christ- — see thou tell no man,*— \ though perhaps it might have been under a lauda ble pretence, to spread abroad and make manifest the mighty works of Christ. I will not enter into the disputes concerning this man's disobedience : certainly however, his duty was to have done as Christ directed him, to have obey ed his command, and applied to the priests. We from this command of our Saviour, are taught, that as he hath ordained a standing ministry, he will al ways have those who are converted to him, seek for , him in and by that ministry, and in the ways and means appointed. He referred Paul to Ananias, Cornelius to Peter, the Eunuch to Philip. There where he hath promised to be always present,-^ he will have those who sincerely desire him, seek for and sue to him ; and there they shall always be assured to find him, if they look up to him, through the means as acting in and by them. For though the means and ceremonies now used in the church of God are in themselves a dead letter, yet by his im-. mediate, institution, they become efficacious and ob-. * St. Mark's words are very strong, epiG'jx^wa/xF*©- aura, t%,£a\n auxov — having strictly and solemnly charged him, he forthwith dis missed him. See Matt. xix. 30. and l^oddridge's note on the place, in his Family Expositor. X Matt, xxviii. 20. Lo, 1 am with you always, even unto the end of the world. See Bishop Beveridge's excellent sermon on this text. Vol. i. Serai, l. The Cleansing of the Leper. 55 ligatory; nor can we have the least right, or the least reason to expect any justification from Christ, or sanctification from the Spirit, if we refuse to be baptized, and absent ourselves from the blessed communion. For these being means ordained of Christ himself to convey to us spiritual grace, we have no more reason to suppose, that we shall re ceive that grace without them, than a Leper had to suppose he should be cleansed without the legal purifications and ordinances. But neither will these avail us, unless we come to them as the Le pers did to the priests under the law, and as this did to Christ in the gospel, under a true and feel ing sense of our sins, an hearty sorroW for all our offences, a fervent desire to be delivered from this body of death, and with firm faith arid full persua sion that our mediator, who hath all power in hea ven and earth, willeth not the death of a sinner, but that all should turn to him and live. With this temper, thus contrite, humble, penitent and be lieving, we must wait upon him in the means of grace, and we are then to our endless happiness assured, that this merciful High-priest will come out to meet us, speak the word, and cleanse us from all spiritual defilement. IV. But vainly shall we hopVfor any other cure, and as we are all by nature leprous, all infected with this deadly poison, all spotted over with ini quity, all more or less under the power of siri, what inust be the consequence, if we are not clearised ? The wages of sin is death — temporal, spiritual, and eternal. How infinitely blessed should we esteem ourselves, that we have such a physician to whom we may thus confidently apply, whose almighty word and sovereign touch is able to dispel the most inve terate maladies ? Did we each one of us really la bour beneath the miseries of a bodily leprosy, and were informed of such a physician, what earnest crowding, what pathetic suing, what endless ap- 56 The Cleansing of the Leper. plication, would there be to him ? — O let us not condemn ourselves ! — let us not be more remiss in the care of our immortal souls, less anxious for their everlasting health, than for that of poor perishing b6dies, speedily to corrupt in nauseous putrefac tion ! Nor, with strange and unreasonable pride, deny this sickness of our souls, to which the scrip tures give such "infallible testimony, and to which our own hearts bear a testimony no less infallible.* And as we cannot deny that we are grievous sin ners, miserable, spotted, filthy Lepers, why should we refuse to wash and be clean ? why should we re fuse to come to the pure fountain opened for all un cleanness ? — why should we not rather receive the free gift of a cure offered us, than proudly, vainly, and foolishly expect it from our own weak means, our own poor and insignificant endeavous ? We, alas, who have need of an atonement not onlv for our greater sins, but for our very best services: we who have such continual need of our advocate and propitiation ; we who cannot do one good work, or perform one duty, read, hear, pray, com municate, fast or give alms, without the most sor rowful mixture of sin and imperfection — the cause of the good man's complaint and tears all the days of his pilgrimage, through this valley of death.- But the natural man, whose eyes are not opened, hath np such opinion of himself or his duties: he thinks in a more noble and elevated manner ; and is persuaded, that his own divine reason, f the eye * Read the lixth chapter of Isaiah and lxiv. 6. We are all as an unclean thing, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags : and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. t I speak here of mere natural, unenlightened reason, which it must be acknowledged, is but a blind guide to follow in the broad day of revelation. For true enlightened reason, I would al ways contend in the pursuit of religious matters : .since that too is revelation. The Cleansing of the Leper. 57 of the soul, is very sufficient to guide him aright ; his ownworks very capable of meriting future bles sedness. Alas, to be proud in one's own eyes is a melancholy delusion indeed. Seest thou a man that is wise in his own conceit ? there is more hope of a fobl than Him ! Very far is such an one from that infant, child-like habit of mind and disposition, with which our Lord assures us each must be bles sed, who would be his disciple, and receive that heavenly wisdom, which is not for the wise of this world, but for those, only who are wise to him.* And yet one would conceive no extraordinary wis- domiriany of our strong advocates for Deism, orthe faith of heathen men,— for can it be wisdom to counteract the decrees of Omnipotence, can it be wisdom to refuse obedience to the commands of an Eternal Judge: can it be wisdom to reject a ' gospel, which the Son of God descended from on high to establish ; can it be wisdom to reject a Sa viour whose infinite love hath purchased for all who will receive it, life and glory, and that by shedding his own most precious blood ; can it be- wisdom, to reject that Saviour, to refuse that salvation, to trample under foot that blood, the infinite price and value of which, endless ages will be to° short to magnify and extol? O call them no longer wise, feed not their unhappy vanity, with such specious terms, but let them know their folly; proclaim aloud their ingratitude and danger, shew them their sinfulness, and let them be told, spite of all their proud boasting, " they are only the sinful children of a sinful father;" that so, ere it be too late, they may return and repent, that iniquity may not prove their ruin ! Open their eyes, Eternal fountain of all light and * See Matt, xviii. 3. 58 The Cleansing of the Leper. love — suffer them not, O God of mercy, suffer them not to perish in their blood ; but bring them home in true faith and repentance . to thee, that their hearts desire being at length lifted up to thee, thou tnayest speak the word and their leprosy be clean sed ! V. Happy is it for the soul, that perceives its le prosy ; happy is it for .the man, who searching into his own heart, finds there this dreadful disease, and flying to the only priest and bishop of his soul, rends his garments, and in sincere sorrow proclaims himself unclean, unclean. And would you but ex amine yourselves in sincerity, would you but seri ously cast your eyes upon yourselves, your duty, and your future expectations, the disease would soon abundantly manifest itself. You would be con vinced of your utter sinfulness. If unconvinced of this, all other knowledge is unavailing : For what is the blood of Christ, and the unction of the holy Spirit to him who wants no cleansing, as conviriced Of no uncleanness through sin ; who Wants no holi ness, as already sufficiently just, honest and upright to carry him to heaven ! But deceive riot your selves : indeed one would judge that impossible ; lay your hearts and consciences now open before God, survey your past lives, look upori your pre sent dispositions ; and see what a multitude of evils in along succession, crowd thick to judge and con demn you ! See what pride of heart, what vanity, and self^applause, what envy, malice, and ariger, consuming rancour, and gnawing jealousies j whai! a love of the world and all its vain pomps and van ities ; what a dreadful company of evil thoughts and' desires, lusts, secret and unperpetrated, lusts of the will and intention, fiery passions, evil concupiscen ces, inordinate affections ; — what vices in their full power and strength, the outward sores and biles, The Cleansing of the Leper. 59 the manifestations of the inward taint and corrup tion : what extortion, covetousness, drunkenness^ adultery, uncleanness, and many other filthy works of the flesh: Add to these, what blasphemy and contempt of God ; how little regard and love for his service; how very little regard to his most holy laws, and the cause of those brethren, whom he hath commanded us to love as ourselves — alas, alas, how deficient are even the best in this divine love, which notwithstanding is the consummation of every duty, and without which all becomes mere sounding- brass, or a tinkling cymbal ! — Let us consider these things — Let us prove our ownselves, and examine whether they have not polluted our souls ; whether we are not wholly covered over and defiled with their contagion — whether they have not the full dominion and absolute sway over us ! — Certain it is, these are the fruits of the flesh, the natural births of the old man : and if to the flesh we thus continue to sow, of the flesh we can hope to reap nothing save corrup tion. But knowing the fatal consequence of this disorder, if uncured, knowing the sure wages of sin, if unrepented of, O let us make' haste to be delivered therefrom, to remove the heavy burden from our back, and to take upon us, instead, the light and easy yoke of the meek and lowly Jesus ! He alone by his cleansing blood, and sanctifying Spirit can give perfect soundness' to us, and so cleanse our polluted faculties, as to restore them to health, and a. power of performing their several duties; he alone can change and purify the heart ; all human power in this respect is unavailing ; and he will assuredly change and purify it, if we come to him, and truly request him to bestow that desirable blessing. What joy unfeigned should it give every Chris tian, tp find this change wrought in him, to have a glorious testimony, that Christ hath spoken with power, and healed the soul of its leprosy ? To find 50 The Cleansing of the Leper. his former tempers and desires perfectly changed and separated from those things, wherein they be fore delighted ? To find the love of God taking place in his heart of the vain love of the world : and an anxious seeking after sin, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, driven out of its former stronghold, by a far more anxious seek ing after righteousness, and the things which per tain unto God ? To perceive his ear no more de lighted with vain conversation, but as' redeemed therefrom by the blood of Christ, delighting only in all holy conversation, and godliness, and shewing therefrom his works with meekness of wisdom ? To perceive his hands no more pleased with the deeds of evil-doers, butrejoicirig on\y to do good, glad to distribute, ready to communicate, and labouring al ways in the work of the Lord: to perceive his feet no more swift to shed blood, his own and his neigh bours by the acts of sin, but supported by the grace of God,, running gladly in the way of his command ments? And, VI, As such a change must surely convince him of the power of him who wrought it, so should it enlarge his heart with thankfulness. What infinite' satisfaction must the Leper have felt, when he per ceived himself delivered from his loathsome disease, when he found his faculties restored to their former health and soundness?* But greater, far greater joy will every sinner have in his heart, who finds the load of sin removed, who is no longer under the terror, the guilt and power of it, but rejoicing al ways in the Lord, continues diligent in every good work, is careful to obey his master's will, and scru- * We have a very instructive lesson of this sort, and at the same time a striking picture of the ingratitude of the human race, in the Samaritan Leper, the only one of the ten cleansed by our Saviour, who was found returning to give glory to God, when he.saw that he was healed. See Luke xvii. 15, &c. The Cleansing of the Leper. 61 pulous to perform it, in every the least particular to the utmost of his power and knowledge; thus alone securing to himself the blessing conferred; and thus if persevering faithful to the end, certain to be crowned with the crown of life, and to be rewar ded with bliss unspeakable ! O happy consummation of a life devoted to God and holiness — devoutly to be wished, fervently to be desired of us— And we may all obtain this happy • consummation; the Son of God hath power enough to, save, and love enough to incline him to exert that power on our behalf: we have misery enough to cause us to come in humble contrition to the foot of his cross, and to move his compassion towards us. And when so coming and falling down before it, sovereign grace will distil therefrom ; will insin uate itself like balm into all our wounds, heal, cleanse, comfort and restore us to life and favour. Our own unworthiness can be no impediment, if we desire to be more worthy ; if we exert and put forth that desire in prayer, Christ will hear us, and if he hear us, he will help us, and if he help us, Ave shall be safe indeed — for if he be for us; who can be against us f — Come therefore, ye leprous burdened souls, come and cleave to the mercy and power of your redeeming God; give up yourselves, your souls, and bodies to be wholly ruled and governed by him — take especial heed, that you obey all his divine commands, and that with cheerful hope you attend him in all his appointed means — then doubt not, but he will put forth his most pure and holy hand, touch your souls, and say, I will, be thou clean. And O thou powerful and most compassionate High-priest, who art touched with the feeling of our infirmities, disdain not, we beseech thee to come among us, and with great might succour us ; extend thy saving hand, and with the finger of thy power, thy blessed Spirit, so touch and convince us 62 The Cleansing of the Leper. all of the evil of sin, that we may come to thee in sincere contrition, and with fervent faithful prayer implore thy divine assistance. And let us, O boun tiful Jesu, let us not pray in vain : shew forth the riches of thy power and thy mercy towards us: speak the word only, and thy servants shall be healed, destroy all sin in us, and implant in our hearts, by thy grace, all the fruits of the blessed Spirit. O take those hearts into thine own guidance and govern ment; enable them to keep thy commandmentSi and so fulfil thy holy promise of coming with thy Father to dwell therein ! And seeing we are un worthy through our manifold sins and offences even to present one prayer unto thee, we entreat thee to pardon the sins of these our best, though most im perfect services, to deal not with us, according to our merits, but thine own mercies, and graciously looking upon us, with an eye of fatherly love and pity, we beseech ihee in all our dangers and necessi ties to stretch forth thy right hand, to help and de fend us — that protected by thy power and saved by thy mercy here, we may rejoice for ever hereafter, in thy love and praise ! To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, three persons, and one God, be ascribed all power and glory in the church, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. DISCOURSE IV. THE GOOD CENTURION. MATTHEW viii. 13. And Jesus said unto the Centurion, Go thy, way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in, the self-same hour. J ESUS having finished his sermon on the mount, as soon as he came down from thence, to shew that his words and doctrine pertained both to the Jews and Gentiles^ performed two miracles: the one for a Jew, a Leper, who came to him, the other for a Gentile, a Centurion, or Roman Captain, who was stationed at Capernaum. A servant of this Centu rion, who was dear to him, whose virtue and ho nesty, obedience and industry made him very, val uable* in the eyes of his master, lay at home sick of the palsy, in the most grievous stage of the disease, tormented with insufferable pains || and ready to d)e. The Centurion, hearing of JesusJ (whose fame * tiTtfMs, of great price. || Aeaus j8«erasn£o^iE»or. + Postquam mortalia sensit Tentamenta nihil, nil artes posse medentum, Auxilium, cosleste,petit.< 64 The Good Centurion. began now to be spread abroad, and to which his miraculous cure performed at a distance upon the son of a nobleman in this same city || must have greatly contributed) but not thinking himself wor thy to come unto him, engaged, as St. Luke in forms us, the elders of the Jews in his cause; and sent them to beseech this blessed person, of whom he had conceived such high notions, on the behalf of his afflicted servant, That he would come" and heal him, that he would come and save* him, from torment and death. And they performed their office punctually : for they came and besought our Lord instantly and earnestly; and strengthened their importunity by informing him, that the Cen turion was worthy for whom he should do this, for he loveth our nation, say they, and as a proof of it, hath built us a synagogue. Jesus, ever ready to do good, made them no reply, but immediately went with them. The Centurion, hearing that he was coming,, moved by the most remarkable humility, and deem-, ing his house unworthy the presence of so divine a guest, immediately dismissed his friends to desire the Master not to give himself so great trouble as to enter under the roof of one who judged himself so far from being worthy of this great condescension, that he thought himself not even worthy to come to, Jesus, much less to have Jesus come to him; his: humble request was, that he would but deign to. speak the word only, since he was assured, that would be sufficient for the recovery of his servant. But humility never yet prevented Christ's approach : nay rather, the greater the humility, the sooner will II This event preceded the present not much in time. See John iv. 43—53. * Aiao-wo-ij. The Good Centurion. '65 he, manifest his divine presence. And therefore he proceeded on towards the Centurion's house: coming near to which, the Centurion himself, (as St. Matthew informs us, and thus the sacred histo-: rians are easily reconciled) hastened out to meet him; and, with the most profound veneration, the deepest self-abasement, and the liveliest faith, Lord, said he, trouble not thyself, for I am not wor thy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I fully and firmly apprehend and. believe the divinity and excellence of thy power, from a com parative view of my own office and station; where in, though I am indeed subject myself to the autho rity of others, yet have I soldiers under me, who are obedient even to my commands; for I say unto one, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he cometh ; and to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. Now if I, who am thus under the command and authority of others, can have my will perform ed by a word speaking; — how much rather canst thou who art the Lord* the Jehovah, the expected Messiah, and who, as is manifest from thy mighty works already performed, hast all things in thy power:— how much rather canst thou do, what. seemeth thee good, by speaking that word which all the creatures, thy subjects and servants, stand ready in a moment to fulfil ! When Jesus heard this no table confession, he marvelled, — as man, he_ mar velled at that faith, which as God, he himself had * St. Jerom upon this place, says, Intra corporis legmen, divi- nitatcm latentem videhat, sciens non id sibi profuturum, quod . etiam ab incn 'lulls videbaiur, sed id quod tatebat intrinsecus; " that he saw within the covering of the body, the divinity lying hid, and knew, that not that, which even unbelievers 6aw, would profit him, but that which lay concealed within." Vol. L F '66 The Good Centurion* given: and turning himself about to the people that followed, he said unto them, Verily, I sap unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel, not in the chosen and peculiar people, as in this Gentile. And influenced by the like humi lity and faith with him, I declare unto you, as an important truth, many Gentiles shall come from the East and West, from the utmost parts of the earth, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob ia the kingdom of heaven, the realm of ever lasting glory. While the children of the kingdom the Jews, to whom pert aineth the adoption, &c. shall be rejected, shall be cast out — even into outer darkness;* there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Having thus taken an occasion to give the Jews, who were present, an alarming admonition, the force of which was irresistible from the ruler's own testimony to the worth of this Roman com mander ; he dismissed him with this encouraging reply, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, (^ac cording to thy faith) so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the self-same hour ; as- the* that were sent, soon discovered, upon their return to the house, where they found the servant, that had * There is a prodigious emphasis in the original words which our translation in a great degree hath preserved— ExP^vB^mrai «s to ctkotos to E|«m/w. They shall not only be cast out, — that were bad enough — but they shall be cast out into darkness, — what can be ¦worse ? Behold they shall be cast out into o-kotk to E|«™>0» the Very outer darkness : and how is this augmented by the 'next tyords, there shall be weeping and gnashing, t&c. / The very leading of these terrors are pain enough— but, what, oh what must be the enduring of them? " Many commentators have cbserved (says one) that this phrase which is often used after the kingdom of heaven has been compared to a banquet, contains a beautiful allusion to the lustre of those illuminated rooms in which such feasts were generally celebrated ; as opposed fo that darkness which surrounded those, who by night were turned out. But i4 also sometimes goes yet farther, when the person* excluded are supposed to be thrown into a dark dungeon.," The fcrood CenturioTt. 6f been sick, that even now was grievously tormented and ready to die, perfectly restored to life and health. In this story three particulars more especially demand our attention. I. The great humility of this Centurion, — so far was he from thinking himself, worthy of the prej sence of Jesus, under his roof, that he did not think himself even worthy to come tohim, and therefore h© sends the elders of the Jews, and his friends to in tercede for him. II. The faith of the Centurion — which was so great as to cause Christ himself to marvel, and which was so sincere, that it obtained even all he desired — as thoux hast believed, so be it done unto thee. III. The remarkable prophecy, which our Lord here delivers concerning the rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles ; which gracious dis pensation, so happy for us, who are of the Gentiles, be now first mentions, to shew, that humility and faith, like the Centurion's will render all, in every place and nation, accepted with him, who is no res pecter of persons. To each of these I shall speak in their order, but more fully to the two first particulars ; since it is this deep humility, and this lively faith only, which can cause our Saviour readily to come to us; and perform for our souls, which lie sick at home, that which we desire for them : — and may he by his di vine Spirit, so enlighten all our eyes, that we may see ourselves as we are by nature, in the condition of this Centurion's servant, like this Centurion be found strong in faith ; like him, in humility apply to Christ : like him succeed on their behalf, and be dismissed with this encouraging answer, Go thy F a 68 The Good Centurion. way, and as. thou hast believed, so be it done unt» thee ! I. First then, we are to consider, thd great humi' lity of thi? Centurion.' You see how differently the Jews* rate his merits,, from what he does himself; they tell our Lord, that,, " he is worthy for whom he should do this; they — full, as they were, of their own righteousness, seeking to establish which, (St. Paul says) they did not submit unto the righteousness of God— they proclaim his merits aloud, and de clare, that his good works did indeed deserve the desired blessing : and Christ, by his readiness to grant the request, sufficiently shewed, that he was well pleased with these good works of the Centurion, whom he knew to be himself very far from confiding* in them, very far from esteeming himself, as the, Jews esteemed him; which if he had done, the suc cess would have been widely different. Though. they came; with a. Lord, he is worthy ; behold how opposite is the Centurion's confession ! /¦ thought myself, saith he, not even worthy- to come unto theet O Lord, much less can I think myself worthy, that. thou shouldst come under my roof;! he saw the imperfection X>i his faith, and of all his works ; he saw his own wretched sinfulness, unworthiness * Dr. Doddridge in his improvement of this history, a very pleasing and excellent part of his commentary, observes with that' spirit of good nature, which is so peculiar to iiim, " We see the force of real goodness to conquer the most inveterate prejudices'.* The elders of the Jews at Capernaum turn petitioners for a Gentile, for a Roman Centurion : so may we disarm the virulency of a party spirit, and conciliate the friendship of those, who other wise might have their eyes upon us for evil ! See Family ExHos Vol. i. p. 341. * e '. f St Austin observes, that this Centurion, dicendo se indignumi preestifit digniim, non in cujus parietes, sed in cujus cor verbum Dei Christui intraret — by saying that he Was unworthy, rendered himself worthy not of receiving the Word of God, Christ under his roof only, but into his heart ! See his works. Tom. 10. Serm. 6. . The Good Centurion. 69. and weakness in the sight of a holy God ; and, therefore perfectly humbled before him, disclaimed every title to any merits and in lowly dependance threw himself at the feet of Jesus. And yet this Centurion, if any man had much wherein to glory ; he, as is plain from that regard which he shewed to the Jewish nation {for he loveth our nation, and hath built us a synagogue) had em braced the doctrines of the prophets, and was an humble waiter for the kingdom of the Messiah, one of those, who amongst the Jews were called devout persons, receiving neither circumcision, nor the ce remonies of the law, but the doctrine of the prophets only, concerning the hope of Israel, and the expec tation of all nations ; he shewed his zeal for this doctrine, by building a synagogue, a great and ex pensive work, where it might be preached; and was what God, by the prophet Isaiah, calls one of the nursing children of the church: And besides this regard which he shewed to God and works of piety, he also shewed a true love to man, true and sincere beneVoleace, by that kind concern, which he had for his oar-cant, and that at a time when servants were esteemed little better than the veriest slave. He was none of your first table-men only, (a dan gerous and absurd distinction made sometimes by Christian writers, especially those of the last age) but a zealous observer of all God's commandments: as this instance abundantly proves, at the same •time that it serves to manifest the particular good ness of his mind : " great variety of suitors resort- fid to Christ, one came to him for a son, another for a daughter, aihird for himself: I' see none come for his servant, but this one, Centurion; neither was fie a better man than a master; his servant is sick; he doth not drive him out of doors, but takes care pf nim at home; neither doth he stand .gazing by his bedside, but seeks forth; he seeks forth not to 70 The Good Centurion. vain and unprofitable means, but to Christ; he seeks to Christ not with a cold and fashionable ref lation, but with a vehement aggravation of the disease. Had the master been sick, the faithfullest servant could have done no more, He is unwor^ thy to be well served, that will not sometimes wait on his followers; notions of inferiority must not breed in us a neglect of charitable offices ; so must we look down upon our servants here on earth, as. that we must still look up to our master in hea ven."* And thus did this Centurion, both regard, ing his master in heaven, and his servant on earth; thus shewing true love to God, as well as to man, and having on-this account, (as much as any man) Something whereof to boast ; yet so far is he from auy syllable of merit, or self-righteousness, that he declares himself utterly unworthy, unworthy even to come to Christ, much more unworthy to be visited t)y this divine and all-powerful Lord ! How admirable a pattern of humility is this ! — what a glass for every child of man to behold him-! self in! How much should it teach us to discard every the least tendency to self-esteem and self-ap plause, while yet we are as diligent to obtain just reason for it as this Centurion had ! Absolute self-renunciation amidst cpntinual works of faith and labours of love is the true humility — and not that which is falsely pretended as a covering for our real want of all deserving, or as a wretched cloak for spiritual pride. This humility causeth us always to have a quicli eye to the evils of our own heart, * See Bishop Hall's Contemplations, Vol. ii.. p. 52. And it is with great satisfaction that I take this opportunity to recom-, mend to my worthy reader's acquaintance this pious and fine writer's works, but more particularly his Contemplations — and I ¦dare pronounce, that the more intimate you, my good reader and; this holy Bishop become, the more thanks I shall receive 'for in troducing you to the familiarity of so wise a friend. The Good Centurion. 7* t and as quick a one to the virtues of others; to es teem ourselves in the lowest degree— for the hum ble man is well acquainted with his own sins and unworthiness, better, far better, than he can be with those of others, and therefore he prefers all others to himself. This humility shews us our selves; and, informs us, that though indeed unwor thy of any the least favour from God, nay, justly meriting his severest indignation — -yet, as desirous to shew our most imperfect love and gratitude for his mercies in Christ Jesus, we must be careful to maintain all those good works, which he hath or- dainedfor us to walk in ; and after having, done all we can, to approve ourselves faithful in that state of life, wherein it hath pleased God to place us, we must be content to acknowledge ourselves but un profitable servants; and be ready to say in sincerity, enter not into judgment, with thy servant O Lord, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. The best and most exalted Christians are ever most humble: and it is their humility which makes them the best Christians; for they are ever best in the sight of God, who are worst, even nothing, in their own: and in truth this self-annihilation, this esteeming ourselves as mere sinfal dust and ashes before God, is a mark at which we are all bound to aim; and without a constant labour to at tain it, we cannot be the disciples of Christ, who hath taught us, that whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and whosoever humbleth himself shall be exalted; a sentence well worthy our observation, and repeated more frequently than any other of our Lord's in the Gospel. It is this humility which procures God's favour to us, and which doth for every man what it did for this Centurion, renders Christ ever willing to. come, and grant the request of his lips — I will come and heal him, said Jesus1 im mediately; had the Centurion exalted himself, made proud boasting of his owu desert, of his re? 72 The Good Centurion. gard to the Jewish nation, the synagogue he had built, the care he had for his servant, of his virtue, religion, and humanity, with a " God, I thank thee," joined to it ; Christ would have turned from him with indignation as from the hypocritical pharir sees, and his servant had never been cured; but h« acted a contrary part, he humbled himself, and so was exalted. Wouldyou therefore receive the blessings and ex alting benefits of the gospel, see that like this Ro- man, you are humbled in your own eyes ; learn from him to place no value in your own performanr ces, but to confess your utter want of all deserving in the sight of a just and holy God ; labour to be as exemplary as he was in the love of God and man, and you will certainly be as humble: for " love alone is truly humble, because she alone thanks God for all the good she sees in others, and always inspires those, whose heart she has purified with an earnest and sincere desire of seeing their brethren preferred to themselves in every thing."* And as there is a natural and necessary connection between these graces of humility, love, and faith, of consequence the one will promote and establish the other; the higher your love, the deeper your hur milky will be; the deeper your humility, the more firm and lively your faith; and it is God's infallible word and firm decree, as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee, which was the reward, of the CentUT r ion's faith; II. The Second thing I proposed to consider j and may the giver of all faith so root and ground us in theabovementioned humility and love, that our faith may be founded theron as on a rock, and we with a single eye to God, walk worthy our high vocar * This is a remark of St Austin's, as you will find by reading. thp Characters of Charity, p. ig. The Good Centurion. 73 tion and calling, as fully persuaded, that what he hath promised, he is also able to perform. This faith of the Centurion, you perceive, as thus rooted in humility, towered very high, and prevail ed even with heaven : and it is a wonderful consi deration to think, that so great is the victory of faith,* that it can overcome not only the world, but God also, (if 1 may be allowed so to speak) who gives himself, as it were, into the power of faith, and declares, that all things are possible to him that be lieveth. The Centurion believed and confessed, that Je sus was the Lord: that of necessity, his divine power was unlimited, and he could do, whatsoever seemed him good — Speak the word only, said he, and my servant shall be healed. As much as to say, thou art divine and all-powerful; thou, as Lord, hast all things under thy command and direction : speak therefore the word only ; give butthe command, and thy ministers, all diseases, as well as every crea ture, shall obey thee : and that word which could say, Let there be light, and there was light, which could speak, and it was done, command, and it stood fast : which could say to the seas, Be still, and to the * I must request of the reader, whenever I speak of faith as a simple grace, not to understand me, as though f meant any bare assent only, any bold persuasion, or mere act of believing, but always such a faith, as is founded in humility, and accompanied with divine love — a faith working by love. — Seeing I do from my - heart believe, that a faith, however distinguished or however nicely defined, which is not built upon true repentance and ac companied with the fruits of holiness, — with all good works, — is only a faith of devils, and will never avail to any man's salvation. 1 speak here of living acting men, and mean not to puzzle the cause as some have done, with distinctions concerning dying people, and the instance of the thief on the cross so often pro- ' duced. This is another consideration ; it is not ours to limit the mercy of God : one of the Fathers upon this instance observes very •wisely — " That we have one such instance given us to prevent despair, and but one, to prevent presumption.'' 74 The Gdod Centurion. winds, Peace — that almighty word shall be found prevailing in behalf of the paralytic servant." And he builds his confidence upon a very rational pre sumption, even his own power over these that were subject to him, and who were ready to execute his commands at a word: to whom he had no need to say more, than Come, and they came, Go, and they •went, Do this, and they did it. Much more, therer fore, reasoned he, can' this divine person, who is Lord of all, by speaking one word, not only deliver from the most inveterate disease, but perform whatsoever he pleaseth ; seeing all nature is at his command, and every creature stands ready to exe- cute his orders. How simple and natural is this comparison, how strong the reasoning deduced from it — how obvious the fact to all our notices, and yet how very rarely applied by us, as by this Centurion, tO' strengthen our faith, and build up our confidence in God ! We cannot but believe, that there is a God. It is a great question with me, . whether any man really disbelieved the existence of a deitv. And if we be-. lieve him to be God, that is, the king,* ruler, and disposer of all things in heaven and earth, we must of necessity, acknowledge his almighty power : if he Say the word, it must be established, beyond all controversy,! for who can resist the will of Omni-t * The notion of a deity and providence are so naturally linked together, that none who confess the one have ever presumed to deny the other, unless some of the libertine school of Epicurus, Epicuri de grege Porcos. f The inherent conviction of this truth raised, according to Cicero, the Romans above all other nations — Pietate ac rel'mione saith he, atque hac una sapientia quod Deorum immorialium numine omnia regi gubernarique perspeximus , omnes gentes, nationesque superavimus. By piety and religion — and this wisdom only, that we have perceived all things to be disposed and govern- ' ed by the providence of the immortal Gods, have we conquered all nations and people. A Remark worthy our more enlighten* •d times. See Orator, de Arusp. nspons. n. 19. The Good Centurion. 75 pbtence ? Many — many, — even heathens go thus far, but another step is wanting; we may see and confess the greatness and power of God, while we do not see'him as our God, as our Father through Christ, and as willirig to exert that power in our cause ; and therefore we do not apply that power to ourselves, as this Centurion did. — ¦ Could we once so believe, and so apply, could we once behold Christ as ours, yea, and all things he hath as ours* then like this Centurion, we should triumph, and like him we should be blest — as we believe, so should it be done unto us. If we could once by faith see, that all diseases, all calam ities, and'all evils, as well as blessings come and go by the word and permission of God, (which in truth is only believing what the Apostle saith, that (til things work together for good, to them that love God) we should then be happy in full dependance -on a resignation to his will, we should always care fully sue tothatawv/, and in every exigency, apply it to our souls, — only speak the word, and thy ser vant shall be healed ! For be the faith of man, what it will, the power and efficacy of the word of Christ is fixed and cer tain, it remains always the same ; to it we can ne ver add, and from it we can never diminish; to apply this its standing efficacy to ourselves is the bu^ piness of faith ; ours is to seek and pray, that this word in all its power may be brought home to our hearts and exerted on our behalf; and to this pur pose nothing can be more conducive, than the ex ample before us of the Centurion ; like whom if wa fiave faith, so shall it be done unto us. * St. Paul speaks thus for the comfort and encouragement of believers ; Therefore let no man glory in men, for all things are, yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present or things to come : All arc yours : and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 1 Cor. iii. 21. 76 The Good Centurion. And, you may observe, fhatjour Saviour not only in the present case, but in various others, lays down this position — as thou hast believed so be it done unto thee, — according to thy faith, be it unto thee—Be lieve, ye, that J am able to do this, said he to the blind men ? Yea, Lord, replied they, then said he, according to your faith, be it unto you.* And here*' in he hath manifested at once his great wisdom and love : for .the soul burdened under the sense of its manifold sinfulness, mi