I. flame and combustion, and will never have peace with any SERM. thing which it can possibly consume; nay further, it infuseth warmths, and distempers, and turbulencies into all that come within any reach of it, communicates and diffuses its violences to all others; and the gospel spirit is direct antipodes to that, an allaying, quenching, quieting, cooling spirit. And so you see this new spirit, the spirit of the gospel, of what a temper it is in all these respects, a spirit more fit than lightning to melt the swords in our scabbards, to new forge these hostile weapons into those that are more civil and profitable; and that was the second course by which Christianity was to work this metamorphosis, to beat these swords, &c. : 3. And lastly, our Saviour hath contributed toward this great work by the exemplariness of His own practice in this kind; not only, in the first place, in refusing to have the fire from heaven, that the Boanerges would have helped Him to, [Luke ix. against the Samaritans,-professed enemies of Christ, and of 54, 55.] all that had any kind looks toward Jerusalem; and besides, notorious heretics and schismatics, and yet pretenders to the only purity and antiquity, against all sense and reason, and so most arrogant hypocrites also; and yet all this not enough to inflame Christ's Spirit into that of Elias', or to change His temper into any thing of zeal or anger against these:nor only, in the second place, in reprehending and trashing of St. Peter's zeal, when it drew the sword in his Master's [Matt. xxvi. 52, defence against the high-priest's servants, and indeed against 33.] the very crucifiers of Christ: nor only, in the third place, in refusing the aid even of angels from heaven (when they were ready upon His summons) against the heathens that attached Him: but fourthly, and above all, by that answer of His to Pilate, "If My kingdom were of this world, then should My John xviii. servants fight," &c.,-which was certainly part of that good confession before Pilate mentioned with such honour, 1 Tim. vi. 13,-inferring that because His kingdom was not of this world, because He was not a worldly or an earthly king, therefore His servants were not to fight for Him against a legal power of heathens, though it were but to save Him from crucifying. It is clear it was one of His accusers' main hopes to find Him in Judas Gaulonita's doctrine, that "it was unlawful for God's people (and so for Him that under 36. 21. I. [1 Tim. vi. 13.] SERM. took to be God's Son) to be subject to idolaters," making advantage of piety (as the Gnostics after did) toward their secular ends, the freeing themselves from subjection in this world but our Saviour every where disclaims that doctrine; Matt. xxii. both vindicating Cæsar's prerogative by his coin, and in that good confession to Pilate; from which it is demonstrable, that what was not to be done in defence of Christ when He was in that danger and under that persecution, is no more to be attempted in that case for religion, for Christianity itself. I shall shut up this by leaving in your hands that most glorious lively image of His whole soul and life, delivered to [Matt. xi. us in one medal, that "Learn of Me, for I am meek and 29.] lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls." To which if you add the sealing, and the practising of this, in the giving up His soul, laying down His life, an offering of charity even for enemies, and yet further for those enemies' souls, this one amulet hung about your necks, one would think were sufficient to charm all the weapons of our warfare, that are so unmercifully carnal, to exorcise and conjure all the swords and spears out of the world, to work new transfigurations and metamorphoses among us, to return the bears and vultures into their old human shapes again, and proclaim an universal truce to all the military affections we carry about us, to our wraths, our covetings, our aspirings, a Sabbath, a jubilee of rest and peace, like that which Jamblichus talks of in the spheres, a κаbоλiкn ȧρμovía', a catholic constant harmony and accord, a present pacification of all our intestine broils, and so a quiet and rest unto our souls; and till this be done, till this Advent prophecy be fulfilled in your ears, you must know there is little of Christianity among us, little of evangelical graces, or evangelical spirit, nothing but legal at the best. That in God's good time there may be more, not in the brain or tongue to elevate the one or adorn the other, but in the ẞálos kapdías, the depth and sincerity of the heart, more of the work and power, the spirit and vital energy of the gospel, God of His infinite mercy grant us all, even for the sake and through the operation of His Son Jesus Christ, that wonderful counsellor, that mighty God, that [Isa. ix. 6.] Father of this evangelical state, that Prince, and that God of f [Vide Jamblich. de Vita Pythag., p. 52. 4to. Amst. 1707.] I. peace; to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be as- SERM. cribed as is most due, the honour, the glory, power, praise, might, majesty, and dominion, which through all ages of the world hath been given to Him that sitteth on the throne, to the Holy Spirit, and to the Lamb for evermore. Amen. SERMON II. CHRIST'S EASY YOKE. SERM. [Hag ii. 7.] 2.] MATT. xi. 30. My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. THAT the Christian's heaven should be acknowledged his only blissful state, and yet they which pant for bliss never think fit to enquire after it: that Christ, the way to that heaven, should be truly styled by one prophet," the desire of all nations;" and yet they that look on Him be affirmed by another prophet, "to see nothing in Him that they should desire Him" that a rational creature should be made up of such contradictions, as to desire life most importunately, and yet as passionately to make love to death; to profess such. kindness to immaterial joys, and yet immerse and douse himself in carnal; to groan and languish for salvation, i. e. an eternal state of purity, and yet to disclaim and fly it, whensoever any impure delight is to be parted with; might have leave to exercise and pose a considering man, were there not one clear account to be given of this prodigy, one reason of [Num. xiii. this fury, the many "evil reports that are brought up of the 32; xiv. 36, 37.] [Num. xiii. 33; Deut. ix. 2.] way to this good land," the prejudices, fatal prejudices, infused into us, the vehement dislikes and quarrels to all Christian practice, that only passage to our only bliss. We have heard of an angel with a flaming sword at the gate of paradise, which our poetic fear and fancies have transformed into a serpent at the door of the Hesperides' garden,—that angel fallen and turned into a devil,-we have heard of the cannibal Anakims in the confines of the promised land, that devour all that travel toward that region: and our cowardly sluggish aguish fancies have transplanted all these into II. Christendom, made them but emblems of Christ's duri ser- SERM. mones, the hard tasks, unmerciful burdens that He lays on His disciples, yea and conjured up a many spirits and fairies more, sad direful apparitions, and sent them out all a commanded party to repel or to trash us, to intercept or encumber our passage toward Canaan, to pillage and despoil the soul of all Christian practice, of all that is duty in discipleship. Three of these prejudices our Saviour seems to have foreseen and prevented in the words of this text. 1. That there is no need of doing any thing in discipleship; Christ came to free from yokes, to release from burdens, the gospel is made all of promises, obedience to precepts is a mere unnecessary; and for the preventing of that prejudice, you have here as a yoke, and a burden, so both of Christ's owning, ζυγός μου and φορτίον μου, “ My yoke and My burden." A second prejudice of them that being forced to confess the necessity of Christian obedience, do yet resolve it impossible to be performed, discerning the burdens in my text, must have them unsupportable burdens, no hope, no possibility for us to move under them; and then studium cum spe senescit, their industry is as faint as their hope, desperation stands them in as much stead as libertinism did the other, they are beholden to the weight of their burdens for a supersedeas for taking them up: and for the preventing of that prejudice, you have here this character of Christ's burden, not only supportable, but light, "My burden is a light burden." A third prejudice there is yet behind, of those that having yielded the both necessity and possibility of Christian obedience, are yet possessed of the unpleasingness and bitterness of it, like those in the prophet, cry out, "The burden of the [Jer. xxiii. Lord, the burden of the Lord," the yoke a joyless melancholic yoke, the burden a galling pinching burden; and to them hath our Saviour designed the xpnoTòv here, as the most significative epithet to express the nature of the Christian yoke: we have rendered it but imperfectly, "My yoke is easy;" it signifies more richly, "My yoke is a benign yoke,” all pleasure and profit made up in the word Κύριος χρηστὸς, |