that it may be an acceptable service unto the Lord. And, first, let
it be done _unto the_ Lord, with our eye singly fixed on him. Let
our intention herein be this, and this alone, to glorify our Father
which is in heaven: to express our sorrow and shame, for our manifold
transgressions of his holy law: to wait for an increase of purifying
grace, drawing our affections to things above: to add seriousness and
earnestness to our prayers: to avert the wrath of God, and to obtain
all the great and precious promises, which he hath made to us in
_Christ Jesus_.
Let us beware of mocking God, of turning our fast as well as our prayer
into an abomination unto the Lord, by the mixture of any temporal view,
particularly, by seeking the praise of men. Against this our blessed
Lord more peculiarly guards us, in the words of the text. _Moreover,
when ye fast, be ye not as the hypocrites_ (such were too many who
were called the people of God) _of a sad countenance_; sour, affectedly
sad, putting their looks into a peculiar form. _For they disfigure
their faces_, not only by unnatural distortions, but also by covering
them with dust and ashes――_That they may appear unto men to fast_.
This is their chief, if not only design. _Verily, I say unto you, they
have their reward_; even the admiration and praise of men. _But thou,
when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face._ Do as thou
art accustomed to do at other times――_That thou appear not unto men to
fast_, (let this be no part of thy intention: if they know it without
any desire of thine, it matters not, thou art neither the better nor
the worse) _but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly_.
2. But if we desire this reward, let us beware, secondly, of
fancying we _merit_ any thing of God by our fasting. We cannot be
too often warned of this; in as much as a desire to _establish our own
righteousness_, to procure salvation of _debt_, and not of _grace_, is
so deeply rooted in all our hearts:――Fasting is only a way which God
hath ordained, wherein we wait for his _unmerited_ mercy; and wherein,
without any desert of ours, he hath promised, _freely_ to give us his
blessing.
3. Not that we are to imagine, the performing the bare outward act,
will receive any blessing from God. _Is it such a fast that I have
chosen, saith the_ Lord: _a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to
bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under
him?_ Are these outward acts, however strictly performed, all that is
meant by a man’s _afflicting his soul? Wilt thou call this a fast, and
an acceptable day to the_ Lord? No surely. If it be a mere external
service, it is all but lost labour. Such a performance may possibly
afflict the body. But as to the soul it profiteth nothing.
4. Yea, the body may sometimes be afflicted too much, so as to be unfit
for the works of our calling. This also we are diligently to guard
against: for we ought to preserve our health, as a good gift of God.
Therefore care is to be taken, whenever we fast, to proportion the
fast to our strength. For we may not offer God murder for sacrifice,
or destroy our bodies to help our souls.
But at these solemn seasons, we may even in great weakness of body,
avoid that other extreme, for which God condemns those who of old
expostulated with him for not accepting their fasts. _Wherefore have we
fasted, say they, and thou seest not?――Behold in the day of your fast,
you find pleasure_, saith the Lord――If we cannot wholly abstain, we
may at least abstain from pleasant food; and then we shall not seek his
face in vain.
5. But let us take care to afflict our souls as well as our bodies.
Let every season either of public or private fasting, be a season of
exercising all those holy affections, which are implied in a broken and
contrite heart. Let it be a season of devout mourning, of godly sorrow
for sin: such a sorrow as that of the _Corinthians_, concerning which
the apostle saith, _I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that
ye sorrowed to repentance. For ye were made sorry after a godly manner,
that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow_
(ἡ κατὰ Θεὸν λύπη· the sorrow which is according to God, which is a
precious gift of his Spirit, lifting the soul to God from whom it flows)
_worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of_. Yea, and
let our sorrowing after a godly sort, work in us the same inward and
outward repentance; the same entire change of heart, renewed after the
image of God, in righteousness and true holiness; and the same change
of life, till we are holy as he is holy in all manner of conversation.
Let it work in us the same _carefulness_, to be found in him, without
spot and blameless; the same _clearing of ourselves_, by our lives
rather than words, by our abstaining from all appearance of evil; the
same _indignation_, vehement abhorrence of every sin; the same _fear_
of our own deceitful hearts; the same _desire_ to be in all things
conformed to the holy and acceptable will of God; the same _zeal_
for whatever may be a means of his glory, and of our growth in the
knowledge of our Lord _Jesus Christ_: and the same _revenge_ against
_Satan_ and all his works, against all filthiness both of flesh and
spirit, _2 Cor. vii. 9_, &c.
6. And with fasting let us always join fervent prayer, pouring out our
whole souls before God, confessing our sins with all their aggravations,
humbling ourselves under his mighty hand, laying open before him all
our wants, all our guiltiness and helplessness. This is a season for
enlarging our prayers, both in behalf of ourselves and of our brethren.
Let us now bewail the sins of our people, and cry aloud for the city of
our God: that the Lord may build up _Zion_, and cause his face to shine
on her desolations. Thus we may observe the men of God in ancient times
always joined prayer and fasting together. Thus the apostles in all the
instances cited above: and thus our Lord joins them in the discourse
before us.
7. It remains only, in order to our observing such a fast, as is
acceptable to the Lord, that we add alms thereto; works of mercy, after
our power, both to the bodies and souls of men. _With such sacrifices_
also God _is well-pleased_. Thus the angel declares to _Cornelius_,
fasting and [114]praying in his house, _Thy prayers and thine alms are
come up for a memorial before_ God. And this God himself expresly and
largely declares, [115]_Is not this the fast that I have chosen, to
undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break
every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou
bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the
naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thy
own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine
health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go
before thee, the glory of the_ Lord _shall be thy rare-ward. Then shalt
thou call, and the_ Lord _shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall
say, here I am.――If_ (when thou fastest) _ thou draw out thy soul to
the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise
in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon-day. And the_ Lord _shall
guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make thy
bones fat: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring
whose waters fail not_.
SERMON XXVIII.
UPON OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
DISCOURSE VIII.
MATT. vi. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.
_Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness. If therefore the light that is within thee be
darkness, how great is that darkness!_
1. FROM those which are commonly termed _religious actions_, and which
are real branches of true religion, where they spring from a pure
and holy intention, and are performed in a manner suitable thereto,
our Lord proceeds to the actions of _common life_, and shews that the
same purity of intention, is as indispensably required in our ordinary
business, as in giving alms, or fasting, or prayer.
And without question the same purity of intention, “which makes our
alms and devotions acceptable, must also make our labour or employment,
a proper offering to God. If a man pursues his business, that he may
raise himself to a state of figure and riches in the world, he is no
longer serving God in his employment, and has no more title to a reward
from God, than he who gives alms that he may be _seen_, or prays that
he may be _heard_ of men. For vain and earthly designs are no more
allowable in our employments, than in our alms and devotions. They are
not only evil when they mix with our good works,” with our religious
actions, “but they have the same evil nature when they enter into the
common business of our employments. If it were allowable to pursue them
in our worldly employments, it would be allowable to pursue them in our
devotions. But as our alms and devotions are not an acceptable service,
but when they proceed from a pure intention, so our common employment
cannot be reckoned a service to him, but when it is performed with the
same piety of heart.”
2. This our blessed Lord declares in the liveliest manner, in those
strong and comprehensive words which he explains, inforces and inlarges
upon, throughout this whole chapter. _The light of the body is the eye.
If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light:
but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness._
The eye is the intention: what the eye is to the body, the intention
is to the soul. As the one guides all the motions of the body, so does
the other those of the soul. This eye of the soul is then said to be
_single_, when it looks at one thing only; when we have no other design,
but to _know_ God, _and_ Jesus Christ _whom he hath sent_: to know him
with suitable affections, loving him as he hath loved us: to please
God in all things: to serve God (as we love him) with all our heart
and mind and soul and strength: and to enjoy God in all and above all
things, in time and in eternity.
3. _If thine eye be_ thus _single_, thus fixed on God, _thy whole body
shall be full of light. Thy whole body_,――All that is guided by the
intention, as the body is by the eye. All thou art: all thou dost: thy
desires, tempers, affections; thy thoughts and words and actions. The
whole of these _shall be full of light_: full of true, divine knowledge.
This is the first thing we may here understand by light. _In his light
thou shalt see light. He which_ of old _commanded light to shine out
of darkness, shall shine in thy heart_. He shall enlighten the eyes of
thy understanding, with the knowledge of the glory of God. His Spirit
shall reveal unto thee the deep things of God. The inspiration of the
Holy One shall give thee understanding, and cause thee to know wisdom
secretly. Yea, _the anointing_ which thou receivest of him, _shall
abide in thee and teach thee of all things_.
How does experience confirm this? Even after God hath opened the eyes
of our understanding, if we seek or desire any thing else than God,
how soon is our foolish heart darkened? Then clouds again rest upon our
souls. Doubts and fears again overwhelm us. We are tossed to and fro,
and know not what to do, or which is the path wherein we should go. But
when we desire and seek nothing but God, clouds and doubts vanish away.
We _who were sometime darkness, are now light in the_ Lord. The night
now shineth as the day; and we find, _the path of the upright is light_.
God sheweth us the path wherein we should go, and _maketh plain the way
before our face_.
4. The second thing which we may here understand by _light_, is
holiness. While thou seeketh God in all things, thou shalt find him in
all, the fountain of all holiness, continually filling thee with his
own likeness, with justice, mercy and truth. While thou lookest unto
_Jesus_ and him alone, thou shalt be filled with the mind that was in
him. Thy soul shall be renewed day by day, after the image of him that
created it. If the eye of thy mind be not removed from him, if thou
endurest _seeing him that is invisible_, and seeking nothing else in
heaven or earth, then as thou beholdest the glory of the Lord, _thou
shalt be transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, by the
Spirit of the_ Lord.
And it is also matter of daily experience, that _by grace we are_ thus
_saved thro’ faith_. It is by faith that the eye of the mind is opened,
to see the light of the glorious love of God. And as long as it is
steadily fixed thereon, on God in _Christ_, reconciling the world unto
himself, we are more and more filled with the love of God and man, with
meekness, gentleness, long-suffering; with all the fruits of holiness,
which are thro’ _Christ Jesus_, to the glory of God the Father.
5. This light which fills him who has a single eye, implies, thirdly,
happiness as well as holiness. Surely _light is sweet, and a pleasant
thing it is to see the sun_. But how much more to see the Sun of
Righteousness, continually shining upon the soul? And if there be any
consolation in _Christ_, if any comfort of love, if any peace that
passeth all understanding, if any rejoicing in hope of the glory of
God, they all belong to him whose eye is single. Thus is his _whole
body full of light_. He walketh in the light as God is in the light,
rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, and in every thing giving
thanks, _enjoying_ whatever is the will of God concerning him in
_Christ Jesus_.
6. _But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If thine eye be evil_: We see there is no medium between a single
and an evil eye. If the eye be not single, then it is evil. If the
intention, in whatever we do, be not singly to God, if we seek any
thing else, then our _mind and conscience are defiled_.
Our eye therefore is evil, if in any thing we do, we aim at any other
end than God; if we have any view, but to know and to love God, to
please and serve him in all things: if we have any other design than
to enjoy God, to be happy in him both now and for ever.
7. If thine eye be not singly fixt on God, _thy whole body shall be
full of darkness_. The veil shall still remain on thy heart. Thy mind
shall be more and more blinded, by _the God of this world, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of_ Christ _should shine upon thee_. Thou
wilt be full of ignorance and error touching the things of God, not
being able to receive or discern them. And even when thou hast some
desire to serve God, thou wilt be full of uncertainty as to the manner
of serving him; finding doubts and difficulties on every side, and not
seeing any way to escape.
Yea, if thine eye be not single, if thou seek any of the things of
earth, thou shalt be full of ungodliness and unrighteousness: thy
desires, tempers, affections, being all out of course, being all dark,
and vile, and vain. And thy conversation will be evil, as well as thy
heart, not _seasoned with salt_, or _meet to minister grace unto the
hearers_, but idle, unprofitable, corrupt, grievous to the Holy Spirit
of God.
8. *Both _destruction and unhappiness are in thy ways_; for _the
way of peace hast_ thou _not known_. There is no peace, no settled,
solid peace, for them that know not God. There is no true, nor lasting
content for any, who do not seek him with their whole heart. While thou
aimest at any of the things that perish, _all that cometh is vanity_.
Yea, not only vanity, but _vexation of spirit_, and that both in the
pursuit and the enjoyment also. Thou walkest indeed in a vain shadow,
and disquietest thyself in vain. Thou walkest in darkness that may be
felt. _Sleep on_; but thou canst not _take thy rest_. The dreams of
life can give pain, and that thou knowest: but ease they cannot give.
There is no rest, in this world or the world to come, but only in God
the center of spirits.
_If the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is that
darkness!_ If the intention which ought to enlighten the whole soul, to
fill it with knowledge, and love, and peace, and which, in fact, does
so as long as it is single, as long as it aims at God alone: if this be
darkness; if it aim at any thing beside God, and consequently cover the
soul with darkness instead of light, with ignorance and error, with sin
and misery: O how great is that darkness! It is the very smoke which
ascends out of the bottomless pit! It is the essential night, which
reigns in the lowest deep, in the land of the shadow of death.
9. Therefore _lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal_.
If you do, it is plain your eye is evil: it is not singly fixed on God.
*With regard to most of the commandments of God, whether relating to
the heart or life, the Heathens of _Afric_ or _America_ stand much on
a level, with those that are called Christians. The Christians observe
them (a few only being excepted) very near as much as the Heathens.
For instance: the generality of the natives of _England_, commonly
called Christians, are as sober and as temperate, as the generality
of the Heathens, near the _Cape_ of _Good Hope_. And so the _Dutch_
or _French_ Christians, are as humble and as chaste, as the _Choctaw_
or _Cherokee-Indians_. It is not easy to say, when we compare the
bulk of the nations in _Europe_ with those in _America_, whether the
superiority lies on the one side or the other. At least, the _American_
has not much the advantage. But we cannot affirm this, with regard to
the command now before us. Here the Heathen has far the pre-eminence.
He desires and seeks nothing more than plain food to eat, and plain
raiment to put on. And he seeks this only from day to day. He reserves,
he lays up nothing; unless it be, as much corn at one season of
the year, as he will need before that season returns. This command,
therefore, the Heathens, though they know it not, do constantly and
punctually observe. They _lay up for themselves no treasures upon
earth_: no stores of purple or fine linen, of gold or silver, which
either _moth or rust may corrupt_, or _thieves break through and steal_.
But how do the Christians observe, what they profess to receive as a
command of the most high God? Not at all; not in any degree; no more
than if no such command had ever been given to man. Even the _good
Christians_, as they are accounted by others as well as themselves,
pay no manner of regard thereto. It might as well be still hid in its
original _Greek_, for any notice they take of it. In what Christian
city do you find one man of five hundred, who makes the least scruple,
of laying up just as much treasure as he can? Of increasing his goods
just as far as he is able? There are indeed those who would not do this
unjustly: there are many who will neither rob nor steal; and some, who
will not defraud their neighbour; nay, who will not gain, either by his
ignorance or necessity. But this is quite another point. Even these do
not scruple the thing, but the manner of it. They do not scruple the
_laying up treasures upon earth_; but the laying them up by dishonesty.
They do not start at disobeying _Christ_, but at a breach of Heathen
morality. So that even these honest men do no more obey this command,
than a highwayman or a house-breaker. Nay, they never designed to obey
it. From their youth up, it never entered into their thoughts. They
were bred up by their Christian parents, masters and friends, without
any instruction at all concerning it: unless it were this, to break
it as soon, and as much as they could, and to continue breaking it to
their live’s end.
10. *There is no one instance of spiritual infatuation in the world,
which is more amazing than this. Most of these very men read, or hear
the bible read, many of them every Lord’s day. They have read or heard
these words an hundred times, and yet never suspect that they are
themselves condemned thereby, any more than by those which forbid
parents to offer up their sons or daughters unto _Moloch_.
O that God would speak to these miserable self-deceivers, with his own
voice, his mighty voice! That they may at last awake out of the snare
of the devil, and the scales may fall from their eyes!
11. Do you ask, what it is to lay _up treasures on earth_? It will be
needful to examine this thoroughly. And let us, first, observe, what is
not forbidden in this command, that we may then clearly discern, what
is.
We are not forbidden in this command, first, to _provide things honest
in the sight of all men_, to provide wherewith we may _render unto
all their due_, whatsoever they can justly demand of us. So far from
it, that we are taught of God, to _owe no man any thing_. We ought
therefore to use all diligence in our calling, in order to owe no man
any thing: this being no other than a plain law of common justice,
which our Lord came _not to destroy but to fulfil_.
Neither, secondly, does he here forbid the providing for ourselves,
such things as are needful for the body: a sufficiency of plain,
wholesome food to eat, and clean raiment to put on. Yea, it is our duty,
so far as God puts it into our power, to provide these things also; to
the end we may _eat our own bread_, and be _burdensome to no man_.
Nor yet are we forbidden, thirdly, to provide for our children, and
for those of our own household. This also it is our duty to do, even
upon principles of Heathen morality. Every man ought to provide the
plain necessaries of life, for his own wife and children: and to put
them into a capacity of providing these for themselves, when he is
gone hence and is no more seen. I say, of providing _these_, the plain
necessaries of life, not delicacies, not superfluities: and that by
their _diligent labour_; for it is no man’s duty to furnish them any
more than himself, with the means either of luxury or idleness. But if
any man provide not thus far for his own children, (as well as for _the
widows of his own house_; of whom primarily St. _Paul_ is speaking, in
those well known words to _Timothy_): _he hath_ practically _denied the
faith, and is worse than an infidel_, or Heathen.
Lastly, We are not forbidden in these words, to lay up from time to
time, what is needful for the carrying on our worldly business, in such
a measure and degree, as is sufficient to answer the foregoing purposes:
in such a measure, as first, to owe no man any thing; secondly, to
procure for ourselves the necessaries of life; and thirdly, to furnish
those of our own house with them while we live, and with the means of
procuring them when we are gone to God.
12. *We may now clearly discern (unless we are unwilling to discern it)
what that is which is forbidden here. It is, the designedly procuring
more of this world’s goods, than will answer the foregoing purposes:
the labouring after a larger measure of worldly substance, a larger
increase of gold and silver; the laying up any more than these ends
require, is what is here expresly and absolutely forbidden. If the
words have any meaning at all, it must be this: for they are capable
of no other. Consequently, whoever he is, that owing no man any thing,
and having food and raiment for himself and his houshold, together
with a sufficiency to carry on his worldly business, so far as answers
these reasonable purposes: whosoever, I say, being already in these
circumstances, seeks a still larger portion on earth, he lives in an
open, habitual denial of the Lord that bought him. He hath practically
_denied the faith, and is worse than an_ African _or_ American
_infidel_.