(68) SERMON IV. The Nature and Neceffity of good SERM.' 34. MAT. V. 16. Let your Light fo fhine before Men, that they may fee your good Works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. W HEN our Saviour Chrift was here upon Earth, it was his chief Business and Delight to do the Will of Joh. iv. him that fent him, and to finish his Work. And it was upon this Defign, that he travelled N. B. The Occafion, on which this Sermon and the next following were preached, was as follows: The Chapel at Highgate, in Middlefex, was firft erected and endowed in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, Anno Dom. 1565, and afterwards enlarged, in the Reign of King James 35. travelled about from City to City, from SE RM. one Village to another, teaching in the IV. Synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Sermon on the Mat, ix. Mount was one of thofe excellent Difcourfes and pathetical Exhortations, which he delivered to the People; in which he declares, unto them, what Sort of Perfons they should be, who defire to be intitled to eternal Happiness, and have a Bleffing intailed upon them; and, after he F 3 had James I. Anno Dom. 1616. But, the Hamlet growing more populous, fo that the Chapel would not receive the Inhabitants, the Sum of 2487. 14s. 6d. was raised by Subfcription: To which Edward Pauncfort of Highgate, Efq; generously added 700 l. 6s. 6 d. with both which Sums, amounting to 949 1. Is. the faid Chapel was repaired, enlarged, and beautified, and this Sermon on Mat. v. 16. preached at the first Opening thereof, after the faid Alterations, on May 15, 1720. and that which follows, on Exod. xx. 24, was preached, by the Author, at the Confecration of the faid Chapel, by the Right Rev. Dr. John Robinson, Lord Bishop of London, on October 6, 1720. I CANNOT here omit fome farther Mention of the Goodness and Generofity of our worthy Benefactor Mr. Pauncfort, to this Hamlet, who, befides what is abovementioned, did, in his Life-time, build a Charity-School, to teach poor Girls, rebuilt fix old Almfhouses, and added to them fix new Ones, at the Expence of 373. And, in his Will, ordered an Eftate of 60 l. per Annum, beyond Reprizes, to be purchased, out of which was to be paid to the fix poor Widows, inhabiting the Almfhoufes built by him, 5. per Annum, each: To the Minifter, who reads Prayers in the Chapel at Highgate, 10 l. per Annum, And the Refidue of the Rents and Profits, towards the Maintenance of the Charity Girls aforesaid, SERM. had repeated the eight Beatitudes, and IV. told them, that they are the Poor in Spirit, fuch as mourn for their Sins, the Meek, those that hunger and thirst after Righteoufnefs, fuch as are merciful, the Pure in Heart, Peace-makers, and such as are perfecuted for Righteousness Sake, who are, and fhall be bleed: He proceeds to tell them, that they are the Salt of the Earth, and the Light of the World, two of the moft excellent Things, and of greatest Ufe; and that, therefore, they ought to produce the most excellent Effects, and lay out themselves in doing Good, and in being eminent Examples in all the Inftances of their Duty. He fhews them alfo, that thofe Laws, which he now gave them from the Mount, were not in the leaft contrary to those which their Forefathers received from Mount Sinai, which were written on Tables of Stone, to denote that they were moral Duties, and therefore of perpetual Obligation, and to be obferved to the End of the World ; and that what he now enjoined was only a plainer Declaration, and a more particular Exemplification of the Laws of Nature and right Reafon : For he came not to abrogate or abolish the Law (i. e. the moral Law) but to fulfil it. And, there fore, fore, he exhorts his Hearers to be exem- SERM. plary in the Performance of those moral IV. Duties, and backs his Exhortation with these two strong Arguments: Firft, THAT not only they themselves, but others alfo, would receive Benefit by them, and be incited to praise God for his Bleffings beftowed upon them through their Hands. And, Secondly, THAT others, allured by the Amiableness of their good Works, would be induced to follow their Steps, and to imitate their fhining Example, and hereby glorify their Father which is in Heaven: Let your Light fo fhine before Men, that they may fee your good Works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. THAT, by Light here, is meant the Light of good Works, is plain from the Words which follow in the next Chapter, Mat. vi. where our Saviour tells us, that the Light 22. of the Body is the Eye; but the Light of a Chriftian's Soul, or rather of his Life and Conversation, are good Works: If therefore the Light which is in us be Darkness, how great is that Darkness! And therefore the State of Nature and Sin is called a State of Darkness in the Holy Scripture; but the State of Grace and Regeneration, the State of Light, who F 4 bath 1 Pet ii. 9: ; SERM. bath called you out of Darkness into his IV. marvellous Light. For as, in the greater World, Light is one of the most excellent and beautiful of God's Creatures and the Medium through which the Perfections of all the reft are discovered, and their Benefits conveyed down to us: So in the leffer World (as Man was called by the Philofophers) the Knowledge of our Duty, and the Conformity of our Actions to this Knowledge, is that alone which can render our Lives happy and defirable and as, at the Creation of the World, all other Things were obfcured, and wrapped up in Darkness and Confufion, until Almighty God, by the Power of his Word, created Light So is it with Man in his natural Eftate, his Soul is full of Darknefs and Obfcurity, Ignorance and Error, until God enlightens his Soul with the Gifts and Graces of his Holy Spirit, fhews him what it is he ought to do, and enables him to govern his Affections, Words, and Actions, by the Dictates of fanctified Reafon. If, therefore, the Day-ftar from on high is rifen in our Hearts, if our Souls are enlightened, by the good Grace of God, let us make it appear to the World, by the Fruits of a good Life, and by becoming eminent Examples of Piety and Good |