Images de page
PDF
ePub

during affronts and injuries, and that chriftian fpirit of returning good for evil, has blunted the edge even of the keeneft malice, and restored affection and friendship betwixt thofe perfons, who by any other means might poffibly never have been reconcil'd; and upon these accounts the meek may very well be faid to inherit the earth,

CHA P. IV.

Of hungring and thirsting after

RIGHTEOUSNESS.

MATTH. v. 6.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they fhall be filled.

I

N this Beatitude there are two things worthy of our confideration.

FIRST, The character of the perfons concerned.

SECONDLY, The reward, or particular bleffedness appointed to them.

I. FIRST, the perfons here defcribed, and they are those which hunger and thirst after righteousness. And here I fhall (1.) explain to you the meaning

of righteousness; and then (2.) of hungring and thirfling after righteoufness.

(1.) RIGHTEOUSNESS, as the word is ufed in the New Teftament, when it's spoken of as matter of duty, is fometimes taken for the particular virtue of juftice, or the rendering to every man his due. In this fenfe it is to be understood in those scriptural catalogues, where it is reckon'd, amongst other chriftian virtues. * Thou, O man of God, follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, &c. And again, follow righteoufnefs, faith, charity, peace, &c. Of this virtue it was, together with the fubjects of temperance and judgment to come, that St. Paul fo effectually reafoned at the bar before Felix the governor. And in this fenfe it refpects not only particular men, but alfo bodies and focieties; as well the greater of cities, kingdoms and commonwealths, as the lefs, of relations and families: for juftice is the bond and cemer.t of them all. It is this juftice which governs and obeys, rewards and punishes, witneffeth and determines, buys and fells, and runs thro' all the offices and employments, all the trufts, and all the affairs of the world, in which men are concerned one with another; and the rule of it, is not only the law of God in general precepts, or fecretly imprefs'd upon the mind and confcience; but likewife the natural equity of the thing, and the laws of men, and the commands of governors and fuperiors, applying the general law of God to particular cafes and circumftances. This is one fense of righteoufnefs, to which many places, both in the Old and New Teftament, refer.

BUT then there is another fenfe of righteoufnefs, which is of frequent ufe in the New Testament, and which I rather take to be the meaning of it

* 1 Tim. vi. II.

† 2 Tim. ii. 22.

in the text before us, that is as comprehending the whole chriftian religion. And fo to walk before God in righteousness, is to live according to the most perfect way of religion, which Chrift has eftablish'd in the world. This includes the virtue of juftice, as one particular among the reft; but fuch an onc, and of fo great influence and extent, that you fee it has given name to the whole. And indeed all religion, as it is compleated and perfected by Chrift, is no more than that very juftice which we owe to God, to others, and to our felves; and therefore by the author of the epiftle to the Hebrews, it is called the word of righteousness; and by St. Peter the way of righteousness. It were better for them (fays he, fpeaking of apoftates, and revolters from Chriftianity) not to have known the way of righteoufnefs, viz. the Gofpel of Chrift, than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandments delivered unto them. But this is not the full extent of this fenfe of righteoufnefs; for as it comprises the whole chriftian duty, fo it likewife includes the rewards of it: righteoufnefs is put for immortality and glory, as well as for the way to it. And therefore St. Paul calls the hope of glory the hope of righteousness; for we through the spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. And fo likewife the crown of glory he calls the crown of righteousness: *I have fought a good fight, I have finished my courfe, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteoufnefs. For as the ftate of the Gofpel is call'd the kingdom of heaven, not only because it came from heaven, and leads us thither; but likewise because it is a state of the fame kind, it is but one kingdom, tho' in heaven it has greater majefty and perfection: So alfo the reward of

[blocks in formation]

righteousness hereafter is called righteoufnefs, because it is of the fame kind; it is righteoufnefs in its full growth and ftature. And that defcription which the Apostle makes of the kingdom of God upon earth, or the ftate of the Gofpel, that it is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghoft, may more properly be apply'd to the kingdom of God in heaven, where there is the perfection of righteoufnefs, an undisturb'd and abfolute peace, and the fulness of joy at the right hand of God for ever. But,

SECONDLY, I am to fhew you the meaning of hungring and thirsting after righteousness. And by this may be understood a vehement inclination and difpofition of mind, for the advancement of righteousness: not as it implies only the particular virtue of justice, but that more extenfive kingdom of righteousness and holiness, which the Lord Jefus came to establish upon earth, and will compleat and reward in heaven. And this,

(1.) WITHIN our felves, in our own hearts and lives. It is an earnest appetite and endeavour of the mind to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift; to follow his example, and to be counted worthy of the inheritance of the faints in light. It is a longing defire to mortify all the remains of fin in us, to get the perfect maftery of our affections and paffions, and to bring them under an entire fubjection to the law of God; to encreafe daily in all christian virtues, and to walk in every thing as becomes the Gofpel. It is a fervent breathing after greater degrees of charity, humility, patience, and all other graces; *forgetting those things that are behind, the pitch of goodness we have already attain'd to, and reaching forth unto thofe things which are before, that

*Phil. iii, 13, 14.

perfection

perfection in piety and virtue which alone can fatiffy a generous Chriftian, and preffing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Chrift Jefus; a weaning our hearts from this world, and fixing them upon that happy ftate where we fhall fin no more, but be establish'd for ever in confummate righteousness. In fhort, 'tis fuch an eager and fincere defire of the mind after all this, as anfwers to the thirst and hunger of the body; and accordingly with refpect to these appetites, the Gospel of Chrift is called in the New Teftament both bread and water. † Mofes gave you not that bread from heaven, fays our Saviour, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. And again, The water I fhall give him, fhall be in him a well of water Springing up into everlasting life. Now if the kingdom of grace be defcrib'd by meat and drink, the appetites of hunger and thirst may very well be apply'd to reprefent the defire of the foul after it. But this defire is not confin'd to the dominion of grace in our own hearts; for,

(2.) It extends alfo to a diligent and earnest endeavour for promoting righteousness in others, in the places or neighbourhood where we live, or even thro' all the world if we were able. It is an hearty defire that the kingdom of Chrift may come, and his will be done in earth as it is in heaven: That religion may prevail on every fide of us by a fincere and univerfal practice; that the piety and virtue of all who call themselves Chriftians may in fome meafure come up to the purity and excellence of their profeffion, and that all immorality, vice and prophaneness may be every where fupprefs'd, by whatever charitable, juft and prudent methods it may be done; that the name of God may be honoured, his worship and facraments frequented, and that † John iv. 14.

† John vi. 32.

the

« PrécédentContinuer »