Chapter VIII: Part 8

And in like manner, particular persons, who take heed unto their ways, and desire to walk humbly and closely with God, will find frequent occasion for private seasons of thus afflicting their souls, before their Father which is in secret. And it is to this kind of fasting, that the directions here given, do chiefly and primarily refer.

II. 1. I proceed, to shew, in the second place, what are the grounds, the reasons and ends of fasting.

And, first, men who are under strong emotions of mind, who are affected with any vehement passion, such as sorrow or fear, are often swallowed up therein, and even _forget to eat their bread_. At such seasons they have little regard for food, not even what is needful to sustain nature; much less for any delicacy or variety, being taken up with quite different thoughts. Thus when _Saul_ said, [105]_I am sore distrest; for the Philistines make war against me, and_ God _is departed from me_; it is recorded, _he had eaten no bread, all the day nor all the night_. Thus those who were in the ship with St. _Paul, when no small tempest lay upon them_, and all _hope that they should be saved was taken away, [106]continued fasting, having taken nothing_, no regular meal, for fourteen days together. And thus _David and all the men that were with him_, when they heard that _the people were fled from the battle, and that many of the people were fallen and dead, and_ Saul _and_ Jonathan _his son were dead also_; [107]_mourned and wept and fasted until even for_ Saul _and_ Jonathan and _for the house of_ Israel.

Nay, many times they whose minds are deeply engaged, are impatient of any interruption, and even loath their needful food, as diverting their thoughts, from what they desire should engross their whole attention. Even as _Saul_, when on the occasion mentioned before, he had _fallen all along upon the earth and there was no strength in him_, yet _said, I will not eat_, till _his servants, together with the woman compelled him_.

2. Here then is the natural ground of fasting. One who is under deep affliction, overwhelmed with sorrow for sin, and a strong apprehension of the wrath of God, would without any rule, without knowing or considering, whether it were a command of God or not, _forget to eat his bread_, abstain not only from pleasant, but even from needful food. Like St. _Paul_, who after he was _led into_ Damascus, _was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink_, Acts ix. 9.

Yea, when the storm rose high, when _an horrible dread overwhelmed_ one who had been without God in the world; his soul would _loath all manner of meat_; it would be unpleasing and irksom to him. He would ♦be impatient of any thing that should interrupt his ceaseless cry, Lord _save! or I perish_.

How strongly is this exprest by our church, in the first part of the homily on fasting?

“When men feel in themselves the heavy burthen of sin, see damnation to be the reward of it, and behold with the eye of their mind the horror of hell; they tremble, they quake, and are inwardly touched with sorrowfulness of heart, and cannot but accuse themselves and open their grief unto almighty God, and call unto him for mercy. This being done seriously, their mind is so occupied (taken up) partly with sorrow and heaviness, partly with an earnest desire to be delivered from this danger of hell and damnation, that all desire of meat and drink is laid apart, and loathsomeness (or loathing) of all worldly things and pleasure cometh in place. So that nothing then liketh them more than to weep, to lament, to mourn, and both with words and behaviour of body to shew themselves weary of life.”

3. *Another reason or ground of fasting is this. Many of those who now fear God, are deeply sensible how often they have sinned against him, by the abuse of these lawful things. They know, how much they have sinned by excess of food; how long they have transgrest the holy law of God, with regard to temperance, if not sobriety too: how they have indulged their sensual appetites, perhaps to the impairing even their bodily health; certainly to the no small hurt of their soul. For hereby they continually fed and increased that sprightly folly, that airiness of mind, that levity of temper, that gay inattention to things of the deepest concern, that giddiness and carelessness of spirit, which were no other than drunkenness of soul, which stupified all their noblest faculties, no less than excess of wine or strong drink. To remove therefore the effect, they remove the cause: they keep at a distance from all excess. They abstain, as far as is possible, from what had well nigh plunged them in everlasting perdition. They often wholly refrain; always take care to be sparing and temperate in all things.

4. *They likewise well remember, how fulness of bread, increased not only carelessness and levity of spirit, but also foolish and unholy desires, yea, unclean and vile affections. And this experience puts beyond all doubt. Even a genteel, regular sensuality, is continually sensualizing the soul, and sinking it into a level with the beasts that perish. It cannot be exprest what an effect variety and delicacy of food have on the mind as well as the body: making it just ripe for every pleasure of sense, as soon as opportunity shall invite. Therefore on this ground also every wise man will refrain his soul, and keep it low; will wean it more and more from all those indulgences of the inferior appetites, which naturally tend to chain it down to earth, and to pollute as well as debase it. Here is another perpetual reason for fasting: to remove the food of lust and sensuality, to withdraw the incentives of foolish and hurtful desires, of vile and vain affections.

5. Perhaps we need not altogether omit, (altho’ I know not if we should do well, to lay any great stress upon it) another reason for fasting, which some good men have largely insisted on: namely, the punishing themselves for having abused the good gifts of God, by sometimes wholly refraining from them: thus exercising a kind of holy revenge upon themselves, for their past folly and ingratitude, in turning the things which should have been for their health, into an occasion of falling. They suppose _David_ to have had an eye to this when he said, _I wept and chastened_, or punished _my soul with fasting_: and St. _Paul_, when he mentions _what revenge_ godly sorrow occasioned in the _Corinthians_.

6. A fifth, and more weighty reason for fasting, is, that it is an help to prayer: particularly, when we set apart larger portions of time for private prayer. Then especially it is, that God is often pleased to lift up the souls of his servants, above all the things of earth, and sometimes to wrap them up, as it were, into the third heavens. *And it is chiefly, as it is an help to prayer, that it has so frequently been found a means in the hand of God, of confirming and increasing not one virtue, not chastity only, (as some have idly imagined, without any ground, either from scripture, reason or experience) but also seriousness of spirit, earnestness, sensibility and tenderness of conscience; deadness to the world, and consequently the love of God and every holy and heavenly affection.

7. Not that there is any natural or necessary connexion, between fasting, and the blessings God conveys thereby. But he will have mercy _as_ he will have mercy: he will convey whatsoever seemeth him good, by whatsoever means he is pleased to appoint. And he hath in all ages appointed this, to be a means of averting his wrath, and obtaining whatever blessings we from time to time stand in need of.

How powerful a means this is, to avert the wrath of God, we may learn from the remarkable instance of _Ahab_. _There was none like_ him, _who did sell himself_; wholly give himself up, like a slave bought with money, _to work wickedness_. Yet when he _rent his cloaths and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and went softly: the word of the_ Lord _came to_ Elijah, _saying, Seest thou how_ Ahab _humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days._

It was for this end, to avert the wrath of God, that _Daniel_ sought God, _with fasting and sackcloth and ashes_. This appears from the whole tenor of his prayer, particularly from the solemn conclusion of it. _O_ Lord, _according to all thy righteousnesses_ (or mercies) _let thy anger be turned away from thy holy mountain――Hear the prayer of thy servant, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate.――O_ Lord, _hear! O_ Lord, _forgive: O_ Lord, _hearken and do, for thine own sake_, Dan. ix. 3, 16, &c.

8. But it is not only from the people of God that we learn, when his anger is moved, to seek him by fasting and prayer; but even from the Heathens. When _Jonah_ had declared, _Yet forty days and_ Nineveh _shall be destroyed, the people of_ Nineveh _proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them unto the least. For the king of_ Nineveh _arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through_ Nineveh, _Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing. Let them not feed, nor drink water._ (Not that the beast had sinned, or could repent: but that by their example man might be admonished, considering that for his sin, the anger of God was hanging over all creatures.) _Who can tell, if_ God _will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?_――And their labour was not in vain. The fierce anger of God was turned away from them. God _saw their works_, (the fruits of that repentance and faith, which he had wrought in them by his prophet;) _and_ God _repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them: and he did it not_, Jon. 3, 4, &c.

9. And it is a means not only of turning away the wrath of God, but also of obtaining whatever blessings we stand in need of. So when the other tribes were smitten before the _Benjamites, [108]all the children of Israel went up unto the house of the_ Lord, _and wept and fasted that day until even_; and then the Lord said, _Go up again; for to-morrow I will deliver them into thine hand_. So _Samuel [109]gathered all Israel together, when they were in bondage to the Philistines, and they fasted on that day before the_ Lord: and when _the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel, the_ Lord _thundered upon them with a great thunder, and discomfited them, and they were smitten before Israel_. So _Ezra; [110]I proclaimed a fast at the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our_ God, _to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones――and he was entreated of us_. So _Nehemiah; [111]I fasted and prayed before the_ God _of heaven, and said, Prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man_. And God granted him mercy in the sight of the king.

10. In like manner, the apostles always joined fasting with prayer, when they desired the blessing of God, on any important undertaking. Thus we read, _Acts_ xiii. _There were in the church that was at_ Antioch _certain prophets and teachers――As they ministered to the_ Lord _and fasted_, (doubtless for direction in this very affair) _the Holy Ghost said, Separate me_ Barnabas _and_ Saul, _for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had_ (a second time) _fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away_, ver. 1, 2, 3.

Thus also _Paul_ and _Barnabas_ themselves, as we read in the following chapter, when they _returned again to_ Lystra, Iconium _and_ Antioch, _confirmed the souls of the disciples_; and _when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, commended them to the_ Lord, ver. 23.

Yea, that blessings are to be obtained in the use of this means, which are no otherwise attainable, our Lord expresly declares in his answer to his disciples asking, [112]_Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit, this kind_ (of devils) _goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting_: these being the appointed means of attaining that faith, whereby the very devils are subject unto you.

11. These were the _appointed_ means. For it was not merely by the light of reason, or of natural conscience, (as it is called) that the people of God have been in all ages directed, to use fasting as a means to these ends. But they have been from time to time taught it of God himself, by clear and open revelations of his will. Such is that remarkable one by the prophet _Joel_, [113]_Therefore thus saith the_ Lord, _turn you unto me, with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning――Who knoweth if the_ Lord _will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Then will the_ Lord _be jealous over his land, and will spare his people. Yea, I will send you corn and wine and oil――I will no more make you a reproach among the Heathen._

Nor are they only temporal blessings which God directs his people to expect in the use of these means. For at the same time that he promised to those who should seek him with fasting, and weeping, and mourning, _I will render you the ears which the grashopper hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpiller and the palmer-worm, my great army_, he subjoins, _So shall ye eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the_ Lord _your_ GOD――_Ye shall also know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the_ Lord _your_ God. And then immediately follows the great gospel-promise, _I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit._

12. Now whatsoever reasons there were to quicken those of old in the zealous and constant discharge of this duty, they are of equal force still to quicken us. But above all these we have a peculiar reason for being _in fastings often_, namely, the command of him by whose name we are called. He does not indeed in this place _expresly_ enjoin, either fasting, giving of alms, or prayer. But his directions how to fast, to give alms, and to pray, are of the same force with such injunctions. For the commanding us, to do any thing _thus_, is an unquestionable command, to do that thing; seeing it is impossible to perform it _thus_, if it be not performed _at all_. Consequently, the saying, give alms, pray, fast in _such a manner_, is a clear command to perform all those duties, as well as to perform them in that _manner_, which shall in no wise lose its reward.

And this is a still farther motive and encouragement, to the performance of this duty; even the promise which our Lord has graciously annexed to the due discharge of it: _Thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly_. Such are the plain grounds, reasons and ends of fasting; such our encouragement to persevere therein, notwithstanding abundance of objections which men, wiser than their Lord, have been continually raising against it.

III. 1. The most plausible of these I come now to consider. And, first, it has been frequently said, “Let a Christian fast from sin, and not from food: this is what God requires at his hands.” So he does: but he requires the other also. Therefore this ought to be done, and that not left undone.

View your argument in its full dimensions; and you will easily judge of the strength of it.

“If a Christian ought to abstain from sin, then he ought not to abstain from food:

But a Christian ought to abstain from sin:

Therefore he ought not to abstain from food.”

That a Christian ought to abstain from sin, is most true. But how does it follow from hence, that he ought not to abstain from food? Yea, let him do both the one and the other. Let him, by the grace of God, always abstain from sin; and let him often abstain from food: for such reasons and ends as experience and scripture plainly shew to be answered thereby.

2. “But is it not better (as it has, secondly, been objected) to abstain from pride and vanity, from foolish and hurtful desires, from peevishness, and anger, and discontent, than from food?” Without question it is. But here again we have need to remind you of our Lord’s words, _These things ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone_. And indeed the latter is only in order to the former; it is a means to that great end. We abstain from food with this view, that by the grace of God, conveyed into our souls, through this outward means, in conjunction with all the other channels of his grace which he hath appointed, we may be enabled to abstain from every passion and temper, which is not pleasing in his sight. We refrain from the one, that being endued with power from on high, we may be able to refrain from the other, so that your argument proves just the contrary to what you designed. It proves, that we ought to fast. For if we ought to abstain from evil tempers and desires, then we ought thus to abstain from food: since these little instances of self-denial are the ways God hath chose, wherein to bestow that great salvation.

3. “But we do not find it so in fact: (this is a third objection.) We have fasted much and often. But what did it avail? We were not a whit better: we found no blessing therein. Nay, we have found it an hindrance rather than an help. Instead of preventing anger, for instance, or fretfulness, it has been a means of increasing them to such a height, that we could neither bear others nor ourselves.” This may very possibly be the case. ’Tis possible, either to fast or pray, in such a manner, as to make you much worse than before; more unhappy, and more unholy. Yet the fault does not lie in the means itself; but in the _manner_ of using it. Use it still, but use it in a different manner. Do what God commands _as_ he commands it, and then doubtless his promise shall not fail; his blessing shall be with-held no longer: but _when thou fastest in secret, he that seeth in secret shall reward thee openly_.

4. “But is it not mere superstition (so it has been, fourthly, objected) to imagine that God regards such little things as these?” If you say it is, you condemn all the generation of God’s children. But will you say, these were all weak, superstitious men? Can you be so hardy as to affirm this, both of _Moses_ and _Joshua_, of _Samuel_ and _David_, of _♦Jehoshaphat_, _Ezra_, _Nehemiah_, and all the prophets? Yea, of a greater than all, the Son of God himself? It is certain, both our Master, and all these his servants, did imagine, that fasting is not a little thing, and that he who is higher than the highest doth regard it. Of the same judgment, it is plain, were all his apostles, after they were _filled with the Holy Ghost and with wisdom_. When they had _the unction of the Holy One, teaching_ them _of all things_, they still _approved themselves the ministers of_ God, _by fastings_, as well as _by the armour of righteousness on the right hand, and on the left_. After _the Bridegroom was taken from them, then did they fast in those days_. Nor would they attempt any thing, (as we have seen above) wherein the glory of God was nearly concerned, such as the sending forth labourers into the harvest, without solemn fasting as well as prayer.

5. “But if fasting be indeed of so great importance, and attended with such a blessing, is it not best, say some, fifthly, to fast always? Not to do it now and then, but to keep a continual fast? To use as much abstinence at all times, as our bodily strength will bear?” Let none be discouraged from doing this. By all means use as little and plain food, exercise as much self-denial herein at all times, as your bodily strength will bear. And this may conduce, by the blessing of God, to several of the great ends above-mentioned. It may be a considerable help not only to chastity, but also to heavenly mindedness; to the weaning your affections from things below, and setting them on things above. But this is not fasting, scriptural fasting: it is never termed so in all the bible. It in some measure answers some of the ends thereof; but still it is another thing. Practice it by all means; but not so as thereby to set aside a command of God, and an instituted means of averting his judgments, and obtaining the blessings of his children.

6. Use continually then as much abstinence as you please; which taken thus, is no other than Christian temperance. But this need not at all interfere with your observing solemn times of fasting and prayer. For instance; your habitual abstinence or temperance, would not prevent your fasting in secret, if you was suddenly overwhelmed with huge sorrow and remorse, and with horrible fear and dismay. Such a situation of mind would almost constrain you to fast: you would loath your daily food: You would scarce endure even to take such supplies, as were needful for the body, ’till God lifted you up _out of the horrible pit, and set your feet upon a rock, and ordered your goings_. The same would be the case if you was in agony of desire, vehemently wrestling with God for his blessing. You would need none to instruct you, not to eat bread, ’till you had obtained the request of your lips.

7. Again, had you been at _Nineveh_, when it was proclaimed throughout the city, _Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock taste any thing: let them not feed or drink water, but let them cry mightily unto_ God: would your continual fast have been any reason for not bearing part in that general humiliation? Doubtless it would not. You would have been as much concerned as any other, not to taste food on that day.

No more would abstinence, or the observing a continual fast, have excused any of the children of _Israel_, from fasting the tenth day of the seventh month, the great annual day of atonement. There was no exception for these in that solemn decree, _Whatsoever soul it shall be, that shall not be afflicted_ (shall not fast) _in that day, he shall be cut off from among his people_.

Lastly, had you been with the brethren in _Antioch_ at the time when they fasted and prayed, before the sending forth of _Barnabas_ and _Saul_, can you possibly imagine that your temperance or abstinence would have been a sufficient cause for not joining therein? Without doubt, if you had not, you would soon have been cut off from the Christian community. You would have deservedly been cast out from among them, “as bringing confusion into the church of God.”

IV. 1. I am in the last place, to shew, In what manner we are to fast, 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_.

13. *Hear ye this all ye that dwell in the world, and love the world wherein ye dwell. Ye may be _highly esteemed of men_; but ye are _an abomination in the sight of God_. How long shall your souls cleave to the dust? How long will ye load yourselves with thick clay? When will ye awake and see, that the open, speculative Heathens, are nearer the kingdom of heaven than you? When will ye be persuaded to chuse the better part; that which cannot be taken away from you? When will ye seek only to _lay up treasures in heaven_, renouncing, dreading, abhorring all other? If you aim at _laying up treasures on earth_, you are not _barely_ losing your time, and spending your strength for that which is not bread: for what is the fruit, if you succeed? You have murdered your own soul. You have extinguished the last spark of spiritual life therein. Now indeed, in the midst of life you are in death. You are a living man, but a dead Christian. _For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also._ Your heart is sunk into the dust: your soul cleaveth to the ground. Your affections are set, not on things above, but on things of the earth; on poor husks that may poison, but cannot satisfy an everlasting spirit, made for God. Your love, your joy, your desire are all placed on the things which perish in the using. You have thrown away the treasure in heaven: God and _Christ_ are lost. You have gained riches and hell-fire.