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I come next to confider,

II. THE bleffedness of perfons under fuch a state of perfecution as has been above defcribed. Our Saviour has pronounced them bleffed But to a carnal worldly mind it seems an unaccountable paradox that they fhould be fo. To them whofe eyes ftand out with fatnefs, and who have their portion in this life, who place their happiness in ease and honours, in fenfual pleasure and enjoyments, it is a ftrange affertion, that men in exile, poverty, or difgrace, under a load of hatred, calumny, contempt and perfecution, confined to dungeons, toiling under chains, rack'd with tortures, and expofed to cruel deaths, fhould be happier and more blessed than they; and ftranger ftill, that their very fufferings fhould make them fo. Yet thus it is, whatever the fhort-fighted wisdom of this world may conceive to the contrary. The perfecuted Chriftian in the midst of all his fufferings is an happy man, and happy even because he fuffers. To make this out, we will reftrain our felves to the confiderations which the text fupplies us with, and those are three.

FIRST then, The chriftian fufferer is happy in the caufe for which he suffers, the name of Chrift, or the profeffion and practice of chriftian righteousness. There is a fting in fuffering which may very well make us miferable, when we are conscious we deserve it, when we fuffer for notorious crimes, or thro' our own imprudencies. St. Peter therefore warns us,* Let none of you fuffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as a bufy-body in other mens matters. And even when this is not the cafe, when we have done nothing to deferve the rage

1 Pet. iv. 15.

and

and malice of our enemies, yet if that be all, our comfort is but little in comparison. 'Tis but a cold and negative fatisfaction we can take, in barely having not done ill, or given no juft occafion to those who trouble us The pleasure of fuffering lies in this, when it falls upon us merely for doing well, for adhering fteadily to our chriftian profeffion, to the practice of holiness and virtue, and to the difcharge of our duty. If any man fuffer as a Chriftian let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. It is an honour done us, that we have an opportunity of teftifying our af fection and fidelity to our Lord and Master, by fuffering for his fake. It is Chrift who is ftruck at by the malice of wicked men; him they defpife, and his laws and government they would abolish if they were able; but being out of the reach of their infolence, and above their power, those who faithfully adhere to him are in the poft of honour, and bear the brunt of this perfecution for him, and receive the blows which are aimed at his authority. A faithful and loyal fubject values himself upon defending his prince's perfon, or maintaining his authority and government, by fuffering upon fo glorious an account; he prides himself in lofing his eftate, his liberty, or his life in fuch a caufe: And fhall not we efteem our fidelity to Chrift, and what we undergo for our obedience and adherence to him, as highly as in the cafe of any earthly fovereign? The Apoftles did fo, when having been imprisoned and fcourged by the Jewish Sanhedrim, they went away* rejoicing that they were counted worthy to fuffer shame for his fake. St. Paul also † took pleafure in reproaches, in neceffities, in perfecutions, in diftreffes, upon the fame account; and feems to reckon it as an honour and happiness to

† Pet, iv. 16.

* Acts v. 41.

2 Cor. xii. 10.

the

the Philippians, that to them it was given in the behalf of Chrift, not only to believe on him, but alfo to fuffer for him. This then is the first argument of the bleffedness of the fuffering Chriftian, that his perfecution is for the fake of Christ, and the discharge of his duty to him.

(2.) THE fecond is, That he has fuch noble precedents before him, as the Saints and Martyrs in all ages; for fo perfecuted they the Prophets which were before you. This is plainly given in the text as a reason why we should rejoice under all perfecution for righteoufnefs fake. If perfecution were a path altogether untrack'd and folitary, as well as rough and difficult; if it were far out of the road of other pious travellers to heaven, a vaft and howling defart, where every step we take should be at great uncertainties whether it would bring us right to our journey's end or not, we might be justly ftruck with horror in our paffage; but when, though mountainous and craggy, 'tis nevertheless a known and ufual road, through which many millions of good men have gone before us to eternal reft, 'tis a mighty comfort to us, that we can be affured that the way will lead us right to glory, as it has done others. And not only a comfort but an honour too, to fuffer for the fame good cause, and in the fame manner, as fo many bright examples of faith, and piety, and virtue have already done. For befide the Old Teftament Saints, the Prophets and holy men of God, from righteous Abel down to Zacharias, even Chrift, *the chieftain of our falvation, was made perfect through fufferings. If the world hate you, fays he, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. And many of his faithful foldiers, in all ages fince, have paffed thro' the fame

Phil. i. 29.
John xv. 18,

* Matth. xxiii. 35.

+ Heb. ii. 10.

valley of the fhadow of death to their perfection and reward. And is it no honour, think ye, to us, to be used as the best and greatest glories of our religion have ever been? Efpecially when we fall fo fhort of them in that illuftrious zeal and piety which made them fo famous. Is it no honour, both to them and us, to be partakers of Christ's fufferings, and conform'd to him who is our Mafter and our General? * It is enough for the difciple that he be as his mafter, and the fervant as his lord: if they have called the mafter of the houfe Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his houfhold? But,

(3) THE third, the great and finishing inftance of the happiness of perfecuted Saints, is their reward in heaven. The promise of this, to fhew how firmly God is refolved upon it, is twice repeated in the text; theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and great is your reward in heaven. Well therefore may we not only run with patience, but with joy, the race that is fet before us; for the prize of our high calling is a glorious and immortal crown, affured to us by him who has tall power in heaven and in earth. The profpect of this viewed with an eye of faith, and confcience well examined, fubfcribing to the application, is enough to make the fuffering Chriftian happy under the feverest storm of malice, and not only happy under it, but happy by it. Thus + Mofes efteemed the reproach of Chrift greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, having respect unto the recompence of the reward. And the Apostle tells us, that the primitive Chriftians * took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, as knowing that they had in heaven, a better and more enduring fubftance. But to give this argument its full advantage, we must ob

Mark x. 25. *Heb. x. 34.

Matth xxviii. 18.

Heb. xi. 26.

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CHAP. VIH. serve the emphasis laid upon it in the text, GREAT is your reward in heaven. Eternal happinefs had been promifed under one fpecial advantage or other, as the reward of almost all those christian virtues mentioned in the preceding Beatitudes; and to every one in fuch a way of expreffion, as might beft difcover the parity or fuitableness of the reward to that which is rewarded. Now to adapt it accordingly in the prefent cafe, he affured the perfecuted Chriftian, that as his virtue, and his Sufferings for it upon earth were great, fo fhall also his reward in heaven be: His zeal and love to God, his faith and courage in bearing chearfully all degrees of perfecution as they were thrown upon him, rather than commit any fin, or neglect any duty, are above the ordinary pitch of goodness; and therefore his reward fhould also be a brighter crown of glory than other faints enjoy, who have paffed through the world with lefs temptation, fewer trials, and more ferenity and ease. And according as his fufferings have been more or less fevere in the caufe of God and righteoufnefs; as he has gone through this, the other, or a third degree of lefs confiderable, or more difficult and important fufferings for it, and as he has born his fufferings with more or lefs patience, fteadiness, refolution, chearfulness, or joy, he fhall hereafter find his happinefs and glory answerable. For fo I take the word [great] in the text in a comparative sense; their reward fhall be particularly and proportionably great, with refpect to other faints, and to their own fufferings.

THAT there are degrees of glory in heaven, is and has been the opinion of molt judicious divines, fupported not only by arguments from the nature and reafonableness of the thing, and from the justice and goodness of God; but by the authority of feveral places of holy Scripture, which fufficiently

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