Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

SERMON CIV.

THE NATURE, EXTENT, AND POLITY OF GOD'S KINGDOM
ON EARTH.

PSALM Xevii. 1.

The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof.

ALTHOUGH We cannot arrive at the perfection of happiness, till we come into the other world, where we shall be so perfectly holy, that all our inclinations shall centre in God, and so we shall be at perfect rest and quiet; yet even in this life we may attain a considerable degree of it, if we would but set ourselves in good earnest about it. For the greatest part of the miseries which we suffer upon earth are plainly of our own making; in that we suffer ourselves to be tossed to and fro with every wind that blows upon us, ruffled and discomposed at every thing that falls out contrary to our expectation, opinion, or desire, although we have no reason at all for it, our happiness and welfare being no farther concerned in it, than as we make it to be so ourselves: for that doth not depend upon any thing that is without us, but is seated only in our minds, which we may, if we will, keep always serene and calm, in the midst of all the storms and tempests that may beat upon us; and so may really be happy in ourselves, notwithstanding any thing that doth, or can befall us in this world, if it be not our own faults: I say, our fault, for so certainly it is, and a very great one too, to trouble and torment ourselves, as we commonly do, without any real cause, and to make ourselves miserable, when we

B

CIV.

16, 18.

SERM. need not be so, yea when we ought not to be so, it being directly contrary to the express command of God, Who requires us not to be disturbed or discontented at any thing, 1 Thess. 5. but " in every thing to give thanks," and to "rejoice evermore." Which are as plain commands, as any are in the whole Bible, and therefore ought to be as strictly observed; so that whatsoever happens in the world, how cross soever it may seem to our present designs, or contrary to our corrupt inclinations, we are still bound, not only to bear it patiently, but to be cheerful, and pleasant, and thankful under it. But for that purpose, we must always look beyond the thing itself, and fix our eye upon him that doth it, even upon Almighty God, Who is the only object of all true joy and happiness, and Who always is so, whether we have or have not any thing else to rejoice in. And therefore we are commanded to " rejoice in the Lord alway," which command they plainly break, who either do not rejoice in the Lord at all, or do not always rejoice in Him.

Phil. 4. 4.

[Ps. 112. 7.)

But how happy are they who always keep it! Nothing can move or disturb them; "for their hearts are always fixed, trusting" and rejoicing in Him that orders all things; whereby they are not only freed from all these frights and fears, from all those unruly passions and perturbations of mind, which other men are continually subject to, but even in this life they enjoy as much happiness as their imperfect state is capable of, and are in the ready way to attain the perfection of it in the other world.

Now happiness being a thing which I am confident we all desire, and this being the only way whereby we can ever come at it, I shall endeavour to make it as plain as I can from the words which I have now read. Wherein, for that purpose we shall consider,

I. Whom we are here to understand by the LORD. II. What by His reigning.

"The

III. How the consideration of this great truth, Lord reigneth," should make the "earth" and all the inhabitants thereof," rejoice" and be "glad" and so, how the latter part of this verse follows clearly from the former; "The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof."

I. The first question, whom we are here to understand by "the LORD," may seem at first sight to be so very easy, that we need not make any question of it; it being past all doubt, that by "the LORD," we are here to understand Him Whom we otherwise call GOD. It is true; but it is one thing to say so, and another to understand what we say when we speak it. And this is altogether as difficult as the other is easy; our souls being so depraved and darkened, that we cannot, without great study and application, frame such ideas and conceptions of God in our minds, as are necessary to our right understanding what we say when we speak of Him; without which our speaking of Him will be to no purpose, as having no power or force at all upon our minds.

Hence, therefore, in discoursing upon this question, I shall endeavour to shew what kind of thoughts and notions we ought to have of God, that so we may understand what we mean when we speak of Him Who is here called "the LORD." To which nothing will contribute more than a due consideration of the Name whereby He is here called, which, in the original, is, JEHOVAH, as we commonly pronounce it; although we are not certain how it ought to be pronounced, it being made up wholly of consonants, without any vowels of its own: for those which are commonly affixed to it, are plainly borrowed from another word, as they who are skilled in that language know full well. Howsoever, that is not so material as to understand the proper sense and meaning of this great Name, whereby Almighty God hath been pleased to reveal and manifest Himself unto us: and which He therefore calls His Own Name, in a more peculiar manner; "I am the LORD," saith He, " Jehovah, Isa. 42. 8. that is My Name." "And they shall know that My Name Jer. 16. 21. is Jehovah, the LORD." From whence we may see His meaning, when He said unto Moses, "Thus shalt thou say Exod. 3. 15. unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My Name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations." That is, the first, Jehovah, or the LORD, is My Name; the other, even the "God of your fathers, is My memorial," or that

6

SERM. which shall alway put Me in mind of the covenant which I CIV. - have made with your fathers. And hence it is that this is Lev. 24. 11. called own, the Name,' as far exceeding all other names, as being proper and peculiar only to the True God. Other things are sometimes called gods, but nothing is, or can be called Jehovah, but only the Almighty Creator of the world. "That men may know," saith David, "that Thou, Whose Name alone is JEHOVAH, art the Most High over all the earth."

Ps. 83.18.

6

But to understand the proper meaning of this Name, and what kind of thoughts it suggests to our minds concerning God, it will be necessary to consider the etymology and the common use of it in Holy Writ. As for the etymology, it plainly comes from a word that signifies to be' in general; and therefore the Most High God, calling Himself by this Name, even Jehovah, He thereby gives us to understand, that He would not have us to apprehend Him as any particular or limited being, but as Being in general, as the Universal Being of the world, that gives essence and existence unto all things in it. And hence it is, that when Moses Exod. 3. 14. asked God His Name, He said, "I AM THAT I AM;

[ocr errors]

and thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent Me unto you." He doth not say, I am this or that particular thing, but in general, " I AM," and "I AM THAT I AM;" whereby He plainly interprets His Great Name JEHOVAH, which may be accordingly rendered in the third person, He is, or Being itself, without any restriction or limitation; or, as St. John explains it, iv, zai Rev. 1. 4. òv, xai ò igxóμevos, Who is, Who was, and Who is to come.' Where, though he useth several words, yet he useth all but as one Name of God (as is plain from the Greek), and that can be no other than JEHOVAH, which signifies all that is contained in those words; and which was therefore rightly interpreted by the Greek philosophers and rò v. And I know not how we can better render it in English, than by 6 THE BEING.'

But why then do our translators always render it the LORD?' The reason is, because the Septuagint, or seventy learned men that first translated the Old Testament, or at least the Pentateuch out of Hebrew into Greek, whereso

« AnteriorContinuar »