SERMON VIII.

MAT. V. 6.

Bleed are they which do hunger and thirst after Righteoufnefs: For they fhall be filled.

The Second Sermon on this Text.

A

T the laft Occafion I difcourfed from the First Part of this Text, of the Duty of Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness; my Defign is, at prefent, from the Second Part of it, to confider the Promise annexed to this Duty, For they shall be filled or fatisfied. The Duty of Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness, I interpreted to be a great Love of Justice, in Oppofition to that wrong Notion our Saviour's Difciples, and the Multitudes, had of the Meffiab's Kingdom; that his Followers were by no other Right, than that of Conqueft, and the Power of the Sword, to enter upon the Wealth and Poffeffions of other Men. In Oppofition, I fay, to this falfe Notion, our Saviour here teaches, that a Love of Justice and Honesty is a principal Qualification for the Kingdom of the Meffiah; and, for their Encouragement, that they should not need to fear their Juftice and Honefly would fo hamper them, as to deprive them of the Means of carrying on the great Defigns

Designs of that Kingdom; for that God would fo bless their juft and honeft Endeavours, that they fhould be fully fatisfied as to all that was neceffary or convenient for them. For fupporting this Senfe, befides the Authority of St. Chryfoftome upon the Place, I defire the Meaning of the Word opra∞ in the Text, which we tranflate to fill, may be thoroughly confidered; for it fignifies properly to feed to a Satisfaction of Hunger.

The Point of Doctrine, then, here taught in this Promise I have read, and which I intend as the Subject of the following Discourse, is this,

That Men of honeft Principles, and true and juft in their Dealings, need not fear that they "fhall be reduced to Want by their Honefty; "for that God will take Care in his good Provi"dence that they shall be supplied to their Con"tent and Satisfaction.' This is a very comfortable Promife, and, were it duly minded and believed, would be a great Inducement to Truth and Fidelity in all our Words, and to Uprightnefs in all our Actions.

In fpeaking to this Subject, I fhall confine my felf to these two Heads of Difcourfe.

I. By way of Explication, I will endeavour to find out, and defcribe, what fort of Supply it is, which is promised here to just and honeft Men, under thefe Words, For they shall be filled.

II. I will endeavour, from Scripture and Reason, to make it out, that this Promise fhall be made good.

I. First, then, As to the Supply here promised to just and honeft Men, that they shall be filled, or fatisfied; we are not to believe that by this Promife is meant a great deal of fuperfluous Wealth; for this filling or fatisfying has Relation to Men's Hunger; that is, to their real Wants and Neceffities, not their imaginary ones. To take fome Help, then, from the Supply of Hunger to which the Promife in my Text doth allude, it is not neceffary we know, towards the fatisfying of Hunger, that there be fet before us a great Variety of Difhes, that we may eat a little of one, and a little of another; this is more the Demand of Luxury, than of natural Hunger; fuch great Variety is rather to provoke an artificial, than to fatisfy a natural Appetite: And if the tasting a great Variety of Dishes is not neceffary for the Supply of Hunger, far lefs is it neceffary for that End, that there be a great Number of fuperfluous Dishes, not touched at all, but prefented only for Show and Ornament; like the Mifer's Wealth, who has no further Ufe of it than the fatisfying of his Sight. Now to accommodate this to the Bufinefs in Hand, we are not to imagine, that, in order to the fulfilling the Promife in the Text, we are either to be supplied with a great Variety of luxurious Superfluities of Life, to please a nice dainty Palate, which will not be contented with good, fubftantial, wholfome Food, or with a great deal of fuperfluous Wealth, more than ever we fhall ufe, or have Occafion for; neither of thefe being any way neceffary towards the true Happiness of Life. What is it, then, that is promifed to the Lovers of Justice and Honesty, under

thefe

thefe Words, They fhall be filled, or fatisfied? I answer, chiefly these three Things, which are all very valuable Bleffings.

1. A Competency or Sufficiency of outward Bleffings.

2. A Contentment or Satisfaction of Mind with our Lot and Portion, be it what it will.

3. An Heart to use and enjoy the Bleffings God beftows upon us, for the feveral Ufes and Occafions of Life. These three, and no more, I take to be neceffary towards the Satisfaction promised in my Text. They deferve a more particular Confideration.

1. The firft Thing I take to be promised in thefe Words, For they fhall be filled, is a Competency; that is, fuch a Portion of the good Things of this Life, as God knows to be requifite for every one's Occafions and Circumftances. This is not alike in all; for as there are feveral Ranks and Orders, and Degrees among Men, fome fuperior, others inferior; fome to command, fome to obey; fome having a great Charge of Children, and fome few or none; fome requiring more, fome lefs, towards the honeft and decent Difcharge of their several Functions; it is not to be understood by this Competency of worldly good Things promifed to Men of Probity and Honefty, that God will raise them all to the highest Rank of Mankind, and bless them with fuch Affluence and Abundance, as is requifite for Perfons in thofe higheft Stations; tho' it is often feen that Honesty and Diligence promote Men to Stations of the first Rank. (a) Seeft thou a Man diligent in his Business, he shall stand before Kings,

(a) Prov. xxii. 29.

he fhall not ftand before mean Men; faith Solomon. But this is not the Thing here promised; it is only promised that they fhall be filled, which has Reference to their Capacity and Circumstances. A Pint Pot, tho' it holds not fo much, is capable of being filled, as well as a Gallon. So when a Man in a lower Sphere has enough to fupply his. low Occafions, he is as truly filled, and fatisfied, as a Prince, or great Man, with a thousand Times his Income, who has likewise usually a thousand Times more Occafion for it.

2. The fecond Thing I take to be promised in thefe Words, They fhall be filled, or fatisfied, is a Contentment or Satisfaction of Mind with their Circumstances; for without this there is no outward Competency whatfoever can be faid to fill or fatisfy the Mind: And this is a Bleffing no way confined to the more affluent and plentiful Fortunes, but diffused through all; nay, more frequently to be found in poor Cottages, than in rich Palaces. And a great Bleffing it is, when God gives a Man Grace to fuit his Mind to his Fortune, and contentedly to acquiefce in his holy Will and Pleasure; contrary to the Temper of the Covetous and Ambitious, who are never eafy under their present Circumftances, but are always restlefly aiming at further and higher Measures of Wealth and Greatness.

3. A third Thing neceffary for compleating this Promife in my Text, is a Heart to use and enjoy the Bleffings God beftows upon us for the feveral Ufes and Occafions of Life; for without this a Competency of outward good Things would be no Bleffing, and of no Ufe; It would be only as if under the Notion of presenting me with a