[1.] The ministry of angels : Eccles. v. 6, ' Neither say thou before the angel. It was an error; ' 1 Tim. v. 21, ' I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things ; ' 1 Cor. xi. 10, ' For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head, because of the angels.'
[2.] Sharp afflictions : Gen. xlii. 21, ' And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother ; ' 1 Kings viii. 47, ' If they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned.'
[3.] Breaking out of sin : Ps. xxxvi. 2, ' Till his iniquity be found hateful ; ' 2 Tim. iii. 9, ' Their folly shall be manifest unto all men.'
[4] Sometimes terrors of conscience : Mat. xxvii. 4, ' I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood.' We vomit up our own shame.
SERMON XY.
But all things that are reproved are made manifest hy the light ; for ivhatsoever doth make manifest is light. — Eph. v. 13.
In this verse the apostle opposeth the light of Christianity to those deeds of darkness which were committed among the heathen. 'AvTCKec- fieva 7rapaW7]\ov/ji€va fidXcara (patvovraL — Opposites do illustrate one another. How secretly soever the things were done by them, yet the light that shineth from the word of God and the lives of christians doth condemn them, and dart conviction into the consciences of them that commit them, and also discover to others that God's people are in a better way. Christianity discovereth heathen practices not only to be mean and low, but filthy and base ; as light is the direct means to discover what the darkness hath hid : ' But all things that are reproved,' &c.
In the text we have —
1. An assertion, ' But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.'
2. The proof of it, ' For whatsoever doth make manifest is light.'
1. An assertion or proposition, where two things are to be con- sidered—
[1.] Something supposed ; that the doctrine of Christianity is the
320 SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. [SeR. XV.
true light or test by wliicli things are to he judged. The way of heathenism being compared with it, showeth this is light : Ps. cxix. 105, ' Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.' So Prov. vi. 23, * For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life ; ' Prov. xv. 31, ' The «ar that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.' All these places show that God's word is the true light. Now God's word may be considered either as known and believed, or as obeyed and practised ; consider it either way, it is still light. As known and believed, it is a light to direct our own way and steps, our general choice or particular actions ; as obeyed and ])ractised, it doth direct others, as it shineth forth fi'om us to them ; as God's word is a light, so holiness is the shining forth of this light.
[2.] That which is asserted is, that all things which are reproved and disallowed are made manifest by the light;' verum est index sui at obliqui. The light discovereth itself, and all things that differ from it ; that which discovereth truth doth also discover error and falsehood ; that which manifests what is right doth also manifest what is wrong. A holy doctrine doth discover truth and error, and a holy life doth ■discover good and evil, right and wrong. The word is a directive light to show us our duty, and a corrective and convincive light to awaken a due sense of sin. There is a twofold property of light ; it may be considered either as lux exhilarans, as comfortable : Eccles. xi. 7, 'Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing is it for the eyes to behold the sun;' or as lux redarguens, as a reproving light. So the gospel hath not only a refreshing light to comfort [jcnitent believers, but a rejn-oving and discovering light to awaken the secure and careless : John iii. 20, ' He that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.' Tlie light of the gospel cheereth as it discovereth the grace of God, or reproveth as it dis- covereth the sins of the world.
2. The proof is taken from the common nature of all light, natural and sensible, or spiritual and intellectual: 'Whatever doth make mani- fest is light.' Natural light maketh manifest things proper to it ; so -doth spiritual light things that belong to its sphere, things morally good or evil.
Doct. That the light of Christianity, shining fortli in the word of <jrod and the lives and actions of christians, is a great means of reprov- ing and convincing the world.
In this point —
1. I suppose that christians have a heavenly light communicated to them ; for the apostle speaketh to such as ' were sometimes darlcness, but now are light in the Lord,' ver. 8 ; and elsewhere Christ's disciples are said to be 'the light of tlie world;' Mat. v. 14, 'Ye are the light of the world ; a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.' The disciples then spoken to are not considered under the notion of apostles and ministers ; for the disciples Christ speaketh unto are the same to whom other parts of the sermon are directed and referred, and they contain general duties, which are the common concernment of all christians ; and as yet none of Christ's disciples were invested with a peculiar office or ministry ; afterwards some of them were empowered