VeR. 13.] SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. 321
and sent abroad with a special commission to preach. Therefore all christians are said to be ' the salt of the earth,* and ' the light of the world ; ' not only ' light in the Lord,' but * the light of the world.' Jesus Christ is originally so : John viii. 12, ' I am the light of the world ; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.' But minis- tei-ially and subserviently all christians are so. Light is to shine to others, not to itself. A christian hath not his knowledge for himself alone, nor his grace for himself only ; he is to reprove, and direct, and guide others in the way of life : Phil. ii. 15, ' That ye maybe blameless and harmless as the sons of God, v/ithout rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.' The stars are the shining part of the heavens, so they are the luminous part of the world, both for brightness of knowledge and purity of conversation. There is a night of ignorance and sin upon others, but they are to guide and direct others into the way of life by their wisdom and holiness : 1 Thes. v. 5, ' Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day ; we are not of the night, nor of dark- ness ; ' that is, such to whom God hath granted the means of knowledge and sanctification, and made them effectual to these ends, that they may be both illuminated and sanctified.
2. I suppose that they are true to their profession, that they walk as children of the light, that they behave themselves as a people into whose hearts the gospel, which is the true light, hath shined ; for otherwise there are not such perverters of the world as false christians, who, professing Christianity, live wickedly, or no better than other men ; these rob Christ of his glory, they are * worse than infidels,' 1 Tim. v. 8, while they profess the faith, and j^et contradict the ends of it. Christ came not only to redeem the world, but to renew the world ; but they debauch it by their sensual lives, even they, though they profess to be entered into the renewed estate. They usurp the name of christians, to the apparent disgrace of Christ, and making void his office. And when they should propagate the faith, by their ill way of living they confute it ; and instead of confirming the weak, offend the strong ; and besides that self-condemnation they bring upon themselves, they harden the world, and so betray the religion they do profess. Christ is not answerable for these, for they are his enemies, though seeming friends, while they live contrary to his laws.
3. That this light shineth forth both in their words and deeds. Both are of great use to convince the world, both the doctrine which they profess, and their holy conversations, and both must go together. So it was with Christ : John vii. 7, ' The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.' Christ's testimony was both by life and doctrine. And of Noah it is said, Heb. xi, 7, * He condemned tlie world.' He was a preacher of righteousness, and he prepared an ark at the command of God, with vast expense and charge ; he exhorted them to repent, and his prepar- ing an ark was a real warning to the impenitent world that a flood was coming. So all christians shine as lights, holding forth the word of life both in profession and practice : Phil. ii. 15, 16, ' Among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.' Either of them are an accommodate or proper means to convince the world.
VOL. XIX. X
322 SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. [SeR. XV.
[1.] The doctrine which they profess, hold fast, and adhere to. There is a light in God's word which doth not only show the right way to everlasting life and true happiness, but disproves any contrary course. To come to our journey's end we need a way, and light to see it and find it out. Our end is eternal life, and the way is stated in the gospel, without which direction we soon wander and lose ourselves in a maze of perplexities, not knowing whither we go, ' putting darkness for light, and light for darkness,' Isa. v. 20. But it is not direction, but con- viction we are now upon. This light is mighty, forcible and powerful : Heb. iv. 12, ' The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.' The word of God is, like himself, living and active, piercing into the depths and secrets of men. The priest in dissecting the sacrifices is not more accurate in separating and observing those things which are secret and closely joined together, than it is in discovering the thoughts and imaginations and most cunning contrivances of the heart. If any be obnoxious to the sentence of this word, it findeth them out, and discovereth their hypocrisy. The priest's sharp knife cannot enter so far into the secret part of the saciifice as this word will enter into the secrets of the heart. They searched diligently if there were any blemish in the sacrifice. Heathens have felt this virtue : Acts xxiv. 25, ' And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.' The prisoner maketh his judge to tremble, and the judge was an infidel, none of the tenderest-hearted ; the evidence of his reasoning he was not able ta resist. He came out of curiosity to hear Paul, his conscience boggles within him, and he is in an agony. Yea, natural men have such a sense of this shining and piercing light which is in the word, that they fear it before they feel it : John iii. 20, ' They will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved/ It is in itself a discovering light, but evil-doers hate it, lest it should convince and discover them to themselves, and therefore stand aloof from it, and shun all means of knowing themselves, which showeth a secret jealousy of this searching power which is in the word.