SERMON III.

PREACHED BEFORE THE HOUSE OF LORDS, IN THE ABBEYCHURCH OF WESTMINSTER,

ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 1740-41.

BEING THE DAY APPOINTED TO BE OBSERVED AS THE DAY

OF THE MARTYRDOM OF KING CHARLES I.

1 PETER ii. 16.

And not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

A

N history so full of important and interesting

events as that which this day recalls annually to our thoughts, cannot but afford them very different subjects for their most serious and useful employment. But there seems none which it more naturally leads us to consider than that of hypocrisy, as it sets before us so many examples of it; or which will yield us more practical instruction, as these examples so forcibly admonish us, not only to be upon our guard against the pernicious effects of this vice in others, but also to watch over our own hearts, against every thing of the like kind in ourselves: for hypocrisy, in the moral and religious consideration of things, is of much larger extent than every one may imagine.

In common language, which is formed upon the common intercourses amongst men, hypocrisy signifies little more than their pretending what they really do not mean, in order to delude one another. But in scripture, which treats chiefly of our behaviour towards God and our own consciences, it signifies, not only the endeavour to delude our fellow-creatures, but likewise insincerity towards him, and towards ourselves. And therefore, according to the whole analogy of scripture language, to use liberty as a cloke of maliciousness",

a The hypocrisy laid to the charge of the Pharisees and Sadducees, in Matt. xvi. at the beginning, and in Luke xii. 54. is determinately this, that their vicious passions blinded them so as to prevent their discerning the evidence of our Saviour's mission; though no more understanding was necessary to discern it, than what they had, and made use of in common matters. Here they are called hypocrites merely upon account of their insincerity towards God and their whole consciences, and not at all upon account of any insincerity towards men. This last indeed is included in that general hypocrisy, which, throughout the gospels, is represented as their distinguished character; but the former is as much included. For they were not men, who, without any belief at all of religion, put on the appearance of it only in order to deceive the world: on the contrary, they believed their religion, and were zealous in it. But their religion, which they believed, and were zealous in, was in its nature hypocritical : for it was the form, not the reality; it allowed them in immoral practices; and indeed was itself in some respects immoral, as they indulged their pride and uncharitableness under the notion of zeal for it. See Jer. ix. 6. Psalm lxxviii. 36. Job iii. 19. and Matt. xv. 7-14. and xxiii. 13, 16, 19, 24, 26. where hypocrite and blind are used promiscuously. Again, the scripture speaks of the deceitfulness of sin; and its deceiving those who are guilty of it: Heb. iii. 13. Eph. iv. 22. Rom. vii. 11. of men's acting as if they could deceive and mock God: Isa. xxix. 15. Acts v. 3. Gal. vi. 7. of their blinding their own eyes: Matt. xiii. 15. Acts xxviii. 27. and deceiving themselves; which is quite a different thing from being deceived. I Cor. iii. 18. 1 John i. 8. Gal. vi. 3. James i. 22, 26. Many more coincident passages might be mentioned: but I will add only one. In 2 Thess. ii. it is foretold, that by means of some force, some energy of delusion, men should believe the lie which is there treated of: this force of delusion is not any thing without them, but somewhat within them, which it is expressly said they should bring upon themselves, by not receiving the love of the truth, but having pleasure in unrighteousness. Answering to all this is that very remarkable passage of our Lord, Matt. vi. 22, 23. Luke

must be understood to mean, not only endeavouring to impose upon others, by indulging wayward passions, or carrying on indirect designs, under pretences of it; but also excusing and palliating such things to ourselves; serving ourselves of such pretences to quiet our own minds in any thing which is wrong.

Liberty in the writings of the New Testament, for the most part, signifies, being delivered from the bondage of the ceremonial law; or of sin and the devil, which St. Paul calls the glorious liberty of the children of God. This last is a progressive state: and the perfection of it, whether attainable in this world or not, consists in that perfect lovec, which St. John speaks of; and which, as it implies an entire coincidence of our wills with the will of God, must be a state of the most absolute freedom, in the most literal and proper sense. But whatever St. Peter distinctly meant by this word, liberty, the text gives occasion to consider any kind of it, which is liable to the abuse he here warns us against. However, it appears that he meant to comprehend that liberty, were it more or less, which they to whom he was writing enjoyed under civil government: for of civil government he is speaking just before and afterwards: Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him.

xi. 34, 35. and that admonition repeated fourteen times in the New Testament; He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the ground of this whole manner of considering things; for it is not to be spoken of as only a peculiar kind of phraseology, but is a most accurate and strictly just manner of considering characters and moral conduct; the ground of it, I say, is, that when persons will not be influenced by such evidence in religion as they act upon in the daily course of life, or when their notions of religion (and I might add of virtue) are in any sort с I John iv. 18.

b Rom. viii. 21.

For so is the will of God, that with well doing, of which dutiful behaviour towards authority is a very material instance, ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish mend: as free, perhaps in distinction from the servile state, of which he speaks afterwards, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousnesse, of any thing wrong, for so the word signifies; and therefore comprehends petulance, affectation of popularity, with any other like frivolous turn of mind, as well as the more hateful and dangerous passions, such as malice, or ambition; for all of which liberty may equally be used as a cloke. The apostle adds, but as the servants of God: as free-but as his servants, who requires dutiful submission to every ordinance of man, to magistracy; and to whom we are accountable for our manner of using the liberty we enjoy under it; as well as for all other parts of our behaviour. Not using your liberty as a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

Here are three things offered to our consideration:

First, A general supposition, that what is wrong cannot be avowed in its proper colours, but stands in need of some cloke to be thrown over it; secondly, A particular one, that there is danger, some singular danger, of liberty's being made use of for this purpose; lastly, An admonition not to make this ill use of our liberty, but to use it as the servants of God.

reconcilable with what is vicious, it is some faulty negligence or prejudice which thus deludes them; in very different ways, perhaps, and very different degrees. But when any one is thus deluded through his own fault, in whatever way or degree it is, he deludes himself. And this is as properly hypocrisy towards himself, as deluding the world is hypocrisy towards the world: and he who is guilty of it acts as if he could deceive and mock God; and therefore is an hypocrite towards him, in as strict and literal a sense as the nature of the subject will admit.

d

I Pet. ii. 13-15.

e Ver. 16.

I. Here is a general supposition, that what is wrong cannot be avowed in its proper colours, but stands in need of some cloke to be thrown over it. God has constituted our nature, and the nature of society, after such a manner, that, generally speaking, men cannot encourage or support themselves in wickedness upon the foot of there being no difference between right and wrong, or by a direct avowal of wrong; but by disguising it, and endeavouring to spread over it some colours of right. And they do this in every capacity and every respect, in which there is a right or a wrong. They do it, not only as social creatures under civil government, but also as moral agents under the government of God; in one case to make a proper figure in the world, and delude their fellow-creatures; in the other to keep peace within themselves, and delude their own consciences. And the delusion in both cases being voluntary, is, in scripture, called by one name, and spoken against in the same manner: though doubtless they are much more explicit with themselves, and more distinctly conscious of what they are about, in one case than in the other.

The fundamental laws of all governments are virtuous ones, prohibiting treachery, injustice, cruelty: and the law of reputation enforces those civil laws, by rendering these vices every where infamous, and the contrary virtues honourable and of good report. Thus far the constitution of society is visibly moral: and hence it is, that men cannot live in it without taking care to cover those vices when they have them, and make some profession of the opposite virtues, fidelity, justice, kind regard to others, when they have them not but especially is this necessary in order to disguise and colour over indirect purposes, which require the concurrence of several persons.