Sermons preached by Dr. Robert Leighton, late archbishop of Glasgow published at the desire of his friends, after his death, from his papers written with his own hand.

SERMON, IV.

PREFACE.

EXternal worship doth openly acknow∣ledge a Deity, but want of inward sense in Worship secretly denieth it; The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God. 'Tis strange to hear so much noise of Religi∣gon in the World, and to find so little Piety. To present the living God with a carcass of lifeless Worship, is to pay him with shells of Services, and so to mock him. And it is a more admirable long-suffering in him to defer the punishment of such Devotion, then all the other Sins in the World. The Egyptian Tem∣ples were rich and stately Fabricks. A Stran∣ger, who had lookt upon them without, would have imagined some great Deity within; But if they entered (as Lucian says laughing at them) nothing was to be seen, but only some Ape, or Cat, or py'd Bull, or some other fine God like those. To behold our fair sem∣blance of Religion that frequent this house, it would appear that we were all the Temples of the Holy Ghost. But who so could look within us, would find in many of our hearts, Lust, Pride, Avarice, or some such like secret

Vice adored as a God; and these are they that while our Bodies sit here, do alienate our Souls from the Service of the Eternal God: So that we are either altogether senseless and dead before him, or if any fit of Spiritual mo∣tion rise within us, we find it here, and here we leave it, as if it were sacriledge to take it home with us; But did once that Spirit of grace breath savingly upon our Souls, we should straight renounce and abhor those base Idols, and then all the current of our affection would run more in this Channel; our Ser∣vices would then be spiritual, and it would be our Heaven upon Earth to view God in his Sanctuary; and the obtaining of the change is and should be one main end of this our meet∣ing, and that it may be the happy effect of it our recourse must be to the Throne of Grace by humble Prayer, In the Name of our Media∣tor Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Isaiah. LX. 1.

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

ADmirable is the worth, and depth of Di∣vine Providence; this either we know not, or at least seldom remember; while we forget the wonders of Providence, we direct our thoughts to baser objects, and think not on it; and while we forget the depth of Pro∣vidence

(if at any time we look towards it) we judge rashly and think amiss of it. If this be true of that general Providence where∣by God rules the World, 'tis more true of his special Providence towards his Church. This is both the most excellent piece of it, and therefore best worth the reading, and also the hardest piece, and therefore it requires sobriety in judging; above all other things he that sud∣denly judges in this, makes haste to err; To have a right view of it, it must be taken alto∣gether, and not by parcels: Pieces of rarest Artifice, while they are a making, seem little worth, especially to an unskilful eye, which being compleated, command admiration. P. Martyr says well, De operibus Dei. Antequam a∣ctum, non est judicandum. There is a time when the Daughters of Sion embrace the dung∣hil, and sit desolate in the Streets, as Jeremiah hath it in the 4th. of his Lam. verse 5. And at that same time the voice of Babylon is, I sit as a Queen, and shall see no sorrow, Isa. 47. All is out of order here. But if we stay a while we shall see Sion and Babylon appointed to change seats, by the great Master of the World; Come down (says he) Daughter of Ba∣bylon, and sit in the dust, Isa. 47. 2. And here to Zion; Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. It is an entire Catastrophe, both Parties find a notable alteration together, That same hand that ex∣alts the one, ruins the other. When the Sun rises upon the Church, her Antipodes must

needs be covered with darkness. As we find it in the next verse to the Text. Darkness shall cover the Earth, and gross Darkness the People, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his Glory shall be seen upon thee.

The Prophet elevated by the Spirit of God to a view of after Ages, as clear as if present, seems here to find his people sitting under the dark mantle of a sad and tedious night, and having long expected the Suns return in vain, before its time, they give over expectation when its near them, and desperately sold themselves to lie perpetually in the dark. Now the Prophet, as it were standing awake upon some Mountain, perceives the day approaching, and the golden Chariots of the Morning of deliverance hasting forward, and seems to come speedily with these glad news, to a Captive People, and sounds this Trumpet in their Ears, Arise, shine, for thy light is come, &c. The very manner of expression is sudden, and rouzing without a copulative, Not arise and shine; But arise, shine, &c.

The words have in them, a clear stamp of re∣lation to a low posture, and obscure condition; They suppose a people lying, or sitting with∣out light; deep distress is that dark soil that best sets off the lustre of marvellous deliveran∣ces; and among many other reasons of the Churches vicissitudes, why may not this be one: The Lord is more illustrious in the World by that deep Wisdom and great Power that shines when he raises and restores her from desperate Afflictions, then if he had still pre∣served

her in constant ease, he seems some∣times careless of her condition, and regard∣less of her groanes; but even then, is he wait∣ing the most fit time to be gracious, as our Pro∣phet speaks: And when it is time, out of the basest Estate he brings her forth more fresh, strong, and beautiful than before. Though you have lyen among the Pots, ye shall be as the Wings of a Dove covered with Silver, and her Feathers with yellow Gold, Psal. 68. 13. Do with the Church what you will, she shall come through, and that with advantage, Mer∣g••s profundo pulchrior exilit, as one says of Rome, Keep the Church seventy years Captive, yet af∣ter that, she shall arise and shine more glorious then ever.

But surely the strain of this Evangelick Pro∣phesie rises higher than any temporal delive∣rance. Therefore we must rise to some more spiritual sense of it, not excluding the former. And that which some call divers senses of the same Scripture, is indeed, but divers parts of one full sense. This prophecy is out of question, a most rich description of the King∣dom of Christ under the Gospel. And in this sense, this invitation to Arise and Shine is main∣ly addrest to mystical Jerusalem, yet not with∣out some priviledge to literal Jerusalem beyond other people. They are first invited to Arise, and shine, because this Sun arose first in their Horizon. Christ came of the Jews, and came first to them. The Redeemer shall come to Zion, says our Prophet, in the former Chapter, but

miserable Jerusalem knew not the day of her Visitation, nor the things that concerned her peace, and therefore are they now hid from her eyes: She delighted to deceive her self with fancies of (I know not what) imaginary grandeur, and outward glory, to which the promised Messiah should exalt her, and did, in that kind, particularly, abuse this very Pro∣phesie; so doteing upon a sense grosly literal, she forfeited the enjoyment of those Spiritual Blessings that are here described. But un∣doubtedly, that people of the Jews, shall once more be commanded to arise and shine, and their return shall be the riches of the Gentiles; and that shall be a more glorious time than ever the Church of God did yet behold. Nor is there any inconvenience, if we think that the high expressions of this Prophesie have some spiritual reference to that time, since the great Doctor of the Gentiles, applies some words of the former Chapter to that purpose, Rom. 11. 29. They forget a main point of the Churches glory, that pray not daily for the Jews Conversion.

But to pass that, and insist on the Spiritual sense of these words, as directed to the whole Church of Christ. They contain a powerful incitement to a twofold act, inforc'd (as I con∣ceive) by one reason, under a twofold expres∣sion, neither of them superfluous, but each giving light to other, and suiting very aptly with the two words of command: Arise, for the glory of the Lord is risen, and shine, for thy light is come.

I will not now subdivide these parts again, and cut them smaller, but will rather unite them again into this one Proposition: The coming and presence of Christ, ingages all to whom he comes, to arise and shine. In this proposition, may be considered the nature of the duties, the universality of the subject, and the force of the reason. First, the nature of the duties, what it is to arise and shine.

Arising hath either reference to a fall, or to some contrary posture of sitting, or lying; or to one of these two conditions, that are so like one another, Sleep, or Death; and to all these, Spiritually understood, may it here be referr'd. This is the voice of the Gospel to the Sons of Adam, Arise, for in him they all fell. The first sin of that first Man, was the great Fall of Mankind; it could not but undo us, it was from so high a Station. Our daily sins are our daily falls, and they are the fruits of that great one. Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity, says the Lord to his people, Hosea 14. 1. for these postures of sitting and lying, the Scrip∣ture makes use of them both, to signifie the state of sin. Says not St. John, The world lies in wickedness, 1 Joh. 5. 19? Are not the peo∣ple said to sit in darkness, mentioned Matth. 4. 16? which is directly opposite to Arise and Shine. In the darkness of Egypt, it is said, the people sate still, none arose from their places. In the gross mist of Corrupt Nature, Man can∣not bestir himself to any Spiritual action, but when this light is come, then he may, and should arise.

Now for Sleep and Death. Sin is most fre∣quently represented, in Holy Writ, under their black Vizors. To forbear places where they are severally so used, we shall find them jointly in one, Eph. 5. 14. Arise thou that sleepest, and stand up from the dead; which place seems to have special allusion to this very Text.

The impenitent Sinner is as one buried in sleep; his Soul is in darkness, fit for sleep, and loves to be so. That he may sleeep the sounder, he shuts all the passages of light, as enemies to his rest; and so, by close Windows and Cur∣tains, makes an artificial Night to himself within; not a beam appears there, though without, the clear day of the Gospel shines round about him. The senses of his Soul, as we may call them, are all bound up, and are not exercised to discern good and evil, as the Apostle speaks, Heb. 5. 14. And his leading faculty, his understanding, is surcharged with sleepy Vapors, that arise incessantly from the inferiour part of his Soul, his perverse af∣fections, nor hath his mind any other exercise, in this sleepy condition, but the vain business of dreaming; his most refined, and wisest thoughts, are but meer extravagancies from Man's due end, and his greatest contentments nothing but Golden Dreams, yet he is serious in them, and no wonder, for who can discern the folly of his own Dream till he is awake? He that Dreams he eateth, when he awakes finds his Soul empty, and not till then, Isa. 29. 8.

Now while he thus sleeps, his great business lyes by, yet spends he his hand-breadth of time as fast, while he is fast asleep, as if he were in continual employment; judge then if it b•• not needful to bid this Man Arise.

Lastly, This voice may import that Man is Spiritually Dead. God is the life of the Soul, as it is of the Body; while he dwells there, its both comely and active, but once destitute of his presence, becomes a Carcass, where, be∣sides privation of life and motion, there is a positive filthiness, a putrefaction in the Soul, unspeakably worse than that of dead Bodies, Corruptio optimi pessima. And as dead Bodies are removed from the sight of Mon, dead Souls are cast out from the favourable sight of God, till Christ's saying Arise, revive them. The Ministers of the Word are appointed to cry, Arise, indifferently to all that hear them; and Christ hath reserved this priviledge and liberty, to joyn his effective voice, when, and to whom he pleases. A carnal Man may shew his Teeth at this, but who is he that can, by any solid reason, charge absurdity upon this way of dispensing outward and inward Vocation? I will not here mention their idle Cavils, the Scripture is undeniably clear in these, That Man is naturally dead in Sin. The Gospel bids him Arise, and it is Christ that is his life, and that raises him. Thus we see, in some measure, what it is for Men to Arise. Now being risen they must Shine, and that two ways, jointly and publickly, as they make

up visible Churches; and likewise personally, in their particular Conversation. First then, What is the shining of the true Church? Doth not a Church then shine, when Church Service is raised from a decent and primitive Simplicity, and decored with Pompous Ce∣remonies, with rich Furniture, and gaudy Vestments? Is not the Church then Beautiful? Yes, indeed, but all the question is whether this be the proper genuine beauty or no; whether this be not strange fire, as the fire that Aarons Sons used which became vain, and was taken as strange fire. Methinks it cannot be better decided, then to refer it to St. John in his Book of the Revelations. We find there the Descrip∣tions of two several Women, the one riding in State, arrayed in Purple, deckt with Gold and precious Stones and Pearl, Rev. 17. 3. The other in rich attire too, but of another kind, Cloathed with the Sun, and a Crown of twelve Stars on her head; the others de∣corement was all Earthly, this Womans is all celestial; what need she borrow Light and Beauty, from precious Stones that's Cloathed with the Sun, and Crowned with Stars; she wears no sublunary Ornaments, but, which is more noble, she treads upon them, the Moon is under her Feet; now if you know (as you do all without doubt) which of these two is the Spouse of Christ, you can easily resolve the question. The truth is, those things seem to deck Religion, but they undo it. Observe where they are most used, and we shall find

little or no substance of Devotion under them, as we see in that Apostate Church of Rome. This Painting is dishonourable for Christ's Spo••se, and besides, it spoils her natural Com∣plexion. The superstitious use of Torches and Lights in the Church by day, is a kind of shining, but surely not commanded here. No it is an affront done both to the Sun in the Heaven, and to the Sun of Righteousness in the Church.

What is meant then when the Church is Commanded to shine or be enlightened. These two readings give the entire sense of the word; first for having no light of her self, she must receive light, and then shew it, be enlighten∣ed and then shine; she is enlightened by Christ the Sun of Righteousness, shining in the Sphere of the Gospel. This is that Light that comes to her, and the Glory of the Lord that arises upon her; hence she receives her Laws and Form of Government, and her shining is briefly the pure exercise of those, and conformity to them.

And the personal shining of the several Members of a Church, is a comely congrui∣ty with pure worship and discipline, and it is that which now is most needful to be urged, every Christian Soul is personally engaged first to be enlightened and then to shine, and we must draw our Light for our selves, from that same source that furnishes the Church with her publick Light. There is a word in the Civil Law, Uxor fulget radiis mariti, the Wife

shines by the rays of her Husbands Light. Now every faithful Soul is espoused to Christ and therefore may well shine, seeing the Sun himself is their Husband; he adorns them with a double Beauty of Justification and San∣ctification: By that, they shine more especi∣ally to God, by this to Men; And may not these two be signified by a double Character given to the Spouse in the Cant. 6. 20. She is fair as the Moon, and clear as the Sun; The lesser Light is that of Sanctification, Fair as the Moon; That of Justification the greater, by which, She is as clear as the Sun: The Sun is perfectly Luminous, but the Moon is but half enlightened; so the Believer is perfectly justified but sanctified only in part, his one half, his flesh, is dark, and as the partial illumination is the reason of so many changes in the Moon to which changes the Sun is not subject at all, so the imperfection of a Christians holiness, is the cause of so many waxings, and wane∣ings, and great inequality in his performan∣ces, whereas in the mean while his Justifica∣tion remains constantly like it self. This is imputed, that inherent. The Light of Sancti∣fication, must begin in the understanding and from thence, be transfused to the affection, the inferiour parts of the Soul, and from thence break forth and shine into Action. This is then the nature of the Duties, Arise and Shine.

The Universality of the subject which was the second head, is this. That every Man

that knows Christ, is here engaged to shine too; neither grandeur exempts from the duty of shining, nor doth meanness exclude from the priviledge of shining; Men of low condition in this World need not despair of it, for it is a spiritual Act, great Men need not despise it for it is a noble Act to shine by Christ's Light. In the 3 verse of this Chap. it is said to the Church. Kings shall come to the brightness of thy rising. To what end, but to partake of her Light, and shine with her. And indeed the regal attire of Christ's Righteousness, and the white Robes of Holiness, will exceeding well become Kings and Princes. Give the King thy Judgements, O Lord, and thy Righteousness to the King's Son.

The Third, and Last thing propounded was, the force of the reason, that Christ's pre∣sence engages to Arise and shine, wherein it is supposed that Christ declared in the Gospel, is the Light which is said here to come, and the Glory of the Lord which is said to be ri∣sen; so that now, it should be more amply cleared, how Christ is Light, and the Glory of the Lord, and what his coming and rising is, but of these afterwards. I shall close now with a word of exhortation.

Arise then, for the Glory of the Lord is risen, The day of the Gospel is too precious, that any of it should be spent in sleep or idleness, or worthless business; worthless business de∣tains many of us; Arise immortal Souls from moy∣ling in the dust, and working in the Clay like

Egyptian captives. Address your selves to more noble work; there is a Redeemer come, that will pay your ransome, and rescue you from such vile service, for more excellent employ∣ment. It is strange, how the Souls of Christi∣ans, can so much forget their first original from Heaven, and their new hopes of retur∣ning thither, and the Rich price of their Re∣demption, and forgetting all these, dwell so low, and dote so much upon triffles, how is it that they hear not their well beloved's voice crying, Arise my love, my fair one, and come away? Though the eyes of true Believers are so inlightened, that they shall not sleep unto death, yet their spirits are often seized with a kind of drowsiness, and slumber, and some∣times even then, when they should be of most activity. The time of Christ's check to his three Disciples made it very sharp, tho'the words are mild, What? could you not watch with me one hour? Shake off, believing Souls, that hea∣vy humour. Arise, and satiate the eye of faith with the contemplation of Christ's Beauty and follow after him, till you attain the place of full enjoyment. And you others that ne∣ver yet saw him, Arise, and admire his match∣less excellency. The things you esteem great, are but so through ignorance of his greatness; his brightness, if you saw it, would obscure to you the greatest splendor of the World, as all those Stars that go never down upon us, yet they are swallowed up in the surpassing light of the Sun when it arises; Stand up from the

dead, and he shall give you light? Arise and work while it is Day, for the Night shall come wherein none can work, says our Saviour himself: Happy are they that arise early in the Morning of their youth, for the day of Life is very short, and the art of Christianity long and difficult, is it not a grievous thing, that Men never consi∣der why they came into the World, till they be upon the point of going out again? Nor think how to live, till they be summoned to die. But most of all unhappy he, that ne∣ver wakens out of that pleasing dream of false happiness, till he fall into Eternal misery, Arise then betimes, and prevent this sad awaken∣ing.

And being risen, put on your beautiful Gar∣ments Isaiah 52. 1. Draw towards you with the hand of Faith, the rich Mantle of Christ's Righteousness. 'Tis time to awake, says the Apostle, Rom. 13. 11. v. And presently af∣ter, Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is a wonder, how a Sinner can rest, while he is out of this Garment, for there is no other in Heaven, nor Earth can make him shine to God, and so shelter him from the stroke of Justice; put him on then, and so shine; being thus Cloathed, thou shalt shine in Justificati∣cation, and likewise in Sanctity; What a privi∣ledge is it to be like God; A sanctified con∣science, what can be said against it? And first have an enlightned understanding, for that is the proper seat of Light, that ignorant zeal that Rome commends, exposes Religion to scorn

and contempt; Heat without Light, is the Character of the fire of Hell, I know all are not tied to a like degree of knowledge, but certainly all are obliged to have a compe∣tency, and diligence for increase; aspire then to be intelligent Christians, and to know well what you believe; Let your minds be filled with knowledge, as the Apostle speaks. But let it not stop there, it must have influence in∣to the will, Lux est vehiculum caloris, true Light conveys heat. All the knowledge that the natural Man hath of Christ, not warming his affection to Christ, is but ignis fatuus, a vain Light, it shall never lead him to happiness. Saving Light produces love, and by that acts. Faith works by Love, says the Apostle. That breaks forth and shines in the Life, in Godli∣ness, Righteousness, and Sobriety. Shine then in all these, first in Piety towards God, for this is the reflection of these rays of Light back toward their source. And this will com∣mand the other two; No Man that shines in Godliness, will wallow in injustice, and intem∣perance; Guile and Wrong cannot indure the Light; they that are unjust cannot shine; and let them never offer to shine among Christians that are not sober, but stained with Riot and Uncleanness. These foul enormities lay waste the Conscience, and put out the Light, how can any seed of Grace subsist undrowned, that are exposed to a daily deludge of Cups? How can that pure Spirit, that chose the like∣ness of a chast Dove, dwell, and give Light

in that Soul that is a Nest of impure and fil∣thy lusts? No, There can be no fellowship betwixt this celestial Light, whereby we should shine, and those infernal works of darkness. Let prophane Men hold it a chief strain of wit to scoffe at purity, but you that pretend Heaven ward in good earnest, and mean to shine in glory, shine here in holiness; For without holiness no Man shall see God. And do it with those qualifications (1) Constant∣ly in every estate, let not this Divine Light go out neither by day, in prosperity, nor by night in Adversity; in every place do not shine clear, and be dark in your Chamber. They that do thus, have their reward: that's a sad word if rightly understood, beware of Hypocrisie. Again shine progressively, gain∣ing still more and more victory over darkness, till you attain unmixt and perfect Light. The way of the just, says Solomon, Is like the shining Light, that shineth more and more unto the per∣fect Day, Prov. 4. 18. Lastly, Shine humbly to his glory, whose Light you borrow, not to shew forth your own excellencies, but his, Who hath called you from Darkness to his marvel∣lous Light, 1. Pet. 2. 9. If we be Children of Light, our brightness must praise the Father of Lights: Let your Light so shine before Men, that they seeing your good works, not your selves if you can be hid; (as the Sun affords its Light and will scarce suffer us to look upon it self) may glorifie (not you but) your Heavenly Father, Math. 5. 6. To conclude.

The pure Light of the Church is re∣vived, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you, and upon this glory there shall be a defence: If God be your glory in the midst of you, he will be likewise a wall of fire round about you. All the danger is, if we fall short in the duty of shining, but as you desire that this glory should abide and dwell amongst you, let all Estates of Men provoke one another to shine bright in holi∣ness; you who either by Birth or Office, are in eminent station, know that you were set there to be eminent and exemplary in shining, as Stars of more notable magnitude; you who are Ministers of this Light, know that you are the Light of the World, and if the very Light become darkness, how great will that dark∣ness be? you that are of a lower order know that you must shine too: For it is a common duty. There is a certain company of small Stars in the Firmament, which though they cannot be each one severally seen, yet being many, their united Light makes a conspicuous brightness in the Heaven, which is called the milky way; so though the shining of every private Christian is not so much severally re∣markable, yet the concourse and meeting of their Light together, will make a bright path of holiness shine in the Church.

Now to the end we may each one shine in our measure, we must learn to turn our selves often towards him from whom our Light is derived; Conversing with him, will make us

more and more like him. There is a secret unknown vertue for this purpose in secret Prayer and Meditation; were we more in the Mount with God, our faces would shine more with Men, let us then rescue from the World all the time we can, to resort frequently thi∣ther till such time as the Soul, which is now often pulled down again by the Flesh, shall let that Mantle fall and come down no more: But shine there without spot, and be for ever satis∣fied with her makers Image.

Notes

• Chap. 12.
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