DISCOURSE II.

MATTHEW X. 41, 42.

He that receiveth a prophet, in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righte

ous man, in the name of a righteous man, fhall receive a righteous man's reward.

And whofoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a difciple, verily I fay unto you, he shall in no wife lose his reward.

TOWARDS the beginning of this chapter we read, that our Saviour fent forth his difciples to preach the kingdom of God. That they might preach with authority, he endowed them with power from above, and with the manifold gifts of the Spirit. That they might attend upon their miniftry without diftraction, he eased them of the care of providing for themselves, and gave them power to demand and receive of those under their inftruction whatever their wants required. Provide, fays he, neither gold, nor filver, nor brafs in your purses; nor fcrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither fhoes, nor yet flaves; for the workman is worthy of

his meat, ver. 9, 10. Or as St. Luke expreffes it, The labourer is worthy of his hire, ch. x. 7. This reafon fhews the true fenfe of the precept; that it was not meant to take from them the neceffaries and conveniencies of life, or to make poverty a part of their profeffion; but only to discharge them of the care and folicitude of providing for themfelves; for they had a right to be provided for by those whom they ferved in the Gofpel: For the labourer is worthy of his hire.

And this further appears to be the sense of this precept in Luke xxii. 35. And he faid unto them, When I fent you without purfe, and fcrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they faid, Nothing. Had it been his intent to make poverty a neceffary qualification for the ministry, he would not have asked this question, or received this answer. But fo little did he intend it, that his care fupplied the want of theirs throughout their journey, and enlarged the hearts of the people towards them: fo that their poverty was turned into plenty; and they preached the Gofpel, without the incumbrance of worldly cares, as having nothing, and yet poffeffing all things.

As the office of preaching the Gospel was to be perpetual in the Chriftian church, fo this right of maintenance was for ever to attend it; for the Lord ordained, as St. Paul tells us, that they which preach the Gospel fhould live of the Gofpel, 1 Cor. ix. 14. A right on one fide infers a duty on the other: if the minifters of the Gofpel have a right to be provided for, it is the duty of the faithful to provide for them; but the proportion of this maintenance being no where determined, but men left to give as their

circumftances enable them, and as their love and honour for the ministry incline them; what is given upon this account comes to be confidered as a charity freely offered, rather than as a debt duly discharged: and as fuch, our Saviour has promised to accept and reward it. And fince in this kind of charity the honour of his name, and the promoting his religion, are most immediately confulted, he has diftinguished it from all others by a more honourable and glorious reward; He that receiveth a prophet, in the name of a prophet, fhall receive a prophet's reward, &c. Matth. x. 41.

To receive a prophet, fometimes fignifies to receive his doctrine, and to become his follower or difciple; but in this place it cannot fignify fo, for these two reafons:

Firft, Our Saviour himself diftinguishes this reception of a prophet from the other reception, which is obeying and hearkening to his voice, in the 14th verfe: Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the duft of your feet. Had the fame thing been intended by receiving and hearing a prophet, the words would have been thus connected: Whofoever shall not receive you, and hear your words; but the disjunctive particle nor, fhews that they are here spoken of as different things. The 11th verfe, compared with this 14th, will determine what is meant in this place by receiving a prophet: Into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence, ver. 11. In the 14th it follows, Whosoever shall not receive you, &c. that is, to abide with them; which abode implies, not

only house-room, but a supply of fuch other necefLaries as their circumftances required; for it was to answer the want of gold and filver, and fuch other things as they were exprefsly forbidden to provide for themselves.

The second reafon may be collected from the last verse of the text: And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a difciple, verily I fay unto you, he shall in no wife lofe his reward. It is manifeft that our Saviour here speaks of giving a cup of cold water only, as the lowest degree of that virtue which he was then recommending; for to fhew how acceptable an offering it would be to God to receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, he adds, that even a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple, should not lofe its reward. To receive a prophet, therefore, and to give a cup of cold water to a difciple, are acts of the fame kind, though differing in degree; and confequently to receive a prophet in this place, is not an act of faith or obedience, but of charity and beneficence.

To receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, is to receive him because he is a prophet; upon account of his character and office, and near relation which he bears to Chrift. To be kind to our friends and relations, and to adminifter relief to the extreme neceffities and fufferings of our fellow-creatures, is, in fome degree, to comply with the cravings of nature in ourselves, and to provide for our own eafe and enjoyment: for the pity and compaffion, which miferable objects raise in us, are attended with a pain and uneafinefs to ourselves, no otherwise to be al

layed, but by relieving the misery that caused them. But when we relieve the members of Chrift, because of the relation they bear to him, we act then in the fpirit of true Chriftian charity; and fhew ourselves to be lively parts of his body; rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and fuffering with those who fuf

fer.

The excellency of Chriftian charity is derived from this dignity of its object. In morality we can rife no higher than to confider men as men, as partakers of the fame common nature with ourselves; and the natural fense we have of mifery is the foundation of our tenderness and compaffion towards others. In this cafe, the regard we have for others is derived from ourselves; and our love and compaffion bear a proportion to the relation that is between us and them: our children share as largely in our affections, as they do in our blood: next to them, our relations and friends have the preference: and in all cases, the love of ourselves is the fountain from which our love to others is derived. But Christian charity flows from another spring: here all the affections terminate in Chrift; and we know no other relation but that which is derived from him, who is head over the whole family. And as the love of Chrift is the fource of Chriftian charity, fo is it the measure of it too; and the rule by which we must adjust our love and charity to others: he is our neareft relation, who is nearest related to Chrift; and is therefore the most immediate object of our love and charity. He that receiveth you, fays our bleffed Lord to his Apoftles, receiveth and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that fent

me;