WE find our Blessed Saviour, in the foregoing parts of this Chapter, denouncing several Woes against the Scribes and Pharisees. I shall look no farther back than to the 29th. Verse of this Chapter. Thence we shall be easily introduced to the words of my Text.

There we find our Lord severely denoun­cing against the Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees, in pretending great honour for the departed Saints, when they were malici­ously bent against the living ones; A piece of Hypocrify which they were guilty of, and which many since have followed. They [Page 2]professed great respect for the departed Saints, in building their Tombs, and garnishing their Sepulchres, (v. 29.) and declaring against their Forefather's impiety; If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the bloud of the Prophets, (v. 30.) Notorious Hypocrites! Their Hypocrisy ap­pears in the following particulars.

First, In that they continued in their own wickedness, and yet applauded the Saints de­parted. They should have imitated their Ver­tues; but content themselves with garnishing their Sepulchres. They keep their Sins, and magnifie the Saints; As if they could atone for their own Sins by praising the Vertues, and preserving the Memory of the Righteous. This is palpable Hypocrisy, and yet, as gross as it is, it prevails still; There are too many like him who pleased himself that he had a Levite for his Priest, tho' he had an Idol for his God. 'Tis egregious Hypocrisy to cry up the Saints and Herd with the wicked: If the Saints did well, why do we not follow them? if not, why do we cry them up?

Secondly, In professing a profound respect for the Saints departed, when they were for [Page 3]persecuting them that were alive. They pro­fessed that they would not have done as their Fathers did, and are at the cost of building and garnishing the Tombs and Sepulchres of the Righteous. All this is but Hypocrisy. Our Saviour's words make this plain: Behold (says He) I send unto you Prophets, and Wise men, and Scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute them from City to City, (v. 31.) Thus at the same time they extoll the Saints departed, and are maliciously bent on the oppressing the living.

They who love not righteous Men while they live, yet praise them when they are dead. Such Men are well compared to Batts or Owls, that rejoice in the light of the Sun after it is set, when its brighter beams they would not endure. Such Men, after all their pretences, are but Children of Darkness. There was much of this Hypocrisy among the Jews. They magnified their pious Ancestors, and persecuted their righteous Off-spring. They boasted of Abraham, and worried his faithfull [Page 4]Children. In a word, commended Vertue, and oppressed it at the same time. And this Hypocrisy hath been followed by others also. Those who profess great veneration for Saints, have born very hard upon them; They who have magnified the Martyrs, and preserve their Memory in their Dypticks, solemn Of­fices and Kalendars, have also added to their number and shed their bloud.

Thirdly, In taking a false measure of their love to the Saints departed, from their buil­ding their Tombs and garnishing their Sepul­chres. 'Tis not to be thought that they are reproved barely for this care of their Tombs. But this is short of that honour we ought to express towards Saints and Martyrs. We must imitate their Examples, and purge out of our Minds all that hatred and ill-will which possess'd their Persecutors. These Men ought to have repented of their Father's Crimes; We may Canonize and Worship Saints, and yet be far from giving them all due honour. We then honour them, when we imitate their Vertues and cherish their Fol­lowers. 'Tis gross Hypocrisy to pay respect to their Relicks, and veneration to their Images, [Page 5]and at the same time to afflict their Follow­ers. Our Saviour requires St. Peter to shew his Love to Him, by his tender care of his Sheep, John 21.17.

Our Saviour lets the Jews know that he would lay open their Hypocrisy. He would send among them Prophets and Wise men, whom they would persecute and kill after all their false pretences of their veneration for them. And indeed none have more se­verely afflicted the Saints, than those Men have done who have pretended the greatest honour for them. They have imitated Herod, who intended to kill Jesus, when he gave out that he would worship Him. Behold I send unto you Prophets, &c. And then it fol­lows, That upon you may come, &c. And here,

• First, I shall endeavour to Explain these words. For there is some difficulty in them.
• Secondly, I shall shew the Justice of this denunciation: That upon you may come, &c.
• Thirdly, I shall make some Application, with a particular reference to the sad occa­sion which hath brought us together.

[Page 6]1. I shall endeavour to Explain the words.

First, I consider these words, That upon you may come. This is explained by St. Luke, ch. 11. ver. 50. [...], i. e. That it may be required of this Genera­tion.

But then it is to be remembred that the Particle [...] in St. Luke (which in St. Matthew is expressed by [...]) does not always import the End or final Cause, but the Effect or Con­sequent. And in this latter sense it is to be understood in this place. It is not to be sup­posed that the Prophets were sent, that the Jews might put them to death, and contract the guilt of their Righteous bloud. This was the consequent and event indeed, but not the end of sending them. That Particle is some­times to be understood as Causal, sometimes as Consequential onely. And in this latter sense 'tis to be taken here, and elsewhere also. Thus 'tis thought, not without reason, it is to be understood, Matth. 1.22. Again, The Law entered That the Offence might abound, Rom. 5.20.

[Page 7]Secondly, It will be a matter of greater difficulty to determine who was this Zacha­rias the Son of Barachias, who was slain be­tween the Temple and the Altar. There are several Opinions about it.

1. That it is to be understood of the Pro­phet Zechariah, Zech. 1.1. who is said to be the Son of Barachiah. But this is not likely: For we do not find that he was slain; and if we had cause to believe that he was slain, yet, have we no cause to think he was slain between the Temple and the Altar. The Jews in his time were newly returned from Cap­tivity, and then their Temple and Altar were not built. If it had, 'tis not very likely they should there have slain this Prophet: Be that as it will, we have not Evidence of the fact.

2. That it is to be understood of Zacha­rias, the Father of John Baptist. This would well agree with the Context, had we suffici­ent reason to believe the matter of fact. We have not ground enough to believe that he was slain by the Jews; nor does it appear that he was the Son of Barachias.

[Page 8]3. There is another Zacharias that bids fairer than those, named before, to be the Person meant by our Saviour. He is menti­oned, 2 Chron. 24.20. He was indeed a Pro­phet, and a Righteous Man: He was slain by the Hands of the People, and Command of the King; and that also in the Court of the house of the Lord: And that agrees well with what is in my Text, expressed by between the Temple and the Altar. When he was killed, he said, The Lord look upon it and require. His was indeed Righteous bloud, and the guilt was National, and might well be required of that generation. His Death was a most hainous Sin: He was himself a Prophet and a Priest, and the Son of an High-Priest, who was the great Restorer of God's Worship, and had deserved greatly both of the King and Peo­ple. 'Twas great Impiety to kill so great a Saint, and the Son of one who had deserved a perpetual Memory from King and People. 'Twas a detestable crime to murther him, considering his innocence, his birth and cha­racter; and greater still to doe it when he was in the execution of his Office, and bring­ing them back to the worship of God, and to [Page 9]doe all this not onely in the sight of the Sun but in the House of his God.

But after all that hath been said, there are two considerable objections against this (o­therwise very probable) opinion also.

First, That the person mentioned, 2 Chron. 24. is said to be the Son of Jehojada, this in my Text the Son of Barachias. R. Isaac Chizuk. E­mun. l. 2. c. 22. This is by a Jewish. Writer urged as an Error in the Text of St. Matthew, and such an one also as will admit of no salvo.

But the Jews, of all Men, have no reason to make this objection against the authority of the Text. Such pretences may be brought against some Books of the Old Testament, which yet can be of no force to destroy their authority. They might rather suppose this person to have two Names, that of Je­hojada, and this of Barachias. It was very common among them.Psal. 34. Tit. with 1 Sam. 21.11. No man doubts of the Psalmist's authority, because he calls the same man Abimilech, whom another sacred Writer calls Achish. The same man is called Ner in one place, who in another is called Abiel, 1 Sam. 9.1. with 1 Chron. 8.32. One sacred Writer calls him Ammiel, whom ano­ther [Page 10]calls Eliam, 2 Sam. 11.3. with 1 Chron. 3.5. And him Chileab, whom another calls Daniel, 2 Sam. 3.3. with 1 Chron. 3.1. The same woman is said to be the daughter of Elon, and in the same book called the daugh­ter of Ismael, Menass. B. Israel. Con­cil. in Exod. qu. 1. Joseph. Antiq. l. 2. c. 12. Gen. 26.34. with Chap. 36. v. 3. Reuel, Jethro and Hobab are by the Jews al­lowed to be the several Names of the same person. Nothing being more common than for the same man to have divers Names, and for that cause no man in his wits can im­peach the sacred Writers for using this va­riety.

I shall add, that the Gospel of St. Matthew was written originally in Hebrew. And St. Hierom tells us expresly,Hieron. in Matt. 23. that in that Hebrew Copy which the Nazarens used, it was Jojada, where we now reade Barachias. We have no reason to doubt of one or of the other. And then the objection lies not against the Original Text; And it can have no force a­gainst the Greek Version: For Jehojada and and Berachiah being names of the very same import and signification in the Hebrew (as Eliakim and Jehojakim are,2 Chro. 36.4. which belonged to the same person,) and, for what we know, [Page 11]the same person might be called by both. 'Tis not strange that Jehojada should by the Greek Interpreter be rendred Barachias.

Secondly, It may likewise be objected, that 'tis not likely that the Zacharias in my Text should refer to the Son of Jehojada, because our Saviour beginning as high as Abel, 'tis not to be supposed he should descend no lower than that Son of Jehojada, who was slain Eight hundred years before these words were spoken. 'Tis more reasonable to be­lieve that he would descend to the latter end of the Jewish Polity, and that he refers to some person that was slain a little before the dissolution of the Jewish State. And upon this Consideration I add,

4. That there is another Zacharias, men­tioned by Josephus, De Bell. Ju­daic. l. 4. c. 18. that was slain by the Jews a-while before the destruction and dissolu­tion of the Jewish Polity. Him he calls [...]. He was accused as guilty of Treachery, and too great a Favourer of the Romans. But tho' he were innocent, and absolved by the Sanedrin, yet was he unjustly slain by the Jewish Zealots, [...], i. e. in the mid­dle of the Temple, which agrees very well [Page 12]with between the Temple and the Altar. This instance answers very well to Abel slain from the beginning; It agrees well with my Text, he was the Son of Baruch, and slain in the Temple. And then our Saviour's words are proleptical; and being a Prophecy of what was shortly to come to pass, no wonder that they are expressed in such terms, (a thing very usual in the old Prophets,) as if the thing had already been fulfilled. The time past is frequently used for the future among the ancient Prophets, and sometimes in the New Testament also.Rev. 11.13. And if the words of Jesus refer to this person, then are they so far from affording an Objection against the truth of the Gospel-history, that they do con­firm it.

What hath been said is sufficient, I hope, for the Explanation of my words. I pro­ceed now to,

II. Shew the Justice of this denunciation: That upon you may come, &c.

And here I am to consider how far Chil­dren are obnoxious upon account of their Father's offences.

[Page 13]For that they are concerned on account of their Father's faults, is plain from the Words, and from other Arguments also.

We find God denouncing against the third and fourth Generation of Idolaters, or of them that hate Him. Exod. 20. Holy Men have confessed the Sins of their Fathers.Dan. 9.16. We have sinned with our Fathers, Nehem. 9. we have commit­ted iniquity, we have done wickedly. Ps. 106.6, 7. Our Fa­thers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the Sea, even at the red Sea. And God promiseth Mercy to them who confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their Fathers, Levit. 26.40. Josiah was a good King, but descended from Menasseh, a very wicked person, upon his account Ju­dah is afflicted. Notwithstanding the Lord turn­ed not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Ju­dah, because of all the provocations that Menas­seh had provoked him withall, 2 Kings 29.2. This is enough to justifie our Church, when she directs us to pray, Remember not our ini­quities, nor the iniquities of our Forefathers.

[Page 14]For the better speaking to this matter,

• First, I shall shew how this is to be under­stood.
• Secondly, I shall consider the grounds of it.

First, How it is to be understood that the Children are obnoxious upon the account of their Fathers Sin. And that in the follow­ing particulars.

• 1. It must not be understood of Eternal punishment. A man shall not for his Father's Sins lye down in Everlasting burnings. As our Fathers Faith will not let us into Hea­ven, so neither will their Impiety shut us out. We may be deprived of many Tem­poral blessings on their account, but not of Eternal glory. The Children of those that murmured and lusted in the Wilderness, were admitted into the promised Land. The Daughters of Zelophehad are not deprived of their Inheritance, tho' their Father fell short of the good Land. We shall be separately considered there according to our own deeds. When the Father dyes for Treason, the Son is not capitally punished, unless he were an associate or complice. However his Bloud [Page 15]be tainted, or his Goods diminished, his Life cannot be touched.
• 2. Where the Children continue in their Father's crimes, there is no injustice in pu­nishing them. Thus have those words (Ex­od. 20.5.) been anciently understood; and thus it is in the case before us. Behold I send unto you Prophets—and some of them ye shall kill. v. 34. In this case there is no shadow of injustice. And they may be said to con­tinue in their Fathers sins, who do not con­fess them, nor repent of them; who abhor them not, and root not out of their Minds those faulty Principles and vicious Propensi­ties that lead them to the same crimes. There is no injustice in punishing the no­cent, what-ever the impulsive cause may be.
• 3. For Temporal Evils they may be, with­out any shadow of injustice, the lot and por­tion of the best of Men. I say, without any shadow of injustice on God's part. For on Man's part there is often great injustice. And tho' God makes use of Men as instruments of severity to chastise his Servants, this does not excuse their fault, or lessen their crime. [Page 16]But 'tis evident that a good Man may suffer greatly in this World without impeachment of the Justice or Providence of God. 'Tis sometimes for the good of the whole that the Righteous Man suffers, and always for his own. He will have a more ample re­ward hereafter, and will not want a suffici­ent support here. These things being pre­mised, it will not be hard

Secondly, To give you the grounds of this; That is, to shew you why the Children are many times punished or afflicted upon the score of their Father's impiety. I shall speak of these with a particular respect to the Jews, to whom my Text relates.

There are several circumstances in the case before us that do enhance the crime of the Jewish posterity.

• 1. Their Sin was the greater, because their Fathers sins (as well as the many Plagues that were inflicted on them for their offen­ces) were recorded, and the record of these things was preserved among them. What­ever things were written afore-time, were written for their warning and instruction. They were not left without witness. For be­sides [Page 17]their Conscience, and their warning by their Prophets from time to time, they had among them an account in writing of their Fathers crimes and plagues; This advanceth their iniquity above the size and stature of that of their Forefathers. They sinned after the greatest Warning, and severest Examples. To this purpose it hath been well observed, that tho' Murther was forbid as a capital Crime to the Sons of Noah, as well as to the Jews; And there was no sacrifice of Expia­tion allowed for that Sin by the Law of Mo­ses, yet Cain, the first Murtherer, was exemp­ted from Death by God himself. He was indeed doomed to be an Exile and a Vaga­bond; but care was taken that Cain should not be killed, because in him the World had warning. In after-times it was strictly pro­vided that every Murtherer should dye the death. This is applicable to our present case. The Fathers of these Jews had killed the Prophets, and had suffered severely for their wickedness; they knew all this very well, and yet after all this warning they tread in their Father's steps.
• [Page 18]2. Because they repeated the same Sins, and persisted in them to the last. To repeat our folly, and persist in it, is always a great aggravation of it. 'Tis some extenuation of our fault that we are surprized. The liquor of the Grape hath prevailed sometime upon a righteous, but unwary Man. Our per­sisting adds weight to our guilt. This was the case of these Jews, they went on to per­secute and destroy the Righteous as their Fathers did; They fill up the measure of their iniquity, and hasten their own ruine and destruction.
• 3. They do this also under the profession of better things. If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been parta­kers with them in the bloud of the Prophets. v. 30. This made their Sin the more detestable, that they were guilty of the greatest cruelty, when they made profession of mercy and tender­ness. They covered their hatred to God's living Saints, by professing a great veneration for the Saints departed. That's a detestable Hypocrisy when Men shall declaim against their Fathers sins, and make much of their own. This does mightily enhance their [Page 19]guilt, and call for their destruction. Their iniquity is now ripe and full, when they condemn and practice the same thing. Their Fathers sinned greatly, but they owned it. These Hypocrites cloak their own malice by exclaiming against that of their Father's. No sin is greater than that which is acted under the disguise of Piety. No Wolf is more ra­venous and formidable than he that lurks under Sheep's-cloathing. He is the great Sinner that indulgeth himself in that very sin which he pretends to loath. Their Fa­thers did well or ill: If they did well, why should they declaim against them? If ill, why should they imitate them? These Men are without all excuse, they practice in con­tradiction to themselves, and add to their Father's guilt the vilest hypocrisy. They imitate the treachery of Judas, who kissed and betrayed his Lord at the same time. These Men preface their Villanies with shew of Religion, and follow the worst of Men, when they personate the best. They are like him who proclaimed a Fast, but designed by it to gain his Neighbour's Vineyard; and him who plotted Treason against his Prince, [Page 20]when he made a shew of paying his Vows to his God. This is such an aggravation as (added to the rest) does abundantly shew the Justice of this denunciation.

III. I shall now proceed to the Use and Application of what hath been said, with a particular Reflection upon the sad Occasion that brings us together this Day.

On this Day it was that our Soveraign, of Blessed Memory, fell by the hands of Vio­lence and Wickedness. Then was his Righ­teous bloud shed. And tho' we gave no ex­plicit consent to this barbarous Murther, and perhaps with the Jews have said, That if we had been in the days of our Forefa­thers, we would not have been partakers with them; yet all this while we may de­ceive our selves and others, if we do not confess this Sin with great humility, and a­bandon all propensities to so great a wicked­ness. I shall more particularly shew you the Application of what hath been said.

1. This will justifie our solemn assembling at this time. We come together to depre­cate God's displeasure for the innocent bloud [Page 21]that was this day shed. And we have good cause so to do. For if the Righteous bloud, shed so long before, might justly be required of the after-generation of the Jews, this may be required of us. We find that the Jews kept a Fast a long time for the slaughter of Gedaliah, Zech. 7.5. with Jer. 41.1, 2. called by the Prophet the Fast of the seventh Month: We have greater reason for this. That we consented not to the shedding this Righteous bloud, will not discharge us from the Service of this day. For neither did those Jews that kept that Fast consent to the Murther of Gedaliah, Deut. 21. We know what the Law required in case of an uncertain Murther: An Heifer was to be killed, the Priests were to be present, the Elders of the neighbour­ing City were to wash their hands, and say, Our hands have not shed this bloud, neither have our eyes seen it. Be mercifull, O Lord, unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent bloud unto thy people of Israels charge. It follows, So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent bloud from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. This wil be our best [Page 22]course upon this occasion, not onely to dis­own the fact our selves, but to deprecate the Divine displeasure, and pray that it may not be imputed to the Nation.

2. We may learn what cause we have to be humbled for our Fathers sins, and more particularly for that Wickedness committed on this day. Then was the Nation stained with the Righteous bloud of an innocent and excellent Prince. That bloud God will require of the principal Criminals and Acces­sories also, of the first Offenders and their Associates. The cry of innocent Bloud is loud: It pierceth the Heavens, and finds a direct way to the Ears of God. As we would not be charged with it, let us humble our selves before God: The stain can be remo­ved no other way, but by Tears of Repen­tance and the Bloud of Jesus. The Psal­mist was guilty of bloud. He was a Prince, and might say to God, Against Thee, Thee onely have I sinned: Ps. 50. But it follows, Deli­ver me from bloud-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my Salvation. And, Thou desirest not Sacrifice, else would I give it—The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit—The Wickedness committed [Page 23]this day was premeditated and studied, co­loured with a pretence of Law and Justice, practiced under the cloak of Religion and disguise of Piety. It will admit of no exte­nuation. It was an action foul and defor­med, cruel and barbarous, without excuse or plea. He must be lost to the reason of a Man, and the tenderness of a Christian, whom it strikes not with horror. What remains then, but that we apply our selves to the Mercies of God and Merits of Christ for our atonement and expiation. Nothing short of this can give us hope, and nothing but our sorrow and repentance can give us the hope of this.

3. Let us endeavour to cut off the entail of Curses, which threaten us from our Fore­fathers sins. We too often inherit their guilt, and are infected with their vicious in­clinations. Let us do what we can to de­rive a blessing on our selves and our poste­rity. And to that purpose let us be per­swaded,

• First, To perfect our Repentance both for our Fathers and our own iniquities. This is the onely way to keep off the Evils which [Page 24]threaten us, the best Security against the Wrath to come. Our timely and complete Repentance is our defence, and God will do by us all as we do in this matter. As we would avoid the plagues of this and the next life, let us retire our selves from this World and all its amusements, enter into our Closets and examin our State towards God, and humbly deprecate his displeasure on account of our Fathers and our own iniquities. Let us do it as frequently as we can, and as fervently too. There is great reason we should do thus. The Wickedness committed on this day requires it, from which I fear we are not yet purged; our Personal sins, and their circum­stances of aggravation, require it also. We had need of our Solemn times of Repentance and Humiliation; and the good improve­ment of them are the best preservative of our Selves and the Nation. After all our guilts, both National and Personal, after so many and such crying Sins, so great a decay of Pie­ty and real Goodness, contempt of God and Religion, we must not think that a cold con­fessing our Sins will serve our turn, we must abhor them and be greatly humbled for them.
• [Page 25]Secondly, Let us be exemplary in Piety and real Goodness. Let us own it before all the World, and promote it what we can in those under our care and influence. Let us do it with all our might in our several pla­ces, and as this will be the best of our titles, so 'twill be our surest defence.
• Thirdly, Let us run counter to the crimes of our Forefathers. Let their Disobedience commend to us Fidelity and true Allegiance; Their Oppression teach us Mercy and Good­will; Their Bloud-guiltiness put us upon Compassion and Kindness; Their Revenge direct us to Forgiveness and Forbearance; And their Hypocrisy stir us up to Sincerity. This will be a real proof of the Sincerity of our Repentance.
• Fourthly, Let us add our constant and fer­vent Prayers for the Kingdoms to which we belong, for our Selves and our Relatives, that God would be appeased, that the Righteous bloud shed this day, and at all times else, may not be imputed to us or them. Let this a­mazing Providence of God, which we solemn­ly remember this day, awaken us to repentance and newness of life. To a life abstracted from [Page 26]the World, and devoted to God. All the Di­vine Judgments, and therefore that of this day, loudly call us to this. And if we hearken not to them, we shall not be heard when we call for Mercy. The Judgment of this day ought to move us greatly in this matter. If they did these things to the green tree, what shall be done to the dry? We are all concerned in this day's work, to bewail the Wickedness of Men and improve the amazing Providence of God. This we cannot do, unless we take warning and learn to forsake the World, and devote our selves to God, and prepare for all Events of things. If the Righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the Sinner and the Ungodly appear?

We have, since this fatal blow was given, suffered severely; and what the Jews say of the Calf in the Wilderness, that there is some­thing of it in all their after-sufferings, may with as much truth be said of the barbarous Murther of this day: Our Sufferings have been the produce of the horrid Sin of this day. For many of them they bore the marks and signatures of it. We might easily have read our guilt in our infliction, and could not but own that our iniquity had found us [Page 27]out. We have reason to fear that God's wrath is not yet quite turned away, and that his hand is stretched out still. We have suf­fered already, let us Sin no more, lest some worse thing come upon us. Good God a­waken us to see in time the things that be­long to our Peace before they be hid from our Eyes. I shall conclude with the Prayer that is part of a Collect appointed for this day. Teach us so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom. And grant that neither the splendor of any thing that is great, nor the conceit of any thing that is good in us may any way withdraw our eyes from looking up­on our selves as sinfull dust and ashes. But that (according to the example of thy Blessed Martyr) we may press forward toward the prize of the high calling that is before us in faith and pati­ence, humility and meekness, mortification and self-denial, charity and constant perseverance unto the end. And all this for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christs sake; To whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, World with­out end. Amen.