SEVERAL SERMONS UPON THE Fifth of St. Matthew Being Part of CHRIST's SERMON On the Mount. By ANTHONY HORNECK D.D. Late Preacher at the Savoy The SECOND Volume Compleating the Chapter LONDON Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1698. THE Texts of the Sermons IN THIS SECOND VOLUME SERMON XVI ST Matthew the Fifth Verse 15. Neither do Men light a Candle and put it under a bushel but on a Candlestick and it giveth Ligth to all that are in the House Page 1. SERMON XVII Verse 16. Let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven p. 16. SERMON XVIII Verse 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil p. 35. SERMON XIX Verse 18. For verily I say unto you till Heaven and Earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled p. 53. SERMON XX. Verse 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandements and shall teach Men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven but whosoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom p. 73. SERMON XXI Verse 20. For I say unto you that except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven p. 91. SERMON XXII Verse 21 22. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say to his Brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire p. 119. SERMON XXIII Verse 23 24. Therefore if thou bring thy Gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy Gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift p. 139. SERMON XXIV Verse 25 26. Agree with thine Adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him lest at any time the Adversary deliver thee to the Judge and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer and thou be cast into Prison Verily I say unto thee thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing p. 161. SERMON XXV Verse 27 28. Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time thou shalt not commit Adultery but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a Woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart p. 179. SERMON XXVI Verse 29 30. And if thy right Eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell And if thy right Hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members should perish and not that thy whole Body should be cast into Hell p. 195. SERMON XXVII Verse 31 32. It hath been said Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the cause of Fornication causes her to commit Adultery and whosoever Marries her that is Divorced commits Adultery p. 213. SERMON XXVIII Verse 33. Again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths p. 273. SERMON XXIX Verse 34 35 36. But I say unto you swear not at all neither by Heaven for it is Gods Throne nor by the Earth for it is his Foot-stool neither by Jerusalem for it is the City of the Great King neither shalt thou swear by thine Head because thou can'st not make one Hair white or black p. 309. SERMON XXX Verse 37. But let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these comes of Evil. p. 329. SERMON XXXI Verse 38 39. Ye have heard that it hath been said an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth But I say unto you that ye resist not Evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right Cheek turn him the other also p. 349. SERMON XXXII Verse 40 41. And if any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain p. 385. SERMON XXXIII Verse 42. Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn thou not away p. 401. SERMON XXXIV Verse 43. Ye have heard that it hath been said thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy p. 417. SERMON XXXV Verse 44. But I say unto you Love your Enemies Bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you p. 434. SERMON XXXVI Verse 45. That you may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven for he makes the Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth Rain on the Just and Vnjust p. 459. SERMON XXXVII Verse 46 47. For if you love them which love you what Reward have you Do not even the Publicans the same And if ye salute your Brother only what do you more than others Do not even the Publicans so p. 479. SERMON XXXVIII Verse 46 47. For if ye love them which love you c. p. 501. SERMON XXXIX Verse 48. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect p. 527. ADVERTISEMENT THIS Worthy Author hath likewise left Sermons of the Sixth and Seventh Chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel Compleating our Blessed Saviour's Sermon on the Mount making an excellent Body of Divinity Which will be suddenly Printed Uniform to this Volume SERMON XVI ON THE Fifth of St. Matthew VOL. II. St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 15. Neither do Men light a Candle and put it under a Bushel but on a Candlestick and it giveth Light to all that are in the House HAD I consulted Brevity I might have handled the 13 14 15 and 16 th verses together because they all speak of the same Subject viz. The Exemplary Lives of Christians But being willing to examine the Emphasis of every Expression I have resolved to treat of these distinctly As our Saviour hath compared his true Followers to the Salt of the Earth with respect to their Reforming others To the Sun or Light of the World with respect to their Enlightning and Enlivening others To a City set on an Hill with
not in the usual Style it is written but with this Circumscription ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time i. e. Your Ancestors who lived when Religion was low and Corruptions and Abuses crept into their Worship and Devotion have taught you that the outward Act of Adultery is the great thing you are to dread and to be afraid of and with this partial Sense they have handed down to you this Command of God Thou shalt not commit Adultery But I say unto you that whosoever looks on a Woman to Lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart For the understanding of which words I shall enquire I. In what sense Christ speaks here of Adultery II. I shall consider the Justice of this Verdict or the reasonableness of this Censure That whosoever looketh on a Woman hath already committed with her Adultery in his Heart III. Whether notwithstanding all this there is not some difference betwixt Adultery in the Heart and the outward Act as to the heinousness of it 1. In what sense Christ doth speak here of Adultery Adultery properly is a violation of the Marriage Bed when either one or both of the married Parties commit Folly in Israel either with a Person married to another or with one that is not married But as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek which we render Adultery is of a larger Extent and Signification and imports not only Adultery in the strictest sense but Fornication too which is either a single Persons being joined to a common Harlot or violating the Chastity of a Person of civil Education and indeed any Carnal Conjunction or mixture to fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh out of the compass and Bond of Matrimony So in all probability Christ aims farther and means more by this word than a bare Violation of the Marriage Bed not only because he intends in this Sermon to give us a perfect Rule to walk by but because the Jews in that Age restrain'd not only the Law against Adultery but even that against Fornication and other Mixtures and Carnal Conjunctions not Matrimonial whether Incestuous or otherwise to the outward Act only as if in matters of Uncleanness that only was chiefly forbid and deserved God's Anger and Indignation and the consequent of it Damnation And therefore the reason why Christ makes mention of Adultery only is not because the Jews in those times look'd upon single Fornication as a trifling Sin or Peccadillo No! The Pharisees though bad enough yet were not so bad as to allow of or connive at Fornication for the Law of Moses had made express Proviso's against it There shall not be a Whore of the Daughters of the Children of Israel saith God Deut. xxiii 17 Thou shalt not prostitute thy Daughter to cause her to be a Whore Levit. xix 20 And when particularly the Daughter of a Priest had committed Whoredom she was to be burnt with Fire Levit. xxi 9 Moreover whoever had defloured a Virgin no Slave no Foreigner but one of the Stock of Abraham whether Servant or other he was obliged to marry her Exod. xxii 16 a Law so reasonable that even the Heathens the Athenians transcribed it into their Pandects or Statute Book And when the Father of the Maiden thus vitiated would not consent to her being married to the Person who had abused her the Person who had humbled her was to give the Maiden whom he had defloured a Dowry as if he had been actually married to her And when in one day three and twenty thousand fell i. e. were slain by an Angel the Apostle saith it was for Fornication 1 Cor. x. 8 Nay if a Virgin had suffered her self to be defloured before Marriage and the Crime was found out after she was Married she was to be stoned to Death Deut. xxii 21 So that I say the reason why Christ doth make mention only of Adultery in the Text is not because the Jews then look'd upon Fornication as a trivial and inconsiderable Fault but he finds fault with their sinister Interpretation of the Law of God even because they confined the Prohibition of Adultery Fornication Incest and other practical Lewdness and carnal Pollutions to the outward Act only and look'd upon adulterous and lewd Desires Lusts Passions Affections c. as things of no Moment and which might easily be expiated by Sacrifices and other cheap Devotions such as Lustrations Purifications c. And here comes in Christ's Censure that the very Desires in the Heart after this forbidden Fruit were as bad as the outward Act it self The II d. Part I am to speak to Whosoever looketh on a Woman to lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart To understand the reasonableness of this Censure we are to note 1. That the bare looking on a Woman is not sinful for as Tertullian observes a Christian may look safely on a Woman whose Heart is blinded or hardened against Lasciviousness The bare Looks cannot well be avoided it 's one end for which our Sight was given that we might look one upon another But it 's the abuse of the Eyes and Looks that is forbid It 's true through the Eyes the Poison is conveyed to the Heart according to the old saying Oculi sunt in amore Duces the Eyes are the Guides in Love but still this depends upon a Mans choice whether he will make his Eyes Windows to let in wholsom or infectious Air. St. Peter speaks of Eyes full of Adultery 2 Pet. ii 14 but it 's meant of Eyes that are first corrupted by the Will Where a Christian doth Oculum metu temperare temper and moderate and curb and restrain his Eye with a holy Fear and Watchfulness he may look upon the greatest Beauty without danger saith Tertul. And therefore 2. It is added Whosoever looketh after a Woman to lust after her c. So that if the Looks cause secret lewd Purposes Desires and Lusts and Affections in the Mind and Will the Adultery or Fornication is actually committed in the Heart though the outward Act is and may be impeded or hindred by Circumstances and occasional Causes which fall out cross I need not tell you that what is said here of looking on a Woman to lust after her is not to be understood of the chast Desires of Persons lawfully married one after another for Marriage is Honourable and the Bed undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge Heb. xiii 4 And to avoid Fornication let every Man have his own Wife and every Woman her own Husband saith St. Paul 1 Cor. vii 2 And drink Water out of thine own Cistern and running Waters out of thine own Well Let thy Fountain be always blessed and rejoice with the Wife of thy Youth and let her be unto thee as the loving Hind and as the pleasant Roe and be thou always ravished with her Love Prov. v.
Sin must be removed and of this Nature are immodest and obscene Discourses and Communications against which the Ears must be stopt or the Company avoided where such Discourses are familiar and frequent Eph. v. 3 4. Add to all this reading obscene Books and Pamphlets Books of Love Tricks such as Romances Plays and other Fooleries which are nothing but Incentives to Lust and so are your promiscuous Dancings and Revelings after luxurious Meals and seeing of Stage-plays where these Lusts are represented in taking shapes and all other things which the Enemy of Mankind hath invented to drown Men in Perdition But after all our Saviour's Rule in the Text must be conscientiously observed Look off from the Object that is apt to shoot an evil Desire into your Minds or hath done it several times when your Eyes have taken Liberty to behold such things Avoid the sight of them as you would do the Eyes of a Basilisk Let your Eyes be as useless that way as if they were pluck't out as if you had none as if you were blind and could not see Do not touch do not handle do not lay your Hands upon those parts which are apt to raise the Spirit of Uncleanness in you Let your Hands be as useless to you in that point as if they were cut off The same may be said of your Feet Come not near the House of the Person who is apt to bewitch your Souls keep out of her Company that 's like to delude you and may give occasion to dangerous Thoughts and Desires Let your Feet be as useless to you in going to such Places as if they were cut off If after all this the Lust be stubborn and will not yield to the Obedience of Christ the antient Severities and Austerities I mentioned in the preceding Proposition must be made use of and the Body must be used coursely not only in Diet but in Cloaths and Apparel and by other Punishments voluntarily inflicted upon your selves whereof I could give you such Instances out of Antiquity as would possibly exceed your Belief though I doubt not but there is Truth in them And when the Fewel is withdrawn the Fire will go out St. Chrysostom takes notice that our Saviour's Command here is easie It would have been more severe if so be he had commanded us to stand near the Fire and take heed we be not singed or burnt to keep Company with incentives to Lust and yet to feel no disorderly Motions in the Soul Indeed what he enjoins here is so far from being unreasonable that he commands nothing but what the Light of Nature hath taught the very Heathens to observe And if after all the danger of being cast into Hell can make no Impressions upon us or make us forbear what our Master saith will be the undoing of us most certainly we know not what that Punishment is and will not know it nor indeed do we believe it I confess I would have you do what Christ says is necessary upon a Principle of Love but if your Tempers are so stubborn that Love cannot melt you into a cheerful Compliance with your Masters Will you have reason to fright your selves with the danger of that Fire which shall never be quenched In a word do any thing to save your selves from this untoward Generation Sins as dear as the right Eye as precious as the right Hand will fall and die if they be brought to feel that Fire I mean by attentive Thinking and Meditation I doubt not but the unhappy Creatures to whose share the future Torment falls wish and will wish that they had pluckt out their right Eye and cut off their right Hand rather than have come into that place of Torment Oh! how they will curse the Day the Time the Place when and where they committed their Lewdness and Impurities nay the Eye that deceived them into those Lusts and the Hand that tempted them to Sin and would God be so kind as to free them from the Prison they groan in upon condition that they should pluck out both their Eyes and cut off both their Hands they would thank him for the Favour and think their Judge wonderfully Merciful to agree to such soft and reasonable Terms The present Satisfaction is the Lime-twig that keeps People under the power of Sin and Satan But were that Hell we speak of set out in its native Colours and compared with that Satisfaction you would scorn it as much as you do the most loathsome Animals To enjoy the present Satisfaction of Sin and yet to escape Hell are things inconsistent and in Divinity impossible therefore that Satisfaction must be quitted or if Death should arrest you in that Satisfaction the other will certainly take place All which makes our Saviour's Discourse here very rational and equitable If thy right Eye offend thee pluck it out c. SERMON XXVII St. Matt. Ch. v. Ver. 31 32. It hath been said whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the cause of Fornication causes her to commit Adultery and whosoever Marries her that is Divorced commits Adultery WHEN Christ the Son of Righteousness appeared in this Vale of Misery the World was so corrupt that the attempt to reform c. would have frighted the wisest the most valiant any Society of Men any Man but him who had Omnipotence to back him To say nothing of the Heathen Nations who had been suffered to walk in their own ways and therefore no wonder if they sunk into all the dreadful Vices mentioned Rom. i. The Jews to whom pertained the Adoption and the Glory and the Covenant and the Promises and the giving of the Law whose were the Fathers and of whom Christ came after the Flesh and of whom one would have expected a Purity answerable to their Mercies and Encouragement These though they had made a shift to renounce Idolatry yet had so vitiated and polluted all the Articles of Divinity and all the Rules of Morality that it required a strength greater than that of Hercules to purge that Augaean Stable You have seen already their various Violations of things Sacred and Divine and the ill favoured Interpretations they put upon the Law against Murther and the other against Adultery The same Liberty or Licentiousness they practised or made use of in the matter of Divorces or putting away their Wives and in doing so they grounded themselves upon a Text of the Law of Moses Deut. xxiv 1 2. where Moses permits Men in certain cases to separate themselves from their Wives and in order thereunto to give them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Bill to certifie that Separation or a Writing of Divorcement which Text our Saviour alledges and admits of doth not deny that such a thing was permitted under the Law but partly to shew that they wilfully depraved and perverted the Sense and Design of that Law
suppose go into another Country and take no farther care of her but leave her to shift for her self in that case saith St. Paul a Brother or a Sister is not under Bondage i. e. as very many Interpreters explain it she is not under an Obligation to continue unmarried or she may Marry again Upon this saying of St. Paul it was that the Helvetian Divines grounded their Verdict in the case of the Marquis Galeacie Caraccioli whom they advised to Marry again when his Wife had deserted him or which is all one would not return to him after frequent Intreaties to that purpose And its possible this Conclusion of the Apostle might give occasion to Constantine to enact a Law That if a Woman after her Husband was gone from her did not hear of him in four years she might Marry again To which purpose we have a Law of our own 1 Jac. I. That if a Man or Woman being gone beyond the Seas and one do not hear from the other in seven Years it shall be lawful for the Party that hears nothing of the other to proceed to another Marriage The Reason why I urge this Case of Desertion is this If it be lawful for a Woman deserted by her Husband or for a Man deserted by his Wife upon the account of Religion though there be no Adultery in the Case to Marry again much more must it be lawful for Persons who part upon the account of Adultery and are lawfully divorced at least for the innocent Party to Marry again because Desertion is a less Crime than Adultery Though Hermes an antient Writer saith that Desertion is equal to Adultery yet whatever likeness there may be there appears greater guilt in Adultery than in the other the rather because the Bond of Matrimony is more directly broke in this than in the other It 's true the Constitution of our Church is that if Persons be divorced after Adultery the respective Parties are obliged to enter into Bond before they are actually divorced that neither of them shall Marry again while the other lives but the reason of that is because our Church fears the dangerous Consequences of such Divorces in respect of the Collusion that may be betwixt the two Parties who may be alike weary one of the other and so a Gap might be open'd to great Licentiousness So that I suppose our Church would not be against the innocent Party's Marrying again if such Evils might be easily prevented 3. The greatest difficulty is about the Party guilty of Adultery and who gives occasion to the Divorce whether they may Marry again And here if the same Law were in use among us which Moses gave the Jews that the Adulterer or the Adulteress should be put to Death or stoned And were that Law duely executed by the Magistrates there would be no occasion for such Questions as these However the Bond of Marriage be dissolved by the Adultery as we proved before we cannot say that it is absolutely unlawful even for the guilty after a lawful Divorce to Marry again the Notion of Divorce among the Jews which we do not find our Saviour Reverse importing so much There may be some Reasons which may make it lawful But then 1 st As the Divorce is not to be made without the Knowledge or Approbation or Consent of our Superiors and Governors whether Spiritual or Temporal so if a Divorce be obtained and made the guilty ought not to marry again till he shews sufficient Reasons to the same Governors which may make it necessary for Men are apt to be very partial in their own Cause 2 ly Before Leave or Permission be given him he ought to be exhorted and admonished by those to whom that part belongs to a deep Humiliation for his scandalous Sin and that Humiliation and change of Life and Exemplary Conversation ought first to appear and by long Practice become habitual before Permission be given that the Church of God which hath been scandalized may receive some Satisfaction 3 ly The guilty Party if he will act Conscientiously before he ever thinks of Marrying again ought 1. Earnestly to endeavour to prevent a Divorce by reconciling himself to the Innocent by asking Pardon of the Party wrong'd and by sincere and unfeigned Promises of a future steddy and invincible Chastity 2. If the Innocent Party for weighty Reasons sues out a Divorce and obtains it the guilty ought by Mortification and Prayer and an humble penitent Life labour after the Gift of Continence and spare no Cost no Hardship to attain to it and thus punish himself for his great and crying Sins that he may be deliver'd from the Wrath to come But 3. If after all convenient Ways and Methods and Tryals used he cannot arrive to it this seems to be the only Case that may make his Marrying again lawful according to the general Rule of the Apostle It 's better to Marry than to burn 1 Cor. vii 9 VII How he that puts away his Wife causes her to commit Adultery 1. We must note that Christ here speaks of a Man's putting away his Wife though she hath not been guilty of Adultery for slight and frivolous Causes as the Jews used to do In this Case if the Woman thus put away should be prevailed with to Marry another Man the Husband that put her away without sufficient Cause unjustly is the Cause of her committing Adultery for as she could not by right and ought not to have been put away for such Causes so these Causes for which she is put away do not dissolve the Contract or Bond of Matrimony and consequently by right she is still the Mans Wife who put her away and therefore if through strong and surprizing Temptations she should consent to Marry another Man he that dismissed her is in a great Measure the Cause of that Evil. 2. If a Person thus unjustly put away should not Marry afterward but be tempted to prostitute her self all the Evil she doth and the Adultery she upon this Dismission proves guilty of will a great part of it be charged upon the head of the Person that in a humor put her away it being here as with a Person who should set or place another upon the Brow of a Hill in a dark Night though he do not push or thrust him down yet if he tumbles and breaks his Neck the Party that placed him there may justly be said to be the cause of his Fall and Ruin because he exposed him to apparent Danger as much as David was guilty of murthering Vriah by ordering the General of his Army to set him in the Front of the Battle where without a Miracle he could not escape being killed Even so here the Command being given to Christ's Followers or to Christians if a Christian puts away his Wife for a meaner and lower Cause than Adultery he exposes her to great Temptations and if through the Devils Temptation she falls into Fornication and Adultery himself
Adversary in their Life time who would fain have been their Friend They were even fond of having him for their Enemy and now they begin to feel the effects of their Folly for what can be the issue of Gods Severity against them but being thrust into Prison from whence they are not to come out till they have paid all This Prison is Hell and that calls me to the last Proposition Hell is a Prison from which there is no coming out till Men have paid all their Debts Hell A very unpleasant Theme to speak of Yet it 's better to speak of it than to feel it to discourse of it that Men may save themselves from the Terror of it than drop into it Hell And is there such a thing The Atheist and the Man of Pleasure is loath to believe it and he hath reason for if he should it would spoil his Mirth he would sin with trembling and his Sensuality would be uneasie But in despight of all the Arguments such bruitish Men alledge against this place of Torments which they are loath to feel there is a Hell and â—â—ere must be one and every impenitent Soul shall find it by sad Experience whether they will or not There is one abundance of Sinners feel it before they dye and the dreadful Fire begins to burn in their Consciences There must be one Can there be a Government without Goals and Prisons and Dungeons And is God the Governour of the World and shall his Government alone be without Places to tame obstinate Offenders There are few so senseless but are content to believe there is a Heaven and an Eternity of Joy and they wish for it I would fain know how they come to believe there is a Heaven Is it not because the Gospel faith so And doth not the same Gospel say there is an Everlasting Punishment a Worm that dies not and a Fire that is never quench'd Did Christ speak Truth in one place and not in another Behold ye Men who cherish Wrath and Malice and Hatred and cannot be perswaded to forgive and reconcile your selves to those whom ye have offended and who have offended you for against you the Text is particularly levelled Behold the dismal Dungeon you must lye in It is not laughing at it will excuse you nor making a mock of it will secure you against the horror of it You are Debtors to God and will not discharge that Debt by Repentance and turning to God The place we speak of is the Prison Oh that you would prevent your danger where you shall lie and mourn and howl and fill the hollow place with your Shreeks and Lamentations Here ye are not like to pay your Debts for you will encrease your Scores daily your Torments will tempt you to speak ill of God and that will still make your Debt more dreadful In a word from hence there is no going out till you have paid the uttermost farthing and that 's never You may fancy with Origen that this Debt will be paid in a thousand Years Suppose the Torment were to last but so long and that that was all that 's meant by Everlasting Punishment Is the Misery or Pain of a thousand years a thing to be made light of Ye that are not able to endure the Tooth-ache twenty four hours together how will ye be able to bear the weight the infinite weight of the Wrath of God a thousand years Suppose it were to last but a hundred years Would a Man of Consideration for the Enjoyment of a few sensual Pleasures for twenty thirty or forty years run the hazard of a hundred years Misery Before I would do it I would if possible out-live a Saint out-fast a Hermite out-pray a Monk and go beyond a Turkish Dervise or an Indian Brahmin in Self-denial and Mortification But after all the Temporary Punishment of Hell is but an imaginary thing What if some over-charitable Men have thought so will their Opinion stand against the current of the Word of God which over and over saith the Torment shall be Eternal Oh! that this were laid to the Heart by every Soul here present To sit for ever howling in a Dungeon for ever Without any hopes of Release To feel something that is painful and piercing and astonishing like Fire like outward Darkness like gnashing of Teeth and to feel it for ever what Man that believes and seriously thinks of it can be so profane as to refuse him that speaks from Heaven and after all these Descriptions of Hell where Wrath and Malice shall be punish'd to the purpose keep and cherish those evil Spirits in his Bosom The very possibility of falling into such a Prison is enough to put a Man upon a serious Study how to be wise unto Salvation How then should the certainty of it work upon us all I feel a kind of Horror upon my Spirits while I talk of it and that even forces me to stop and conclude with the Prayer or Petition of our Litany From all Evil and Mischief from Sin from the Crafts and Assaults of the Devil from thy Wrath and from Everlasting Damnation Good Lord deliver us SERMON XXV St. Matt. Ch. v. Ver. 27 28. Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time thou shalt not commit Adultery but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a Woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart LUST and Revenge proceed from the same Cause That which makes Men revengeful makes them lustful Wrath and Concupiscence have the same Father and Original even a hot fiery Temper and Constitution heightned by ill Company nourished by high Fare cherished by Intemperance in eating and drinking and encreased by Luxury And because these two Sins are so near of kin they are joined in the Decalogue or the Moral Law of Moses one immediately follows the other and the Law against Adultery is subjoin'd to that of Murther the effect of Wrath and Revenge as the other is of Lust and Lasciviousness And in this Order our Saviour treats of these two Sins in his Sermon on the Mount What Precepts he hath given what Injunctions what Warnings what Cautions what Admonitions what Sanctions about inordinate Wrath and Anger and Hatred and Malice reproachful Names and Titles and Expressions and unwillingness to forgive and to be reconciled ye have heard already this having been the subject of divers preceding Discourses As the Scribes and Pharisees by their Explications and Traditions had corrupted the sixth Commandment and introduced monstrous Errors and Abuses among the Jewish People so they dealt with the seventh level'd against Adultery which they restrain'd to the outward Act not concerning themselves much about Lasciviousness or adulterous Thoughts Desires Lusts Affections c. Nor did they teach the People their Duty as to these Particulars And because the antient Masters of Tradition had deliver'd the Law against Adultery with these Glosses Christ quotes that Commandment
and partly to intimate that his Doctrine and the Blessings which came along with it required greater Strictness and Severity of Life He proves that the Lawfulness of Divorcements which they extended to Causes and Cases of their own making was to be restrained only to Fornication and Adultery and whoever took greater Liberty in Divorcing himself would involve himself in very great Evils and Mischiefs It hath been said Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving in the case of Fornication causes her to commit Adultery and whosoever Marries her which is Divorced commits Adultery This is no Contradiction to the Law of Moses but raising an imperfect into a more perfect Law which became him who was the end of the Law for the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did To treat of these Words to your Edification I shall I. Enquire into the Nature of that Law of Moses concerning Divorcements II. Why Christ forbids and abolishes Divorcements in the Jewish Sense III. Why Fornication or Adultery is a just Cause of Divorcement and whether that be the sole and only cause that justifies such a Separation IV. Whether the Woman hath an equal Right and in case of the Husband's Adultery may Divorce her self from her Husband as well as the Husband from the Wife in case the fault lies in her V. Whether this Divorcement may be made by their own Authority without the Advice and order of the Magistrate VI. Whether after such a Divorce the innocent Party or both Parties may Marry again VII How he that puts away his Wife causes her to commit Adultery VIII How he that Marries her that 's put away commits Adultery And when all these Particulars are explained I shall close up the Discourse with suitable Directions how such Divorces and all Desires after them may be prevented 1. Let 's enquire into the Nature of the Law of Moses concerning these Divorcements It hath been said saith our Saviour Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement I doubt not but the Scribes and Pharisees said so to justify their unlawful Divorcements and what they said it 's like was with respect to this Law of Moses our Saviour in all probability spake it with respect to both This Law concerning Divorcements you have Deut. xxiv 1 2. where we read When a Man hath taken a Wife and Married her and it come to pass that she find no Favour in his Eyes because he hath found some Vncleanness in her then let him write her a Bill of Divorcement and give it in her Hand and send her out of his House and when she is departed out of his House she may go and be another Mans Wife Concerning which Law I observe these following Particulars 1. That Moses did not for the ease of his People invent this Law of his own Head which seems to have been the Opinion of Origen and St. Ambrose for though the Pharisees treating of this very point asked our Great Master Why did Moses Command us to give a Writing of Divorcement Matth. xix 7 Yet since all the Scripture of the Old Testament is of Divine Inspiration 2 Tim. iii. 16 of which Old Testament this Law is part it is evident that Moses being the great Minister of God by whom he deliver'd his Oracles and faithful in all his House did and could and would deliver nothing as a standing Law for the Jewish Church but what God gave him order for or as he was moved by the Holy Ghost as St. Peter saith of all the Writers of the Old Testament 2 Pet. i. 21 And therefore whenever Moses is Quoted in the New Testament the meaning is God speaking by Moses and consequently this Law is derived from God 2. We need not wonder that God should give such a Law concerning Divorces or make them in some cases Lawful for as he is the Author of Matrimony so he might have enlarged the Bounds of it if he had pleased And therefore that he relaxed the Law and Constitution of it in the Cases of Polygamy and Divorce to the Jewish People can be no Disparagement to his Holiness For since it was in his Power to institute the State of Matrimony no doubt he had also Power in certain Cases and for certain Reasons to dispense with the Strictness of it this being none of the fixed and eternal Laws which are in their own nature Immutable and Unchangable but depended upon the Lawgiver's Will and Pleasure not to mention that this was to teach all wise Governours to suit their Laws as far as they can do it with safety to the Temper of their People 3. The course of Divorce allow'd of in the Law is said to be this if the Wife find no favour in her Husbands Eyes because he hath found some Vncleanness in her where by Unlceanness cannot be meant Fornication and Adultery for the Adulteress was to be stoned to Death Deut. xxii 22 compared with Joh. viii Nay if the Husband did upon good Grounds but suspect his Wife guilty of Adultery he had his remedy by obliging her to drink the Waters of Jealousy Numb v. 27 And therefore by this Uncleanness some understand either the Leprosy or the Vice of Drunkenness or Witchcraft or a very quarrelsome Temper or some other incorrigible Vice but the Words in the Original are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as some great immodesty in Words or Actions a Sin less than Adultery and Fornication yet which not stopt might lead to the greater Sins And in this case God gave them leave to dismiss their Wives But such was the vitious humor of that Nation that in progress of time sheltring themselves under this Command they turned off their Wives for trivial Offences and upon very slight Occasions I would name some of them but that they are too Ridiculous to be mention'd And therefore the Pharisees coming to our Saviour about this Question ask him Is it lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cause This was the common Practice though the better and the wiser Men doubted of it 4. Whatever liberty this Law gave the Divorcement was permitted rather than commanded and the Words infer an Impunity rather than a Duty A Jew was not bound to put away his Wife by vertue of this Law but was Connived at if he did it and secured against Punishment from the Magistrate This Law did not hinder the Man from dwelling with his Wife notwithstanding the Faults I have mentioned but if he would not live with her he was to give her a Writing of Divorcement 5. This Writing of Divorcement was a formal Dismission of the Wife under the Husband's Hand and Seal or a full Discharge from the Husband's Power and Authority and Jurisdiction and Obligation to provide for her or to take care of her
and if we may believe the Jews the Form of it was this I such a One the Son of such a One such a Day of the Week such a Day of the Month such a Year after the Creation of the World in such a Place or City or Town have freely voluntarily and without Compulsion dismissed rejected and repudiated such a Person the Daughter of such a One and have given a Bill of Divorcement into her Hand and given her Leave and Power and accordingly she hath leave to Marry with whom she thinks fit according to the Constitution of Moses and the Children of Israel The reason of giving this Bill of Divorcement in St. Austin's Opinion was 1. That in the Writing of this Bill the Husband's Anger might have time to cool and he consider what a Rashness it was to put her away and whether there was sufficient cause for this Severity 2. That things might be done according to Law and that he who had put away his Wife might not afterward be able to demand her again 3. That she might be empower'd to Marry again for which Power she had this Bill or Certificate to shew a Bill which declared that she was fully discharged from her former Husband So much I thought fit to observe concerning this Law of Moses But let 's go on and II. Enquire why our Saviour did forbid and abolish these Divorcements in the Jewish Sense But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife c. The Reasons are these following 1. These Divorces of the Jews were arbitrary Effects of a bruitish lawless Will meer actions of Revenge and though Moses had given them leave to put away their Wives for less Causes than Fornication or Adultery yet they were such Causes as were arguments of great Turpitude and Scandal and made the Man not only very uneasy but prejudiced him in his lawful Calling and reflected upon his Prudence and Reputation But the Jews ventured to do it for any Cause whatsoever and of that Cause themselves would be Judges and therefore Christ had reason to Abolish that Custom 2. What liberty God gave them by Moses as to these Divorcements it was not so much out of any respect to the intrinsick Goodness of the Thing as to prevent greater Evils And therefore our Saviour in plain Terms tells the Jews Matth. xix 8 Moses for the hardness of your Hearts suffered you to put away your Wives The Jews were a surly humorsome and ill-natur'd sort of People and to prevent their Murthering Poisoning Beating or abusing their Wives he suffered these Divorcements and that 's it that all wise Lawgivers ordinarily do to prevent a greater they connive at a lesser Evil the Peace and Nature of the Government requiring so much Even among our selves and in the Land we live in several things are permitted which Authority doth not much approve of And accordingly these Divorces having been permitted during the Jewish Oeconomy when the People and the Dispensation were weak it was necessary when that Oeconomy came to cease those Divorces should cease too 3. Christ came to reduce all and Matrimony especially to the first Institution And therefore could do no less than Abolish all that contradicted the Primitve Rule And accordingly he tells the Pharisees Matth. xix 4 8. Moses for the hardness of your Hearts suffered you to put away your Wives but from the beginning it was not so Have ye not read thou he which made them in the beginning made them Male and Female and said for this cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife wherefore they are no more twain but one Flesh. What therefore God hath joined together let no Man put asunder The Divorces which were practised among the Jews and other Nations the Persians the Greeks the Romans though as to the Romans it must be confessed it came in very late among them for though there was no Law against Divorcing yet for 520 Years there was no Example of Divorce among them so undecent did they take it to be and therefore there are very few Writers but what condemn Cicero for putting away his Wife Terentia with whom he had lived many Years These Divorces I say practised by the Jewish and other Nations were great Violations of the Primitive Institution of Marriage and of the Innocence and Perfection of Paradise Christ's Province being to reintroduce that Perfection and Innocence and to establish it among his Followers could do no less than Abolish the abuses which corrupt Nature and a more corrupt Commonwealth had brought in And this very argument makes Polygamy or having more Wives than one Sinful because it contradicts the Primitive Institution which God indeed relaxed for a certain Time during the Infancy of the Church but Christ justly reduced to it's former Bounds and Limits under the Gospel which affords greater Helps and Motives to observe those Bounds and shews a better way how Men may be cured of the Hardness of their Hearts than any Discipline whatsoever And yet even under the Gospel there is something that makes a Divorce lawful and that is if one of the Married Parties proves guilty of Adultery which leads me to the III. Enquiry Why Adultery or Fornication is a just Cause of Divorce and whether this be the sole Cause that justifies such a Separation But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving in the case of Fornication And though St. Luke and St. Mark do not mention this Exception yet we know that one Evangilist must be explained by the other The reason that makes Divorcement in case of Adultery lawful is this because by Adultery the Bond of Matrimony is broken What some say that the right or Bond of Cohabitation is broken but not the Bond of Matrimony seems to be of no weight for the Words of Christ are very Express and Emphatical Whosoever shall put away his Wife 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saving in the Cause of Fornication And therefore certainly in the Case of Fornication it is lawful to put her away which could not be lawful in that Sense the Jews understood Christ in i. e. so as to be permitted to Marry again except the Bond of Matrimony had been broke by the Fornication for as by Matrimony Man and Wife are one Flesh so by Fornication they are no more one but the Person who commits Lewdness becomes one Flesh with another and though it is said that what God hath joined together let no Man put asunder Matth. xix 6 And though we read that a Woman which hath a Husband is bound by the Law to her Husband so long as he lives yet this is to be understood of married Persons who live in conjugal Chastity and while this is done to be sure the Bond is not dissolved 2. Christ having restrained the Lawfulness of such Divorcements to Fornication and Adultery it cannot be safe to invent more Causes I will not deny but there
is guilty of that Adultery and therefore causes her that is put away to commit Adultery VIII How he that Marries her that is put away commits Adultery 1. In saying so our Great Master confirms the antient Law of God Deut. xxiv 3 where the Wife put away by her Husband is peremptorily forbid to return to the Husband that did give her a Bill of Divorce and put her away She had Liberty indeed to Marry another but if after his Death or during his Life her former Husband should be desirous to Marry her again this God saith there is Abomination and Christ calls it Adultery So that the words of the Text whosoever shall Marry her that 's put away commits Adultery do establish and ratifie what God said of old to the Jewish People He that puts away his Wife may not afterward when another Man hath known her Marry her again if he doth he commits Adultery 2. He that puts away his Wife for a less or meaner cause than Adultery doth not by that means or voluntary Divorce cancel the Marriage Bond and the legal Contract betwixt him and her That Bond continues firm and indissoluble notwithstanding that Dismission and therefore he that Marries such a Person that is unjustly put away Marries another Man's Wife and consequently commits Adultery Under the Law he that Married the Woman put away by her Husband for Causes God then allow'd of did not Sin except the High Priest who was forbid to Marry any Woman that was Divorced And under the Gospel he that Marries her that 's put away legally for Causes the Gospel allows of cannot be said to commit an Offence especially if the Rules we mentioned before be observed But he that Marries her that's justly put away or divorced for Causes frivolous or not allowed of by the Gospel and so Marries her he hath no power no right to Marry even a Person who notwithstanding the Divorce is still the Wife of him that put her away he certainly commits Adultery INFERENCES Having thus resolved the Queries suggested by the Text it 's time I should after all add some wholesom Directions whereby such Divorces and all Desires after them may be prevented I. There is no better Antidote against such Mischiefs than Love mutual Love a true Conjugal Love a Love grounded not upon a bare satisfying the desires of the Flesh for that will be of no long continuance but establish'd upon the lasting Principles of Duty and fed by Pious Considerations And they who think that no less Authority hath joined them together than God himself and intended that this Union should be great and withstand all Temptations of Dissolution except that of Death and thought fit to represent by it the Love of Christ to his Church They who make these Considerations the Foundation of their Love will not be easily moved to the desire of Separation Love in a married State being grounded only upon Beauty and Riches and other external things when these fade Love will fade Vertue and the Fear of God and the Oath that is betwixt them these must tye their Hearts together and where they do so their Love like a treble Cord is not easily broken Love is the great Preservative of Happiness in a Married State where that reigns no desires of Divorcement can find Entertainment But then it must be such Love as the Apostle describes 1 Cor. xiii 4 5 6 7. that suffers long and is kind that envies not that vaunts not it self that is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeks not her own is not easily provoked thinks no Evil rejoices not in Iniquity but rejoices in the Truth beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things and endureth all things This Charity we owe to all that are of the Houshold of Faith more or less much more to Persons of so near a Relation who besides the general Obligations as Christians have bound themselves Vowed and Promised before God and the Elect Angels and the Congregation to love one another with a pure Heart fervently Love is an Universal Medicine If the Infirmities of one Party be invincible Love will bear with them if vincible Love will endeavour to reform them If Crosses happen Love will administer Comfort if Prosperity comes flowing in Love will exhort to Thankfulness if Disputes arise Love will appease them if Quarrels are broacht Love will quench that Fire If Misconstructions be made Love will rectify them if Suspicions disturb the Mind Love will reject them if Failings appear Love will cover them and whatever things are amiss in a Family Love will endeavour to cure them Where this Love decays there the Good Angel that should guard the House prepares for his departure Where this Love is not maintain'd Temptations prevail and Quarrels come and Differences arise and Persons are let loose and ill Thoughts do enter and reproachful Language flies about and the Parties become uneasy and Divorces are thought of and being difficult to compose according to Law they are wished for and desired and if they cannot be had there Adulteries and Fornications and a thousand Evils are entertain'd as woful Experience shews and thus the married State becomes bitter as Wormwood which if Love had had the Management of it might have been sweet as the Morning Rose fragrant as the Balm of Gilead refreshing as Evening Showers II. As unequal Yoakings are very often the causes of great Contentions so where they may be they ought to be carefully shun'd and prevented By being unequally Yoaked I do not mean only Inequality of Age of Temper of Rank and Fortune but marrying Persons of a different Persuasion in Matters of Religion for if one of the Parties be Zealous for the Religion he professes he will think himself bound in Conscience to draw the Partner of his Bed into a Partnership of his Religion and if the other will not yield there arise such Flames of Discord sometimes that Divorces and Separations are not only desired but unjustly Endeavour'd and Practised and one party contrary to Law and Reason and Conscience and Modesty leaves the other Of this we have too many Examples not only where Protestants have married Papists but where Protestants have joined themselves to Protestants of different Sentiments not that the Differences among Protestants are of any great Consequence but where Pride Passion Ignorance or Prejudice turns disputable Questions into Articles of Faith and makes them Balls of Contention they shed a bad influence even upon a married State Indeed where both Parties are of a gentle and charitable Temper there is no great danger of falling out about Religion but as such Tempers are somewhat rare so where they are found they may be Influenced by external Causes and Motives which may alter them and though Promises are often made before Marriage not to molest one another in point of Religion yet false Persuasion afterward that it is their Duty to convert them who are so nearly related to them
15 17 18. But the Sin here aimed at lies in the secret Wishes Will Purposes Lust and Desires after Adultery Fornication Uncleanness and forbidden Mixtures And therefore if the Observation of the Jews be true that Ahab and Zedekiah mentioned Jer. xxix 21. were the Persons who attempted the Chastity of Susanna are charged with downright Adultery because they intended it though they could not compass it as we see Jer. xxix 23 And he that purposes to sollicit a Woman to that which God counts Abomination or wishes to enjoy the dangerous Love of the Person which hath no Matrimonial Relation to him or whose Desires Languish because he cannot gratifie his base Lust which his wicked Mind desires or who feeds himself with impure Imaginations with obscene Pictures and Images of the Person upon whom his Heart is set all these are secret Adulterers and Fornicators and must expect the Wrath of God the Anger the Indignation the Fire the Brimstone and the Portion of Misery designed for Adulterers and Fornicators who are outwardly so 3. That this is a very just Sentence and that he is justly charged with the guilt of Adultery and Fornication and Lewdness who Wills or Wishes or Desires it whatever Notion they are represented under is evident from hence because the Will is the principal Agent in the Action so that if the Will consents the Man consents and it is as much as if he had done the unlawful Act which is only impeded or hindred from being executed by certain Circumstances which fall out cross I very much question whether the outward Acts of Fornication and Adultery would be Sins at all if it were not for the Will It 's this gives the Act the tincture of Hell Before the outward Act the Malice and the Turpitude of the Sin is already compleated though the Act be hindred by accidental Causes from being consummated And this is no new Doctrine the very Heathens saw the reasonableness of it and to this purpose several excellent Sayings might be alledged here out of Aristophanes Seneca Juvenal Ovid and others were it necessary and though humane Laws lay no Penalty upon the Will because they are no competent Judges of it nothing falling under the Cognisance of the publick Magistrate but Overt Actions yet with respect to God who sees the Heart the Sin is the same and he that would or hath a mind to commit Adultery Fornication Lewdness whatever Names he may give his Desires and Lusts is the Person who hath committed all these because all that was in his power to do toward it he hath done i. e. his Will Consent and Desire do concur to the Sin though an Opportunity of finishing the Sin outwardly be wanting And God counts such a Person an Adulterer and Fornicator and lewd Man though his Neighbours at the same time who know nothing of his secret Sins may count him Honest and Sober and Innocent The Romans punish'd a Vestal Virgin who had vow'd perpetual Chastity with Death because she did once merrily in Company say that it was a pretty thing to Marry because by saying so she discover'd her Desire and Will to break her Vow I do not justify that piece of Rigor but only mention it to prove that the very Light of Nature discovered to Heathens and Pagans that the Desire and Will to commit a Sin was a complete Sin so far as the inward Man could make it and consequently deserv'd the same Punishment This leads me to discourse of the III d. Particular viz. Whether notwithstanding all this there be not a very great difference betwixt the internal Consent and the outward Act as to the heinousness of the Sin To this the Answer is that Sins as to the Substance may be the same yet Circumstances may make the Sin more heinous than it would have been without those Circumstances He that hates his Brother is a Murtherer saith St. John 1 John iii. 15 Yet there is no doubt be that besides that Hatred doth actually deprive him of Life is a greater Sinner and the Sin becomes more black and dreadful So it is in Adultery and Fornication and Incest and Carnal self-pollutions and other Lewdnesses He that wishes or wills it or purposes it or feeds himself with filthy Images of any of these Sins commits a Sin of the same Nature and Complexion that he doth who to the inward Formation of it adds the outward Act but still the outward Act aggravates it and gives it a deeper Dye because of the Scandal it gives and the greater hurt it doth in that another Person is made a Partner of the Folly and dragg'd with him into Hell and the Sinner goes as far in it as he can So that though as to the degrees of the Heinousness of the Sin there is a difference betwixt the internal Consent and the outward Act yet the Sin is the same in Substance and therefore must be supposed to participate of the same Punishment which is threatned to Adulterers Fornicators c. though according to the degrees of the blackness of the Crime the Punishments in the other World will be proportionable INFERENCES 1. Here we see how necessary Solomon's Rule is Prov. iv 23 Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life The Heart being guarded the whole Man is safe If that be left Defenceless the whole Man lies open to the Devils Power In the Heart or Mind Sin first takes Root and then if not checkt it presently spreads and diffuses it self into the outward Man and brings forth fruit unto Death Keep Sin out of the Heart and you keep it out of the Body for from within from the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Covetousness c. saith our Saviour Marc. vii 21 When Sin first offers it self to the Mind and is rejected as soon as it doth make its first Appearance the purity of the Soul is preserv'd We cannot hinder the Motions and Suggestions of the Devil from approaching or assaulting our Minds and an impure Thought may jog the Mind but if the Mind do immediately oppose the Enemy as soon as it comes before the Gate of the House its Forces are broke and disordered and they can never make head or insinuate into the Affections our Saviour therefore charges us to cleanse the inside of the Dish and Platter that the out-side may be clean also And indeed a Man or Woman cannot be truly said to stand in awe of God that do not watch over their Hearts and resist the first Assaults of Sin and though I will not deny that restraining the outward Act upon the account of it's Odiousness and Danger may be called part of the fear of God yet it is but a very imperfect Fear till the Heart comes to detest the first Suggestions In the Sin of unlawful Lust this is particularly to be observed and he that means to get the Mastery of a lascivious Temptation must be concerned and tremble upon
are Sins that in Heinousness may amount to the Sin of Adultery yet it must be dangerous to depart from the express Words of our Saviour The Civil Law or rather some Christian Emperours in the Civil Law allow of other Causes such as if the Wife be guilty of Witchcraft or Murther or of Men-stealing or of Violation of Sepulchers or of Sacriledge or if she harbour Thieves and Robbers or if she go to Feasts where lewd and wicked Persons meet or to Stage-plays and publick Shows or lies out of the Husbands House at Night against his Will and without his Knowledge if she practise Treason secretly against the State or if she treats of Marriage with another Man while her Husband is alive or if she lay violent Hands on her Husband c. Though all these are Crimes wich should not be so much as named among Christians yet since Christ hath excepted no Case but that of Adultery or Fornication that Christian walks most safely that keeps to the Letter of the Text. I grant there may be other Causes which may justify a Man and his Wife 's living asunder but I dare not say that by any other Sins the Bond of Matrimony is dissolved because our Saviour is silent IV. Whether the Woman hath an equal Right and may Divorce her self from her Husband in case he is guilty of Adultery as well as the Husband from her if she be guilty 1. Among the Jews this was not Customary or Lawful The Husband might put away his Wife but the Wife could not put away the Husband which is the reason why Josephus takes notice of it as a great piece of Insolence that Salome a Jewess separated her self from her Husband Costabar But among the Romans the Wife had an equal Liberty And in the Case before us this seems to be very Rational For 2. If the Bond of Matrimony be dissolved by the Adultery of the Husband as well as it is by the Adultery of the Wife the Woman in point of Conscience must be at liberty to Divorce her self from her Husband as well as the Husband to separate himself from her if she be guilty There is a parity of reason which I know is not to be stretcht too far but here is just Ground for it And though as to the Government of the Family the Scripture gives the Man a Preeminence and a Power Authority and Jurisdiction over the Wife yet as to the Obligations to be true and faithful to one another the Apostle makes them equal 1 Cor. vii 4 And in the case of Desertion whereof I shall speak in the Sequel it 's plain St. Paul gives the Woman an equal Priviledge 1 Cor. vii 15 And indeed if the Wife have not an equal Right it must follow that the Husband's Adultery is a less Sin than that of the Wife which I suppose no wise Man will grant To this purpose it is that Justin Martyr commands a Christian Woman who having a Husband that lived in open Adultery took the Benefit of the Roman Law and went from him i. e. divorced her self from him and the reason why she did so was that she might not become a partaker of his Sin yet it 's added that she did not do it till several Means had been tried to reclaim him from his Impiety Indeed this is very necessary on both sides that where it is that one of the Parties is guilty of Adultery all reasonable Means ought to be tried to convert the Sinner him or her from the Errours of their Ways before the Separation the rather because this Separation ought not to be made in Anger and Revenge but with Prudence and Charity and though a Divorce in this case be lawful yet it is not so necessary that the Innocent Party is forbid to be reconciled to the Guilty if the Guilty do unfeignedly repent and though it s granted the Bond of Matrimony is dissolved i. e. the Right and the Obligation to live together like Man and Wife be dissolved yet I hope a Man or Woman may decede from their Right or give it up when a greater Good is to be promoted by it I know some Divines both Antient and Modern have been and are of Opinion that there is an absolute necessity for a Divorce in such Cases the Council of Eliberis particularly hath a Canon That if a Clergy-man's Wife commit Fornication and her Husband doth not presently put her away he shall be denied the Communion all his Days even upon his Death-Bed But since God receives the worst of Sinners upon their true Repentance it 's hard to think it should be a Crime in married Persons after such a Breach to forgive one another and to return to one another upon a true Reformation for though it be permitted them to separate if they will yet they are not hindred from exercising Charity one toward another And if God is reconciled to the vilest Wretches upon their serious Return and takes them into his Bosom should not we do so after the greatest Provocations if true Repentance appears in the Person that hath committed Folly we that are to be Followers of God Eph. v. 1 V. Whether these Divorces may be made by private Authority without having recourse to our Governours 1. Among the Jews it 's certain it was not always necessary to make use of the Magistrates Assistance but the Husband was Judge in his own Cause and might give the Wife a Bill of Divorcement without making his Superiours acquainted with it for there is nothing said of it in the Law of Moses though it is not to be doubted but sometimes it was done before competent Judges especially where there was a dispute about repaying of the Dowry or part of the Goods the Wife had brought to her Husband for in such Divorcements the Jews tell us that part of the Dowry or the whole was repaid and if so this alone was enough to prevent the many Divorces which one may believe would otherwise have been in that Nation among a People projectae libidinis as Tacitus calls them inclined to Wantonness and Lasciviousness 2. We Christians serving the God of Order and it being a Rule of our Religion that all things ought to be done Decently and in Order it must follow that such Divorces how just soever must not be the meer Effects of our Will and Pleasure but so managed that others may not be Scandaliz'd by our Actions And that 's but agreeable to the general Rule of the Apostle that we are to provide things honest in the sight of all Men Rom. xxii And consequently such Divorcements are not to be made without the Consent and Approbation of Publick Authority for without this infinite Confusions would arise and wicked Men might abuse this Liberty into the greatest Licentiousness And as they that Marry ought to Marry in the Lord with the Approbation and Benediction of the Minister of God so it 's Fit that they who in the case of