A SERMON PREACH'D to the SOCIETIES FOR Reformation of MANNERS IN THE Cities of London and Westminster Nov. 15. 1697. By JOHN SHOWER Published at the Desire of the said SOCIETIES LONDON Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultry over-against the Compter 1698. ISAIAH LiX 4. None calleth for Justice 'T IS certain that the Principles and Duties of Natural Religion are supposed confirmed and enforced by the Christian The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation teacheth and obligeth us to live soberly and righteously as well as Godly But how astonishing is the Kindness and Condescension that God has shown such regard to those parts of Morality which relate to the Good of Mankind as to prefer them before his own Worship That the Duties of the Law of Nature are to take place of those of positive Institution That he had rather we should express our Love to one another and by Charity and Mercy do good in the World than be honoured himself by Sacrifice when that cannot be without Prejudice to our Neigbour It must therefore be a very mistaken Notion of Religion to imagine that any can be a very good Christian that is not a very good Man For Religion is not designed only for the Happiness of particular Souls in another Life but for the Welfare of Mankind as united in Societies in this World And for that purpose God hath appointed Magistrates as his Ordinance and required our Obedience for Conscience sake He hath commanded us to pray for Kings and all in Authority under them and to assist them to our utmost that they may not bear the Sword in vain We are to rise up for them against the Evil-doers and stand up for them against the Workers of Iniquity Psal cxvi 9. We are to forward and promote the Administration of Justice and even to call for it where that is needful and may serve a publick Good THE Neglect of this and the general Indifferency and Remisness of private Persons as to the Execution of Justice is here complained of as one of those things that made the Jews in danger of publick Judgments For when National Calamity is here threatned this is assigned as one of those things that procured it That there was none called for Justice i. e. very Few amongst them did concern themselves as private Persons to have Publick Justice duely administred And 't is further added or pleadeth for Truth or as some render the Words Judgeth truely That is Private Persons are careless and indifferent as to all such Matters and Publick Magistrates are negligent and faulty as to what belongs to them 'T IS the former Expression None calls for Justice that I am now to consider with respect to Private Persons For thanks be to God there are Faithful Magistrates in and about the City who are ready to do their Duty in the Administration of Justice if Private Persons will but do theirs in calling for it MY Design from this Passage is First To manifest that this is the Duty of Private Persons which will at once vindicate your worthy Undertaking and encourage you to proceed and perswade others to joyn with you Secondly To consider some of the Objections that may dishearten others from doing so and weaken your own Hands Thirdly I shall take the Liberty to advise some things that may help to attain your great End the Reformation of Manners and may render your Endeavours herein accepted with God and all good Men. And Lastly From several Considerations I shall endeavour to stir you up to call for Justice I. FOR the Proof That this is a Duty in Private Persons we need but Consider how it is here complained of in the Jews as one of those Iniquities which separated between God and them and caused him to hide his Face that he would not hear their Prayers Ver. 2. It is joyned with Lying and Cheating with Violence and Murther and other Abominations that few or none had the Zeal and Courage the Honesty and Integrity to excite and assist the Magistrate in the Administration of Justice whereby the Honour of God might be asserted and the Authority of his Laws maintained by the Punishment of Transgressors To make you the more sensible that this is part of your Duty I shall bespeak you First As Men and Members of a publick Society and so argue from the Principles of Natural Religion Secondly As Christians who acknowledge the Holy Scriptures and profess to own Revealed Religion And Thirdly Considered as in a private Capacity with reference to your own Families and Relations where I shall manifest it to be not only your Duty but your Interest to be concerned for the Administration of Justice 1. AS MEN. Our general Obligations to Mankind as we are Men are more antient and more indispensible than any particular ones that can be superadded so that by the Law of Nature we are bound to do good to all Men as we have Opportunity and to promote the Good of the Place where we live and of the Community whereof we are Members From a Principle of Love to the Society and to our selves also for I my self and mine shall be involved in the Common Ruine This is so Evident that many an honest Heathen would have condemned him as unworthy the Name of a Man who should prefer his Estate his Reputation or Life before the Common Good Now when the Laws of God and the Land have provided for the Punishment of such Offences as manifestly tend to the Ruine of the Society whereof I am a Member it must needs be my Duty by the Law of Nature to do what I can to prevent it For if such and such Laws are for the Publick Good and the Peace and Happiness of a Nation is promoted by observing them and the Transgressors of such Laws be not punished the Laws themselves are insignificant and the publick Mischiefs they were designed to prevent cannot be kept off for want of Execution EVERY one reckons by the Light of Nature it is his Duty to assist his Neighbour as a Witness or otherwise that Right may take place and Justice be administred in Civil Matters that in case his Person be assaulted or his Goods stolen or what is his just Due be detained c. he may have the Satisfaction of the Law There is the same or greater Reason in Criminal Matters where the Punishment of the Offence is for the Honour of GOD and for the Publick Good and where a Reparation can no otherwise be made but by the Suffering of the Offender which in Matters of Property may be done by the Payment of so much Money AND how can an honest Magistrate for want of Legal Conviction punish the Guilty if he never so much desire it Let him be never so well qualified for his Office and resolv'd to be faithful yet if none will complain of the Breach of the Laws and give him an Account by whom they are broken and bear Witness in
not being so much to retaliate the Evil on the Offender as to do good to Others and to keep them from the like Offences Smite a Scorner says the Wise Man one that is an obstinate and insolent Offender 19 Prov. 25. and the Simple will beware Such as were like to sin by Inadvertency or ill Example will take warning 25 Chap. 11. When the Scorners are Punished the Simple are made Wise If one Sinner destroy much good if one root of Bitterness may defile many the Impunity of Criminals upon this account must needs be a great Mischief as likely to spread the Infection through the whole Neighbourhood Street and City And so 't is every Mans concern to have his Neighbours Child or Servant Punished for such Faults from which he would preserve his own And I need not tell you how much greater Influence bad Examples have than good ones you know that Health is not communicated as Diseases are 3. PUNISHMENT is an Act of Government and hath relation to the Law and so one End of it is to preserve the Authority of the Laws and the Honour of the Magistrate who is concerned for the Publick Good See the Bishop of Worcester's Discourse of the Sufferings of Christ Chap. 1. Grotius de Satisf Cap. 2. The reason here of Punishment is not so much because a Law is broken as because if it be not punished the Authority of the Law and Lawgiver can never be upheld and that is necessary or the Community can never be preserv'd And where the Offence to be punished is against GOD and the Publick Laws the Punishment is due to the Honour of GOD and to the Common Good and 't is not in a Private Mans Power to forgive the Injury to the Publick as he may do a pecuniary Debt that is owing to himself Vengeance says God is mine i. e. the inflicting of Punishment belongs to me In him all manner of Right is primarily and originally lodged as the great Lord and Proprietor of all And every Injury and Injustice to another either private or publick redounds upon Him as the Governour of the World The decision of Right and Wrong the distribution of Rewards and Punishments appertains to him Vengeance as taken for the inflicting of Punishment is his undoubted Prerogative his unalienable Right It belongs to him and to those only whom he appoints to be his Ministers to execute WRATH on such as do evil And we are not only to suppose the reason of this to be the Danger that may accrue to Society by the Impunity of Crimes but because of the Dishonour and Affront that is offer'd to GOD as the Governour of the World He assumes Anger Wrath and Jealousie to show he minds his own Glory and will not bear Contempt but avenge it And to make Transgressors suffer is for the Reparation of God's injur'd Honour as well as for the Happiness of Society It cannot therefore unbecome a good Man to call for Justice it being his Duty on all these accounts to further and promote it THESE things will concern us as we are Men under the Obligation of the Law of Nature 2. LET me bespeak you as you are Christians and profess to own Revealed Religion and the Authority of the Holy Scriptures 'T is not the duty of Magistrates and Ministers only but of all the Followers of Christ to be the Salt of the Earth and the Lights of the World in their several places Every Member is bound to promote the welfare of the whole Body according to his Capacity Every Christian must imitate his Master who went about doing good He is created and redeemed and sanctified for it as the Tree is made for the Fruit. Many devout Persons may think if they were Rich enough to live without bodily Labour and could spend all their time in Meditation and Prayer and hearing Sermons c. That this were the happiest Life in the World The Popish Nuns and Fryars are under this mistake But no Man is made for himself alone we are Members of Society We must do good to Others and in doing so we take Care of our own Salvation Our Lord has taught us to pray that the Name of God may be Sanctified and shall we silently suffer it to be profaned And his Kingdom come and shall we do nothing that it may take place And his Will be done on Earth as in Heaven without endeavouring this we contradict our own Prayers And when we desire the Will of God may be done we mean it by Others as well as our selves And is it not the Will of God that such Offences should be Punished We beg Forgiveness of our own Sins and the Sins of the Nation Can we do it uprightly and not endeavour Reformation We may not suffer Sin upon Others any more than allow it in our selves The Scripture Examples of Zerubbabel Nehemiah Ezra c. may be urged to this purpose as you have heard in some former Sermons and I hope with very good Effect BUT let me here reason with you a little Is it fit for Christians to be concerned that Justice be done between Man and Man as to their Lives Estates and Civil Rights and shall we be more indifferent as to those Laws where the Honour of GOD and of our Blessed Redeemer are more immediately concerned If a notorious Cheat or Thief be discovered and taken what general Rejoycing is there in the City What Crowds will attend him to the Justice of Peace to the Prison to the Sessions-House to the Pillory Is it only because your selves may one time or other be injured by such a Crime or have been so Doubtless in Criminal Cases there is more reason to assist and more reason to rejoyce as these Offenders are the Pests of Humane Society and as their Crimes do carry an open Affront to Heaven Is the cheating of you of a little Money so great a matter the defrauding you in a Bill of Exchange or a Bank Note so very considerable that every one is ready to assist to have such a Fellow punished And is there not more reason in the other Case Is the value of Ten or Twenty Pounds more to be regarded than the Vertue Honour Safety Health Life and Soul of your Relations and Neighbours which may be corrupted and destroyed by unpunished Vice and Examples of Debauchery YOU know you are not to intice and tempt Others to Sin but are you not likewise to prevent others from being tempted You may not lay a stumbling block in anothers way to make him fall but if you see him ready to cast himself down a Precipice will you do nothing to prevent it Nehemiah charges the Rulers for breaking the Sabbath because they did not restrain others from bearing Burthens How dear did it cost Ely and his House that when his Sons made themselves vile he restrained them not Tho' Pilate spake to the Jews on the behalf of Christ as Innocent yet is he
charged with his Murther for not doing all that he could to hinder it We may many ways partake of other Mens Sins and this doubtless is one If we do not what we may and ought to prevent them In which Case we likewise share in all the ill Consequences of their Iniquity in all the Mischiefs that follow upon the City and Nation by such Impunity Let me express this in the better words of * Serm. 1. ad Magistratum 29 Job 14. Bishop Sanderson You countenance says he the Disorders that by Justice may be suppressed You disarm Innocency that Justice would protect You banish Peace which by Justice is maintained You are Traytors to the King and his Throne which by Justice is established and you pull down on the City and the Nation the publick Plagues and Judgments of God which the Execution of Justice would avert Is it not then your duty as Christians to promote and forward the Execution of Justice when thereby you contribute to suppress Disorders to protect Innocency to maintain Peace to secure the King and State and to turn away publick Judgments from the Land SIRS We are all Christians the Duty is common to us all the Obligation is equal 'T is what we are all concerned in and agree in because by our Baptism we are all engaged to fight under the Banner of Christ in a constant Warfare against the Devil and his Angels And 't is observable that when our Saviour was charged as a Confederate with Satan in working Miracles he tells us and it is repeated by three Evangelists that he was so far from that that he looked upon that Man for his Enemy who would not serve him in opposition to the Devils Kingdom and Interest He that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad Matth. 12.30 Christ hath his Kingdom to carry on in the World and Satan hath his You must either be for advancing the Kingdom of Christ against the Devil or you joyn in Confederacy with the Devil against the Son of God and his Kingdom I remember what Jehu said in another case but not very different when he was to Execute Judgment by Gods command on the whole House of Ahab Who is on my side cryed Jehu Who is on my side I may put the like Question this day or rather beg that you would to your selves Which side will you take For you cannot be Newters Which side will you take For Reformation Or for Profaneness For suppressing Vice or for letting it alone That is Will you be for Christ or for the Devil You must be Treacherous to your Lord and unfaithful to your Baptismal Vow if you do not joyn heartily against the Interest of the Devil in so plain and publick a Case as this AND among all sorts of Christians that have written against Persecution and about the Power of the Magistrate as to Matters of Religion we find that the greatest Sticklers for the most unlimited Toleration as to different Sentiments about Matters of Faith and Worship do yet all agree that these Instances of Immorality do properly come under the Cognizance of the Civil Magistrate as having a mighty Influence upon Publick Societies being very prejudicial to the Welfare of it So that no Man can complain of Persecution for his Opinions when he is punished for such gross Immoralities against the Laws of God and the Land No Christians no Protestants who differ in lesser Matters as to Faith and Worship will plead for the Allowance of such Corruption of Manners and Debauchery of Life as you endeavour to suppress IF it should be said that I am mistaken here For all Christians do not agree about the Morality of the Sabbath and therefore it is hard to punish Men for the Profanation of it I answer that granting some good Men may have given Directions about the Observation of the Lord's Day that cannot be warranted from the Word of God as reducing it too much to a wearisome bodily Exercise yet have we enough to confirm our Opinion and Practice as to the Lord's Day by considering the first Original and Institution of the Sabbath and the Matter of the Fourth Commandment And when all the other Nine are granted to be of universal and perpetual Obligation 't is hard to conceive that one of the ten should concern only the Jews And considering the Practice of the Christian Church in all Ages and the Experience of a special Presence and Blessing of God on the Publick Christian Worship on such a Weekly Day of Rest and that serious Religion was never observed to thrive and flourish or be long preserved in any City Family or particular Soul where this was neglected These and the like things are sufficient for our Justification But you my Brethren that are Members of the Church of England are peculiarly obliged to suppress the Profanation of the Weekly Sabbath because every Lord's Day and oft'ner you beg of God to incline your Hearts to keep the Fourth Commandment and that the Fourth as well as the other Nine may be written upon your Hearts and obeyed in your Lives Besides what might be quoted out of the Homilies 3. HAVING mentioned this of the Sabbath I proceed to consider you in your Families and Shops and private Relations and so to manifest it to be your Duty and Interest on that account to have the Laws put in Execution and particularly against the Profanation of the Lord's Day For while your Children and Servants are employed in Civil Business and Secular Affairs on the Week-days they are freed from many Temptations But if they be not employed in Religious Exercises on the Lord's Day if they are left to themselves to do nothing or to do what they please to stay at home or go abroad to attend the publick Worship or not attend it you expose them to such Temptations as many ways may be Injurious to your selves and in the end Destructive to them There are Few that come to a miserable shameful Death in this World but acknowledge this and date their Wickedness and their Ruine from their neglecting to keep holy the Lord's Day DO but Consider how much the Peace and Safety of your Families the Trade the Riches and Prosperity of the City which consists of particular Families is owing to good Laws and to the Terror of the annexed Punishments and you will hereby discern your own Interest so wrapp'd up in the Publick as to infer your Duty to promote the Administration of Justice Murders would be more frequently committed were it not for the Terror of the Law Robberies and Burglaries would be more common were it not for the Severity of the Punishment And that lesser Thefts and Frauds in buying and selling are more common is because the Penalty is small if discovered and the Means of Prosecution chargeable There is very much reason to think that 't is not Conscience so much as the Dread of Temporal