Gain if they lead us to secure the everlasting Inheritance The Precepts of our great Master are so order'd and so laid that the Love of this World may be rooted out of our Hearts and if this Love be truly mortify'd we are greater Gainers than if we gained the whole World and lost our own Souls It is true we would fain keep this present World and all the enjoyments of it and enjoy the bliss of the next too but he that goes by that principle reckons without his Host and will find himself miserably mistaken when he comes to set his Accounts even with the Sovereign Judge of the World To meet with ungrateful and unreasonable Men is no more than what our Master and his Disciples have met withal and to think we must fare better in this World than they is to mistake the end of our Vocation Let us do good and rejoyce in the doing of it and be confident we shall be no losers in the end He is faithful who hath promised and he will perform it too It is but a little while that we are to continue here and the great Question in the last Day will be not how Rich or how great we have been here but whether we have made Conscience of the Rules our Master hath left us Blessed are those Servants whom their Master when he comes shall find so doing Prosperity is so far from being a sign of God's Children or of our Reconciliation to God that a Christian who enjoys much of it hath very great reason to question his Spiritual Condition and Interest in Christ Jesus Not but that it 's possible to be prosperous and a true Servant of God but where there is one that is so there are multitudes that drown themselves in Destruction and Perdition I shall conclude with St. Paul's Saying 1 Tim. vi 17 18. Charge them that are Rich in this World that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain Riches but in the Living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy That they do good that they be rich in good Works ready to Distribute willing to Communicate SERMON XXXIV St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 43. Ye have heard that it hath been said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy FOR the right understanding of this Passage these following things will deserve Consideration I. By whom it was said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy II. How agreeable this principle is to corrupt Nature III. How contrary to the Principles of Reason and the design of Christianity IV. What is the true import of love to our Neighbour V. Whether in some sense it may not be a Duty to love our Neighbour and hate our Enemy I. By whom it hath been said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy And most certainly 1. It hath not been said so by Almighty God in the Old Law we have indeed a Command Levit. xix 18 Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self but we read no where Thou shalt hate thine Enemy so far from it that there are express Precepts against it as Exod. xxiii 4 5. When thou seest thine Enemies Oxe or Ass going astray thou shalt freely bring him back to him again and if thou shalt see the Ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burthen and wouldst forbear to help him thou shalt surely help with him Besides the Law God gave the Jews was never intended as a contradiction to the Law of Nature it was to be a help to the better Observance of it but never design'd to reverse it or any part of it and we are certain the Law of Nature enjoyns no such thing but Mercy rather than Hatred to an Enemy and this is evident from hence not only because the Law of Nature bids us imitate God who is kind to the Unthankful and to the Evil but because we find that the very Heathens from the dictates of this Law of Nature have shewn Mercy even to their greatest Foes not only by giving them decent Burial after Death as Hannibal and others but also by exercising acts of Charity toward them while they were alive and therefore God it could not be that said so Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy And therefore 2. If God did not say so then the Men that said and taught so must be the same Men who had corrupted several other Laws of God mention'd in this Chapter and detorted them from their original Intent and Design to accommodate them to the sinful Humours of Men and to the interest of the Flesh even the Scribes and Pharisees and their Ancestors the ancient Masters of the Oral Law who by their Traditions rendred the Law of God of none effect I have observ'd often in the preceding Discourses what false Glosses and Interpretations these Men did put upon the Sixth and Seventh Commandment and the Law of Divorces and Retaliation In like manner this Precept of loving their Neighbour could not escape their Sacrilegious Hands for as their business was to make the Moral Law of God as easie to the Flesh as they could and as they had made several Experiments of that Nature in others so they dealt with this excellent Precept Indeed many of them in Christ's Days made no great Account of this Duty for when they spoke of the summ of the Law of God they repeated part of the sixth Chapter of Deut. Hear O Israel the Lord thy God is one God and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Might This they said taking no notice of the Precept of loving their Neighbour was the summ of the Law of God and this they inscrib'd and writ upon their Philacteries or Parchments they tyed to their Wrists and Foreheads Which shews that the Lawyer who came to Christ to enquire of him What he must do to inherit eternal Life Luke x. 27 was more rational than the rest for when Christ asked him how readest thou he answered Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength and thy Neighbour as thy self Upon which our Saviour tells him That he had answer'd right or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Mark hath it Mark xii 34 So that set aside some few judicious thinking Persons the Scribes and Pharisees in general pretending warrant from Tradition had very slight and slender Notions of loving their Neighbour and though they granted it was a Command of God and confessed their Obligation to obey it yet they had made so many restrictions of it that in effect they had render'd it very insignificant For 1. By the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Neighbour they understood a Friend or a Person that was kind to them or had obliged them the largest signification they would allow of was that of a Jew or a Person of the same Tribe and Kindred and
Injury no doubt will be able to endure a less This is that policy a Christian is to make use of to Dissipate the Stratagems of the Devil and he that applies himself to this Method of resisting Revengeful Desires hath something to bear witness that he is become wise unto Salvation 2. This is an excellent sign that we have a huge command of our Passions and Affections Were I to shew a Christian in his Beauty I would shew him in this dress for he that is slow to Anger is better than the Mighty and he that rules his Spirit than he that takes a City Prov. xvi 32 The mighty Men whose Names sound big who have filled the World with Slaughters and made themselves masters of Kingdoms Cities Towns Countries have still been Strangers to this command of their Passions This command makes a Man a Christian for they that are Christ's have crucified the Flesh with it's Affections and Lusts and no doubt he shews that he hath Crucified all these that rather than return Evil for Evil endures a greater Evil. 3. This is the most likely Method to make People admire and fall in love with Religion which gives Men such power and enables them to do what Nature Art and Philosophy are not able to effect We have a great instance of this in a case not very unlike that I speak of in a pious Man in India who Preaching the Gospel to those Barbarians as he stood in the Street discoursing of Christ Crucified an Indian full of Spight and Spleen having gathered what filth and nastiness he could came up to him and spit full in his Face The good Man not at all concerned at the Affront gently wiped away the Spittle and went on in his Discourse not moved in the least with the injury an Act so Astonishing to that barbarous People that abundance came in and professed themselves Proselytes of Christianity There are so few Men in this Age that practice these stricter Precepts of our Religion that that 's one Reason why so few are Converted or become Obedient to the Faith Such extraordinary acts of Patience under Injuries would make Sensual Men stand amaz'd at the mighty Power of God in our Souls and oblige them to yield their Members Servants of Righteousness unto Holiness 4. From hence flows the sweetest Peace and Satisfaction even from hence when rather than return Evil for Evil we are ready to suffer a greater Evil. Self-denial is the Key that unlocks the hidden Treasures of Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Hence came that mighty Peace we find in the Holy Apostles and their Followers St. Paul tells us a very strange thing of himself 2 Cor. vii 4 I am exceeding joyful in all our Tribulation This looks like the greatest Paradox What rejoyce in Chains in Hunger in Thirst and Nakedness What rejoyce in Dungeons in Prisons in Distresses by Land and by Water Is it possible to rejoyce in Persecutions in being made the filth and off-scouring of the World It had been something if he had said with Solomon Eccles. ii 4 I am exceeding joyful because I have made me great Works built me Houses planted Vineyards made me Gardens and Orchards planted me Trees of all kind of Fruits made me Pools of Water to water therewith the Wood that brings forth Fruit and gotten me Servants and Maidens and had Servants born in my House and because I have great Possessions of great and small Cattle and have gather'd Silver and Gold and the peculiar Treasure of Kings and have gotten me Singers and Women-Singers c. These are the gaudy things that make the Children of Men merry and joyful but to talk of being exceeding joyful under a very sorrowful scene of Misery this sounds as if the Apostle were besides himself But no the good Man was in his Wits his Reason strong and lively within him and he felt what he said and what could be the Reason of this Joy Why It was Self-denial and the greater the Self-denial is the greater is the Joy and what greater Self-denial could there be than what he mentions 1 Cor. iv 12.13 Being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we entreat as if he had said Rather than return Evil for Evil we are ready to suffer a greater Evil Men in whom sense and love of the World reigns must needs be unacquainted with this Joy But thus it is not with Persons who live by Faith in the Son of God These both taste it and feel it and the reason is because they tread in the Steps of Christ Jesus who when he was reviled reviled not again and when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judges righteously 1 Pet. ii 23 Inferences 1. From these words it doth not follow that therefore the Office of the Magistrate is needless or that a Christian cannot lawfully and conscientiously be a Magistrate These words of our Saviour are indeed alledged to prove it and the Objection runs thus If we Christians are to endure Injuries patiently are not to demand Retaliation from the Magistrate and rather than Revenge our selves are to suffer a greater Injury the Office of a Magistrate which consists chiefly in revenging Wrongs and Injuries and in returning Evil for Evil is needless nay dangerous nor can a Christian conscientiously engage in an Office which obliges him to act contrary to the rule of Christ for what doth the Magistrate but resist the Evil Man and if he be not to be resisted how can a Christian safely execute or discharge that Office I answer That this Precept of our Saviour is given to private Christians or to Christians in a private Capacity and not to Magistrates will appear from the following Particulars 1. As Christ hath no occasion here to talk of Magistrates Christian Magistrates I mean so it cannot be rationally suppos'd that he prescribes any Law to them The Persons he speaks to were Disciples invested with no secular Authority and though he speaks to all his Disciples both those that were then and who were to succeed them yet he considers them still in the capacity of Christians not as they are or may be entrusted with Power and Authority for the Publick Good which respects must necessarily require other Measures 2. Christ did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfil it but if he had abolished the Office of Magistrates or made it unlawful he had destroy'd a considerable part of the Law of Moses which doth not only relate to Magristrates but makes the Office indispensibly necessary 3. Christ came to explain and revive the Law of Nature which Law requires Peace and Order in a Common-wealth and this not being to be had without Magistrates which may encourage those that do well and punish the Evil-Doers it must follow that Magistrates as Magistrates are not concern'd in this Precept 4. How can this Text be levell'd against the Power of Magistrates when Magistrates are the
made about it it implies no such Contradiction as the Heathens and sensual Men did or may imagine For 1. Let us grant it's hard but the harder the work is the greater is the Reward He that gave this Command understood what Reward was design'd for the Votary No marvel if Heathens thought it strange who had but imperfect and broken and uncertain Notions of another Life If the Reward be proportion'd to the Difficulty we see Men refuse no Pains What is daily practis'd in Martial or Warlike Exploits is a demonstration of it The recompence Christ designed for those who should chearfully obey this Command doth not only equal but infinitely transcend the difficulty of the Task and he that considers what is promised must confess that the work is not worthy to be compared with the grandeur of the Recompence and therefore there is nothing unreasonable in the Injunction 2. Of all Men those who are in love with any Vice have no reason to talk against this Precept for they practise what they condemn and do things as unnatural as loving an Enemy can be supposed to be Were it not for the lapsed Condition of Man and the depravation of our Faculties Sin would be a very unnatural thing to the Soul The blessed Spirits who have left Mortality and Things below and recover'd their primitive Integrity and Innocence have as great an antipathy to Sin as Men here on Earth can have to a Toad which shews that Sin is an Enemy to a rational Soul and as contrary to right Reason as Darkness is to Light or a Chronical Distemper is to Health and that it is agreeable upon no other account than Cinders and Ashes and Chalk are to some Stomachs because of their Corruption So that a vitious Man really loves his Enemy nay his greatest Enemy He loves the Devil that prompts him to it that Devil whom at other times he doth Abjure and at whose Presence he would tremble he loves Damnation and Eternal Death for so we read Prov. viii 36 And therefore of all Men such Persons have no reason to speak against this Rule as unreasonable 3. What is commanded here hath been done as I shall shew in the sequel How and which way and by what means it hath been done how far the Grace of God must concurr what Industry must be used what Impediments are to be removed and how the whole concern is to be managed I do not now enquire but supposing that it hath been done the Inference is Rational that it may be done again It 's true they were Saints and Holy Men who have done it but since it is very possible to be a Saint and to arrive to a state of Holiness it follows this Precept is practicable and far from being impossible Nay 4. It hath been done with respect to some Acts at least by natural Men and upon the account of Temporal Interest either in a Bravado or out of Generosity or to be talk'd of and to have Glory of Men Examples and Passages of this Nature are frequent in History and if it were possible to do it upon a motive of Temporal Interest why should it be thought impossible to be done upon a greater Motive even Mens eternal welfare It is but changing the Principle which is the spring of Motion and the shining Brass may become Gold the Counterfeit a real Vertue and the Shew may turn into Substance And having thus removed the grand Objection that lies against this Precept I now proceed to explain it I. The general Command Love your Enemies II. The Branches or the Particulars of it Bless them c. I. The general Command Love your Enemies And here I must note 1. That Christ doth not speak here of a publick or professed and open Enemy of our Country or Nation that makes War upon us and seeks the destruction of the Community or a subversion of the Government for though there is an Humanity to be shewn even to a Publick Enemy by what the Prophet Elisha did to the Host of Syria when he had enclosed them in Samaria the King of Israel would have dispatch'd them with the Sword No saith the Man of God Set Bread and Water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their Master 2 Kings vi 22 And we know that even Heathen Nations have allow'd decent Burial to a publick Enemy when slain in Battel yet these are not the Persons Christ directly aims at in these words Christ as he came not to reverse the Laws of Government nor prescrib'd a Model or Platform of it but left Governments as he found them supposing them to be agreeable to the Law of Nature and the good of Mankind so by this Precept he did not forbid Christian Kings and Princes entring into a just Defensive War for the Security of their Country nor can it be imagin'd that by this Rule he would oblige Magistrates and Sovereigns so to Love the Publick Enemy as to let him Rage and Ravage and Burn and Plunder without any Opposition This Precept being given to Christians consider'd as they live and converse together we must conclude that by the Enemies who are to be loved are meant Enemies in a more private Capacity such as we meet with in Conversation and in the Places and Stations we are in whether they be High or Low whether Superiors or Equals or Inferiors Nor 2. Must we think that this Precept is given to Magistrates with respect to Malefactors and Publick Offenders as if by Vertue of this Command they were not to punish them This would be manifest Injustice to the Publick Good and we may be very confident Christ would not have us do Evil that Good may come out of it nor obey one Precept at the expence of another Though a Magistrate if he will act Conscientiously ought to behave himself as a Father who loves his Child when he doth Chastise him and therefore Chastiseth him because he loves him so Magistrates are to punish with Pity and Compassion and in private Injuries where their Office is not concern'd they are bound to Forgive and love their Enemies as much as others yet doth not this interfere with the necessary administration of Publick Justice not to mention that it is said in the Text Love your Enemies but a publick Malefactor or Offender is not properly the Magistrates Enemy I mean no Enemy to his Person or Fortune or Relatives but to the Law of the Land and the common Good and therefore if the Magistrate doth punish him he doth not punish him as his Enemy and therefore Sins not against this Precept but as an Enemy of the Common-wealth in general It 's possible the Malefactor may be an Enemy to the Magistrate consider'd in other Circumstances in which case the Magistrate is bound to exercise all the acts of Love here mention'd toward him and notwithstanding these punish him according to Law and the Duty of his Place and Calling So that the
this mean Spirit of theirs as being contrary to this natural Principle of loving those who love us 3. The same may be said of all Persons who have been signally oblig'd by others and yet can hardly afford a good Word to those from whom they have receiv'd such signal Kindness but carried away by Faction or Interest speak Evil of them and Revile them would to God such Persons were as rare among us as African Monsters are but even of such ungrateful Wretches the Age we live in gives us too many Instances David complained of them long ago Yea mine own familiar Friend in whom I trusted and who did eat of my Bread hath lift up his Heel against me Psal. xxi 9 and could any thing be more base or barbarous than for Herod to go about to kill Christ who had purged his Country of Devils and Diseases Luke xiii 31 And was it not a most Inhumane Attempt for those very Soldiers whose Lives St. Paul preserv'd from Shipwrack to consult to kill him with the rest of the Prisoners Acts xxvii 42 43. And it seems this wicked Generation doth last still And what shall I say more we cannot without Grief behold the many bold Offences which are committed daily against this Principle of Nature even in those Relations the very Name of which speaks mutual and reciprocal Kindnesses such as Husband and Wife Brothers and Sisters Masters and Servants c. who would suspect Unkindness among those Relatives to those especially who study and seek their Good and are more than ordinarily concern'd to express their Love and Respect to them and in whose Mouth is the Law of Kindness yet even in this Grass the Serpent lies and the Snake doth hiss After all the Rich and Great offend against this Law such I mean as are Morose and Proud and Self-conceited and do not think a poor Neighbour their Brother in Christ worthy of a civil Salutation a Civility not denied by Heathens and Publicans to the meanest of their Brethren and of this nature are those false Salutations and pretended Civilities of dissembling and Hypocrital Men such as Joab and others whose Words are softer than Butter but War is in their Hearts who seem indeed to love those who love them but it is from the Teeth outward for they hate them within There needs no Gospel to condemn such bold and daring Sinners The light of Nature will serve to do it though it is confess'd that the Gospel under which they live and which teaches them greater and better things will help to aggravate both their Sin and Punishment And this will justifie our third Enquiry III. How Men come to sink so low so much beneath Heathens and Publicans as to act against this natural Principle And 1. They have very weak dull and dark apprehensions of the worth and nature of Christianity and indeed of any Religion some Religion or other they must profess and since Providence lets them stumble upon the Christian they embrace it but cansider not what it imports how holy its Precepts are how rich its Promises how ample its Advantages how clear its Revelations how great its Excellencies and how justly it requires greater Strictnesses than either Judaism or Heathenism or any other Religion in the World This Consideration would make them dread offending against the Law of Nature and make them asham'd to think that they who are bound to do more than others should not do so much as others These things being no Objects of their Thoughts they have a very low Opinion of the Religion they profess and therefore are not concern'd nor frighted if they fall below the Grandeur of it lower than Heathens and Publicans and consequently do not love those who love them 2. Their Lusts are stronger than their Religion This natural Principle of loving those who love them is agreeable enough to their Reason and Speculation but some predominant Lust either Avarice or Ambition or Pride or Envy or Lasciviousness or Delight in vain Company or something their sickly Desires crave and which they fancy their reciprocal Love would hinder them from some such Lust I say reigning and domineering within it damps and drowns that reciprocal Love they owe to those that love them A Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Lust and enticed saith St. James Ch. i. 14 As natural as it is to be kind to those who are so to us yet if a Man gives way to some violent Lust or Desire and le ts that have the upper-hand it will draw and force the Man away from the most easie and most familiar and most rational Duty whatsoever Not to mention that if the Party who is or hath been kind be defective in one Act if after nineteen Kindnesses he fail to do the twentieth This shall be thought by such Persons an Argument sufficient to justifie their want of reciprocal Love and Affection But this shews the disingenuity of their Temper and that an Evil Spirit hath taken Possession of their Hearts and committed a Rape upon the dictates of their Reason and Understanding And thus Men come to act against Principles which even Heathens and Publicans do observe Inferences I. I observe here That Religion is not intended to make Men Clownish and Uncivil For our Saviour in the Text supposes saluting our Brethren to be not only Lawful but a natural Duty which God expects of Men as Men. Indeed he would have us do more than this comes to and extends it even to Enemies and to Persons who have wrong'd affronted and abus'd us but he doth not deny the lawfulness of it but establishes this lower Duty which even Heathens and Publicans count reasonable And therefore that Sect which places Religion in forbearing all external Salutations sins against a natural Duty The Gospel doth not abolish but exalt all natural Duties and sets them in a brighter Light and that therefore if saluting our Brethren or Fellow Christians be a natural Duty it must be much more a Christian Duty so that the Spirit of the Hat seems rather a Spirit of Pride and Delusion than the Spirit of God which inclines the Soul to Assability Courteousness and Civility and Respect to Superiors Nor must the condescention of Superiors to the meanest Capacity or their Humility make us lay aside the Respect we owe them for this is to give occasion that the way of Truth is Evil spoken of and to bring an Evil report upon the good Land It 's true in Christ we are all equal with respect to the Privileges and Advantages that come by Christ they being promised or tender'd to all but that doth not destroy the external Respect Obeisance and Civility we owe to Persons of different Ranks and Qualities or to Men whom Providence hath raised above the common level in Church or State I grant the Men of this World will call that Clownishness when a good Man will not drink with them nor comply with their Sensualities
must this be to be so concerned for your good Works A Father your Father so great a Father A Father that dwells on high to humble himself and stoop to look upon your good Works and withall declare his willingness to accept of them surely this is self-denial infinite For him that is higher than the Heaven Higher than the Highest Higher than the greatest Potentates to vouchsafe a favourable Aspect to your good Works surely this must this should one would think prevail with many of you who retain some Sense of your Duty Nay and he is therefore said to be in Heaven to let you see where you shall be and whither you shall go when you leave this World having let the Light of your good Works shine before Men even into that Heaven where himself is adored by Angels and all the Morning Stars sing together where his own infinite Felicity fills all that are about his Throne with Joys and Ravishments unspeakable And therefore suffer this word of Exhortation and let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven SERMON XVIII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil CHRIST having in the foregoing Discourse open'd and laid down the true Nature of the Christian Religion what it imports and what Qualifications it challenges and what Temper it requires and told us that a Christian is a Person Humble and concern'd for his own and other Men's Sins Meek and earnestly desirous of high degrees of Holiness Merciful and kind and Pure in Heart and of a peaceable and peace-making Disposition and Patient under Injuries and in his Affliction comforting himself with the Rewards of Heaven and the Blessings of Eternity and ready to do good and profitable and useful both to the Souls and Bodies of other Men I say having laid down these Characters as Essential to a Christian to a Disciple of the Holy Jesus He now goes on not only to let his Disciples see how much of the Old Religion he intended to adopt into his own which he was going to publish but to enforce the Duties he had mention'd from the Law and from the Prophets shewing that in prescribing the aforesaid Rules and Directions he was so far from contradicting the Law and the Prophets that he spoke their Sense and Meaning and that this was not to call them away from an Esteem and Veneration of the Law and the Prophets but to increase it and that what the Law and the Prophets had but obscurely hinted he was come to explain more largely and to deliver more clearly and to press with greater Motives and Arguments Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil In the Explication of which Words these four Things do naturally offer themselves to our Consideration I. What the Law and the Prophets are II. What it was that rais'd a Suspicion or made People think and fear That Christ came to destroy the Law and the Prophets III. How it appears That he came not with that intent IV. How he fulfill'd the Law and the Prophets I. What the Law and the Prophets are 1. By the Law and the Prophets are meant the Doctrine contained in the Books of the Old Testament call'd by various Names in Holy Writ sometimes the Law in general Joh. x. 34 sometimes Moses and the Prophets Luke xvi 31 sometimes the Law of Moses the Prophets and the Psalms Luke xxiv 44 sometimes the Scripture Joh. v. 39 sometimes the Book of the Lord Isai. xxxiv 16. sometimes the Law and the Prophets as here because this Book consists not only of the Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sina for the Instruction and Edification of the Jewish People but the Writings of other Men also Men inspired by the Holy Ghost who writ either in a Historical or Dogmatical or Prophetical way strictly so called by way of foretelling things to come even as the Spirit of God which governed their Thoughts and Pens thought fit to dictate to them for the use of the Church or Gods People The Law of Moses is as it were the Text the other Books are in the nature of Comments They are called the Law and the Prophets not as if the Law were not written by a Person inspired but the Law is named distinctly either because the Law had some peculiar marks of Divinity in it as appears from the circumstances of its Publication or because it was written by a Prophet of a higher Order and such was Moses Exod. xxxiv whose Prophetick Office God doth distinguish from that of other Persons moved by the Holy Ghost or because the principal part of the Books of Moses the Ten Commandements are said to be written by the Finger of God which gives the Law a special Priviledge so that both the Law and the Prophets came from God only the Law had something more Majestick than ordinary in it and therefore deserves to be named by it self This Law of Moses consists of Commands of a very different Nature Some are the result of natural Justice and Equity of the Eternal Law imprinted on the Souls of Men of the Law of Nature or of right Reason and Deductions from the common Notions of God and of his Perfections and the Relation we stand in toward him and toward one another the summary whereof is the Decalogue or the Ten Commandements Another sort of Commands in that Law relates to the outward manner of Gods Worship and to external Ceremonies to Gifts and Sacrifices and Meats and Drinks and divers washings and carnal Ordinances imposed on the Jewish People until the time of the Reformation Heb. ix 9 10. And these Commands are purely positive depending altogether upon the Will and Pleasure of the Law-giver and therefore alterable and mutable as Occasion and Time and Necessity and the Reason of things c. require and this is commonly stiled the Ceremonial Law A third sort hath Relation to Policy and Government made up partly of Rules issuing from natural Justice and Equity partly of Constitutions such as the Nature and Temper of the People and the Situation of the Country and the Neighbourhood of the Nations who dwelt round about them and the danger of being infected by them and the Circumstances they were in did suggest commonly call'd the Civil or Judicial Law 2. These three sorts of Commands given by God to Moses made up the Digests the Pandects or the Body of the Jewish Law and that 's it that 's commonly understood by that known and frequent Expression in Scripture especially the New Testament the Law it 's written in the Law or the Law saith c. even the complex of all these Laws given at the Command of God by Moses to the Jewish People and as such they did particularly oblige the
challenges the Jews to tell him wherein he acted against the least tittle of it John viii 46 As to the Ceremonial he was circumcised the eighth day observed the Sabbath eat the Passover kept the Festivals of the Synagogue c. And as to the Judicial none could charge him with breaking of it so far from it that when the Collectors came for Tribute Money for the use of the Temple rather than not obey the Rulers who had sent them he would work a Miracle and ordered Peter to go to Sea and take a Fish where he should find a piece of Money and give it for Peter and himself Matt. xvii 24 2. Not only himself observ'd it but he bid others observe it too Matt. xix 17 when the young Man ask'd him What good thing he should do to inherit Eternal Life he directs him to the Commandements of the Law Nay in the Ceremonial part of it while the Oeconomy of it lasted he advises others to observe it and therefore when he had cleans'd a Leper the next thing he advises him to do is to go and shew himself unto the Priest and to offer the Offering which Moses had Commanded Matt. viii 4 3. Upon all occasions he hath commended the Law and the Prophets and asserted their Divine Original and Consonancy with the Will of God as Matt. vii 12 Matt. xxii 40 Matt. xxiii 23 Add to all this 4. He proved his own Doctrine out of the Law and the Prophets even all that he did Luke xxiv 44 The Resurrection of the dead Luke xx 37 His own Resurrection Luke xxiv 26 27. His Commission to preach the Gospel Luke iv 21 The Truth of his Testimony John viii 17 18. His Divinity John x. 34 35. And surely he that observ'd the Law himself exhorted others to observe it asserted the Divinity of it and proved his own Doctrine out of the Law and the Prophets could not possibly be said to come to destroy the Law and the Prophets But IV. How did Christ fulfil the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil 1. By making it the Rule of his Actions as I have hinted already it 's true he was charged sometimes with breaking the Sabbath and therefore with Violation of the Law but all considerate Men may see this was unjustly imputed to him for the Law though it did forbid all servile Works upon the Sabbath yet it did not prohibit works of Necessity and Charity and such was his healing the Paralytick and the Man whose Hand was wither'd the Blind and the Woman who had had a Spirit of Infirmity eighteen years c. and therefore this could be no breach of the Law 2. The Ceremonial Law particularly he fulfill'd not only by submitting to the Rubrick of it while he lived but by making good what was intended by it The Ceremonial Law was only to bind the Jews while their Republick lasted and perhaps was impos'd upon them by way of punishment for the sin of the Golden Calf Besides it pointed at the Spiritual Worship the Messiah was to teach his Followers which accordingly he did As it enjoyn'd Sacrificing so it represented the Sacrifice himself was to offer to God for the sins of Mankind for these very Jews to whom that Law was given Their Circumcision represented our Baptism their Passover our Eucharist He fulfilled all this by answering God's intent in it So that he did not destroy this Law but the nature of it was such that it could not but fall upon the account of its Imperfection It being all Shadow it ceas'd in course when the Substance was come 3. He fulfilled it not only by rescuing it from the false Glosses their Superstitious Teachers had put upon it but by giving a more perfect Rule of Life That River was swallow'd up in the Sea of Goodness that came along with him He that distils Wine into an excellent Spirit or turns the courser Metal into Gold doth indeed cause the meaner Material to lose it self in a nobler but he doth not properly destroy it no more than a Drop of Water is annihilated by mixing with a rich Cordial What was good and excellent in the Law of Moses he retain'd and what he did retain he resin'd and sublimed and advanced into Rules more excellent and therefore fulfill'd it the rather because the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better Hope did by the which we draw nigh to God Heb. vii 19 4. He fulfilled it by confirming and establishing the principal design of it The end of the Law of Moses was to make Men good for which reason it is called Spiritual Rom. vii 14 for its design was to oblige Men to love God with all their hearts and with all their minds and with all their strength Deut. vi 5 and to love their Neighbours as themselves Levit. xix 18 upon these two Pillars the Law and the Prophets are said to hang Matth. xxii 37 38 39. But whatever the intent of God was in that Law we see very few among the Jews answer'd that end and design for want of sufficient helps which the Messiah was to afford and therefore this was a Schoolmaster to lead them to Christ and a motive to long after him The Law was cloath'd with Terrours and Threatnings which caused the Spirit of Fear but the Messiah was to give them the Spirit of Adoption and accordingly Christ fulfilled it by giving larger supplies whereby they might be able to act according to the intent of it such as offering Pardon for sins past pouring out his Spirit upon men in a more plentiful manner and setting Eternal life before them c. 5. He fulfilled the Prophets particularly by doing and suffering what the Prophets said He as the Messiah was to do and suffer and that 's the reason why when Christ did do or suffer any thing it is so often added that it might be fulfill'd what was spoken by the Prophet In a word There were Four things in the Law and in the Prophets which Christ fulfilled 1. The Promises and Predictions 2. The Precepts of the Moral Law by interpreting them to better purposes 3. The Precepts of the Ceremonial Law by performing what was prefigured by them 4. The Sanctions of the Law by changing Temporal into Eternal punishments and He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets by his Doctrine Practice and Command Inferences I. See here the fate of sincere upright impartial and conscientious Reformers Christ came to reform the Jews who were overrun with Error and Superstition and yet behold they give out that he came to destroy the Law and the Prophets What Christ did was nothing but reducing the Law and the Prophets to their true genuine and ancient lustre and splendor and setting them in their own light yet so ungrateful was that Generation that they nick-name all this destroying the Law and the Prophets This came purely from the Devil's Malice who to put a stop to
Principles and went astray from the center of his Happiness No doubt Antiquity is venerable but it must be in a good Cause and where Truth and that join together the Argument is perswasive and may be call'd invincible But a thing is not therefore true because it is antient nor doth it command Assent because of its uncommon Pedigree Sin and Error lose little of their Deformity by appealing to antient Times and an Error is so much the worse by how much it defends it self by the Practice of former Ages Idolatry and all the Vices in the World may shelter themselves under this Roof and there is no Villany so great but Men may find a President two or three thousand Years ago The Priests of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus called the Wicker-image of that Goddess 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fallen down from Jupiter meerly because it was antient and the Temple having been seven times ruin'd and built up again and this Image still preserved was to them an Argument that this Worship must be lawful Indeed at this rate a Man might even defend Sodomy with the Romish Archbishop Joannes Casa because it was practised in the Cities which God destroyed with Fire and Brimstone and the Jews would have had a good Plea for their Adoration of the Queen of Heaven because their Fathers had been used to it This very Argument makes the Allegations of the Roman Church from Antiquity ridiculous and they might as well espouse the Heresies of Ebian and Cerinthus because they lived in and about the Age of the holy Apostles When God hath given a Standard of Truth that must be the Rule whereby Truth and Error must be concluded and when that saith a thing is true it is not its being revived or taught but Yesterday that can make it false and whatever is contrary to that Form of sound Words must be Erroneous and False though it were as old as the Rebellion of Corah Dathan and Abiram The Worship of Images is not therefore lawful because Irene a superstitious Woman 900 Years ago got a company of illiterate and passionate Men together who decreed it in a Council nor is Sedition and Disobedience to Magistrates therefore justifiable because Gregory II. Pope of Rome in the eighth Century shook off the Authority of Leo Isaurus his Emperor And therefore let none of you plead for any Sin because it is the fashion nor allow themselves in Actions offensive to God's Holiness because it hath been the Custom of the Country to do so for many Ages This will be but a poor defence in the last Day to alledge that you follow'd the sinful Practices of your Ancestors or to say it was unmannerly to depart from that which was done before you for many Generations To be sure Men were good before they were bad and there was a Golden Age before that of Iron took place in the World and therefore if Antiquity be a motive nothing can challenge your Embraces more than Righteousness and dominion over your Appetite and Passions for that was in the World before Mankind knew what it was to depart from the living God Murder is as antient as the time of Cain yet no civiliz'd Nation under the cope of Heaven will allow of it because of its Antiquity So far from it that in all Countries it is order'd to be punish'd with the Death of the insolent Creature Which calls me to the II. Observation That Murder is a Crime which a Magistrate must by no means suffer to go unpunished for it hath been said Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the Judgment The Substance of this hath been said by Almighty God as well as by them of old time and so far as God hath said it it is a Law unalterable Murder is a truly crying Sin for the Voice of thy Brother's Blood crys unto me from the ground saith God Gen. IV. 10 This is a Crime which Nature it self trembles at and yet we see there are Wretches and Monsters who can steel and harden their Consciences against the Horror of it But God thunders against it from Heaven and because the Crime is so great he hath made a Law and given it to all Mankind That whoso sheds Mans Blood by Man i. e. by the Magistrates shall his Blood be shed Gen. ix 6 Nay if a wild Beast tears a Man who is going about his lawful Occasions in pieces though an irrational Creature God will strike that Beast dead because it kill'd Sanctius his Animal a nobler and more sacred Fabrick So tender is God of the Life of Man nor would he suffer his Tabernacle or Sanctuary to be a refuge for such a barbarous Wretch The Horns of the Altar could not save the Offender and from the very Temple he was to be dragg'd to the Gallows or place of Execution The whole Country comes to be defiled by the horrid Crime where it goes unpunish'd and that Magistrate makes his Soul black with Guilt that connives at the inhumane Action or out of respect to Greatness or Rank or Quality pardons the intollerable Extravagance Where this remains unpunish'd when known a Nation falls under the Curse of God and whatever Judgments befal them an Ounce of the unpunish'd Murder as the Jews say of the Sin of the Golden Calf may be said to be an Ingredient of their Calamity We have a Distinction in our Law betwixt Mans-Slaughter and Murder A Distinction which I wish did not too often cover that Bloody Crime which ought to be avenged by publick Justice The Word of God knows no such Distinction and tho' it provides for Chance-medly and gives pardon to the Man that unawares and without any intent to kill proves the occasion of another's Death yet this is nothing to that Act which Wrath and Anger whether sudden or premeditate doth produce to the Horror of the Creation Neither doth the Law of the Gospel nor the Law of Moses in this case before us reverse the Law of Nature and God is so resolute that the Magistrate shall punish such Offenders with Death that where they do not himself sometimes takes the Sword in hand and executes the presumptuous Destroyer of his Image Nay many times makes the Wretch that did the Fact and escapes the Magistrates Sword his own Executioner Alphonsus Diazius a Spaniard and a Roman Catholick having kill'd his own Natural Brother for turning Protestant for which he receiv'd the Praises and Applauses of considerable Men in the Church of Rome haunted and hunted at last by the Furies of his own Conscience desperately hang'd himself at Trent de callo Mulae suae saith the Historian upon the Neck of his own Mule It 's true there are those who guilty of such Crimes do yet escape the revenging Arm of God and Man here but the more terrible will be their Cup of trembling hereafter and God lets some like stall'd Oxen grow fat on this side the Grave that
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 THese words are an Appendix to those which went before they contain the Sanction which is intended to enforce the Duty of being reconciled to our offended Brother when Quarrels and Differences have risen betwixt us Laws lose their force without a Penalty annex'd and though one would think it was Punishment enough to threaten as Christ doth in the preceding Verse that without Forgiveness and Reconciliation our Devotions are not will not cannot be pleasing to God nor find acceptance in his sight which was the subject of our last Discourse Yet these words contain a Communication of something more dreadful which shall undoubtedly be inflicted on the Person that neglects to renew that Love and Charity which hath been broken by Quarrels by Wrath and Malice and Offences given to our fellow Christians To apprehend the true design of them you must know that our Saviour having in the four preceding Verses assured us of the greatness of the Sin of inordinate Anger and reproachful Language and unwillingness to forgive or to be reconciled to those whom we have offended goes on in the Text prosecuting the Subject he hath begun And that none might complain of Gods rigor and severity in casting a Man for an angry word or reviling Expression into Hell Fire shews by what degrees God proceeds to the Execution of that Sentence not only in avenging virulent and angry Expressions and Names and Titles but uncharitableness and backwardness to be reconciled to our Brethren to whom we have given just occasion of Offence First God offers Mercy and is willing to accept of our timely Repentance and thereupon to reverse the Judgment threatned If we fall out with our Brethren he will not presently take the forfeiture and bid the Executioner the roaring Lyon seize upon us but gives and allows time for Repentance and Reformation upon which he is willing to be Friends with us But if we delay that Repentance and change and forbear or neglect to be reconciled to God and Man his Patience then will turn into Severity and Vengeance For as among Men he that comes to terms with his Antagonist and agrees with his Adversary quickly yields betimes and doth not stubbornly stand out against a Man more potent than himself finds Favour and Mercy and kind Usages but if he be obstinate and inflexible he is without any more ado brought before the Judge and by him condemned and delivered to the Officers of Justice and by them thrown into Prison where he must lie and perish and never think to come out till all the Debt be paid So God is gentle and gracious and will not refuse him that betimes acknowledges his Folly which he hath committed in yielding to the Temptation of the Devil and the Flesh when they tempted him to uncharitable Language and Behaviour If by his Actions and Endeavours to be reconciled and to be Friends with his offended Brother and to live in Love and Peace with him for the future he agrees with God who is highly concerned in the Offence he will find very favourable Dealings at his Hands But if these actual Demonstrations of Charity be delay'd and the Man care not for the love of God and his offended Neighbour is intractable and obstinate in his Grudges and secret Hatred and Malice and scorns to return to his Duty God then will judge and doom that Man to Prison even to Hell where nothing neither Men nor Angels can deliver him where he must abide till all his Scores be paid off i. e. for ever This is plainly the meaning of our Saviour in the Text so that what is said here is a Similitude taken from judicial Proceedings used among Men against their knavish Debtors that are able to pay and will not The Application to the present Purpose being very easy it is not mention'd but is in effect the same with the Paraphrase I have given in the Premises Before I go any farther I must necessarily resolve a Case which lies in my way and to which the Text gives occasion viz. Suppose I have occasion to throw my Neighbour into Prison for Debt or some other Misdemeanour must I forbear to do it for fear of giving him any just Offence or if I have done it must I in order to be Reconciled to him let him out again perhaps to the undoing of my Family I Answer 1. That it is not altogether unlawful to throw a Man into Prison for Debt or some other great Misdemeanour is evident partly from the Practice of the Jews in the Text not condemn'd by our Saviour partly from the Publick Good which would be very much Prejudiced without it and partly from the Circumstances of the Person we have sometimes to deal with which may be so that it 's better for his Soul and Body to be sent to Prison than to go free not only because he is thereby kept from doing further Mischief to his Neighbours but because the Place he is confined to may be a means to bring him to a serious Sense of his Spiritual Condition For though there are Persons who are harden'd by Affliction and Danger yet where there is any Ingenuity left Affliction is the most likely means to make a Man come to himself again Yet 2. This throwing Men into Prison for Debt is not a thing to be done Rashly nor in Anger nor by way of Revenge nor because others do it nor or a trivial inconsiderable Debt in all which Cases it is certainly Sinful and Unlawful but upon very mature Deliberation and when all gentler means are Vain when the Person is very Vitious or Obstinate and will not pay what he ows though he be able to do it To throw a Christian into Prison who is fallen to decay not through Vice but by Providence whose conversation is Harmless and Blameless and who forbears Payment not because he is humorsom and will not but because he is not able this is Barbarous and can never be reconciled to the Rules of the Christian Religion in this Case a Man gives just Offence to his Neighbour and must be reconciled which cannot be done except he lets the Prisoner go free confesses his Fault to him and exercises Compassion to his Fellow Servant 3. From a Man's being offended at what we do to him it doth not always follow that therefore we have given him just Offence for we may do our Duty and he be offended at it which must not be therefore forborn because he complains at the Injury done him by that Duty as in the case of Reproof seizing a common Thief or Malefactor c. But then we give a just Offence when we do that to our Neighbour which the Law of Nature or of Revelation forbids to be done to him and consequently in Prisoning a wicked Man for Debt however he may storm at it and
complain of Wrong is no just Offence given since the Law of Nature and Scripture doth not absolutely forbid it and the Common Good which the Law of Nature hath respect to sometime requires it so that if a Person Vitious and Brutish and Covetous and Illnatured Base and Selfish who is able to pay and will not and deals Fraudulently and Deceitfully be cast into Prison it is no Breach of Charity provided still that it is not Anger or Malice or Revenge or delight in Men's Misery or some other base sinister End and Design that is the cause of our taking this rougher Way but love to Justice intent to reform the Offender by Affliction and care to prevent his continuance in Sin and doing hurt to others c. And if there be no Breach of Charity there needs no Reconciliation It 's granted the Law of the Land allows you to Arrest any Man that is indebted to you whether he be able to pay or not But may it not be said in this Case as Christ to the Pharisees in the Law of Divorce for the hardness of your Hearts the Law permits it but still it doth not hinder you from shewing Mercy The Law of the Land contradicts not the Law of the Gospel nor was it ever intended to draw Men off from their Duty to God and to their Neighbour and since Charity is the great Gospel Duty we must think our selves obliged more by what the Gospel commands than by what the Law of the Land permits and though it be a kind of Charity to punish Malefactors yet every Debtor comes not into this Number nor must those to whom it is an Affliction not to be in a Condition to satisfy their Creditors be confounded with the Wicked that borrows and pays not again This being Premised I shall consider what Use we are to make of these Words of our Saviour and this will soon appear if you will attend to the following Observations I. While a Man keeps or maintains Hatred and Malice to his Neighbour in his Heart God is his Adversary II. To agree with God betimes is our wisest Course III. God deals very gently with us before he lets us feel the heaviest Stroak of his Vengeance He both calls to Repentance and gives time for it IV. Delay of true Repentance provokes God to proceed to very severe nay to the severest Courses of Vengeance V. Hell is a Prison from which there is no coming out till all the Debt be paid I begin with the First I. While a Man harbours Hatred and Malice in his Heart to his Neighbour God is his Enemy-or his Adversary So much is evident from the Similitude here used where what is said of an Adversary among Men is referr'd to God as such a Person deals with a perfidious Debtor here on Earth so God will deal with the Uncharitable and Persons who will not be Reconciled to their offended Brethren Till Affliction and Trouble comes very few People will believe that God is their Adversary Indeed when a great Loss befalls them or some painful Disease seizes upon them or a Distemper that very much discomposes and disturbs their Minds hangs about them or some other Disaster unforseen and unlook'd for happens then God from whom the Affliction comes is look'd upon as an Adversary and Men are apt to believe he is angry with them but while Prosperity lasts and that Sun continues to shine upon them and Ease and Plenty are their Companions and like officious Servants wait upon them then God is a Friend and they will have him to be so sometimes whether he will or not But as Gods Favour and Hatred are not to be measured by outward Accidents not by outward Want or Plenty so it is certain it may infallibly be known whether God be our Friend or Adversary by our Obedience or Disobedience to his Holy Commands let our outward Condition be what it will So that if you live in Disobedience to his express and peremptory Commands it is a never-failing Sign that God is your Adversary though you wash your Feet in Butter and the Rocks pour you out Rivers of Oyl though your Oxen be strong to labour and your Sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousand in your Streets and particularly if no Argument no Motive no enforcive drawn either from the Word of God or from your Spiritual and Eternal Interest or from the Examples of Holy Men or from the reason of the Thing can prevail with you to be Reconciled to your Brethren with whom you are fallen out it is as sure as any Oracle in the Bible that God is your Adversary Perhaps such an Adversary you like very well that Crowns you with temporal Blessings and lets you enjoy what your Flesh desires and fills your Bellies with hid Treasures These are the Things you are fond of and you desire to be punish'd with such outward Conveniencies and Accommodations And indeed if this Life were all you have to look after the Argumentation or Inference would not be amiss But did not Dives live as Calmly and as Plentifully as you can do and yet when his Body dropt from him and was Buried the Man the unhappy Man felt what it was to have God for his Adversary The very Plenty he formerly enjoy'd became now an Ingredient of his bitter Potion and he felt the Might of his Adversary's Hand his former Prosperity was so far from being a Sign that God was his Friend that it gave Evidence that he was his Enemy and he that had formerly look'd upon him as the Fountain of Mercy now found him to be a Spring indeed not flowing with Milk and Honey but with Fire and Brimstone so that upon the whole Matter it is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God Heb. x. 31 And therefore certainly to agree with him betimes must be our wisest Course which is the II. Proposition I am to speak to Agree with thine Adversary quickly Agree with God! Who would have any Difference with him Who can grapple with him Who can resist him Who can make his Party good against him Poor feeble Clay Shall it rise against the Porter who hath Power to make of it a Vessel of Honour and Vessel of Dishonour Agree with him The Greatness the Majesty the Excellency of God one would think should be Motive great enough to labour to be at Peace with him To be at Peace with him is to be at Peace with our Consciences and with him who hath promis'd to make all our Enemies to be at Peace with us and can make all the Elements to be at Peace with us so that the Sun shall not smite us by Day nor the Moon by Night so that the Air shall not infect us nor the Water drown us nor the Fire burn us nor the Earth swallow us up But then how can we agree with him except we walk with him Except we be of the same Mind with him Can we say
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
dictate of the Law of Nature were strangely averse from all Oaths whatsoever insomuch that Clinias the Pythagorean when he might have escaped the Mulct or Penalty of three Talents which is about 8000 Pounds Sterling if he would but have Sworn though there was no Temptation to a false Oath in the Case yet would not and chose rather to submit to the Penalty than wrong as he thought his Conscience But it were to be wish'd that all Mankind were so honest that every Man's Word were as good and as firm as the most solemn Oath yet considering the Corruption that hath overspread the World the Rules of Justice and Righteousness and the good of Mankind make an Oath sometimes absolutely necessary because Justice and Equity and the good of Societies cannot be compassed without it As to Christ's saying But I say unto you swear not at all I shall tell you the sense and design of it when I come to explain it in Order and whatever Strictness not only many of the primitive Believers but some Pious Heathens have professed in this kind It is certain St. Paul who could not but know his Master's Mind did upon extrâ—ordinary occasions make use of these Religious Asseverations for what are those Expressions of his we meet with Rom. i. 9 2 Cor. i. 23 2 Cor. xi 31 Gal. i. 20 I call God for a Record upon my Soul God is my witness Behold before God I lye not I say what are all these but solemn Oaths and therefore it cannot be altogether unlawful for a Christian to use them upon some Occasions not to mention that the Gospel doth not reverse the Law of Nature and I have shew'd before that the Law of Nature hath taught most civiliz'd Nations to have recourse to them in things doubtful and since it was lawful under the Law of Moses I see no reason why it should not be so under the Gospel not only because Controversies and doubtful Cases will arise as much now as formerly but because an Oath was no part of the Ceremonial Law and consequently cannot be said to be abolish'd There is no doubt things so solemn so sacred so serious as Oaths ought to be us'd but seldom to make a Trade of it is the readiest way to Perjury The familiarity takes off from the solemnity of the thing and then there is an easy slip into Perjury And therefore it may not be amiss here to prescribe certain Rules and Limits and to shew when and where and upon what occasions an Oath the taking of an Oath may be lawful 1. When the Magistrate or the Powers which are set over us by Providence do command it This is the import of Exod. xxii 11 and this is part of that Obedience we owe to our Superiors who are Ministers to us for good and do not bear the Sword in vain Among the Jews the Magistrate might command an Oath to be taken Numb v. 19 21 and why not among Christians 2. It must be in things doubtful and where there is no other way to come to any Certainty but by an Oath which even Men of a loose Life if they have not thrown off all Religion will stand in awe of according to what the Apostle intimates Heb. vi 16 3. In a Thing of great Moment They that make Men Swear about Trifles as they have no great sence of Religion so they consider not the Nature and End of an Oath In Matters trivial where the gain or loss of either side is inconsiderable all wise and good Men have ever look'd upon pressing or taking an Oath as unlawful it being too sacred a thing to be used in Things mean and contemptible St. Paul made use of it as we said before but it was in Things relating to God and the Souls of Men and the good of Christian Societies 2 Cor. i. 23 The wiser Heathen thought it lawful in three Cases only 1. If it were to avoid Infamy and Disgrace and consequently rendring ones self incapable of serving the Publick 2. If it were to save a Man's Life or to free him from some considerable Danger 3. If the good of the Community or the common good of the Country Men are Members of did require it But in Money-businesses between Man and Man they thought it more Conscientious to be a loser than bring the Soul under the Obligation of an Oath and let it be consider'd whether such Men who exceed many Christians in strictness will not be their Judges in the last Day 4. In taking an Oath great simplicity must be used both in our Words and Intentions He that Swears to a thing which he either knows to be false or concerning which he is uncertain whether it be true or not deviates from this Simplicity and runs himself into the danger of Perjury and so doth he who by an Oath promises to do a Thing which he either doth not intend or endeavour to perform what he hath sworn to perform And of this Nature are all Mental Reservations and Equivocations in Oaths which is the reason why the Prophet requires us to Swear in Truth Jer. iv 2 The Temporal Inconveniencies that attend the performance of a lawful Oath do not make the Obligation less and therefore when David asks Who shall ascend unto the Hill of the Lord Psal. xv 1 he answers ver 4. He that swears to his own Hurt and changes not i. e. He that after he hath given his Oath finds the performance will be prejudicial to his Interest and yet will not alter the Word that is gone out of his Lips And this is agreeable to the simplicity we speak of 5. If an Oath be taken it must be in Things lawful not forbidden either by the Law of Nature or by Revelation i. e. the Reveal'd Will of God in the Scripture for this were to offer Things abominable to God more abominable than cutting off a Dog's-Neck or sacrificing Swines-flesh to make use of the most Holy Thing in things contrary to his Holiness This would be to set God against himself to make him witness to our Impieties and to get him to Patronize what his purer eyes abhor And therefore the Command is that we are to Swear in Righteousness Jer. iv 2 6. The Thing we Swear to do must be Possible and in our own Power either natural or adventitious and coming from the Spirit of God Impossibilities are no part of the matter of an Oath whether they be natural Impossibilities such as it is to turn a Blackamoor White or to make an Oxe speak or actual as that a Man who is at London to Day should be the same Day at York or in Law as for a Mayor of a Town to make an itinerant Judge or a Baron or Chancellor of the Kingdom the Law giving him no right There needs no store of Arguments to prove That such Impossibilities are no Ingredients of an Oath for they would make an Oath ridiculous and discover the Swearer to
whether he will take any Interest at all This must necessarily be so for notwithstanding this Law Patience under Injuries was a Vertue still even among the Jews to whom it was permitted by their Law to demand an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth or a Punishment in the same kind Thus stood the Case among the Jews And here lay their Crime The permission God gave them to demand Retaliation of the Magistrate to prevent a greater Evil by the Instigation and Instruction of the Pharisees they applied to the lawfulness of private Revenge and returning Evil for Evil and made that a Duty which at the best was but a permission vouchsafed to Carnal Men more than to Spiritual and would not understand that the Eternal Law of Goodness requir'd nobler Actions Christ who came to perfect Humane Nature and to reduce things to the best and primitive State makes that Patience under Injuries which was at least lawful among the Jews a Duty and what they might have done he commands to be done which is the second thing to be consider'd II. What Christ says to us who pretend to be his Followers But I say unto you that you resist not Evil i. e. the Evil Man that doth you an Injury But whosoever shall smite thee on the right Cheek turn to him the other also In which Precept 1. Christ intimates that the Law of Retaliation An Eye for an Eye c. was suited to the Jewish Oeconomy when the Church was in her Infancy but that was no just Obstacle to God's endeavours to lead Men to higher Perfection and consequently no contradiction to the Law he was going to deliver And since not resisting the Evil or Injurious Man was better than Resisting because it shew'd greater Courage it was convenient that what is better should be chosen by his Disciples who had better Promises Even in the Old Testament Non-resistance was better than Resistance and since it was necessary that his Followers should apply themselves to what was best he injoins this Non-resistance 2. By saying so he doth not forbid defending our selves in case we receive an Injury and shewing Reasons why we are unjustly dealt withal for he himself did so when he stood before the High-Priest and one of the Officers struck him with the Palm of his Hand John xviii 23 If I have spoken Evil bear witness of the Evil but if Well why smitest thou me Nor 3. Doth Christ forbid speaking to others to clear our Innocence to the Unjust or Injurious Man for St. Paul being wrongfully accused of the Jews and upon the point of being killed having been struck but just before called a Centurion to him and desired him to bring his Sisters Son to the chief Captain to vindicate his Innocence and to Rectifie his Mistakes concerning the Aspersions the Jews had cast upon him Act. xxiii 17 Nor 4. Doth Christ forbid here out of love to Justice and out of Respect to the Publick Good to Address our selves to the Magistrate in greater Injuries where Life and Fortune are concerned to complain to him and entreat him to bind the Offender to his good Behaviour and Restrain him from doing greater Mischief for St. Paul himself did so by appealing unto Caesar Act. xxv 11 But 5. That which is directly forbidden here is not only private Revenge and returning Evil for Evil but even going to the Magistrates in case of lesser Injuries such as Smiting on the Cheek to have the wrong Revenged and Punish'd And 6. That which is directly commanded here is this rather than return Evil for Evil to endure a greater Evil. Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right Cheek turn to him the other also i. e. rather than strike him again that strikes thee offer to him the other Cheek also So that upon a Review of the whole we find these three Duties enjoyned us as we are Christians I. We are not to return Evil for Evil. II. In lesser Injuries we are not presently to run to the Magistrate to have the Offender punished III. Rather than return Evil for Evil we are to endure a greater Evil. I. We are not to return Evil for Evil. This is not only the Language of the Gospel but the Language of the Law too for Solomon Prov. xxiv 29 gave Counsel to this purpose say not I will do so to him i. e. my Neighbour as he hath done to me I will render to the Man according to his Work which shews that even in the old Testament as I said before it was counted a nobler thing not to return Evil for Evil than to return it and that the Retaliation Moses speaks of was only permitted for the hardness of their Hearts The New Testament is so full of Commands of this Nature and I may add Examples too that it is almost needless to mention any however the principal you will find Rom. xii 17 20. Recompence to no Man Evil for Evil Dearly Beloved Avenge not your selves and 1 Pet. iii. 8 9. Be Pitifull be Courteous not rendring Evil for Evil nor Railing for Railing And that which makes this Precept very Reasonable is this 1. To render Evil for Evil is to Sin for Companies sake or to Sin because another Sins we should count that Man a very strange Creature that should make himself sick because another Man is so or run Distracted because another is Mad or Drown himself because another is weary of his Life The Man that doth us an Injury Strikes Wounds Abuses Reviles us or tells Lyes of us unjustly no doubt is sick his Soul is Distemper'd he acts below his Reason and runs the hazard of Drowning in the Gulf of Perdition and shall we do so He makes God angry with him and wrongs not only us but his own Soul too and are these things so Beautiful so amiable so Attracting that we need be fond of them It 's true we are apt to flatter our selves that what we do by way of Return is no Injury but a just Retribution but these are childish Evasions The Actions are the same the Wrath the Anger the Malice the Spight is the same our departure from the Rule of Vertue is the same and therefore the Sin must be the same So that in this case the blind leads the blind and we know what the consequence will be for both will fall into the Ditch 2. This rendring Evil for Evil is condemned by the very law of Nature which we learn best from Heathen Philosophers who had no Revelation to direct them Aristotle and Cicero indeed make it just and lawful to Revenge an Injury or to return Evil for Evil but the Platonists generally who had a greater Insight into the Nature of Morality and brought better minds to the study of it do look upon 't as a thing unworthy of a good Man and they call it falling into the same Distemper and Disorder that he is sick of who doth the Injury The Pythagoreans were of the same
mind and look'd upon him that returned the Injury as the worse Man of the two because he discomposed himself for another Mans folly and wronged his own Innocence and they laid it down as a maxim That to bite again when we are bitten was the quality of a Brute or wild Beasts not of a good or wise Man And if it seemed so unreasonable to meer Heathens a Christian must be blind beyond imagination that in all the light he hath perceives not the Absurdity of it 3. This is to invade Gods Right for Vengeance is mine saith he I will Repay Rom. xii 19 Had not God promised to Revenge our Wrongs something might be pleaded for our returning Evil for Evil. But God having taken that Province upon himself it must be strange Injustice and Presumption to take that Power out of his Hand and the Man that returns Evil for Evil doth as good as say I will not stay till God Revenges my cause I know not whether he will or no. It 's true he haâ—h said he will but I cannot be sure of it I will take the opportunity which offers it self and in despight of my Belief that he will see me Righted be mine own Carver I will take that Office upon my self which he is very slow and loath to discharge and I value not his Authority and what madness is this You 'l say perhaps since God works by Means and makes use of the Magistrate ordinarily to Revenge Mens Wrongs I may at least make use of that means and complain to them to have the Offender brought to condign Punishment But as to that whatsoever may be lawful in greater Injuries to be sure in lesser it is not which leads me to the second Proposition II. In lesser Injuries we are not presently to run to the Magistrate to have the Offender punish'd We are not only not to Revenge our selves in this case but we may not run to those in Power to have our Revenge that way gratified Whereas the Jews upon such occasions did run to the Magistrates to have the Offender punish'd with the loss of the same limb or part in which he had injured them Christ to lead his followers to greater perfection or to let them see what is the true import of the Law of Nature commands not to resist the evil Man as the Jews of old did by demanding Eye for an Eye c. and he intimates what he means by a lesser Injury even such as Smiting on the Cheek It 's true at this Day this is counted not only in Palaces but in Stalls and Shops one of the greatest Injuries and a box on the Ear is look'd upon as the most insufferable thing in Nature and some Men if they were sure to go to Hell the next Moment would not forbear returning the Injury at least Revenging themselves by means of the Magistrate But mad Men are not sit Judges of the reasonableness of a Law That this before us is so is evident from hence 1. To run presently to the Magistrate in lesser Injuries is an Argument of a very uncharitable Mind of a Temper that will cover nothing with its softer Mantle but is fond of exposing its Neighbour's nakedness Nay such a Temper acts the Reverse of the Qualities and Operations of true Charity mention'd 1 Cor. xiii 4 5. for it knows not what long suffering means it 's kindness goes out It cherishes Envy it 's Rash it discovers it's Pride it 's Behaviour is unseemly it seeks altogether her own it is easily provoked it thinks Evil it rejoices in Iniquity it believes the Worst Hopes nothing bears nothing endures nothing and therefore it cannot be Charity and without this all a Man doth is worth nothing 2. It is a sign of great Impatience and that neither the Precepts nor Examples of Patience recorded in Scripture for our Admonition do work upon us and consequently that we are Strangers to bearing Tribulation and a Christian that knows not how to bear Tribulation is no Christian. Patience is one of the corner-stones on which our Religion is and must be built and if the Foundation be destroyed what security hath a Man that he is one of the lively Stones whereof the Spiritual House is framed Patience cements all the other Vertues Rom. v. 3 4 5. 2 Pet. i. 6 It keeps them together and they do not break asunder If that be lost all the other Graces fall and the Poet says if the Master be Amisso rupere fidem if that come to any hurt all the rest do suffer Ship-wrack 3. By running presently to the Magistrate in lesser Injuries to be Revenged on the Offender we involve our selves in divers Sins such as misrepresenting our Neighbours Faults aggravating them beyond measure and drawing others into the same Errour delight in other Peoples misery Rejoycing at their fall Animosity secret Grudges Malice Hatred Contempt of God c. So fruitful is this Sin that out of its Belly flow divers impure Streams a Trojan Horse that carries fatal Enemies in its Bowels from which is nothing to be expected but Confusion and Desolation But this is not all we are not only not to return Evil for Evil not only forbear running to the magistrate in lesser Injuries but rather than return Evil for Evil submit to a greater inconvenience which it the III. Proposition Rather than return Evil for Evil we are to endure a greater Evil. Whosoever Smites thee on the right Cheek rather than serve him in his kind rather than requite him after his way turn to him the other also That this is the Sense is plain from hence because neither Christ nor St. Paul did turn the other Cheek to the Person that struck them and therefore the adversative Proposition must be understood comparatively rather than return the Injury suffer a greater Indeed there are Examples in Ecclesiastical History who according to the Letter of this Command have turned the other Cheek to the Smiter so did Spiridion they say so did an old Hermite in Ruffinus so did Paula so did Eulogius so did divers Monks if we believe the Roman Legends nay so fond were some that rather than not have an opportunity of fullfilling this command literally have provoked others to smite them on one Cheek that they might have an opportunity of turning to them the other also But this was part of that excessive Righteousness whereof Solomon Be not overmuch Righteous Eccles. vii 14 The true meaning of this Precept is that which I have mention'd And the reasonableness of this Rule will appear from hence 1. This is the best way to overcome the desire of Revenge Herein lies the Mystery of a Christians Conquest that we may be able to endure something that 's irksom to Flesh and Blood to endure something that is more irksom as he who had given a shilling to a poor Man and repined at it to overcome that Temptation went back and gave him two He that can endure a greater
Powers Ordain'd of God and Whoever resists that Power resists the Ordinance of God Rom. xiii 1 2 3. 5. There is no place in all the New Testament which forbids a Christian to be a Magistrate nay we have several Examples of Men who were Magistrates actually and converted to Christianity and yet neither quitted nor were they requir'd to quit that Office after their Conversion such were Nicodemus Joseph of Arimathea Both the Centurions Matth. viii and Act. x. and Sergius Paulus the Proconsul Acts xiii even the Soldiers in St. John the Baptist's Time Men who are the great Instruments of that Justice which the Magistrate sometimes executes were not oblig'd to lay down their Military Girdle or to forsake their Station and Employment 6. We are expresly commanded to pray for Kings and those who are in Authority 1 Tim. ii 1 2 3. and the Reason is given because God would have all Men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth which shews that we are therefore to pray for Magistrates especially if Infidels or Idolaters that they may be Converted and that under them we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty which End could not be obtain'd if immediately upon their turning Christians they were oblig'd to lay down or divest themselves from their Office 7. The Office of the Magistrate doth not at all clash or interfere with the Genius or Temper of the Gospel For what is the Office of a Magistrate but to make wholesome Laws for Governing the People under their Power with suitable Sanctions and to defend their Subjects from Wrong Violence and Mischief Neither of which acts are contrary to our Religion not making Laws for governing the People under their Charge for the Gospel as well as the Law of Nature permits every Master of a Family to make good Orders for those over whom God hath set him and it would be strange if Masters of a greater Family might not have this privilege God even in the New-Testament hath declar'd himself to be a God of Order and protests against Confusion and since without Magistrates and Laws and Sanctions it would be impossible to prevent Confusion He that allows of the End must needs be supposed to allow of the Means conducive to that End In a word without these Helps Cities and Common-wealths would be Dens of Thieves and Pest-Houses rather than civiliz'd Societies nor is defending their Subjects from Wrongs and Injuries contrary to the nature of the Gospel which prescribes Justice and Charity and who sees not that the defence of the Subject from Wrongs and Injuries is founded upon these two Cardinal Vertues Even inflicting Penalties upon the stubborn and obstinate rests upon these Principles so that the Office of the Magistrate must necessarily be lawful and commendable I grant were the whole World Christian and did all Christians live up strictly to the Rules of the Gospel there would be no Quarrels no Dissentions no Wrongs no Injuries and consequently there would be no need of Magistrates but such a blessed State we do not look for till we come to Heaven and till then there must be Magistrates Nor doth St. Paul 1 Cor. vi 1 2 3 4 5. find fault with the Office of the Magistrate but with those who upon every light occasion quarrel'd one with another and accused one another to the Magistrate and particularly to the Heathen Governors Nay the Apostle is so far from condemning the Office that he seems to advise them to erect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Tribunals of Judgment among themselves to decide Controversies and Quarrels betwixt Man and Man thereby to avoid running to the Heathen Magistrates whereby Christianity was like to become contemptible So that all these Particulars being laid together since God cannot be supposed to contradict himself this Precept of our Saviour must concern only Private Christians and must be intended to direct them how they are to behave themselves one toward another in their Conversation but is not level'd against the Power of Magistrates in a Christian Common-wealth not but that even a Magistrate may Sin against this Precept of our Master if private Revenge guides him in the execution of Judgment and Justice but where he doth the Duty of a Magistrate out of Love to the Publick Good there this Command cannot be suppos'd to interfere with his Power and Authority II. Since the Precept of the Text is the standing Rule whereby Christ's Disciples are to govern themselves it is very necessary I should press it upon you who came hither on purpose not only to hear but I hope to do what the Lord your God requires of you viz. Not to return Evil for Evil. Not to run in lesser Injuries such as a Blow or smiting on the Cheek to the Magistrate in order to have the Offender punish'd And Rather than return Evil for Evil to suffer a greater Evil or a greater Injury But I foresee an Objection which is like to dash all that I can say or alledge in order to persuade you to a conscientious Observance of these Rules of Holy Living Why should you urge this will some say for the thing is impracticable Not practicable Sirs It 's strange our great Master in whom are all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge should prescribe a thing that is not Practicable What did not he know our Frames Was he ignorant of what our Shoulders would bear Did not he consider the state and condition of our Souls I grant it is not practicable by Men who will not step out of the common Road of their carnal Interest and Lusts and sinful Inclinations I grant it is not practicable by Persons who will not make use of the Means and Motives and Enforcives and Helps which God affords to raise corrupted Nature into a nobler Temper I grant it is not practicable by Persons who will do nothing toward their own Happiness that will be Naked and Poor and Blind wretched and miserable in despight of all the Collyriums and Eye-salves and Medicines and Remedies which are offer'd and tender'd to them for their Cure But when there are a Thousand Moral Arguments before you and the Spirit of God and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are ready to give Life to those Arguments in your Souls when Heaven is willing to assist and Omnipotence offers to help you to raise you from the Ground and to inspire you with Courage and Valour suitable there to talk of the unpracticableness of these Rules is to blaspheme the Goodness of God and with that unprofitable Servant to accuse your Master That he gathers where he hath not strow'd and reaps where he hath not sown What should make it unpracticable What because Flesh and Blood saith it is so Is not Flesh and Blood that which you are oblig'd to fight against What are all the Arguments that are brought against the practicableness of it but what are borrow'd from the Opinion of the World
prosper and do well in the End and arrive safe in the Harbour of Eternal Rest and can we do amiss if we transcribe their Patience in our Lives and Conversations 6. By importunate Addresses to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will be importun'd and that importunity shews we are in good earnest Let 's but beg and implore the Grace of God as a hungry and thirsty Man doth beg for Meat and Drink and try whether God will not open the Windows of Heaven and fill our Souls with Food convenient with Grace I mean sufficient for our purpose God cannot deny himself and having promised his Spirit upon our strong and vehement Cries he will Hear and Answer and grant us our Heart's desire and the requests of our Lips and the breath of Life will enter into us even the Spirit of Courage and Wisdom which will throw down all Imaginations that exalt themselves against the obedience of Christ Jesus and we shall be able to do what he did and bear what he bore according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself to whom be Glory for ever SERMON XXXII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 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 IN these words our Saviour prosecutes the Task he had begun in the foregoing Verse and continues pressing the great Doctrine of Christianity of not returning Evil for Evil. And as in the words preceding he had told us how we may arrive to a habit of Patience under Injuries even by suffering a greater Injury so he now illustrates what he had said by two Instances more And if any Man will sue thee at the Law c. The Precepts here given are so directly contrary to the Humour of the Age we live in that if a Man was to measure Religion by the modern Practice he could inferr or conclude no less than that either no such Precepts were ever given or that Men have ceas'd to be Christians This makes me often admire the good Providence of God that hath preserv'd us these Oracles in Writing for had they been left to Tradition and to Conveyance by word of Mouth most certainly Man after the first Fervour and Piety had been over would have wilfully forgotten these Lessons so contrary to the Dictates of Flesh and Blood and we shou'd not have known whether any such Commands had ever been given by our Saviour But whatever contrariety there may be between these Rules and our carnal Inclinations and Appetites it 's rational to conceive that Christ would never have commanded all this if he had not intended it should be put in execution And therefore it is impossible that a Person should have any solid assurance that he is a true Christian who doth not heartily endeavour to bring his Mind and Will to submit in these Particulars to the Will of Christ. It 's true a Christian may not every Day have occasion to exercise this piece of Self-denial because the same Temptations recurr not every Day but when he hath he must let his Neighbour see that the Grace of God like Oyl swims on the top and is not to be Master'd by the false Suggestions of the Flesh and of the Devil There are three sorts of Injuries Christ mentions here in all which the same Rule is to be observ'd 1. The first that which is offer'd to the Body of a Christian in the preceeding Verse which I have already explain'd He that shall smite thee on the right Cheek turn to him the other also 2. That which is offer'd to his Property and Estate 3. That which is offer'd to his Liberty The Injuries levell'd against our Estates and Liberty are comprehended in the words I have read unto you And if any Man will sue thee at the Law or if any Man will by force take away thy Coat the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implies both let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain Two things must here be premised for the better understanding of the words 1. That like those of the preceeding Verse they are levell'd against private Revenge and must be construed to the same sence If any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat rather than quarrel with him or cherish any desire of Revenge rather than sue him again the first opportunity for something of the same nature let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile rather than fall out with him or put thy self into a fit or Rage and Revenge rather than oppose Force to Force and take the same advantage against him when stronger than he go with him twain So that these two Commands as well as the former are Directions and Insinuations how we are to overcome our revengeful Desires and those violent Passions we are apt to run into when any Injury or Wrong is offer'd to us i. e. by suffering more 2. These Precepts are to be confin'd as much as can be to the Instances here given and to things that are parallel with them not stretch'd to things of a higher Nature i. e. what is said here of not going to Law must be understood of not going to Law about a Coat or Cloak or things like them but must not be presently accommodated to higher Concerns And what is said of forcing a Man to go a Mile and going with him twain rather than oppose Force to Force must be kept within those Limits not extended to ten twenty or thirty Miles These two Observations being premised I shall speak distinctly of the two Commands of the first more largely of the other in fewer words being only an appendix to the former And as to the First If any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also And here I shall I. Enquire into the Reasons of the Precept II. Whether it be permitted in any case to go to Law or to defend ones self by Law III. If it be lawful in some Cases what Rules are to be observ'd in the management of it I. The Reasonableness of this Precept And if any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let c. 1. This is an excellent way to preserve Peace and Charity the Fewel being taken away the Fire must go out the occasion of the Contention being removed not only by giving freely the Coat but by adding the Cloak too the quarrel must cease And as one said An Ounce of Peace and Charity is worth a Pound of Victory For Peace is so lovely and amiable a thing that we are oblig'd to promote it by all means 2 Thess. iii. 16 i. e. by all lawful means and surely deceding from our Right is a lawful means It 's true