Family and Country and Religion with them insomuch that they thought there lay no Obligation upon them to be so much as Civil and do the common Offices of Humanity to a Samaritan or a Heathen no not so much as to shew him the way to a Town or to a Well of Water if he was dry or spent with Thirst. 2. From this narrow signification of the word Neighbour they flatter'd themselves that if a Man had wrong'd or done them an Injury they were not oblig'd to love him or that they might lawfully hate him because he was no Friend no Neighbour no fit Person to be call'd so and that they stretcht this even to Men of their own Religion is evident from v. 46 of this Chapter and their ordinary Practice 3. Because God had order'd their Forefathers to destroy the seven Nations of the Land of Canaan and to root out the Memory of Amalek from under Heaven Deut. xxv 19 They inferr'd that they might lawfully hate all Nations that were not of their Religion a strange Inference this for though God made them the Executioners of his Wrath and Indignation and intended them as Instruments whereby he meant to punish and remove those wicked Men yet from thence it follow'd not that they were to hate them in ordinary Converse or as they had occasion to meet them accidentally or about business In a just publick War they were order'd to destroy them and not as they appear'd in a private Capacity nor was their Order to destroy them in a publick War a sufficient Warrant for them to hate them at other times no more than an Executioner is bound to hate the Person he hangs up or Beheads or Executes by order of the Magistrate no more than a Soldier who Fights in the Field and kills a publick Enemy must needs be suppos'd to hate the Person he kills because he only executes the Command of his General Yet such ill Logicians they were that from hence they inferr'd 1. That all Persons who were not of their Religion were their Enemies 2. That they might lawfully hate them and do those things against them if they had a fair opportunity and could do it safely whereby People commonly express their hatred Thus the Pharisees taught them from Tradition and these were the Men even the ancient Masters of Tradition from which the Pharisees deriv'd their Pedigree who perverted this Precept of loving their Neighbour and by whom it was said Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy A Maxim very agreeable to corrupt Nature And the II. Thing I am to treat of Its agreeableness to Humane Nature appears 1. From hence because corrupt Nature loves its ease it hates to be restrain'd And this Maxim is so far from confining it that it gives it Elbow-room and leave to follow its course and natural inclination Take a Person abstracted from the Sanctifying Grace of God and that 's a Stranger to the transforming work of God's Spirit if he may have his Will thus he will act i. e. Love his Friend and hate his Enemy This is that he would have and there the byass runs Here is no need of any Self-denial or swimming against the Stream no need of great Consideration or Deliberation or deep Thoughts it is as natural to an unregenerate Man as sucking is to a Child Other things he cannot learn without taking Pains such as Riding Fencing Painting Reading Writing c. but this he learns without a Teacher without going to School without Breeding without the trouble of an Academy as easily as he doth Aversion from Goodness and backwardness to Vertue and gratifying his brutish Appetite In a word This loving his Friend and hating an Enemy is no painful work and therefore very agreeable to corrupt Nature 2. With this Principle a Carnal Man may justifie all the ill Nature he exercises in Converse and all the ill Offices he doth to his Neighbour he may excuse with this That he loves his Friend and hates his Enemy Cain's angry Looks and Joab's secret Grudges and Absalom's Malice and Judas's Envy and the Pharisees Spleen may all shelter themselves under this cover With this Maxim the vain Man can baffle all the checks of an unruly Conscience put by its Importunities stop its Mouth dash its Terrors and silence its loud Cries and all this is very agreeable to corrupt Nature and the Person who teaches such pernicious Doctrines must needs be very welcome to wicked Men and his words as a lovely Song of him that hath a pleasant Voice and that can play well upon an Instrument But how irrational this Principle is how contrary to the Rules of Reason and the design of Christianity as it deserves Enquiry so it is the III. Particular I am to speak of And here 1. Reason tells us that Man stands in such Relations one Man to another Relations imparting Love and Amity and Kindness that hating even of an Enemy is inconsistent with those Relations No Man ever yet hated his own Flesh this is an indubitable Principle of Reason And now let the Enemy we have be never so inveterate never so Malicious or Injurious still he carries the same Flesh and Blood about him that we do The same Father made him even God blessed for evermore We are Brethren and God created us both after his own Image The same God maintains feeds and supports him that keeps our Souls in Life and though his hostile Acts may be very great yet still this Consideration will oblige us not to hate him Not to mention that Reason bids us preferr the Interest of the Soul before that of the Flesh. And it 's evident that by the Enmity of others our Souls are signal Gainers as they have an opportunity to exercise the noblest Vertue which is Self-conquest Caesar said Tully uses to forget nothing but Injuries and Aristotle makes it the Character of a magnanimous Man and it was well observ'd of that Religious Man in the Lives of the Fathers That an Enemy doth us a greater kindness than our Friends and our Souls thrive best when we have store of Enemies 2. The design of Christianity is to raise to polish and to refine our Natures and to make us like God and consequently hating an Enemy must be contrary to this Design for it doth not only keep our Natures in a mean pitiful base and groveling Condition but makes us very unlike God who lets his Sun shine upon the Just and Unjust and his Rain drop upon the Pastures of the good and bad It 's true God doth punish his Enemies but not to mention that even this Punishment is an act of Charity as it is an endeavour to reclaim them from the Errors of their Ways this he doth not till all other means prove fruitless and ineffectual However to be sure in this Life on this side Hell in the midst of the execution of his Wrath and Vengeance he heaps innumerable Mercies upon them and that 's sufficient
ready to be delivered and then suffer such Temptations to Strangle the Babe in the Birth what is all this but hiding the Light Is not this Drawing a Curtain before it that it may not be seen Is not this shutting it up in a Dark-Lanthorn when it should be set on a Candlestick 4. We hide it when in times of Danger we dare not own it And now behold saith the Apostle Acts xx 22 23 24. I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem not knowing the things that shall befall me there saving that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every City saying that Bonds and Afflictions abide me But none of these things move me neither count I my Life dear unto my self so that I might finish my course with Joy This is the Language of a Christian the Voice of a Man who beholds him that is invisible But when with Peter in the High-Priest's Hall thou deniest thy Master when with Demas in time of Persecution thou forsakest thy Pious Companions and embracest this present World when for fear of Disgrace and being ill-spoken of thou darest not Profess what thou knowest when thou darest not stand in the Evil Day when Piety is out of Fashion or is not the Custom of the Place thou art in and therefore forbearest to practise it when for fear of the Scribes and Pharisees for fear of being put out of the Synagogue thou neglectest the Command of God Surely this is hiding the Light not setting it upon a Candlestick that it may give Light to all that are in the House Obj. But some Men will say here Is not this the Case of the present Ministers of the Church of England who formerly have been so Zealous for Passive Obedience and Non-resistance and now the Times being changed and there being some danger in professing that Principle they have no Courage to meddle with that Pious Doctrine and is not this hiding the Light Sol. 1. What some Men do and think must not be look'd on as the result of the Church's Doctrine 2. Personal Faults must not cannot be charged upon the Church 3. What Laymen do must not presently be laid to the Charge of Clergy-men 4. Though Passive Obedience and Non-resistance are the Doctrines of our Church yet they must not be understood without any Limitation at all 5. Our present Case being very difficult and having some Circumstances in it which are not usual and perhaps never happened before we must not wonder to see Men differing in their Opinions concerning it And therefore 6. If charitable Constructions of the Actions of our Neighbours are necessary they must be so more than ordinary in a Case where both Parties have much to plead for themselves and therefore though the Case be not altogether the same yet let the Apostle's Rule be our Direction Rom. xiv 3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him that eateth not despise him that eateth 7. It may not be fear of Danger that makes us forbear speaking of this Doctrine There may be several Reasons why Men of Learning forbear it As 1 Because there is not that occasion now to practise it that once there was 2 Those that think themselves obliged to be subject to the Powers God hath placed over them may in Prudence wave it because they would give no just Offence 3 Other Lessons may be thought more necessary In a word in all difficult Cases let us judge charitably and not presently call it Covetousness or Interest or Apostacy when the Action will bear a more favourable Interpretation 8. Before ye judge any particular Persons consult those very Persons at whose Proceedings you are offended upon what ground they do it and do not condemn them before you know their Reasons 9. Let not every supposed Fault in others discourage you from Religion It 's a sign it hangs very loose about you if a mistaken Action of others can make you quit it I shall conclude this particular with Rom. xiv 17 19. For the Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Let us therefore follow after the things which make for Peace and things wherewith one may edifie another But let us enquire II. What Injury we offer by hiding our Light to God and Man 1. This is a tacit accusing of God as if he had given us no Light at all He that doth not make use of the Gift God hath given him appears to others as if he had received none and his neglect to improve it is so far a denial of it And what Ingratitude is this What a false Accusation of God Hath not God wash'd thee with the Water of Baptism Hath not he bestowed his Holy Spirit on thee Hath not he vouchsafed thee the Light of his Gospel Hath not he given thee large and plentiful means of Grace Hath not he set Examples before thee in Scripture and in the World Hath not he surrounded thee with Motives and Incentives and Incouragements And all that thy Light thy Goodness thy Seriousness and Love to God might shine forth and give Light to those that are in the House And then hath God given thee nothing Hath not he water'd thy Ground and caused Manna to rain upon thy Field And after all canst thou complain that he hath not visited thy Earth with his Showers He hath He hath But whilst thou livest and actest as if he had given thee nothing dost not thou accuse him that he hath neglected thy Soul and given thee no Kid to make merry with thy Friends And if thou chargest God with Unkindness when he hath been miraculously kind dost not thou offer Injuries and Indignities to him 2. Thou dost not believe his Promises but chargest them with Falshood and therefore art injurious to him For can we say we believe his Promises when we will not let the Light of our Piety shine before Men Dost thou believe that Godliness is great gain having the Promises of this Life and that which is to come and yet art afraid to lay thine Hand to the Plow In Temporal Concerns if thou believest such a Man will make thy Fortune and enrich thee with a considerable Estate dost not thou endeavour to please him And what Dost thou believe that God will reward thy Godliness with Crowns and Scepters and Diadems and Power and Majesty and Dominion and Triumphs over Hell and Devils and with a Sea of Glory and Bliss and Felicity and can nothing of all this stir thee up to let the Light of it break forth and shine and dazzle considerate Spectators If thou believest not his Promises why dost thou profess the belief of them If they cannot move thee to Piety to Goodness to a strict Conversation before Men how canst thou be said to believe them Ay but I see not the Blessings promised Dost not thou believe there is a God though thou seest him not And canst not thou believe the Blessings
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
them to differ Who told you you may observe one and not another Where are the distinguishing Marks to discern which is to be practised and which is not Doth not the same Spirit run through all In a word if you love God to any purpose you will not only dread crying Sins but even those which looser Men make no great matter of and it 's certain that Soul is not yet truly converted that doth not seriously watch against evil Thoughts Desires Passions Affections c. for these are usually counted lesser Sins as well as against greater Abominations And therefore You may easily perceive that we are not to break a Command of our dear Lord and Master because it seems little or because the World esteems it so What hath the World to do with my Religion Doth God govern himself by the Verdict of the World and sensual Men What if Men who have no right Apprehensions of God make nothing of corrupt Communications must I be guided by their Example Can any Commandment that proceeds out of the Mouth of God be termed little Might not we as well say that God spoke in jest If God commands me to follow Righteousness Faith Charity and Peace with all them that call on him out of a pure Heart and to flee youthful Lusts shall I neglect this Command because the World makes a pish of it Hath the Great God of Heaven and Earth thought fit to send his Son into the World to tell me that private Revenge is unlawful and conforming to the World in their Vanities and Fooleries and Revellings and Extravagancies is displeasing to him and my covetous Thoughts and Desires are offensive to his Holiness and have not I all the reason in the World to stand in awe of his Command though a thousand wicked Men say it 's either needless or impracticable How can a Divine Command be little that concerns Mens Immortal Souls Is there any thing greater in this World than the good and welfare of their precious Souls Doth God tell me such a Sin though it seems never so small in the Eyes of the World will help to kill my Soul and is Ingratitude to him in whom I live and move and have my Being and shall I venture upon it God forbid Yea let God be True but every Man a Lyar as it is written that thou mightest be justified in thy saying and be clear when thou judgest Rom. iii. 4 II. Let none of you wonder at Christ's peremptory Determination here Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach Men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven You 'll say What! break but one of these Commandments and one of the least and be damn'd Where then is the Grace of the Gospel What becomes then of the vast Treasures of Mercy which came in with Jesus Christ At this rate our Yoak is heavier than that of the Jews Marvel not my Brethren the greater the Grace is the greater will be the Account the greater the Mercy the greater will be the Reckoning And yet this ought to be no discouragement to any of us for the meaning is not that every surprize or accidental Failing or breaking one of these Commands against our Will or before we are aware or after we have used all possible Watchfulness excludes from the Kingdom of Heaven for then no Flesh could be saved But he that wilfully breaks one and makes a Trade of it knows or hears God's Will in that particular and yet will not be perswaded to do it and teaches others too either by his Discourse or Example neglects such a Command and feels no Remorse knows the Judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of Death and not only doth the same but hath pleasure in them that do them as it is said Rom. i. 32 That 's the Man who shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven And do not you think there is a great deal of Justice in all this What! For a Man first to disregard an express Command of Christ and then that he may not think himself obliged to it to call it little and inconsiderable and so to neglect it and after all prompt others to do so too Is not this a manifest contempt of God's Sovereignty and Mercy and Love and Charity in Christ Jesus Doth not this look like Enmity against God Is not this a sign of a secret Hatred and Indignation against the ways of God Is not this an Argument of Obstinacy and Stubbornness Doth not this infer want of Sense and want of Fear And would you have God save a Man that doth not fear him Would you have him receive Men into the Kingdom of Heaven that do not only not think it worth while to obey him in so small a matter small in their own account and therefore surely the easier but encourage others to do the like Doth not this argue a delight in a sinful sensual Life And what Do you think God will let a Man or Woman in at the Gates of Glory that looks upon the Prophet as mad because he bid him do so small a thing Wash in the River Jordan seven times that he may be clean God measures our Actions by our Hearts and if the Heart be averse from him or from the ways of Righteousness Is such a Person fit to sing with Angels to triumph with Martyrs and to sit and rejoice with Souls that loved God with all their Hearts and with all their Minds Ay but to break one of these least Commandments and to teach another to do so What great Matter is there in that My Friends He that breaks one will break another and is in a Disposition to offend against more He will never stop there one Sin engages him into the Practice of another and if he propagates the Evil too and like a rotten Sheep infects others doth not that one Folly discover a Heart that hath no Desire no Inclination to take Christ's Yoak upon him and loath unwilling backward to entertain Christ upon his own Terms and is this following him in the Regeneration And he that doth not follow him in the Regeneration How shall he be able to sit with him in his Throne And this puts me in mind of another Observation III. That he that lives ill teaches another to live ill too He that shall break one of these least Commandments and teach Men so c. In order to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven it is not necessary a Man should get into a Pulpit and there proclaim that it is lawful to lie to cheat to defraud to sing filthy Songs to break obscene Jests to hate our Neighbour or to return Evil for Evil this needs not Thy Actions Christian spread the Poison and teach the next Man thou meetest withal to do as thou doest for in breaking such a known Command of the Gospel and being unconcerned What can thy fellow Christian think
ensue upon the perpetuity of the Obligation But they that know what the Popes have done in these Cases especially here in England with respect to our Kings and Queens must needs conclude they intend something more by this Absolving than a bare Declaration for the Stile of their Bulls is Magisterial and Authoritative and they attribute the Fact to the plenitude of their Power and as if the sole Power were lodged by God in them a Pride so great and intolerable that one would wonder Princes of a Refin'd Understanding as some are nay of common Sagacity do not see the Cheat and lash their Arrogancy into better manners I do not doubt but an Oath of Allegiance may in some Cases cease to oblige if either there be an impossibility to perform it or if the Prince dies or resigns his Crown or runs away and puts himself into an incapacity to Govern and to protect the Subject or leaves the Subjects in a State of Anarchy and Confusion or to the Mercy of a Conqueror because in these Cases the state of Things is new and far different from that Men were in at their Swearing this Oath of Allegiance but set aside these extraordinary Occurrences which alter the Obligation to think that any Man can absolve from the Obligation of an Oath of Allegiance is to suppose a visible God here on Earth which Title though given to the Pope sometimes by the Canonists yet every one may see what fulsome Flattery it is and if not downright yet next to Blasphemy II. An Oath being so Solemn so Sacred so Serious so Religious an Obligation we may justly wonder how so Holy a Thing comes to be Profaned as it is in common Discourse and ordinary Communications Indeed this Swearing in common Discourse is a Sin that would puzzle a wise Man to give any thing like a reason for how a Sin so unreasonable so unprofitable and so horrid withal should yet be so much espoused by Men and Christians and become so very familiar that Men play with Oaths as Boys do with Cherry-stones or Marbles We can give some account of Covetousness and guess at the reason of Leachery and declare the Motives to Ambition but why Men should delight in so great a Profanation and make so light of Oaths whereby the greatest wrong is done to God and no good no Advantage accrues to themselves nay which themselves seem to have some veneration for in a Court of Judicature this I say is a Mystery and one of the Depths of Satan as the Phrase is Rev. 11.24 Whether Men think that an Oath sets off their Passion better and makes it more terrible and impressive or whether they fancy that their Words and Sentences have not their due Accents and Cadences without an Oath or whether they believe that their Mirth and Jollity is not modish enough except it be accompanied with some Oath or other or something like it or whether it be meerly Custom and a Sin they play with for Companies sake as they will drink a Glass more than ordinary to satisfie the Importunities of Friends No Sin hath been or is more common or more frequently committed than this it hath been so heretofore St. Chrysostom complains of it among the People of Antioch and we have reason to take up the same Complaint other Sins have had their Ebbings and have sometimes abated of their violent Motion but this hath been and is still kept up to the Grief of all Men who are concern'd for the Affliction of Joseph This shews what a mighty Power the Devil hath yet among the Children of Men and how strangely his Kingdom lasts Indeed this is the only satisfactory Reason why Men dare venture upon Oaths in common Discourse The Devil reigns in them and the Evil Spirit possesses their Souls else they durst not they could not be guilty of so great a Profanation The Guilt would stare into their Faces and fright them like a Ghost or Spectre its shape is so monstrous were it not that the God of this World blinds their Eyes and darkens their Understanding they durst not make God thus subservient to the Devil Do not they do so when in their sinful Anger or Mirth or Jollity they bring in the Oath of God and the Wounds and Death of Jesus to make their Sin more dreadful There cannot be the least Dram of Grace where this Custom prevails nothing of the Spirit of God no sense of God no Regeneration no Conversion no Repentance no Change of Life can be supposed in such a Man Here Darkness hath its Empire and Egyptian Night dwells here In vain do such Men plead Custom An ill Custom may and if you will be happy must be changed There is no Impossibility whatever difficulty may be in it if you will but observe the same Method you do in your Trades and Professions A Man cannot naturally Dance upon a Rope yet by use and taking Pains and forcing his Body and trying often he learns to walk upon 't as steddily as other Men do in their Chambers Men are not born Carpenters and Painters and Joiners and Carvers yet what is difficult at first becomes easie by use and why should it not be as easie to alter the Custom of Swearing and to change it into a facility of forbearing an Oath if you who are guilty of this Crime were resolute and shew'd your selves Men and Christians and would but do that in Religion which you do in your ordinary Apprenticeships Do but resolve to forbear a Meals-Meat or two do but tye your selves to give a Shilling or Half a Crown to the Poor every time an Oath slips from you Do but bind your selves in a solemn Vow to go five or six Miles on Foot Do but speak to your Friends and beg of them to reprove you as often as you Swear Do any thing that 's irksome to the Flesh and punish your selves whenever you take the Name of God in vain and sollicit the Grace of God and pray earnestly for its assistance and the Conquest will be easie But if you will do nothing toward the abolishing of this Instance or fancy it will leave you of its own accord you refuse to be healed and your Damnation is just As ye loved Cursing and Swearing so shall it come unto you as you delighted not in Blessing so shall it be far from you As you cloathed your selves with Cursing and Swearing like as with a Garment so shall it come into your Bowels like Water and like Oyl into your Bones Psal. cix 17 18. And the time will come when God will swear in his wrath if he hath not done it already that ye shall not enter into his rest III. A Sacrament is as much as an Oath and we have two standing Sacraments in the Church Baptism and the Lord's-Supper in which we take a Military Oath to our General to our God to our Saviour to fight his Battels to War against Sin to wrestle with Temptations
unlawful if desires of Revenge lie at the bottom of the Suit To revenge our selves is absolutely unlawful and let the Concern be never so great if it be upon the account of Revenge that Revenge impoisons the Cause though good in it self and in a conscientious Man stops and must put a stop to his Proceedings I grant that Revenge in such Law-Suits is seldom the only Cause there being other Reasons and those perhaps lawful intermixt with the revengeful desire so in the crowd of Reasons Revenge is not taken notice of which makes Men flatter themselves that it is not Revenge that puts them upon the Process Yet where Revenge is the principal Motive whatever lesser Motive may mix with the Design the Law-Suit becomes unlawful not before Men but before God for the Command is express and peremptory Avenge not your selves Rom. 12.19 And yet after all as strict as this Precept is it doth not forbid going to Law in all cases whatsoever which brings in the III. Query If it be lawful in some Cases what those cases are and what Rules are to be observ'd in the management of it 1. That there are Cases in which it may be lawful to go to Law is evident from hence because the Precept speaks only of lesser Injuries and therefore it naturally follows that in greater Concerns it may be lawful 2. The Cases in which it may be lawful are such upon which either our own or another Persons livelihood depends particularly where Orphans and Widows are wrong'd and abus'd or the poor robb'd and depriv'd of their due or where the neglect may inevitably involve the ruine of our Families and Relations or hinder us from doing that good in the World we might and would do These are Cases of great Weight and Concernment For though the Apostle saith 1 Cor. vi 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you because ye go to Law one with another why do ye not rather take wrong Why do you not rather suffer your selves to be defrauded Yet this must necessarily be understood either of smaller Matters about which they went to Law or of their going to Law before Heathens and Unbelievers or of Personal Wrongs when none was Hurt but the Person himself by the Injury In all which Cases much is to be said for Abstinence from Law-Suits Yet 3. When the Cause is great and weighty and will warrant our going to Law a Christian is bound in Conscience to try whether the Controversy may not be decided by Reference by referring it to wise and impartial Men who may judge between Brother and Brother as St. Paul expresly enjoins 1 Cor. vi 5 Going to Law must be look'd upon as some high Chymical Medicines never to be used but in very desperate Cases when all other Remedies fail And even then a Christian is to walk very circumspectly that his Footsteps do not slide For 4. Love of Justice must be the principal Motive a Desire and Care that neither we nor our Fellow Christians may be wrong'd that each may be deliver'd from Mistakes and from harbouring hard Thoughts one of another Here neither Revenge nor Vain-glory nor Humour must be an Ingredient but pure Affection to Righteousness and an honest Mind and sincere endeavour to do others as we would have others do unto us Mat. vii 12 5. In the prosecution of such a Law-suit the Offices of Christian Love and Charity must be inviolably maintain'd If that Bond of Peace be dissolv'd by the Suit the Law-suit becomes unlawful If Tricks and little Arts and underhand Doings and dealing Treacherously or Fraud or Deceit or Lying or suborning of Witnesses or any such unhandsom Practices intervene and mix with the Process on either side the Process becomes sinful and unchristian and God is offended and this is drawing Iniquity with Cords of Vanity Isai. v. 18 So that in such Law-suits even then when the weight and importance of the Matter makes them lawful the exhortation of the Apostle must take place Let brotherly love continue Heb. xiii 1 6. After all this the Party that loses the Suit must watch against Discontent Vexation Animosity and Fretting and worldly Sorrow for that worketh Death 2 Cor. vii 10 much less must the loser commence the Law-suit afresh except the Case be very extraordinary for this discovers a quarrelsome worldly carnal Temper of Mind and opens a gap to fresh Quarrels and Divisions and Disagreements which a Christian that is Conscientious cannot but think himself oblig'd to avoid if he remembers how the Apostle adjures him by the Mercies of God above all things to put on Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness Col. iii. 14 With these Limitations and Circumscriptions this dangerous Meat may be made not only palatable but wholsome But if any think that the strict observance of these Rules is a thing impossible in that case the best Advice that can be given is Not to go to Law at all which is the surest side of the Hedge For as going to Law hath abundance of Difficulties and Dangers in it so to be sure he Sins not that wholly abstains from Law suits This the Primitive Christians consider'd and therefore Athenagorus tells us their Custom was not to go to Law with any that had taken any thing from them and the very Heathens have commended it And now I proceed to the Second Precept Whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain Having said so much to the first Case I shall need to say but very little to this I shall only hint to you the reasonableness of this Precept also 1. This is an excellent way of making a Friend of an Enemy such Officiousness is very charming and if there be the least spark of good nature left in him this extraordinary Civility will blow the Coals and turn it into the Fire of Amity and Kindness Whether it hath this effect upon a turbulent Temper or no its tendency is to make a better Man of him And what should not a good Christian do to convert a Sinner from the Error of his Ways This is a very likely means and consequently ought to be used and being a Means of God's prescribing we have the greater reason to hope for good Success 2. Walking with such a Person another Mile may administer occasion for good and pious Discourses which may have a very good effect upon a rough and stubborn Temper especially if the excellent temper of Christianity be represented to him How kind how civil how obliging it makes a Man how it takes away from him all sowreness of Spirit and teaches him to do Good for Evil and to win Men by kindnesses We know Pious Discourses have wrought sometimes upon Men strangely untractable and who knows but upon such a Man that shall compel us to go with him a Mile such Discourses may make a very great alteration to the saving of his Soul All that I shall say by way of Application shall
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
levell'd against corrupt Nature so to live up to these Rules is to do more than others more than natural Men more than Publicans and Sinners And what I have laid down here ruines that common Plea Why should I do more than others Why As your Circumstances and Conditions are various so they become Motives to do more than others Because thou art a Christian thou ought'st to do more than others Because the Son of God himself hath come and spoke to thee in his Gospel therefore thou ought'st to do more than Heathens and Infidels Because thou enjoyest greater Mercies and thine Eyes have seen greater Deliverances than others thou ought'st to do more than thy Neighbours whose Mercies are less and whose Deliverances are not so astonishing Because thou livest under richer means of Grace than others Because thou hast had stronger and more powerful Motions of God's Spirit than others therefore thou ought'st to do more than others Because thou mak'st a greater Profession of Religion than others thou ought'st to do more than others Nay thou hast obliged thy self in thy Baptism in the Eucharist upon a Sick-Bed and on other occasions to do more than others to be sure more than thy carnal careless Neighbours do that Hear and Pray and have some Vertues mingled with their Vices You that have repented of a very lewd and flagitious Life and been Converted from the Power of Satan unto God ought particularly to do more than others for you have sinn'd more than others you expect more should be forgiven you you have formerly hated God more than others and therefore ought to love him more than others Ye who have more Time more Leisure than others you ought to spend more in Religious Retirements than others Ye to whom God hath given greater Means and Estates than others ought to express your Charity to distressed Christians in greater Instances than others In a word The common Duties of Religion are to be distinguish'd from the greater The common are such as both the Light of Nature and the Gospel command and which Infidels as well as we perform The greater are those which the Gospel doth particularly bind upon the Consciences of Christ's Followers and these are the proper Tasks of Christians Upon a Death-Bed thou cry'st I thank God I have wrong'd no body Do not even Heathens and Philosophers the same Thou rejoycest thou pleasest thy self with this that thou hast been just the honest in all thy Dealings do not even the Brahmines and Indians the same I do not deny but these are good things but what is all this to Christianity which is a higher Discipline and a sublimer Dispensation What is all this to Faith in Christ Jesus which is to purifie your Hearts and to make Christ and his Precepts and Promises and Ordinances and the Benefits of his Death Resurrection and Ascension and Intercession sweet and pleasant and amiable to you We will allow that you pay and endeavour to pay every Man their own that you Lend and Give and are kind to your Friends and who do and are so to you and that you Wrong and Abuse and Injure no Man that let 's you alone but in doing so what do ye more than those who never heard of Christ Hath God given you suitable Encouragements to do more than others and will not Angels and good Men and your own Consciences cry shame upon you in the last Day because ye have not done more than others Nay it were well if many of us did but do so much as others so much as honest Heathens do so much as innocent Barbarians do who love those that love them and are civil to those who are so to them How many of us are there who are ungrateful base inhumane uncivil unthankful to those who love them and express their Love in various acts of kindness to their Souls and Bodies and if the Righteous be scarcely saved where will the Wicked and Sinner appear But if all this will not prevail I must try one Motive more which will lead me to the last Proposition III. If those who would be or think themselves good Christians do not more than Carnal Men in Matters of Religion and Morality they have no Reward For if ye love them which love you what Reward have you I need not tell you that Questions of this Nature are equivalent to Negatives for this is a common way of speaking in all Languages so we ordinarily say If you will not work who will take care of you i. e. No body will When I say we have no Reward if we do not more than others I do not mean a Temporal Reward for this is given even to Hypocrites and we may lawfully conclude that the Temporal Deliverances Protections and Preservations which happen to wicked Men came upon them for some good thing they have done either in Religion or Morality or in promoting the Glory of God which in all probability is the Reason why the Mahometan Religion and particularly the Ottoman Empire hath flourish'd so long because they have destroy'd Idolatry in the World and have done some other Services to God's People It 's the everlasting Reward I treat of here and our Saviour aims at no less If we do not more than others we shall have no greater Reward than others if we do more our Reward will be greater And here for your encouragement to do more than others according to the Rules before laid down more than Carnal Men ordinarily do who mingle some acts of Religion and Morality with their wilful Sins give me leave to propose to you these following Considerations 1. Then would ye be put off with a Temporal Reward What be put off with this when you hear a Pious David pray to be deliver'd from Men who have their portion in this Life Psal. xvii 14 were there no other Life when this is ended no marvel if a Temporal Recompence did content you But when you profess and own an approaching Eternity to make a Temporal Reward only the object of your Hopes and Desires is strangely Irrational What! Content your selves with Corn and Wine and Oyl when an everlasting Kingdom is to be had When you see the Crown of Glory glittering a-far off which the eternal God holds out to you as a Motive What! Content your selves with Trash when Gates of Pearl and a City of Gold is set before you 2. When you come to lie upon a Death-Bed do not you desire an everlasting Reward No doubt ye do your Ministers and your Neighbours hear you say so But how uncomfortable must be that Desire when your Consciences shall fly in your Faces and tell you that your Desires are groundless that this is desiring the End without the Means and the Reward at Night and the Favour of the good Man of the House when you have been loath to bear the heat and burden of the Day 3. If you do not more than others is it not a certain sign that