Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A71315
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Several sermons upon the fifth of St. Matthew .... [vol. 2] being part of Christ's Sermon on the mount / by Anthony Horneck ... ; to which is added, the life of the author, by Richard Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells.
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Horneck, Anthony, 1641-1697.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing H2852; ESTC R40468
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254,482
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530
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modestly We are not by this Precept bound to satisfie the unreasonable Desires of Men. It 's true a Pound may be too little for an Alexander to give but a Talent on the other side may be too much for a needy Person to ask Our Saviour here doth not determine the quantity how much we are to give nor oblige us to give whatsoever another asks but leaves the quantity to our Prudence and Direction In giving to him that asketh we are to consider our Ability as well as the Merit and Need of him that doth ask and so to Give as not to be unjust to others nor to wrong those whom by Nature we are bound to do good to in the first place the neglect or omission of which makes us Infidels 1 Tim. v. 8 And so much of Giving II. The second Branch of our Saviour's Counsel is Lending From him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away The general Drift of which Counsel is for the most part or ordinarily to lend our Neighbour such things as he stands in need of Most Commands of this Nature have respect to what ought to be the ordinary practice supposing still there may be extraordinary Cases wherein the thing may lawfully be superseded or suspended A loose debauch'd Person or a Person who I know will pervert the thing I lend him or he would borrow of me to very ill use This Law doth not oblige me to lend him But for the most part between Neighbour and Neighbour this ought to be the Rule And the same may be said of a Person apparently dishonest whose Actions make us justly suspect or give us just occasion to believe that he intends not to repay us again I cannot think that such Persons come into the number of the Borrowers Christ aims at For no doubt our Saviour ties the Borrower to Honesty as well as the Lender to Charity So that the import of this Command may be comprehended in these Particulars 1. Do not think there lies no Obligation on you to lend to your Fellow Christians who are in Streights and Necessities and may by your Lending raise themselves into a condition to live comfortably and honestly in the World This is an act of Christian Love and Charity and such as we our selves may stand in need of and whatsoever you would have others do to you do you the same to them according to the Rule Mat. vii 12 2. Do not tell them that would borrow of you that you have nothing to Lend when you have it for that would be to add Lying to your Uncharitableness which is both against the Nature of Christian Simplicity and Sincerity and against the express Law Eph. iv 25 3. Be willing to gratifie your honest Neighbours in this request when they would borrow of you and overcome that Uncharitableness and mistrust of God's Providence or fear that you shall not receive your own again For Flesh and Blood is apt to raise such Objections which must be subdu'd by that Spirit which God hath given you If ye walk after the Flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live 4. From him that would borrow of thee do not turn away Yet so as to consider the Circumstances of the Person that would borrow of you It is a wicked Man's Character to borrow and not to pay Psal. xxxvii 21 And when a Man is known to be so we may lawfully use Christian Prudence and Wisdom When Men have the reputation of Honesty Sincerity and Diligence their Industry deserves to be encouraged and since Lending is an encouragement to them they ought not to be sent away with a refusal of their Request 5. Lend not only to a Person of the same Religion but to others also God gave a Law to the Jews Deut. xv 8 Thou shalt open thy hand wide unto thy Brother and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth This the Jews restrain'd to their own Sect and to their Friends but Christianity being a Profession of a larger Charity if even a Person who is not of the same Profession with you would borrow of you do not you turn away from him nay if the Person were an Enemy this is evident from what follows in this Chapter But I say unto you Love your Enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despightfully use you and persecute you 6. Lend sometimes even to Persons from whom you have no hopes of receiving any thing again Express your Self-denial your conquest of the Flesh your Love to God and your dependance upon his Providence This is agreeable to the Command given Luke vi 35 Lend hoping for nothing again Not that this is to be done at all times and upon all occasions but sometimes in order to overcome our love of this present World especially when Persons are by Providence or by some extraordinary accident fallen into decay and particularly upon the account of a good Conscience To this purpose Luke vi 34 See how ready God is to give to you and to lend you what ye stand in need of and why so Surely that you should be ready to help others These are the particulars to which this Command hath particular Relation and were Men truly conscientious no doubt this Law would be sufficient to guide a Christian in his Temporal Concerns but the wickedness and persidiousness of Men is grown great and extravagant which hath obliged Magistrates to enact Laws to regulate this Lending Borrowing and Demanding what hath been Lent and to permit Bonds and Obligations to secure the Lender of what he Lends to another which though a Christian may in some Cases make use of yet let us remember that we are not to make use of all the Ways and Means the Law of the Land permits to prevent greater Evils To keep on this side the Law and as near as we can to conform to the Law of our Master Christ Jesus is the safest way And whereas the Law of the Land admits to Arrest and Imprison Borrowers that do not repay all that can be said in this Case is He that shows most Mercy is the better Christian. Inferences All the Application I shall make of this Command is to exhort you to real and actual Charity one towards another God gives you that you may give to others and vouchsafes you means that you may be able to assist and succour others in their Needs Labour earnestly to eradicate that root of bitterness even selfishness which hinders you from doing many excellent Acts which must adorn your Profession It 's true you are liable to be Cheated but who is not if your Charity and Christian kindness be abused you are not the first nor will be the last that are like to suffer in this kind We must look higher than this World the Losses we meet with here will be perfect
because it is not customary to do so it is not usual or other Men do not mind it And are these the mighty Reasons that satisfie your Conscience Will you dare to plead them in the last Day Will not you blush to alledge them before the Searcher of all Hearts I shall be counted a Coward saith the Man of Honour if I put up an Affront or do not return Evil for Evil. A wonderful Argument an Argument which a Philosopher would laugh at and a Christian ought to scorn Was there ever greater Cowardice than this returning Evil for Evil What not dare to obey your God whom you confess to be greater than the greatest Monarchs of the World What Not dare to consult the interest and welfare of your Souls above that of Flesh and Blood What Not dare to maintain a good Conscience in despight of all Opposition What afraid of transgressing a Punctilio of Honour when you run the hazard of Eternal Damnation Is this your Courage to be Slaves to a silly Lust and to crouch to a base Temptation of the Devil to tremble at the Censures of Dust and Ashes and to throw your selves headlong into the gulph of Perdition you 'll reply Who saith it is so dangerous Why Christ says so that Saviour whom you pretend to Worship and Adore for he hath prefix'd this general Item to all the Commands in this Sermon Whosoever shall break one of these least Commandments and shall teach Men so i.e. make a practice of it and delight in it he shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. he shall be nothing at all in that Kingdom And is this your Courage not to stand by your greatest Friend Is not Christ your greatest Friend Hath not he bought you with his Blood Hath not he laid down his Life for you to deliver you from the Wrath to come When you return Evil for Evil you forsake this Friend you dishonour him you abuse him and is it Courage not to dare to maintain the Cause of your dearest Friend Is it not far greater Courage to subdue a Passion than to fall under the Power and Tyranny of it Is it not greater Courage to overcome the Evil with Good than to be overcome with Evil Is it not more Heroick to assert the Honour and Glory of your Immortal Souls than to make them Drudges and Slaves to a brutish Inclination Who so fit to judge of Courage and Cowardice as God infinitely Wise and Knowing and if he calls returning Evil for Evil Cowardice will you call it Courage and put Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness Doth not he call it Cowardice when he looks upon it as a debasing of Reason dishonouring your Religion wronging your Conscience wounding your Souls disgracing your Profession and Disobedience to him who hath the greatest Right and Power to command you A Bull or a Boar can kick him again that kicks him And what Is there not greater Spirit in you than there is in such pitiful Animals Socrates a Heathen when one gave him a Box on the Ear replied merrily What a strange thing is it that a Man cannot go abroad without putting a Helmet on Can we read this of Barbarians and look upon our selves as civiliz'd who dare not come up to their Vertue Had you rather be no Christians than he counted Cowards Hath God exalted your Natures above that of irrational Creatures and is imitating Bears and Tygers the highest Dispensation you arrive to Another pleads My Neighbours will count me a Fool if I should not return Evil for Evil or rather than return an Injury suffer a greater This is much such a Plea as the former and it must be confess'd that this is the Wisdom of the Flesh and see here how contrary this Wisdom is to the Wisdom of God or to the Wisdom of the Spirit What is Wisdom Is it not to chuse proper Means to attain the end And will you take the way to Hell that you may get to Heaven Is it not Wisdom to foresee the Evil and to hide our selves from it Hath not God declar'd his Wrath and Indignation against this returning Evil for Evil and is it your Wisdom to run into the danger What if Men should count you Fools for minding the business of your Calling or providing for your Families Would you therefore neglect doing so because of that Censure And how come ye to despise the Censures of Men in one Duty and are afraid of doing it in another Is not forbearing to return Evil for Evil Railing for Railing ill Language for ill Language a Duty as much as providing for your Families Is it not commanded as much as labouring for a Livelihood And if to Obey God more than Men be Wisdom where lies the Folly in being obedient to the Will of God in this particular Which is better that God should count ye Fools or that Men should do it If it be better Men should have such Thoughts of you than God why cannot the determination of God make you resolute to undervalue these nick-names of malicious Persons God will certainly look upon you as wise Men if you are tender of the welfare of your Souls And since forbearing to return Evil for Evil is a certain sign that you have a tender regard to the happiness of your Souls what hurt do ye receive by Mens calling you a thousand Fools Men may be mistaken but God cannot and if Men call ye Fools for obeying the Gospel most certainly they are mistaken and will you be guided more by the inconsiderate Talk of loose rash and carnal Men than by the serious Resolution of that God who is to be the Judge of quick and dead Ay but if I do not return Evil for Evil wicked Men will trespass upon my Goodness And what if they do Is our Goodness the worse because it meets with frequent Trials Is not this the way to strengthen to confirm and to establish and to perfect it Let Patience have its perfect work saith St. James i. 4 If Mens trespassing upon our Goodness is subservient to the perfection of Grace how can we be losers by it Nay doth not the wicked Man lose more by his repeated Injuries than we by our repeated Patience Doth not his Soul gather greater Guilt and Blackness by it while our lasting and continu'd Patience makes our own brighter and more splendid And how do we know but our Patience under the first Injury may work upon the ill Man and oblige him to become Good by our Example and fright him from attempting any more However if it doth not it 's I that gather the Roses and the Bryars and Pricks fall to his share Once more Is there not a Promise made to the Patient Soul that God will stop the rage of her Enemies Do we believe this Promise and shall not we trust God for the peâ—formance of it And when he is ready to perform it to our Satisfaction shall we stop