Blood and the Hurt they may do by their infectious Example to the Souls of others upon our own Heads if by a foolish Pity we be tender of their Credit Profit or Ease to the hardening them in their Sins and giving them the Advantage of recommending Vice to others by their own Impunity Where Warnings and Reproofs signifie nothing the Smart of Punishment may awaken or at least restrain What tho' such for the present count us their Enemies perhaps they will not do so always However 't is better bearing the Efforts of their Anger than the Burthen of their Guilt 7. With Zeal A cold Reproof is a palliating and in a sort a praising of Sin Thus Eli reproved his Sons but because he did it coldly and restrained them not God chargeth the Guilt and exacteth the Punishment of their Impieties on his Person and whole Posterity vide 1 Sam. 3. 11 12 13 14. True Zeal will make us speedy in our Endeavours to reclaim Sinners lest the proper Season for it be lost active and industrious both to discover Sin and bring the Sinner to just Shame and Punishment that our Sloth occasion not the Growth of Impiety and the Spreading of this Fire till all be devoured by it And above all we must see that our Zeal be not of an earthly much less an hellish Original that it be not owing either to our Self-love or our Envy to or Hatred of our Brethren But that it be wholly of a Divine and Heavenly Extract altogether animated by a Principle of Love to God and to the Souls of Men and then we may well be clad with Zeal as a Cloak and to be eaten up by it Isa 59. 17. Joh. 2. 17. will be our Commendation at present and the Occasion of our receiving a full Reward at last 8. And Lastly with due Caution as to our selves We are to love our Neighbour as our selves and therefore our selves in the first place especially this is to be observed in Matters of a spiritual nature and wherein the Health and Happiness of our Souls is concerned And 't is this which as I take it we are here taught When the Apostle had been giving Rules for our Behaviour towards others in order to their Recovery and Reformation he subjoins hating even the garment spotted by ihe flesh Here then we must with a careful Eye look to these thimgs 1. Lest we render our selves guilty by our Endeavours to reform others for want of due regard to our Principles from which our Ends for which and the Means by which we act in so good a Work God requires of us not only that what we do be good but that we do it well Else Prayer may become Sin Sacrifice an Abomination and the Execution of Justice Murther as it was in Jehu's Case Hos 1. 4. See then that the Love of God and Christ and Souls constrain us that we have no Squint-regards to our own Credit or Secular Advantage much less that we be not puffed up with the haughty Pride of thinking more highly of our selves than is meet to think that our Looks and Gesture do not say what we would be ashamed our Tongue and Lips should Stand off I am holier than thou Isa 65. 5. But let our Hearts and Consciences bear us witness that we sincerely aim at the Glory of God the Salvation of Men the Good of the present Age and Posterity and the keeping our selves from partaking of the Sins of the Times and Places where we live that so we may shun the Punishment due to them And farther we must see that all the Means we use to so good Ends be just and allowable Id solum possumus quod jure possumus God needeth not my lie to his glory Rom. 3. 7 8. nor must I go out of my place tho' it were to stay his Ark when ready to fall 2 Sam. 6. 6 7 8. Blessed be God we want not warrantable Means enough to promote the good Ends of Reformation that we should need to betake our selves to unlawful or doubtful ones Nor do I in the least suspect your combining into Societies or the Magistrates concealing the Names of Informers especially in some Cases for such They have both of them been so fully vindicated by abler hands that I need say nothing of them here 2. We ought to take heed lest the frequent conversing with gross and notorious Sinners as we think with a Design to reform them do gradually and insensibly abate our Abhorrence of Sin and infect us with its Contagion that we partake not of other Mens Sins nor become like those whose Reformation and Amendment we profess to desire and endeavour It is sometimes seen that a Physician catcheth the Disease he was sent for to cure If we choose bad Men for our Companions it is a sign we are such our selves and if we are cast into their Company be the Occasion what it will we are to look upon it as an Hour of Temptation and accordingly to double our Watch by awakening the Fear of God and the Hatred of Sin in our Souls It is a dreadful thing to behold Sin with an unconcerned Indifferency of Spirit or to hear the Name of God blasphemed without being moved with inward Horror and Remorse We ought to enter a solemn Protest in the Secret of our Souls against all that Impiety we are constrained to be Witnesses to yea and to make our inward Displeasure against it visible and evident by all proper and prudent Methods Thus we read Just Lot vexed his righteous soul from day to day in seeing and hearing the ungodly deeds of the impure Sodomites 2 Pet. 2. 8. We must keep as far as we can from the contagious Breath of impudent Sinners And even while Their and the Common Good obligeth us to converse with them our own must engage us to be upon our Guard We must have no fellowship with those unfruitful works of darkness which we are called to reprove and suppress Eph. 5. 11. Our corrupt Natures are like Tinder apt to catch Fire at every Spark and therefore tho' we may be jealous over others with a godly jealousie 2 Cor. 11. 2. yet it must be so as ever in the first place to maintain the same Jealousie over our selves He forfeits his Innocency and his Peace two of the most precious Jewels in the World that grows bold with Temptation Let us therefore be sober and vigilant because our Adversary the Devil goeth about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5. 8. The better we are or seem to be and the more excellent and useful the Work we are engaged in is the greater is Satan's Malice against us and therefore the more strict should be our Care and Vigilance over our selves III. I should now proceed to the Third General Inquiry the Import whereof is to set before you the Obligations we lie under to endeavour the Reformation of others and to save them with Fear pulling
be found that may not justly cry out with the blessed Apostle St. Paul Who is sufficient for these things 2 Cor. 2. 16. And if it be difficult faithfully to acquit our selves of so great a Trust in any times how much more must it be so in Times of so great Degeneracy as these last and worst of Days the Ends of the World the very Dreggs of Time wherein not only our Persons but our very Office is despised and we are accounted and used as our Betters once were as the very filth and off-scouring of all things 1 Cor. 4. 13. Deists and Socinians on the one hand and giddy Enthusiasts on the other having used all the Arts of subtile Malice to render Ministers and the Ministry base and contemptible and to get us look'd upon by all whom they can influence as a pack of Chargeable Cheats useless nay Pernicious Impostors These are Discouragements which some former Ages were in a great measure unacquainted with Yet will not all this nor a great deal more excuse us from doing what we can no more than our Persenal Weaknesses will excuse others for hindring us by their Oppositions or Vnderminings from doing what else we might We are listed as Captains in Christ's Army and we must endure Hardships as good Soldiers of Jesus Christ 2 Tim. 2 3. We must labour to be excited by Difficulties and emboldened by Opposition and not fearing the Faces of Men to shew them their Transgressions and their Sins Isa 58. 1. To warn Sinners that they die not Ezek. 33. 7 1. To reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine 2 Tim. 4. 2. And then whatever our present Entertainment or Success be we shall at last be accepted and rewarded 6. Yet is not this Work so peculiar to Magistrates and Ministers but that all who profess themselves Christians are likewise obliged according to their Abilities and Opportunities to endeavour the Promotion and Furtherance of it Magistracy and Ministry are distinct Offices peculiarly appropriated to the great Ends of Restraining Wickedness and Furthering and Countenancing Sobriety Righteousness and Godliness in the World And the respective Offices with the proper Work of them are by no means to be invaded by unqualified or uncalled Persons for God is a God of order and not of confusion in all the Churches 1 Cor. 14. 33. Yet this hinders not but that Private Persons may and ought in their respective Places to make the Work of the one and the other as easie as they can And were but what in this kind might and ought to be done faithfully performed by Persons in Private Stations the Work of Publick Persons would be rendred much easier to them How impossible is it for Magistrates to execute Laws on obstinate Offenders if no body will bring them Informations How heavily must the Work of Ministers proceed if Parents neglect the due Instruction and Government of their Children and Families How many Publick Miscarriages might be prevented and the Trouble of Magistrates and Ministers therein would but Christian Neighbours prudently watch over and faithfully admonish one another according to that Apostolical Injunction Exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin Heb. 3. 13. But if Private Persons throw all their Duty upon Publick Officers were they Angels a great deal of it is like to be left undone Consider seriously that pregnant and often-mentioned but too little regarded Text Lev. 19. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy heart thou shalt in any wise reprove thy Brother and not suffer sin upon him We must admonish one another reprove one another and if need be inform of one another see Lev. 5. 1. unless we have a mind to be guilty of each others Blood and draw down Vengeance on the Nation and Damnation on our own heads He is not duly concerned for himself that is concerned for no body but himself 7. The greater Advances Error and Impiety have made in any Part of the Visible Church the more strongly are all good Men engaged to appear with the utmost Vigour against them If never so small a Leak spring in a Ship it 's every one's Concern to do their utmost to stop it betimes but if the Vessel fill with Water and threaten to sink each Man pumps for his Life and puts to all his Strength The least Declensions of Piety in a Nation that hath long enjoyed the Gospel are of threatning Aspect but when Wickedness comes in like a Hood and the impetuous Torrent threatens to bear down all before it 't is then of highest Concernment that all in whom there is left any Sense of God and Goodness should unite as one Man and apply all their Skill and Force for the taking timely and effectual Methods in order to the preventing that utter Ruine that will else certainly overtake an impious and impenitent People Righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach and Ruine of any people Prov. 14. 34. And if so what 's like to become of England There needs little of a Spirit of Prophecy to pronounce its Doom unless the late and yet continued Attempts for Reformation meet with an happier Effect than the Managements of too many among us seem to presage I dare not say our Wound is incurable I would fain hope otherwise But if the most proper Remedies do but exasperate I leave it to the Abler Physicians of Church and State to judge of so unpromising a Crisis In a word Gross Ignorance damnable Heresies daring Blasphemies vile Hypocrisie scandalous Divisions horrible Oppression base Selfishness insufferable Pride and incorrigible Obstinacy I think hardly ever more prevail'd in a Land professing the Gospel than they do in England at this Day So that we may well say in the Words of the Prophet Isa 1. 9. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant we should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah And what can such a State of things bespeak of that very small remnant but that they endeavour speedily to stand in the breach to turn away divine wrath Psal 106. 23. That they be cloathed with Zeal for the Honour of God and the real Reformation of a sinful People And who knows but the Prayers and Endeavours of the few may prevail against the Impieties and Blasphemies of the many of those hardened and obstinate Sinners among us that yet hate Instruction and refuse to be Reformed II. Let us next Inquire How this Duty of Endeavouring to save others from Sin and Ruine is to be performed I have been so large on the former Inquiry that I must be the briefer in this and that which follows The Text as we have opened it furnisheth us with a full Answer give me leave as succinctly as may be to set before you the Particulars of it Endeavours for the Reforming of Others are to be managed 1. With Judgment
and Discretion making a difference of Persons of Crimes We are not to be partial to the Persons of any but we are to be prudent in our Applications to Persons of different Ranks Capacities and Qualifications See how the Apostle directs in relation hereto 1 Tim. 5. 1 2. Rebuke not an elder but intreat him as a father and the younger men as brethren the elder women as mothers the younger as sisters with all purity Reproofs are Arrows that must not be shot at Rovers It must be considered not only what every one needs but whâ—t he can bear and what he is like to make a right use of yea and what may be the Consequence of the Treatment we give him with respect to others Persons in Publick Stations are not to be made vile unless they have first in an extraordinary manner made themselves so lest the Office fall with the Person and the Ignominy of the one issue in the Detriment of the other So likewise as to Faults we must take heed that we use not the same sharpness of Rebuke or severity of Prosecution on account of smaller Infirmities or sudden Surprizes or single Instances of Transgression as in studied and deliberate or malicious and habitual Wickedness A wise Physician suits the Remedy to the Strength of the Patient and the Nature of the Disease So should we endeavour to do 2. With Compassion In smaller more unwilling or rare Offences much Tenderness Pity and Gentleness is to be used and even where our Brother's Offence is more heinous we are still to mix Pity with our greatest and most just Severity as considering the Frailty of Human Nature the Malice and Subtilty of the Tempter considering our selves lest we also be tempted Gal. 6. 1. He hath little Sense of his own Frailty that insults over another's Folly 'T is true this must not hinder us from punishing or bringing to Punishment obstinate Offenders but yet it must make us humble and mournful and tender in the Frame of our Spirits when we are forced upon such unpleasing Work Even God himself stiles Judgment his strange Act Isa 28. 21. And it would fare hard enough with the best of us should he with Strictness and Rigour mark Iniquity should he lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet as the Expressions are Psal 130. 3. Isa 28. 17. 3. Our Endeavours for the Reformation of Others must be accompanied with and encouraged by the Hope of Desired Success That we shall deliver our own Souls Ezek. 14. 14. that we shall save our Brother's Soul from Death Jam. 5. 20. and that we shall contribute to the turning away of Wrath from a sinful Land and to the lengthening out the Publick Tranquility If we have no Hope of doing any Good we shall have no Heart to do any nor so much as to attempt the doing it It was Hope encouraged the Ninevites to repent and reform when they had heard the dreadful Doom of utter Destruction denounced against them by the Prophet Jonah Jon. 3. 4 9. And blessed be God our Case though sad is not so desperate as not to leave us any encouraging Grounds of Hope The Experience we have had of the Divine Favour in delivering us from the intolerable Miseries of Popery and Slavery by a just War and from the remaining Miseries of War by an happy Peace the Preservation of the King's Life in so many Dangers as he hath been exposed to both at Home and Abroad His Majesty's Forwardness to countenance the Work of Reformation by his Speeches to the Parliament Proclamation to all his Subjects and by being himself a Pattern of what he recommends together with the like Forwardness in the High Court of Parliament and the most eminently dignified and distinguished Persons both in Church and State the Readiness of many both in City and Country to join in this blessed Work and the visible Success of their honest and pious Endeavours These sure give us some Ground of Hope and Encouragement to expect that our Labour in this matter shall not be in vain But that if we heartily set to the Work God will work with us and for us and his Blessings will crown our Endeavours with greater Success than we have yet seen or even durst hope for 4. With a due Sense of the great Honour God puts upon us in making use of us as Instruments for the saving of Others from Sin and Ruine We may well say with Admiration Lord what is man that thou shouldst cloath him with such Honour The Apostle St. Paul thought it worthy of his utmost Acknowledgements that God should so highly honour him as to account him faithful and put him into the Ministery 1 Tim. 1. 12. In a proportionable measure every one is greatly honoured of God that is made an Instrument to convert an erring Brother and by turning a Sinner from the error of his way to save a Soul from Death and hide a multitude of Sins Jam. 5. 20. 'T is the Joy of Angels to behold the Conversion of Sinners Luke 15. 10. it must needs then be the Glory of Mortals to be instrumental in it This was the great Errand the Son of God came down from Heaven upon and to be the Saviour is one of his most glorious Titles What must it be then for us to be subservient to him in this great Work and to be conformed to him in saving our selves and others Such Honour have all his Saints even they who were once themselves notorious Sinners and stood in as much need of Saving Mercy as any the vilest of the Sons of Men. 5. With a Prudent and Pious Fear lest the Work miscarry in our hands by our bad Management lest we harden those we design to soften and ruine those we endeavour to save They that take upon them the Work of Reforming others had need look well to themselves such are as a City set on a Hill which cannot be hid Matth. 5. 14. They that envy or hate our Endeavours for Reformation will be forward to spy out and aggravate our Miscarriages And though when all 's done it cannot be expected we should be Angels yet it becomes us to labour to be of the best of Men that none may justly taunt us with that Proverb Physician heal thy self Luke 4. 23. Meekness Prudence Watchfulness Zeal Self-denial Brotherly-love must shine brightly in the whole course of our Behaviour and especially in our Endeavours to convince and reclaim others 6. With needful Severity where milder Methods would not be likely to succeeed Immedicabile vulnus ense recidendum est ne pars sincera trahatur Some Sinners are such Sons of Belial that like thorns they cannot be taken with hands but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear 2 Sam. 23. 6 7. With these there is no dallying God and the Magistrate have put it into our Power to punish them and we draw the Guilt of their