a Spirit of Meekness towards men Besides If we do not treat our Brother with a Spirit of Meekness but with biting Scoffs and Revilings we are not good men for our Carriage towards them contradicts our Prayers to God We pray that God Would lead into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived We pray that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of Truth and hold the Faith in Vnity of Spirit and in the bond of Peace And if we treat those ill that have erred and are returned to the Church where 't is to be hoped they will be convinced of their Errors It is a sign that we never were devout in those prayers for we seem discontented that God hath heard them I heartily wish that those men who are so apt to reviling would consider what the Apostle saith Every one must give an account of himself to God and consider how impossible it is that they can be justifyed when they shall appear before that God who will judge men according to the Gospel which as I have shewed doth so strictly require All Meekness towards all men Surely there is not a man that ever read the Comands of Christ who can think that he shall come off well at the great Tribunal if he can only say Lord I was so Zealous for the Church that I hated all that seperated from it I could not see them but my Spirit was incensed I could not speak to them but with provoking Expressions c. This plea might be of great force if God would make mens Passions to be the rule of Judging and not his Word which requires that we do good to all that we love our Enemies and that we should make it our business to convert sinners from the errours of their wayes But on the contrary If a man can say Lord I have been afflicted for thy Church to see the Rents and Divisions which have been amongst Christians It hath greived me to see how little men have regarded Jerusalems peace and how much they have indulged their unreasonable and causeless Prejudices I have heartily prayed to thee to bring them into the way of Truth I have endeavoured to convince them of their mistakes and to perswade them with all expressions of Meekness and Love that they would consider the Dishonour that hath redounded to thy Great Name and to the profession of the Holy Religion of Christianity And when I saw that they Returned my heart rejoyced and my Arms Embraced them and I was glad when I could go with them into Thy House or meet them there This is the right Temper of a Christian and this is the Person that will be found fit to sit with Christ when he shall Judge the World A Spirit of Meekness is a good evidence of a sincere Christian and that he shall come off with Triumph when the Lamb shall appear sitting upon the Throne One would think that what our Saviour said in his Sermon upon the Mount Mat. 5.21 22. should make all men afraid of Reviling their Brother as they love their own Souls and value their Eternal welfare He tells them that they who are guilty of it are Murderers and shall be punished as such and I am sure the House of God is a very unfit place for men to commit Murder in if their timely Repentance which is a change in them to a better temper doth not prevent it Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old times Thou shalt not Kill and whosoever shall Kill shall be in danger of the Judgment But I say unto you that whosoever shall be angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say unto his Brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council and whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire Our Saviour spake to them who thought that the sixth Commandment could not be broken unless a man did actually commit Murder and therefore he Explaines it by telling them that men might be Murderers in their Hearts though they were not so with their Hands And that those who are of Malitious and Reproachful Spirits should be punished as such He gives an account of it with allusion to the several degrees of Punishments amongst the Jewes whereof the least was Death Whosoever shall be Angry with his Brother without a Cause shall be in danger of the Judgment that is whosoever shall be Offended at his Brother more from his Aptness to take Offence than from any Cause given to him or shall not moderate his Passion with a proportionable respect to the nature of the Offence shall have that Punishment in another state which is answerable to that which the Jews called Capital He hath made himself thereby liable to Eternal Death in another State And whosoever shall say to his Brother Racha that is worthless empty Fellow that shall vilifie him as mean and inconsiderable shall be in danger of the Council of being condemned to suffer a greater punishment than an ordinary Death that was to be Stoned to death which was the sentence of the Sanhedrim Meaning that he who used Reproachful Expressions should have a greater punishment than he who did not vent his passion in Opprobrious Language But whosoever shall say Thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell Fire which we are not to understand as if the punishments afore-mentioned were any whit less than the punishment of Hell Fire but as signifying a greater degree of Punishment or I may say the Fire made hotter It alludes to the burning in the Valley of Hinnom which was a punishment far greater than the other two where Children were put into Brazen Vessels set over the fire till they were Scalded to death and therefore signifies that he who doth not only use undervaluing Expressions by representing his Brother as weak and empty-headed but proceeds to the highest degree of Railing which is exprest by saying to him Thou Fool shall be in danger of exceeding great punishment in the place of Torments I was the more willing to give an Account of this place according to the Opinion of the best Expositors not only because there are many who do not Understand it but because there are more who do not Consider it and because it is very much to my present purpose If a man would know what his condition is and what it is like to be let him Examine the Temper of his Mind whether Religion hath subdued his Passion and keeps his Tongue from venting it Bad Words do as well discover a bad Man as bad Actions what ever men may pretend to Let men that are apt to revile consider what St. James saith and look to themselves chap. 1. v. 26. If any man amongst you seem to be Religious and bridleth not his Tongue but deceiveth his own Heart that mans Religion is vain Surely then they are very far
from the Text is from the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As the Galatians were overtaken in a Fault so we must account those to have been likewise who have dissented from us There is a great difference between Errors of Judgment and Errors of Practice When men are guilty of Errors of Practice they are Wilful and Obstinate and act quite contrary to their own Principles for they know they are wrong and offer violence to their own Consciences and yet they are to be treated with a Spirit of Meekness that they may be made sensible of their Wickedness and reclaimed without punishment by the Execution of Laws against them if it can be effected And if these men of whom it cannot properly be said that they were overtaken in a Fault because they knew the Fault before they commited it are to be treated with a Spirit of Meekness in the first place much more then are they to be dealt tenderly with of whom it may very properly be said that they were Overtaken No man runs wilfully into an Error of Judgment but it is through Weakness and Ignorance and Inability of mind for which he is to be pitied The minds of Men are liable to such errors and mistakes that sometimes men have thought that they have done well when they have done the worst Acts. Our Saviour said to his Disciples John 16.2 The time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God Service His Expression is not whosoever killeth you will say but he will think that he doth God Service It shall be according to the perswasion of his Mind His erroneous Concience will tell him that he doth God service I may mention a very strange Error which takes place in our dayes and does great mischief to the Church There are thousands amongst us who speak very reverently of our first Reformers from Popery that do exceedingly honour their memories and yet they flie as far from the Reformation that was established by them as if to return to it were to return to Popery and all that they did signified nothing but only to that age in which they lived All the Alterations and Amendments which have been made since their time signifies nothing but their orders must be wholly thrown away How little did those Holy and Learned Men think that such things would come to pass I mention these Instances because some men will not be perswaded that there is any thing but Wilfulness and Obstinacy that is the cause of mens dissenting and therefore they ought not to be treated with a Spirit of Meekness We ought in this case to call to remembrance the years that are past to consider how men were affrighted by their Teachers at any thing that did but in the least countenance Conformity to the Church of England They were brought up in a Dislike or rather an Abhorrence to the Rules and Orders of it They engaged themselves in a Communion with men of other perswasions and made choice of a Minister to be their Pastor who Dissented from the Church Nay it may be they are good men and were converted by that Minister or some other of the same perswasion from the ways of Wickedness to the practice of Religion It is well quoted by a late Learned Writer for the Church In the Division of hearts that are in the World it is certain that some good may dissent If we consider what Educations men have had and what Principles have been instil'd into their minds we may well conclude that they were overtaken in the fault of Separation and not that it was a wilful Choice and therefore they are to be treated with the Spirit of Meekness Besides we ought likewise to consider as a Consequent of this that Errors of Judgment being deeply fixt and having been of long continuance are not easily removed When men have entertain'd an Errour how weak and unaccountable soever it be yet it is truth to them and therefore they are very loath to part with it In this case he is mad who thinks he can scold a man out of his Opinion or that Reviling him will restore him There must be another and a milder way used He that would rectifie a mans Judgment must use his utmost endeavour to get first into his Affection The Apostle saith Rom. 15.2 Let every one of us please his Neighbour for his good to Edification He that would do good to another man he that desires his Edification that he may be built up in the Faith and that he may grow in Grace and Knowledg must do all that he can or may to please him Their jnfirmities must be born withal according to what the Apostle saith in the foregoing verse and nothing must be done to discourage them A man that hath indulg'd an Errour will scarcely hear what another man saith who hath no kindness for him It is to be questioned whether he will be convinc'd by him that hath Remarkable to this purpose is that forementioned place 2 Tim. 2.25 In Meekness instructing them that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth Doct. Hammonds Paraphrase upon the place is thus with great Calmness and temper dealing with those that are of different Opinions from us though in opposing us they oppose the Truth as counting it not impossible or hopeless but by the Grace of God they may be brought to Repentance and so come to acknowledge the Truth at length There are Three things very sit for us to take notice of in what the Apostle saith First That to shew a Spirit of Meekness is the best way to deal with men of different Opinions from us If any thing prevails with them that will If we think to deal otherwise with them it is the way to make them oppose the Truth still and us likewise and all that we can say to recover them Secondly When we deal with men after this manner Meekly and Gently yet it is but a Peradventure whether it will have any good effect upon them because men are commonly so wedded to their Opinions that they part not so long as they live Thirdly He that useth a Spirit of Meekness hath most reason to expect the assistance of Gods Grace who as I have already shewed requires that Temper of mind and delights in those that have it If we consider that he that hath dissented is not only our Brother but likewise that he hath been overtaken in a Fault we are not only obliged to treat him with a Spirit of Meekness from a principle of Love and Ingenuity but from the Necessity of the Case because it is our Duty to use our utmost endeavour to restore him and a Spirit of Meekness makes us most fit to effect it There is somewhat which may be considered from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the text which I told you signifies the Setting of a bone that is broken or out of joynt Those that
great Duties and such as the Gospel doth very strictly require of all that profess Christianity The Apostle joyns them together and it would be happy for the Nation if there were no man that put them asunder Tit. 3.1 Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to Obey Magistrates And ver 2. To speak evil of no man to be no Brawlers but Gentle shewing all Meekness unto all men The Apostle supposeth that there might be great occasion to provoke them to Railing and Evill speaking but he tells them they must not give way to Passion although their Zeal for their Religion might prompt them to it My design is to speak chiefly of the Necessity of this temper as conducing to the Churches Peace and Unity which certainly men do not consider whatever they pretend when they exasperate others by Reviling and Evill speaking We have been a great while biting and devouring one another and by that meanes we have made sport for them that hope to devour us all insomuch that it is Gods great Mercy that we are not Consumed one of another There is a great opportunity given to us of promoting the Churches Peace and Unity if an Unchristian temper of Spirit doth not hinder it Many that have dissented are constrained by the execution of Laws to serve God with us I heartily wish that we may constrain them another way such a way I mean as Christ Constraineth us and that is by his Love towards us The great thing which we ought earnestly to endeavour and Pray for is the Peace of Jerusalem that our eyes may see her a quiet Habitation and that we may all joyn together in Love and Unity but this can never be if we are not of peaceable Spirits or as the Apostle saith of meek and quiet Spirits to them that are now come among us We read that when Solomon built his Temple There was neither Hammer nor Axe nor any Tool of Iron heard in the House whilst it was in building It had no doubt a typical Signification to shew that there must be no Jarres or Contentions amongst the Worshippers of God which are as the knocking of Iron Instruments and much more unpleasant than they can be As there was that care taken in the building of the house of God so I wish we may take a care alluding to it in our repairing of the unhappy Breaches of the Church of God and that we may all be as those Workmen who helpt on with the building but made no noyse Reproaching and speaking Evil of men whatever their faults have been is not the way to bring them into the Churches Communion but to make them shun and avoid it I should exceedingly wonder if I should hear one say that he hath been in company with Dissenters and that he took occasion to tell them what they are That he treated them with such reproachful Titles as the Devil and his Emissaries hath sent out of other Nations to set Protestants at variance one against another And now that he hath done this he hopes it will be a means to bring them to Church and that he and they shall all joyn together in lifting up their hearts to God in the use of the publick Prayers of the Church He hopes now that they shall come together to the Blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper If we love the Church we will heartily endeavour to encrease her Members and if we pretend to that and yet revile those who have dissented we are Fools and contradict our selves We should do very well to learn Wisdom from an Enemy If a Jesuite should see any of us in their places of publick Worship how kindly should we be treated by them in hopes that they might bring us over to the Church of Rome If we had of late gone to the Conventicles of Anabaptists or any other Sectaries how gladly would they have made room for us and treated us with all possible kindness in hopes that we would be in Love with their Party And shall we have less regard for that Church whereof we are Members which is admired by all Learned men of the Reformed Religion as the best constituted Church in the world If the present Execution of Laws drive those that have dissented into our bosoms to be embraced by us and not upon the Swords and Spears of reproachful Tongues we have great cause to hope that they will be satisfied of the great Necessity and likewise of the great Benefit of a hearty and sincere Compliance I will conclude this particular with the Apostles importunate Request to the Ephesians Chap. 4. v. 1 2 3. I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called with long suffering forbearing one another in Love Endeavouring to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace IV. As a Spirit of Meekness tends to a General good so likewise to our own Particular good and Benefit It is a great satisfaction to us if we are well assured that we are of such a Temper of mind as becomes our Profession and which is not only pleasant in it self but acceptable to God and serviceable to his Church It is an argument that we are such persons as we ought to be Particularly 1. It a great argument of true Piety and Holiness That we fear God and are truly and sincerely Religious The Apostle joynes Meekness and the Fear of God together 1 Pet. 3.15 But Sanctifie the Lord God in your hearts And be ready alwayes to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with Meekness and Fear The Apostle did not mean that they should fear them that should call them to Question but that they should only shew Meekness towards them and that there should be in them that fear of God which should keep them from the fear of Men. The Apostle saith Ye that are Spiritual c. Intimating that Meekness is to be expected from such If we are not Meek it may be suspected that we are not Spiritual This is one of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in the foregoing Chapter v. 22. The fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness A Spirit of Meekness is a great evidence that we are good Christians and that our Religion hath tempered our minds 'T is that as I have already shew'd which our Saviour requires of all that are his Disciples And if we read the Epistles of the Apostles we may conclude that there was nothing which they did with more ardent Zeal and continued fervency contend for not only for the promoting of Christianity in the World but as that which was a good Evidence of mens being in a Religious State Put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of Mercies Kindness Humbleness of mind Meekness Long-suffering Col. 3.12 The Apostle plainly shews that those who are highly valued of God should shew