Judicial Law of the Jews did very much vary according to the kind and degree of the injury In some Cases a Man was only bound to simple Restitution but then he was to do it to the full Exod. 22.5 6. And so if that which is another Man's be delivered unto his Neighbour to keep and be stolen from him he is to make Restitution thereof Ver. 12. And so if a Man borrow ought of his Neighbour and it be hurt or die the owner thereof not being with it he shall surely make it good Ver. 14. But for all manner of trespasses by way of theft whether it be for Ox for Ass for Sheep for Rayment or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his He whom the Judge shall condemn shall pay double to his Neighbour Ver. 9. that is if it be of a living Creature if the theft be found in his Hands alive whether it be Ox or Ass or Sheep he shall restore double Ver. 4. But if a Man did steal an Ox or a Sheep and did kill it or sell it he was to restore five Oxen for an Ox and four Sheep for a Sheep And thus we find David judged upon Nathan's Parable of the Rich Man who had taken the Poor Man's only Lamb and kill'd and drest it for a Traveller that came to him 2 Sam. 12.6 He shall restore the Lamb fourfold Now the Reason of this seems to be partly because of the advantage and usefulness of those Creatures above any oother and partly because when they were once kill'd or alienated a Man could not without great trouble and difficulty make Discovery which hazard of not discovering seems to be accounted for in the Restitution but if a Man did voluntarily offer Restitution before he was prosecuted for any thing that was taken by violence or unjustly detained from his Neighbour then he was only to restore the principal and to add a fifth part thereto and to offer up an Offering to the Lord and so his atonement was made Levit. 6.1 c. So that the highest proportion was a fourth or fifth part and that only in the particular Case of Sheep or Oxen stolen away and kill'd or alienated afterwards Indeed Solomon speaks of a sevenfold Restitution Prov. 6.31 Where he saith If a thief be found he shall restore sevenfold even all the substance of his House where seven is only a number of Perfection and the meaning is he shall make perfect and full Restitution according to the Law so far as his Substance or Estate will reach So that it seems Zacheus in restoring fourfold did out-do the utmost severity of the Law which in Case of fraud and oppression was but double if demanded if voluntarily offer'd was the principal and a fifth part added but to testifie the truth of his Repentance and his hearty Sorrow for the injuries he had done he punisheth himself beyond what the Law would have done I do not say that this Example binds as to this measure and proportion nay I do not say we are bound to the proportions of the Law for that only concerned the Nation of the Jews but altho' we be free from the Letter of the Law yet we are tyed to the Equity of it As to the substance of the Duty of Restitution we are bound to that by the Law of Nature As to the Measure and Proportion the Equity of the Judicial Law in its Proportions and of Zacheus his Example ought to be considerable to us But to speak more particularly concerning the Measures and Proportions of Restitution I shall lay down these Propositions 1. Where Restitution can be made in Kind or the Injury can be certainly valued we are to restore the thing or the value 2. We are bound to restore the thing with the natural increase of it that is to satisfie for the loss sustained in the mean time and the gain hinder'd 3. Where the thing cannot be restored and the value of it is not certain we are to give reasonable Satisfaction that is according to a middle estimation not the highest nor the lowest of things of the kind The injur'd Person can demand no more and strict Justice requires no more But it is safe for him that hath done the injury rather to exceed than to fall short 4. We are at least to give by way of Restitution what the Law would give for that is generally equal and in most Cases rather favourable than rigorous 5. A Man is not only bound to Restitution for the injury which he did but for all that directy follows upon his injurious Act tho' it were beyond his intention For the first injury being wilful thou art presumed to will all that which directly followed upon it according to that rule Involuntarium ortum ex voluntario censetur pro voluntario We are presumed to will that which follows upon a voluntary action tho' we did not intend it For instance if a Man maliciously and knowingly set fire upon another Man's House tho' he intended only an injury to that particular Person yet if a wind come and drive the fire to his Neighbours at some distance tho' he did not intend this yet because the first Act was unlawful he is liable to satisfie for all the direct consequences of it If a Man wound another without any intention of killing him and the wound prove Mortal tho' there was no probability that Death would ensue upon it the Man is bound because the first Act was injurious to make Reparation to his Relations for the damage they sustain by his Death and if they did depend solely upon him who died by such injury thou art bound to maintain them 6. Because those who have lived in a Trade and Course of Injustice can hardly remember all the particular injuries they have done so as to make exact Satisfaction for them it will not be amiss over and besides to give something to the Poor So Zacheus does here Half of my Estate I give to the Poor and if I have taken any thing c. V. The Persons who are concern'd in Restitution And here I shall consider First The Persons who are bound to make Restitution Secondly The Persons to whom it is to be made First The Persons who are bound to make Restitution In general they who have done the injury or they who come into their stead so as in Law or Equity the Injury devolves and descends upon them But for the clearer stating of this I shall lay down several Propositions which may serve to resolve a great many Cases that may be put concerning Persons obliged to make Restitution 1. If the Injury be done solely by one without Complices and Partakers in the Crime he alone is responsible and wholly bound to make Satisfaction I mean he only is bound so long as he lives but if the injury descend as a burden upon the Estate then he who enjoys the Estate becomes bound to make Satisfaction as I shall
are done to Persons without their consent And these tho' are not always the greatest Michiefs yet they are the greatest Injuries And these Injuries are done either by fraud and cunning or by violence and oppression either by over-reaching another Man in Wit or over-bearing him by Power And these usually either respect the Bodies of men or their Estates or their good Name The Bodies of men He that maims another or does him any other Injury in his Limbs or Health either by fraud or force is bound so far as he is able to make Reparation for the Injury Or they respect the Estates of men If by cunning or by violence or by false Testimony or Accusation thou hast hinder'd a Man of any Benefit which otherwise would have come to him thou art bound to Restitution If by thy Power or Interest by thy knowledge in the Law or skill in Business thou hast directly and avowedly helped and assisted another to do Injustice to his Neighbour thou art bound to Restitution tho' not as the principal yet as the accessory If thou hast over-reached thy Brother in any Contract making Advantage of his ignorance or unskilfulness if thou hast made a gain of his Necessity if thou hast by thy Power and Interest or by any more violent and forcible way detained his Right or taken away that which was his thou art bound to make Reparation for these Injuries to restore that which thou hast borrowed to return the pledge which thou hast wrongfully kept to release unconscionable Forfeitures to pay debts to make satisfaction for frauds and cheats to take off all unjust invasions and surprizals of Estates yea tho' the fraud be such that thou art not liable to make satisfaction by any Humane Law yet thou art as much bound to it in Conscience to God and thy Duty as if thou hadst stolen it or taken it by violence from thy Neighbour For in truth and reality fraud is as great an Injury as violence altho' Humane Laws cannot take Cognizance of it so as to relieve every Man that is over-reached in a Bargain nay of the two it is worse for whenever thou decievest a Man in this kind thou dost not only wrong him in Point of Estate but thou abusest his Understanding And so likewise in respect of a Man's Fame and Reputation If thou hast hurt any Man's good Name by slander or calumny by false witness by rendring him ridiculous or any other way thou art bound to give such Satisfaction as the thing is capable of or if there be any other Injury which I have not mentioned thou art obliged to make Reparation for it III. As to the manner how Restitution is to be made 1. Thou art bound to do it voluntarily and of thy own accord tho' the Person injured do not know who it was that did him the Injury tho' he do not seek Reparation by Law When a Man is forced by Law to make Restitution it is not a Virtue but Necessity this is not a Fruit of Repentance and a good Mind but of good Law And that thou dost not do it unless the Law compel thee to it is an Argument thou wouldst not have done it if thou couldst have avoided it And tho' the thing be done yet thou hast not done it but the Law and unless thou heartily repent of thy Crime the Injury still lies at thy Door and in God's account thou art as guilty as if no Restitution had been made Not that thou art bound in this Case to make new Restitution over again but thou art bound to bewail thy neglect that thou didst not do it voluntarily and without the compulsion of the Law 2. Thou must do it in kind if the thing be capable of it and the injur'd Party demand it Thou must restore the very thing which thou hadst deprived thy Neighbour of if it be such a thing as can be restored and be still in thy Power unless he voluntarily accept of some other thing in exchange 3. If thou canst not restore it in kind thou art bound to restore it in value in something that is as good As for spiritual Injuries done to the Souls of men we are bound to make such Reparation and Compensation as we can Those whom we have drawn into Sin and engaged in wicked Courses by our influence and example or by neglect of our Duty towards them we are so far as becomes the Relation we stand in to them to make acknowledgement of our fault to endeavour by our Instruction and Counsel to reclaim them from those Sins which we led them into and to recover them out of the snare of the Devil and should never be at rest till we have done as much or more for the furtherance of their Salvation and helping them forwards towards Heaven as we did contribute before to their Ruin and Destruction If we have violated any ones Chastity we are bound to Marry them if it was done upon that Condition and if they require it thou art bound to keep and maintain those Children which are the Fruit of thy Lust and to make Reparation to the Person whom thou hast injured by Dowry or otherwise If thou hast defrauded and injured any Man in his good Name thou art obliged to make him a Compensation by acknowledgment of thy fault by a studious vindication of him and by doing him honour and repairing his Credit in all fitting ways And if the Injury be irreparable as it frequently happens that we can hardly so effectually vindicate a Man as we can defame him and it is seldom seen that those wounds which are given to mens Reputation are perfectly healed I say if the injury be irreparable especially if it prove really prejudicial to a Man in his Calling and Civil Interest if no other Satisfaction will be accepted it is to be made in Mony which Solomon says answers all things and the rather because the Reason and Equity of humane Laws hath thought fit to assign this way of Satisfaction in many Cases upon Actions of Scandal and Defamation And whatever the Law would give in any Case if it could be proved that is the least we are bound in Conscience to do when we are guilty to our selves tho' the Law cannot take hold of us So likewise if thou hast wounded a Man thou art bound to pay the Cure to repair to him and his Relations the Disability for his Calling and his way of Livelyhood and Subsistance which he hath contracted by thy injury And so for false Imprisonment the real Detriment which comes to him by it is to be made amends for and so in all other Cases the injured Person is so far as is possible to be restored to the good Condition in which he was before the Injury IV. As to the Measure and Proportion of the Restitution we are to make Zacheus here offers fourfold which was much beyond what any Law required in like Cases The Measure of Restitution by the
Lord Jesus Christ at the day of Judgment will sentence men as the great Judge of the world and this is to believe the Kingly Office of Christ And this is the sum of that which is meant by Faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ which the Apostle saith was one Subject of his preaching And the proper and genuine effect of this Faith is to live as we believe to conform our lives to the Doctrine to the truth whereof we assent Hence it is that true Christians that is those who fashioned their lives according to the Gospel are call'd believers and the whole of Christianity is many times contained in this word believing which is the great Principle of a Christian life As in the Old Testament all Religion is express'd by the fear of God so in the New by Faith in Christ And now you see what is included in Repentance and Faith you may easily judge whether these be not the sum of the Gospel that men would forsake their sins and turn to God and believe the revelation of the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ that is heartily entertain it and submit to it What did Christ preach to the Jews but that they would repent of their sins and believe on him as the Messias And what did the Apostles preach but to the same purpose When St. Peter preached to the Jews Acts 2. the effect of his Sermon and the scope of it was to perswade them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus that is to profess their belief in him v. 38. And so Acts 3.19 This is the conclusion of his discourse repent therefore and be converted and then he propounded Christ to them as the Object of their Faith being the great Prophet that was Prophesied of by Moses who should be raised up among them v. 22. So likewise St. Paul when he preached to the Jews and Gentiles these were his great Subjects Acts 17.30 This is the conclusion of his Sermon to the Athenians to perswade them to repent by the consideration of a future Judgment and to perswade them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who was to be the Judge of the world from the Miracle of his Resurrection But now he commands all men every where to repent because he hath appointed a day c. whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead So that you see that these are the great Doctrines of the Gospel and were the sum of the Apostles preaching all their Sermons were perswasives to these two Duties of Repentance and Faith Secondly For the Necessity of these Doctrines They are necessary for the escaping of eternal misery and attaining of everlasting happiness And this will appear by considering the Nature of them and the Relation they have to both these For the avoiding of eternal punishment 't is necessary that guilt should be removed which is an obligation to punishment and that cannot be but by pardon and sure we cannot imagine that God will ever pardon us without repentance he will never remit to us the punishment of sin so long as we tell him we are not at all troubled for what we have done and we are of the same mind still and will do the same again and till we repent we tell God this and we may be sure God will not cast away his Pardons upon those that despise them so that Repentance is necessary to the escaping of Hell And Faith in Christ is necessary to it for if this be the method of God's grace not to pardon sin without Satisfaction and Jesus Christ hath made Satisfaction for sin by the merit of his Sufferings and if it be necessary that we should believe this that the benefit hereof may redound to us then Faith in Christ is necessary to the obtaining of the pardon of sin by which the guilt of sin is removed that is our obligation to eternal punishment And then for attaining Salvation Christ having in the Gospel revealed to us the way and means to eternal happiness it is necessary that we should believe this Revelation of the Gospel by Jesus Christ in order to this end So that you see the necessity of Faith and Repentance because without these we can neither escape Misery nor attain to Happiness I should now come to draw some Inferences from this Discourse but I will first give satisfaction to a Query or two to which this Discourse seems to have given occasion 1. Query You will say why do I call Repentance a Doctrine of the Gospel It is a Doctrine of Nature Natural Religion tells us that when we have offended God we ought to be sorry for it and resolve to amend and reform Ans I do not make the Doctrine of Repentance proper to the Gospel as if it had not been revealed to the world before but because it is a Doctrine which the Gospel very much presseth and perswadeth men to and because the great Motives and Enforcements of it are peculiar to the Gospel So that the Doctrine of Repentance considered with those powerful Reasons and Arguments to it which the Gospel furnisheth us withal is in this sense proper to the Gospel and not known to the world before There are two Motives and Enforcements to Repentance which the Gospel furnisheth us with 1. Assurance of Pardon and Remission of sins in case of repentance which is a great encouragement to repentance and which before the Gospel the world had never any firm and clear assurance of 2. Assurance of eternal Rewards and Punishments after this life which is a strong Argument to perswade men to change their lives that they may avoid the misery that is threatned to impenitent sinners and be qualified for the Happiness which it promiseth to Repentance and Obedience And this the Apostle tells us in the forementioned place Acts 17.30 31. is that which doth as it were make Repentance to be a new Doctrine that did come with the Gospel into the world because it was never before enforced with this powerful Argument the time 's of that ignorance God winked at but now he calls upon all men every where to repent because c. When the world was in ignorance and had not such assurance of a future state of eternal Rewards and Punishments after this life the Arguments to Repentance were weak and feeble in comparison of what they now are the necessity of this Duty was not so evident But now God hath assur'd us of a future Judgment now Exhortations to Repentance have a commanding power and influence upon men so that Repentance both as it is that which is very much prest and inculcated in the Gospel and as it hath its chief Motives and Enforcements from the Gospel may be said to be one of the great Doctrines of the Gospel Query 2. Whether the preaching of Faith in Christ among those who are already Christians be at all necessary Because it seems very improper to press those
to believe in Christ who are already perswaded that he is the Messias and do entertain the History and Doctrine of the Gospel Ans The Faith which the Apostle here means and which he would perswade men to is an effectual belief of the Gospel such a Faith as hath real effects upon men and makes them to live as they believe such a Faith as perswades them of the need of these Blessings that the Gospel offers and makes them to desire to be partakers of them and in order thereto to be willing to submit to those Terms and Conditions of Holiness and Obedience which the Gospel requires This is the Faith we would perswade men to and there is nothing more necessary to be prest upon the greatest part of Christians than this for how few are there among those who profess to believe the Gospel who believe it in this effectual manner so as to conform themselves to it The Faith which most Christians pretend to is meerly negative they do not disbelieve the Gospel they do not consider it nor trouble themselves about it they do not care nor are concerned whether it be true or not but they have not a positive belief of it they are not possest with a firm perswasion of the truth of those matters which are contained in it if they were such a perswasion would produce real and positive effects Every man naturally desires Happiness and 't is impossible that any man that is possest with this belief that in order to Happiness it is necessary for him to do such and such things and that if he omit or neglect them he is unavoidably miserable that he should not do them Men say they believe this or that but you may see in their lives what it is they believe So that the preaching of this Faith in Christ which is the only true Faith is still necessary I. Inference If Repentance towards God and Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ be the sum and substance of the Gospel then from hence we may infer the Excellency of the Christian Religion which insists only upon these things which do tend to our Perfection and our Happiness Repentance tends to our recovery and the bringing of us back as near as may be to innocence Primus innocentiae graedus est non peccasse secundus penitentia and then Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ tho it be very comprehensive and contains many things in it yet nothing but what is eminently for our advantage and doth very much conduce to our happiness The Historical part of the Gospel acquaints us with the Person and Actions of our Saviour which conduceth very much to our understanding of the Author and Means of our Salvation The Doctrinal part of the Gospel contains what God requires on our part and the Encouragements and Arguments to our Duty from the consideration of the Recompence and Rewards of the next life The Precepts of Christs Doctrine are such as tend exceedingly to the Perfection of our nature being all founded in Reason in the nature of God and of a Reasonable Creature I except only those positive Institutions of the Christian Religion the two Sacraments which are not burthensome and are of excellent use This is the first II. we may learn from hence what is to be the sum and end of our Preaching to bring men to Repentance and a firm belief of the Gospel but then it is to be considered that we preach Repentance so often as we preach either against sin in general or any particular sin or vice and so often as we perswade to holiness in general or to the performance of any particular Duty of Religion or to the exercise of any particular Grace for Repentance includes the forsaking of sin and a sincere resolution and endeavour of reformation and obedience And we preach Repentance so often as we insist upon such Considerations and Arguments as may be powerful to deter men from sin and to engage them to holiness And we preach Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ so often as we declare the grounds of the Christian Religion and insist upon such Arguments as tend to make it credible and are proper to convince men of the Truth and Reasonableness of it so often as we explain the Mystery of Christ's incarnation the History of his Life Death Resurrection Ascension and Intercession and the proper Ends and Use of these so often as we open the Method of God's Grace for the salvation of sinners the Nature of the Covenant between God and us and the Conditions of it and the way how a sinner is justified and hath his sins pardoned the Nature and Necessity of Regeneration and Sanctification so often as we explain the Precepts of the Gospel and the Promises and Threatnings of it and endeavour to convince men of the Equity of Christ's Commands and to assure them of the Certainty of the Eternal Happiness which the Gospel promises to them that obey it and of the Eternal Misery which the Gospel threatens to those that are disobedient all this is preaching Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ III. This may correct the irregular humor and itch in many people who are not contented with this plain and wholsom food but must be gratified with sublime Notions and unintelligible Mysteries with pleasant passages of Wit and artificial strains of Rhetorick with nice and unprofitable Disputes with bold interpretations of dark Prophecies and peremptory Determinations of what will happen next year and a punctual stating of the time when Anti-Christ shall be thrown down and Babylon shall fall and who shall be employed in this Work Or if their humor lies another way you must apply your self to it by making sharp Reflections upon matters in present controversie and debate you must dip your stile in Gall and Vinegar and be all Satyr and Invective against those that differ from you and teach people to hate one another and to fall together by the ears and this men call Gospel preaching and speaking of Seasonable Truths Surely St. Paul was a Gospel Preacher and such an one as may be a Patern to all others and yet he did none of these he preached what men might understand and what they ought to believe and practice in a plain and unaffected and convincing manner he taught such things as made for peace and whereby he might edifie and build up men in their holy Faith The Doctrines that he preached will never be unseasonable that men should leave their sins and believe the Gospel and live accordingly And if men must needs be gratified with Disputes and Controversies there are these great Controversies between God and the sinner to be stated and determined Whether this be Religion to follow our own lusts and inclinations or to endeavour to be like God and to be conformed to him in Goodness and Mercy and Righteousness and Truth and Faithfulness Whether Jesus Christ be not the Messias and Saviour of the world Whether Faith and
gone so far in Sin and have waded so deep in a vicious course as to be confirmed and harden'd in their Wickedness to that degree as to be past all Shame and almost all sense of their Faults especially in regard of the more common and ordinary Vices which are in vogue and fashion and in the commission whereof they are countenanc'd and encourag'd by Company and Example Such were those of whom the Prophet speaks Jer. 6.15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination nay they were not ashamed neither could they blush But yet even these Persons when they come to be sensible of their guilt so as to be brought to Repentance they cannot then but be ashamed of what they have done For what face soever Men may set upon their Vices Sin is shameful in it self and so apt to fill Men with confusion of face when they seriously reflect upon it that they cannot harden their Foreheads against all sense of Shame And whatever Men may declare to the contrary this is tacitly acknowledged by the generality of Men in that they are so solicitous and careful to conceal their Faults from the Eyes of others and to keep them as secret as they can and whenever they are discovered and laid open 't is matter of great Trouble and Confusion to them and if any one happen to upbraid and twit them with their Miscarriages of any kind they cannot bear with Patience to hear of them There are indeed some few such Prodigies and Monsters of Men as are able after great struglings with their Consciences to force themselves to boast impudently of their Wickedness and to glory in their shame not because they do really and inwardly believe their Vices to be an Honour and Glory to them but because conscious to themselves that they have done shameful things and believing that others know it they put on a Whore's Forehead and think to prevent the upbraiding of others by owning what they have done and seeming to glory in it but yet for all that these Persons if they would confess the Truth do feel some Confusion in themselves and they are inwardly sensible of the Infamy and Reproach of such Actions for all they would seem to the World to bear it out so well For when all is done there is a wide difference between the Impudence of a Criminal and the Confidence and Assurance of a clear Conscience that is fully satisfied of its own Innocence and Integrity The conscientious Man is not ashamed of any thing that he hath done but the impudent Sinner only seems not to be so but all the while feels a great deal of Confusion in his own Mind The one is sensible and satisfied that there is no cause for Shame the other is conscious to himself that there is cause but he offers Violence to himself and suppresses all he can the sense and shew of it and will needs face down the World that he hath no Guilt and Regret in his own Mind for any thing that he hath done Now that Sin is truly matter of Shame will be very evident if we consider these two things First If we consider the nature of this Passion of Shame Secondly If we consider what there is in Sin which gives real ground and occasion for it First For the nature of this Passion Shame is the Trouble or Confusion of Mind occasioned by something that tends to our Disgrace and Dishonour to our Infamy and Reproach Now there is nothing truly and really matter of Shame and Reproach to us but what we our selves have done or have been some way or other accessary to the doing of by our own fault or neglect and by consequence what it was in our Power and Choice not to have done For no Man is ashamed of what he is sure he could not help Necessity unless it be wilful and contracted and happens through some precedent occasion and fault of our own does take away all just cause of Shame And nothing likewise is matter of Shame but something which we ought not to do which misbecomes us and is below the Dignity and Perfection of our Nature and is against some Duty and Obligation that is upon us to the contrary and consequently is a Reproach to our Reason and Understanding a Reflection upon our Prudence and Discretion and at first sight hath an appearance of Ruggednss and Deformity And all Actions of this nature do receive several Aggravations with respect to the Persons against whom and in whose Presence and under whose Eye and Knowledge these shameful things are done Now I shall shew in the Second place That Sin contains in it whatsoever is justly accounted infamous together with all the Aggravations of Shame and Reproach that can be imagined And this will appear by considering Sin and Vice in these two respects I. In relation to our selves II. In respect to God against whom and in whose sight it is committed I. In relation to our selves there are these four things which make Sin and Vice to be very shameful 1. The natural Ruggedness and Deformity of it 2. That it is so great a Dishonour to our Nature and to the Dignity and Excellency of our Being 3. That it is so great a Reproach to our Reason and Understanding and so foul a Reflection upon our Prudence and Discretion 4. That it is our own voluntary Act and Choice Every one of these Considerations render it very shameful and all of them together ought to fill the Sinner with Confusion of face I shall speak to them severally 1. The natural Ruggedness and Deformity of Sin and Vice render it very shameful Men are apt to be ashamed of any thing in them or belonging to them that looks ugly and monstrous and therefore they endeavour with great Care and Art to conceal and dissemble their Deformity in any kind How strangely do we see Men concerned with all their Diligence and Skill to cover and palliate any Defect or Deformity in their Bodies an ill Face if they could however a foul and bad Complexion or blind or squinting Eye a crooked Body or Limb and whatever is ill-favour'd or monstrous Now in regard of our Souls and better part Sin hath all the monstrousness and deformity in it which we can imagine in the Body and much more and it is as hard to be covered from the Eye of discerning Men as the deformity of the Body is but impossible to be conceal'd from the Eye of God to whom Darkness and Light secret and open are all one But then the moral Defects and Deformities of the Mind have this advantage above the natural Defects and Deformities of the Body that the former are possible to be cured by the Grace of God in Conjunction with our own Care and Endeavour Whereas no Diligence or Skill can ever help or remove many of the natural Defects and Deformities of the Body Sin is the blindness of our Minds the perverseness and crookedness of our Wills
and the monstrous irregularity and disorder of our Affections and Appetites it is the mis-placing of our Powers and Faculties the setting of our Wills and Passions above our Reason all which is ugly and unnatural and if we were truly sensible of it matter of great Shame and Reproach to us There is hardly any Vice but at first sight hath an odious and ugly Appearance to a well disciplin'd and innocent Mind that hath never had any acquaintance with it And however Familiarity and Custom may abate the sense of it's Deformity yet it is at it was before and the change that is made in us does not alter the nature of the thing Drunkenness and furious Passion Pride and Fashood Covetousness and Cruelty are odious and matter of Shame in the sincere and uncorrupted Opinion of all Mankind And tho' a Man by the frequent Practice of any of these Vices and a long familiarity with them may not be so sensible of the Deformity of them in himself yet he quickly discerns the ugliness of them in others when ever they come in his way and could with Salt and Sharpness enough upbraid those whom he sees guilty of them but that he is inwardly conscious that the Reproach may be so easily return'd and thrown back upon himself However this is a natural acknowledgment of the Deformity and Shamefulness of Sin and Vice 2. They are likewise shameful because they are so great a Dishonour to our Nature and to the Dignity and Excellency of our Being We go below our selves and act beneath the Dignity of our Nature when we do any thing contrary to the Rules and Laws of it or to the revealed Will of God because these are the Bounds and Limits which God and Nature hath set to Humane Actions and are the measures of our Duty i. e. what is fit and becoming for us to do and what not So that all Sin and Vice is base and unworthy and beneath the Dignity of our Nature it argues a corrupt and diseased Constitution and Habit of Mind a crooked and perverse Disposition of Will and a sordid and mean temper of Spirit And therefore the Scripture doth frequently represent a state of Sin and Wickedness by that which is accounted the basest and meanest Condition among Men by a state of Servitude and Slavery especially if it had been our Choice or the evident and necessary Consequence of our wilful Fault For we do as bad as chuse it when we wilfully bring it upon our selves So that to be a Sinner is to be a Slave to some vile Lust Appetite or Passion to some unnatural or irregular Desire it is to sell our selves into Bondage and to part with one of the most valuable things in the World our Liberty upon low and unworthy terms Such a State and Condition does unavoidably debase and debauch our Minds and break the force and firmness of our Spirits and robs us as Dalilah did Sampson of our Strength and Courage of our Resolution and Constancy so that Men have not the Heart left to design and endeavour in good earnest their own Rescue out of this mean and miserable estate into which by their own Folly and Fault they have brought themselves When Men are engaged into a custom of sinning and have habituated themselves to any vicious Course how do they betray their Weakness and want of Resolution by being at the beck of every foolish Lust and by suffering themselves to be commanded and burried away by every unruly Appetite and Passion to do things which they know to be greatly to their Harm and Prejudice and which they are convinced are mean and sordid things and such as they are ashamed that any wise Man should see them doing And there is no greater Argument of a pitiful and degenerate Spirit than to commit such things as a Man would blush to be surprized in and would be mightily troubled to hear of afterwards And which is more after he hath been convinc'd by manifold Experience that they are a Shame and Disgrace to him and make him to hang down his Head and let fall his Countenance whenever he is in better Company than himself yet after this to go and do the same things again which he is sensible are so shameful and to be so impotent and to have so little Command of himself as not to be able to free himself from this Bondage nor the heart to pray to God that by his Grace he would enable him hereto And that Sin is of this shameful Nature is evident in that the greatest part of Sinners take so much Care and Pains to hide their Vices from the sight and notice of Men and to this purpose chuse Darkness and secret places of Retirement to commit their Sins in The Apostle takes notice that thus much Modesty was left even in a very wicked and degenerate Age 1 Thes 5.7 They that be drunk says he are drunk in the night Now all this is a plain acknowledgment that Sin is a spurious and degenerate thing that it misbecomes Humane Nature and is below the Dignity of a reasonable Creature Otherwise why should Men be so solicitous and concern'd to cover their Faults from the sight of others If they are not ashamed of them why do they not bring them into the broad Light and shew them openly if they think they will endure it So true is that Observation which Plato makes That tho' a Man were sure that God would forgive his Sins and that Men should never know them yet there is that Baseness in Sin that a wise Man that considers what it is would blush to himself alone to be guilty of it and tho' he were not afraid of the Punishment would be ashamed of the Turpitude and Deformity of it Did but a Man consider seriously with himself how mean and unmanly it is for a Man to be drunk and what an apish and ridiculous thing he renders himself to all sober Men that behold him and with what Contempt and Scorn they entertain such a sight and how brutish it is to wallow in any unlawful Lust and how much a Man descends and stoops beneath himself what shameful Fear and Cowardise he betrays when he is frighted to tell a Lye out of Fear or tempted thereto for some little Advantage and yet is so inconsistent with himself as to have or to pretend to have the Courage to fight any Man that shall tell him so sawcy a Truth as that he told a Lye Would but a Man think before hand how unworthy and how unequal a thing it is to defraud or cheat his Brother or to do any thing to another Man which he would be loth in the like case that he should do to him how base a thing it is for a Man to be perfidious and false to his Promise or Trust how monstrous to be unthankful to one that hath highly obliged him and every way and upon all occasions deserved well at his Hands and
every whit as forcible and powerful to perswade thee to put it speedily in Execution And then there is this Reason besides and that a very considerable one why thou shouldest immediately put this Resolution in practice and not delay it for a moment Thou may'st at present do it much more certainly and much more easily Much more certainly because thou art surer of the present time than thou canst be of the future The present is in thy Power but not one moment more And thou may'st at present do it more easily for the longer thou continuest in Sin thy Resolution against it will still grow weaker and the habit of Sin continually stronger Thou wilt every day be more enslaved by the Power of thy Lusts and thy heart will every day be more hardened through the deceitfulness of sin All the change that time makes will still be for the worse and more to thy disadvantage Sin will be as pleasant to thee hereafter and thou more loth to leave it than at present Sin was never mortified by Age. It will every day have more strength to bind thee and hold thee fast and thou wilt every day have less to break loose from it For by every Sin thou dost commit thou addest a new degree to the strength and force of it and so much strength as thou addest to it so much thou takest from thy self and so much thou losest of thine own Power and Liberty For a Man and his Lusts are like Nature and a Disease so much strength as the Disease gains Nature loseth and the Man is hereby doubly weakned for he does not only lose so much of his own strength but the Enemy gets it Nay thou dost hereby likewise forfeit that auxiliary strength and assistance which the Grace of God is ready to afford to men his restraining and his preventing Grace For as a Man goes on in Sin and advanceth in an evil Course the Grace of God draws off by degrees and his Holy Spirit doth insensibly leave him and when a sinner is come to this his best Resolutions will vanish like the morning cloud and the early dew which passeth away So that it cannot be a true and sincere Resolution of leaving our Sins if it do not take place and have not its effect presently For there is no Man that takes up a Resolution upon weighty and considerable Reasons of doing any thing but if the Reasons upon which he takes it up urge him to do the thing at present he will presently set about it and that Man is not resolved to do a thing whatever he may pretend who hath most Reason to do it at present and may best do it now and yet delays it And thus I have opened to you the Nature of this holy Resolution of leaving our Sins and returning to God and our Duty and have shewn what is necessarily implyed in such a Resolution if it be sincere and in good earnest That it be Universal and that it be a Resolution of the Means as well as of the End and that it presently take place and be put in Execution And these are three the best Signs and Marks that I know of whereby a Man may try and examine the truth and sincerity of that Resolution of Amendment which we call Repentance If it be against all Sin and have an equal regard to every part of our Duty if when we resolve upon the End that is to avoid Sin and to perform our Duty we are equally resolved upon the Means that are necessary to those Ends if the Resolution we have taken up commence presently and from that day forward be duly executed and put in practice then is our Repentance and Resolution of Amendment sincere but if there be a defect in any of these our Resolution is not as it ought to be SERMON X. Ser. 10. The Nature and Necessity of holy Resolution The Second Sermon on this Text. JOB XXXIV 31 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more THESE words are the Description of the temper and behaviour of a true Penitent and do contain in them the two essential parts of a true Repentance Vol. 8. First An humble Acknowledgment and Confession of Sin Secondly A firm Purpose and Resolution of amendment and forsaking our Sins for the future And this latter is so necessary a part of Repentance that herein the very Essence and formal Nature of Repentance does consist In handling of this Argument I proposed to consider I. What Resolution in general is II. What is the special Object or Matter of this kind of Resolution III. What is implyed in a sincere Resolution of leaving our Sins and returning to God and our Duty IV. To shew that in this Resolution of amendment the very Essence and formal Nature of Repentance doth consist V. To offer some Considerations to convince men of the necessity and fitness of this Resolution and of keeping stedfast to it VI. To add some Directions concerning the managing and maintaining this holy Resolution The three first I have spoken to I now proceed to the IV. To shew that in this Resolution the very Essence and formal Nature of Repentance doth consist A Man may do many reasonable Actions without an explicit Resolution In things that are more easie and natural to us Judgment and Resolution are all one it is all one to judge a thing fit to be done and to resolve to do it But in matters of difficulty when a Man is to strive against the Stream and to oppose strong Habits that have taken deep root there is nothing to be done without an explicit Resolution No Man makes any remarkable change in his Life so as to cross his Inclinations and Custom without an express Resolution For tho' a Man's Judgment be never so much convinced of the reasonableness and necessity of such a change yet unless a Man's Spirit be fortified and fixt by Resolution the power of Custom and the violence of his own Inclinations will carry him against his Judgment Now there is no change of a Man's Life can be imagined wherein a Man offers greater violence to inveterate Habits and to the strong Propensions of his present temper than in this of Repentance So that among all the Actions of a Man's Life there is none that doth more necessarily require an express Purpose than Repentance does And that herein Repentance doth chiefly consist I shall endeavour to make evident from Scripture and from the common apprehensions of Mankind concerning Repentance The Scripture besides the several descriptions of Repentance useth two words to express it to us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The former properly signifies the inward trouble and displeasure which men conceive against themselves for having done amiss which if it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
we would but enter into the serious Consideration of them we should soon be resolved in our Minds about them Do but consider a little what Sin is It is the shame and blemish of thy Nature the reproach and disgrace of thy Understanding and Reason the great deformity and disease of thy Soul and the eternal Enemy of thy Rest and Peace It is thy Shackles and thy Fetters the Tyrant that oppresses thee and restrains thee of thy Liberty and Condemns thee to the basest Slavery and the vilest Drudgery It is the unnatural and violent state of thy Soul the Worm that perpetually gnaws thy Conscience the cause of all thy Fears and Troubles and of all the Evils and Miseries all the Mischiefs and Disorders that are in the World it is the Foundation and Fewel of Hell it is that which puts thee out of the Possession and Enjoyment of thy self which doth alienate and separate thee from God the Fountain of Bliss and Happiness which provokes him to be thine Enemy and lays thee open every moment to the fierce revenge of his Justice and if thou dost persist and continue in it will finally sink and oppress thee under the insupportable weight of his wrath and make thee so weary of thy self that thou shalt wish a thousand times that thou hadst never been and will render thee so perfectly miserable that thou wouldest esteem it a great Happiness to exchange thy Condition with the most wretched and forlorn Person that ever lived upon Earth to be perpetually upon a Rack and to lie down for ever under the rage of all the most violent Diseases and Pains that ever afflicted Mankind Sin is all this which I have described and will certainly bring upon thee all those Evils and Mischiefs which I have mentioned and make thee far more miserable than I am able to express or thou to conceive And art thou not yet resolved to leave it Shall I need to use any other Arguments to set thee against it and to take thee off from the Love and Practice of it than this Representation which I have now made of the horrible Nature and Consequences of it And then consider on the other Hand what it is that I am perswading thee to turn to to thy God and Duty And would not this be a blessed change indeed To leave the greatest Evil and to turn to the chief Good For this Resolution of returning to God is nothing else but a Resolution to be wise and happy and to put thy self into the Possession of that which is a greater good if it is possible than Sin is an Evil and will render thee more happy than Sin can make thee miserable Didst thou but think what God is and what he will be to thee if thou wilt return to him how kindly he will receive thee after all thy wandrings from him days without number thou wouldst soon take up the Resolution of the Prodigal and say I will arise and go to my Father And consider likewise what it is to return to thy Duty It is nothing else but to do what becomes thee and what is suitable to the Original Frame of thy Nature and to the truest dictates of thy Reason and Conscience and what is not more thy Duty than it is thy Interest and thy Happiness For that which God requires of us is to be righteous and holy and good that is to be like God himself who is the Pattern of all Perfection and Happiness It is to have our Lives conformed to his Will which is always perfect holiness and goodness a state of Peace and Tranquillity and the very temper and disposition of Happiness It is that which is a principal and most essential Ingredient into the Felicity of the Divine Nature and without which God would not be what he is but a deformed and imperfect and miserable Being And if this be a true Representation which I have made to you of Sin and Vice on the one Hand and of God and Goodness on the other what can be more powerful than the serious Consideration of it to engage us to a speedy Resolution of leaving our Sins and of turning and cleaving to the Lord with full purpose of heart After this we cannot but conclude with the Penitent in the Text Surely it is meet to be said unto God I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me and if I have done iniquity I will do no more 3. Consider how unreasonable it is to be unresolved in a Case of so great moment and concernment There is no greater Argument of a Man's weakness than Irresolution in matters of mighty consequence when both the Importance of the thing and Exigency of present circumstances require a speedy Resolution We should account it a strange folly for a Man to be unresolved in the clearest and plainest matters that concern his temporal welfare and safety If a Man could not determine himself whether he should eat or starve if he were dangerously sick and could not determine whether he should take Physick or Die or if one that were in Prison could not resolve himself whether he should accept of Liberty and be contented to be released or if a fair Estate were offer'd to him he should desire seven years time to consider whether he should take it or not this would be so absurd in the common affairs of Life that a Man would be thought infatuated that should be doubtful and unresolved in cases so plain and of such pressing concernment If a Man were under the Sentence and Condemnation of the Law and liable to be executed upon the least intimation of the Prince's Pleasure and a Pardon were graciously offer'd to him with this intimation that this would probably be the last offer of Mercy that ever would be made to him one would think that in this Case a Man should soon be determined what to do or rather that he should not need to deliberate at all about it because there is no danger of rashness in making haste to save his Life And yet the Case of a sinner is of far greater importance and much more depends upon it infinitely more than any temporal Concernment whatsoever can amount to even our Happiness or Misery to all Eternity And can there be any difficulty for a Man to be resolved what is to be done in such a Case No Case surely in the World can be plainer than this Whether a Man should leave his Sins and return to God and his Duty or not that is whether a Man should chuse to be happy or miserable unspeakably and everlastingly happy or extremely and eternally miserable And the circumstances and exigences of our Case do call for a speedy and peremptory Resolution in this matter The Sentence of the Law is already past and God may execute it upon thee every moment and it is great Mercy and Forbearance not to do it Thy Life is uncertain and thou art liable every
minute to be snatch'd away and hurried out of this World However at the best thou hast but a little time to resolve in Death and Judgment and Eternity cannot be far off and for ought thou knowest they may be even at the door Thou art upon the matter just ready to be seized upon by Death to be summon'd to Judgment And to be swallowed up of Eternity And is it not yet time thinkest thou to resolve Would'st thou have yet a little longer time to deliberate whether thou should'st repent and forsake thy Sins or not If there were difficulty in the Case or if there were no danger in the delay if thou couldst gain time or any thing else by suspending thy Resolution there were then some Reason why thou should'st not make a sudden Determination But thou canst pretend none of these It is evident at first sight what is best to be done and nothing can make it plainer It is not a matter so clear and out of Controversie that Riches are better than Poverty and Ease better than Pain and Life more desirable than Death as it is that it is better to break off our Sins than to continue in the Practice of them to be reconciled to God than to go on to provoke him to be Holy and Virtuous than to be Wicked and Vicious to be Heirs of eternal Glory than to be Vessels of wrath fitted for Destruction And there is infinite danger in these delays For if thy Soul be any thing to thee thou venturest that if thou hast any tenderness and regard for thy eternal Interest thou runnest the hazard of that if Heaven and Hell be any thing to thee thou incurrest the danger of losing the one and falling into the other And thou gainest nothing by continuing unresolved If Death and Judgment would tarry thy leisure and wait till thou hadst brought thy thoughts to some issue and wert resolved what to do it were something but thy Irresolution in this matter will be so far from keeping back Death and Judgment that it will both hasten and aggravate them both make them to come the sooner and to be the heavier when they come because thou abusest the goodness of God and despisest his patience and long-suffering which should lead thee and draw thee on to Repentance and not keep thee back Hereby thou encouragest thy self in thy lewd and riotous courses and because thy Lord delayeth his coming art the more negligent and extravagant Hear what doom our Lord pronounceth upon such slothful and wicked servants Luke 12.46 The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in sunder and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers None so like to be surprized and to be severely handled by the Justice of God as those that trifle with his Patience 4. Consider how much Resolution would tend to the settling of our Minds and making our Lives comfortable There is nothing that perplexeth and disquieteth a Man more than to be unresolved in the great and important Concernments of his Life What anxiety and confusion is there in our Spirits whilst we are doubtful and undetermined about such matters How are we divided and distracted when our Reason and Judgment direct us one way and our Lusts and Affections biass us to the contrary When we are convinced and satisfied what is best for us and yet are disaffected to our own Interest Such a Man is all the while self-condemned and acts with the perpetual regret of his Reason and Conscience and when ever he reflects upon himself he is offended and angry with himself his Life and all his Actions are uneasie and displeasing to him and there is no way for this Man to be at peace but to put an end to this conflict one way or other either by conquering his Reason or his Will The former is very difficult nothing being harder than for a sinner to lay his Conscience asleep after it is once throughly awaken'd he may charm it for a while but every little occasion will rouze it again and renew his Trouble so that tho' a Man may have some Truce with his Conscience yet he can never come to a firm and settled Peace this way but if by a vigorous Resolution a Man would but Conquer his Will his Mind would be at rest and there would be a present calm in his Spirit And why should we be such enemies to our own Peace and to the Comfort and Contentment of our Lives as not to take this course and thereby rid our selves at once of that which really and at the bottom is the ground of all the trouble and disquiet of our Lives SERMON XI Ser. 11. The Nature and Necessity of holy Resolution The Third Sermon on this Text. JOB XXXIV 31 32. Surely it is meet to be said unto God I have born chastisement I will not offend any more That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more THESE words are a Description of the temper and behaviour of a true Penitent his Confession of Sins and Resolution of Amendment Concerning Resolution I have shewn what it is in general What is the special Object or Matter of this kind of Resolution Vol. 8. What is implyed in a sincere Resolution of leaving our Sins and returning to God and our Duty That in this Resolution the very Essence and formal Nature of Repentance doth consist And have offer'd some Considerations to convince men of the necessity and fitness of this Resolution and to keep them stedfast to it As 1. That this Resolution is nothing but what under the influence of God's Grace is in our Power 2. The things themselves which we are to resolve upon are the strongest Arguments that can be for such a Resolution 3. How unreasonable it is for men to be unresolved in a Case of so great moment 4. How much this Resolution will tend to the settling of our Minds and making our Lives Comfortable I proceed to the Considerations which remain 5. Then be pleased to consider that a strong and vigorous Resolution would make the whole Work of Religion easie to us it would conquer all difficulties which attend a Holy and Religious Course of Life especially at our first entrance into it Because Resolution brings our Minds to a Point and unites all the strength and force of our Souls in one great Design and makes us vigorous and firm couragious and constant in the Prosecution of it and without this it is impossible to hold out long and to resist the strong Propensions and Inclinations of our corrupt Nature which if we be not firmly resolved will return and by degrees gain upon us it will be impossible to break through Temptations and to gain-say the importunity of them when the Devil and the World solicit us we shall not be able to say them nay but shall be
of the Gentiles And hence likewise probably it is that Publicans and Sinners Publicans and Heathen are joyned several times together because of the occasions of frequent Converse which the Publicans had with Heathens 3. But principally they were odious because of the common injustice and oppression which they used in the management of their Calling by fraud and violence extorting more than was due to inhance the profit of their Places Hence it is that this sort of Officers have been generally branded and reckoned among the worst sort of men So he in the Comedy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all Publicans are Rapacious or Robbers And this is most probably the Sin which Zacheus here repents of and in regard to which he promises Restitution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And if I have taken any thing from any Man by false accusation so we render the words in our Translation but the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies more generally If I have been injurious to any one if I have wronged any Man as appears by the constant use of this word by the LXX who by this word do translate the most general Hebrew words which signifie any kind of Injury or Oppression either by fraud or violence or calumny So that there is no Reason here to restrain it to wronging men by false accusation for Zacheus his Sin being in all probability extorting more than was due this might as easily be done many other ways as by false accusation And that this was the common Sin of the Publicans appears by the Counsel which John the Baptist gives them Luke 3.12 13. Then came also the Publicans to be Baptized and said unto him Master what shall we do And he said unto them Exact no more than that which is appointed you that is do not by fraud or violence extort from any Man any more than the Tribute which is laid upon him So that Zacheus here promiseth that if he had been injurious to any Man in his Office by extorting more than was due he would restore to him fourfold And if Zacheus calculated his Estate right and intended to reserve any part of it to himself which is but reasonable to suppose it could be no very great part of his Estate which was injuriously got and I am afraid a far smaller proportion than many are guilty of who yet pass for very honest men in comparison of the Publicans The Text saith he was a rich Man Suppose he was worth ten or twelve thousand Pounds half he gives to the Poor That was well got or else his whole Estate could not have made fourfold Restitution for it Suppose he reserved a thousand or two to himself then at the rate of restoring fourfold not above a thousand can be injuriously got that is about a Penny in the Shilling I am afraid that now a-days there are few such moderate Oppressors nay it is possible the proportion of his Estate injuriously got might be much less more it could not easily be But whatever it was he does not plead that by way of excuse for himself he freely confesseth he had sinned in this kind and offers Restitution to the utmost much more than the Law did require in such Cases II. You have the Declaration our Saviour makes hereupon of the truth of his Repentance and Conversion and the happy state he was thereby put into This day is Salvation come to this House The Observation I shall make from hence is this That Restitution and Satisfaction for the Injuries we have done to others is a proper and genuine Effect of true Repentance I know the Text only speaks of Restitution in Case of Oppression and Exaction but because there is the same Reason why Restitution should be made for all other Injuries I think I may without any force or violence to my Text very well make it the Foundation of a more general Discourse concerning Restitution In the handling of this I shall First Open to you the Nature of this Duty Secondly Confirm the truth of the Proposition by shewing the Necessity of it Thirdly Endeavour to perswade men to the discharge of this Necessary Duty First For the opening the Nature of this Duty I will consider I. The Act. II. The Latitude or Extent of the Object as I may call it or the Matter about which it is conversant III. The Manner how it is to be done IV. The Measure of it V. The Persons who are bound to make Restitution and to whom it is to be made VI. The time in which it is to be done VII The Order of doing it where more are injured and Restitution cannot be made at once to all I. For the Act. Restitution is nothing else but the making Reparation or Satisfaction to another for the Injuries we have done him It is to restore a Man to the good Condition from which contrary to Right and to our Duty we have removed him Restitution is only done in Case of Injury Another Man may be damaged and prejudiced by us many ways and we not be bound to make Restitution because there are many Cases wherein a Man deserves the prejudice we do to him As when we are Instruments of inflicting upon a Man the Punishment which the Law doth Sentence him to And there are many Cases wherein we may be prejudicial to others and cannot help it As a Man that is sick of a Contagious Disease may infect others that are about him but he is not injurious to them because it is not his fault but his infelicity II. For the Latitude and Extent of the Object as I may call it or the matter about which it is Conversant It extends to all kind of Injuries which may be reduced to these two Heads either we injure a Person with or without his consent 1. Some Injuries are done to Persons with their Consent Such are most of those Injuries which are done to the Souls of men when we command or counsel or incourage them to Sin or draw them in by our Example For the Maxim Volenti non fit injuria There 's no injury done to a Man that is willing is not so to be understood as that a Man may not in some sort consent to his own wrong for absolute freedom and willingness supposeth that a Man is wholly left to himself and that he understands fully what he does And in this Sense no Man Sins willingly that is perfectly knowing and actually considering what he does and Commands and Perswasion and Example are a kind of Violence but none of these hinder but that a Man in these Cases may sufficiently consent to what he does But yet he is not so perfectly free as to excuse him that draws him into Sin by these ways So likewise when a Man refuseth to do that which is his Duty without a Reward for instance to do Justice to another he is injurious in so doing but yet not altogether without the consent of him whom he injures 2. Injuries
Salvation come to this House IN speaking to these words I proposed to consider First The Nature of this Duty of Restitution Secondly To shew the Necessity of it Thirdly To perswade men to the discharge of it In treating of the Nature of Restitution Vol. 8. I have consider'd I. The Act. II. The Extent of it III. The Manner how it is to be perform'd IV. The Measure of it V. The Persons who are to make Restitution and the Persons to whom Restitution is to be made I now proceed to consider VI. The time when Restitution is to be made In these Cases a Man is not tyed up to an instant not just to the present time unless the Case be such that he can never do it if he do not do it then As if a Man lie upon his Death-Bed that is a Case that admits of no delay a Man should hasten Restitution as he would do the making of his Will and the disposal of his Estate lest if he do not do it presently he lose his opportunity of doing it for ever but ordinarily a Man is not so strictly tyed up to moments and to the present time It is sufficient that a Man be for the present resolved to do it so soon as morally he can so soon as he would do other Actions of great moment and concernment And to this purpose the Text gives us an excellent Pattern Zacheus the same day he repented took up this Resolution and to oblige himself effectually to put it in Execution he publickly declares it and before all the People offers to make Restitution to all whom he had injur'd Therefore take heed of all unnecessary delays in these matters for tho' God would accept of a firm and sincere Resolution in this Case if a Person thus resolved should before he could bring his Resolution to effect happen to be cut off by Death or be otherwise render'd incapable of doing it I say tho' God would accept such a Resolution as this yet he will not interpret that to be a sincere Resolution which a Man is negligent to put in Practice for every neglect of putting our Resolution in Practice is a degree of quitting and altering it and he who did not do what he was resolved to do when he had an opportunity and ability of doing it is justly presumed to have let fall his Resolution Therefore let no Man presume upon his good Intention and Resolution in this kind for they are only acceptable to God so far as they are sincere and real and they are only so far sincere and real as the Man that makes them is ready to put them in Execution so soon as morally he can And if thou carelesly and supinely trifle away thy opportunities in this kind God may likewise deprive thee of an opportunity for ever For all the while thou wilfully neglectest to make Restitution thou art guilty of the injury and there are hardly two Sins that cry louder to God for a quick and speedy revenge than Injustice and Oppression Deceit and Fraud God many times takes such Causes into his more immediate cognizance 2 Thess 4.4 Let no Man deceive or go beyond his Brother in any thing for God is the revenger of such And David tells us that God in a peculiar manner abhors the Blood-thirsty and deceitful Man and threatens that he shall not live out half his days And God by the Prophet Mal. 3.5 tells us that He will be a swift witness against the oppressors And if God be so swift to take vengeance upon such Persons surely then they are concerned to be very quick and speedy in making Satisfaction for their injuries and oppressions lest Divine Vengeance prevent them and instead of making Reparation to men they be call'd upon to make Satisfaction to the Justice of God and you know who hath said it that It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God You therefore that have hitherto neglected this Duty delay it no longer by all means discharge your Consciences of this Burden before you come to lie upon a Death-Bed Then the Consciences of the worst of men begin to work like a Stomach opprest and surcharged with meat and then they are willing for their ease to vomit up those Estates which they have devoured by fraud and injustice then they begin to consider the difficulty of being saved and to fear that it will be impossible for them ever to enter in at the strait Gate thus laden with the spoils of violence and deceit even those that have the hardest and most seared Consciences will be touched with the Sense of such great Sins at such a time but do not thou defer this work to that time for these two Reasons 1. Because it cannot be so acceptable to God to make Restitution at such a time as when thou art in health and in hopes of longer life To give a Man his own when thou canst enjoy it and use it no longer this is next to detaining of it 2. Because in all probability the Restitution which is then made will not prove so effectual What thou dost thy self that thou art sure is done but what thou leavest to be done by thy Executors and chargest upon them thou art not sure will be done ten to one but if they can find out any trick and evasion in Law either to delay or avoid the doing of it it shall either never be done or very slowly This is the sixth thing the time when Restitution is to be made But before I leave this Head there is one Case very proper to be considered which relates to this Circumstance of Time and that is concerning injuries of a very ancient date that is how far this Duty of Restitution is to look backward and whether it doth not expire by trâ—ct of time For answer to this I shall lay down these Proportions 1. At what distance of time soever the Law would in the Case make Reparation and give Satisfaction we are undoubtedly bound in Conscience voluntarily to give it I deliver this generally because tho' it be possible some Civil Laws may be in some Cases unreasonable in this matter yet they are our best Rule and Guide and speaking generally and for the most part they are as equitable as the Reason of Man could devise Not that we are to tie our selves strictly to the Law so as not to go farther if Reason and Equity require for as Seneca says Parum est ad legem bonum esse It is no great argument of goodness to be just as good as the Law requires Therefore I think it will very well become a good Man in many Cases rather to be better than the Law than to keep strictly to it 2. In Cases where the Law hath not determined the time we may do well to observe a proportion to what the Law hath determined in other Cases which come nearest our own Case 3. When the injury is so old that
the right which the injured Person had to Reparation is reasonably presumed to be quitted and forsaken then the Obligation to Satisfaction ceaseth and expires The Reason is plain because every Man may recede from his own Right and give it up to another and where a Man may reasonably be presumed to have parted with his right to another the Obligation to Restitution ceaseth and the right of claiming it Now when a thing begins haberi pro derelicto that is when a right may reasonably be presumed to be quitted and forsaken cannot in general be determined but this must be estimated according to the importance of the right and thing in Controversie as whether it be more or less considerable and according to the Reason and Determination of Laws about things of this Nature To illustrate this Rule by instances The Saxons Danes and Normans did at several times invade and conquer this Nation and conquer'd it we will suppose unjustly and consequently did hold and possess that which truly belonged to others contrary to right and several of the Posterity of each of these do probably to this day hold what was then injuriously gotten I say in this Case the Obligation to Satisfaction and Restitution is long since expired and the Original Title which those who were dispossest had is reasonably presumed to be long since quitted and forsaken and that for very wise Reasons in Law and Government because it would confound and unsettle all Estates if every thing the Original Title whereof is naught were to be restored and it is but equal to presume that all Mankind are so reasonable as to quit their right in such Cases rather than to cause endless disturbances and to have the guilt of Injustice everlastingly perpetuated And tho' it be a rule in Civil Law that Vitiosum initio tractu temporis non convalescit A Title originally bad can never by time be made just it is only true thus far that time in it self doth not alter the Nature of things but considering the necessities of the World and the infinite difficulties of retrieving an ancient Right and the inconveniences and disturbances that would thereby redound to Humane Society it is better that an injury should be perpetuated than that a great inconvenience should come by endeavouring to redress it so that altho' considering a thing simply in it self an injury is so far from being lessened or null'd by tract of time that it is increased and the longer it continues the greater it is yet by accident and in compliance with the necessity of things length of time may give a right to that which was at first injuriously possest Judg. 11.26 Thus Jephthah reasons with the King of Ammon who had made War for recovery of an ancient Right as he suppos'd And tho' the instances I have given of the unjust Conquest of a Nation be great and publick yet the same is to be determined proportionably in less and particular Cases And thus I have done with the sixth thing VII And lastly As to the order of Restitution When we have injur'd a great many and are not able to make Restitution to all at once our best Prudence and Discretion must govern us herein Because no certain Rule can be given which will reach all Cases I will only say this in general that it is reasonable first to make Reparation for the oldest and greatest injuries and ceteris paribus if all other Considerations be equal to consider those first who are most necessitous and if there be any other special Reason and Obligation arising from the Nature of the injury or the Circumstances of the Person injur'd to have regard to them I come now in the Second place To confirm the truth of the Proposition That to make Restitution and Satisfaction to those whom we have injured is a proper and necessary Fruit of a true Repentance And this will appear if we consider these two things I. Our Obligation to this Duty II. The Nature of Repentance I. Our Obligation to this Duty Upon the same account that we are obliged to Repentance we are obliged to Restitution and both these Obligations arise from natural Equity and Justice All Sin is an injury done and tho' Repentance be not strictly Satisfaction yet it is the best we can make and he is unjust who having done an injury does not make the best Reparation he can But now there are some Sins in which besides the injury that is done to God by them upon the general account as they are Sins and Violations of his Laws there is likewise a particular injury done to men and such are all those the effect whereof redounds to the prejudice of other men such are fraud and oppression and all other Sins whereby others are injured So that in these kinds of Sins there are two things considerable the irregularity and viciousness of the Act and the evil Effects of it upon other men the former respects the Law and calls for Sorrow and Repentance for our Violation of it the latter respects the Person that is injured and calls for Satisfaction and Restitution So that our Obligation to Restitution is founded in the immutable and indispensable Law of Nature which is To do that to another which we would have another do to us We would have no Man be injurious to us or if he have been so we would have him make Satisfaction and Reparation to us of the injury he hath done and we take it grievously from him if he do not Now nothing is more just and equitable than that we should do that to others which we in the like Case would expect from them for the very same obligation that lies upon others towards us does lie upon us in regard to others II. This will yet further appear if we consider the Nature of Repentance which is to be sorry for what we have done and not to do the like for the future Now if thou be sorry for what thou hast done thou wishest with all thy heart thou hadst not done it and if thou dost so thou wilt undo as much as in thee lieth what thou hast done Now the best way to undo an injury is to make Reparation for it and till we do this we continue in the Sin For if it was a Sin to do the injury at first it is the same continued not to make Satisfaction and we do not cease to commit the Sin so long as we detain that which is another's Right Nothing but Restitution can stop the progress of Sin for if it be a Sin to take that which is another Man 's from him by fraud or violence it is the same continued and virtually repeated to detain and keep it from him and nothing more contrary to Repentance than to continue in the Sin thou pretendest to repent of For how art thou sorry for doing of it if thou continuest to do it if thou wilt go on to do it and do it again How
to restore that which is another Man's is it not much harder for him whom thou hast injured to lose that which is his own Make it thine own Case wouldst thou not think it much harder to have thy right detained from thee by another than for another to part with that which is not his own But I am sensible how little it is that Reason will sway with men against their Interest therefore the best Argument that I can use will be to satisfie men that upon a true and just account it is not so much their Interest to retain what they have unjustly got as to make Restitution And this I shall do by shewing men that to make Restitution is their true Interest both in respect of themselves and of their Posterity I. In respect of themselves It is better both in respect of our present Condition in this World and of our future State 1. In respect of our present Condition in this World and that both in respect of our outward Estate and our inward Peace and Tranquility 1. In respect of our outward Estate If we have any belief of the Providence of God that his Blessing can prosper an Estate and his Curse consume it and make it moulder away we cannot but judge it highly our Interest to clear our Estates of Injustice by Restitution and by this means to free them from God's Curse For if any of our Estate be unjustly gotten it is enough to draw down God's Curse upon all that we have it is like a moth in our Estate which will insensibly consume it it is like a secret Poyson which will diffuse it self through the whole like a little Land in Capite which brings the whole Estate into Wardship Hear how God threatens to blast Estates unjustly gotten Job 20.12 c. concluding with these words This is the portion of a wicked Man that is of an unjust Man Jer. 17.11 As a Partridge sitteth on Eggs and hatcheth them not so he that getteth Riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his days and at his end shall be a fool Men many times live to see the folly of their Injustice and Oppression and their Estates wither away before their Eyes and by the just revenge of God they are deprived of them in the midst of their days So that the best way to fix an Estate and to secure it to our selves is by Restitution to free it from God's Curse and when we have done that how much soever we may diminish our Estate by it we may look upon our selves as having a better Estate than we had better because we have God's Blessing with that which remains If we believe the Bible we cannot doubt of this The Spirit of God tells us this from the Observation of the wisest men Psal 37.16 A little that a righteous Man hath is better than the riches of many wicked Prov. 16.8 Better is a little with righteousness than great Revenues without Right 2. In respect of inward Peace and Tranquillity it is highly our Interest to make Restitution No man can enjoy an Estate that does not enjoy himself and nothing puts a Man more out of the Possession of himself than an unquiet Conscience and there are no kind of Sins lie heavier upon a Man's Conscience than those of Injustice because they are committed against the clearest natural Light and there 's the least natural Temptation to them They have these two great Aggravations that they are Sins most against knowledge and have most of Will in them There needs no Revelation to convince men of Sins of Injustice and Oppression every Man hath those Principles born with him which will sufficiently acquaint him that he ought not to be Injurious to another There 's nothing that relates to our Duty that a Man can know with greater certainty than this that Injustice is a Sin And as it is a Sin most against knowledge so it hath most of Will in it Men are hurried away to other Sins by the strong and violent Propensions of their Nature but no Man is inclined by his Temper and Constitution to Fraud and Oppression and the less there is of Nature in any Sin there 's the less of Necessity and consequently it is the more voluntary Now the greater the Aggravations of any Sin are the greater is the guilt and the greater the guilt is the more unquiet our Consciences will be so that if thou have any regard to the Interest of thine own Peace if that be considerable to thee which to wise men is the most valuable thing in the World do not for a little wealth continue in those Sins which will create perpetual disturbance to thee and imbitter all the Pleasures of thy Life Hear how Job describes the Condition of the wicked oppressors in the place before cited Job 20.12 c. He shall not rejoyce in them because he hath oppressed because he hath violently taken away a House which he builded not surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly that is he shall have no inward Peace and Contentment in the midst of all his outward Enjoyments but his ill-gotten Estate will work in his Conscience and gripe him as if a Man had taken down Poyson into his Belly 2. But chiefly In respect of our future Estate in another World it is every Man's Interest to make Restitution Without Repentance we are ruined for ever and without Restitution no Repentance No unrighteous Man hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ If thou continue in thy fraud and oppression and carry these Sins with thee into another World they will hang as a Millstone about thy Neck and sink thee into eternal Ruine He that wrongeth his Brother hateth him and he that hateth his Brother is a murderer and ye know that no murderer hath eternal Life abiding in him 1 John 3.15 Rom. 1.18 The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungoldliness and unrighteousness of men So that if it be mens Interest to escape the wrath of God it concerns us to make Reparation for those Injuries which will expose us to it That is a dreadful Text James 5.1 2 3 4. Go to now ye rich men weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you Your riches are corrupted and your garments moth-eaten Your Gold and Silver is canker'd and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire ye have heaped treasure together for the last days Behold the Hire of the labourers which have reaped down your Fields which is of you kept back by fraud crieth and the cries of them which have reaped are enter'd into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth Do not by detaining the treasures of wickedness treasure up to your selves wrath against the day of wrath do not make your selves Miserable for ever that you may be Rich for a little while do not for a little Silver and Gold
repent without such a degree of God's Grace as cannot be resisted no Man's Repentance is commendable nor is one Man's Impenitence more blameable than anothers Chorazin and Bethsaida can be in no more fault for continuing Impenitent than Tyre and Sidon were For either this irresistible Grace is afforded to men or not if it be their Repentance is necessary and they cannot help it if it be not their Repentance is impossible and consequently their Impenitence is necessary and they cannot help it neither V. I observe from the main scope of our Saviour's Discourse That the Sins and Impenitence of men receive their Aggravation and consequently shall have their Punishment proportionable to the Opportunities and Means of Repentance which those Persons have enjoyed and neglected For what is here said of Miracles is by equality of Reason likewise true of all other Advantages and Means of Repentance and Salvation The Reason why Miracles will be such an Aggravation of the Condemdemnation of men is because they are so proper and powerful a Means to convince men of the Truth and Divinity of that Doctrine which calls them to Repentance So that all those Means which God affords to us of the Knowledge of our Duty of Conviction of the Evil and Danger of a sinful Course are so many helps and Motives to Repentance and consequently will prove so many Aggravations of our Sin and Punishment if we continue impenitent The VI. And last Observation and which naturally follows from the former is this That the Case of those who are impenitent under the Gospel is of all others the most dangerous and their Damnation shall be heaviest and most severe And this brings the Case of these Cities here in the Text home to our selves For in truth there is no material difference between the Case of Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum and of our selves in this City and Nation who enjoy the clear Light of the Gospel with all the freedom and all the Advantages that any People ever did The Mercies of God to this Nation have been very great especially in bringing us out of that darkness and superstition which covered this Western part of the World in rescuing us from that great Corruption and Degeneracy of the Christian Religion which prevailed among us by so early and so regular a Reformation and in continuing so long this great Blessing to us The Judgments of God have been likewise very great upon us for our Sins God hath manifested himself by terrible things in righteousness our Eyes have seen many and dismal Calamities in the space of a few years which call lowdly upon us to repent and turn to God God hath afforded us the most effectual Means of Repentance and hath taken the most effectual Course of bringing us to it And tho' our Blessed Saviour do not speak to us in Person nor do we at this day see Miracles wrought among us as the Jews did yet we have the Doctrine which our Blessed Saviour preach'd faithfully transmitted to us and a credible Relation of the Miracles wrought for the Confirmation of that Doctrine and many other Arguments to perswade us of the Truth of it which those to whom our Saviour spake had not nor could not then have taken from the accomplishing of our Saviour's Predictions after his Death the speedy Propagation and wonderful success of this Doctrine in the World by weak and inconsiderable Means against all the Power and Opposition of the World the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Dispersion of the Jewish Nation according to our Saviour's Prophesie besides many more that might be mentioned And which is a mighty Advantage to us we are free from those Prejudices against the Person of our Saviour and his Doctrine which the Jews by the reverence which they bore to their Rulers and Teachers were generally possest withal we are brought up in the belief of it and have drunk it in by Education and if we believe it as we all profess to do we have all the Obligation and all the Arguments to Repentance which the Jews could possibly have from the Miracles which they saw for they were Means of Repentance to them no otherwise than as they brought them to the belief of our Saviour's Doctrine which call'd them to Repentance So that if we continue impenitent the same woe is denounced against us that is against Chorazin and Bethsaida and we may be said with Capernaum to be lifted up to Heaven by the Enjoyment of the most excellent Means and Advantages of Salvation that any People ever did which if we neglect and still continue wicked and impenitent under them we may justly fear that with them we shall be thrown down to Hell and have our place in the lowest part of that dismal Dungeon and in the very Centre of that fiery Furnace Never was there greater cause to upbraid the impenitence of any People than of us considering the Means and Opportunities which we enjoy and never had any greater reason to fear a severer Doom than we have Impenitence in a Heathen is a great Sin else how should God judge the World But God takes no notice of that in comparison of the Impenitence of Christians who enjoy the Gospel and are convinced of the Truth and upon the greatest reason in the World profess to believe it We Christians have all the Obligations to Repentance that Reason and Revelation Nature and Grace can lay upon us Art thou convinced that thou hast sinned and done that which is contrary to thy Duty and thereby provoked the Wrath of God and incensed his Justice against thee As thou art a Man and upon the stock of Natural Principles thou art obliged to Repentance The same Light of Reason which discovers to thee the Errors of thy Life and challengeth thee for thy Impiety and Intemperance for thy Injustice and Oppression for thy Pride and Passion the same Natural Conscience which accuseth thee of any Miscarriages does oblige thee to be sorry for it to turn from thy evil ways and to break off thy Sins by Repentance For nothing can be more unreasonable than for a Man to know a fault and yet not think himself bound to be sorry for it to be convinced of the evil of his ways and not to think himself obliged by that very Conviction to turn from it and forsake it If there be any such thing as a natural Law written in Mens Hearts which the Apostle tells us the Heathens had it is impossible to imagine but that the Law which obligeth Men not to transgress should oblige them to Repentance in case of Transgression And this every Man in the World is bound to tho' he had never seen the Bible nor heard of the name of Christ And the Revelation of the Gospel doth not supersede this Obligation but adds new Strength and Force to it and by how much this Duty of Repentance is more clearly revealed by our Blessed Saviour in the Gospel by how much the