thou be cast into Prison Verily I say unto thee thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost Farthing THese words are an Appendix to those which went before they contain the Sanction which is intended to enforce the Duty of being reconciled to our offended Brother when Quarrels and Differences have risen betwixt us Laws lose their force without a Penalty annex'd and though one would think it was Punishment enough to threaten as Christ doth in the preceding Verse that without Forgiveness and Reconciliation our Devotions are not will not cannot be pleasing to God nor find acceptance in his sight which was the subject of our last Discourse Yet these words contain a Communication of something more dreadful which shall undoubtedly be inflicted on the Person that neglects to renew that Love and Charity which hath been broken by Quarrels by Wrath and Malice and Offences given to our fellow Christians To apprehend the true design of them you must know that our Saviour having in the four preceding Verses assured us of the greatness of the Sin of inordinate Anger and reproachful Language and unwillingness to forgive or to be reconciled to those whom we have offended goes on in the Text prosecuting the Subject he hath begun And that none might complain of Gods rigor and severity in casting a Man for an angry word or reviling Expression into Hell Fire shews by what degrees God proceeds to the Execution of that Sentence not only in avenging virulent and angry Expressions and Names and Titles but uncharitableness and backwardness to be reconciled to our Brethren to whom we have given just occasion of Offence First God offers Mercy and is willing to accept of our timely Repentance and thereupon to reverse the Judgment threatned If we fall out with our Brethren he will not presently take the forfeiture and bid the Executioner the roaring Lyon seize upon us but gives and allows time for Repentance and Reformation upon which he is willing to be Friends with us But if we delay that Repentance and change and forbear or neglect to be reconciled to God and Man his Patience then will turn into Severity and Vengeance For as among Men he that comes to terms with his Antagonist and agrees with his Adversary quickly yields betimes and doth not stubbornly stand out against a Man more potent than himself finds Favour and Mercy and kind Usages but if he be obstinate and inflexible he is without any more ado brought before the Judge and by him condemned and delivered to the Officers of Justice and by them thrown into Prison where he must lie and perish and never think to come out till all the Debt be paid So God is gentle and gracious and will not refuse him that betimes acknowledges his Folly which he hath committed in yielding to the Temptation of the Devil and the Flesh when they tempted him to uncharitable Language and Behaviour If by his Actions and Endeavours to be reconciled and to be Friends with his offended Brother and to live in Love and Peace with him for the future he agrees with God who is highly concerned in the Offence he will find very favourable Dealings at his Hands But if these actual Demonstrations of Charity be delay'd and the Man care not for the love of God and his offended Neighbour is intractable and obstinate in his Grudges and secret Hatred and Malice and scorns to return to his Duty God then will judge and doom that Man to Prison even to Hell where nothing neither Men nor Angels can deliver him where he must abide till all his Scores be paid off i. e. for ever This is plainly the meaning of our Saviour in the Text so that what is said here is a Similitude taken from judicial Proceedings used among Men against their knavish Debtors that are able to pay and will not The Application to the present Purpose being very easy it is not mention'd but is in effect the same with the Paraphrase I have given in the Premises Before I go any farther I must necessarily resolve a Case which lies in my way and to which the Text gives occasion viz. Suppose I have occasion to throw my Neighbour into Prison for Debt or some other Misdemeanour must I forbear to do it for fear of giving him any just Offence or if I have done it must I in order to be Reconciled to him let him out again perhaps to the undoing of my Family I Answer 1. That it is not altogether unlawful to throw a Man into Prison for Debt or some other great Misdemeanour is evident partly from the Practice of the Jews in the Text not condemn'd by our Saviour partly from the Publick Good which would be very much Prejudiced without it and partly from the Circumstances of the Person we have sometimes to deal with which may be so that it 's better for his Soul and Body to be sent to Prison than to go free not only because he is thereby kept from doing further Mischief to his Neighbours but because the Place he is confined to may be a means to bring him to a serious Sense of his Spiritual Condition For though there are Persons who are harden'd by Affliction and Danger yet where there is any Ingenuity left Affliction is the most likely means to make a Man come to himself again Yet 2. This throwing Men into Prison for Debt is not a thing to be done Rashly nor in Anger nor by way of Revenge nor because others do it nor or a trivial inconsiderable Debt in all which Cases it is certainly Sinful and Unlawful but upon very mature Deliberation and when all gentler means are Vain when the Person is very Vitious or Obstinate and will not pay what he ows though he be able to do it To throw a Christian into Prison who is fallen to decay not through Vice but by Providence whose conversation is Harmless and Blameless and who forbears Payment not because he is humorsom and will not but because he is not able this is Barbarous and can never be reconciled to the Rules of the Christian Religion in this Case a Man gives just Offence to his Neighbour and must be reconciled which cannot be done except he lets the Prisoner go free confesses his Fault to him and exercises Compassion to his Fellow Servant 3. From a Man's being offended at what we do to him it doth not always follow that therefore we have given him just Offence for we may do our Duty and he be offended at it which must not be therefore forborn because he complains at the Injury done him by that Duty as in the case of Reproof seizing a common Thief or Malefactor c. But then we give a just Offence when we do that to our Neighbour which the Law of Nature or of Revelation forbids to be done to him and consequently in Prisoning a wicked Man for Debt however he may storm at it and
whether he will take any Interest at all This must necessarily be so for notwithstanding this Law Patience under Injuries was a Vertue still even among the Jews to whom it was permitted by their Law to demand an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth or a Punishment in the same kind Thus stood the Case among the Jews And here lay their Crime The permission God gave them to demand Retaliation of the Magistrate to prevent a greater Evil by the Instigation and Instruction of the Pharisees they applied to the lawfulness of private Revenge and returning Evil for Evil and made that a Duty which at the best was but a permission vouchsafed to Carnal Men more than to Spiritual and would not understand that the Eternal Law of Goodness requir'd nobler Actions Christ who came to perfect Humane Nature and to reduce things to the best and primitive State makes that Patience under Injuries which was at least lawful among the Jews a Duty and what they might have done he commands to be done which is the second thing to be consider'd II. What Christ says to us who pretend to be his Followers But I say unto you that you resist not Evil i. e. the Evil Man that doth you an Injury But whosoever shall smite thee on the right Cheek turn to him the other also In which Precept 1. Christ intimates that the Law of Retaliation An Eye for an Eye c. was suited to the Jewish Oeconomy when the Church was in her Infancy but that was no just Obstacle to God's endeavours to lead Men to higher Perfection and consequently no contradiction to the Law he was going to deliver And since not resisting the Evil or Injurious Man was better than Resisting because it shew'd greater Courage it was convenient that what is better should be chosen by his Disciples who had better Promises Even in the Old Testament Non-resistance was better than Resistance and since it was necessary that his Followers should apply themselves to what was best he injoins this Non-resistance 2. By saying so he doth not forbid defending our selves in case we receive an Injury and shewing Reasons why we are unjustly dealt withal for he himself did so when he stood before the High-Priest and one of the Officers struck him with the Palm of his Hand John xviii 23 If I have spoken Evil bear witness of the Evil but if Well why smitest thou me Nor 3. Doth Christ forbid speaking to others to clear our Innocence to the Unjust or Injurious Man for St. Paul being wrongfully accused of the Jews and upon the point of being killed having been struck but just before called a Centurion to him and desired him to bring his Sisters Son to the chief Captain to vindicate his Innocence and to Rectifie his Mistakes concerning the Aspersions the Jews had cast upon him Act. xxiii 17 Nor 4. Doth Christ forbid here out of love to Justice and out of Respect to the Publick Good to Address our selves to the Magistrate in greater Injuries where Life and Fortune are concerned to complain to him and entreat him to bind the Offender to his good Behaviour and Restrain him from doing greater Mischief for St. Paul himself did so by appealing unto Caesar Act. xxv 11 But 5. That which is directly forbidden here is not only private Revenge and returning Evil for Evil but even going to the Magistrates in case of lesser Injuries such as Smiting on the Cheek to have the wrong Revenged and Punish'd And 6. That which is directly commanded here is this rather than return Evil for Evil to endure a greater Evil. Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right Cheek turn to him the other also i. e. rather than strike him again that strikes thee offer to him the other Cheek also So that upon a Review of the whole we find these three Duties enjoyned us as we are Christians I. We are not to return Evil for Evil. II. In lesser Injuries we are not presently to run to the Magistrate to have the Offender punished III. Rather than return Evil for Evil we are to endure a greater Evil. I. We are not to return Evil for Evil. This is not only the Language of the Gospel but the Language of the Law too for Solomon Prov. xxiv 29 gave Counsel to this purpose say not I will do so to him i. e. my Neighbour as he hath done to me I will render to the Man according to his Work which shews that even in the old Testament as I said before it was counted a nobler thing not to return Evil for Evil than to return it and that the Retaliation Moses speaks of was only permitted for the hardness of their Hearts The New Testament is so full of Commands of this Nature and I may add Examples too that it is almost needless to mention any however the principal you will find Rom. xii 17 20. Recompence to no Man Evil for Evil Dearly Beloved Avenge not your selves and 1 Pet. iii. 8 9. Be Pitifull be Courteous not rendring Evil for Evil nor Railing for Railing And that which makes this Precept very Reasonable is this 1. To render Evil for Evil is to Sin for Companies sake or to Sin because another Sins we should count that Man a very strange Creature that should make himself sick because another Man is so or run Distracted because another is Mad or Drown himself because another is weary of his Life The Man that doth us an Injury Strikes Wounds Abuses Reviles us or tells Lyes of us unjustly no doubt is sick his Soul is Distemper'd he acts below his Reason and runs the hazard of Drowning in the Gulf of Perdition and shall we do so He makes God angry with him and wrongs not only us but his own Soul too and are these things so Beautiful so amiable so Attracting that we need be fond of them It 's true we are apt to flatter our selves that what we do by way of Return is no Injury but a just Retribution but these are childish Evasions The Actions are the same the Wrath the Anger the Malice the Spight is the same our departure from the Rule of Vertue is the same and therefore the Sin must be the same So that in this case the blind leads the blind and we know what the consequence will be for both will fall into the Ditch 2. This rendring Evil for Evil is condemned by the very law of Nature which we learn best from Heathen Philosophers who had no Revelation to direct them Aristotle and Cicero indeed make it just and lawful to Revenge an Injury or to return Evil for Evil but the Platonists generally who had a greater Insight into the Nature of Morality and brought better minds to the study of it do look upon 't as a thing unworthy of a good Man and they call it falling into the same Distemper and Disorder that he is sick of who doth the Injury The Pythagoreans were of the same
made about it it implies no such Contradiction as the Heathens and sensual Men did or may imagine For 1. Let us grant it's hard but the harder the work is the greater is the Reward He that gave this Command understood what Reward was design'd for the Votary No marvel if Heathens thought it strange who had but imperfect and broken and uncertain Notions of another Life If the Reward be proportion'd to the Difficulty we see Men refuse no Pains What is daily practis'd in Martial or Warlike Exploits is a demonstration of it The recompence Christ designed for those who should chearfully obey this Command doth not only equal but infinitely transcend the difficulty of the Task and he that considers what is promised must confess that the work is not worthy to be compared with the grandeur of the Recompence and therefore there is nothing unreasonable in the Injunction 2. Of all Men those who are in love with any Vice have no reason to talk against this Precept for they practise what they condemn and do things as unnatural as loving an Enemy can be supposed to be Were it not for the lapsed Condition of Man and the depravation of our Faculties Sin would be a very unnatural thing to the Soul The blessed Spirits who have left Mortality and Things below and recover'd their primitive Integrity and Innocence have as great an antipathy to Sin as Men here on Earth can have to a Toad which shews that Sin is an Enemy to a rational Soul and as contrary to right Reason as Darkness is to Light or a Chronical Distemper is to Health and that it is agreeable upon no other account than Cinders and Ashes and Chalk are to some Stomachs because of their Corruption So that a vitious Man really loves his Enemy nay his greatest Enemy He loves the Devil that prompts him to it that Devil whom at other times he doth Abjure and at whose Presence he would tremble he loves Damnation and Eternal Death for so we read Prov. viii 36 And therefore of all Men such Persons have no reason to speak against this Rule as unreasonable 3. What is commanded here hath been done as I shall shew in the sequel How and which way and by what means it hath been done how far the Grace of God must concurr what Industry must be used what Impediments are to be removed and how the whole concern is to be managed I do not now enquire but supposing that it hath been done the Inference is Rational that it may be done again It 's true they were Saints and Holy Men who have done it but since it is very possible to be a Saint and to arrive to a state of Holiness it follows this Precept is practicable and far from being impossible Nay 4. It hath been done with respect to some Acts at least by natural Men and upon the account of Temporal Interest either in a Bravado or out of Generosity or to be talk'd of and to have Glory of Men Examples and Passages of this Nature are frequent in History and if it were possible to do it upon a motive of Temporal Interest why should it be thought impossible to be done upon a greater Motive even Mens eternal welfare It is but changing the Principle which is the spring of Motion and the shining Brass may become Gold the Counterfeit a real Vertue and the Shew may turn into Substance And having thus removed the grand Objection that lies against this Precept I now proceed to explain it I. The general Command Love your Enemies II. The Branches or the Particulars of it Bless them c. I. The general Command Love your Enemies And here I must note 1. That Christ doth not speak here of a publick or professed and open Enemy of our Country or Nation that makes War upon us and seeks the destruction of the Community or a subversion of the Government for though there is an Humanity to be shewn even to a Publick Enemy by what the Prophet Elisha did to the Host of Syria when he had enclosed them in Samaria the King of Israel would have dispatch'd them with the Sword No saith the Man of God Set Bread and Water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their Master 2 Kings vi 22 And we know that even Heathen Nations have allow'd decent Burial to a publick Enemy when slain in Battel yet these are not the Persons Christ directly aims at in these words Christ as he came not to reverse the Laws of Government nor prescrib'd a Model or Platform of it but left Governments as he found them supposing them to be agreeable to the Law of Nature and the good of Mankind so by this Precept he did not forbid Christian Kings and Princes entring into a just Defensive War for the Security of their Country nor can it be imagin'd that by this Rule he would oblige Magistrates and Sovereigns so to Love the Publick Enemy as to let him Rage and Ravage and Burn and Plunder without any Opposition This Precept being given to Christians consider'd as they live and converse together we must conclude that by the Enemies who are to be loved are meant Enemies in a more private Capacity such as we meet with in Conversation and in the Places and Stations we are in whether they be High or Low whether Superiors or Equals or Inferiors Nor 2. Must we think that this Precept is given to Magistrates with respect to Malefactors and Publick Offenders as if by Vertue of this Command they were not to punish them This would be manifest Injustice to the Publick Good and we may be very confident Christ would not have us do Evil that Good may come out of it nor obey one Precept at the expence of another Though a Magistrate if he will act Conscientiously ought to behave himself as a Father who loves his Child when he doth Chastise him and therefore Chastiseth him because he loves him so Magistrates are to punish with Pity and Compassion and in private Injuries where their Office is not concern'd they are bound to Forgive and love their Enemies as much as others yet doth not this interfere with the necessary administration of Publick Justice not to mention that it is said in the Text Love your Enemies but a publick Malefactor or Offender is not properly the Magistrates Enemy I mean no Enemy to his Person or Fortune or Relatives but to the Law of the Land and the common Good and therefore if the Magistrate doth punish him he doth not punish him as his Enemy and therefore Sins not against this Precept but as an Enemy of the Common-wealth in general It 's possible the Malefactor may be an Enemy to the Magistrate consider'd in other Circumstances in which case the Magistrate is bound to exercise all the acts of Love here mention'd toward him and notwithstanding these punish him according to Law and the Duty of his Place and Calling So that the
be only these Items 1. We use various Masters to teach our Children Civility and to instruct them how to behave themselves in Company Let us teach them true Christianity and that will make them Civil Courteous Obliging Friendly and Affable beyond all that Dancing-Masters and Masters of Ceremonies can teach them such Masters may teach them to dissemble to flatter to observe the Punctilio's of State and Honour but Christianity will make them sincerely obliging and kind and modest and friendly and instill into them the best Behaviour and Deportment 2. All that Christ aims at in these Commands is to overcome the Evil with Good himself did so He healed the Ear of Malchus and fed his Enemies with Miracles of Mercy To the Jews who hated him he was a mighty Benefactor and though they sought his Death yet he purged their Country from Sins and Devils Whatever Injuries are offer'd us either in our Name or Goods or Liberty let us ever remember what our Master hath done before us and say I am a Christian and I must overcome Evil with Good 3. If we mean to live up to the Rules here prescrib'd let us raise our Hearts into a vehement desire to imitate Christ in his Sufferings St. Paul was fond of this and why should not we That the Apostle was earnestly desirous after a Fellowship in Christ ' s Sufferings you may read Phil. iii. 10 and till we get such a vehement desire these excellent Precepts of the Text will seem strange impertinent things to us Look unto the Sufferings of Christ and be enamour'd with him and firmly believe that Immortality that Christ hath brought to light and then the difficulty which seems to be in those Commands will vanish I conclude therefore with 2 Tim. ii 11 12. It is a faithful Saying if we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we suffer we shall also reign with him SERMON XXXIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 42. Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away THis Precept of our Master looks as if we were commanded to undo our selves to ruine our Families and to make our selves Beggars especially if it be compared with St. Luke Ch. vi 30 where it is Give to every Man that asketh of thee At this rate some will say we may give all away for there will not be wanting Men and People that will ask and if once it be known that we are Conscientious and act according to this Principle our Doors will soon be crowded with People that shall ask and borrow all we have In so wicked an Age where People make no Conscience of repaying what they borrow what can a Man expect but Beggary and Poverty if he must deny none that will borrow of him and at this rate none would be happier than those who have nothing to lend or to give because by this means they would escape which others cannot even Mens Importunities But as great a Paradox as this may seem to be it will appear from the sequel that there is nothing but Reason and Equity in it The Rule here laid down consisting of two Parts I shall divide and consider I. The Duty of Giving II. That of Lending I. Of Giving Give to him that asketh of thee Before I come to open the Nature of this Duty I must premise 1. We are not to think that we are to give at no time but when we are asked There may be very good Christians whose Necessities we know or upon Enquiry may know and who are loath to make them known in which Case we are oblig'd to prevent their asking as Christ did the Man who had been Weak and Lame eight and thirty Years Wilt thou be made whole said he John v. 6 before he knew Christ intended him any kindness Giving is a Godlike thing God is the great giver of every good and perfect Gift James i. 17 And he ordinarily gives before we ask and showers down his Blessings before our Requests knock at the Gate of Mercy And they must know nothing of Christianity that do not know their Profession obliges them to imitate their Father which is in Heaven 2. This Command to give to him that asketh us must be compared with other Precepts and explained by them for this is a standing Rule of Interpretation to compare Spiritual things with Spiritual 1 Cor. ii 13 for we must ever suppose that God cannot contradict himself the whole Scripture being given by the same Spirit this Spirit ever speaks things consistent with himself and therefore if there be an Expression in one place that sounds harsh it must be soften'd and explain'd by another in which there is no Obscurity no Metaphor no Allegory and accordingly if we compare this Saying of our Saviour with what we read 2 Thess. iii 10. If any will not Work neither shall he Eat it will soon appear that this Precept doth not oblige us to give to them who ask if Idle and Lazy and able to Work and will not or spend what they get in Riotous Living and of this sort are many common Beggars who are strong and vigorous and of ability to Work with their own Hands and to whom to give is to encourage them in Idleness This being premised I shall now consider the import of this Command and it 's briefly this In general It is to teach us not to be Churlish or Covetous or Ill-natur'd or Hard-hearted to the Needy It is intended to pull down that base earthly and worldly Temper which makes us Selfish and unconcern'd about the affliction of Joseph Nabal-like Shall I take my Bread and my Water and my Flesh that I have killed for my Shearers and give it unto Men whom I know not whence they be 1 Sam. xxv 11 It is to oblige us to hearken to the Complaints of the Necessitous to give attention to their Cry to hear patiently what they have to say not to turn away from them in a proud haughty and undecent manner as if their Requests were not worthy of our regard or as if we were too good to stand talking with such contemptible Persons or as if it were below our Rank and Quality and Station to consider what Persons under such low Circumstances propose to our charitable Consideration For suppose it were impertinent yet it is part of Christian Patience to shew our selves gentle and courteous even to a weak and silly Petitioner not to mention that it is a piece of Gratitude to God to bear with such it being an acknowledgement of his Goodness which hath given us a greater Portion of Reason and Understanding than to them That which is particularly enjoyned here is 1. To give chearfully for as we all know God loves a chearful giver 2 Cor. ix 7 To give grudgingly or unwillingly or by force or in Anger and Passion is a worm that spoils the Gift and makes that which in another dress would have
levell'd against corrupt Nature so to live up to these Rules is to do more than others more than natural Men more than Publicans and Sinners And what I have laid down here ruines that common Plea Why should I do more than others Why As your Circumstances and Conditions are various so they become Motives to do more than others Because thou art a Christian thou ought'st to do more than others Because the Son of God himself hath come and spoke to thee in his Gospel therefore thou ought'st to do more than Heathens and Infidels Because thou enjoyest greater Mercies and thine Eyes have seen greater Deliverances than others thou ought'st to do more than thy Neighbours whose Mercies are less and whose Deliverances are not so astonishing Because thou livest under richer means of Grace than others Because thou hast had stronger and more powerful Motions of God's Spirit than others therefore thou ought'st to do more than others Because thou mak'st a greater Profession of Religion than others thou ought'st to do more than others Nay thou hast obliged thy self in thy Baptism in the Eucharist upon a Sick-Bed and on other occasions to do more than others to be sure more than thy carnal careless Neighbours do that Hear and Pray and have some Vertues mingled with their Vices You that have repented of a very lewd and flagitious Life and been Converted from the Power of Satan unto God ought particularly to do more than others for you have sinn'd more than others you expect more should be forgiven you you have formerly hated God more than others and therefore ought to love him more than others Ye who have more Time more Leisure than others you ought to spend more in Religious Retirements than others Ye to whom God hath given greater Means and Estates than others ought to express your Charity to distressed Christians in greater Instances than others In a word The common Duties of Religion are to be distinguish'd from the greater The common are such as both the Light of Nature and the Gospel command and which Infidels as well as we perform The greater are those which the Gospel doth particularly bind upon the Consciences of Christ's Followers and these are the proper Tasks of Christians Upon a Death-Bed thou cry'st I thank God I have wrong'd no body Do not even Heathens and Philosophers the same Thou rejoycest thou pleasest thy self with this that thou hast been just the honest in all thy Dealings do not even the Brahmines and Indians the same I do not deny but these are good things but what is all this to Christianity which is a higher Discipline and a sublimer Dispensation What is all this to Faith in Christ Jesus which is to purifie your Hearts and to make Christ and his Precepts and Promises and Ordinances and the Benefits of his Death Resurrection and Ascension and Intercession sweet and pleasant and amiable to you We will allow that you pay and endeavour to pay every Man their own that you Lend and Give and are kind to your Friends and who do and are so to you and that you Wrong and Abuse and Injure no Man that let 's you alone but in doing so what do ye more than those who never heard of Christ Hath God given you suitable Encouragements to do more than others and will not Angels and good Men and your own Consciences cry shame upon you in the last Day because ye have not done more than others Nay it were well if many of us did but do so much as others so much as honest Heathens do so much as innocent Barbarians do who love those that love them and are civil to those who are so to them How many of us are there who are ungrateful base inhumane uncivil unthankful to those who love them and express their Love in various acts of kindness to their Souls and Bodies and if the Righteous be scarcely saved where will the Wicked and Sinner appear But if all this will not prevail I must try one Motive more which will lead me to the last Proposition III. If those who would be or think themselves good Christians do not more than Carnal Men in Matters of Religion and Morality they have no Reward For if ye love them which love you what Reward have you I need not tell you that Questions of this Nature are equivalent to Negatives for this is a common way of speaking in all Languages so we ordinarily say If you will not work who will take care of you i. e. No body will When I say we have no Reward if we do not more than others I do not mean a Temporal Reward for this is given even to Hypocrites and we may lawfully conclude that the Temporal Deliverances Protections and Preservations which happen to wicked Men came upon them for some good thing they have done either in Religion or Morality or in promoting the Glory of God which in all probability is the Reason why the Mahometan Religion and particularly the Ottoman Empire hath flourish'd so long because they have destroy'd Idolatry in the World and have done some other Services to God's People It 's the everlasting Reward I treat of here and our Saviour aims at no less If we do not more than others we shall have no greater Reward than others if we do more our Reward will be greater And here for your encouragement to do more than others according to the Rules before laid down more than Carnal Men ordinarily do who mingle some acts of Religion and Morality with their wilful Sins give me leave to propose to you these following Considerations 1. Then would ye be put off with a Temporal Reward What be put off with this when you hear a Pious David pray to be deliver'd from Men who have their portion in this Life Psal. xvii 14 were there no other Life when this is ended no marvel if a Temporal Recompence did content you But when you profess and own an approaching Eternity to make a Temporal Reward only the object of your Hopes and Desires is strangely Irrational What! Content your selves with Corn and Wine and Oyl when an everlasting Kingdom is to be had When you see the Crown of Glory glittering a-far off which the eternal God holds out to you as a Motive What! Content your selves with Trash when Gates of Pearl and a City of Gold is set before you 2. When you come to lie upon a Death-Bed do not you desire an everlasting Reward No doubt ye do your Ministers and your Neighbours hear you say so But how uncomfortable must be that Desire when your Consciences shall fly in your Faces and tell you that your Desires are groundless that this is desiring the End without the Means and the Reward at Night and the Favour of the good Man of the House when you have been loath to bear the heat and burden of the Day 3. If you do not more than others is it not a certain sign that
you do not heartily believe an eternal Reward What! Believe it and do nothing for it Yes something ye do as much as some of your indifferent Neighbours do but that 's the very thing Christ finds fault with because you stop there where Men of no great sence of Religion stop It 's true all the doing in the World cannot deserve this everlasting Reward but since doing more than Publicans and Sinners is the Condition to which God hath annex'd this eternal Reward will you neglect the Condition without which you cannot be sure of that Reward 4. When in the last Day ye shall see those excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven who were loath to step farther than their Friends and Acquaintance in the way to Happiness those particularly who thought it sufficient to be kind only to those who were kind to them Will not you wish that you had done more than they But what will Wishes signifie in that Day when the time of Sowing and Planting and Working is past Now you have an opportunity of shewing your extraordinary Zeal and Love and Fervour and Charity and endeavours to do more than others Lay hold and remember we entreat you in Christ's stead to lay hold on the present opportunity and let the eternal Reward tempt you the Reward invisible indeed but as sure as certain as infallible as the Great God who hath promised it Say not this doing more than others is an endless thing for at this rate we must do more than every Man we see or hear of or converse withal a thing enough to make a Man distracted with Religion No my Friends there is no danger of that the Persons beyond whom you are to go are chiefly carnal careless indifferent Men who have a low Opinion of Religion and do no more in these Matters than is consistent with their Interest and Honour and Reputation and Ease and Temper and Profit and Sensual Pleasures Cross your selves in all these and do more than Flesh and Blood and Nature and Custom and Education would prompt you to and as you excel others in Temporal and Spiritual Advantages labour still to do more than they especially where you see they are defective and let all be done according to the Directions of the Text and this Chapter not ceasing to implore God's powerful Arm and the Time will come when you shall Sing and Triumph and Rejoyce more than others and when others shall be Judged Disgraced Despised and Rejected you will sit on Thrones judging the Tribes of Israel Amen SERMON XXXVIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 46 47. For if ye love them which love you what Reward have you Do not even the Publicans the same And if ye salute your Brethren only what do you more than others Do not even the Publicans so I Thought I had done with these Words but upon a review of the Text there appear several Things which will require our farther Disquisition and Examination Our Saviour's principal Design in these Words I think I have sufficiently explain'd in the last Discourse his principal Design I say which is to shew that in Matters of Love Charity Kindness and Civility we are to do more than others more than Heathens and Infidels more than Carnal Men and according to the Rules and Measures of Analogy I extended the Command to other Collateral Duties of Religion and Morality But I find that while I have pressed doing more than others I have forgot to urge some of you at least to do so much as others and while I have taught you to go beyond Publicans and Carnal Men I have overlook'd the Duties and good things suppos'd in the Text to be in Publicans and Carnal Men which are loving those that love them and being kind and civil and courteous to those who are so to them and doing good to those who do good to them Indeed to recommend to you such Duties as these seems to be a thing altogether needless and superfluous as needless as to teach People to Trade one with another or to Eat when they are Hungry or to Drink when they are Dry. But if we look abroad and consider the Christian World as it appears to us now we shall find that even these lesser Duties are trampled upon as well as the greater and as impossible as it may seem to be not to love those who love us it will appear from the sequel that there are not a few even among our selves Christians such as they are who break through the Obligation of this Duty and may be justly charged with wilful Omission and Neglect even of these common Offices which Nature Custom and Education teaches Indeed it is a great disparagement to our Religion at least to the Professors of it that they who for the time they have lived in the Church should be able to digest the strongest Meat should stand in need of Milk the those who should be able to teach others should have occasion or lie under a necessity to be taught the common Principles of Heathen Divinity But so it is and to that pass are things come that we are forced to teach People the first Rudiments of natural Theology so incapable or so unfit are many to be instructed in the higher Lessons of Christianity To love and do good to those who love and do good to us is a pure natural Principle and it looks a little impertinent to prove the necessity of it because it is a Point all Men take for granted yet that I may not seem to leave out any thing that should have been said and for your fuller Conviction and Satisfaction I shall I. Consider the reasonableness of this Principle II. Enquire what Persons they are who act against this natural Principle III. Examine what it is that makes Men sink so low beneath Publicans and Heathens and act against this Principle of Nature 1. The Reasonableness of this Principle of loving and doing good to those who love and do good to us And it will appear from the following Particulars 1. Not to love those that love us or not to be civil kind and courteous to those who are so to us tends to the Ruine and Destruction of Humane Society Mutual and reciprocal Kindnesses are the Solder of Humane Life and without these the World would soon become a Habitation of Savages Trade and Commerce would quickly cease and the Condition of Mankind like the Leviathan's state of Nature become a state of perpetual War This would encrease Animosities and set at variance Father and Son and the Daughter against her Mother and the Daughter-in-law against her Mother-in-law and open a gap to infinite Quarrels and Dissentions for as nothing sowres our Spirits more than Unkindnesses from those whom we have been kind to so if this proceeded to an universal Custom Love and Charity would be destroy'd aud with that the Peace and Order of Common-wealths or Kingdoms This would alienate Mens Affections one from another and this would
an Enemy than we are constrained and to lose our Cloak and Coat and Garments when we are abused what hopes of Mercy have we if we will not so much as prevent an Enemy in the point of Civility and Salutes Thou say'st I shall be laugh'd at if I do so Mad-man that thou may'st not be despis'd by Men dost thou offend thy God That thy Fellow-servant may not Jeer thee dost thou dishonour thy Creator and greatest Benefactor The more thy Fellow-Creature despises thee for doing thy Duty the greater is thy Reward for thou suffer'st that Contempt for God's sake and let me tell you that it 's greater and better to be despised for God's sake than to be honour'd and caress'd by all the Princes of the World 2. Another Perfection which requires our Imitation is his Patience See how God bears with Sinners See how loath he is to strike see how unwilling he is to afflict the Children of Men. They abuse him and he lays by his Rod they wrong him and he with-holds his revenging Arm. St. James to engage his Auditors to Patience sets the Examples of the Prophets before them Jam. v. 10 But we have a greater Example to follow even him that teaches his Prophets Wisdom Is God so Patient and shall we burn with Rage and Revenge immediately upon an Injury that 's offer'd to us Is this to be like our Father which is in Heaven We would not have God deal with us in this manner Foolish Creatures And shall we deal thus with our Brethren 3. In his Veracity God cannot lye Tit. i. 2 and we must not Lye Wherefore putting away Lying speak every Man Truth to his Neighbour Eph. iv 25 It is our Duty upon several Accounts but more particularly upon this because our Father in Heaven whose Children we profess our selves to be is a God of Truth How unlike God is that Man who talks deceitfully to his Neighbour that tells him one thing and means another How contrary is this to the Temper of our Father which is in Heaven whose Promises are steddy like Pillars of Brass and Heaven and Earth shall sooner perish than the least tittle of his Promise shall fail When he saith the Word Men may as firmly depend upon it as if it were confirm'd with Oaths This must be our Example and a strict Veracity must attend our Speeches He that in his Words hath not a strict regard to Truth not only Deviates from the Temper of his Father which is in Heaven but is like the Devil the Father of Lyes a likeness from which Good Lord deliver us 4. In his Purity To this purpose is the standing Command Be ye Holy as I am Holy 1 Pet. i. 16 God is a hater of Sin and so must we abhor that which is evil Rom. xii 9 God is an Enemy particularly to all Uncleanness Lasciviousness and unlawful Mixtures and so must we For this is the Will of God even your Sanctification that every one of you should know how to possess his Vessel in Sanctification and Honour 1 Thess. iv 3 4. And purity in our Thoughts Desires Words and Actions is the surest sign that we belong to him who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity For I will be Sanctified in all them that draw nigh unto me And what shall I say more God is a Lover of good Men dwells with the Humble and Lowly prizes Holiness and an active Faith beyond all the Riches and Honours and Grandeur of the World esteems a Saint before the most potent and unsanctified Wretch condescends to Persons of the meanest Rank executes Judgment for the Oppressed relieves the Fatherless and Widow takes care of the Stranger pities them that are in Bonds commiserates the Needy comforts the Afflicted counsels the Stubborn reclaims the Impenitent encourages the Pious and Serious strengthens them that do stand raises those that are fall'n He heals the broken in their Heart and binds up their Wounds in all which Particulars our imitation of him becomes a necessary Duty And this is to be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect To imitate his Perfection is our Perfection a Duty necessary because commanded and some other Reasons which make it so are these following Reasons 1. In this imitation we cannot be mistaken Here we are sure we are in the right Were there danger of going astray or falling into Waters or running upon Precipices it would be some discouragement God can do nothing that 's Evil. The Perfections which are in him are undoubtedly good and right Here is no fear of a false Light of an Ignis fatuus of a false Teacher of a Barcacab of a Deceiver God can deceive no Man it is against his Nature and his Will He is the fountain of Goodness He is good and doth good and is a guide to them that walk in darkness Whatever he doth must be praise-worthy and commendable and in following his Example we cannot run into By-paths into Labyrinths into dangerous Gulfs He is Light and in him is no darkness at all and therefore we have reason to walk in the Light even as he is in the Light for in following that Light we do and cannot but do that which is Holy and Just and agreeable to the Rules of Wisdom and Righteousness and which will lead us into the ways of Peace and Satisfaction and Joy and Comfort even to the still Waters to the fountain of living Waters whereof whoever drinks shall never thirst again 2. Our Interest our Duty our Life our Breath and Being and all the Mercies we enjoy oblige us to love him but how can we love him except we imitate him Love doth naturally incline to imitation The ancient Egyptians are said to have a mighty veneration for their Kings and that love so wrought upon them that they would imitate their Princes in their Halting Lameness and such other Defects and Infirmities The Persians had that love for Cyrus that they would even bow their Childrens Noses to make them Aquiline or like Bills of Eagles because that of Cyrus was so So did Alexander's Courtiers hold their Heads on one side because Alexander went so and the Disciples of Aristotle would go stooping out of Love to their Master who used that Posture If Love hath that power with Men that it constrains to imitate those whom they love even in their Blemishes and that with Pain and Uneasiness can we talk of loving God while our Love works in us no imitation of his Goodness Righteousness Veracity Mercy Clemency c. than which nothing is more profitable or edifying to our Souls and in which our very Perfection consists Perfection is that which we very earnestly desire and endeavour after in other things perfect Health perfect Strength perfect Liberty c. and is perfection in Goodness no motive no temptation 3. It is certain we are to tread in our Saviour's steps It 's this that makes us Christians We have vow'd it we
have promis'd it even to follow the Lord Jesus but how can this be done except we imitate our Father which is in Heaven Christ himself did so The Son can do nothing but what he sees the Father do for what things soever he doth these also doth the Son likewise John v. 19 He loved as God loved and was merciful as God was merciful In a word he was the express Image of his Person not only of his Nature but of his Perfections too and if this was our Saviour's work we cannot imitate that Saviour except we endeavour to be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect But I shall press this no farther There are several weighty Inferences which may be drawn from the Premises for our Instruction and I must proceed to acquaint you with them Inferences I. From this Command of being Perfect it doth not follow that on this side Heaven we may arrive to a perfect freedom from all Sin great and small which seems to have been the Doctrine of Pelagius and his Disciple Coelestius and if we may believe St. Austin and Cassian they proceeded to that extravagance as to affirm that all this might be done by the meer strength and force of Nature They do indeed alledge the Examples of Abel of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and how God rewarded them with making them his Friends and gave them great Instances of his Love and Favour But all that can be inferr'd from thence is only this that he encourag'd their Faith by gracious Recompences as a Father doth a Child otherwise faulty enough upon some excellent act of Obedience but not that they were free from all Sin there is not a just Man upon Earth that doth good and sinneth not saith Solomon Eccles. vii 20 and the just Man falls seven times i. e. Sins by surprize very often and rises up again Prov. xxiv 16 we grant very readily what St. John says 1 John iii. 9 That the regenerate cannot Sin because the Seed of God remains in them but if we compare that Passage with other places of Scripture the sence must necessarily be this That committing such Sins as worldly and sensual Men make nothing of is against their Temper and Inclination as Joseph told his Mistress How can I commit this wickedness They cannot sin wilfully or with delight or allow themselves in any known Sin nor sin impenitently It 's true such Men are call'd Perfect because they have a respect to all the Commandments of God and there is nothing remarkable in all the compass of Vertue and Goodness which they do not heartily endeavour after and their Sincerity is called Perfection but still that 's no Argument that therefore they are not subject to accidental Slips and Failings while they live among Men and converse with variety of Persons which they expiate by a renew'd and daily Repentance so that a Man may be a perfect Man as the Sun is a perfect Light yet as that Luminary hath its Spots and is subject to be clouded so Righteous Men may have lesser Faults and be subject to inadvertencies and yet be Perfect still II. It follows from the Premises that both the Saying in the Text and all the other Oracles deliver'd in this Sermon are Precepts not Counsels Duties which every Christian is oblig'd to perform not meer Heroick Actions which the Religious only and those who have entirely dedicated themselves to God's service are oblig'd to mind or to exercise themselves in the Church of Rome by making a distinction betwixt Counsels and Precepts cuts the Sinews of a Christian Life and how pleasing soever this Doctrine may seem to Carnal Men in that it gives them hopes that they may be excused from the severer and weightier Duties of the Law but that this Doctrine is false particularly with respect to the Oracle of the Text and the rest in this Chapter is evident from hence because Christ speaks to all his Disciples and all that call themselves Christians own themselves to be so and therefore all must fall under the Obligation And are not we all fond of being Children of our Father which is in Heaven and if the Children of God are obliged to these Self-denials can any of us excuse our selves from the Duty since there are none of us but what are desirous to be honour'd with that Title I will not deny but there are some Evangelical Counsels which all are not obliged to perform of this nature is Celibacy or a single Life whereof Christ speaks Matth. xix But then these Counsels are so expressed that we may know they are no peremptory Commands to which all are obliged as in the preceding Instance of a single Life Christ says He that is able to receive it let him receive it Matth. xix 12 which differs very much from a commanding Stile and besides the Sayings in this Sermon of Christ are enjoyn'd upon pain of Damnation and those who hear them and neglect to do them whoever they be great or low Clergy-men or Lay-men are called Fools and Miserable and undone for ever III. We see here there is no standing still in Religion but he that will be saved must press on toward Perfection It is very common with some Christians when they are come to such a pitch of Devotion there to rest and grow secure and maintain that Formality and think themselves sufficiently Religious But this must be a Mistake and it 's a sign they do not search their Hearts nor examine their Lives nor compare their Behaviour with the particular Rules of the Gospel which if they did they would find that there is always something to reform to amend to rectifie and to set in order something to remove and something to plant something to meliorate and something to dislodge in a word that some other Vertues besides those they have already are to be Objects of their Love and Delight That Person who contents himself with his being free from scandalous Sins stops there and looks after no greater Perfection most certainly disobeys the words of the Text for how doth he endeavour after Perfection that parts with one Sin and pleases himself with another and with the Pharisee cries I thank thee O God that I am not as other Men Unjust Adulterous c. and all this while allows himself in Pride Arrogance Censoriousness and Selfconceitedness Not to go on in Religion or not to perfect what is begun or not to proceed from Vertue to Vertue is to go backward And he that is at a stand lies expos'd to the Devils Temptations for we are not ignorant of his Devices He that stands still will not be long before he goes backward he is next door to it for this gives the Enemy a fair opportunity to lull him into a Slumber from whence he seldom awakes till God calls upon him in a terrible accent Thou Fool this Night thy Soul shall be taken from thee and whose shall be what thou hast provided IV.
Office of a Magistrate is not superseded by this Command Nor 3. Doth this Law of loving our Enemies forbid us reproving an Enemy for the Sins he involves himself in by hating us much less doth it import that we are to love his Sins and Follies or flatter him in his Undecencies and Insolencies There is no doubt we may lawfully tell him of his Faults in a meek and rational way and seek to reduce him to a better Temper and in doing so we do nothing against that Love we owe him so far from it that it is an Argument of Hatred not to Rebuke him Lev. xix 17 Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy Heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer Sin upon him Nor 5. Doth this Command import that we are to make an Enemy our Bosom Friend to whom we are to unburden our selves and make him acquainted with the Secrets of our Souls Friendship in this strict sence is Master of Discretion more than Duty nor is our Love to our Enemies prejudic'd by not making them Friends in this sence Indeed if by the Coals of Fire we heap upon their Heads if by the warmer kindnesses we shew them we melt them into a tractable and docible Temper and then prove occasions of their becoming new Men we may if we see it convenient raise our Love Unto a higher degree even to that of Friendship and make him that was an Enemy as our own Soul but while he is an Enemy he is not a Subject capable of entring into the Bond of Friendship with him except by Friendship we mean the acts of Love hereafter mention'd 6. As an Enemy is a Person who cherisheth a secret Spleen and Malice against us in his Heart and as occasion serves vents and expresses it either in his Words or Actions either by Reviling or Abusing us or doing Unkindnesses or attempting to Betray or Bespatter or to Ruine and Undoe us in which sence even a Husband a Wife and the nearest Relatives may be Enemies so this Love we owe them imports an inward Affection to them even Bowels of Mercy and Compassion and a certain tenderness within The acts whereby our Love to them is to be expressed must have some Root and that Root must be the Heart the true seat of Love and let no Man plead here that Love arising from the agreeableness of the Object it 's impossible there should be any real Love in the Heart toward an Enemy because of the disagreeableness of the Object to our Temper and Contrariety to our Humour and Interest for though there may be no agreeableness with respect to the Wrong he doth or hath done us yet there are other Respects and those more weighty and of greater Concernment in which a likeness and similitude appear and consequently a suitable Foundation for this Love For 1. He is God's Creature and so are we 2. He is a Man and so are we 3. He is a Neighbour still nor doth the Wrong he doth us deprive him of that Relation 4. May be he is a Christian too and professes the same Faith the same God the same Jesus and the same Religion all which Respects make even an Enemy an agreeable Object of our Love Nay his very Enmity doth formally dispose and qualifie him for our Love for the nature of Love is That it is not easily provoked 1 Cor. xiii 5 And I need not tell you that Men are not provoked by Kindnesses but by Injurious Acts and these being the acts of an Enemy Love not being easily provoked by such acts the Enemy must be a very proper object of our Love But let 's go on and consider II. The particular acts of this Love or whereby this Love is to be expressed And the first is 1. Bless them that curse you This is to give good Language for bad kind Answers for Revilings praising the good that is in the Enemy for his denying that there is any in our selves and gracious Wishes for his base and horrid Imprecations The Apostles did so for being reviled we bless being defamed we entreat saith St. Paul 1 Cor. iv 13 This look'd great What a lovely excellent sight was this How pleasing to God how pleasing to Angels how pleasing to all rational and understanding Men Do but take a serious view of it you your selves cannot but like it approve of it and commend it What harmony what beauty what sweetness what evenness what perfection must there be in such a Soul What a command over his Passions must we suppose in such a Person and can any thing look more stately and magnificent And if there be such beauty in it why are not we enamour'd with it Why should we think much of it to cry God bless you when the Enemy cries God damn you Is not the one as easily said as the other and is there not far greater satisfaction in the one than in the other What if the brutish Man do curse us what hurt can his Cursing do us while we do not answer him according to his Folly The Curse may fall on his own Head but cannot singe a Hair of ours His ill Language doth it not look very odious in him and doth it change its Face or Nature if we use it by way of Retaliation Can that be lovely in us which all Men take to be deformity in him Doth not the Enemy sin grievously against God when he doth Revile or Curse us And shall not we be concern'd at his Sin How are we concern'd if we do not mourn for it How do we mourn for it if we do not pity him How do we pity him if we do not endeavour to reform him How shall we reform him except we shew him a good Example How can we shew him a good Example if we do not let him see that there is a better Spirit in us And how shall he be convinc'd of that if we do not return soft Answers for his rough and insolent ones even Blessings for Curses Such Christian returns God blesses sometimes with Conversion of the Enemy and thinks himself concern'd to reward the Self-denial with an extraordinary Providence To this purpose Moschus tells us That three Religious Men Travelling and losing their way and thereupon belated were forc'd to lie down on the Ground the Night coming on and the Sky growing very dark But so it happen'd that ignorantly they laid themselves down at the edge or corner of a Corn-field whereby they pressed a portion of Corn on the Ground Early in the Morning the Owner of the Field coming by and seeing what was done began to be in a Passion and cursed them bitterly saying You Religious Men if you had had the fear of God before you you would not have done so The innocent Men let him run on and then with all gentleness imaginable told him Truly you say right if we had had the fear of God before us we should never have done so