which the Gospel is the most perfect System Therefore so speak and so do as they that shall be judged by the Law of Liberty and whatever your Business Calling Employment and Condition be remember there is a time coming when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with all his mighty Angels to take Vengeance on those who have not obeyed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ To whom be Glory and Dominion for Ever and Ever SERMON XIX St. Matt. Ch. v. Ver. 18. For verily I say unto you till Heaven and Earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled THose who endeavour to prove from this place that the present Hebrew Character is the same with that which was in use in Christ's time and consequently that no change of Letters hath been introduced by Ezra but that the Character the Jews use at this day is the same with that which Moses made use of when he writ the Law and all because Christ here represents the Letter Jot as the least in all the Alphabet and as a thing that had always been so I say those who endeavour to prove so much from this place do indeed oblige the curious World but that 's not my Business now A Preacher's design is different from the Criticks and our Work is not so much to make Men Learned as to make them Good And though we are to inform their Understandings too yet what Light we give to that Intellectual Frame it is with an intent to rectifie the Actions to mend the outward and the inward Man to destroy the body of Sin and to overthrow the Power and Dominion of natural Corruption But this on the by that which will be more Edifying to you will be to put you in mind that Christ in the preceding Verse had removed and baffled a grand Objection which was in those days made against his charitable Attempts to reform the World The Jews were mighty Admirers of the Law of Moses and the Prophets yet so brutish were they grown that never any thing was more abused than they had the Law and the Prophets which Abuses when Christ as became him went about to rectify and reform they suspected no less than that he was going to reverse the Law and the Prophets so dangerous so sottish a thing is Prejudice This Objection I say Christ had answered in the preceding Verse and I have already treated largely of that Controversy What our great Master hath begun he prosecutes in the Verse before us asserting the Divinity and Perpetuity of the Law and Prophets For verily I say unto you till Heaven and Earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law till all be fulfilled Though in saying so he doth not mention the Prophets yet in naming the Law he names and aims at them too there being nothing more common in the New Testament than by the Law to understand the whole System of the Jewish Religion or all the Books of the Old Testament the Writings both of Moses and the Prophets which succeeded him partly because the Law is the principal part of that Sacred Volume partly because all that the Prophets have said even all the remarkable things they speak of are vertually contained in the Law of Moses I might divide the Words into a Preface or Preamble Verily I say unto you and the Maxim or Truth Christ delivers Till Heaven and Earth pass one jot c. But this I conceive needless you 'll understand the words as well and better too I am sure to your greater Edification if I resolve them into certain Propositions which are plainly hinted in the Text. I. The whole Oeconomy of the Gospel lies hid in the Law and in the Prophets II. There is nothing in the Old Testament relating to the Affairs of the Gospel or the Time of the Messiah but hath been and shall certainly be fulfilled to the least tittle of it III. The Scriptures or the Word of God will last to the Worlds end IV. Heaven and Earth shall certainly pass away V. Gods Veracity is unchangable and sooner shall Heaven and Earth perish than what God hath said in his Word shall fail I begin with the first 1. The whole Oeconomy of the Gospel lies hid in the Law and the Prophets for Christ was here delivering the Law of the Gospel To assure the Jews that he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets he tells that his Doctrine and Discipline was nothing but a fulfilling of the Law and the Prophets and if so then certainly the whole must be contained in the Law and in the Prophets This the Apostle is so sure of that he doth not only tell us that Christ is the end of the Law Rom. x. 4 but peremptorily affirms that the Gospel was preached to the Israelites in the Wilderness the time when God gave the Law Heb. iv 2. And to this purpose he tells us 1 Cor. x. 1 2 3 4. Moreover Brethren I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our Fathers were under the Cloud and all passed through the Sea and were all baptized into Moses i. e. into the Faith of Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea and did all eat the same spiritual Meat and did all drink the same spiritual Drink for they drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them and that Rock was Christ And particularly of Moses who was the glorious Instrument by whom God gave the Law we read that he esteemed the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than all the Treasures of Egypt Heb. xi 26 which he could not have done if he had been a Stranger to the Knowledge of the Mystery of Christ no doubt he had it for so we read Joh. v. 46 If ye had believed Moses you would also have believed me for he wrote of me but if you believe not his Writings how shall you believe my Words So that it may be truly said as it is Heb. xiii 8 Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever only in the Old Testament he was veiled in the New that Veil is taken away there a Cloud covered him here he appears in his Meridian Brightness there the Mount on which he was seen was encompassed with Mists and Darkness Here he is seen on Mount Tabor transfigured and his Garments shining The difference betwixt the Saints of the Old Testament and those of the New is not that the latter believed in Christ the former did not but as we believe in Christ who is to come so they did in Christ who was to come and they had reason for the Vertue of his Sufferings and Merits was retroactive and like a mighty Stream spread it self backward and forward and like the Mystical Creatures Rev. iv 6 were full of Eyes before and behind And could we unfold all the Riddles of the Ceremonial Law we should see the Gospel Mysteries lie very orderly
these and a thousand things of this nature spoken of concerning the Gospel times in the Law and in the Prophets were most punctually fulfilled and particularly the Types of the Ceremonial Law which were so many prefigurations and obscure hints and characters of the Glory which should after be revealed in the Gospel 2. By what hath been fulfilled we may very safely and rationally infer That the rest of the things which have not yet been will certainly be fulfilled in their due time Such are the lofty Prophecies of the great Unity of the Church of Christ Isai. ii 4 and xi 6 the Spiritual yet visible splendour and largness of it Isai. lx 19 of the Temple which Ezekiel spake of Chap. xl xli xlii c. of the Conversion of the Jews Ezek. xxxvii 26 27. of Antichrist and the state of Christ's Church under him and the consequences of it in Daniel and in other places c. If such abundance of things in the Law have been already fulfilled no doubt the rest will all be fulfilled And this shews That both the Old and the New Testament and the Books and Writings thereof are of God For as the New Testament contains the things that are fulfilled and the Old the things that were to be fulfilled so it must necessarily follow that he that could foretel such things and after he had foretold them so many hundred years before was able to fulfil them could be nothing but God himself it being impossible for any Creature either to foretel or fulfil things so abstruse and out of the common reach of the wisest part of Mankind And since the Scriptures are of God with what Reverence ought we to entertain them with what Seriousness to read them with what Attention to peruse them and with what Strictness to obey them When the Letters and Messages of Sovereign Princes are so venerable and precious with us how dear ought the Oracles and Messages of God to our Souls be to us surely dearer than thousands of Gold and Silver Psal. cxix 72 127. And one great thing that ought to make them so dear to us is this That they will last till Heaven and Earth pass Which brings in the III d Proposition That the Scriptures and the Word of God will last to the Worlds end even till Heaven and Earth do pass away for till then one jot or one tittle of the Law shall not pass away Indeed when the World is at an end there will be no need of Scripture for the Scriptures are given to direct Men here on Earth how to obtain Eternal happiness and while Mankind and Christians particularly abide in this Valley of Tears the Scriptures are profitable for Correction for Reproof for Doctrine that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto every good work and upon this account they are sufficient to make Men wise unto salvation 2 Tim. iii. 15 16. But when this lower World and the Inhabitants of it shall be removed or taken away there will be no Inhabitants to be instructed at least we have no Revelation that there will be any and consequently the means of Instruction will be insignificant If we take a view of the great Day of Judgment and the People that will then appear before the Judge we find they either will be good or bad either Sheep or Goats the Sheep as we are told by him who must be the Judge Matth. xxv 46 will enter into Life everlasting where they shall see darkly no more no more through a Glass and therefore not through the Glass of Scripture as here they do but face to face They will know all that is in the Scripture and infinitely more The Scriptures then will be of no use to them they will be taught immediately of God and behold all things in their highest perfection The Divine Essence and Glory will enlighten them and teach them and instruct them and make them glad for ever and ever The Scripture as it is said of the Law is our Schoolmaster to lead us to Eternal glory When we are got to our Journeys end we have no need of this Guide of these Leading-strings or of that Schoolmaster The Scriptures are our staff and our comfort in the House of our Pilgrimate Psal. cxix 54 when that Pilgrimage ceaseth the Staff will be useless and we shall be Travellers no more but inhabit and fix there where we shall go out no more Rev. iii. 12 Who the Goats are that stand at the left hand of Christ and where they will be and whither they will be sent and what will become of them we all know for they shall go into Everlasting punishment saith our Saviour Matth. xxv 46 Nor will these have any need of Scripture to teach to instruct to exhort to reprove and to direct them how to save themselves for they will be cast into a Prison from whence there is no going out till they have paid the uttermost Farthing In that day God will have another way to teach them even by Torments and Miseries and sad experiences They will be past Repentance and Obedience and all possibility of Conversion and will be determined to evil So that the Scriptures are intended only as our Teachers while this World lasts and while the Sun and Moon continue their courses God will preserve this precious Book He that preserv'd it so many hundred years already in despight of Fire and Flames and the rage of Enemies and Persecutors who would feign have banish'd abolish'd and exterminated it out of the World And that very Preservation shews He will continue these Instructions to Mankind till the Heavens be no more and the Earth doth melt away How great is God's care of our Souls who from age to age preserves this Treasure to us Neither Wars nor Exiles neither Plague nor Sword nor Famine nor all the changes mutations and revolutions in the World have been able to destroy this Treasure Therefore while we are here and have the use of it let us consult it upon all occasions let us run to this Shop for Medicines and Remedies when our Souls are sick and when our outward Man is in trouble whatever state we are in whether Prosperity or Adversity be our lot this Scripture will direct us how to behave our selves and how to order our Conversation Let 's chearfully make it a Lanthorn to our feet and a Light to our paths and we cannot go amiss we cannot stumble we cannot walk in darkness and we shall be able to stand when Heaven and Earth do pass away which leads me to the Fourth Proposition IV. Heaven and Earth will certainly pass away This is plainly supposed here in this saying Till Heaven and Earth pass And the manner how they will pass away St. Peter hath left upon Record 2 Pet. iii. 7 But the Heaven and the Earth which are now by the same Word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and more
must this be to be so concerned for your good Works A Father your Father so great a Father A Father that dwells on high to humble himself and stoop to look upon your good Works and withall declare his willingness to accept of them surely this is self-denial infinite For him that is higher than the Heaven Higher than the Highest Higher than the greatest Potentates to vouchsafe a favourable Aspect to your good Works surely this must this should one would think prevail with many of you who retain some Sense of your Duty Nay and he is therefore said to be in Heaven to let you see where you shall be and whither you shall go when you leave this World having let the Light of your good Works shine before Men even into that Heaven where himself is adored by Angels and all the Morning Stars sing together where his own infinite Felicity fills all that are about his Throne with Joys and Ravishments unspeakable And therefore suffer this word of Exhortation and let your Light so shine before Men that others may see your good Works and Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven SERMON XVIII St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil CHRIST having in the foregoing Discourse open'd and laid down the true Nature of the Christian Religion what it imports and what Qualifications it challenges and what Temper it requires and told us that a Christian is a Person Humble and concern'd for his own and other Men's Sins Meek and earnestly desirous of high degrees of Holiness Merciful and kind and Pure in Heart and of a peaceable and peace-making Disposition and Patient under Injuries and in his Affliction comforting himself with the Rewards of Heaven and the Blessings of Eternity and ready to do good and profitable and useful both to the Souls and Bodies of other Men I say having laid down these Characters as Essential to a Christian to a Disciple of the Holy Jesus He now goes on not only to let his Disciples see how much of the Old Religion he intended to adopt into his own which he was going to publish but to enforce the Duties he had mention'd from the Law and from the Prophets shewing that in prescribing the aforesaid Rules and Directions he was so far from contradicting the Law and the Prophets that he spoke their Sense and Meaning and that this was not to call them away from an Esteem and Veneration of the Law and the Prophets but to increase it and that what the Law and the Prophets had but obscurely hinted he was come to explain more largely and to deliver more clearly and to press with greater Motives and Arguments Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil In the Explication of which Words these four Things do naturally offer themselves to our Consideration I. What the Law and the Prophets are II. What it was that rais'd a Suspicion or made People think and fear That Christ came to destroy the Law and the Prophets III. How it appears That he came not with that intent IV. How he fulfill'd the Law and the Prophets I. What the Law and the Prophets are 1. By the Law and the Prophets are meant the Doctrine contained in the Books of the Old Testament call'd by various Names in Holy Writ sometimes the Law in general Joh. x. 34 sometimes Moses and the Prophets Luke xvi 31 sometimes the Law of Moses the Prophets and the Psalms Luke xxiv 44 sometimes the Scripture Joh. v. 39 sometimes the Book of the Lord Isai. xxxiv 16. sometimes the Law and the Prophets as here because this Book consists not only of the Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sina for the Instruction and Edification of the Jewish People but the Writings of other Men also Men inspired by the Holy Ghost who writ either in a Historical or Dogmatical or Prophetical way strictly so called by way of foretelling things to come even as the Spirit of God which governed their Thoughts and Pens thought fit to dictate to them for the use of the Church or Gods People The Law of Moses is as it were the Text the other Books are in the nature of Comments They are called the Law and the Prophets not as if the Law were not written by a Person inspired but the Law is named distinctly either because the Law had some peculiar marks of Divinity in it as appears from the circumstances of its Publication or because it was written by a Prophet of a higher Order and such was Moses Exod. xxxiv whose Prophetick Office God doth distinguish from that of other Persons moved by the Holy Ghost or because the principal part of the Books of Moses the Ten Commandements are said to be written by the Finger of God which gives the Law a special Priviledge so that both the Law and the Prophets came from God only the Law had something more Majestick than ordinary in it and therefore deserves to be named by it self This Law of Moses consists of Commands of a very different Nature Some are the result of natural Justice and Equity of the Eternal Law imprinted on the Souls of Men of the Law of Nature or of right Reason and Deductions from the common Notions of God and of his Perfections and the Relation we stand in toward him and toward one another the summary whereof is the Decalogue or the Ten Commandements Another sort of Commands in that Law relates to the outward manner of Gods Worship and to external Ceremonies to Gifts and Sacrifices and Meats and Drinks and divers washings and carnal Ordinances imposed on the Jewish People until the time of the Reformation Heb. ix 9 10. And these Commands are purely positive depending altogether upon the Will and Pleasure of the Law-giver and therefore alterable and mutable as Occasion and Time and Necessity and the Reason of things c. require and this is commonly stiled the Ceremonial Law A third sort hath Relation to Policy and Government made up partly of Rules issuing from natural Justice and Equity partly of Constitutions such as the Nature and Temper of the People and the Situation of the Country and the Neighbourhood of the Nations who dwelt round about them and the danger of being infected by them and the Circumstances they were in did suggest commonly call'd the Civil or Judicial Law 2. These three sorts of Commands given by God to Moses made up the Digests the Pandects or the Body of the Jewish Law and that 's it that 's commonly understood by that known and frequent Expression in Scripture especially the New Testament the Law it 's written in the Law or the Law saith c. even the complex of all these Laws given at the Command of God by Moses to the Jewish People and as such they did particularly oblige the
People of the Jews As any of them related to natural Justice and Equity the Obligation reached all Mankind but not under the Notion of the Jewish Law Considered therefore as collected into one System one mingled with another they concern'd the then People of God separated from the World and to whom he vouch-safed his Oracles viz. the Posterity of Abraham Isaac and Jacob Jews and Proselytes 3. This Law did chiefly exact an external Obedience and he that lived so that no Man could reprove or tax him with Prevarication or an open Transgression was counted Righteous The Intention and secret Purposes and inward Love or spiritual frame though it was required too yet it was not so severely exacted nor the omission so rigorously punish'd as under the Gospel At least this was the vulgar Error of the Jews which overspread the whole Nation for many Generations that the inward frame whatever accomplishment it might be was not absolutely necessary to Salvation or to make the Service pleasing to God And so much even St. Paul confesses of himself consider'd before he was a Christian Phil. iii. 6 he looked upon himself as an eminent Saint because he was touching the Law blameless none could say black was his Eye and upon this account it was call'd a Law of Works Rom. iii. 27 because the Jews laid the stress of Religion upon the outward Performance or because God to encourage their Piety was not wanting to reward even those who externally observ'd this Law with temporal Remunerations or because the outward Work secured them against temporal Penalty Thus much of the Law 4. The Prophets who were extraordinary Messengers and Ministers sent from God to explain the Law the Moral especially and to rectifie the Errors of the Priests and People with respect to their outward Performances to denounce Gods temporal Judgments to the Guilty and to represent to them the glorious days of the Gospel or Messiah having delivered and preached to the People what God bid them say writ down their Discourses and Visions at least the sum of them in Books and Volumes which by Gods special Providence have been preserved unto this day and are to be seen in the Bible And these are the Prophets here spoken of the Cause by an usual Metonimy being put for the Effect the Prophets and Writers for the Books and Writings of the Prophets But not to insist any longer upon this Point let us II. Consider What it was that rais'd a Suspicion or gave People occasion to think that Christ was come to destroy the Law and the Prophets for so much is implied in this saying Think not 1. Christ reproving the great Masters of Learning and the chief Pillars of the Law as they were counted even the Scribes and Pharisees this raised a jealousie in them You have an account of these Reprehensions not only in the Chapter before us but more particularly Mat. xxiii These Men being guilty of gross Hypocrisie and deluding the People with a shew of Sanctity and thereby hindering them from solid Goodness Christ who came to reform the World thought himself obliged to chastise these proud and obstinate Men who being unable to bear the lancing of their Wounds finding their Sores touch'd to the quick set the People on and perswaded them that Christ came to destroy the Law and the Prophets and considering the Power and Authority they had with the People it was no hard matter to make them believe it and the Argument look'd plausible and weak Understandings were apt enough to infer that he must needs intend a destruction of the Law and Prophets when he shew'd so little respect to those who sat in the Chair of Moses and claim'd an uninterrupted Succession from the antient Interpreters of the Law and Prophets 2. Christ speaking against the received Traditions of the Jews was another cause The Pharisees had mingled very strange Traditions with the Law of Moses these Traditions which were nothing but humane Inventions they pretended were delivered to Moses by word of Mouth on Mount Sina and so propagated by the Elders to their Posterity And these they made of equal necessity with the written Law What these Traditions were you may see Matt. xv 6 and Mark vii 3 nor was it hard to prevail with a superstitious People to believe what they said and giving Faith to these Traditions and possess'd with an Opinion that they were Divine it was natural enough to suspect that Christ who in his Discourses did frequently inveigh against these Traditions as Additions invented by the Scribes and Pharisees and their Predecessors and as things unworthy of God and dishonourable and sinful that Christ instead of preserving came to destroy the Law and the Prophets 3. The same may be said of the false Glosses and Interpretations the Scribes and Pharisees put upon the Law of Moses which Christ did accuse of Falshood and Folly and Impiety This also gave great Offence A Specimen of these false Glosses we have in this Sermon of Christ and Matt. xxiii 16 18. Whosoever shall swear by the Temple it is nothing but whosoever shall swear by the Gold of the Temple he c. To us that live and walk in the Light these Glosses seem ridiculous yet did the People swallow them as Oracles and received them with Faith Divine as well as the Law So great a Power hath Ignorance mingled with blind Zeal just as the Papists believe in gross without chewing or considering what the Church believes so they and the one doth not believe his Church more infallible than they did the Scribes and Pharisees Hence it came to pass that Christ finding fault with these Glosses they suspected Christ had dangerous designs no less than destroying the Law and the Prophets 4. The same suspicion was also caused by Christs endeavouring to reclaim the People from resting upon outward Ceremonies and Observances and to lead them to a more Rational Internal and Spiritual Worship The People through Instigation of the Pharisees were so wedded to the Opinion that the outward Task or outward Formalities of Religion without the Internal Spiritual Frame were either meritorious of Gods Favour or in themselves pleasing to God that because Christ attempted to unsettle them in that Devotion so pleasing to the Flesh and which they thought was the very intent of the Law of Moses they thought Christ came to destroy the Law of Moses and the Prophets But III. How doth it appear that Christ did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets 1. He himself observ'd the Law and acted according to the Precepts and Instructions and Injunctions of it not only the Moral but even the Ceremonial and Judicial Law for his Business and Employment was to fulfil all Righteousness Matt. iii. 15 and upon that account he is said to be made under the Law Gal. iv 4 nor could he have been a true High Priest without doing so Heb. vii 26 As to the Moral Law he himself
challenges the Jews to tell him wherein he acted against the least tittle of it John viii 46 As to the Ceremonial he was circumcised the eighth day observed the Sabbath eat the Passover kept the Festivals of the Synagogue c. And as to the Judicial none could charge him with breaking of it so far from it that when the Collectors came for Tribute Money for the use of the Temple rather than not obey the Rulers who had sent them he would work a Miracle and ordered Peter to go to Sea and take a Fish where he should find a piece of Money and give it for Peter and himself Matt. xvii 24 2. Not only himself observ'd it but he bid others observe it too Matt. xix 17 when the young Man ask'd him What good thing he should do to inherit Eternal Life he directs him to the Commandements of the Law Nay in the Ceremonial part of it while the Oeconomy of it lasted he advises others to observe it and therefore when he had cleans'd a Leper the next thing he advises him to do is to go and shew himself unto the Priest and to offer the Offering which Moses had Commanded Matt. viii 4 3. Upon all occasions he hath commended the Law and the Prophets and asserted their Divine Original and Consonancy with the Will of God as Matt. vii 12 Matt. xxii 40 Matt. xxiii 23 Add to all this 4. He proved his own Doctrine out of the Law and the Prophets even all that he did Luke xxiv 44 The Resurrection of the dead Luke xx 37 His own Resurrection Luke xxiv 26 27. His Commission to preach the Gospel Luke iv 21 The Truth of his Testimony John viii 17 18. His Divinity John x. 34 35. And surely he that observ'd the Law himself exhorted others to observe it asserted the Divinity of it and proved his own Doctrine out of the Law and the Prophets could not possibly be said to come to destroy the Law and the Prophets But IV. How did Christ fulfil the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil 1. By making it the Rule of his Actions as I have hinted already it 's true he was charged sometimes with breaking the Sabbath and therefore with Violation of the Law but all considerate Men may see this was unjustly imputed to him for the Law though it did forbid all servile Works upon the Sabbath yet it did not prohibit works of Necessity and Charity and such was his healing the Paralytick and the Man whose Hand was wither'd the Blind and the Woman who had had a Spirit of Infirmity eighteen years c. and therefore this could be no breach of the Law 2. The Ceremonial Law particularly he fulfill'd not only by submitting to the Rubrick of it while he lived but by making good what was intended by it The Ceremonial Law was only to bind the Jews while their Republick lasted and perhaps was impos'd upon them by way of punishment for the sin of the Golden Calf Besides it pointed at the Spiritual Worship the Messiah was to teach his Followers which accordingly he did As it enjoyn'd Sacrificing so it represented the Sacrifice himself was to offer to God for the sins of Mankind for these very Jews to whom that Law was given Their Circumcision represented our Baptism their Passover our Eucharist He fulfilled all this by answering God's intent in it So that he did not destroy this Law but the nature of it was such that it could not but fall upon the account of its Imperfection It being all Shadow it ceas'd in course when the Substance was come 3. He fulfilled it not only by rescuing it from the false Glosses their Superstitious Teachers had put upon it but by giving a more perfect Rule of Life That River was swallow'd up in the Sea of Goodness that came along with him He that distils Wine into an excellent Spirit or turns the courser Metal into Gold doth indeed cause the meaner Material to lose it self in a nobler but he doth not properly destroy it no more than a Drop of Water is annihilated by mixing with a rich Cordial What was good and excellent in the Law of Moses he retain'd and what he did retain he resin'd and sublimed and advanced into Rules more excellent and therefore fulfill'd it the rather because the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better Hope did by the which we draw nigh to God Heb. vii 19 4. He fulfilled it by confirming and establishing the principal design of it The end of the Law of Moses was to make Men good for which reason it is called Spiritual Rom. vii 14 for its design was to oblige Men to love God with all their hearts and with all their minds and with all their strength Deut. vi 5 and to love their Neighbours as themselves Levit. xix 18 upon these two Pillars the Law and the Prophets are said to hang Matth. xxii 37 38 39. But whatever the intent of God was in that Law we see very few among the Jews answer'd that end and design for want of sufficient helps which the Messiah was to afford and therefore this was a Schoolmaster to lead them to Christ and a motive to long after him The Law was cloath'd with Terrours and Threatnings which caused the Spirit of Fear but the Messiah was to give them the Spirit of Adoption and accordingly Christ fulfilled it by giving larger supplies whereby they might be able to act according to the intent of it such as offering Pardon for sins past pouring out his Spirit upon men in a more plentiful manner and setting Eternal life before them c. 5. He fulfilled the Prophets particularly by doing and suffering what the Prophets said He as the Messiah was to do and suffer and that 's the reason why when Christ did do or suffer any thing it is so often added that it might be fulfill'd what was spoken by the Prophet In a word There were Four things in the Law and in the Prophets which Christ fulfilled 1. The Promises and Predictions 2. The Precepts of the Moral Law by interpreting them to better purposes 3. The Precepts of the Ceremonial Law by performing what was prefigured by them 4. The Sanctions of the Law by changing Temporal into Eternal punishments and He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets by his Doctrine Practice and Command Inferences I. See here the fate of sincere upright impartial and conscientious Reformers Christ came to reform the Jews who were overrun with Error and Superstition and yet behold they give out that he came to destroy the Law and the Prophets What Christ did was nothing but reducing the Law and the Prophets to their true genuine and ancient lustre and splendor and setting them in their own light yet so ungrateful was that Generation that they nick-name all this destroying the Law and the Prophets This came purely from the Devil's Malice who to put a stop to
the progress of Goodness and of the Kingdom of God prompted his Instruments and Agents to blacken the Noble attempt with hard and dreadful Names the most likely way to fright people from submitting to it It was so in the beginning of our Reformation when our Governours and Spiritual Pastors began to look more narrowly into the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome and resolv'd to rectifie what was amiss and contrary to the Word of God All the dreadful Imputations the Church of Rome could invent were made use of to hinder the glorious Work The Reformers were traduced as dealing with the Devil their Doctrine was called New and Strange and Antichristian never heard of in the World before nay styled Blasphemy and Arianism and Manicheism and Mohometanism and what not It is so still even in private Reformations Let a person break loose from the Devil and his evil Companions and by a secret impulse of God's Spirit betake himself to a life Spiritual and conformable to the Rules of the Gospel presently Mens Tongues are let loose against him especially if accidentally he be guilty of some little Imprudencies These are straitway aggravated and his whole design charged with Baseness and Hypocrisy and he is either become a Fanatick or mad or proud or ill-natured or bad Company or something that may render him odious But this must be no discouragement to a person that knows that this hath been an old stratagem of the Devil as old as the Fall of Adam when he put false Interpretations upon God's Prohibitions and accused even God himself of Envy and Ill-nature What! Could God say indeed ye shall not eat of this Tree He knows that that very moment ye eat of it ye will be wise and knowing and omniscient like himself and therefore forbids you this delicate Food He that will be saved must break through all these Cobwebs and esteem the reproach of Christ greater Riches than all the Treasures of the World II. Though the end of the Law and the Gospel are one and the same yet still there are remarkable differences which discover the excellency of the one above the other 1. The Author of the Law is God speaking by Moses the Author of the Gospel is the same God but speaking by his Son 2. The Law of Moses revealed much the Gospel much more especially with respect to the Incarnation and Life and Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus 3. The Law was the shadow of good things to come the Gospel the truth and substance of them 4. The Law caused Fear the Gospel produces Love and hence arise two different Spirits the Spirit of Fear and that of Adoption 5. The Law promis'd Temporal Blessings the Gospel Eternal and though something of Eternal Life was revealed to those under the Law yet it was truly manifest to those under the Gospel 6. The Law was a Heavy burthen the Gospel an easy Yoke 7. The Law was our Schoolmaster to lead us to Christ The Gospel is the Mark the Law did aim and point at 8. The Law reacht the Jews only the Gospel all Mankind 9. The Law as to the ritual part was Temporary the Gospel Eternal 10. The Law had great Imperfections the Gospel was a most perfect Discipline 11. The Law discover'd the Will of God and help'd to make People sensible of their Sins and Transgressions of Gods Commands the Gospel Administers Grace to perform and do them 12. The Law converted but few the Gospel made innumerable Proselytes Yet after all as I said the Law and the Gospel are the same in Substance both contain the Will of God they have the same Author press the same Duties both Centre in Christ both are intended to make Men Holy and Spiritual and ready unto good Works only the Gospel sets things in a greater Light and ministers stronger Motives and nobler Encouragements so that the Law is not contrary to the Gospel nor doth the Gospel abolish but Establish it The Law especially the Moral contains the same Duties in substance the Gospel doth and therefore is still as obligatory as the Gospel Want of Faith made People careless of the Observance of it and want of Faith hath the same unhappy Effects under the Gospel And therefore the Apostles Exhortation was very seasonable and ought to be taken notice of by every one of us Heb. iv 1 2. Let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entring into his Rest any of you should seem to come short of it for unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them not being mixt with Faith in them that heard it III. Christ came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets so must we fulfil the Law of the Gospel for what he did here was for our Example as St. Chrysostom notes As he fulfilled the Law and the Prophets so our business is to fulfil that Gospel which the Law and the Prophets pointed at In a word this is the Law we are to live by He that looks upon the Lives of Men that profess the Gospel would be apt to think that this Law was given only for Formalities sake so little of the Power of it is to be seen in their Conversation If the Behaviour of Men who call themselves Christians were the measure of our Judgment we might conclude the Gospel stands for a Cypher which signifies very little or if it signifies any thing declares rather Gods wishes that things were at a better pass and that we were such Persons as that Law describes than Arguments of Gods peremptory Will that we must and shall be obedient or else be miserable and buried in the Ruins of Eternity Thus things stand and one would think you believe that your Resoluteness not to mind the Injunctions of the Gospel is your Security against the Terrors of its Threatnings But could this lessen the Authority of the Law or make an Alteration in the Obligation or could it prevail with the Law-giver to give over pressing Obedience as a thing that is not to be effected and in vain to urge something might be said for their refusal But these are Dreams and feverish Fancies and you 'll find the woful and wilful mistake when it is too late This Law you are bound to lay before you as much as the Law of the Land nay more than that as it is of greater Concernment In this you are to study Day and Night and by this Law your Thoughts Desires Speeches Actions and your outward and inward Man are to be governed let Men say of you what they will let them commend or discommend you slander or praise you still you are to remember you have to deal with a Law-giver who is able to save and to destroy The Gospel gives ease it's true and frees you from Burthens but it is from the load of the Ceremonial Law not from the Obligations of the Natural Moral and Eternal Law of
fully ver 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein will be burnt up The same he repeats ver 12. which is conformable to what the Stoicks either from the light of Nature or from Tradition gather'd would be and to what Josephus saith of Adam That he prophecied the World should be destroy'd first by Water and afterward by Fire But then as it is ver 11. of the aforesaid Chapter seeing that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Whether the Christians in St. Peter's time believed that the day of Judgment was at hand and that it should be upon them in that Age is not my business to enquire Now. That which makes the Exhortation seasonable at all times even at this day is the uncertainty of the time of Christ's coming to Judgment and whether this day of Judgment may come in this Age or in the next as it is probable it is not far off especially if the old saying of R. Hillel be true That the World shall continue two Thousand Years before the Law two Thousand under the Law and two thousand under the Messiah but as I said whether it will be this year or next is not material but this I am sure of that the day of our death is the most uncertain thing in the World and as Death finds us so will the Great day And since the day of our death is so uncertain the Inference drawn from the uncertainty of the day of Judgment will also fit the uncertainty of the day of our death It 's a marvelous thing how Men delay their Holy Conversation and Godliness even till Death comes and surprizes them I know this is a very common Theme but how can we forbear to speak of it when we see that Men instead of mending run deeper and deeper into the Gulf young and old Death comes Lord How unprepared doth it find most Men How few can welcome it How few can with Simeon rejoyce at its coming I know Pain and extremity of Misery makes many Men long for it but that alone is no rational ground while that Holy Conversation and Godliness is wanting We all dread an unprepared death and we pray against it We think sometimes in a serious fit how sad it would be with us if it should be our case And yet how few arm themselves against its Terrors and dreadful Consequences The Day the Hour is very uncertain and we see Men are catch'd and snatch'd away before they are aware yet we take no warning still we wait for a convenient Season for a fair Opportunity and when we have got in the World what we would have when we have setled our Affairs on such a Basis or Foundation once and when our Condition is better and our Circumstances more favourable then we 'll set about that seriousness which becomes Candidates of Eternity God sees our Folly and pities us for he sees how we fool our selves He calls and intreats us to redeem the time O that we were wise and would consider our latter End Heaven and Earth must pass away and we must pass away therefore this I say Brethren nay the Apostle says so 1 Cor. vii 19 It remains that they that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and those that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this World as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passes away Indeed that which ought to make us reflect very seriously on all this is that the Word of God is unchangable which calls me to the last Proposition V. Sooner shall Heaven and Earth perish than the least tittle of Gods Word shall fail In this Sense the Words and Expressions used in the Text are sometimes taken so that here is a double Asseveration which makes the Truth Christ delivers here the weightier 1. Verily I say unto you In the Original it is Amen which the Jewish Interpreters of the Old Testament affirm to be an Oath and that 's a very immutable thing 2. Till Heaven and Earth pass i. e. Sooner shall these be hurl'd into their former Chaos and Confusion than the least tittle of his word shall prove false And if so then the Threatnings and Promises of the Gospel and of the Law of God will undoubtedly be fulfilled And I beseech you Beloved Hearers Consider what the Veracity of Gods Threatnings and Promises doth import If the Promises of the Gospel will certainly be fulfilled why cannot the wonderful Rewards promised prevail with you to fulfil the Conditions upon which those Rewards are promised God promises Eternal Life upon patient continuance in Well-doing the Kingdom of Heaven upon striving against Sin and conquering Temptations and a Crown of Glory to those who keep under their Bodies and bring their sensual Desires into Subjection Upon these Terms and no other the great Felicity is promised Will any of you after all these Protestations of God promise himself this Happiness upon other Terms and Conditions What then becomes of Gods Veracity If God be true to his Word then those who come not up to these Terms cannot enjoy the Bliss spoken of If God saves Men upon other Terms he cannot be true to his Word and then how can he be God To these Absurdities Men reduce themselves when they promise themselves Heaven without any regard to the Conditions upon which God doth promise it It 's God that must bestow it the same God that hath promised it and since he will bestow it only upon these Terms Why Christians why will ye feed your hopes with Air and Wind and Vanities Is it possible that God will prove false Is it possible that he will depart from his Word I am sure you cannot think so if you will consider it in cool Blood And shall the World and your present Gain and Profit blind you into Ruin The same must be said of the Threatnings of the Gospel Take but a serious View of them God protests for you believe the Scripture to be the Word of God That no unrighteous Person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Covetous nor Extortioners nor Drunkards nor Lascivious nor Quarrelsom nor Envious nor Malicious Persons nor Men that mind Earthly Things altogether shall enter into that Glory The Scripture is full of these Protestations Is there any of you here that 's guilty of any of these Sins and yet do ye hope to be happy 'T is true you 'll say none can be so that continues in these Sins but I hope I shall leave them all before I die But why Man Dost thou know when thou
than the Words of the Law where it was so that the Law and the Tradition clasht they Interpreted the Law by the Tradition not the Tradition by the Law and hearken'd more to the Dictate and Suggestion of a groundless and whimsical Tradition than to an express Text of the Written Word of God as is evident from what Christ tells them Matth. xv 3 Why do ye Transgress the Commandment of God by your Tradition for God Commanded saying Honour thy Father and thy Mother and he that Curses Father and Mother let him die the Death but ye say Whosoever shall say to his Father or to his Mother though ready to Starve and Perish for want of Necessaries it is Corban it is a Gift I have Dedicated it to the Temple by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me and Honour not his Father or his Mother he shall be Free Thus have ye made the Commandment of God of no effect by your Tradition Indeed where Men invent new Doctrins and Articles of Faith there the good Old Word of God will do them no Service but they are forced to make and run to Traditions and broken Cisterns which can hold no Water 6. To Sum up all They were very severe and strict in keeping some Commandments of God but very supine and negligent as to others They hated Extortion but were Malicious to a Prodigy they would not be Drunk but were abominably Proud they were for giving Alms to People of their own Sect but look'd upon it as Sinful to releive a poor Samaritan They were for strictness of Life before People and Spectators but loose and wicked in Secret they abhorred Adultery but were Slaves to Ambition and Vain-Glory they bound heavy burthens on other Mens Souldiers but would not touch them with one of their Fingers and while they pressed a severe observance of the Sabbath Day forgot they were to rest from Sin and Envy as well as from servile Labour Matth. xii 12 13 14. Indeed this was one of their pernicious Traditionary Principles That if a Man or Woman were but industrious in the Practice of any one Command of God though they neglected the other Precepts that service was sufficient to entitle them to a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Portion of the Blessed in another World To be short they served God at the best by halves were quick-sighted as Eagles in spying out other Mens faults but blind as Moles in discovering their own and while they divided their Affections betwixt God and the World allow'd the World the far greater share These were the Distempers and Diseases of the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and how we are to exceed them is the third particular I am to speak to III. Except your Righteousness shall exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and how or in what Things we are to exceed them is soon guess'd at for 't is evident from the preceding Discourse that it must be in Sincerity in Simplicity in Humility in Charity and in Vniversality of Obedience 1. In Sincerity in being that within which we seem to be without Christ is not against external Devotion hath no dislike of an outward Profession never declared against decent external Ceremonies but he requires we should be Devout and Serious within as well as without and take care that what we do without do arise from a sense of God within and that a rellish of Spiritual Things in the Soul within do put us upon Devotion without that the Heart and the Lips and the Hands be all of a piece and moreover that we use the same diligence to Mortifie our inward Lusts which we use to restrain our selves from evil Actions in Company or in the presence of Men. In a Word that we do not only pretend to Religion but Practise it not only talk and dispute and entertain our selves with Speculations and Discourses of it but Live up to the Holy Rules of it not only make Profession of it but shew out of a good Conversation our good Works with Meekness of Wisdom as it is said Jam. iii. 13 2. In Simplicity and having pure and holy Ends in our Religious Actions and particularly in our Religious Severities and Self-Denials Ends suitable to the Holiness of God and the Edification of our Neighbours in a Word Ends Rational and such as may be justified before God and Man This is part of the single Eye we read of Matth. vi 22 Indeed the Ends and Designs of Actions make a strange alteration in their Worth and Value render them either Good or Bad either Commendable or Abominable either Sacrifices of Righteousness or Sacrifices of Fools Christ is so far from discouraging his Followers from Religious Self-Denials and Severities that his Doctrin and Discipline presses nothing more insomuch that the greater Your Self-Denials are the better Christians You are But the right end is the thing our Master presses and insists upon Fast and Pray and continue in Prayer a long time spend whole hours in it if Your Strength and Sense and Affections will serve give Alms and give very liberally deny Your selves in a Thousand Vanities the World doats upon Mortifie Your Bodies in a decent manner but take heed of secret hopes of Meriting by all this and of secret Designs either to promote Your Worldly Profit and Interest or to gain the Commendations and Admiration of Your Neighbours or to make God amends for some Sins You are loath to part withal Have no Worldly Ends in all this but let a Sense of Your Duty and Your Gratitude to God and an earnest desire to Crucifie the Flesh to die to the World to imitate the Saints of Old to encourage Your Selves in a Spiritual Life and to prepare for Heaven and Happiness Let these be the Principles and Motives that put You upon all this and You will undoubtedly exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees 3. In Humility not only in having a just Sense of our Errors and many Infirmities which render us unworthy to appear before God without the Assistance and Intercession of a Mediator not only in abhorring our selves for those many defects which cleave to our best Services not only in accusing our selves before the All-seeing Eye as Wretched Naked Poor Blind and Miserable from a Sense of his Infinite Majesty and Purity but also in having low and humble Thoughts of our Religious Performances acknowledging that by the Grace of God we are what we are and that by the Influence of that Grace those Performances are wrought and confessing from the Heart when we have done all that we are Commanded to do that we are unprofitable Servants and have done no more than what was our Duty to do Luke xvii 10 This humble Temper the Scribes and Pharisees were very great strangers to who look'd upon their Religious Services as Things which God was obliged in Honour and Equity to look upon and Reward Pride Self-Conceitedness and Self-Admiration mingling with
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
not in the usual Style it is written but with this Circumscription ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time i. e. Your Ancestors who lived when Religion was low and Corruptions and Abuses crept into their Worship and Devotion have taught you that the outward Act of Adultery is the great thing you are to dread and to be afraid of and with this partial Sense they have handed down to you this Command of God Thou shalt not commit Adultery But I say unto you that whosoever looks on a Woman to Lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart For the understanding of which words I shall enquire I. In what sense Christ speaks here of Adultery II. I shall consider the Justice of this Verdict or the reasonableness of this Censure That whosoever looketh on a Woman hath already committed with her Adultery in his Heart III. Whether notwithstanding all this there is not some difference betwixt Adultery in the Heart and the outward Act as to the heinousness of it 1. In what sense Christ doth speak here of Adultery Adultery properly is a violation of the Marriage Bed when either one or both of the married Parties commit Folly in Israel either with a Person married to another or with one that is not married But as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek which we render Adultery is of a larger Extent and Signification and imports not only Adultery in the strictest sense but Fornication too which is either a single Persons being joined to a common Harlot or violating the Chastity of a Person of civil Education and indeed any Carnal Conjunction or mixture to fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh out of the compass and Bond of Matrimony So in all probability Christ aims farther and means more by this word than a bare Violation of the Marriage Bed not only because he intends in this Sermon to give us a perfect Rule to walk by but because the Jews in that Age restrain'd not only the Law against Adultery but even that against Fornication and other Mixtures and Carnal Conjunctions not Matrimonial whether Incestuous or otherwise to the outward Act only as if in matters of Uncleanness that only was chiefly forbid and deserved God's Anger and Indignation and the consequent of it Damnation And therefore the reason why Christ makes mention of Adultery only is not because the Jews in those times look'd upon single Fornication as a trifling Sin or Peccadillo No! The Pharisees though bad enough yet were not so bad as to allow of or connive at Fornication for the Law of Moses had made express Proviso's against it There shall not be a Whore of the Daughters of the Children of Israel saith God Deut. xxiii 17 Thou shalt not prostitute thy Daughter to cause her to be a Whore Levit. xix 20 And when particularly the Daughter of a Priest had committed Whoredom she was to be burnt with Fire Levit. xxi 9 Moreover whoever had defloured a Virgin no Slave no Foreigner but one of the Stock of Abraham whether Servant or other he was obliged to marry her Exod. xxii 16 a Law so reasonable that even the Heathens the Athenians transcribed it into their Pandects or Statute Book And when the Father of the Maiden thus vitiated would not consent to her being married to the Person who had abused her the Person who had humbled her was to give the Maiden whom he had defloured a Dowry as if he had been actually married to her And when in one day three and twenty thousand fell i. e. were slain by an Angel the Apostle saith it was for Fornication 1 Cor. x. 8 Nay if a Virgin had suffered her self to be defloured before Marriage and the Crime was found out after she was Married she was to be stoned to Death Deut. xxii 21 So that I say the reason why Christ doth make mention only of Adultery in the Text is not because the Jews then look'd upon Fornication as a trivial and inconsiderable Fault but he finds fault with their sinister Interpretation of the Law of God even because they confined the Prohibition of Adultery Fornication Incest and other practical Lewdness and carnal Pollutions to the outward Act only and look'd upon adulterous and lewd Desires Lusts Passions Affections c. as things of no Moment and which might easily be expiated by Sacrifices and other cheap Devotions such as Lustrations Purifications c. And here comes in Christ's Censure that the very Desires in the Heart after this forbidden Fruit were as bad as the outward Act it self The II d. Part I am to speak to Whosoever looketh on a Woman to lust after her hath already committed Adultery with her in his Heart To understand the reasonableness of this Censure we are to note 1. That the bare looking on a Woman is not sinful for as Tertullian observes a Christian may look safely on a Woman whose Heart is blinded or hardened against Lasciviousness The bare Looks cannot well be avoided it 's one end for which our Sight was given that we might look one upon another But it 's the abuse of the Eyes and Looks that is forbid It 's true through the Eyes the Poison is conveyed to the Heart according to the old saying Oculi sunt in amore Duces the Eyes are the Guides in Love but still this depends upon a Mans choice whether he will make his Eyes Windows to let in wholsom or infectious Air. St. Peter speaks of Eyes full of Adultery 2 Pet. ii 14 but it 's meant of Eyes that are first corrupted by the Will Where a Christian doth Oculum metu temperare temper and moderate and curb and restrain his Eye with a holy Fear and Watchfulness he may look upon the greatest Beauty without danger saith Tertul. And therefore 2. It is added Whosoever looketh after a Woman to lust after her c. So that if the Looks cause secret lewd Purposes Desires and Lusts and Affections in the Mind and Will the Adultery or Fornication is actually committed in the Heart though the outward Act is and may be impeded or hindred by Circumstances and occasional Causes which fall out cross I need not tell you that what is said here of looking on a Woman to lust after her is not to be understood of the chast Desires of Persons lawfully married one after another for Marriage is Honourable and the Bed undefiled but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge Heb. xiii 4 And to avoid Fornication let every Man have his own Wife and every Woman her own Husband saith St. Paul 1 Cor. vii 2 And drink Water out of thine own Cistern and running Waters out of thine own Well Let thy Fountain be always blessed and rejoice with the Wife of thy Youth and let her be unto thee as the loving Hind and as the pleasant Roe and be thou always ravished with her Love Prov. v.
and partly to intimate that his Doctrine and the Blessings which came along with it required greater Strictness and Severity of Life He proves that the Lawfulness of Divorcements which they extended to Causes and Cases of their own making was to be restrained only to Fornication and Adultery and whoever took greater Liberty in Divorcing himself would involve himself in very great Evils and Mischiefs It hath been said Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving in the case of Fornication causes her to commit Adultery and whosoever Marries her which is Divorced commits Adultery This is no Contradiction to the Law of Moses but raising an imperfect into a more perfect Law which became him who was the end of the Law for the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did To treat of these Words to your Edification I shall I. Enquire into the Nature of that Law of Moses concerning Divorcements II. Why Christ forbids and abolishes Divorcements in the Jewish Sense III. Why Fornication or Adultery is a just Cause of Divorcement and whether that be the sole and only cause that justifies such a Separation IV. Whether the Woman hath an equal Right and in case of the Husband's Adultery may Divorce her self from her Husband as well as the Husband from the Wife in case the fault lies in her V. Whether this Divorcement may be made by their own Authority without the Advice and order of the Magistrate VI. Whether after such a Divorce the innocent Party or both Parties may Marry again VII How he that puts away his Wife causes her to commit Adultery VIII How he that Marries her that 's put away commits Adultery And when all these Particulars are explained I shall close up the Discourse with suitable Directions how such Divorces and all Desires after them may be prevented 1. Let 's enquire into the Nature of the Law of Moses concerning these Divorcements It hath been said saith our Saviour Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement I doubt not but the Scribes and Pharisees said so to justify their unlawful Divorcements and what they said it 's like was with respect to this Law of Moses our Saviour in all probability spake it with respect to both This Law concerning Divorcements you have Deut. xxiv 1 2. where we read When a Man hath taken a Wife and Married her and it come to pass that she find no Favour in his Eyes because he hath found some Vncleanness in her then let him write her a Bill of Divorcement and give it in her Hand and send her out of his House and when she is departed out of his House she may go and be another Mans Wife Concerning which Law I observe these following Particulars 1. That Moses did not for the ease of his People invent this Law of his own Head which seems to have been the Opinion of Origen and St. Ambrose for though the Pharisees treating of this very point asked our Great Master Why did Moses Command us to give a Writing of Divorcement Matth. xix 7 Yet since all the Scripture of the Old Testament is of Divine Inspiration 2 Tim. iii. 16 of which Old Testament this Law is part it is evident that Moses being the great Minister of God by whom he deliver'd his Oracles and faithful in all his House did and could and would deliver nothing as a standing Law for the Jewish Church but what God gave him order for or as he was moved by the Holy Ghost as St. Peter saith of all the Writers of the Old Testament 2 Pet. i. 21 And therefore whenever Moses is Quoted in the New Testament the meaning is God speaking by Moses and consequently this Law is derived from God 2. We need not wonder that God should give such a Law concerning Divorces or make them in some cases Lawful for as he is the Author of Matrimony so he might have enlarged the Bounds of it if he had pleased And therefore that he relaxed the Law and Constitution of it in the Cases of Polygamy and Divorce to the Jewish People can be no Disparagement to his Holiness For since it was in his Power to institute the State of Matrimony no doubt he had also Power in certain Cases and for certain Reasons to dispense with the Strictness of it this being none of the fixed and eternal Laws which are in their own nature Immutable and Unchangable but depended upon the Lawgiver's Will and Pleasure not to mention that this was to teach all wise Governours to suit their Laws as far as they can do it with safety to the Temper of their People 3. The course of Divorce allow'd of in the Law is said to be this if the Wife find no favour in her Husbands Eyes because he hath found some Vncleanness in her where by Unlceanness cannot be meant Fornication and Adultery for the Adulteress was to be stoned to Death Deut. xxii 22 compared with Joh. viii Nay if the Husband did upon good Grounds but suspect his Wife guilty of Adultery he had his remedy by obliging her to drink the Waters of Jealousy Numb v. 27 And therefore by this Uncleanness some understand either the Leprosy or the Vice of Drunkenness or Witchcraft or a very quarrelsome Temper or some other incorrigible Vice but the Words in the Original are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as some great immodesty in Words or Actions a Sin less than Adultery and Fornication yet which not stopt might lead to the greater Sins And in this case God gave them leave to dismiss their Wives But such was the vitious humor of that Nation that in progress of time sheltring themselves under this Command they turned off their Wives for trivial Offences and upon very slight Occasions I would name some of them but that they are too Ridiculous to be mention'd And therefore the Pharisees coming to our Saviour about this Question ask him Is it lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cause This was the common Practice though the better and the wiser Men doubted of it 4. Whatever liberty this Law gave the Divorcement was permitted rather than commanded and the Words infer an Impunity rather than a Duty A Jew was not bound to put away his Wife by vertue of this Law but was Connived at if he did it and secured against Punishment from the Magistrate This Law did not hinder the Man from dwelling with his Wife notwithstanding the Faults I have mentioned but if he would not live with her he was to give her a Writing of Divorcement 5. This Writing of Divorcement was a formal Dismission of the Wife under the Husband's Hand and Seal or a full Discharge from the Husband's Power and Authority and Jurisdiction and Obligation to provide for her or to take care of her
are Sins that in Heinousness may amount to the Sin of Adultery yet it must be dangerous to depart from the express Words of our Saviour The Civil Law or rather some Christian Emperours in the Civil Law allow of other Causes such as if the Wife be guilty of Witchcraft or Murther or of Men-stealing or of Violation of Sepulchers or of Sacriledge or if she harbour Thieves and Robbers or if she go to Feasts where lewd and wicked Persons meet or to Stage-plays and publick Shows or lies out of the Husbands House at Night against his Will and without his Knowledge if she practise Treason secretly against the State or if she treats of Marriage with another Man while her Husband is alive or if she lay violent Hands on her Husband c. Though all these are Crimes wich should not be so much as named among Christians yet since Christ hath excepted no Case but that of Adultery or Fornication that Christian walks most safely that keeps to the Letter of the Text. I grant there may be other Causes which may justify a Man and his Wife 's living asunder but I dare not say that by any other Sins the Bond of Matrimony is dissolved because our Saviour is silent IV. Whether the Woman hath an equal Right and may Divorce her self from her Husband in case he is guilty of Adultery as well as the Husband from her if she be guilty 1. Among the Jews this was not Customary or Lawful The Husband might put away his Wife but the Wife could not put away the Husband which is the reason why Josephus takes notice of it as a great piece of Insolence that Salome a Jewess separated her self from her Husband Costabar But among the Romans the Wife had an equal Liberty And in the Case before us this seems to be very Rational For 2. If the Bond of Matrimony be dissolved by the Adultery of the Husband as well as it is by the Adultery of the Wife the Woman in point of Conscience must be at liberty to Divorce her self from her Husband as well as the Husband to separate himself from her if she be guilty There is a parity of reason which I know is not to be stretcht too far but here is just Ground for it And though as to the Government of the Family the Scripture gives the Man a Preeminence and a Power Authority and Jurisdiction over the Wife yet as to the Obligations to be true and faithful to one another the Apostle makes them equal 1 Cor. vii 4 And in the case of Desertion whereof I shall speak in the Sequel it 's plain St. Paul gives the Woman an equal Priviledge 1 Cor. vii 15 And indeed if the Wife have not an equal Right it must follow that the Husband's Adultery is a less Sin than that of the Wife which I suppose no wise Man will grant To this purpose it is that Justin Martyr commands a Christian Woman who having a Husband that lived in open Adultery took the Benefit of the Roman Law and went from him i. e. divorced her self from him and the reason why she did so was that she might not become a partaker of his Sin yet it 's added that she did not do it till several Means had been tried to reclaim him from his Impiety Indeed this is very necessary on both sides that where it is that one of the Parties is guilty of Adultery all reasonable Means ought to be tried to convert the Sinner him or her from the Errours of their Ways before the Separation the rather because this Separation ought not to be made in Anger and Revenge but with Prudence and Charity and though a Divorce in this case be lawful yet it is not so necessary that the Innocent Party is forbid to be reconciled to the Guilty if the Guilty do unfeignedly repent and though it s granted the Bond of Matrimony is dissolved i. e. the Right and the Obligation to live together like Man and Wife be dissolved yet I hope a Man or Woman may decede from their Right or give it up when a greater Good is to be promoted by it I know some Divines both Antient and Modern have been and are of Opinion that there is an absolute necessity for a Divorce in such Cases the Council of Eliberis particularly hath a Canon That if a Clergy-man's Wife commit Fornication and her Husband doth not presently put her away he shall be denied the Communion all his Days even upon his Death-Bed But since God receives the worst of Sinners upon their true Repentance it 's hard to think it should be a Crime in married Persons after such a Breach to forgive one another and to return to one another upon a true Reformation for though it be permitted them to separate if they will yet they are not hindred from exercising Charity one toward another And if God is reconciled to the vilest Wretches upon their serious Return and takes them into his Bosom should not we do so after the greatest Provocations if true Repentance appears in the Person that hath committed Folly we that are to be Followers of God Eph. v. 1 V. Whether these Divorces may be made by private Authority without having recourse to our Governours 1. Among the Jews it 's certain it was not always necessary to make use of the Magistrates Assistance but the Husband was Judge in his own Cause and might give the Wife a Bill of Divorcement without making his Superiours acquainted with it for there is nothing said of it in the Law of Moses though it is not to be doubted but sometimes it was done before competent Judges especially where there was a dispute about repaying of the Dowry or part of the Goods the Wife had brought to her Husband for in such Divorcements the Jews tell us that part of the Dowry or the whole was repaid and if so this alone was enough to prevent the many Divorces which one may believe would otherwise have been in that Nation among a People projectae libidinis as Tacitus calls them inclined to Wantonness and Lasciviousness 2. We Christians serving the God of Order and it being a Rule of our Religion that all things ought to be done Decently and in Order it must follow that such Divorces how just soever must not be the meer Effects of our Will and Pleasure but so managed that others may not be Scandaliz'd by our Actions And that 's but agreeable to the general Rule of the Apostle that we are to provide things honest in the sight of all Men Rom. xxii And consequently such Divorcements are not to be made without the Consent and Approbation of Publick Authority for without this infinite Confusions would arise and wicked Men might abuse this Liberty into the greatest Licentiousness And as they that Marry ought to Marry in the Lord with the Approbation and Benediction of the Minister of God so it 's Fit that they who in the case of
we see hath prevailed with them to break all those Engagements Besides in these unequal Yoakings there cannot be that sweet that mutual Encouragement to Prayer and Praises and other Acts of Devotion and Piety which ought to be betwixt such Relations and though I doubt not but it 's possible to Admonish one another to serve God faithfully in their own Way without Passion or passing Censures one upon another yet the Thoughts that one of them worships God in a forbidden Way will still be an Impediment to this faithful and Conscientious Exhorting one another duly And therefore though I cannot say it 's absolutely unlawful to marry a Person of a different Persuasion in Matters of Religion yet the Inconveniences are so great that he who duly Weighs and Ponders them before he enters upon that State will think himself obliged to arm himself against all such dangerous Mixtures and Conjunctions III. There is nothing causes these Desires of Divorcements more than unhappy and unfortunate Matches And as such Matches are too often the Effects either of Rashness and Precipitation or want of enquiring into the Temper and Disposition of the Persons that are to make this near Relation or of Covetousness and Greediness after Fortune and Riches and Mony or of nelecting the advice of Parents and faithful Friends or of a preceding vain and vitious Life which is punish'd very often with such uncomfortable Conjunctions so where the married State is embitter'd with many sad Ingredients to prevent all such Wishes and Desires of Divorcement these following Considerations and Remedies may be very useful 1. Let it be considered that though your Married State be full of grievous Troubles yet it doth not it need not hinder you from attaining Everlasting Salvation It 's true People may make any State and Condition an Impediment to Eternal Life but there is no Necessity for it Nay in the Case before us the Troubles in a Married State naturally direct you to seek a better Country and if you are in a Capacity of enjoying God for ever notwithstanding the Evils which befall you you have Reason still to Praise and Adore the Divine Goodness and since your Married State affords so little Comfort To labour hard to be made Partakers of Everlasting Consolations 2. Let another Consideration be added to this that as miserable as your Married Condition is this happens not comes not to pass without a very special Providence God either orders it or wisely permits it corrects you for great Purposes and chastises you to let you see your Affections have been misplaced and must be set upon Objects and Beings more Sublime more Adequate more Commensurate to your Immortal Souls God and Heaven and the Things unseen 3. Under such a Providence the Soul must learn to be humble to look upon her Sins as Meritorious and the Cause of this uncomfortable State and accuse her Carnal Worldly and Sensual Desires and Designs as the Procurers of this Misery and improve the Dispensation into Repentance and Self-Examination and Submission to the Will of God and the Practices of Spiritual Devotions and Aspirations and Breathings after Enjoyments of a nobler Nature 4. In this Case the Divine Power and Goodness must be adored to supply you with Grace and Assistance suitable that you may chearfully bear the Injuries Indignities and Crosses that befall you in that State and do not doubt but your Prayer if strong and importunate will draw Honey from the Rock and Oyl from the Flint and Blessings of great Value from him who hath declared himself a God that heareth Prayer 5. Another Consideration will be very profitable that God by such Crosses in a Married State teaches you Patience at home that you may be the better able to practise it abroad Thus the Philosopher said of his Angry and Unquiet Yoak-fellow That he found his Silence under the Effects of her Rage and unquiet Spirit when he was at home proved very salutary and beneficial to him when he was in Company abroad for by that means he was the better able to bridle his Passions when he was provoked or affronted in Publick And St. Chrysostome hath this Observation upon it It grieves me that Heathens are wiser than we who are to imitate Angels nay God himself in Meekness and Patience Indeed we cannot imitate a more Excellent Pattern He that is best able to Revenge himself upon the Insolent Wretches that affront him suffers most Be patient therefore unto the coming of the Lord Behold the Husbandman waits for the pretious Fruit of the Earth and hath long Patience for it until he receive the early and latter Rain Be ye also Patient Stablish your Hearts for the Coming of the Lord draws nigh Jam. v. 7 8. SERMON XXVIII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 33. Again ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths THE sence of these words we have Levit. xix 12 but the Words themselves seem to be a Paraphrase of the ancient Expositions of the Law among the Jews upon that Law in Leviticus where it is Ye shall not swear by my Name falsely neither shalt thou profane the Name of thy God which Words those ancient Interpreters expressed it's like as it is in the Text Thou shalt not forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths And that 's the thing aimed at in these words Again ye have heard That it hath been said by them of old time And most certainly he that forswears himself swears falsly by the Name of God and he that doth not perform unto the Lord his Oaths or performs not what he hath Sworn and Promised to God and Man profanes his Name with a witness Or possibly all that is said in the Old Testament against Swearing was contracted by the Learned Men of old Time into this Axiom or Sentence Thou shalt not forswear thy self but c. Or These words are a Comment made by the Ancestors of the Jews upon the Third Commandment Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain Or They relate to Numb xxx 2 However it be or whoever were the Authors of this Saying it must be confess'd that they spake conformably to the Will of God and therefore these words are in effect a Divine Precept and Obligatory for ever as much as a Command in the Decalogue and though it was said so by them of old Time yet it is no more than what the ancient of Days hath said over and over by Moses and the Prophets And to discourse of this Subject profitably I shall enquire I. What an Oath or taking an Oath or what Swearing is II. Whether an Oath or Swearing even in a modest serious judicial way be lawful III. Why Forswearing our selves or Perjury or not performing unto the Lord our Oaths is forbid and wherein the virulency or heinousness of the Sin consists IV. What the Ceremonies
dictate of the Law of Nature were strangely averse from all Oaths whatsoever insomuch that Clinias the Pythagorean when he might have escaped the Mulct or Penalty of three Talents which is about 8000 Pounds Sterling if he would but have Sworn though there was no Temptation to a false Oath in the Case yet would not and chose rather to submit to the Penalty than wrong as he thought his Conscience But it were to be wish'd that all Mankind were so honest that every Man's Word were as good and as firm as the most solemn Oath yet considering the Corruption that hath overspread the World the Rules of Justice and Righteousness and the good of Mankind make an Oath sometimes absolutely necessary because Justice and Equity and the good of Societies cannot be compassed without it As to Christ's saying But I say unto you swear not at all I shall tell you the sense and design of it when I come to explain it in Order and whatever Strictness not only many of the primitive Believers but some Pious Heathens have professed in this kind It is certain St. Paul who could not but know his Master's Mind did upon extrâ—ordinary occasions make use of these Religious Asseverations for what are those Expressions of his we meet with Rom. i. 9 2 Cor. i. 23 2 Cor. xi 31 Gal. i. 20 I call God for a Record upon my Soul God is my witness Behold before God I lye not I say what are all these but solemn Oaths and therefore it cannot be altogether unlawful for a Christian to use them upon some Occasions not to mention that the Gospel doth not reverse the Law of Nature and I have shew'd before that the Law of Nature hath taught most civiliz'd Nations to have recourse to them in things doubtful and since it was lawful under the Law of Moses I see no reason why it should not be so under the Gospel not only because Controversies and doubtful Cases will arise as much now as formerly but because an Oath was no part of the Ceremonial Law and consequently cannot be said to be abolish'd There is no doubt things so solemn so sacred so serious as Oaths ought to be us'd but seldom to make a Trade of it is the readiest way to Perjury The familiarity takes off from the solemnity of the thing and then there is an easy slip into Perjury And therefore it may not be amiss here to prescribe certain Rules and Limits and to shew when and where and upon what occasions an Oath the taking of an Oath may be lawful 1. When the Magistrate or the Powers which are set over us by Providence do command it This is the import of Exod. xxii 11 and this is part of that Obedience we owe to our Superiors who are Ministers to us for good and do not bear the Sword in vain Among the Jews the Magistrate might command an Oath to be taken Numb v. 19 21 and why not among Christians 2. It must be in things doubtful and where there is no other way to come to any Certainty but by an Oath which even Men of a loose Life if they have not thrown off all Religion will stand in awe of according to what the Apostle intimates Heb. vi 16 3. In a Thing of great Moment They that make Men Swear about Trifles as they have no great sence of Religion so they consider not the Nature and End of an Oath In Matters trivial where the gain or loss of either side is inconsiderable all wise and good Men have ever look'd upon pressing or taking an Oath as unlawful it being too sacred a thing to be used in Things mean and contemptible St. Paul made use of it as we said before but it was in Things relating to God and the Souls of Men and the good of Christian Societies 2 Cor. i. 23 The wiser Heathen thought it lawful in three Cases only 1. If it were to avoid Infamy and Disgrace and consequently rendring ones self incapable of serving the Publick 2. If it were to save a Man's Life or to free him from some considerable Danger 3. If the good of the Community or the common good of the Country Men are Members of did require it But in Money-businesses between Man and Man they thought it more Conscientious to be a loser than bring the Soul under the Obligation of an Oath and let it be consider'd whether such Men who exceed many Christians in strictness will not be their Judges in the last Day 4. In taking an Oath great simplicity must be used both in our Words and Intentions He that Swears to a thing which he either knows to be false or concerning which he is uncertain whether it be true or not deviates from this Simplicity and runs himself into the danger of Perjury and so doth he who by an Oath promises to do a Thing which he either doth not intend or endeavour to perform what he hath sworn to perform And of this Nature are all Mental Reservations and Equivocations in Oaths which is the reason why the Prophet requires us to Swear in Truth Jer. iv 2 The Temporal Inconveniencies that attend the performance of a lawful Oath do not make the Obligation less and therefore when David asks Who shall ascend unto the Hill of the Lord Psal. xv 1 he answers ver 4. He that swears to his own Hurt and changes not i. e. He that after he hath given his Oath finds the performance will be prejudicial to his Interest and yet will not alter the Word that is gone out of his Lips And this is agreeable to the simplicity we speak of 5. If an Oath be taken it must be in Things lawful not forbidden either by the Law of Nature or by Revelation i. e. the Reveal'd Will of God in the Scripture for this were to offer Things abominable to God more abominable than cutting off a Dog's-Neck or sacrificing Swines-flesh to make use of the most Holy Thing in things contrary to his Holiness This would be to set God against himself to make him witness to our Impieties and to get him to Patronize what his purer eyes abhor And therefore the Command is that we are to Swear in Righteousness Jer. iv 2 6. The Thing we Swear to do must be Possible and in our own Power either natural or adventitious and coming from the Spirit of God Impossibilities are no part of the matter of an Oath whether they be natural Impossibilities such as it is to turn a Blackamoor White or to make an Oxe speak or actual as that a Man who is at London to Day should be the same Day at York or in Law as for a Mayor of a Town to make an itinerant Judge or a Baron or Chancellor of the Kingdom the Law giving him no right There needs no store of Arguments to prove That such Impossibilities are no Ingredients of an Oath for they would make an Oath ridiculous and discover the Swearer to
to be believed in what they say and this fondness they discover even in telling things which they have only by hear-say and very often false and that tempts them to these extravagant Additionals I have mention'd and since that fondness is the occasion of it even that must be subdued and mortified It 's true a Man ought to be desirous to be believed but then it must be in things Serious and Weighty and of Importance and such as he hath a Moral assurance of that they are true and that desire must go no farther than God hath allowed of And since not only in things Trivial and Complemental and telling of Stories but also in ordinary Promises Bargains and Negotiations he hath forbid these solemn Confirmations and Protestations as pleasing as they may be to Flesh and Blood and as Customary as they are and as agreeable as they are to the humor of the times they must be forborn What 's the Reason that we hear People say sometimes of a Man that they will take his Word for a Thousand pound and that if such a one hath said it they 'll believe it sooner than they will do another Man upon his Bond. Is it not because they are assured of his Honesty Sincerity Piety Constancy Veracity and unfeigned Goodness Is not this a mighty Commendation Is it not an excellent Character And are not these fit Examples for us to follow Doth a Principle of real Goodness give a Man such Reputation among his Neighbours and is it not fit we should imitate these Patterns We that stand so much upon our Credit why are we loth to venture upon that which will procure us such Credit not only with Men but with God too Were we Christians indeed and did Men see that we live up to the Rules of our Great Master without wavering they would depend upon our Promises as much as they do upon other Mens Oaths and more too But when they see us Treacherous and Persidious and Regardless of our Words and that we take no heed to our Ways when they find that we pretend to Religion and yet can be Knaves that we call our selves Children of God and yet can Cheat and Defraud that we commend good Men and talk well and can undermine and over-reach another in a Bargain no wonder if they do Mistrust us And then we run our selves into a necessity of helping out our Want of Sincerity with Protestations and needless Asseverations and thus by degrees we come to venture upon Oaths and to other Sins and undoe our Souls Our Religion was intended to make us the honestest Men in the World and were we true to our Principles there would be no need of so many Bonds and Obligations and Indentures and Counterparts and giving of Securities and Sollicitations to second our Word and Promises with Oaths and Vows and Protestations as now there is But all that can be said in this point is this If Men be truly converted to the Laws of Christ they will be Just and Honest and Sincere and Upright and Faithful and True and Invincibly so if they are not their Conversion is Nonsense their Regeneration a Fable their Love to God a Romance their Repentance a fancy and their Piety Paint and Varnish II. We see here that the Government of our Tongues requires our special Care He that offends not in Word is a perfect Man saith St. James Jam. iii. 2 and able also to bridle the whole Body It 's one great Lesson of our Religion to labour after Perfection as appears by the frequent commands 2 Cor. xiii 9 Hebr. vi 1 Jam. i. 4 2 Cor. xiii 11 and this Perfection is not to be attained except our Care and Watchfullness extend to our Speeches and Words and Discourses and Communications in Conversation and how this Care is to be expressed I shall briefly shew in the following Directions 1. Let 's always propose to our selves a good end in Speaking either to rectifie the Mistakes of others or to Instruct or to Counsel or to Exhort or to Comfort or to Reprove or to Edifie others or to acquaint them with the true Merit of the Cause or to prevent frothy or impertinent Discourses This is part of that Discretion which is made a good Man's Character Psal. cxii 5 He that speaks with an intent either to be applauded for his Wit or Learning or Piety or to make the Company Laugh or meerly to trifle away the time or to provoke others to Wrath c. such a Person hath no great Care of his everlasting Concerns and puts no Oyl to his Lamp and therefore if the Bridegroom should come unawares he 'll have Oyl to buy when the Doors are going to be shut 2. Let 's speak Circumspectly so that in our Discourses neither God be abused by Profaneness nor Scripture undervalued by wrong Applications nor our Neighbour rendred contemptible by Calumny nor our Souls wounded by Lying nor Religion blacken'd by misrepresentations nor weak Christians scandaliz'd by immoderate Liberty nor other Men harden'd in their Sins by flattering Compliances To this purpose Solomon Eccles. v. 2 Be not rash with thy Mouth and let not thy Heart be hasty to utter any thing before God 3. Let 's speak modestly of our selves especially and of our Duties and Performances and Accomplishments and not only with respect to our selves but in regard of others too when Kindnesses and Obligations and admiration of their Gifts prompt us to speak in their Commendation There is great modesty requir'd particularly when Inferiors speak to their Superiors Disciples to their Teachers Servants to their Masters Children to their Parents and Hearers to their Spiritual Pastors Young Men to the Aged This is part of that Submission and Subjection and Humility most earnestly pressed upon us 1 Pet. v. 5 4. Let 's speak opportunely suitably to the time and place we are in A word fitly spoken is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver Prov. xxv 11 Comfort is proper for the Afflicted Reproof for the Obstinate Admonition for the Tractable Instruction for the Ignorant and Colloquies Divine and Spiritual for the House of God and when God sends the Sword the Prophet asks very justly Should we then make Mirth Ezek. xxi 10 5. Let 's talk sparingly In the multitude of Words there wants not Sin but he that refrains his Tongue is wise Prov. x. 19 A Man that talks much had need be a very accomplish'd Person if he doth not run out into something contrary to Truth or good Manners This Rule deserves to be observ'd so much the more because multitude of Words is made the Character of a Fool Eccles. x. 14 6. Let 's use our selves to talk Piously It is a commanded Duty Ephes. iv 29 This is wanting in most Companies nay it is become a piece of Rudeness and a mark of ill breeding to talk of Jesus Christ when People visit one another and that 's one great Reason of the decay of Piety
among us St. Austin in his Confessions tells us that he and his Mother standing together and looking out of a Window into a Garden fell a discoursing of the nature of the everlasting Felicity in Heaven and drawing Comparisons from the Herbs and Flowers they saw before them and then running higher to the Contemplation of the Sun and Moon and Stars and reflecting on the far greater Glory in the higher Mansions they were so ravish'd with one anothers Discourses that they forgot they were on Earth Indeed till Men come to delight in such Discourses they have not yet receiv'd that Spirit whereby we relish the things which are freely given us of God These are some of those many Directions which might here be given And to put all this in practice there are two things to be observed 1. We must oblige our selves to do it by all the Arguments which have power to bind us And among these a vigorous Resolution and punishing our selves if we break it may justly be said to be one of the most effectual Methods to compass it 2. As we know how Good Men have been concern'd about this watchfulness over their Tongues so with them we must pray and pray earnestly for the Divine Assistance for the Tongue is not easily tamed or reduced to good Order God must be interessed and his Victorious Grace implored in the endeavour and if you want a form of Prayer to that purpose David hath given us one Psal. cxli. 3 Set a watch O Lord before my Mouth and keep the door of my Lips I conclude with St. James's remarkable Sentence Jam. i. 26 If any Man among you seems to be Religious and bridles not his Tongue deceiving his own Heart that Man's Religion is vain SERMON XXXI St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 38 39. Ye have heard that it hath been said An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth But I say unto you That ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right Cheek turn to him the other also I Expect that upon the reading of these words of our Saviour many of you will be ready to reply as the Men of Capernaum when they heard Christ discoursing of eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood This is a hard Saying who can hear it But not to mention that Hardships are no Discouragements to industrious Men from prosecuting their Designs and that unwilling Minds will be ever complaining of Difficulties the true reason of such Complaints is not any internal difficulty of the thing it self but want of a renew'd and sanctify'd Heart That may appear difficult to one which is not so to another and sick Men may not be able to bear what vigorous and healthy Persons can But of this I shall have occasion to Discourse of more largely in the sequel As to the Text Christ seems to contradict and oppose his Saying to the Command of God but he doth not He only shews what is better and establishes that which is better into a Law but doth not find fault with a Law of God's making To make this appear I shall consider I. What was said of old and upon what Account And II. What Christ says to us that pretend to be his Followers I. What was said of old and upon what Account Ye have heard that it hath been said An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth I do not doubt but Christ quotes and repeats these words not precisely as they are in the Law of Moses but as the ancient Masters of Tradition and from them the Scribes and Pharisees had expressed and contracted and applied them to the lawfulness of private Revenge And therefore Ye have heard saith our Saviour that it hath been said i. e. by them of old Time by the Learned Doctors of the former Ages Indeed the Words are in the Law of Moses only in that Fountain they are larger and fuller than in the Stream as deliver'd to the Jews by their Ancestors However though Christ quotes these words as the Saying of the ancient Masters of Tradition yet it 's certain that those ancient Doctors had regard to the Law of Moses for so we read Exod. xxi 23 And if any mischief follow then thou shalt give Life for Life Eye for Eye Tooth for Tooth Hand for Hand Foot for Foot Burning for Burning Wound for Wound Stripe for Stripe Concerning which Law I note 1. That this was the most ancient way of punishing Offenders especially private Men when they had offered any Injury to the Body of their Neighbour He that had unjustly hurt another in a certain Limb or Part suppose the Eye or Foot or Hand or Tooth he was to suffer in that Part in which he had been prejudicial to the other and this was usual not only among the Jews but among the ancient Greeks and Romans too and it 's probable they learned the use of this Retaliation from the Methods of God's Providence which they observed working after that manner which makes Adonibezeck take notice Judg. i. 7 Threescore and ten Kings with their Thumbs and right Toes cut off have gathered their Meat under my Table as I have done so God hath required me 2. In process of Time by Example and Consent it was agreed that the Person hurt should have Cost given him for the Damages he sustained and the Retaliation or Punishment in the same kind was changed into pecuniary Mulcts or so much Money or so much in Goods as was judged by wise Men to tantamount to the Hurt done was given to the Party Injured if he complain'd and thus compensation was made And yet 3. This Law of God in Moses did not forbid the Jews Patience under Injuries Notwithstanding this Law they might very lawfully suffer themselves to be Hurt without Contradiction or Revenge which is the reason why Moses is commended for his Meekness and Patience when Aaron and Miriam murmured against him And David's Patience under Shimie's Revilings 2 Sam. xvi 10 was not the least Jewel in his Crown I mean was one of the most eminent Vertues of his Life However 4. This Law did not give the Jews liberty to exercise any private Revenge i. e. By virtue of this Law a Jew could not of his own accord wound him in the Eye or Foot or Tooth c. who had wounded him in any of those Parts But he had liberty to go and accuse the Offender to the Magistrate who was oblig'd to do him Justice and to retaliate the Injury upon the Offender and therefore it is said Exod. xxi 22 That the Judges were to determine it Add to all this 5. That even to bring the Offender before the Magistrate in order to have him punish'd was rather permitted than commanded much like the Divorces we have spoken of to prevent a greater Evil such as Murther and excessive private Revenges Just as our Law permits Men to take Interest Six per Cent. but for all that a Man may chuse
Powers Ordain'd of God and Whoever resists that Power resists the Ordinance of God Rom. xiii 1 2 3. 5. There is no place in all the New Testament which forbids a Christian to be a Magistrate nay we have several Examples of Men who were Magistrates actually and converted to Christianity and yet neither quitted nor were they requir'd to quit that Office after their Conversion such were Nicodemus Joseph of Arimathea Both the Centurions Matth. viii and Act. x. and Sergius Paulus the Proconsul Acts xiii even the Soldiers in St. John the Baptist's Time Men who are the great Instruments of that Justice which the Magistrate sometimes executes were not oblig'd to lay down their Military Girdle or to forsake their Station and Employment 6. We are expresly commanded to pray for Kings and those who are in Authority 1 Tim. ii 1 2 3. and the Reason is given because God would have all Men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth which shews that we are therefore to pray for Magistrates especially if Infidels or Idolaters that they may be Converted and that under them we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty which End could not be obtain'd if immediately upon their turning Christians they were oblig'd to lay down or divest themselves from their Office 7. The Office of the Magistrate doth not at all clash or interfere with the Genius or Temper of the Gospel For what is the Office of a Magistrate but to make wholesome Laws for Governing the People under their Power with suitable Sanctions and to defend their Subjects from Wrong Violence and Mischief Neither of which acts are contrary to our Religion not making Laws for governing the People under their Charge for the Gospel as well as the Law of Nature permits every Master of a Family to make good Orders for those over whom God hath set him and it would be strange if Masters of a greater Family might not have this privilege God even in the New-Testament hath declar'd himself to be a God of Order and protests against Confusion and since without Magistrates and Laws and Sanctions it would be impossible to prevent Confusion He that allows of the End must needs be supposed to allow of the Means conducive to that End In a word without these Helps Cities and Common-wealths would be Dens of Thieves and Pest-Houses rather than civiliz'd Societies nor is defending their Subjects from Wrongs and Injuries contrary to the nature of the Gospel which prescribes Justice and Charity and who sees not that the defence of the Subject from Wrongs and Injuries is founded upon these two Cardinal Vertues Even inflicting Penalties upon the stubborn and obstinate rests upon these Principles so that the Office of the Magistrate must necessarily be lawful and commendable I grant were the whole World Christian and did all Christians live up strictly to the Rules of the Gospel there would be no Quarrels no Dissentions no Wrongs no Injuries and consequently there would be no need of Magistrates but such a blessed State we do not look for till we come to Heaven and till then there must be Magistrates Nor doth St. Paul 1 Cor. vi 1 2 3 4 5. find fault with the Office of the Magistrate but with those who upon every light occasion quarrel'd one with another and accused one another to the Magistrate and particularly to the Heathen Governors Nay the Apostle is so far from condemning the Office that he seems to advise them to erect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Tribunals of Judgment among themselves to decide Controversies and Quarrels betwixt Man and Man thereby to avoid running to the Heathen Magistrates whereby Christianity was like to become contemptible So that all these Particulars being laid together since God cannot be supposed to contradict himself this Precept of our Saviour must concern only Private Christians and must be intended to direct them how they are to behave themselves one toward another in their Conversation but is not level'd against the Power of Magistrates in a Christian Common-wealth not but that even a Magistrate may Sin against this Precept of our Master if private Revenge guides him in the execution of Judgment and Justice but where he doth the Duty of a Magistrate out of Love to the Publick Good there this Command cannot be suppos'd to interfere with his Power and Authority II. Since the Precept of the Text is the standing Rule whereby Christ's Disciples are to govern themselves it is very necessary I should press it upon you who came hither on purpose not only to hear but I hope to do what the Lord your God requires of you viz. Not to return Evil for Evil. Not to run in lesser Injuries such as a Blow or smiting on the Cheek to the Magistrate in order to have the Offender punish'd And Rather than return Evil for Evil to suffer a greater Evil or a greater Injury But I foresee an Objection which is like to dash all that I can say or alledge in order to persuade you to a conscientious Observance of these Rules of Holy Living Why should you urge this will some say for the thing is impracticable Not practicable Sirs It 's strange our great Master in whom are all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge should prescribe a thing that is not Practicable What did not he know our Frames Was he ignorant of what our Shoulders would bear Did not he consider the state and condition of our Souls I grant it is not practicable by Men who will not step out of the common Road of their carnal Interest and Lusts and sinful Inclinations I grant it is not practicable by Persons who will not make use of the Means and Motives and Enforcives and Helps which God affords to raise corrupted Nature into a nobler Temper I grant it is not practicable by Persons who will do nothing toward their own Happiness that will be Naked and Poor and Blind wretched and miserable in despight of all the Collyriums and Eye-salves and Medicines and Remedies which are offer'd and tender'd to them for their Cure But when there are a Thousand Moral Arguments before you and the Spirit of God and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are ready to give Life to those Arguments in your Souls when Heaven is willing to assist and Omnipotence offers to help you to raise you from the Ground and to inspire you with Courage and Valour suitable there to talk of the unpracticableness of these Rules is to blaspheme the Goodness of God and with that unprofitable Servant to accuse your Master That he gathers where he hath not strow'd and reaps where he hath not sown What should make it unpracticable What because Flesh and Blood saith it is so Is not Flesh and Blood that which you are oblig'd to fight against What are all the Arguments that are brought against the practicableness of it but what are borrow'd from the Opinion of the World
prosper and do well in the End and arrive safe in the Harbour of Eternal Rest and can we do amiss if we transcribe their Patience in our Lives and Conversations 6. By importunate Addresses to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will be importun'd and that importunity shews we are in good earnest Let 's but beg and implore the Grace of God as a hungry and thirsty Man doth beg for Meat and Drink and try whether God will not open the Windows of Heaven and fill our Souls with Food convenient with Grace I mean sufficient for our purpose God cannot deny himself and having promised his Spirit upon our strong and vehement Cries he will Hear and Answer and grant us our Heart's desire and the requests of our Lips and the breath of Life will enter into us even the Spirit of Courage and Wisdom which will throw down all Imaginations that exalt themselves against the obedience of Christ Jesus and we shall be able to do what he did and bear what he bore according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself to whom be Glory for ever SERMON XXXII St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 40 41. And if any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain IN these words our Saviour prosecutes the Task he had begun in the foregoing Verse and continues pressing the great Doctrine of Christianity of not returning Evil for Evil. And as in the words preceding he had told us how we may arrive to a habit of Patience under Injuries even by suffering a greater Injury so he now illustrates what he had said by two Instances more And if any Man will sue thee at the Law c. The Precepts here given are so directly contrary to the Humour of the Age we live in that if a Man was to measure Religion by the modern Practice he could inferr or conclude no less than that either no such Precepts were ever given or that Men have ceas'd to be Christians This makes me often admire the good Providence of God that hath preserv'd us these Oracles in Writing for had they been left to Tradition and to Conveyance by word of Mouth most certainly Man after the first Fervour and Piety had been over would have wilfully forgotten these Lessons so contrary to the Dictates of Flesh and Blood and we shou'd not have known whether any such Commands had ever been given by our Saviour But whatever contrariety there may be between these Rules and our carnal Inclinations and Appetites it 's rational to conceive that Christ would never have commanded all this if he had not intended it should be put in execution And therefore it is impossible that a Person should have any solid assurance that he is a true Christian who doth not heartily endeavour to bring his Mind and Will to submit in these Particulars to the Will of Christ. It 's true a Christian may not every Day have occasion to exercise this piece of Self-denial because the same Temptations recurr not every Day but when he hath he must let his Neighbour see that the Grace of God like Oyl swims on the top and is not to be Master'd by the false Suggestions of the Flesh and of the Devil There are three sorts of Injuries Christ mentions here in all which the same Rule is to be observ'd 1. The first that which is offer'd to the Body of a Christian in the preceeding Verse which I have already explain'd He that shall smite thee on the right Cheek turn to him the other also 2. That which is offer'd to his Property and Estate 3. That which is offer'd to his Liberty The Injuries levell'd against our Estates and Liberty are comprehended in the words I have read unto you And if any Man will sue thee at the Law or if any Man will by force take away thy Coat the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implies both let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain Two things must here be premised for the better understanding of the words 1. That like those of the preceeding Verse they are levell'd against private Revenge and must be construed to the same sence If any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat rather than quarrel with him or cherish any desire of Revenge rather than sue him again the first opportunity for something of the same nature let him have thy Cloak also And whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile rather than fall out with him or put thy self into a fit or Rage and Revenge rather than oppose Force to Force and take the same advantage against him when stronger than he go with him twain So that these two Commands as well as the former are Directions and Insinuations how we are to overcome our revengeful Desires and those violent Passions we are apt to run into when any Injury or Wrong is offer'd to us i. e. by suffering more 2. These Precepts are to be confin'd as much as can be to the Instances here given and to things that are parallel with them not stretch'd to things of a higher Nature i. e. what is said here of not going to Law must be understood of not going to Law about a Coat or Cloak or things like them but must not be presently accommodated to higher Concerns And what is said of forcing a Man to go a Mile and going with him twain rather than oppose Force to Force must be kept within those Limits not extended to ten twenty or thirty Miles These two Observations being premised I shall speak distinctly of the two Commands of the first more largely of the other in fewer words being only an appendix to the former And as to the First If any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also And here I shall I. Enquire into the Reasons of the Precept II. Whether it be permitted in any case to go to Law or to defend ones self by Law III. If it be lawful in some Cases what Rules are to be observ'd in the management of it I. The Reasonableness of this Precept And if any Man will sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let c. 1. This is an excellent way to preserve Peace and Charity the Fewel being taken away the Fire must go out the occasion of the Contention being removed not only by giving freely the Coat but by adding the Cloak too the quarrel must cease And as one said An Ounce of Peace and Charity is worth a Pound of Victory For Peace is so lovely and amiable a thing that we are oblig'd to promote it by all means 2 Thess. iii. 16 i. e. by all lawful means and surely deceding from our Right is a lawful means It 's true
unlawful if desires of Revenge lie at the bottom of the Suit To revenge our selves is absolutely unlawful and let the Concern be never so great if it be upon the account of Revenge that Revenge impoisons the Cause though good in it self and in a conscientious Man stops and must put a stop to his Proceedings I grant that Revenge in such Law-Suits is seldom the only Cause there being other Reasons and those perhaps lawful intermixt with the revengeful desire so in the crowd of Reasons Revenge is not taken notice of which makes Men flatter themselves that it is not Revenge that puts them upon the Process Yet where Revenge is the principal Motive whatever lesser Motive may mix with the Design the Law-Suit becomes unlawful not before Men but before God for the Command is express and peremptory Avenge not your selves Rom. 12.19 And yet after all as strict as this Precept is it doth not forbid going to Law in all cases whatsoever which brings in the III. Query If it be lawful in some Cases what those cases are and what Rules are to be observ'd in the management of it 1. That there are Cases in which it may be lawful to go to Law is evident from hence because the Precept speaks only of lesser Injuries and therefore it naturally follows that in greater Concerns it may be lawful 2. The Cases in which it may be lawful are such upon which either our own or another Persons livelihood depends particularly where Orphans and Widows are wrong'd and abus'd or the poor robb'd and depriv'd of their due or where the neglect may inevitably involve the ruine of our Families and Relations or hinder us from doing that good in the World we might and would do These are Cases of great Weight and Concernment For though the Apostle saith 1 Cor. vi 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you because ye go to Law one with another why do ye not rather take wrong Why do you not rather suffer your selves to be defrauded Yet this must necessarily be understood either of smaller Matters about which they went to Law or of their going to Law before Heathens and Unbelievers or of Personal Wrongs when none was Hurt but the Person himself by the Injury In all which Cases much is to be said for Abstinence from Law-Suits Yet 3. When the Cause is great and weighty and will warrant our going to Law a Christian is bound in Conscience to try whether the Controversy may not be decided by Reference by referring it to wise and impartial Men who may judge between Brother and Brother as St. Paul expresly enjoins 1 Cor. vi 5 Going to Law must be look'd upon as some high Chymical Medicines never to be used but in very desperate Cases when all other Remedies fail And even then a Christian is to walk very circumspectly that his Footsteps do not slide For 4. Love of Justice must be the principal Motive a Desire and Care that neither we nor our Fellow Christians may be wrong'd that each may be deliver'd from Mistakes and from harbouring hard Thoughts one of another Here neither Revenge nor Vain-glory nor Humour must be an Ingredient but pure Affection to Righteousness and an honest Mind and sincere endeavour to do others as we would have others do unto us Mat. vii 12 5. In the prosecution of such a Law-suit the Offices of Christian Love and Charity must be inviolably maintain'd If that Bond of Peace be dissolv'd by the Suit the Law-suit becomes unlawful If Tricks and little Arts and underhand Doings and dealing Treacherously or Fraud or Deceit or Lying or suborning of Witnesses or any such unhandsom Practices intervene and mix with the Process on either side the Process becomes sinful and unchristian and God is offended and this is drawing Iniquity with Cords of Vanity Isai. v. 18 So that in such Law-suits even then when the weight and importance of the Matter makes them lawful the exhortation of the Apostle must take place Let brotherly love continue Heb. xiii 1 6. After all this the Party that loses the Suit must watch against Discontent Vexation Animosity and Fretting and worldly Sorrow for that worketh Death 2 Cor. vii 10 much less must the loser commence the Law-suit afresh except the Case be very extraordinary for this discovers a quarrelsome worldly carnal Temper of Mind and opens a gap to fresh Quarrels and Divisions and Disagreements which a Christian that is Conscientious cannot but think himself oblig'd to avoid if he remembers how the Apostle adjures him by the Mercies of God above all things to put on Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness Col. iii. 14 With these Limitations and Circumscriptions this dangerous Meat may be made not only palatable but wholsome But if any think that the strict observance of these Rules is a thing impossible in that case the best Advice that can be given is Not to go to Law at all which is the surest side of the Hedge For as going to Law hath abundance of Difficulties and Dangers in it so to be sure he Sins not that wholly abstains from Law suits This the Primitive Christians consider'd and therefore Athenagorus tells us their Custom was not to go to Law with any that had taken any thing from them and the very Heathens have commended it And now I proceed to the Second Precept Whosoever shall compel thee to go a Mile go with him twain Having said so much to the first Case I shall need to say but very little to this I shall only hint to you the reasonableness of this Precept also 1. This is an excellent way of making a Friend of an Enemy such Officiousness is very charming and if there be the least spark of good nature left in him this extraordinary Civility will blow the Coals and turn it into the Fire of Amity and Kindness Whether it hath this effect upon a turbulent Temper or no its tendency is to make a better Man of him And what should not a good Christian do to convert a Sinner from the Error of his Ways This is a very likely means and consequently ought to be used and being a Means of God's prescribing we have the greater reason to hope for good Success 2. Walking with such a Person another Mile may administer occasion for good and pious Discourses which may have a very good effect upon a rough and stubborn Temper especially if the excellent temper of Christianity be represented to him How kind how civil how obliging it makes a Man how it takes away from him all sowreness of Spirit and teaches him to do Good for Evil and to win Men by kindnesses We know Pious Discourses have wrought sometimes upon Men strangely untractable and who knows but upon such a Man that shall compel us to go with him a Mile such Discourses may make a very great alteration to the saving of his Soul All that I shall say by way of Application shall
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
to make Proselytes and Converts to their Religion for they compassed Sea and Land to do it Matth. xxiii 15 They were so strict or so nice rather that they were afraid of touching a Person who was counted an open and scandalous Sinner would not only not Eat with him but not so much as Touch him which was the reason why the Pharisee in whose House Christ dined found fault with our Saviour for suffering himself to be touch'd by a Woman who had been a notorious Sinner Luc. vii 39 And this is the account the Scripture gives of them St. Epiphanius adds that many of them would Vow very strict Chastity and Abstinence from the Partners of their Beds some for Four years some for Eight and some for Ten. They were very watchful against all Nocturnal Accidents and partly to prevent them and partly to awake the sooner to Prayer they would Sleep upon Boards not above nine Inches broad that falling or rolling off from those Boards on the Ground they might go to their Devotion some would stuff their Pillows with Stones and Pebles and some would venture even upon Thorns for that purpose Besides their Tythes they separated their First-Fruits and the Thirtieth and Fiftieth part of their Incomes to Pious Uses and as to all Vows and Sacrifices no Persons were more punctual to pay or discharge them than they This was the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees All this looks well and hath a very good Gloss. And one would wonder at first sight how Christ could find fault with these Performances One would think that in stead of blaming he should have commended them for so doing How many Thousands are there in the World that do not do half so much in Matters of Religion and some would look upon themselves as extraordinary Saints if they came up to what the Scribes and Pharisees did so far are they from dreaming of going beyond them But have not You seen some counterfeit Pearls so Artificiously contrived that the ignorant Spectator hath taken them for truly Oriental Have not you seen some curious Limner draw Infects and Butterflies with that Life that one would take them for living Animals The same may be said of the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees As specious as glorious as it look'd it was perfectly or the Nature of the Glow-Worm and shined bright in that dark Night of Ignorance but view'd by Day-light was nothing but a squallid Worm a mere Skeleton of Devotion which leads me II. To shew You the Defects of their Righteousness and they will appear from the following Particulars 1. They laid the Stress of their Devotion upon the Opus Operatum the bare Outward Task and Peformance without any regard to the Inward Frame very indifferent whether their Minds at the same time were season'd with a due sense of God's Greatness and their own Imperfections Just as the People of the Church of Rome at this Day will say so many Credo's so many Pater Noster's so many Ave Maria's and fancy they have done admirably well when they have absolved their Task though their Minds or Thoughts all the while like the Evil Spirit in Job have been wandring to and fro in the Earth And I wish too many who profess themselves Members of the best Church in the World I mean the Church of England did not split their Vessel against this Rock I am sure the Scribes and Pharisees did They made no account of the inward Frame but rested in the Shell and thought God would be pleased with the slaying of a Bullock or Lamb or He-Goat and they measured the Goodness of their Prayers by their Length and Number more than by the great Sense they had of the Shekinah or Divine Presence whereas an humble and devout Mind in the Religious Service was the thing God required at their Hands Mat. xv 8 2. They were very Zealous for the Ceremonial part of Religion but very reguardless of the Moral and more Substantial part of it hot as Fire for the one cold as Ice with respect to the other The neglect of a Ceremony anger'd them more than the omission of a sober and pious Conversation much as the Greeks at this Day look upon breaking a Fast of the Church as a more heinous Crime than Killing or Murthering a Man and to this purpose Christ tells the Pharisees Mat. xxiii 22 23. Wo to you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites who strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel Ye pay Tithe of Mint and Cummin and Anise and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law Judgment Mercy and Faith 3. They were abominably selfish in all their Religious Undertakings for all their Works they do to be seen of Men saith our Saviour Matth. xxiii 5 This was the Worm that corrupted their Alms their Prayers their Fasts their Self-Denials their Mortifications and all they did even a design to advance and promote their Profit Interest and Credit and to gain the Applauses and Admirations of Men and though they made long Prayers yet it seems it was to devour Widows Houses Matth. xxiii 14 Their very Doctrins were suited to their Profit and Interest As Transubstantiation Purgatory Private Masses Indulgences Auricular Confession c. in the Church of Rome are invented to aggrandize the Honour and Profit of the Priest so the Tenents they held were accommodated to their Gain and Lucre for they taught the People that there was greater Holiness in the Gold of the Temple than in the Temple and greater Sanctity in the Gift upon the Altar than in the Altar it self thereby to oblige the People to bring Gold and Gifts into the Temple whereby the Priests who were of the Order of the Pharisees suckt no small advantage Matth. xxiii 16 17. 4. They took care to purifie the outward Man but took none to cleanse the Heart and the Soul Such Acts of Piety and Devotion as were stately and favour'd of Pomp and served to attack the Eyes of Spectators they were for and of this Nature were all their External Severities and Rigors and Revenges they used upon themselves But as to Mortifying their inward Pride and Rancour and Hatred and Malice and Covetousness and love of the World they were so great Strangers to it that they did not think it part of their Religion which makes Christ tell them Thou blind Pharisee cleanse first that which is within the Cup and Platter that the outside of them may be clean also Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees for ye are like unto whited Sepulchres which appear fair unto Men but within are full of Rotten Bones even so ye appear outwardly Righteous unto Men but within are full of Covetousness Matth. xxiii 26 27. 5. Though they own'd professed and taught the Law of Moses yet in effect they preferr'd their wild and phantastick Traditions before it Not to mention their common Proverb That the Words of the Scribes i. e. of their Traditionary Divines were more Lovely
complain of Wrong is no just Offence given since the Law of Nature and Scripture doth not absolutely forbid it and the Common Good which the Law of Nature hath respect to sometime requires it so that if a Person Vitious and Brutish and Covetous and Illnatured Base and Selfish who is able to pay and will not and deals Fraudulently and Deceitfully be cast into Prison it is no Breach of Charity provided still that it is not Anger or Malice or Revenge or delight in Men's Misery or some other base sinister End and Design that is the cause of our taking this rougher Way but love to Justice intent to reform the Offender by Affliction and care to prevent his continuance in Sin and doing hurt to others c. And if there be no Breach of Charity there needs no Reconciliation It 's granted the Law of the Land allows you to Arrest any Man that is indebted to you whether he be able to pay or not But may it not be said in this Case as Christ to the Pharisees in the Law of Divorce for the hardness of your Hearts the Law permits it but still it doth not hinder you from shewing Mercy The Law of the Land contradicts not the Law of the Gospel nor was it ever intended to draw Men off from their Duty to God and to their Neighbour and since Charity is the great Gospel Duty we must think our selves obliged more by what the Gospel commands than by what the Law of the Land permits and though it be a kind of Charity to punish Malefactors yet every Debtor comes not into this Number nor must those to whom it is an Affliction not to be in a Condition to satisfy their Creditors be confounded with the Wicked that borrows and pays not again This being Premised I shall consider what Use we are to make of these Words of our Saviour and this will soon appear if you will attend to the following Observations I. While a Man keeps or maintains Hatred and Malice to his Neighbour in his Heart God is his Adversary II. To agree with God betimes is our wisest Course III. God deals very gently with us before he lets us feel the heaviest Stroak of his Vengeance He both calls to Repentance and gives time for it IV. Delay of true Repentance provokes God to proceed to very severe nay to the severest Courses of Vengeance V. Hell is a Prison from which there is no coming out till all the Debt be paid I begin with the First I. While a Man harbours Hatred and Malice in his Heart to his Neighbour God is his Enemy-or his Adversary So much is evident from the Similitude here used where what is said of an Adversary among Men is referr'd to God as such a Person deals with a perfidious Debtor here on Earth so God will deal with the Uncharitable and Persons who will not be Reconciled to their offended Brethren Till Affliction and Trouble comes very few People will believe that God is their Adversary Indeed when a great Loss befalls them or some painful Disease seizes upon them or a Distemper that very much discomposes and disturbs their Minds hangs about them or some other Disaster unforseen and unlook'd for happens then God from whom the Affliction comes is look'd upon as an Adversary and Men are apt to believe he is angry with them but while Prosperity lasts and that Sun continues to shine upon them and Ease and Plenty are their Companions and like officious Servants wait upon them then God is a Friend and they will have him to be so sometimes whether he will or not But as Gods Favour and Hatred are not to be measured by outward Accidents not by outward Want or Plenty so it is certain it may infallibly be known whether God be our Friend or Adversary by our Obedience or Disobedience to his Holy Commands let our outward Condition be what it will So that if you live in Disobedience to his express and peremptory Commands it is a never-failing Sign that God is your Adversary though you wash your Feet in Butter and the Rocks pour you out Rivers of Oyl though your Oxen be strong to labour and your Sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousand in your Streets and particularly if no Argument no Motive no enforcive drawn either from the Word of God or from your Spiritual and Eternal Interest or from the Examples of Holy Men or from the reason of the Thing can prevail with you to be Reconciled to your Brethren with whom you are fallen out it is as sure as any Oracle in the Bible that God is your Adversary Perhaps such an Adversary you like very well that Crowns you with temporal Blessings and lets you enjoy what your Flesh desires and fills your Bellies with hid Treasures These are the Things you are fond of and you desire to be punish'd with such outward Conveniencies and Accommodations And indeed if this Life were all you have to look after the Argumentation or Inference would not be amiss But did not Dives live as Calmly and as Plentifully as you can do and yet when his Body dropt from him and was Buried the Man the unhappy Man felt what it was to have God for his Adversary The very Plenty he formerly enjoy'd became now an Ingredient of his bitter Potion and he felt the Might of his Adversary's Hand his former Prosperity was so far from being a Sign that God was his Friend that it gave Evidence that he was his Enemy and he that had formerly look'd upon him as the Fountain of Mercy now found him to be a Spring indeed not flowing with Milk and Honey but with Fire and Brimstone so that upon the whole Matter it is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God Heb. x. 31 And therefore certainly to agree with him betimes must be our wisest Course which is the II. Proposition I am to speak to Agree with thine Adversary quickly Agree with God! Who would have any Difference with him Who can grapple with him Who can resist him Who can make his Party good against him Poor feeble Clay Shall it rise against the Porter who hath Power to make of it a Vessel of Honour and Vessel of Dishonour Agree with him The Greatness the Majesty the Excellency of God one would think should be Motive great enough to labour to be at Peace with him To be at Peace with him is to be at Peace with our Consciences and with him who hath promis'd to make all our Enemies to be at Peace with us and can make all the Elements to be at Peace with us so that the Sun shall not smite us by Day nor the Moon by Night so that the Air shall not infect us nor the Water drown us nor the Fire burn us nor the Earth swallow us up But then how can we agree with him except we walk with him Except we be of the same Mind with him Can we say
in taking an Oath in most Nations do import and why they are used V. Whether an Oath may in no case be broken I. What an Oath or taking an Oath or Swearing is 1. Whether with Tully we say it is a Religious Asseveration or with others That it is a Religious act in which for the confirmation of a thing doubtful God is call'd in as a Witness or whether with the Inspir'd Writers we call it a binding of the Soul with a band or whether we define it to be a solemn appealing to God as a Witness and Judge the difference is not great for all this is included in the notion of an Oath or Swearing and when the Apostle Heb. vi 16 saith Men verily swear by the greater meaning God who is over all the supream Judge and Law-giver who is able to save and destroy he points at all that I have said and intimates That Men in an Oath do solemnly and religiously call God to witness the Truth or in case they swear falsly or do not perform their Oath imprecate to themselves the heavy Judgments of God and this is also the import of that Saying Deut. vi 13 where God directs the Israelites that if there be a necessity for their Swearing That they should Swear by his Name And for this reason it 's call'd The Oath of God or The Oath of the Lord Exod. xxii 10 2. To omit other Distinctions An Oath is either Assertory or Promissory i. e. in an Oath we either assert and affirm the Truth of what is past or of what is present or we Promise to say or do or not to say or do a thing The former is commonly made use of in Courts of Judicature the latter in Contracts Commerce and Compacts Of the former we have an Instance in the Woman suspected of Adultery who was to take an Oath that she was not Guilty Numb v. 19 Of the other in Abraham's Steward Gen. xxiv 9 in the chief Men and Princes of Israel swearing to the Gibeonites to protect them as their Confederates Josh. ix 15 and in others The words of the Text though they include the Assertory yet do chiefly relate to a Promissory Oath 3. In every Oath a Man hath to deal with two Parties God and Man with God as the searcher of Hearts and the grand Witness and with Man for whose Satisfaction and Acquiescence in the matter the Oath is taken which shews the difference betwixt an Oath and a Vow In a formal Vow a Man addresses himself directly to God and God and he are the only Parties concern'd but in an Oath Man as well as God is made a Party though the Obligation be the same in both which is the reason why they are promiscuously used Numb xxx 2 4. In every Oath a Man obliges and ties himself to the manifestation of the Truth whether the Oath be Assertory or Promissory whether it be concerning something past or present or to come and therefore 't is call'd a binding of the Soul or Conscience by a band which a Man cannot escape or slip away from but he must leap into Hell Numb xxx 2 so that a Person Swearing is bound to stand to what he has said and to perform what his Lips have utter'd and the Obligation rises not only from hence because it is a voluntary Act and Promise without the performance of which he cannot be Just but because he engages the most Sacred Being in the Promise and gives God for his Security God who hath not only Power but is concern'd in justice to avenge the Perjury So much of the nature of an Oath Let 's consider II. Whether an Oath or Swearing even in a modest serious and judicial way be lawful 1. That taking an Oath is not unlawful in it self is evident from hence because God himself hath upon occasion used it By my self have I sworn saith the Lord Gen. xxii 16 upon which Passage the Apostle makes this Remark Heb. vi 13 When God made Promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself and again Psal. xcv 11 so I sware in my Wrath that they should not enter into my rest And the like we find practised by the Angel of God Dan. xii 7 who lift up his hand to Heaven and sware by him that lives for ever and ever Nor can it be absolutely unlawful if we consider the end of an Oath which is a confirmation of the Truth in things doubtful where other Proofs and Evidences fail The End being necessary in Humane Affairs the Means which is an Oath must at least be Lawful And this will farther appear from the nature of an Oath which contains nothing in it self unlawful A Religious Act cannot be unlawful nor Confirmation of the Truth in things doubtful unlawful in it self nor the Invocation of the Divine Testimony unlawful and if the Parts which make up and constitute an Oath be not unlawful an Oath cannot be unlawful Add to all this the consent of all Nations which in other Cases particularly in asserting the Being of a God is counted a considerable Proof where-ever any Civility or orderly Government takes place Men led by the Light of Nature make use of an Oath in doubtful Cases to which universal Custom the Apostle alludes in saying Heb. vi 16 For Men verily swear by the greater and an Oath for Confirmation is to them an end of all strife 2. That the use of an Oath was Lawful to the Jews is so evident that it needs no Proof The Patriarchs used it Abraham Gen. xiv 22 23. Isaac Gen. xxvi 31 Jacob Gen. xxxi 53 And Moses by the Command of God orders that if a Controversie did arise that an Oath should decide it Exod. xxii 11 It was an express Command of God given to the Israelites Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his Name i. e. If there be occasion to take an Oath thou shalt not swear by Idols or by Heathen Deities but by the Name of thy God who is Omniscient and Omnipresent and will not hold him guiltless that takes his Name in vain and to this purpose it is that the Prophets give Directions how the Jews should swear in what manner and with what Limitations as we see Jer. iv 2 And Punishments severe and dreadful are threatned to him that despises his Oath Ezek xvi 59 But 3. The greatest Difficulty is whether it be lawful for a Christian to take an Oath for not only Christ in the following Verse saith But I say unto you swear not at all but we find the Primitive Christians were very cautious how they ventur'd upon an Oath they not only dreaded those vain and light Oaths so common among the Children of the Devil but they had a reluctancy to Swearing even on solemn and serious Occasions thinking a Christian ought to be believ'd upon his bare Word and Affirmation And indeed many of the sober Heathens by a