15 17 18. But the Sin here aimed at lies in the secret Wishes Will Purposes Lust and Desires after Adultery Fornication Uncleanness and forbidden Mixtures And therefore if the Observation of the Jews be true that Ahab and Zedekiah mentioned Jer. xxix 21. were the Persons who attempted the Chastity of Susanna are charged with downright Adultery because they intended it though they could not compass it as we see Jer. xxix 23 And he that purposes to sollicit a Woman to that which God counts Abomination or wishes to enjoy the dangerous Love of the Person which hath no Matrimonial Relation to him or whose Desires Languish because he cannot gratifie his base Lust which his wicked Mind desires or who feeds himself with impure Imaginations with obscene Pictures and Images of the Person upon whom his Heart is set all these are secret Adulterers and Fornicators and must expect the Wrath of God the Anger the Indignation the Fire the Brimstone and the Portion of Misery designed for Adulterers and Fornicators who are outwardly so 3. That this is a very just Sentence and that he is justly charged with the guilt of Adultery and Fornication and Lewdness who Wills or Wishes or Desires it whatever Notion they are represented under is evident from hence because the Will is the principal Agent in the Action so that if the Will consents the Man consents and it is as much as if he had done the unlawful Act which is only impeded or hindred from being executed by certain Circumstances which fall out cross I very much question whether the outward Acts of Fornication and Adultery would be Sins at all if it were not for the Will It 's this gives the Act the tincture of Hell Before the outward Act the Malice and the Turpitude of the Sin is already compleated though the Act be hindred by accidental Causes from being consummated And this is no new Doctrine the very Heathens saw the reasonableness of it and to this purpose several excellent Sayings might be alledged here out of Aristophanes Seneca Juvenal Ovid and others were it necessary and though humane Laws lay no Penalty upon the Will because they are no competent Judges of it nothing falling under the Cognisance of the publick Magistrate but Overt Actions yet with respect to God who sees the Heart the Sin is the same and he that would or hath a mind to commit Adultery Fornication Lewdness whatever Names he may give his Desires and Lusts is the Person who hath committed all these because all that was in his power to do toward it he hath done i. e. his Will Consent and Desire do concur to the Sin though an Opportunity of finishing the Sin outwardly be wanting And God counts such a Person an Adulterer and Fornicator and lewd Man though his Neighbours at the same time who know nothing of his secret Sins may count him Honest and Sober and Innocent The Romans punish'd a Vestal Virgin who had vow'd perpetual Chastity with Death because she did once merrily in Company say that it was a pretty thing to Marry because by saying so she discover'd her Desire and Will to break her Vow I do not justify that piece of Rigor but only mention it to prove that the very Light of Nature discovered to Heathens and Pagans that the Desire and Will to commit a Sin was a complete Sin so far as the inward Man could make it and consequently deserv'd the same Punishment This leads me to discourse of the III d. Particular viz. Whether notwithstanding all this there be not a very great difference betwixt the internal Consent and the outward Act as to the heinousness of the Sin To this the Answer is that Sins as to the Substance may be the same yet Circumstances may make the Sin more heinous than it would have been without those Circumstances He that hates his Brother is a Murtherer saith St. John 1 John iii. 15 Yet there is no doubt be that besides that Hatred doth actually deprive him of Life is a greater Sinner and the Sin becomes more black and dreadful So it is in Adultery and Fornication and Incest and Carnal self-pollutions and other Lewdnesses He that wishes or wills it or purposes it or feeds himself with filthy Images of any of these Sins commits a Sin of the same Nature and Complexion that he doth who to the inward Formation of it adds the outward Act but still the outward Act aggravates it and gives it a deeper Dye because of the Scandal it gives and the greater hurt it doth in that another Person is made a Partner of the Folly and dragg'd with him into Hell and the Sinner goes as far in it as he can So that though as to the degrees of the Heinousness of the Sin there is a difference betwixt the internal Consent and the outward Act yet the Sin is the same in Substance and therefore must be supposed to participate of the same Punishment which is threatned to Adulterers Fornicators c. though according to the degrees of the blackness of the Crime the Punishments in the other World will be proportionable INFERENCES 1. Here we see how necessary Solomon's Rule is Prov. iv 23 Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life The Heart being guarded the whole Man is safe If that be left Defenceless the whole Man lies open to the Devils Power In the Heart or Mind Sin first takes Root and then if not checkt it presently spreads and diffuses it self into the outward Man and brings forth fruit unto Death Keep Sin out of the Heart and you keep it out of the Body for from within from the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Covetousness c. saith our Saviour Marc. vii 21 When Sin first offers it self to the Mind and is rejected as soon as it doth make its first Appearance the purity of the Soul is preserv'd We cannot hinder the Motions and Suggestions of the Devil from approaching or assaulting our Minds and an impure Thought may jog the Mind but if the Mind do immediately oppose the Enemy as soon as it comes before the Gate of the House its Forces are broke and disordered and they can never make head or insinuate into the Affections our Saviour therefore charges us to cleanse the inside of the Dish and Platter that the out-side may be clean also And indeed a Man or Woman cannot be truly said to stand in awe of God that do not watch over their Hearts and resist the first Assaults of Sin and though I will not deny that restraining the outward Act upon the account of it's Odiousness and Danger may be called part of the fear of God yet it is but a very imperfect Fear till the Heart comes to detest the first Suggestions In the Sin of unlawful Lust this is particularly to be observed and he that means to get the Mastery of a lascivious Temptation must be concerned and tremble upon
Office of a Magistrate is not superseded by this Command Nor 3. Doth this Law of loving our Enemies forbid us reproving an Enemy for the Sins he involves himself in by hating us much less doth it import that we are to love his Sins and Follies or flatter him in his Undecencies and Insolencies There is no doubt we may lawfully tell him of his Faults in a meek and rational way and seek to reduce him to a better Temper and in doing so we do nothing against that Love we owe him so far from it that it is an Argument of Hatred not to Rebuke him Lev. xix 17 Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy Heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer Sin upon him Nor 5. Doth this Command import that we are to make an Enemy our Bosom Friend to whom we are to unburden our selves and make him acquainted with the Secrets of our Souls Friendship in this strict sence is Master of Discretion more than Duty nor is our Love to our Enemies prejudic'd by not making them Friends in this sence Indeed if by the Coals of Fire we heap upon their Heads if by the warmer kindnesses we shew them we melt them into a tractable and docible Temper and then prove occasions of their becoming new Men we may if we see it convenient raise our Love Unto a higher degree even to that of Friendship and make him that was an Enemy as our own Soul but while he is an Enemy he is not a Subject capable of entring into the Bond of Friendship with him except by Friendship we mean the acts of Love hereafter mention'd 6. As an Enemy is a Person who cherisheth a secret Spleen and Malice against us in his Heart and as occasion serves vents and expresses it either in his Words or Actions either by Reviling or Abusing us or doing Unkindnesses or attempting to Betray or Bespatter or to Ruine and Undoe us in which sence even a Husband a Wife and the nearest Relatives may be Enemies so this Love we owe them imports an inward Affection to them even Bowels of Mercy and Compassion and a certain tenderness within The acts whereby our Love to them is to be expressed must have some Root and that Root must be the Heart the true seat of Love and let no Man plead here that Love arising from the agreeableness of the Object it 's impossible there should be any real Love in the Heart toward an Enemy because of the disagreeableness of the Object to our Temper and Contrariety to our Humour and Interest for though there may be no agreeableness with respect to the Wrong he doth or hath done us yet there are other Respects and those more weighty and of greater Concernment in which a likeness and similitude appear and consequently a suitable Foundation for this Love For 1. He is God's Creature and so are we 2. He is a Man and so are we 3. He is a Neighbour still nor doth the Wrong he doth us deprive him of that Relation 4. May be he is a Christian too and professes the same Faith the same God the same Jesus and the same Religion all which Respects make even an Enemy an agreeable Object of our Love Nay his very Enmity doth formally dispose and qualifie him for our Love for the nature of Love is That it is not easily provoked 1 Cor. xiii 5 And I need not tell you that Men are not provoked by Kindnesses but by Injurious Acts and these being the acts of an Enemy Love not being easily provoked by such acts the Enemy must be a very proper object of our Love But let 's go on and consider II. The particular acts of this Love or whereby this Love is to be expressed And the first is 1. Bless them that curse you This is to give good Language for bad kind Answers for Revilings praising the good that is in the Enemy for his denying that there is any in our selves and gracious Wishes for his base and horrid Imprecations The Apostles did so for being reviled we bless being defamed we entreat saith St. Paul 1 Cor. iv 13 This look'd great What a lovely excellent sight was this How pleasing to God how pleasing to Angels how pleasing to all rational and understanding Men Do but take a serious view of it you your selves cannot but like it approve of it and commend it What harmony what beauty what sweetness what evenness what perfection must there be in such a Soul What a command over his Passions must we suppose in such a Person and can any thing look more stately and magnificent And if there be such beauty in it why are not we enamour'd with it Why should we think much of it to cry God bless you when the Enemy cries God damn you Is not the one as easily said as the other and is there not far greater satisfaction in the one than in the other What if the brutish Man do curse us what hurt can his Cursing do us while we do not answer him according to his Folly The Curse may fall on his own Head but cannot singe a Hair of ours His ill Language doth it not look very odious in him and doth it change its Face or Nature if we use it by way of Retaliation Can that be lovely in us which all Men take to be deformity in him Doth not the Enemy sin grievously against God when he doth Revile or Curse us And shall not we be concern'd at his Sin How are we concern'd if we do not mourn for it How do we mourn for it if we do not pity him How do we pity him if we do not endeavour to reform him How shall we reform him except we shew him a good Example How can we shew him a good Example if we do not let him see that there is a better Spirit in us And how shall he be convinc'd of that if we do not return soft Answers for his rough and insolent ones even Blessings for Curses Such Christian returns God blesses sometimes with Conversion of the Enemy and thinks himself concern'd to reward the Self-denial with an extraordinary Providence To this purpose Moschus tells us That three Religious Men Travelling and losing their way and thereupon belated were forc'd to lie down on the Ground the Night coming on and the Sky growing very dark But so it happen'd that ignorantly they laid themselves down at the edge or corner of a Corn-field whereby they pressed a portion of Corn on the Ground Early in the Morning the Owner of the Field coming by and seeing what was done began to be in a Passion and cursed them bitterly saying You Religious Men if you had had the fear of God before you you would not have done so The innocent Men let him run on and then with all gentleness imaginable told him Truly you say right if we had had the fear of God before us we should never have done so
Injury no doubt will be able to endure a less This is that policy a Christian is to make use of to Dissipate the Stratagems of the Devil and he that applies himself to this Method of resisting Revengeful Desires hath something to bear witness that he is become wise unto Salvation 2. This is an excellent sign that we have a huge command of our Passions and Affections Were I to shew a Christian in his Beauty I would shew him in this dress for he that is slow to Anger is better than the Mighty and he that rules his Spirit than he that takes a City Prov. xvi 32 The mighty Men whose Names sound big who have filled the World with Slaughters and made themselves masters of Kingdoms Cities Towns Countries have still been Strangers to this command of their Passions This command makes a Man a Christian for they that are Christ's have crucified the Flesh with it's Affections and Lusts and no doubt he shews that he hath Crucified all these that rather than return Evil for Evil endures a greater Evil. 3. This is the most likely Method to make People admire and fall in love with Religion which gives Men such power and enables them to do what Nature Art and Philosophy are not able to effect We have a great instance of this in a case not very unlike that I speak of in a pious Man in India who Preaching the Gospel to those Barbarians as he stood in the Street discoursing of Christ Crucified an Indian full of Spight and Spleen having gathered what filth and nastiness he could came up to him and spit full in his Face The good Man not at all concerned at the Affront gently wiped away the Spittle and went on in his Discourse not moved in the least with the injury an Act so Astonishing to that barbarous People that abundance came in and professed themselves Proselytes of Christianity There are so few Men in this Age that practice these stricter Precepts of our Religion that that 's one Reason why so few are Converted or become Obedient to the Faith Such extraordinary acts of Patience under Injuries would make Sensual Men stand amaz'd at the mighty Power of God in our Souls and oblige them to yield their Members Servants of Righteousness unto Holiness 4. From hence flows the sweetest Peace and Satisfaction even from hence when rather than return Evil for Evil we are ready to suffer a greater Evil. Self-denial is the Key that unlocks the hidden Treasures of Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Hence came that mighty Peace we find in the Holy Apostles and their Followers St. Paul tells us a very strange thing of himself 2 Cor. vii 4 I am exceeding joyful in all our Tribulation This looks like the greatest Paradox What rejoyce in Chains in Hunger in Thirst and Nakedness What rejoyce in Dungeons in Prisons in Distresses by Land and by Water Is it possible to rejoyce in Persecutions in being made the filth and off-scouring of the World It had been something if he had said with Solomon Eccles. ii 4 I am exceeding joyful because I have made me great Works built me Houses planted Vineyards made me Gardens and Orchards planted me Trees of all kind of Fruits made me Pools of Water to water therewith the Wood that brings forth Fruit and gotten me Servants and Maidens and had Servants born in my House and because I have great Possessions of great and small Cattle and have gather'd Silver and Gold and the peculiar Treasure of Kings and have gotten me Singers and Women-Singers c. These are the gaudy things that make the Children of Men merry and joyful but to talk of being exceeding joyful under a very sorrowful scene of Misery this sounds as if the Apostle were besides himself But no the good Man was in his Wits his Reason strong and lively within him and he felt what he said and what could be the Reason of this Joy Why It was Self-denial and the greater the Self-denial is the greater is the Joy and what greater Self-denial could there be than what he mentions 1 Cor. iv 12.13 Being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we entreat as if he had said Rather than return Evil for Evil we are ready to suffer a greater Evil Men in whom sense and love of the World reigns must needs be unacquainted with this Joy But thus it is not with Persons who live by Faith in the Son of God These both taste it and feel it and the reason is because they tread in the Steps of Christ Jesus who when he was reviled reviled not again and when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judges righteously 1 Pet. ii 23 Inferences 1. From these words it doth not follow that therefore the Office of the Magistrate is needless or that a Christian cannot lawfully and conscientiously be a Magistrate These words of our Saviour are indeed alledged to prove it and the Objection runs thus If we Christians are to endure Injuries patiently are not to demand Retaliation from the Magistrate and rather than Revenge our selves are to suffer a greater Injury the Office of a Magistrate which consists chiefly in revenging Wrongs and Injuries and in returning Evil for Evil is needless nay dangerous nor can a Christian conscientiously engage in an Office which obliges him to act contrary to the rule of Christ for what doth the Magistrate but resist the Evil Man and if he be not to be resisted how can a Christian safely execute or discharge that Office I answer That this Precept of our Saviour is given to private Christians or to Christians in a private Capacity and not to Magistrates will appear from the following Particulars 1. As Christ hath no occasion here to talk of Magistrates Christian Magistrates I mean so it cannot be rationally suppos'd that he prescribes any Law to them The Persons he speaks to were Disciples invested with no secular Authority and though he speaks to all his Disciples both those that were then and who were to succeed them yet he considers them still in the capacity of Christians not as they are or may be entrusted with Power and Authority for the Publick Good which respects must necessarily require other Measures 2. Christ did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfil it but if he had abolished the Office of Magistrates or made it unlawful he had destroy'd a considerable part of the Law of Moses which doth not only relate to Magristrates but makes the Office indispensibly necessary 3. Christ came to explain and revive the Law of Nature which Law requires Peace and Order in a Common-wealth and this not being to be had without Magistrates which may encourage those that do well and punish the Evil-Doers it must follow that Magistrates as Magistrates are not concern'd in this Precept 4. How can this Text be levell'd against the Power of Magistrates when Magistrates are the
the Accomplishment by our uneasiness under the Injury Ay but still experience shews that this Patience under Injuries hardens the insolent Man in his Sins We grant it but whose fault is it not ours but of his own impenitent Heart which indeed deserves our Pity and our Prayers but heaps no Guilt upon our Heads Surely we shall not be answerable for other Mens boldness in their Sins nor is our Patience a compliance with their Folly which is not intended to harden but to melt them and if like vitious Stomachs they turn that into Corruption which was intended for their Nourishment they feed indeed but not like Bees that gather Honey from the Flowers they suck but like Toads and Vipers that convert the Juice of wholsome Herbs into Poyson But is this an Argument that I must therefore inflame my Soul with Wrath and Revenge because the other swells with Venom So that all these Objections vanish and that which seem'd impossible appears if view'd without these false Glasses very practicable No doubt it is so and may be made very easie too and if you ask me how the following Rules will give you satisfaction 1. By admiring the praise of God above the praise of Men. It is recorded to the eternal Shame and Disgrace of those chief Men and Rulers among the Jews who believed in Christ yet durst not confess him Cowards as they were that they loved the praise of Men more than the praise of God Joh. xii 48 Men in great Places and Dignities this is their Temper this is the Rule they go by let God praise and commend a Vertue never so much if it meet not with the same Applause among Men. If Men do count it disagreeable to the Punctilio's of Honour and the Aire of the Court and the Humour of the Age or if it be not good Manners they carefully shun it and to be sure such Men will never come up to the Rule of the Text. But he that comes to a fixt and steady Resolution of esteeming the praise of God above the praise of Men that 's the Person who is like to triumph over all the Desires of Revenge And O God! why should not we esteem thy Praise thy Commendations and Approbations beyond the Applauses of Mortal Men Are not thy Commendations most rational most weighty most unbyass'd most true and most durable whereas those of poor Mortals how partial are they how subject to Mistakes how uncertain how weak how transitory how short and how unprofitable in that Day when God shall judge the World in Righteousness He that esteems the praise of God more than the praise of Men doth not only act like a true Philosopher but hath this satisfaction in himself that he lives by Faith and not by sight and will be able to Laugh when others shall Howl in outward Darkness so true is that Saying of the Apostle 2 Cor. x. 18 Not he who commends himself and we may add Not he whom Men commend is approv'd but whom the Lord commends 2. By a firm perswasion that without this Patience under Evil or Injuries or Affronts or reviling Language we cannot be and are no Christians I say by a firm Perswasion for most Men have general slight and imperfect Idea's and Notions of the thing but that will do no good A firm Perswasion is convincing our selves thoroughly by suitable powerful Arguments that we bear the name of Christians in vain and play with it and make a meer formality of it except we heartily comply with our Master's Will in this particular And if the Soul be impregnated with this principle and hath a brisk and lusty Sense of it the Danger or rather the Thoughts of it will work through all Obstacles and Impediments and we shall make a shift to resist the importunate desires of Flesh and Blood which tempt us to return Evil for Evil. 3. By fixing the Eyes of our Understandings upon the future Reward and Recompence This is the great Engine whereby our base slavish and worldly Fears must be removed and till we have lively apprehensions of that Reward and are concern'd about it like Men in danger of losing the greatest Blessing the Opinions and Censures of the World will prevail more with us than all that Christ or any Apostle can say Till a Man doth more vehemently desire to be happy in the other World than in this the Vertues which go against the Interest of Flesh and Blood will move very heavily and so will Patience under Affronts and Injuries But the Soul being chafed and heated with brisk and lively thoughts of that Heavenly Country and walking through that Holy City which is above and viewing the Towers and Bullwarks of it will break out into Holy Flames which will consume and burn up the Hay and Straw and Stubble of Carnal Reasons and false Suggestions of the Flesh and the Devil and frown the motions of Revenge into Exile 4. By quickning and raising our Love to God into more than ordinary fervours Love dares do any thing I mean Love that hath Fire in 't and burns clear upon the Altar of the Heart The great Reason why you dare not venture upon these harder Lessons is because your Love to God is weak and faint and like that of green Wood apt to expire The Soul that sets God before her in all his Beauty and Glory and Mercy and Rewards and Promises till she loves him beyond what the Eye doth see and the Hands can handle gets the Victory and this very Command will not seem grievous to her Love made the Lord Jesus give his back to the Smiter and Love will make you give the other Cheek to the striker Love will make you even rejoyce that you have something to lose for God and that you can do something that inclines his Favour to you Love will carry you above all the little Lime-twigs which are apt to catch and intangle your Souls Love will charm your Passions tye up your Tongues and hold your hands that you will not dare to return Evil for Evil. 5. Examples are incouraging things And have not we very illustrious Examples of this Patience under Affronts and Injuries in Moses David St. Paul and of other Apostles and Believers Why should not we do as they did Why should not we free and extricate our selves from the Snares of the World and press toward the Mark as well as they Was the way they walk'd in good and safe and shall we be afraid to tread in their Steps Did they understand the Will of God and can we follow better Patterns We all conclude they were saved by doing as Christ directs in the Text and shall we be fond of finding out a new way to Salvation It 's true they were derided by the World for so doing but have they lost any thing by the Bargain If they have been Gainers why should not we venture upon the reproach of Christ as well as they Did they thrive and
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
to prove what I intend that we are not to hate an Enemy because the Kindnesses we owe him relate only to this present Life And to this may be added that the injurious acts of an Enemy bear no proportion to the acts of Enmity we are guilty of against God and we would not have God hate us notwithstanding those Acts it follows that there is no reason for our hating an Enemy upon the account of the Injuries he doth or hath done us But this we shall have occasion to discuss more largely in the following Verses Let 's go on and IV. Enquire What is the true import of loving our Neighbour And 1. As by a Neighbour in Scripture is meant every Man that stands in need of our Help and Assistance and of whose Help and Assistance we may stand in need as appears from the Parable of the wounded Man Luk. x. 30 so Love to our Neighbour imports a faithful discharge of all the Duties of the second Table which is the reason that St. Paul affirms of this Love that it is the fulfilling of the Law because love works no ill to his Neighbour no ill to Princes no ill to Magistrates no ill to Parents or Relations no ill to High or Low Rich or Poor no not to the meanest or poorest Creature Rom. xiii 8 9 10. 2. The measure of this Love is set down by God himself Lev. xix 18 Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self which properly denotes not the same degree of Love but the same Sincerity and that we are to make our Love to our selves the Rule and Standard whereby we are to Love others according to the several degrees of their Relations and the several degrees of Goodness which appear in them for no doubt we are to be kinder to a Father than to a Stranger and more officious to a good Man than to a bad one yet so that neither the greatest Strangers nor the worst of Men be altogether excluded from our Kindness or such acts of Kindness which we might rationally expect under the same Circumstances 3. This Love to our Neighbour implies not only abstinence from Wrongs and Injuries from dishonouring our Parents from Murther from Adultery from Stealing Lying bearing False-witness and from Coveting our Neighbour's Goods but all those positive acts of Charity mention'd in 1 Cor. xiii 4 5 6 7. and 1 Pet. xi 8 9 10. and Matth. xxv 35 36. And these acts must flow from inward Compassion For as the Spirit of Man is the principle of all Moral and Spiritual Acts so whatever acts of Love we exercise toward our Neighbour they must come from the Heart and from a sence of our Duty and of the Love of God and these acts must be so managed that they become not accessary to other Mens Sins for it 's no Love to Love another into Sin or sinful Compliances which is the reason that the Apostle pressing this Peace and Love to our Neighbour makes Holiness its inseparable Companion Follow Peace with all Men and Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord Heb. xii 14 And this Love is called the Royal Law Jam. ii 8 not because the King of Kings gave it but because this Love to our Neighbour is the Queen of all Graces and he that excels in it Reigns and Rules over a Thousand Lusts and Temptations But V. May it not be in some sence a Duty to love our Neighbour and to hate an Enemy That which makes me take notice of this Point is an Observation of Origen who saith This is very good Divinity if by the Enemy we understand the Devil Though its certain that our Saviour in these words doth not directly aim at this yet it must be confessed that in this sence that loose Principle of the Pharisees may bear a very good construction Indeed the Devil is the greatest Enemy we are to hate We have renounc'd him in our Baptism and we are sworn to that Hatred Against him let 's boldly vent our Hatred even against all his Works and all his evil Suggestions which way soever they are presented to us whether by the Flesh or by the World or by Evil Men. Here we need move no Scruples no Cases of Conscience how far we may lawfully hate the Devil We are to hate him with a perfect Hatred and express it by Trembling and by abhorrency of all that 's pleasing to him or offensive to God It 's true we see not the Devil but we feel him and whatever Evil Thought or Desire or Motion appears in our Minds let 's firmly conclude it comes either directly or indirectly from that Enemy To this Enemy no kindness is to be shewn No League no Peace no Confederacy no not so much as a Truce is to be made with him with him we are to wage War continually He is no Subject capable of making Peace with for Peace with him is Enmity against God wounding our own Soul destroying the peace of our Consciences and descending into the Chambers of Hell Inferences 1. If we take a view of the Manners of Men in the Age we live in one would think that the Pharisees are still alive and instill the same Principle into them that they did into their Disciples in Christ's Days viz. Love your Friends and hate your Enemies For the Actions of Men are so exactly conformable to this Rule that if a Man were to measure Christ's Religion by the Practices of his Followers he might go near to inferr that Christ taught this Doctrine as well as the Pharisees To hate an Enemy we look upon to be a very just and reasonable thing and do him all the ill Offices as we have occasion to speak Evil of him to Reproach him to Calumniate him to invent Lyes of him and to Report them too we generally make so light of that we wonder at the Man that offers to exhort us to better Principles Among Heathens and Infidels this would not look very strange among Men who never heard of a Jesus or of the Gospel this might pass though there is something even in the voice of Nature which might teach them better things but among Christians who talk and sing and speak every Day of God's loving them when they were his Enemies this is a huge Paradox Christ exercised the greatest acts of Love toward us in dying for us when we were Enemies we confess it and our Churches ring of these glad Tidings How easie would be the Inference Hath God loved me when I was his Enemy and shall I hate my Fellow-Christian because I look upon him as mine Enemy Is this my acknowledgement of God's Love Is this to express my gratitude for his Goodness Had God Compassion on me when I was his Enemy and shall I have none on mine Was God's Love to me intended as a Pattern for me to follow and shall I overlook the Design and please my self in my Hatred and Ill-nature I am moved by the Examples of
proceed to Hatred that Hatred to Revenge that Revenge to Destruction In a word this would breed the greatest Confusion in Families Cities and Provinces and nothing would be more miserable than the Children of Men. In the worst of Times when Vice and Impiety abounds and triumphs and Religion is scorned and lies neglected This Principle of loving those who love us doth yet uphold Humane Societies but were this Cement abolish'd or abandon'd the whole Frame must fall into Disorder and break into a shapeless Chaos 2. To love those who love us is a dictate not only of Reason but of instinct too and therefore Instances of it are to be found even in Beasts and Brutes and irrational Creatures I am not very apt to believe all Passages in History concerning Beasts and their wonderful Kindnesses to those who have been kind to them yet some are so well attested that I cannot forbear giving credit to them Andronicus his Lyon is Famous and what Wolves and Tygers and Serpents have done to the Holy Hermites of old are things not to be slighted However let 's cast our Eyes upon what our own Experience doth furnish us with we all know how wonderfully kind Dogs are to those who feed them and make much of them and there are such Examples of Fidelity and Love to their Masters in these Animals that many a Man may blush to see himself outdone by those despicable Creatures Nay Wild-Beasts are serviceable and obliging to those of their own kind that are so to them so that not to love those who love us is to be worse than Beasts and Brutes whom instinct and the weight of sence forces into this Duty Nay 3. The Devils themselves are kind to those who are so to them And therefore one of them sent word to Croesus who complain'd of his Unkindness after he had fill'd his Altar with frequent Incence that he had no reason to find fault with him for being unkind for when he i. e. Croesus was to be burnt by the order of Cyrus he i. e. the Devil raised a Storm of Wind and Rain and put out the Fire and it 's probable he did so if God gave him leave being the Prince of the Air and therefore in a Capacity of making Alterations and Changes in Wind and Weather However his Kindness is very evident to those who do ordinarily serve him by their Vices for to require their faithful Service he frights them not molests them not perhaps not all the Days of their Lives but feeds them with pleasant Fancies gives them opportunity to fulfil their wicked Desires and to accomplish their Lusts and sometimes as we read of Pope Silvester II. helps them to considerable Preferment It 's true these are dangerous Kindnesses yet they are taken for such by vitious Men and it serves to prove that the Principle of the Text is observ'd by the Devils themselves and then what a strange Creature must he be who is defective in this Practice seeing he is worse than Beasts and Devils And the thing being so very bad one would think none should be found at least among Christians who can be charged with this Guilt but whether there be such Persons will appear from the second Particular II. What Persons they are who act against this natural Principle And here 1. What do ye think of refractary unnatural and untowardly Children who reward the tender Care of their Parents their Love and Tenderness and Indulgence with contempt of their Advice and Admonitions and running into Rioting and Drunkenness into Chambering and Wantonness into Strife and Envy and taking Courses which tend to the undoing of their Souls and Bodies Are there no such Children If there are none what 's the reason of the many daily Complaints of this Nature Whether there be any such among us at this present I know not but if there were I would shew them their Faces in this Glass and let them see how ugly and deform'd they look I would call to them in the Language of St. John the Baptist O Generation of Vipers why will not ye be warned to flee from the Wrath to come A Generation of Vipers indeed that tear out the Bowels of those who gave you Life Do not your Parents love you Do not they Maintain and Feed and Educate you in the fear of God Do not they entreat you to mind your everlasting Interest Do not they encourage you to Goodness dissuade you from Vice invite you to the House of God to Prayer and to other Exercises which will give you Peace in the End Do not they plead and reason and argue with you and warn you not to undo your selves And is not this Love and Tenderness and Affection But if you reject their Holy Counsels despise their Exhortations and scorn their warmest Expostulations will run into Company which is your bane rush into destruction and venture into the Chambers of Death is not this requiring their Love with Hatred their Kindness with Baseness and their Charity with the greatest Ingratitude And is not this sinking below Publicans and Heathens for they love those that love them Tell me not that you love their Persons though you hate their Instructions for what doth Love to their Persons signifie while you hate that wherein they do most of all express their Love and declare their Tenderness and Affection 2. The same may be said of Hearers with respect to their faithful Pastors and Teachers we admonish we entreat we reprove we tell our People of their Vices and spare them not we represent to them their Errors in their Native Colours and all that they may amend their Ways and become Favourites of Heaven And is not this Tenderness and Love and Affection What else can be the reason of it It is true our Calling and Profession obliges us to say something but this we might do in general Terms without rubbing their Sores or Lancing their Wounds or breaking their Imposthumes It 's Kindness therefore that makes us tell them the Truth and lay open their Defects and assure them of the Terrors of the Lord and all that their Souls may live and be blessed and glorious and enjoy the future Glory But yet we find that some there are who hate us for our Pains call us Rash and Inconsiderate and worse Names and bear a secret Spleen to us because we are so plain and downright and so free in our Censures and is not this hating those who love you St. Chrysostom had large Experience of these unkind Returns and therefore in several of his Homilies he warns his Auditors and exhorts them not to suffer their faithful Teachers to be slander'd or abus'd Some of the Corinthians 1 Cor. ix 11 thought much of contributing to the maintenance of their Pastors the Apostle is surpriz'd at it What saith he if we have sown unto you Spiritual things is it a great Matter if we reap your Carnal Things And he had reason to find fault with
but reproves them either for their Oaths or other Sensualities But that Clownishness if it must be call'd so is a Duty Notwithstanding this we may preserve the respect due to their Places and Elevations in the World as we see in St. Paul who though he did not comply with the Sins of Ananias the High-Priest and of Festus the Governour yet paid them the respect their Stations and the Figure they made in the World requir'd II. The Text teaches us how we are to aggravate our Sins in our confessions to God To commit Sins which the very Heathens and Publicans condemn and abhor must needs be very dreadful in a Christian because he Sins against the very Principles of Nature In the same manner to neglect that which Heathens and Publicans by the light of Nature do find and affirm and observe as necessary must make the omission exceeding black in a Christian because he is without excuse And therefore if any of us have been unkind disobliging ill-nanatur'd cross and surly and morose to those who are kind and loving and tender and charitable to us let 's not make light of the Sin which is so much the greater by how much it is condemn'd by Heathens and Publicans Christians the Gospel obliges you to love your Enemies and will not ye love your Friends Not to love your Enemies will bring the Wrath of God upon you how much more your not loving those who love you The neglect of the more difficult Task will make you miserable and will not neglect of the easier cover your Faces with Confusion Intemperance Drunkenness Cheating Defrauding Lying Extortion Profaneness c. are condemn'd by the very Heathens and will you from whom greater Vertues are expected defile your selves with such Sins as these The brighter the Light is the greater is the Sin and therefore a Christian who lives under a higher Dispensation if he neglects that which the lesser was sufficient to instruct him in Sins with a witness for he Sins in the midst of Sun-shine In our Confessions therefore such Sins must be particularly deplor'd as exceeding others in heinousness And O! let the greatness of the Sin fright us for ever from venturing upon the like again and let 's bless God that there is yet hopes of Mercy and Vertue the Efficacy in the Blood of Jesus to wash away Sins which bring more than ordinary Guilt upon the Soul III. Since it is so unnatural and irrational a thing not to love those who love us behold how irrational and unnatural a thing it must be not to love God who loves us and hath loved us into Miracles and Prodigies Hath not he loved us Dares any say he hath not If he hath not loved us what do our Praises signifie Why do we praise him as it is in our Liturgy for our Creation Preservation and all the Blessings of this Life Why do we publickly and privately praise him above all things for the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory Are not these signs of Love Can there be greater Characters of his Love Do not we own and confess and acknowledge that these are certain marks of Love But why Christian why art thou so unkind to that God who hath loved thee thus He keeps thee he watches over thee he is thy Sun and thy Shield thy Shade on thy right Hand daily and hourly he showers down Blessings upon thee and all the Evils that befall other Men and which thou art preserved from it 's he that preserves thee from them But why so disrespectful to that God who incircles and crowns thee with loving kindnesses and tender Mercies Art not thou unkind to him when thou sin'st against him Art not thou disrespectful to him when thou wilfully do'st that which he protests in his Word is abomination in his Eyes What Iniquity do'st thou find in him that a God so tender and so kind cannot attract or charm thy Heart into reciprocal Love Why wilt thou suffer that Tongue of thine to vent it self in frothy and corrupt Communications which was given thee to sing his Praises Why wilt thou dishonour him with those Creatures which were intended for thy use and refreshment Why wilt thou make those Members of thy Body Instruments of Unrighteousness which were intended to be Instruments of Holiness Why wilt thou make thy Soul a sink and sty of impure and noisome Lusts which was intended to be a Temple of the Holy Ghost Why wilt thou make those Mercies thou enjoyest Weapons to fight against him which were intended as silken Strings to lead thee to his Banqueting-House the Banner whereof is Love He draws thee with Cords of Love was ever greater gentleness used toward a Child and canst thou find in thy Heart to grieve such Bowels of Compassion Behold what manner of love the Father hath shewn to us that we should be called the Children of God and is this your gratitude to make your selves Children of Hell and Heirs of Damnation There is that in the Love of God which would be an Antidote against all Sins whatsoever had'st thou but Courage to remember that Love and to set it before thee in lively Characters Joseph remembred God lov'd him and he resolutely resists the Charms of his Mistress How can I saith he commit this Wickedness and Sin against God Christian were the Love of God seriously remembred and thought of thou could'st not Sin To offend him would go as much against thee as drinking Poyson or a draught of Gall and Wormwood We talk a thousand great Things of Love what Power it hath to charm rational Souls Sirs God hath given you rational Souls and you are sensible there is no Love so great so amazing so wonderful as the Love of God to your Souls and Bodies I beseech you therefore Brethren by the Mercies of God by the Love of God by the Charity of our Lord Jesus Christ that you present your Souls and Bodies living Sacrifices Holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable Service Amen SERMON XXXIX St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 48. Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect THat no Man may be offended at this Command of Perfection which some think utterly impossible on this side Heaven and others do as vainly boast of as if they were arrived to it Give me leave to tell you that it 's no unusual thing in Scripture to meet with Exhortations of that Nature It was God's Order to Abraham Gen. xvii 1 Walk before me and be thou perfect and it seems it is the design of the Gospel and of the preaching of it that we may present every one perfect in Christ Jesus Coloss. i. 28 And to this purpose was the Prayer of Euphrates for the same Colossians That they might stand perfect and compleat in all the Will of God Col. iv 12 And accordingly St. Paul entreats treats the