Reason A Scripture should be more to us than any Reason provided only that we mistake it not that we misunderstand it not that we misapply it not for we can have no greater confirmation than Divine Authority We must therefore take heed lest at any time we prove irreverent Rejecters of the Word of God or any thing propounded to us out of the Holy Scriptures Abraham prefers the voice of Moses and the Prophets before the testimony of one arising purposely from the dead for the warning of the living S. Luk. 16.31 If they hear not Moses and the Prophets saith he neither will they be perswaded though one arose from the dead But if once the Law and the Prophets Moses and the Prophets find credit the Old Testament will usher in the belief of the New as well as the New confirm and strengthen the belief of the Old Had you believed Moses sayings S. John 5.46 you would have believed me saith Christ for he wrote of me Why what wrote he of Christ This expresly God shall raise up unto thee a Prophet like unto me Deut. 18.15 of thy Brethren according to thy desire and I will put my words into his mouth and whosoever will not hearken unto the words which he shall speak in my Name I will require it of him I urge the venerable estimation and reception of the Holy Scriptures from the force of our Blessed Saviour's Argument For this is the Law and the Prophets He backs his Golden Rule and Precept with that Divine and Infallible Authority which whoever are found despisers and contemners of will be sentenced as rejecters of the Testimony and Commands of God himself for the Holy Scripture is no other than his Voice who hath the most absolute Authority over both our Faith and Obedience And were there no other Reason or Account to be given of this Prescription of Christs it were abundant proof That it is Gods peremptory Command made known in the Law and Prophets But then Secondly We may further paraphrase the meaning of our Blessed Saviour's Argument thus This is the sum of all that the Law and the Prophets require at our hands To that purpose S. Chrysostom See Sect. 1. p. 1. as I noted in the beginning The whole Law in S. Paul's language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 13.9 is sum'd up into this Sentence as into an Head Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self To this Head he refers expresly all the Commands of the Second Table that respect our duty to others For this saith he Thou shalt not commit Adultery Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness Thou shalt not covet and if there be any other Commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this namely Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self which I have shewed before to be the inward and vital Principle of our Saviour's Rule Sect. 4. To this Second Table therefore some limit and confine the Text. Intelligendum est de lege monitis spectantibus mutua inter se hominum officia Grot. in loc Videtur autem hoc praeceptum ad dilectionem proximi pertinere non autem ad Dei cum in alio loco duo esse praecepta dicat in quibus tota lex pendet prophetae cum autem hic non addit tota lex quod ibi addidit fervavit locum alteri praecepto quod est de dilectione Dei S. Aug. de Serm. Dom. cit in Cat. D. Tho. 'T is to be understood saith Grotius of the Law and those Monitions in the Prophets which concern the mutual Offices of men one towards another S. Augustine in like manner This Precept seems to belong to the Love of our Neighbour only and not the Love we owe to God since that in another place Christ saith that there are two Commandments upon which hang all the Law and the Prophets Now since he addeth not here the whole Law or all the Law which he addeth there expresly he hath left room for the other Precept of the Love of God to be supplied The Text he refers to is that of S. Mat. chap. 22. where our Saviour being asked S. Matth. 22.36 40. Which is the great Commandment of the Law answers Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind This is the first and great Commandment And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self On these Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They conspire and meet together in these two to these two they are reducible The Jews themselves called these Summas magnas Vniversalia magna the great Sums and the great Universals The first of the Love of God can by no means be omitted for our Obligations to him are antecedent to all other and most considerable We must therefore have a special respect to the first and great Commandment But yet the second too saith Christ is like unto it being as universal and extensive as the former Quia actus non externos tantum sed in ternos praecipit vim suam quam latissime extendit priori necessario nexu cohaeret propter quam cohaerentiam à Paulo dicitur de posteriori quod Christus de duobus dixit Grot. in loc reaching both the inward and outward man and inseparably connected with the former for which coherence or connexion sake saith Grotius that is spoken by Paul of this later which Christ said of them both For so far may that Phrase of his reach in his Epistle to the Romans chap. 13. And if there be any other Commandment viz. not only of the Second but of the First Table Ut sit vivum ac sensibile corpus agnitio Dei necessaria est quasi caput omnes virtutes quasi corpus Vide Lactant. l. 6. It must needs be granted that these two great Commandments have that mutual dependence and tye each to other that the one necessarily as it were includeth and carrieth the other along with it The love of God includeth the love of our Neighbour and the love of our Neighbour presupposeth the love of God 1 S. John 4.20 If a man say I love God and hateth his Brother he is a liar saith S. John for he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen ch 3.17 How dwelleth the Love of God in him The love of God then includes the love of Man and the love of Man is used by the same Apostle as a plain demonstration of our love to God Beloved ch 4. v. 7 8. let us love one another for Love is of God and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God He that loveth not knoweth not God for God is Love S. Augustine therefore
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so unto them Amoris tui erga proximum mensura es tu ipse singulos sic dilige quomodo tu ab iis diligi velles si esses illorum loco Camero Thou art thy self become the measure of thy love towards thy Neighbour as Camero hath it so love thou others as thou wouldest be loved by them if thou wert in their place and stead i. e. Love thou others with the same sincerity wherewith thou lovest thy self and give proof of this love by doing the same to them as thou wouldest desire they should do to thee in the like condition The Law refers us to our selves because we are naturally inclined to self-love and in our own interest and concerns plerunque rectiùs videmus quid aequum sit Grot. in loc we do for the most part see more rightly what is equal at least we are not apt to wrong our selves Salust Nemini suae injuriae leves videntur No man thinks his own injuries light Camerarius Sua quisque maxima esse judicat mala Every one judgeth his own evils greatest every one is concluded truest to his own interest and concerns So then to love our Neighbour as our selves is the soul and life of this Precept to do to our Neighbour as we would be done by our selves And thus the Rule before us prescribes not only to our outward actions but to our inward affections also There must be an agreement between our heart and practice our will and doings What we are to do to our Neighbours the same we are to wish intend love desire chuse resolve upon and what we ought not to effect we may not inwardly covet or delight in without transgression Quid refert mala non facere quae affectu concupiscis Quid refert bona foris agere quibus diversa fiant intus Erasm Euchir Mil. Christ p. 119. The Laws of Christ reach to the Principles of our Actions as well as to the Actions themselves to the hidden and invisible as well as to the open and visible part of them to the fountain as well as to the streams to the cause as well as to the effects Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self and All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so unto them have the same reference each to other as the cause and the effect as the fountain and the strram as the inside and outside of one and the same Duty 2. We may farther enlarge our conceptions by viewing together this Affirmative Precept and the Negative that is deducible from it and as hath been said before to be referr'd unto it for every positive Precept includes a double Prohibition in it 1. Of the omission of the duty required And 2. Of the commission of the contrary evil Whoever commands the doing of any good forbids at the same time the neglect of that good and the evil opposite unto it He that injoyns us to do well doth as certainly bid us cease to do evil and includes withal somewhat more in his Injunctions than if he had nakedly bid us cease to do evil A negative Religion only will not serve our turns we must be also positively good and yet so we cannot be without ceasing first to be evil this being the beginning of our wisdom stultitiâ caruisse The positive Precept then is the more perfect and intire as including both the Prohibition and Command in it self And thus we are to interpret the Rule of the Text by supplying it with its Negative that is the advice of Tobit to young Tobias Do that to no man which thou hatest what thou wouldest not that men should do unto thee do not thou thy self that unto them 3. To prevent all mistakes and misapplications of this Rule to Practice there are two or three things farther to be noted by way of caution about it 1. In the general we must remember that this Rule may never be so understood or applied as to contradict or subvert any other of the more particular Laws and Appointments of Christ Quod tibi bonum praestari velles idem debes ipse alteri praestare in eisdem circumstantiis quoad fieri potest citra tertii alicujus injuriam Quod malum tibi fieri nolles à faciendo illud alteri ipse debes abstinere quoad fieri potest absque tertii alicujus injuriâ Dr. More Enchir. Eth. p. 22. or the Order established and approved by him We are to conclude that it is not at odds with any particular Laws of Charity and Justice being indeed designed only for a brief and universal comprehension of them and as a fence and security to them that we transgress not at any time through inordinate love of our selves but since we are every one presumed to be hearty prosecutors of our interest and concerns we make this our pattern example and square in our dealings with others as sincerely to have respect unto their good as our own that we have not a measure and a measure unjust balances one for our selves and another for our neighbours it having been generally observed in the World Homo in se aliud fert in alterum aliud cogitat Laberius that men have one judgement for themselves and another for their neighbours so as to condemn others at the same time and in the same things wherein they acquit and justifie themselves and deem that evil in others towards them which they continually practice themselves towards others and that good in others towards them which they deny continually unto others To prevent now this undue bias of self-self-love and self-seeking Christ requires us to use the same measure to others as to our selves as sincerely to love others as our selves and do for them as we desire they should do for us To sell as we would buy for Prov. 20.10 Divers weights and divers measures are both of them alike an abomination unto the Lord. This now being the purpose of the Rule to prevent or remove that grand prejudice which makes us swerve and decline from the particular Precepts of Order Justice and Charity towards our Neighbour we cannot we must not at any time so understand or apply it as to cross and oppose any of those Precepts 2. Therefore when our Blessed Saviour saith All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you he must be understood only de voluntate regulatâ ordinatâ of a well-ordered and regulate Will a Will following the dictates of right Reason and Religion and consequently onely conversant about things truly good and meet to be done and therefore whether we add the word bona or no as some Latin Versions have done quaecunque bona Whatsoever good things ye would that men should do unto you 't is most certain that we are so to understand and conceive of it as to exclude omne maleficium every
esse civibus quales sibi Deos velit Expedit ergo habere inexorabilia peccatis atque erroribus numina Expedit usque ad ultimam infesta perniciem Ecquis regum erit tutus Cujus non membra Aruspices colligant Quod si Dii placabiles aequi delicta potentium non statim fulminibus persequuntur quanto aequius est hominem hominibus praepositum miti animo exercere imperium cogitare utrum mundi status gratior oculis pulchriorque sit sereno puro die an cum fragoribus crebris omnia quatiuntur ignes hinc atque illinc micant Atqui non alia facies est quieti moderatÃque imperii quam sereni coeli nitentis Crudele regnum turbidum tenebrÃsque obscurum est inter trementes ad repentinum sonitum expavescentes nec eo quidem qui omnia turbat inconcusso Sen. de Clem l. 1. c. 7. because even the Heathen Seneca hath mounted to this pitch also Speaking of that mercy which becomes a Prince he thus proceeds I may very well set this Example before a Prince to imitate viz. That he shew himself such to his Citizens as he would have the Gods to be unto himself Is it therefore desirable or expedient saith he for him to have the Deities inexorable as to his sins and errors and so provoked to and resolved upon the utmost destruction Who among Kings would then be safe If therefore the Gods are placable and equal and do not presently persecute the faults of those in Power with Thunderbolts how much more is it reasonable that a man set over men should exercise his power with a meek mind and think with himself whether the state of the world be not more grateful to the eyes and beautiful in a serene and clear day than in Thunder Storms and Tempests c. Thus that Morallist excellently And there is a Proverb that hath much in it expressing the good temper that ought to be in men towards others of their own kind Homo homini Deus such a man is a God to another We should all study then to be such our selves towards others as we desire to find God to our selves The result of all is this That our desires of doing good and not evil unto others be such as may fitly become an equipoise to our desires of receiving good and not evil from God or others That we be disposed to wish and do the same good unto other men which we piously desire from God or reasonably expect from other men in a like condition our selves Calvin cit in Expos Eccles in S. Mat. 7. Regnaret perfecta aequitas si activae charitatis tam fideles essemus discipuli quam acuti sumus passivae doctores as Calvin well phraseth it Perfect equity would obtain in the World were we once as faithful Disciples of active Charity as we are acute Teachers of the Passive i. e. Were we as ready to do good as we are to receive it and as unwilling to wrong others as we are to suffer injuries our selves I have said what may suffice for the explaining of this Rule I am engaged SECT V. SEcondly To an Inquiry into those Grounds and Foundations which support it Those Truths I mean which it presupposeth and relies upon And them I shall refer to the following Heads 1. Every man is here presupposed to have an entire love and regard to himself He must needs first love himself who is obliged to love his Neighbour as himself and 't is a man's love to himself that makes him to will good and not evil from others to himself which is here made the pattern and measure of his demeanour towards others We need not any Precept from God for the loving of our selves which is a Principle that Nature hath taught every Creature viz. a self-self-love and desire of its own preservation and happiness and thereupon an inclination and appetite towards what is good agreeable and convenient with an aversation and declination from whatsoever appears otherwise And yet so it is that man oftentimes mistaking himself hates himself indeed instead of loving himself Men look upon their Bodies as themselves which are little more than the case and outside of themselves and these they love inordinately and hereby prove real haters of and enemies to their Souls the better and chiefest part of themselves for 't is the Mind and Soul and Spirit which is principally the Man and whosoever loves not that loves not himself Eph. 5.29 No man ever hated his own flesh saith the Apostle but nourisheth and cherisheth it No man to be sure in his right wits no man unless he were mad and distracted alienated and estranged from himself And yet 't is too common a sight which we have every where almost before our eyes to behold men that hate their own Souls instead of nourishing and cherishing of them though the truth is of these persons too we must say they are not themselves Gal. 3.1 they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fools and besotted they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bewitched and whenever they do return to themselves when they do resipiscere grow wise again they will lament and exclaim against their own madness Who understanding and loving of himself would continually stab and wound and injure himself Yet so doth every sinner by his transgressions Prov. 8.36 He that sinneth against me saith the Divine Wisdom wrongeth his own soul all they that hate me love death There is no such injury and hurt to a mans self as sin True it is Christ commands all his Disciples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Mat. 16.24 to deny themselves to abandon and disown themselves in some cases as Parents are wont to serve their ungracious Children and they that are Christ's Gal. 5.24 saith S. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts Nay saith our Saviour S. Luk. 14.26 If any man come after me and do not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hate his own soul i. e. his own life he cannot be my Disciple But all these and the like expressions import no more than not to sin to mortifie sin to abandon the occasions and temptations of sinning to lay down our lives and part with our temporal conveniencies rather than to sin And this is enjoyned us that we may not in the truest sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 S. Mat. 16.26 damnifie and injure our souls lose our own souls wrong our own souls so that no more is here call'd for but what the most real love of our selves engageth us to He that submits to some present pain and grief in order to the recovery and continuance of a long health and pleasure doth certainly therein discover not an hatred but a love of himself And he that is willing to undergo some temporal damage yea and the loss of his own life in order to an eternal and glorious happiness keeps most undeniably
constant and true to this principle of self-love Whoever then is a lover chuser and embracer of sin though set off with the greatest outward allurements and conveniences is really an hater and wronger of himself And whoever hates abandons and forsakes his sins though never so much to his outward loss and damage is in truth a lover of himself He that is unwilling to leave his sins to be disturbed in his sins to be reproved for his sins so far wants love to himself He that is willing to be tempted to sin to be flattered in sin to be gratified and farthered in a course of sinning is in like manner so far wanting in a true love to himself And he that loves not himself is not yet prepared for doing unto others what he would have others do unto him because he wills such things from others which are indeed prejudicial and hurtful to himself Some there are who take pleasure in the corrupting and debauching of each other se invicem turpitudine illicitae voluptatis oblectare as S. Augustine speaks De Civ Dei l. 14. c. 8. to gratifie each other in some base aund unlawful delights Now the Rule before us cannot be so understood as to warrant their wickedness because they do unto each other as they would be done by themselves inasmuch as their Wills are not set upon such things as are truly good and reasonable but really prejudicial and hurtful to themselves Corrupted man may not thus reason I desire not my self to be check'd for my sins and therefore I will not blame or reprove any others I desire my self to be served and accommodated with all means and opportunities for the accomplishing of my lusts and therefore I will also farther others in the like I love my self to drink to excess and therefore I will make others drunken also c. Remarkable is that Precept in the Law Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy heart Levit. 19.17 thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour and not suffer sin upon him Vide Ainsworth in loc Some of the Jewish Writers 't is true expound it to this purpose That when one man sinneth against another he should not inwardly hate him hereupon but make it known to the Offender and say Why hast thou done thus to me tell him freely plainly and roundly of it And so 't is much-what the same with that of our Blessed Saviour S. Luk. 17.3 If thy Brother sin against thee rebuke him and if he repent forgive him But then others as warrantably take the words in a greater extent He that seeth his Neighbour sin saith Maimonides or walk in a way not good is commanded to admonish him to do better and to certifie him that he sinneth against himself by his evil deeds as it is written Rebuking thou shalt rebuke thy Neighbour which is the Original of this Law in Leviticus The Hebrew word is noted to signifie to rebuke with conviction of argument by words to shew what is right and refel the contrary But that which I chiefly observe here is that this is injoyned as an Office of Love to our Neighbour Thou shalt not hate thy neighbour in thy heart thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour and not suffer sin upon him or as it may be rendred lest thou bear sin for him i. e. become guilty of his sin and so partake of his punishment To keep others from sin is to keep them from doing the greatest mischief to themselves and so an undoubted office of the truest love and on the other side to sollicite persons unto sin or to sooth them up in their sins is to do them the greatest injury and so to hate them in our hearts Thus therefore we may not do to others though we should vitiously covet that others should do so unto us because this will of ours ariseth not from a true love to our selves but from a perverted love a blind and mistaken love a love which is really and effectually the greatest hatred Such a false love as this deceiveth many and is too common in the world Erasmus intending to shew how men abuse the words of Love and Hatred Jam amoris odii vocabulis vide quam mundus abutatur Cum adolescens insanus puellam deperit id vulgus amorem appellat cum nullum verius sit odium Verus amor vel suo dispendio commodis alienis consulere cupit Ille quo nisi ad suam voluptatem spectat Igitur non illam sed semetipsum amat quanquam ne se quidem amat nemo enim alium amare potest nisi se prius amarit sed rectè nemo quenquam odisse potest nisi se prius oderit verum bene amare nonnunquam bene odisse est rectè odisse amasse est c. Erasm Enchirid. Mil. Christiani p. 135 136. discourseth thus When a Youth is mad of a young Maid that the common people call Love when as there is not a truer hatred True love consults anothers benefit though with his own loss But what doth this fond Youth look at save his own pleasure He loves not her therefore but himself nay he loves not indeed himself for none can love another unless he first love himself and that aright none can hate another unless he first hate himself But then to love well is sometimes to hate well and to hate well is to love well Therefore he that for so small an advantage by his flatteries and gifts lays snares for the Maid that he may deprive her of that which is her best to wit her integrity her modesty her simplicity her good mind her fame does this man think you hate or love her Certainly there can be no hatred more cruel than this So when foolish Parents indulge their Childrens Vices men say commonly How tenderly do these Persons love their Children But rather how cruelly do they hate them who whilst they give way to their own affections neglect their Childrens salvation For what other thing doth our most envious enemy the Devil wish us than that here sinning with impunity we should fall into eternal punishment Again Men call him a gentle Master and a merciful Prince who either connives at or favours certain wickednesses that they may sin the more licentiously being left without the dread of punishment But what else doth the Lord threaten by his Prophet to those whom he thinketh unworthy of his mercy And I will not visit upon your daughters saith he when they commit fornication c. And what did he promise to David I will visit saith he with the rod their iniquities and with stripes their sins but my mercy will I not take away from them In Christ all things are made new and the names of things are changed He that loves himself amiss doth bear a deadly hatred to himself He that misplaceth his mercy is cruel Well to take care of a mans self is to neglect himself
be so unfaithful to their God For how saith he will they be ever faithful to their Prince 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb ibid. who have been found so persidious and unconstant to their God whom they ought to esteem much better and above their Prince Of these Hypocrites therefore he cleared his Court and advanced the other Confessors to places of the highest consequence There is no gilding or varnish which can make treacherousness and perfidiousness appear lovely Now 't is easie to infer hence that we should not be that in this particular unto others which we can by no means approve they should be to us Rom. 12.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let love be without dissimulation saith S. Paul And S. Peter to the same purpose Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth 1 S. Pet. 1.22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the Brethren see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently or durably That which is counterfeit is not at all valuable nay when once it appears as Cheats seldom deceive long Shews and Colours will wear off Lies are but for a short continuance most detestable and odious The love we bear to our selves is uncounterfeit and sincere such therefore should be that we bear to others We do unfeignedly prosecute our own interest and concerns so therefore should we do other mens That was the commendation S. Paul gave Timothy in his Epistle to the Philippians Phil. 2.20 21. I have no man like-minded saith he who will naturally care for your state for all seek their own none the things that are Christs They seek their own heartily and sincerely the things of Christ and Christians in pretence and shew only but good men such as Timothy was do naturally care for the concerns of Christ's Members as for their own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 genuinely and without dissimulation True indeed men do sometimes through their folly and ignorance and depraved affections flatter and deceive themselves impose upon and delude themselves but who would do so upon design and wittingly who consonantly and agreeably to the Principle of Self-love We desire others should be to us really what they seem to be so therefore should we our selves be to others This sincerity I am speaking of is not so much any single Vertue as the ground-work and life of all without which they are not that they are taken for Counterfeit Gold is not Gold Counterfeit Pearl is not Pearl In like manner counterfeit Goodness is not Goodness but Vice becomes the more vicious by hiding of her self under the garment of Piety Simulata sanctitas duplex iniquitas We have no love to our Neighbour at all if it be not sincere yea saith Solomon He that hateth Prov. 26.24 25 26 28. dissembleth with his lips and layeth up deceit within him when he speaketh fair believe him not for there are seven abominations in his heart Whose hatred is covered by deceit his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole Congregation A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it and a flattering mouth worketh ruine Salvian gives us this pertinent description of false Friends and dissembling Mourners Ad Eccles Cathol l. 3. that often surround the Beds of dying Persons waiting like Eagles for a Carcass to prey upon Thou seest saith he their forced Tears their counterfeit Sighs their feigned Trouble not inwardly desiring thy recovery but expecting when thou wilt be gone Vide defixos in te quasi accusantes tui obitus tarditatem omnium vultus See all their Countenances fixed upon thee and accusing as it were the slowness of thy departure Non te sed patrimonium tuum diligunt 'T is not thee but thine Inheritance which they love And therefore he cautions us well against the flatteries and blandishments of such Gladii sunt jugulatores tui quidem ferreis atque hostilibus gladiis tetriores They are saith he killing swords and worse by far than the iron weapons of Enemies For these are open and seen by every one but unwary ones see not the other These being seen are more easily avoided but the other slay by their treacherous secrecy These none are willing to be hurt by but many are ambitious of the other loving to be flattered These whoever is assaulted with suffers both fear and grief the other kill men with delight and do in a manner tickle them to death They die as 't is said of some laughing But most certain it is That all deceit and flattery and hypocrisie would soon vanish out of the world did men observe this Golden Rule to do to others as they should chuse to be done by did they once love their Neighbour as themselves Secondly The same Rule reads us a Lecture of Humility and gives a fair occasion to declaim against Pride and Arrogance For who is there that allows and approves of the proud mans carriage towards himself Who is there to whom high looks insolent answers contemptuous neglects a lofty and scornful carriage in other men are not burthensom and grievous Who is there to whom the humanity courtesie and respect of the humble is not grateful and acceptable Pride is a most unsociable Vice No man cares for bearing the proud man company He must set Laws to all he converseth with He must be pleased and observed and humoured or 't is impossible to preserve quiet and no man loves to be confin'd to so much observance He can be content to abuse and deride others to make a mock and jest of them but will not endure the least reflection upon himself He will contradict every one but none may gainsay him And if any cross or offend him he becomes inexorable nothing will suffice but revenge and that in the highest degree A word misplaced shall forfeit the mans life Pride is made up of self-admiration and despising or disdaining of others an over-weening esteem of a mans own excellency and a supercilious undervaluing of others And both these dispositions are at great odds with that temper which is fitted for comfortable and delightful Society with other men So far is every one in love with himself that he cannot endure to be trodden under foot nor will he patiently suffer another to insult over him 'T is irksom unto every body to converse with such who are continually boasting of themselves and disparaging or detracting from others Terent. Qui nisi quod ipsi faciunt nihil rectum putant who like nothing but what they do themselves and are continually blaming or finding fault with other men The proudest man that lives is yet a professed enemy to his Brother Pride treads on Pride with greater pride and cannot endure his darling and beloved sin in another Vide Casaub ad Theoph. Charact. p. 353. Pride I find was a vice of so odious and ignominious a name of old that Tarquin for many Vices together received the Title
of them and we our selves I am sure would not like that other men should cherish and countenance any who so injure us 5. We should not harbor evil surmizes and suspicions of others without cause much less judge rashly of them and pronounce unadvisedly upon them determine of their thoughts and intentions which we know not construe doubtful matters to the worst without regard had of circumstances or be ready and forward to believe our selves and hand down to others every slanderous accusation we have at any time heard concerning them For we would not have other men think evil of us without ground or reason we would not have them judge boldly and severely of our thoughts and intentions we would not have them make the worst of all our actions we would not have them believe every flying report concerning us we would not have them report with confidence what they chance to hear at any time of us whereby our interest in others good opinions our Good Name and Reputation may be endamaged We are therefore in all these cases indispensibly obliged to preserve the same innocency towards other men Were this Rule practised as it ought to be there would be no prophane Chams Gen. 9. taking pleasure in the disclosing of their Fathers nakedness There would be no blaspheming Shimeis railing at 2 Sam. 16. and cursing others to their face There would be no traducing Hamans Esther 3.8 accusing others falsly behind their backs There would be no informing Zibas 2 Sam. 16. to steal away the good affections and esteem of any from their truest friends by sinister and unworthy suggestions There would be no slandering Sanballats to disperse abroad defamatory Letters concerning the innocent Neh. 6.6 There would be no cursed Doegs Psal 52. whose tongue deviseth mischief and loveth words that may do hurt There would be no libelling Jehoashes 2 Kings 14.9 to lessen the worth and repute of others by Parables and Comparisons Had this Rule been observed John the Baptist for his Abstinence had never been censured to have a melancholy Devil within him S. Mat. 11.19 nor our Blessed Saviour for his eating and drinking S. Luke 7.34 to be a wine-bibber and friend to Publicans and sinners Act. 28.4 S. Paul had not been thought a murderer because the Viper cleaved to his hands nor yet the suffering Galileans S. Luke 13.1 or those on whom the Tower in Siloe fell upon that score onely sinners above the rest In a word There cannot be a better protection against the injuries of a false or malicious Heart or Tongue than this And thus now I have declared the third Particular somewhat largely that we are trained up by this Rule to an universal Innocency towards others not to do them any wrong or injury in any capacity in their Persons Souls and Bodies in their Relations in their Goods and Possessions or in their Credit and Good Name Thus he that loveth another as himself and consequently doth to another as he would be done by himself hath fulfill'd the Laws that require this Innocence from us For this saith S. Paul Rom. 13.9 10. Thou shalt not commit Adultery Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness Thou shalt not covet and if there be any other Commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self Love worketh no ill unto his Neighbour therefore Love is the fulfilling of the Law Fourthly In case of wrong and injury done unto another as who is there that in all points and at all times preserves innocency this Rule enjoyns us to make as we are able Restitution or Reparation Amends and Recompence for the wrong and injury we have done for so we all desire and expect that others should do to us Where the Party is disabled to make a real satisfaction there is yet a reparation due by humble and penitent confessions and acknowledgments but where the Restitution may be in kind or value these alone will not suffice Zacheus his resolution is fit for our imitation If I have wronged any man by cozenage S. Luke 19.8 forgery and falshood I will restore four-fold at least I will restore according to what I have wronged him of It were not difficult to shew that there is no true repentance without this and consquently no forgiveness of the wrong and injury done to be look'd for at Gods hand according to S. Augustine's saying Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum But the Motive I have now to urge is because every one looks and desires that this restitution be made unto himself that there be a satisfaction and amends for the wrong and injury done him and this satisfaction must be according to the wrong done If therefore thou have wronged thy Neighbours spirit by wilful vexation and grieving of him thou art bound to make him the amends of an acknowledgment and the supplies of what comfort thou art able to administer If thou have wronged his soul by enticing him to sin or being a means of his continuance in sin thou art obliged to make him reparation according to thy power by provoking him to repentance and using all those good methods of inviting him to Vertue and Goodness which are fittest to countermine the ill methods and arts of sinning thou hast formerly prescrib'd him If thou hast prejudiced him in his Body or any part or member thereof thou art obliged to make him satisfaction according to the value of that loss he hath thereby sustained If thou hast taken away his Goods thou art obliged to restore them If the spoil of the Church the Inheritance of Widows and Orphans the Hire of Labourers be in thine hand thou art obliged to part with it If thou hast spread false reports of thy Neighbour thou art bound to unsay them If thou hast blasted his reputation thou art engaged to do what thou canst to set him right again in the esteem of others c. He that hath wronged and injured another and makes him not some amends for the wrong done declares that he is still of the same disposition and likes and approves well enough of the wrong and injury that he hath done him He that withholds any thing that is anothers from the right Owner thereof which he had unjustly gotten and procured from him justifies himself in his unrighteous usurpation and theft and whoever doth any of these things deals not with others as he is desirous to be dealt with Some injuries there are which admit not of a restitution which cannot be undone again Sometimes also the Offender is utterly disabled for making any competent and real satisfaction and there the wrong doer stands obliged to a supply of confessions and acknowledgments repentance and godly sorrow Sometimes the person wronged is not in being and then the restitution is due to the Heirs of his Body and Fortunes or if
maimed by giving money to the poor or lending freely to those who are reduced to extremities by standing up on the behalf of the Orphan and Widow for these are the things thou wouldest desire of others in a like case these are the good turns thou wouldest wish for from other men And see thou do them with the same chearfulness and bounty proportionably to thy condition as thou wouldest wish like well of and commend in any other towards thy self 'T is an excellent admonition of Lactantius touching Charity Lactant. l. 6. Quoties rogaris tentari te à Deo crede an sis dignus exaudiri As often as thou art asked and entreated of others believe that thou art tried whether or no thou art worthy thy self to be heard of God nay and of others also in a like estate The through practice of this Rule would make us all in our places as famous for the works of Mercy as Job's Character who was able to speak thus of himself Job 29.12 c. I delivered the poor that cried and the fatherless and him that had none to help him The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me and I caused the widows heart to sing for joy I was eyes to the blind and feet was I to the lame I was a father to the poor and the cause which I knew not I searched out and I brake the jaws of the wicked and pluck'd the spoil out of his teeth He that could do the least would yet help somewhat as I said before by his comfortable Words and Prayers the afflicted and necessitous To be sure he would by no means add to their burthen sorrow and vexation like Job too in this particular whose reply to his miserable Comforters was Job 16.4 5. I also could speak as you do if your soul were in my soul's stead I could heap up words against you and shake mine head at you But I would strengthen you with my mouth and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief The poor and afflicted would need no other Advocate than this in the breasts of those whom they apply to for relief to answer all their Objections against Charity and to draw forth the chearful Contributions of their Liberality and Bounty Do but to us as you would desire your selves to be dealt with in our condition and make no other excuses for the withholding or maiming your Charity towards us than you would have others make to you in a like estate There can be no question but this Precept enjoyns us all the acts of Love Charity Benevolence Mercy and Liberality towards others The only doubt to be resolved further is Whether it exact our love also to our Enemies For that you know is the Gospel-Command That we should love our Enemies that is an Instruction S. Paul takes out of Solomon If thine enemy hunger feed him Rom. 12.20 Prov. 25.21 if he thirst give him drink That was a Precept also in the Law Exod. 23.4 5. to bring back an enemies ox going astray and to help up his ass lying under a burthen Now many are so nobly resolved as we are apt to speak that they disdain to receive a Courtesie from an Enemy they will rather starve than be fed by an Enemy rather die than be preserved by an Enemy It may therefore seem questionable whether this Rule will oblige to Love and Goodness and Charity towards an Enemy doing to him as we would our selves receive from him But the resolution is easie and clear enough For who doth not commend the nobleness and generosity of an Enemies kindness who doth not praise and extol this in an Enemy and therefore must needs adjudge himself obliged to imitate what he admires the excellency and loveliness of To do good to others as Men is good and commendable in it self and so to whomsoever the good be done friend or foe But to do good to ones Enemy heightens the degrees of Charity for if it be a more blessed thing to give than to receive according to our Saviours Axiom our Reason must needs infer that it is still the more blessed and praise-worthy to do good to those from whom we have received evil our selves And as for what was principal in the Objection the unwillingness of some to receive kindnesses from their Enemies I question not but some deep degrees of suffering and extremity would quickly tame and subdue that pride and haughtiness of their Spirits Besides the Rule of our Blessed Saviour as Reverend Dr. Jackson well observes is That we do that for every man which we would have any man do for us and not only that to this or that man which we expect from them alone Nor yet merely so but as was noted in the Explication That we do that to every man according to our Abilities which we desire to receive our selves at God's hands and wo were our case if he had not loved us whilst we were Enemies loved us so then as to preserve us in our Being till by his Grace we were made friends and so admitted unto greater Blessings It is not therefore to be wondred that S. Luke S. Luke 6. placeth this Golden Rule amidst the other Commands of Love as I suggested in the beginning and that Love to Enemies whereby we may become merciful as our Father also is merciful And thus now as briefly as the copiousness of such a Subject would well allow I have run through the chief Heads of those Vertues we are engaged by this Rule to be zealous followers of and intimated by the way those contrary Vices we are to shun and abhor And I think I may well conclude this Induction with S. Paul's heap of Universals Finally Phil. 4.8 Brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest or venerable whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise think of these things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reason your selves into these things and that from the Premises already laid down SECT XIII I Pass to the second part of the Words where my stay will be much shorter the Enforcement of this Golden Rule of this General and Comprehensive Precept For this saith Christ is the Law and the Prophets Hoc lex vatésque docent Castalio in loc haec legis vatúmque summa This is that which the Law and Prophets teach and this is the sum of the Law and Prophets This Rule is established by the Authority of the Law and the Prophets and it is in it self a fruitful Epitome of the several Precepts delivered in the Law and Prophets Quae in illâ aut ab istis dicta The things contained in the Law or spoken by the Prophets are summarily comprised in this Saying The Law and the Prophets stand for all the Old Testament for which also sometimes is put Moses and
in another place gives a Comment upon the Text different from his former and indeed in his former we may observe that he spake but dubiously and by way of conjecture with a Videtur only Therefore saith he Ideò Scriptura tantum delectionem proximi commemorat cum dicit Omnia quaecunque quia qui proximum diligit consequens est ut ipsam praecipuè dilectionem diligat Deus autem dilectio est consequens est ergo ut praecipuè diligat Deum S. Aug de Trin. cit in Cat. D. Tho sup Evang. the Scripture commemorates only the love of our Neighbour when it saith All things whatsoever ye would because he that loveth his Neighbour by consequence must love especially Love it self But God is Love And therefore 't is consequent from hence that he love God especially All the Law Gal. 5.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith S. Paul to the Galatians is fulfilled in one word even in this Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self Here is tota Lex all the Law in answer to S. Augustine's former scruple The whole Law and that fulfilled in this one word or sentence Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self To this Precept then of the Text we may in a sort refer all the Commands of the Law and Prophets even totum hominis the whole Duty of Man The Precepts in the Law and Prophets concern either our Duty to our Neighbours to our selves or unto God Now the Offices which respect our Neighbours are here most expresly injoyned as hath been declared in Particulars And then The Duties respecting our selves are here necessarily presupposed in as much as we are presumed to love our selves aright to be rightly disposed our selves that so we may become fit measures of Love and Duty towards others And then The Duties we owe to God must needs be in like manner included because we can neither love our selves nor our Neighbour aright without the love of God But besides this the disposition which this Rule calls for and works us up to naturally leads to the Duties of the First as well as the Second Table For 1. The scope and intendment of it is that we be as ready to do good as we are desirous to receive good and consequently we must needs be as ready to do that for God which he requires of us as we desire God should be ready to do for us that which we expect from him as ready to obey his commands as we are to desire a blessing from him 2. The meaning of the Rule is that we would do to others whatsoever we would judge reasonable our selves to be done to us were we in their place whatsoever we judge befitting their state quality and condition and consequently we are necessarily obliged from hence to do all that towards God which our Reason and Understanding rectified by Divine Light judgeth becoming Creatures towards their Creator Preserver Redeemer and continual Benefactor Creatures so related unto God as we are according unto every relation wherein we stand whatsoever becomes us as Subjects to our Heavenly Sovereign as Servants to our Heavenly Master as Children to our Heavenly Father 'T is reasonable all men being Judges that the chiefest Good have our chiefest love and delight that Truth it self have our firm belief that Omnipotence have our chiefest fear and trust that he from whom we are and upon whom we depend be glorified by us in every capacity in Body and Soul which are his and that we offer not any such lazy unbecoming and irreverent Devotions and Services to him which we would blush to bring before our Earthly Governour The Prophet Malachi argues upon this foundation Mal. 1.6 8 14. Deus quoniam utramque personam sustinet Patris Domini amare eum debemus quia filii sumus timere quia servi Lactant. l. 4. A Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master If then I be a Father where is mine Honour and if I be a Master where is my Fear saith the Lord of Hosts And if ye offer the blind for Sacrifice is it not evil And if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil Offer it now to thy Governour will he be pleas'd with thee or accept thy person saith the Lord of Hosts And then he concludes But cursed be the deceiver which hath in his Flock a Male but voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing for I am a great King saith the Lord c. He that sits down and considers with himself what God is and how he is related unto God what God hath done for him and what he expects from God will forthwith find within himself an indispensible obligation to all the acts of Love and Religion towards God as unquestionably due by the common and natural Laws of Justice and Gratitude to that excellent Being and Majesty from which he hath received so much and expects so much This Rule then will plainly oblige us to hate all hypocrisie and double dealing towards God which we abominate in men towards our selves and to be sincere and upright before him especially to whose all-seeing eye all things are dissected naked and open To humble our selves in the presence of so Glorious a Majesty and not to be vainly puffed up in our minds since we loath Pride in others and in those chiefly whom we have raised to that degree of excellency which they partake of when they exalt themselves against us To detest in our selves that disobedience towards God which we cannot our selves endure in our Servants and Inferiors If we weak men saith devout Salvian Si nos qui homunculi imbecilli sumus contemni tamen à servis nostris omninò nolumus quos etsi nobis servitutis conditio inferiores humana tamen sors reddit aequales quam iniquè utique coelestem Dominum contemnimus qui cum homines ipsi simus contemnendos tamen nos à nostrae conditionis hominibus non putamus Nisi tanti fortasse consilii ac tam profundae intelligentiae sumus ut qui pati injurias servorum nolumus subditum injuriis nostris Deum esse velimus quae ipsi toleratu humano indigna credimus Deum à nobis digna haec tolerare credamus Salv. p. 79. will not suffer our selves to be despised by our Servants who though inferiour to us in their condition are yet in a sort equal with us by Nature how unjustly do we despise our Heavenly Lord who being men do yet think that we ought not to be contemn'd by men of our own nature Unless it may be we are of so profound an understanding that we who will not suffer the injuries of our Servants would yet have God subject unto ours and can believe that God will take that well of us which we think unworthy and unfit to be born with among men And then since God is before-hand with us in doing of us good and we are not able