complain of Wrong is no just Offence given since the Law of Nature and Scripture doth not absolutely forbid it and the Common Good which the Law of Nature hath respect to sometime requires it so that if a Person Vitious and Brutish and Covetous and Illnatured Base and Selfish who is able to pay and will not and deals Fraudulently and Deceitfully be cast into Prison it is no Breach of Charity provided still that it is not Anger or Malice or Revenge or delight in Men's Misery or some other base sinister End and Design that is the cause of our taking this rougher Way but love to Justice intent to reform the Offender by Affliction and care to prevent his continuance in Sin and doing hurt to others c. And if there be no Breach of Charity there needs no Reconciliation It 's granted the Law of the Land allows you to Arrest any Man that is indebted to you whether he be able to pay or not But may it not be said in this Case as Christ to the Pharisees in the Law of Divorce for the hardness of your Hearts the Law permits it but still it doth not hinder you from shewing Mercy The Law of the Land contradicts not the Law of the Gospel nor was it ever intended to draw Men off from their Duty to God and to their Neighbour and since Charity is the great Gospel Duty we must think our selves obliged more by what the Gospel commands than by what the Law of the Land permits and though it be a kind of Charity to punish Malefactors yet every Debtor comes not into this Number nor must those to whom it is an Affliction not to be in a Condition to satisfy their Creditors be confounded with the Wicked that borrows and pays not again This being Premised I shall consider what Use we are to make of these Words of our Saviour and this will soon appear if you will attend to the following Observations I. While a Man keeps or maintains Hatred and Malice to his Neighbour in his Heart God is his Adversary II. To agree with God betimes is our wisest Course III. God deals very gently with us before he lets us feel the heaviest Stroak of his Vengeance He both calls to Repentance and gives time for it IV. Delay of true Repentance provokes God to proceed to very severe nay to the severest Courses of Vengeance V. Hell is a Prison from which there is no coming out till all the Debt be paid I begin with the First I. While a Man harbours Hatred and Malice in his Heart to his Neighbour God is his Enemy-or his Adversary So much is evident from the Similitude here used where what is said of an Adversary among Men is referr'd to God as such a Person deals with a perfidious Debtor here on Earth so God will deal with the Uncharitable and Persons who will not be Reconciled to their offended Brethren Till Affliction and Trouble comes very few People will believe that God is their Adversary Indeed when a great Loss befalls them or some painful Disease seizes upon them or a Distemper that very much discomposes and disturbs their Minds hangs about them or some other Disaster unforseen and unlook'd for happens then God from whom the Affliction comes is look'd upon as an Adversary and Men are apt to believe he is angry with them but while Prosperity lasts and that Sun continues to shine upon them and Ease and Plenty are their Companions and like officious Servants wait upon them then God is a Friend and they will have him to be so sometimes whether he will or not But as Gods Favour and Hatred are not to be measured by outward Accidents not by outward Want or Plenty so it is certain it may infallibly be known whether God be our Friend or Adversary by our Obedience or Disobedience to his Holy Commands let our outward Condition be what it will So that if you live in Disobedience to his express and peremptory Commands it is a never-failing Sign that God is your Adversary though you wash your Feet in Butter and the Rocks pour you out Rivers of Oyl though your Oxen be strong to labour and your Sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousand in your Streets and particularly if no Argument no Motive no enforcive drawn either from the Word of God or from your Spiritual and Eternal Interest or from the Examples of Holy Men or from the reason of the Thing can prevail with you to be Reconciled to your Brethren with whom you are fallen out it is as sure as any Oracle in the Bible that God is your Adversary Perhaps such an Adversary you like very well that Crowns you with temporal Blessings and lets you enjoy what your Flesh desires and fills your Bellies with hid Treasures These are the Things you are fond of and you desire to be punish'd with such outward Conveniencies and Accommodations And indeed if this Life were all you have to look after the Argumentation or Inference would not be amiss But did not Dives live as Calmly and as Plentifully as you can do and yet when his Body dropt from him and was Buried the Man the unhappy Man felt what it was to have God for his Adversary The very Plenty he formerly enjoy'd became now an Ingredient of his bitter Potion and he felt the Might of his Adversary's Hand his former Prosperity was so far from being a Sign that God was his Friend that it gave Evidence that he was his Enemy and he that had formerly look'd upon him as the Fountain of Mercy now found him to be a Spring indeed not flowing with Milk and Honey but with Fire and Brimstone so that upon the whole Matter it is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God Heb. x. 31 And therefore certainly to agree with him betimes must be our wisest Course which is the II. Proposition I am to speak to Agree with thine Adversary quickly Agree with God! Who would have any Difference with him Who can grapple with him Who can resist him Who can make his Party good against him Poor feeble Clay Shall it rise against the Porter who hath Power to make of it a Vessel of Honour and Vessel of Dishonour Agree with him The Greatness the Majesty the Excellency of God one would think should be Motive great enough to labour to be at Peace with him To be at Peace with him is to be at Peace with our Consciences and with him who hath promis'd to make all our Enemies to be at Peace with us and can make all the Elements to be at Peace with us so that the Sun shall not smite us by Day nor the Moon by Night so that the Air shall not infect us nor the Water drown us nor the Fire burn us nor the Earth swallow us up But then how can we agree with him except we walk with him Except we be of the same Mind with him Can we say
fully ver 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the works that are therein will be burnt up The same he repeats ver 12. which is conformable to what the Stoicks either from the light of Nature or from Tradition gather'd would be and to what Josephus saith of Adam That he prophecied the World should be destroy'd first by Water and afterward by Fire But then as it is ver 11. of the aforesaid Chapter seeing that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Whether the Christians in St. Peter's time believed that the day of Judgment was at hand and that it should be upon them in that Age is not my business to enquire Now. That which makes the Exhortation seasonable at all times even at this day is the uncertainty of the time of Christ's coming to Judgment and whether this day of Judgment may come in this Age or in the next as it is probable it is not far off especially if the old saying of R. Hillel be true That the World shall continue two Thousand Years before the Law two Thousand under the Law and two thousand under the Messiah but as I said whether it will be this year or next is not material but this I am sure of that the day of our death is the most uncertain thing in the World and as Death finds us so will the Great day And since the day of our death is so uncertain the Inference drawn from the uncertainty of the day of Judgment will also fit the uncertainty of the day of our death It 's a marvelous thing how Men delay their Holy Conversation and Godliness even till Death comes and surprizes them I know this is a very common Theme but how can we forbear to speak of it when we see that Men instead of mending run deeper and deeper into the Gulf young and old Death comes Lord How unprepared doth it find most Men How few can welcome it How few can with Simeon rejoyce at its coming I know Pain and extremity of Misery makes many Men long for it but that alone is no rational ground while that Holy Conversation and Godliness is wanting We all dread an unprepared death and we pray against it We think sometimes in a serious fit how sad it would be with us if it should be our case And yet how few arm themselves against its Terrors and dreadful Consequences The Day the Hour is very uncertain and we see Men are catch'd and snatch'd away before they are aware yet we take no warning still we wait for a convenient Season for a fair Opportunity and when we have got in the World what we would have when we have setled our Affairs on such a Basis or Foundation once and when our Condition is better and our Circumstances more favourable then we 'll set about that seriousness which becomes Candidates of Eternity God sees our Folly and pities us for he sees how we fool our selves He calls and intreats us to redeem the time O that we were wise and would consider our latter End Heaven and Earth must pass away and we must pass away therefore this I say Brethren nay the Apostle says so 1 Cor. vii 19 It remains that they that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and those that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this World as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passes away Indeed that which ought to make us reflect very seriously on all this is that the Word of God is unchangable which calls me to the last Proposition V. Sooner shall Heaven and Earth perish than the least tittle of Gods Word shall fail In this Sense the Words and Expressions used in the Text are sometimes taken so that here is a double Asseveration which makes the Truth Christ delivers here the weightier 1. Verily I say unto you In the Original it is Amen which the Jewish Interpreters of the Old Testament affirm to be an Oath and that 's a very immutable thing 2. Till Heaven and Earth pass i. e. Sooner shall these be hurl'd into their former Chaos and Confusion than the least tittle of his word shall prove false And if so then the Threatnings and Promises of the Gospel and of the Law of God will undoubtedly be fulfilled And I beseech you Beloved Hearers Consider what the Veracity of Gods Threatnings and Promises doth import If the Promises of the Gospel will certainly be fulfilled why cannot the wonderful Rewards promised prevail with you to fulfil the Conditions upon which those Rewards are promised God promises Eternal Life upon patient continuance in Well-doing the Kingdom of Heaven upon striving against Sin and conquering Temptations and a Crown of Glory to those who keep under their Bodies and bring their sensual Desires into Subjection Upon these Terms and no other the great Felicity is promised Will any of you after all these Protestations of God promise himself this Happiness upon other Terms and Conditions What then becomes of Gods Veracity If God be true to his Word then those who come not up to these Terms cannot enjoy the Bliss spoken of If God saves Men upon other Terms he cannot be true to his Word and then how can he be God To these Absurdities Men reduce themselves when they promise themselves Heaven without any regard to the Conditions upon which God doth promise it It 's God that must bestow it the same God that hath promised it and since he will bestow it only upon these Terms Why Christians why will ye feed your hopes with Air and Wind and Vanities Is it possible that God will prove false Is it possible that he will depart from his Word I am sure you cannot think so if you will consider it in cool Blood And shall the World and your present Gain and Profit blind you into Ruin The same must be said of the Threatnings of the Gospel Take but a serious View of them God protests for you believe the Scripture to be the Word of God That no unrighteous Person shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Covetous nor Extortioners nor Drunkards nor Lascivious nor Quarrelsom nor Envious nor Malicious Persons nor Men that mind Earthly Things altogether shall enter into that Glory The Scripture is full of these Protestations Is there any of you here that 's guilty of any of these Sins and yet do ye hope to be happy 'T is true you 'll say none can be so that continues in these Sins but I hope I shall leave them all before I die But why Man Dost thou know when thou
Except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it Ps. cxxvii 1 2. How much more must this hold in Spiritual And therefore Christian since the Eyes of all do wait upon that God that gives them their Meat in due Season behold the Rock from which thy Water of Life must flow Thy Faith is weak go to him and he will make it mount up with Wings as Eagles Thy hope is faint run to him and he will give it Life and Spirit Thy Love wants Fire address thy self to him and he will enflame it Thy Charity languishes apply thy self to him and he will breathe Vigour and Activity into it Thy resistance of Temptations is feeble follow him with fervent Tears and Prayers and he will make thee bold as a Lyon Happy that Soul that is truly sensible of her weakness this sense will make her breathe and pant after the Living God When I am weak then am I strong saith St. Paul 2 Cor. xii 10 i. e. when I am most sensible of my weakness God follows and blesses me with greater Strength God loves to manifest his Power in our Weakness and the weaker we are I mean so as to be sensible of it and make it a motive to earnest Prayer the fitter we are for God's fortifying Grace For you see your calling Brethren God hath chosen the foolish things of the World to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the World to confound the things which are mighty c. 1 Cor. i. 26 27 28. Hence arises the Glory of God's Grace and that joyful acknowledgment of St. Paul and all good Men By the Grace of God I am what I am Every true Believer finds this by Experience and joyfully sings with the Royal Prophet as it is Psal. lxxxiv 11 12. The Lord God is a Sun and a Shield the Lord will give Grace and Glory and no good thing will be withhold from those that walk uprightly Blessed be God who is both ready and willing and hath promised over and over to give his enlightning strengthning sanctifying comforting and assisting Grace to the hungry and thirsty Soul that calls upon him in Truth For this Cause as the Apostle did for the Colossians Col. i. 9 10 11. We will not cease to pray for you all and to desire that you may be filled with the Knowledge of his Will in all Wisdom and spiritual Understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and encreasing in the knowledge of God strengthen'd with all Might according to his glorious Power unto all long-suffering and patience with joyfulness SERMON XXX St. Matth. Ch. V. Ver. 37. But let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these comes of evil CHRIST having in the foregoing Verses declar'd all Swearing except it be in Cases of very great Necessity and Weight and Moment altogether unlawful and utterly condemn'd not only Swearing by the supream Being in common Discourses but particularly Swearing by the Creatures as a thing horrid and dreadful and not to be suffered among his Disciples he proceeds and lets us see what decency modesty sincerity and simplicity is to be observed in our Communications and Speeches such especially as relate to Promises and Bargains and the ordinary Affairs of the World And whereas Men might object that they had used themselves to Swearing in their Discourses and therefore could not leave it he passes by that Objection as frivolous and childish and silly and not worth taking notice of supposing that he who hath learned an evil Custom if he will use the proper Means may unlearn it again and to be sure will most heartily abandon it if he be a true Disciple of the Gospel and seriously touch'd with a sense of another Life and the weight and importance of Christ's Doctrine Taking no notice I say of this common Objection he peremptorily declares what he expects of his Followers with respect to their Discourses Speeches Answers and Communications and Colloquies with their fellow Christians But let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these comes of evil Where we have First A Precept Secondly The Reason of it The Precept But let your Communication be yea yea The Reason For whatsoever is more than these comes of evil We begin with the Precept and that imports three Duties With respect to our Speeches and Discourses Constancy Veracity and Plainness 1. Constancy as it is opposed to Saying and Unsaying in which sense we find the Expression used by St. Paul 2 Cor. i. 17 When I therefore was thus minded did I use lightness or the things that I purpose do I purpose according to the Flesh that with me there should be yea yea and nay nay i. e. yea and nay lightness fickleness inconstancy and unsteddiness in Promises saying one thing this Hour and another the next 2. Veracity as it is opposed to Falshood and Lying and in this place also we find the Apostle uses this Phrase 2 Cor. i. 20 For all the Promises of God are yea and in him Amen unto the Glory of God by us i. e. They are firm immovable not so much as a shadow of Falshood mingles with them and Heaven and Earth shall sooner sink and be dissolv'd than these Promises shall fail 3. Plainness as it is opposed to Oaths and strong Asseverations which is the thing directly aimed at by our Saviour here and hath respect chiefly to our Promises to Men and imports that we are to content our selves with bare Negatives and Affirmatives and such Affirmations and Negations that People may depend upon them as much as if we had confirmed them with an Oath Not but that if the thing be Weighty and of great Moment some Asseveration may be added such as Verily Amen of a Truth I say unto you as we see Christ himself doth in the Gospel where the Souls and the Salvation of Men are concern'd but in ordinary Affairs or things relating to our Business Calling and Employment Bargains and Negotiations in all Discourses and Speeches and Promises of this Nature not only great Veracity but bare Affirmations and Negations are the Things which become us as we are Christians and profess our selves Followers of the best of Masters So that when it is said here Let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay the meaning is not that in our Answers and Discourses we must use no Words whatsoever but only yea and nay according as the Question is which is ask'd us That 's contrary to Christ's Practice and the Apostles Example which are the best Comment on the Text. No doubt we may Discourse with our Neighbours as long as we think fit and say as much as is needful to the purpose But 1. The general intent is to teach us that to avoid greater Sins we are to shun the lesser To avoid Swearing in Discourse we must