An Exposition on the Ten Commandments
Ezekiel Hopkins, 1633-1690
TO THE READER
THE following book has so much of substantial worth, together with so many true beauties, as not to need recommendation. The design, therefore, of this Address to you, Good Reader, is partly to assure you the work is genuine, partly to give you some light into the general nature of it, or what you are here to expect.
It was my happiness, many years ago, to contract a very intimate acquaintance, I might call it friendship, with that great person the Author; while we lived neighbors in that flourishing, religious, and liberal city, where these Discourses had their birth, and became first vocally public. And, I doubt not, but that the memories of many of the citizens there are a sufficient record, by the consulting of which, any, who should scruple my testimony, as less competent, may receive plenary satisfaction. I, being constantly employed myself at the hours when this Exposition was delivered, could not be an auditor of it: but, as I then understood what subject my friend was treating on; so now reading the tract, I cannot but acknowledge the true spirit and style of the author.
All, I think, that can be doubted, is, whether he designed this work for the press, and put thereto his last hand.
As to the Former Point, I am apt to think, when he first undertook the argument, he designed nothing more public, than are our usual Sermons. But, having finished what he proposed, his labors were judged so exceeding useful, and had besides so highly pleased his audience, that he was restlessly importuned to make them more public. And though, thorough excess of modesty, he would not consent thereto, for that time; yet he transcribed them himself, (for no one else could, he having written them at first in a peculiar short-hand) and, having transcribed them, left them as a Depositum in the hands of one of his parishioners, with whom he had some time sojourned, (a person of integrity, and well known to me, though now deceased) to be disposed of after his death.
From such his transcribing and entrusting them; as well as from some particular indications, apparent in them, and very convincing to me who was well acquainted with his way of writing his Sermon-Notes; and, especially, from the addition of divers Marginal Notes, which I am sure were put there, both by himself, and after his first transcribing pains, I conclude, as to the Latter Point of doubt, he had put the last hand he intended to put to them.
For what further justice remains to be done to the Work, being I may seem hitherto to have done justice only to the Author, it consisting, in truth, of Sermons, (though, as all his were, very elaborate ones) such truths and duties are chiefly to be looked for in it, which are of most general Christian concernment: that is, he has said here, not all that might be said, had a critical and just comment been designed; but what his auditors (and the greatest part of our people still) had, and have most need to hear: which I take to be a very considerable excellency of the book; and wherein he has showed singular judgment.
I see nothing farther now needful to add, but to pray, that the book may be public enough: I mean, read by as many, as the copies will suffice, until they are worn out; and practiced by all who read it. Then, I am sure, both the Author's and Readers' pains will be very happily placed.
INTRODUCTION
THERE are two things, in the general, which perfect a Christian: the one, is a clear and distinct knowledge of his duty; the other, a conscientious practice of it, correspondent to his knowledge: and both these are, in an equal degree, necessary. For, as we can have no solid nor well-grounded hopes of eternal salvation, without obedience; so we can have no sure nor established rule for our obedience, without knowledge: and, therefore, our work and office, is, not only exhortation, but instruction; not only to excite the affections, but to inform the judgment; and we must as well illuminate, as warm.
Knowledge, indeed, may be found without practice: and our age abounds with such Speculative Christians, whose religion is but like the rickets, that makes them grow large in the head, but narrow in the breast; whose brains are replenished with notions, but their hearts straitened towards God; and their lives and actions as black and deformed, as if their light had only tanned and discolored them. I confess, indeed, that their knowledge may be beneficial unto others; who may savourily feed upon that meat, which these do only mince and carve: yet, where it is thus overborne by unruly lusts, and contradicted by a licentious conversation, to themselves it is most fatal and baneful. It is like light shut up in a lantern, which may serve to guide and direct others, but only soots, and at last burns that which contained it.
But, although knowledge may be thus without practice; yet it is utterly impossible, that the practice of godliness should be without knowledge.
For, if we know not the limits of sin and duty, what is required of us and what is forbidden, it cannot be supposed, but that, in this corrupted state of our natures, we shall unavoidably run into many heinous miscarriages; unless it were possible for us to please God at unawares, and so get to Heaven by great chance.
And, therefore, that we might be informed what we ought to do and what to avoid, it has pleased God, who is the Great Governor, and will be the Righteous Judge of all the World, to prescribe us laws for the regulating of our actions: and, that we might not be ignorant what they are, he has openly promulgated them in his word. For when we had miserably defaced the Law of Nature, originally written in our hearts, so that many of the commands of it were no longer legible, it seemed good to his Infinite Wisdom and Mercy, to transcribe and copy out that Law in the sacred tables of the Scriptures; and to super-add many positive precepts and injunctions, which were not before imposed.
The Bible, therefore, is the Statute-Book of God's Kingdom. Therein is comprised the whole body of the heavenly law; the perfect rules of a holy life, and the sure promises of a glorious one.
And the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, is a summary or brief epitome of those laws, written by the immediate finger of God: and contracted into so short an abridgment, not only to ease our memories, but to gain our veneration; for sententious commands are best befitting Majesty. And, indeed, if we consider the paucity of the expressions, and yet the copiousness and variety of the matter contained in them, we must needs acknowledge, not only their authority to be divine, but likewise the skill and are in reducing the Whole Duty of Man to so brief a compendium. The words are but few, called therefore the Words of the Covenant, the Ten Words: Exodus. 34:28 but the sense and matter contained in them, is vast and infinite. The rest of the Scripture is but a commentary upon them: either exhorting us to obedience, by arguments; or alluring us to it, by promises; or frightening us from transgressing, by threatenings; or exciting us to the one, and restraining us from the other, by examples recorded in the historical part of it.
But, before I come to speak of the Commandments themselves, it will be necessary to premise something concerning the TIME, the REASON, and MANNER OF THEIR DELIVERY.
I. The TIME, according to the best computation of chronology, was about two thousand four hundred and sixty years after the Creation of the World; two hundred and twenty years after Israel's descent into Egypt; and the third month after their departure out of Egypt; before the birth of Christ almost fifteen hundred years, and therefore above three thousand before our days. This was the first time, that God selected to himself a National Church in the world: and therefore it seemed expedient to his wisdom, to prescribe them laws and rules, how they ought to order both their demeanor, and his worship and service. Before this, the Law of Nature was the standing rule for obedience: but because it was blotted and razed by the first transgression, it was supplied, in many particulars, by traditions delivered down from one to another. And those of the patriarchs, who, according to the prescripts of this law, endeavored to please and serve God, were accepted of him; and frequently obtained the privilege of especial revelations, either by dreams, or visions, or heavenly voices, concerning those things wherein they were more particularly to obey his will. In those first ages, God made no distinction of people or nations: but, as it is since the wall of partition is broken down, and the Jewish economy abrogated by the death of Christ; so was it before, that, in every nation, he that feared God, and wrought righteousness, was accepted of him: Acts 10:35.
II. But, the world totally degenerating into vile superstitions and idolatries, the knowledge and fear of the True God was scarcely any where to be found, but only in the family and posterity of Abraham: and, even there too, we have reason to suspect a great decay and corruption; especially in their long abode among the idolatrous Egyptians; yes, the Scripture does in several places expressly charge them with it: Joshua 24:14. Ezekiel 20:7, 8 and, in all probability, they took the pattern of their Golden Calf from the Egyptian Apis, being idolaters only in a younger figure and a lesser volume. God, therefore, justly rejects all the rest of the world; but, being mindful of his promise to their father and the father of the faithful, appropriates this people to himself as his peculiar inheritance. And BECAUSE it was manifest by experience, that neither the Law of Nature, nor oral tradition handed down along from one generation to another, were of sufficient force to preserve alive the knowledge and worship of the True God; but, notwithstanding these, the whole earth was become wicked and idolatrous: that, therefore, this people, whom God had now taken to himself, might have all possible advantages to continue in his fear and service, and that they might not degenerate as the rest of the world had done, he himself proclaims unto them that law by which he would govern them, writes it upon tables of stone, commits them into the hands of Moses whom he had constituted his lieutenant, and commands them to be laid up in the ark as a perpetual monument of his authority and their duty. How wretchedly depraved are our natures, when even that, which is the very light and law of them, is so obliterated and defaced, that God would rather entrust its preservation to stones, than to us; and thought it more secure, when engraved on senseless tables, than when written on our hearts!
III. The MANNER, wherein this Law was delivered, is described to be very terrible and astonishing. The wisdom of God designed it so, on purpose to possess the people with the greater reverence of it; and to awaken in their souls a due respect to those old despised dictates of their natures, when they should see the same laws revived and invigorated with so much circumstance and terror: for, indeed, the Decalogue is not so much the enacting of any new law, as a reviving of the old by a more solemn proclamation.
And, for the greater majesty and solemnity of the action, we read,
i. That THE PEOPLE WERE COMMANDED TO PREPARE THEMSELVES, TWO DAYS TOGETHER, BY A TYPICAL CLEANSING OF THEMSELVES FROM ALL EXTERNAL AND BODILY POLLUTIONS, BEFORE THEY WERE TO STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
So we find it enjoined: they were to be sanctified, and to wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day, whereon the Lord would come down in the sight of all the people, upon Mount Sinai: Exodus. 19:10, 11.
Now this signifies unto us Two things:
1. That we ought to be seriously prepared, when we come to wait before God in his ordinances, and to receive a law at his mouth.
Indeed, the dispensation of the Gospel is not such a ministry of terror, as that of the Law was. God does not now speak unto us immediately by his own voice; which they, that heard it, were not able to endure: he does not pronounce his Law in thunder, nor wrap it up in flame and smoke; but he speaks unto us in a still voice, by men like ourselves; and conveys the rich treasure of his will unto us in earthen vessels, of the same mold and frailty with ourselves. He treats with us by his messengers and ambassadors; whose errand, though it be delivered with less terror, yet ought not to be received with less reverence: for it is God himself, that speaks in them, and by them; and every word of truth, which they deliver unto you in the name of the great God, and by the authority of that commission which he has given them, ought to be received with as much prostrate veneration and affection, as though God himself had spoken to you immediately from Heaven.
Think, then, how solicitous the Israelites were, in fitting themselves for that great and dreadful day of hearing the Law; a day, more great and dreadful than ever any shall be, except that of judging men according to the Law. Think how their hearts throbbed and thrilled within them, when they heard the clang of the heavenly trumpets mixed and blended with loud and terrible cracks of thunder; and both giving them a signal of the near approach of God. Think, if you can, what thoughts they had, when they saw the mountain burning with fire, and enveloped with clouds and smoke; out of which, on every side, were fearful lightnings shot among them. Think how they trembled, when they saw the mountain tremble and totter under the weight and greatness of God descending down upon it. And bring with you the same affections; if not so terrified, yet as much over-awed, whenever you come to wait upon his holy ordinances: for it is the same God, that speaks unto you; and he speaks the same things to you, as then he did: not, indeed, with such amazing circumstances; yet with the very same authority and majesty.
Were God now to come down among you in his terrible majesty, or should a thick cloud fill this place, and lightnings flash out of it; should you hear the thunder of his voice, I am the Lord: you shall have no other gods before me; certainly, such a dreadful glory would make your hearts tremble within you, and the very earth tremble under you. Could you then give way to sloth and drowsiness? Could your hearts run gadding after vanities and trifles? Or could there be any object considerable enough to divert your thoughts and affections from so terrible a glory? Why, believe it, God is as really present here, as when he thus manifested himself to the Israelites; and present, upon the very same occasion too. He is now delivering his Law to you; pronouncing his high and sovereign commands: and, if he so far consults our weakness, as not to do it in such an astonishing manner; yet far be that disingenuity from us, that we should be either the less careful to prepare for, or the less reverent in attending on the declarations of his high will and pleasure, though he makes it known to us by men of the same temper, yes or distempers, with ourselves.
2. If the Israelites were to sanctify and prepare themselves to appear before God at Mount Sinai, how much more ought we to sanctify ourselves, that we may be meet to appear before God in Heaven!
That glory, which God manifested when he delivered the Law, is not comparable to the infinite glory, which he always reveals to the saints in Heaven: and yet, if the people of the Jews were not allowed to see God, though veiled with a cloud and thick darkness, without being first accurately prepared for such a glorious discovery; how much more ought we to prepare ourselves, to wash our filthy garments, and to cleanse our souls from all defilements both of flesh and spirit, that we may be worthy to stand before God, and to see him there where he darts forth the full rays of his brightness, and causes his glory forever to appear without any check or restraint, without any cloud or veil interposing to hide it.
That is the first circumstance observable in the Delivery of the Law.
ii. THE MOUNT, ON WHICH GOD APPEARED, WAS TO BE FENCED AND RAILED IN; with a strict prohibition, that none should presume to pass the bounds there set them, nor approach to touch the holy mount, under the penalty of death.
So we have it Exodus. 19:12 which intimates unto us Two things:
1. The due distance, that we ought to keep from God: and teaches us to observe all that reverence and respect, which belongs unto him, as being infinitely our superior. Certainly, the very places, where God manifests himself, at least while he does so, are venerable and awful: and, therefore, when God revealed himself to Jacob in a dream, and gave him the representation of a ladder reaching from earth to Heaven, angels upon every round of it, and God on the top; we find with what awe he reflects upon it, in his waking thoughts, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven: Genesis 28:16, 17.
2. This setting bounds and limits to the mount, signified, as in a type, the strictness and exactness of the Law of God. His Law is our boundary; which he has on purpose set, to keep us from rushing in upon his neck, and upon the thick bosses of his buckler: and that soul, that shall presume so to do, that shall break these bounds, and commit a trespass upon the Almighty, shall surely die the death; even that eternal death, which he has threatened against all violators of his Law.
That is a second remarkable circumstance in the Delivery of the Law.
iii. We have a description of the TERRIBLE MANNER, IN WHICH GOD APPEARED TO PRONOUNCE HIS LAW. Thunders, and lightnings, and earthquakes, and fire, and darkness, were the prologue and introduction to it: and were so dreadful, as caused not only the people to remove and stand afar off, as not able to endure such terrible majesty, as we find it, Exodus. 20:18 but even affrighted Moses himself, who was to be Internuncius Dei, "the messenger and herald of God." This we find intimated, Exodus. 19:19. When the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke. What it was, that he said, is not there mentioned; but, in all probability, he then spoke those words, which the Apostle has recorded, So terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: Hebrews 12:21.
Now this dreadful appearance of God, in the Delivering of the law, served for Two ends:
1. To affect them with a reverent esteem of those commands, which he should impose upon them. For, certainly, unless they were possessed with most gross and beastial stupidity, they must needs think those things to be of vast and great concernment, which were attended with such a train of remarkable and amazing circumstances: and it is natural for men to be awed by pomp and solemnity; the majesty of the commander adding a kind of authority to the command.
2. To put both them and us in mind, that, if God were so terrible only in delivering the Law, how much more terrible he will then be, when he shall come to judge us for transgressing the Law.
Indeed, the whole apparatus of this day seems to be typical of the Last: but, as it is the condition of all types, it shall be far outdone and exceeded by its antitype. Here were voices, and fire, and smoke, and the noise of a trumpet; and these struck terror into the hearts of the people, who came only to receive the Law: but, oh, think what consternation will seize upon and cramp the hearts of sinners, when the Lord shall descend from Heaven, at the Last Day, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, as the Apostle describes it: 1 Thessalonians 4:16 when, not a mountain only, but the whole world shall be burning; Heaven and earth all on a light flame about them: when they shall hear the terrible voice of the Majesty on High calling to them, Awake, you dead, and come away to judgment: when the earth shall be universally shaken, and shake the dead bodies out of their graves: when whole crowds of naked nations shall throng and cluster about the Great Tribunal; not to receive a law, but a sentence, a sentence that shall determine their final and eternal estate. Certainly, if the giving of the Law were so full of terror, much more terrible shall be our being judged according to that Law.
And this is another remarkable circumstance in the Delivery of the Law.
iv. When God himself had, with his dread voice, spoken to them these Ten Words, their affright and astonishment was so great, that they ENTREAT MOSES TO BE THE TRUCHEMAN AND INTERPRETER BETWEEN GOD AND THEM: They said unto Moses, Speak you with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die: Exodus. 20:19.
Neither is this without a great mystery and excellent signification: for it intimates that the Law, as it is dispensed to us only from God, is in itself the ministration of death and condemnation; but, as it is delivered to us by a Mediator, by our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Moses here was a type, so we may hear and observe it, and obtain eternal life, not for, but through our obedience to it.
And, therefore, the Law is said to be ordained by angels, in the hand of a mediator: Galatians 3:19 that is, it was solemnly dispensed by the ministry of angels, and then delivered into the hand of Moses, to be by him communicated to the people. Now this intimates unto us, that the severity and terrors of the Law were intended to drive us unto Christ, as here they drove the Israelites unto Moses, the type of Christ; from whose mouth the Law spoke not so dreadfully, as it did from God's.
v. Upon this intercession and request of the people, MOSES IS CALLED UP INTO THE MOUNT, AND THE LAW DEPOSITED IN HIS HANDS, engraved in two tables of stone, by the finger and impression of God himself: the most sacred relique, that ever the world enjoyed; but at length lost, together with the ark that contained it, in the frequent removes and captivities of that people.
Neither is this, too, without its spiritual mystery and signification: for it notes to us, that our hearts are naturally so hard and stony, that it is only the finger of God, that can make any impression of his laws upon them. It is well known, that the ark was a most famous type and representation of Jesus Christ: and the keeping of the tables of the Law in the ark, what does it else mean; but to prefigure to us, that the Law was to be kept and observed in him, who fulfilled all righteousness? And when God does again write his laws upon our hearts, we also keep them in Christ our ark, whose complete obedience supplies all our imperfections and defects.
vi. Whereas this Law of the Ten Commandments was TWICE WRITTEN BY GOD HIMSELF; once before, and again after, the tables were in a holy zeal broken by Moses:
This also is full of mystery, and signifies the twice writing of the Law upon the hearts of men: first, by the creating finger of God, when he made us perfectly like himself; and, then again, by his regenerating power, giving us a new impression, and as it were setting us forth in a new edition, but yet containing the same for substance, as when we came forth at first out of the creating-hand of God: for regeneration and the new birth is but a restoring us to the image of God, which we defaced by our fall in Adam; and, as it were, a new stamping of those characters of himself, in righteousness and knowledge, which were obliterated.
vii. It is said, that, when Moses came down from the Mount, after his long converse with God, HIS FACE SHONE WITH SUCH A DIVINE AND HEAVENLY LUSTER, THAT THE ISRAELITES WERE DAZZLED WITH THE BRIGHTNESS, AND COULD NOT STEADFASTLY LOOK UPON HIM: and that, therefore, he was forced to put a veil over his face, to allay and temper those beams, which the reflexion of God's face and presence had cast upon him; but this veil he laid aside, when he turned into the tabernacle to speak with God: Exodus. 34:29, etc.
The significancy of which history the Apostle expressly gives us: 2 Corinthians 3:13, 14, 15. That there was a veil upon the heart of the Jews, so as they could not see to the end of the Law, which is Christ Jesus: who is the end of the Ceremonial Law, by putting an end unto it in its abrogation; and the end of the Moral Law, because in him it has attained its end, for the end of it was, by convincing us of our own weakness and inability to perform it, to lead us unto Christ, by whose righteousness alone, and not by the works of the Law, we are to expect justification before God. Yet there was so thick a veil cast over the Law, that the Jews could not look through it upon the glory that shone in Christ, of whom Moses was still the type: but, when they shall turn unto the Lord, this veil shall be taken away; and then shall they discern the significancy of all those ritual observances, and perceive spiritual things after a more sublime and spiritual manner.
And thus I have shown you the Time, the Reasons, and the Circumstances of the Delivery of this epitome of the Law in the Ten Commandments; wherein many excellent Gospel Truths are delineated and shadowed out unto us.
IV. But, someone may say, "What need all this long discourse about the Law? Is it not fully abrogated, by the coming of Christ into the world? Shall we be again brought under that heavy yoke of bondage, which neither we nor our fathers were ever able to bear? Does not the Scripture frequently testify, that we are not now under the Law, but under Grace? that we are freed from the Law? that Christ was made under the Law, to free those who were under the Law? and, therefore, to terrify and overawe men's consciences by the authority of the Law, what else is it but a Legal Dispensation, unworthy of that Christian Liberty into which our Savior has vindicated us, having fulfilled the Law by his obedience, and by his death abolished it?"
To this I answer: Far be it from every Christian to indulge himself in any licentiousness, from such a corrupt and rotten notion of the Law's abrogation; for, so far is it from being abolished by the coming of Christ, that he himself expressly tells us, he came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it: Matthew 5:17. Ôïí íïìïí ðëçñùóáé: i. e. either to perform, or else to perfect and fill up the Law: and, verse 18 assevers, that until Heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, until all be fulfilled: i. e. until the consummation and fulfilling of all things; and then the Law, which was our rule on earth, shall become our nature in Heaven.
When, therefore, Paul speaks, as frequently he does, of the abrogation and disannulling of the Law, we must heedfully DISTINGUISH, BOTH OF THE LAW, AND LIKEWISE OF THE ABROGATION OF IT.
The Law, which God delivered by Moses's ministry, was of Three sorts:
The CEREMONIAL, JUDICIAL, and MORAL Law.
The distinct consideration of each of these may afford us some light in this matter.
The Ceremonial Law was wholly taken up in enjoining those observances of sacrifices and offerings, and various methods of purifications and cleansings, which were typical of Christ; and that sacrifice of his, which alone was able to take away sin.
The Judicial Law consisted of those constitutions, which God prescribed the Jews for their civil government. For their state was a Theocracy: and, whereas, in other commonwealths, the chief magistrates give laws unto the people, in this, the laws for their religion and for their civil government were both divine, and both immediately from God. So that their Judicial Law was given them to be the standing law of their nation; according to which all actions and suits, between party and party, were to be tried and determined: as, in all other nations, there are particular laws and statutes, for the decision of controversies that may arise among them.
But the Moral Law is a system or body of those precepts, which carry an universal and natural equity in them; being so conformable to the light of reason and the dictates of every man's conscience, that, as soon as ever they are declared and understood, we must needs subscribe to the justice and righteousness of them.
These are the Three sorts of laws which commonly go under the name of the Law of Moses: all of which had respect, either to those things, which prefigured the Messiah to come; or to those, which concerned their political and civil government, as a distinct nation from others; or to such natural virtues and duties of piety towards God and righteousness towards men, as were common to them with all the rest of mankind.
Now a law may be said to be null and void Two ways; privatively, or negatively: either that it was repealed after it was first given; or that its obligation extends not, nor ever did extend, to some people and nations in the world.
Now I desire you heedfully to attend to these propositions; for they will be of great use to clear up how far, and in what manner, we are freed from the obligation of the Law.
i. As for the CEREMONIAL LAW, we affirm,
1. That to the Jews it is properly abrogated, and the obligation and authority of it utterly taken away and repealed.
And, concerning this it is, that the Apostle is to be understood, when, in his Epistles, he so often speaks of the abrogation and disannulling of the Law; he speaks it, I say, of the Ceremonial Law and Aaronical Observations: which, indeed, were so fulfilled by Christ as to be abolished. For this Law was given to be only an adumbration, and óêéáãñáöéá, or faint representation of Christ. As, in the night, while the sun is in the other hemisphere, yet we see its light in the stars, which shine with a borrowed and derived brightness; but, when the sun is risen and displays its beams abroad, it drowns and extinguisheth all those petty lights; so, while Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, was yet in the other hemisphere of time, before he was risen with healing under his wings, the Jews saw some glimmering of his light in their ceremonies and observances; but, now that the day of the Gospel is fully sprung, and that light which before was but blooming is fully spread, those dimmer lights are quite drowned and extinguished in his clear rays, and an utter end is put to all those rites and ceremonies which both intimated, and in a kind supplied, the absence of the substance. So that, to maintain now a necessity of legal sacrifices, and purifyings, and sprinklings, is no less than to evacuate the death of Christ; and to deny the shedding of that blood, that alone can purify us from all pollutions: which is but, to catch at the shadow, and lose the substance.
2. In respect of us, who are the posterity and descendants of the Gentiles, it is more proper to affirm, That the ceremonial law was never in force, than that it was truly abrogated: for the Ceremonial Law was national to the Jews; and, in a sort, peculiar to them only: neither did God intend that the observation of it should be imposed upon any other people, although they should be proselyted, as a thing necessary for their future happiness.
And this appears by strong and cogent reasons:
(1) Because God expressly commands all those, who were to be subject to the Ceremonial Law, that they should appear at Jerusalem, thrice in the year, before the Lord: Exodus. 34:23, 24. Now this command would have been impossible to be obeyed, were it intended that its obligation should reach to those countries, which were far remote and distant from Jerusalem.
(2) Because all their sacrifices and oblations, in which consisted the chief part of the Ceremonial Worship, were to be offered up only at Jerusalem: which were alike impossible, if this command of sacrificing had been intended by God to be obligatory to all the world. No sacrifices were accepted by God, but what were offered up in the temple: and therefore the Jews, to this day, although they are very blindly zealous of the Law, yet offer no sacrifices unto God; looking upon themselves as dispensed from that duty, because of their dispersion, and the impossibility of assembling themselves to Jerusalem to do it. And therefore, doubtless, that command, even while it was in force, obliged none but the Jewish Nation; who, living not far from the metropolis, might, with convenience enough, assemble themselves together to that holy service.
(3) We find, that, even before Christ's coming, the Jews themselves did not impose the observation of the Ceremonial Rites of their Law, upon all those heathens whom they won over to be proselytes to their religion: for their proselytes were of two sorts:
Such as were Proselyti Legis, who became perfect Jews in religion, lived among them, and engaged themselves to the full observance of the whole Law:
And such as were called Proselyti Portæ; that is, those heathens, who were so far converted, as to acknowledge and worship the only true God, although they lived in other nations, and obliged not themselves to the performance of what the Levitical Law required. These the Jews admitted into participation of the same common hope and salvation with themselves; when they professed their faith in God the Creator, and their obedience to the Law of Nature, together with the Seven Traditional Precepts of Noah.
From all which, it clearly appears, that the Ceremonial Law, to speak properly, is not abrogated to us Gentiles; it never being given with an intent to oblige us: but it is truly abrogated and disannulled to the Jews by the coming of Christ, the Messiah, into the world; in whom all these types were to receive their full accomplishment.
And, concerning the ablation of this Ceremonial Law, we must understand the Apostle, when he frequently and earnestly asserts the liberty of believers, and their freedom from the Law: that is, the believing Jews were positively freed from the necessity of observing it; and the believing Gentiles were negatively free from observing it at all.
And, for the farther clearing of this matter, we must know, that, in the very beginning of the Church, there arose great dissension between the believing Jews and the believing Gentiles, concerning the necessity of observing die Levitical Law. For we find, Acts 15:5 that certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, affirmed, That it was needful to circumcise the Gentiles, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses: which yet was greater rigor, than was formerly used to the proselyte party.
To determine this question, the Apostles and Elders meet together in a Council at Jerusalem; where, after some debate, the whole result seems in brief to have been this:
That the believing Jews might still, without offence, observe the Rites and Ceremonies of the Law. For, though the necessity of them were now abrogated; yet the use of them might, for a season, be lawfully continued: though they were mortuæ; yet not mortiferæ: "dead" they were; but, hitherto, not "deadly": they were expired; yet some time was thought expedient for their decent burial. And, therefore, we find Paul himself, who so earnestly in all his Epistles opposes the observation of the Ceremonial Law; yet he himself submits to the use of those rites, and purifies himself in the temple according to the Law: Acts 21:26 yes, he also circumciseth Timothy, because he was the son of a Jewess: Acts 16:3 by which he evidently declares, That those believers, who were of that nation, though they were freed from the necessity; yet they might lawfully, as yet, observe the Aaronical constitutions: especially, when, to avoid giving of offence, it might be expedient so to do. So tender a thing is the peace of the Church, that even abrogated rites and ceremonies should not be violently rejected, to endanger a wound and schism; and, therefore, much less ought constituted and received rites, in things of less moment than sacrifice and circumcision, be so stiffly and pertinaciously oppugned to the incurable breach and division of the Church.
But then, concerning the Gentiles; although, before the coming of Christ, they might become perfect proselytes to the whole Law of Moses, and receive the seal of circumcision, as many of them did: yet, after the evangelical doctrine was consummate, and the Apostles sent into all the world to preach it to every creature, they, by the Holy Spirit, determine, in that First Council of the Church, That the Gentiles should by no means be burdened with any of those impositions: but, as they were heretofore by the Jews themselves concluded to be in a safe condition, even as many of them as worshiped the true God, and observed the commandments of Noah; so now the Apostles decree to preserve them in the same liberty: and therefore write unto them, That they should not subject themselves to the dogmatizing commands of false teachers, who required them to be circumcised and to keep the Ceremonial Law; but that, from as many as believed, nothing more was required, than only to abstain from meat offered to idols; and from blood; and from things strangled; and from fornication, i. e. as judicious Mr. Hooker very probably interprets it, from incestuous marriages within prohibited degrees. And all those commands, laid upon them by the Apostles, are the very Precepts of Noah. But circumcision, and other observances of the Ceremonial Law, they were not obliged to: yes, they were obliged not to observe them‡, as being subversions of their souls: Acts 15:24. And therefore we find, that the same holy Apostle, who himself circumcised Timothy, because he was the son of a Jewess; when he writes to the Gentiles, tells them expressly, that if they be circumcised, Christ shall profit them nothing: Galatians 5:2.
And thus we see, how far and in what sense, the Ceremonial Law is abrogated.
ii. As concerning the JUDICIAL LAW, and those precepts which were given to the Jews for the government of their civil state; that law is not at all abrogated.
Not to us: for it was never intended to oblige us. Neither, indeed, is it at all necessary, that the laws of every nation should be conformed to the laws which the Jews lived under; for, doubtless, each state has its liberty to frame such constitutions, as may best serve to obtain the ends of government: and, therefore, although the punishment of theft were ordained by God himself to be sometimes a double, sometimes a fourfold, sometimes a fivefold restitution; yet are not our laws to be condemned, which ordain the penalty of this transgression to be no less than death; for the reason and necessity of every nation is the best rule and measure, for those laws by which they are to be governed.
Neither is the Judicial Law abrogated to the Jews: for though now, in their scattered state, the laws cease to be of force, because they cease to be a body politic; yet, were their dispersion again collected into one republic, most probably the same national laws would bind them now, as did in former times, when they were a happy and flourishing kingdom.
iii. As concerning the MORAL LAW, of which I am now treating, that is partly abrogated, partly not: abrogated, as to some of its circumstances; but not, as to anything of its substance, authority, and obligation.
1. The Moral Law is abrogated to believers, as it was a Covenant of Works.
For God, in man's first creation, wrote this law in his heart; and added this sanction unto it, If you do this, you shall live; if not, you shall die the death. Now, all mankind sinning in Adam, and thereby contracting an utter impotency of obeying that law, that we might not all perish according to the rigorous sentence of it, God was graciously pleased to enter into another covenant with us; promising a Savior to repair our lost and decayed condition, and eternal life upon the easier terms of faith and evangelical obedience. Indeed, all those, who either never heard of Jesus Christ, or do reject him, are still under the Law as a covenant; and, therefore, their estate is most wretched and deplorable: for, being transgressors of the Law, there remains nothing for them, but a certain fearful looking-for of wrath and fiery indignation to devour them as the adversaries of God. But those, who are true believers, are under a better covenant, even the Covenant of Grace; wherein God bath promised unto them eternal life, upon the condition of their faith: add they may, with full assurance of hope, to their unspeakable joy and comfort, expect the performance of it.
And, therefore,
2. To them also the Moral Law is abrogated, as to its condemning power.
Though it sentences every sinner to death, and curses every one who continues not in all things that are written therein to do them: yet, through the intervention of Christ's satisfaction and obedience, the sins of a believer are graciously pardoned; and the venom and malignity of the curse is abolished, it being discharged wholly upon Christ, and received all into his body on the cross: Galatians 3:13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us; and, therefore, we may triumphantly exult with the Apostle: Romans 8:1. There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
In these two respects, believers are indeed freed from the Moral Law; as it has the obligation of a covenant, and as it has a power of condemnation.
3. But, as it has a power of obliging the conscience as a standing rule for our obedience, so it remains still in its full vigor and authority.
It still directs us what we ought to do; binds the conscience to the performance of it; brings guilt upon the soul, if we transgress it; and reduces us to the necessity, either of bitter repentance, or of eternal condemnation: for, in this sense, Heaven and earth shall sooner pass away, than one jot or tittle shall pass from the Law.
And, therefore, the Antinomian is to be abominated, that derogates from the value and validity of the Law: and contends, that it is to all purposes extinct unto believers, even so much as to its preceptive and regulating power; and that no other obligation to duty lies upon them who are in Christ Jesus, but only from the law of gratitude: that God requires not obedience from them, upon so low and sordid an account, as the fear of his wrath and dread severity; but all is to flow only from the principle of love, and the sweet temper of a grateful and sincere spirit.
But this is a most pestilent doctrine, which plucks down the fence of the Law, and opens a gap for all manner of licentiousness and libertinism to rush in upon the Christian World; for, seeing that the Moral Law is no other than the Law of Nature written upon man's heart at the first, some positives only being super-added; upon the same account as we are men, upon the same we owe obedience to the dictates of it.
And, indeed, we may find every part of this Law enforced in the Gospel; charged upon us with the same threatenings, and recommended to us by the same promises; and all interpreted to us, by our Savior himself, to the greatest advantage of strictness and severity. We find the same rules for our actions, the same duties required, the same sins forbidden, in the Gospel, as in the Law.
Only, in the Gospel we have these mitigations, which were not in the Covenant of Works:
(1) That God accepts of our obedience, if it be sincerè voto et conamine, "in earnest desires and endeavors." Although we cannot attain that perfect exactness and spotless purity, which the Law requires: yet we are accepted through Christ, according to what we have, and not according to what we have not; if so be we indulge not ourselves in a willful sloth, and contempt of the Law.
(2) The Gospel admits of repentance, after our falls; and restores us again to the favor of God, upon our true humiliation: but the Law, as a Covenant of Works, left no room for repentance, but required perfect obedience without the least failure; and, in case of non-performance, nothing was to be expected, but the execution of that death which it threatened.
Yet, withal, a higher degree of obedience is now required from us under the dispensation of the Gospel, than was expected under the more obscure and shadowy exhibitions of Gospel-Grace by Legal Types and Figures. We confess that the Israelites, before the coming of Christ, were no more under a Covenant of Works, than we are now; but yet the Covenant of Grace was more darkly administered unto them: and, therefore, we having now received, both a clearer light to discover what is our duty, and a more plentiful effusion of the Holy Spirit to enable us to perform it, and better promises, more express and significative testimonies of God's acceptance, and more full assurance of our own reward: it lies upon us, having all these helps and advantages above them, to endeavor that our holiness and obedience should be much superior to theirs; and that we should serve God with more readiness and alacrity, since now by Jesus Christ our yoke is made easy and our burden light.
So that you see we are far from being dispensed with for our obligation to obedience; but, rather, that obligation is made the stricter by Christ's coming into the world: and every transgression against the Moral Law is enhanced to an excess of sin and guilt, not only by the authority of God's injunction, which still continues inviolable; but likewise from the sanction of our Mediator and Redeemer, who has invigorated the precepts of the Law by his express command, and promised us the assistance of his Spirit to observe and perform them.
V. Now, here, before I can come particularly to treat of the words of the Decalogue, I think it requisite to propound some general RULES FOR THE RIGHT UNDERSTANDING AND EXPOUNDING OF THE COMMANDMENTS, which will be of great use to us for our right apprehending the full latitude and extent of them.
The Psalmist tells us, That the commandments of God are exceeding broad: Psalm 119:96. They are exceeding strait, as to any toleration or indulgence given to the unruly lusts and appetites of men; but exceeding broad, in the comprehensiveness of their injunctions, extending their authority over all the actions of our lives.
Now that we may conceive somewhat of this breadth and reach of the Law of God, observe these following Rules:
i. ALL THOSE PRECEPTS, WHICH ARE DISPERSED IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, AND CONCERN THE REGULATION OF OUR LIVES AND ACTIONS, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE NOT TO BE FOUND EXPRESSLY MENTIONED IN THE DECALOGUE, YET MAY THEY VERY APTLY BE REDUCED UNDER ONE OF THESE TEN COMMANDS.
There is no duty required nor sin forbidden by God, but it falls under one, at least, of these Ten Words, and sometimes under more than one: and, therefore, to the right and genuine interpretation of this Law, we must take in whatever the Prophets, Apostles, or our Lord Christ himself has taught, as comments and expositions upon it; for the Decalogue is a compendium of all that they have taught concerning moral worship and justice.
Yes, our Savior does epitomize this very epitome itself, and reduces those Ten Words into two: Love to God, which comprehend all the Duties of the First Table; and Love to our Neighbor, which comprehend all the Duties of the Second Table: and tells us, that upon these two hang all the Law and the Prophets: Matthew 22:37–41. And, certainly, a due love of God and of our Neighbor, will make us careful to perform' all the duties of religion to the one, and of justice to the other; and keep us from attempting any violation to his honor, or violence to their right: and, therefore, the Apostle tells us, that love is the fulfilling of the Law: Romans 13:10 and, 1 Timothy 1:5 that the end of the commandment is Charity, or Love: the end; i. e. the completion or the consummation of the commandment is love, both to God, and one another. But, concerning this, I shall have occasion to speak more largely hereafter.
ii. Since most of the Commandments are delivered in negative or prohibiting terms, and only the Fourth and Fifth in affirmative or enjoining; we may observe this Rule: that THE AFFIRMATIVE COMMANDS INCLUDE IN THEM THE PROHIBITION OF THE CONTRARY SIN; AND THE NEGATIVE COMMANDS INCLUDE THE INJUNCTION OF THE CONTRARY DUTY.
For it is necessary, that the contrary to what is forbidden must be commanded; and, again, the contrary to what is commanded must be forbidden.
As, for instance: God, in the Third Commandment, forbids the taking of his Name in vain: therefore, by consequence, the hallowing and sanctifying his Name is therein commanded. The Fourth requires the sanctifying of the Sabbath-day: therefore, it surely follows, that the profanation of it is thereby forbidden. The Fifth commands us to honor our parents: therefore, it forbids us to be disobedient or injurious to them. And so it is easy to collect of the rest.
iii. Observe, also, that EVERY NEGATIVE COMMAND BINDS semper, and ad semper, as the Schools speak: i. e. ALWAYS, AND TO EVERY MOMENT OF TIME: BUT THE AFFIRMATIVE PRECEPTS, THOUGH THEY BIND ALWAYS, YET THEY DO NOT BIND TO EVERY MOMENT: indeed, as to the habit of obedience, they do; but not, as to the acts.
To make this plain by instance.
The First Commandment, You shall have no other gods before me, binds always, and to every moment of time: so that he is guilty of idolatry, whoever shall at any time set up any other God to worship, besides the Lord Jehovah. But the Affirmative Precept, which is included in this negative, namely, to worship, to love, to invoke, to depend upon this God, obliges us always, for we must never act contrary hereunto; and, likewise, it obliges us to every moment of time, in respect of the habits of divine love, and faith, and worship: yet it does not oblige us to every moment, in respect of the acts of these habits; for it is impossible to be always actually praying, actually praising, and actually worshiping of God; neither is it required that we should, for this would make one duty shock and interfere with another.
So, likewise, the Fourth Commandment, which is Affirmative, Remember that you keep holy the Sabbath-Day, obliges always; and whoever at any time profanes the Sabbath, is guilty of the violation of this law: but it does not, it cannot oblige to every moment of time; since this day only makes its weekly returns, and every parcel of time is not a Sabbath-Day.
So, likewise, the Fifth Commandment is Positive, Honor your father and your mother, and binds always; so that we sin, if at any time we are refractory and disobedient unto their lawful commands: but it does not oblige to the acts of honor and reverence in every moment of time, for that is impossible; or, were it not, it would be but mimical and ridiculous.
But now the Negative Precepts oblige us to every moment of time; and, whoever ceases the observation of them for any one moment, is thereby involved in sin, and becomes guilty and a transgressor before God: such are, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain: You shall not kill: You shall not steal: You shall not commit adultery, etc. Now there is no moment of time whatever, that can render the non-observation of these commands allowable: nor are there any circumstances, that can excuse it from guilt. Whoever does profane the name of God by rash swearing or trivial or impertinent uttering of it, whoever sheds innocent blood, whoever purloins from another what is rightly his, whoever is guilty of any impurity; let it be at what time, in what place, after whatever manner, let it be done passionately or deliberately, whether he be tempted to it or not: yet he is a transgressor of the Law, and liable to that curse and death which God has threatened to inflict upon every soul of man that does evil. Whereas, in the Affirmative Precepts, there are some times and seasons, to which we are not bound, so as actually to perform the duties enjoined us. This I suppose is clear, and without exception.
iv. Observe this Rule, also: that THE SAME PRECEPT, WHICH FORBIDS THE EXTERNAL AND OUTWARD ACTS OF SIN, FORBIDS LIKEWISE THE INWARD DESIRES AND MOTIONS OF SIN IN THE HEART; AND THE SAME PRECEPT, WHICH REQUIRES THE EXTERNAL ACTS OF DUTY, REQUIRES LIKEWISE THOSE HOLY AFFECTIONS OF THE SOUL, THAT ARE SUITABLE THEREUNTO.
As, for instance: the same Command, that requires me to worship God, exacts from me, not only the outward service of the lip or of the knee, but much more the inward reverence and affection of my soul: that I should prostrate, not my body only, but my very heart at his feet; fearing him as the Greatest God, and loving him as the Greatest Good, and, with all the tenderness and dearness of an amorous and ravished soul, cleaving unto him and clasping about him as my only joy and happiness. And, therefore, those are highly guilty of the violation of this Command, who worship God only with their bodies, when their hearts are far estranged from him; offering up only the shell and husk of a duty, when the pith and substance, which should fill it, is given either to the world or to their lusts: such as these are guilty of idolatry, even in serving and worshiping the True God; for they set up their idols in their hearts, when they come to inquire of him: as the prophet complains: Ezekiel 14:7. So, likewise, that Positive Command, Honor your father and your mother, does not only require from us the external acts of obedience to all the lawful commands of our parents, and magistrates, and those whom God has set in authority over us; but requires, farther, an inward love, veneration; and esteem for them in our hearts. For, though men can take no farther cognizance of us, than by our overt-acts; and, if those be regular, they are likewise satisfactory to all human laws: yet this is not sufficient satisfaction to the Law of God, who is the discerner and judge of the heart and soul; and whose law has this special prerogative above all others, that it can with authority prescribe to our very thoughts, desires, and affections.
And, then, as for Negative Commands, they do not only forbid the external acts of sin, but the inward motions of lust, sinful desires, and evil concupiscence. And thus we find it at large: Matthew 5 where our Savior makes it a great part of his most excellent Sermon upon the Mount, to clear and vindicate the Moral Law from the corrupt glosses and interpretations of the Scribes and Pharisees; and to show, that the authority of the Law reached, not only to prohibit sinful actions, as that corrupt generation thought, but sinful affections too: consult verse 21: You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not kill; and whoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. Here they stopped, in the very bark and rind of the Command; and thought it no offence, though they suffered their hearts to burn with wrath, and malice, and revenge, so long as they pent it up there, and did not suffer it to break forth into bloody murder. But what says our Savior, verse 22? But I say unto you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment: and whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whoever shall say, You fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire. You see here, that not only the horrid sin of murder is forbidden by the Law, but all the incentives to it, and degrees of it; as anger, conceived inwardly in the heart, or expressed outwardly in words.
I cannot pass this place, without giving you some light for the right understanding of it.
Here are three degrees of sin, short of murder: yet all forbidden by the same precept, which forbids that. Causeless Anger against your brother; calling him Raca; and calling him, You fool: whereof the one still exceeds the other in guilt Raca signifies a simple witless fellow, commonly used to upbraid such as were weak and ignorant: Ìùñ , or You fool, signifies one, that is not only ignorant, but wicked and ungodly; as the Scripture frequently uses the word in that sense, which is a far greater reproach, than merely to call him weak or silly. Now, according to these three degrees of sins, our Savior proportions three degrees of punishment, to be inflicted on those, that are guilty of them, each severer than other: Causeless Anger shall bring them in danger of the Judgment; Raca, in danger of the Council; and You Fool, in danger of Hell-Fire: that is, they shall make them liable to the punishments inflicted by these.
But, to understand the full scope and meaning of our Savior in these allusions, we must have recourse to the history of the Jewish Commonwealth: and there we find that they had two Courts of Judicature established among them; the Lesser and the Greater Sanhedrin.
The Lesser consisted of twenty-three persons; and was erected, not only in Jerusalem, but in every considerable city among the Jews, where there were six-score householders. These had authority to inflict capital punishments upon malefactors: but yet, as the highest crimes fell not under their cognizance, so neither their severest punishments under their award. And this consistory our Savior calls here the Judgment; and tells us, that whoever is angry with his brother, without a cause, shall be liable to a punishment correspondent to that, which this Sanhedrin was Empowered to inflict; still applying temporals to spirituals, that is, he shall be liable to eternal death, though not so severely executed, as it would be for crimes of a more heinous nature.
Their Greater Sanhedrin was their Supreme Court of Judicature, and consisted of Seventy Elders, besides their chief speaker or moderator. You will find their first institution to have been by divine authority: Numbers 11:16. They sat only in Jerusalem. Their sentence was decisive and determining; from which there lay no appeal. They were to judge of all harder matters, which could not be determined by other courts: as causes concerning a whole tribe, or the whole nation; causes of war and peace; causes concerning the High-Priest, and the mission and authority of prophets that spoke unto them in the Name of the Lord: and this may be the occasion of that speech of our Savior, It cannot be, that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem: Luke 13:33, because, in Jerusalem alone, was this Sanhedrin constituted, which was to judge of the prophets, whether they were true or false. This Sanhedrin our Savior here calls the Council. And they had power, not only of life and death, as the other had; but, likewise, of inflicting death in a more severe and tormenting manner than the other: and, therefore, our Savior says, Whoever shall call his brother Raca, a vain witless fellow, shall be in danger of the Council. Wherein he still brings the degrees of punishments among the Jews, to allude to the punishment of sins in Hell: and so the meaning is, that, as he, who shall causelessly be angry with his brother, exposes himself to the danger of eternal death; so he, that shall suffer his anger to break forth into any reproachful or reviling language, although his taunts be not very bitter nor biting, only to call him a weak silly person, yet hereby he incurs the danger of a severer sentence, and execution of it upon him forever.
But, the severest sentence which this Sanhedrin could pronounce, against the greatest malefactors, was that they should be burnt alive with fire. This execution was always performed in the Valley of Hinnom, joining to Jerusalem: which being a place wherein were frequent fires made, both in idolatrous times for the sacrificing of their children to Moloch, and in their purer times for consuming the filth of their city, and that which was as bad, their malefactors; it is not infrequent in the Scripture to denote Hell by this Tophet, this Valley of Hinnom; which, for its continual fires, was a lively type and representation of it: yes, the very Scripture-name for Hell, Ãååííá, seems to be derived from the Valley of Hinnom. Now, as burning of malefactors in Gehennâ, or the Valley of Hinnom, was among the Jews one of their highest and severest punishments, and never inflicted but where the crime was very gross and flagitious; so, says our Savior, he, that says to his brother, Ìùñå, You fool, shall be in danger of Gehennâ, of hell-fire, i. e. of a severer punishment in the true Hell, than those, who were either causelessly angry, or expressed their anger in more tolerable reproaches; although even they also shall, without repentance, be eternally punished.
So that the sense of our Savior in all this allusion seems to be this: that, whereas the Scribes and Pharisees had restrained that command, You shall not kill, only to actual murder, as if nothing else were forbidden besides open violence and blood; our Savior, contrary wise, teaches, that not only that furious and barbarous sin of murder, but also rash and causeless anger, though it only fret and boil in the heart, much more if it cast forth its foam at the mouth in reviling speeches, falls under that prohibition, You shall not kill. All these degrees deserve to be punished with eternal death: but, as among the Jews, some were punished with lighter, others with more grievous penalties; so shall it be at the Great Judgment: anger in our hearts shall be condemned with eternal punishments; but, if it break forth into reviling expressions, the condemnation shall be more intolerable, and, by so much more, by how much the reproaches are more bitter and sarcastical.
This, in brief, I take to be the true meaning of this difficult speech of our Savior: the whole scope whereof shows, that, not only the gross acts of sin, but also the inward dispositions and corrupt affections unto sin, and every degree and tendency towards it, are forbidden and threatened by the Holy Law of God.
So, likewise, verse 27 of this vth chapter: You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whoever looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart. Here our Savior brings inward concupiscence to the bar; and makes the heart and eye plead guilty, although possibly shame or fear might restrain the grosser acts of filthiness.
Thus, by these few instances, although many more might be added, I have shown, that the same precept, which forbids the outward acts of sin, forbids likewise the inward desires and motions of sin in the heart.
And, indeed, there is a great deal of reason for it. For God, who is our Lawgiver, is a spirit. He sees and converses with our spirits. There is not the least thought that flits in your soul, not the least shadow of an imagination cast upon your fancy, not the stillest breathing of a desire in the heart, but God is privy to it: he sees to the very bottom of that deep spring and source of thoughts, that is in your heart: he beholds them, in their causes and occasions; and knows our thoughts, as the Psalmist speaks, afar off: he beholds our souls more clearly and distinctly, than we can behold one another's faces: and therefore it is but fit and rational, that his laws should reach as far as his knowledge; and that he should prescribe rules to that, whose irregularity he can observe and punish.
Hence it is, that the Apostle, considering what an energy the Law had upon that part of man which seemed most free and uncontrolled, his mind and spirit, calls it a Spiritual Law: We know, says he, that the Law is spiritual: Romans 7:14 and that, because the searching and convincing power of it enters into our spirits, cites our thoughts, accuses our desires, condemns our affections; which no other Law in the world, besides this, can do. For how justly ridiculous would those be, that should command us not to think dishonorably of them, not to desire anything to their detriment and prejudice; and should threaten us with punishments, in case of disobedience: but the Law of God comes into our consciences, with authority; and, in the name of the Great God, requires his peace to be kept among our tumultuous and seditious affections, beats down their carnal weapons, and gives conscience a power either to suppress all rebellious insurrections against the majesty of Heaven, or else to write, accuse, and torment men for them. And, therefore, the Word of God is by the Apostle said to be quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart: Hebrews 4:12.
That is therefore, a Fourth Rule for the right understanding of the extent and latitude of the Commands.
v. Another general Rule is this: that THE COMMAND DOES NOT ONLY FORBID THE SIN THAT IS EXPRESSLY MENTIONED, BUT ALL OCCASIONS AND INDUCEMENTS LEADING UNTO THAT SIN.
And therefore we may observe, that there are many sins, that are not expressly forbidden in any one Commandment, but yet are reductively forbidden in every one, towards the violation of which they may prove occasions. And, as someone sin may he an occasion to all others, so it may be well said to be forbidden in every precept of the Decalogue.
I shall instance only in two of this kind: and they are familiarity with evil persons, or keeping of Evil Company; and that reigning sin of Drunkenness.
For the First of these, it is evident, that, though it be not expressly and in terminis forbidden in any one Commandment; yet, as it is a strong temptation and inducement to the violation of each of them, so it is a sin against them all. There are no such sure factors for the Devil as wicked company; who will strive to rub their vices upon as many as they can infect. And, therefore, you, who delight in the company either of atheists, or idolaters, or swearers, or sabbath-breakers, or disobedient rebels, or murderers, or whoremongers, or thieves, or perjured persons, or covetous muck-worms, you are guilty of the breach of each of these Commandments: for you run yourself into the very snare of the Devil; and take the same course to make yourself so, which made them such. And therefore we are all forbidden to keep company with such profane and profligate wretches, by the very same Commandment which forbids their impieties, whatever they be.
And as for the second sin I mentioned, Drunkenness, it is now 3-days grown to such a height of impudence, that it confronts the sun. And, whereas, in the Apostle's days, even among the heathens themselves, shame so far prevailed upon vice and debauchery, that it left sobriety the day, and took only the night to itself; for they, that would be drunk were drunk in the night: yet, now among us Christians, wickedness is grown so profligate, that we meet the drunkard reeling and staggering even at noon-day, and ready to discharge his vomit in our faces or our bosoms.
Possibly, some, who are besotted with this loathsome vice, may think it no great wickedness, because it is not expressly forbidden in the summary of the Law: and so they cry, Peace, peace, to themselves, although they go on to add drunkenness to thirst.
But of this common sin I say, that it is not against any one particular Commandment of the Law, but against all: for since the Moral Law is the law and rule of right reason, the whole of it must needs be broken, when reason itself is perverted by riot and intemperance; the man turned out of doors, and the beast taken in. So that, indeed, drunkenness is not so much any one sin, as it is all. Never were all the Commandments more surely broken, when Moses cast the Two Tables out of his hands, than they are, in another sense, broken by the drunkard. For he has put off the man, and has put on the swine: and into such swine it is, that the Devil enters, as surely as ever he entered into the herd of the Gadarenes; and drives them furiously down the precipices of all manner of sins and vices, until at length he plungeth and drowneth them in the lake of fire and brimstone.
And, therefore, whatever is commanded, or whatever is forbidden, drunkenness is forbidden, as being the greatest advantage that the Devil has to prompt men to those abominations, that, were they in their right senses, they would abhor and detest. Is he, think you, fit to worship God, and to take him for his own God, who is not himself his own man? Is not he guilty of idolatry, who makes Bacchus his deity; giving him the libations of his vomits, and felling prostrate before him? Can he forbear taking the Name of God in vain, who has taken the creatures of God to his bane? whose tongue is set afloat with his excessive cups, and whose mouth the Devil taps to let his blasphemies, and oaths, and curses, and fearful execrations run out the more fluently? Can he keep holy the Sabbath-Day, whose last night's drunkenness and excess rocks him asleep, either in his own house, or in the house of God? Is he fit to honor his parents, who dishonors his own body? Can he abstain from murder, who first takes the ready way to destroy his own body, and damn his own soul; and then, through the rage of wine, is ready upon every slight provocation to mingle his vomit with the blood of others? Can he keep himself from filthy impurity, whose riotous table does but prepare him for a polluted bed? Shall not he assever that which is false, whose reason is so blinded by the fumes of his intemperance, that he knows no longer the difference between truth and falsehood? And, finally, what bounds can be set to his concupiscence, who, by thus blinding the eyes of his reason, has only left him fancy and appetite, both which the Devil rules and governs?
Thus you see there are some sins, which, though they are not expressly forbidden in the Decalogue, yet are virtually and reductively forbidden, as being the foams and the occasions of others; and, among these, drunkenness especially, which strikes at every law that God has enjoined us, the guilt whereof is universal, as well as the sin epidemic.
vi. Another Rule for the understanding of the Decalogue is this: that THE COMMANDS OF THE FIRST TABLE ARE NOT TO BE KEPT FOR THE SAKE OF THE SECOND; BUT THE COMMANDS OF THE SECOND ARE TO BE KEPT FOR THE SAKE OF THE FIRST.
The First Table commands us those duties, which immediately respect the service and worship of God; the Second those, which respect our demeanor towards men. Now the worship and service of God is not to be performed out of respect to men; but our duty towards men is to be observed out of respect to God. For he, that worships God that he might thereby recommend himself to men, is but a hypocrite and formalist; and he, that performs his duty towards men without respecting God in it, is but a mere civil moralist. The First Table commands us not to worship idols; not to swear; not to profane the Sabbath: the laws of the magistrate command the very same; and those, who are guilty of the breach of them, are liable to human punishments: but, if we therefore abstain from these sins, because they will expose us to shame or suffering among men; if therefore only we worship God, that men may respect and venerate us; all the pomp and ostentation of our religion is but hypocrisy, and, as such, shall have its reward: for God requires to be served, not for man's sake, but for his own.
The Second Table prescribes the right ordering of our conversation towards men; that we should be dutiful and obedient to our superiors; loving and kind to our equals; charitable and beneficial to our inferiors; and just and righteous towards all. These duties are not to be done only for man's sake, but for God's; and those, who perform them without respecting him in them, lose both their acceptance and reward. And therefore our Savior condemns that love and beneficence, which proceeds merely upon human and prudential accounts: Matthew 5:46; If you love them only which love you, what reward have you? do not even the publicans the same? And, Luke 6:33, 34. If you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have you? for sinners also do even the same. And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
But we ought not therefore to serve God for man's sake: but we ought to love man for God's sake: and to perform the duties of the Second Table out of conscience and respect to God: and that respect is Threefold:
1. Obedience to his authority: for, then, what we do for men is an acceptable work and service, when we do it out of a sincere principle of obeying the will and command of God.
2. Conformity unto his example: and this our Savior urges, Matthew 5:45. That you may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
3. A comfortable hope and expectation of his eternal reward: Luke 6:35. Love your enemies, and do good … and your reward shall be great.
This is the way to exalt morality to be truly divine; and to make whatever we do towards men, to be an acceptable service unto God. By this means, we interest him in all the acts of our charity, our justice, and temperance; and we may be assured, that what we thus do for his sake, shall, in the end, be rewarded by his bounty.
vii. Another Rule is this: that That THE COMMANDS OF THE FIRST TABLE, SO FAR FORTH AS THEY ARE PURELY MORAL, SUPERSEDE OUR OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDS OF THE SECOND TABLE, WHEN THEY ARE NOT BOTH CONSISTENT.
As, for instance: we are, in the Second Table, required to obey our parents, and to maintain and preserve our own lives: yet, if we are brought into such circumstances, as that we must necessarily disobey either God or them, either prostitute our soul to guilt or our lives to execution, in such a case our Savior has instructed us, Luke 14:26. If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children … yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Indeed, a positive hatred of these is unnatural and impious; but the hatred, which our Savior here intends, is comparative: i. e. loving them less than Christ, than religion and piety. And if the commands of the one or the concerns of the other are, at any time, to be violated or neglected, it must only be, when we are sure that they are incompatible with a good conscience and true godliness.
viii. Again, in the Eighth place, Whereas, in the First Table, there is one command partly moral and natural, partly positive and instituted, and that is, our observation of the Sabbath: we may observe, that OUR OBLIGATION TO THE DUTIES OF THE SECOND TABLE DOES OFTENTIMES SUPERSEDE OUR OBEDIENCE UNTO THAT COMMAND OF THE FIRST TABLE.
It frequently happens, that works of necessity and mercy will not permit us to be employed in works of piety; nor to sanctify the Sabbath after such a manner, as else we ought: for the Lord requires mercy, rather than sacrifice: Hosea 6:6. And this our Savior alledgeth: Matthew 9:13. In which sense it holds true, that The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath: Mark 2:27. Whatever, therefore, is a work of necessity or a work of charity and mercy, and that not only towards man, but even towards brute beasts themselves, may lawfully be done on the Sabbath-Day, without bringing upon us the guilt of profanation; for that, which is purely moral in the Second Table, does in a sort derogate from what is but positive and instituted in the First.
ix. A Ninth Rule is this: WHATEVER IS FORBIDDEN IN ANY COMMAND, BOTH ALL THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF IT, AND LIKEWISE ALL THE EFFECTS AND CONSEQUENTS OF IT, ARE FORBIDDEN IN THE SAME.
Thus, under the prohibition of idolatry, falls the prohibition of the feasting in the idol-temples, and eating meats sacrificed to them, as being too evident a sign and tessera of our communion with them.
So, in the same command wherein pride is forbidden, (which is chiefly the first and second, for a proud man sets up himself for his God, is his own idol, and is his own idolater,) in the same are forbidden all the signs and effects of pride; as a lofty look, and a mincing gait, an affected behavior, and vain fantastic apparel: against which the Prophet largely declaims, Isaiah 3 the 16th to the end: because, although pride does not formally consist in these things, yet they are signs and effects of pride; and contrary unto that modesty and decency, which God requires.
x. The Tenth and last Rule is this: THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE COMMANDS IS SO CLOSE AND INTIMATE, AND THEY ARE SO LINKED TOGETHER, THAT WHOEVER BREAKS ONE OF THEM IS GUILTY OF ALL.
Now that bond, which runs through them and knits them thus together, is the authority and sovereignty of God enjoining their observance: so that whoever fails in his due obedience to any one, does virtually and interpretatively transgress them all.
Thus we find it expressly affirmed: James 2:10. Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Not as though the violation of one precept were actually the violation of another; for many may steal, and yet not actually murder; many again may murder, and yet not actually commit adultery: but this place of the Apostle must be understood of violating that authority, which passes through them all, and by which all the Commandments have their sanction. For since the authority of the Great God is one and the same in all these laws, he, that shall so far disrespect this authority, as willfully to break one of them, evidently declares, that he owns it not in any. And, although other considerations may restrain such an one from those crimes which are forbidden by some Commandments; yet his observance of them is no part of obedience, nor can it be interpreted to be performed out of conscience and respect towards God: for were it so, the same authority, which withheld him from murder, or theft, or adultery, would likewise restrain him from lying, or taking the name of God in vain: and he, that is guilty of these offences, is likewise guilty of all; because the same authority is stamped upon them all alike, and is alike violated in the transgression of each. And this very reason the Apostle subjoins to his assertion: verse 11. He, that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now, if you commit no adultery, yet if you kill, you are become a transgressor of the law: yes, of the whole Law, as breaking that fence, which God had set about his law, even his sovereign and absolute authority.
These are the Rules, which may direct your understandings to a right knowledge of the latitude and comprehensiveness of the Law. As for the application of them to particular cases, I must leave that to the judgment of Christian Prudence; only, in the ensuing Treatise, you will meet with sundry examples of it.
VI. It will be now requisite that I speak something, and that I chiefly because others have spoken so much, concerning the ORDER of these Commands.
The number of them is no way questioned; for God himself has determined them to be Ten Commandments: Exodus. 34:28 but the method and disposition of them is much controverted: and I think with more heat and contention than the cause deserves; for, if all that God has spoken be entirely delivered to us, what great concern is it, whether this or that Command be reckoned the Second, Third, or Fourth? This certainly tends but little to piety; and we had need rather to employ our care how to keep them, than how to reckon them.
And, therefore, waving all other differences, (as that of Hesychius, making the First Command to be this, I am the Lord your God; which we, with good reason, affirm to be only a part of the preface: and leaving out the Fourth, concerning the sanctification of the Sabbath: and that of the Seventh, placing, You shall not kill, after, You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal: whereas we, according to the Hebrew Verity, place it before;) all that I shall remark, is, the difference between the Papists and us in the enumeration of the Ten Commandments.
They generally hold, that there are but Three Commands in the First Table; and therefore make Seven in the Second: and, to complete this number, as they join the First and the Second into one, so they divide the Tenth into two.
Concerning this division or union, we would not be much contentious with them, were there not a sacrilegious and idolatrous design couched under it: for finding the Second Commandment to strike so directly at their image worship, they thought it expedient to deny it to be any distinct precept of itself; but only an appendix or exposition of the former, You shall have no other gods before me: that so they might, with the better color, omit it; as generally they have done, in all their books of devotion, and for instruction of the people. So that, of those few among them that can rehearse the Decalogue, you shall find none that will repeat, You shall not make unto you any graven image: you shall not bow down yourself unto them, nor serve than; as not knowing that any such thing is forbidden them by God. And, yet, that they may make up the full number of the Commandments, they divide the Tenth into two; one, forbidding the coveting of our neighbor's wife; and the other, the coveting of any other of his possessions.
The only authority they produce from Antiquity, for this order of the Decalogue, is that of Augustine: and, it is very true, that he does, in many places of his Works, so conjoin and divide them: but far from any design of promoting idolatry; or keeping the people in ignorance, that the worshiping of images was forbidden. Yet, in this particular, he went contrary to the current of all former Antiquity; yes, contrary to the very order of the Scripture: for, whereas they say that the Ninth Commandment is, You shall not covet your neighbor's wife; and the Tenth, You shall not covet your neighbor's house, nor his servant, etc. if we consult Exodus. 20:11 we shall find that the Command runs thus: You shall not covet your neighbor's house: you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, etc. from which it certainly follows, that they cannot make two precepts, but appertain to one.
But enough of this: which I had not mentioned, had it net been concealed out of such an impious design.
And now I think my way is clear to the words themselves.
In them we have the PREFACE, and the PRECEPTS.
PREFACE
I. The PREFACE in these words: I am the Lord your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
This Preface carries an equal respect and reverence to all the Commandments; and contains a strong argument in it to enforce the obedience of them.
And as kings and princes do usually prefix their names and titles before those laws and edicts which are set forth by them, to gain the more attention and the greater veneration to what they publish; so, here the great God, who is the King of Kings, being to proclaim a law to his people of Israel, that he might affect them with the deeper reverence of his authority, and make them the more afraid to transgress those laws that were enacted by so mighty a potentate and so glorious a majesty, he displays and blazons his name and his style before them: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage; that they might learn to fear his glorious and fearful name, THE LORD YOUR GOD: as we find it, Deuteronomy 28:58.
Now, as all arguments, that are prevalent and cogent, are adapted to work upon one of these two passions by which we ate swayed in all the actions of our lives, either our fear or our love; so here, likewise, God has accommodated himself to our temper, and proclaims,
i. His AUTHORITY, to beget FEAR: I am the Lord your God.
ii. His BENEFITS and MERCIES to engage LOVE: The Lord your God, that brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage:
And both these, that, having so strong an obligation upon our very natures, as the motives of love and fear, he might the more readily work us unto obedience. For what motives can be urged more enforcing than these, which are drawn both from power and goodness: the one, obliging us to subjection; the other, to gratitude?
i. He is the Lord God, the great Creator, the only Proprietor, the absolute Governor and Disposer of All Things; and, therefore, upon this account, we owe AN AWFUL OBSERVANCE TO ALL HIS LAWS AND INJUNCTIONS. It is but fit and just, that we should be subject unto him, that created us; and who has infinite power, for our contumacies and rebellions eternally to destroy us.
He is the Lord God; the Great and Glorious One, whose kingdom is from everlasting to everlasting, and whose dominion has no bounds, either of time or place. Behold, says the Prophet, the nations are but as a drop of a bucket, and are counted but as the small dust of the balance: behold, he takes up the isles as a very little thing. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity: Isaiah 40:15, 17. His voice shakes the heavens, and removes the earth out of its place. His way is in the whirlwind. Storms and tempests are his harbingers; and the clouds are the dust raised by his feet. The mountains quake at his presence; at his displeasure the hills melt away; the world and all the inhabitants of it are dissolved. His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. His hand spans the heavens, and he holds all the waters of the sea in the hollow of it. Heaven is the throne of his glory, and the earth his footstool: his pavilion round about him, dark waters and thick clouds of the sky. Ten thousand times ten thousand glorious spirits stand always ministering before him: they fly on his errands, and are ready pressed to execute his sovereign will and pleasure. Who is like unto you, O Lord, glorious in holiness, fearful in your praises, doing wonders? and therefore, who would not fear you, O King of Nations; and tremble and be astonished, when once you are angry?
Will you then, O vile and wretched Sinner, despise the authority and majesty of the great God, before whom all the powers of Heaven and earth lie prostrate? Dare you infringe his laws and violate his commands, who is so great and terrible a God, that he can destroy you by the very breath of his nostrils? By the breath of his nostrils are they consumed: Job 4:9. Yes, he can look you to death: They perish at the rebuke of your countenance: Psalm 80:16. Are you able to contend with this God? Are you a fit match for the Almighty? can your heart endure, or your hands be strong, in the day when the Lord shall deal with you, and come to recompense vengeance upon you for all your transgressions? Who, among you, can dwell with the devouring fire? who, among you, can dwell with everlasting burnings?
Certainly, did we but frequently thus over-awe our hearts with the serious consideration of the dread majesty and supreme authority of the Great God, we should not dare so presumptuously to provoke him, as we do. Fear is a most excellent preservative from sin; and a strong fence that God has set about his Law, to keep us from breaking those bounds which he has prescribed us. And, therefore, the Wise Man gives us this advice: Ecclesiastes 12:13. Fear God and keep his commandments: and the Psalmist: Psalm 4:4. Stand in awe and sin not.
ii. As the authority of God is set forth to move us to obedience by working upon our fear; so his BENEFITS AND MERCIES ARE DECLARED TO WIN US TO IT FROM A PRINCIPLE OF LOVE AND GRATITUDE: The Lord your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
And indeed this, though it be a soft, yet is it a most powerful and effectual argument.
Has God surrounded you with blessings, and loaded you every day with his benefits? Have you received your life, your being from him; and so many comforts in which you take delight, and he allows you so to do? Have you been delivered by his watchful providence from many deaths and dangers; restored from sickness, or preserved in health? Does he feed you at his table, and clothe you out of his wardrobe? Nay, what is infinitely more, has he given you his only Son, and his Son given you his life and most precious blood? Has he sent you his Gospel; and, in it, the exceeding great and precious promises of eternal glory, a glory which hope dared not be bold enough to expect, nor is imagination large enough to conceive? Has he sent you his Spirit to seal and ratify all these promises to you? Has he crowned your head with many rich blessings here, and will he crown it with joy and blessedness hereafter? And can you, O Soul, be so unkind and disingenuous as to deny anything to that God, who has denied nothing to you? Can you refuse him the only thing he requires of you; the only testimony which you can give, that you have any sense of his favor? and, especially considering he requires it, only that he may reward it with farther blessings. Can you wrong that God, who has been so kind and gracious unto you, and is continually doing you good? Can you despise his precepts, who has regarded your prayers? Will not you hear him speaking unto you, who has often heard you when you have cried unto him, and has helped and saved you? Certainly, the ingenuity of human nature forbids it: the love of God constrains otherwise; especially, since he has required obedience from us as the evidence and expression of our love to him: John. 14:21. He, that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and, in the second epistle of John verse 6. This is love, that we walk after his commandments. And that, which is a most cogent motive, your own interest and eternal concernments engage you to it: for, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God … and to love him … and to keep his commandments … which I command you this day for your good? Deuteronomy 10:12, 13. God might have required from us the very same obedience which now he does, without promising us any reward for it: for we owe him all that we can possibly do, as he is the author of our beings; and every power and faculty of our souls ought to be employed for him, who gave them unto us. But, when the Great God has been so far pleased to condescend from his prerogative, as to command us nothing but what has already brought us very great advantages, and will for the future bring us far greater, when his hands shall be as full of blessings, as his mouth is of commands; when he enjoins us a work that in itself is wages, and yet promises us wages for doing of that work; when the mercies he has already given us do oblige us, and the mercies he has promised yet to give us do allure us: certainly, we must needs be the most disingenuous of all creatures, and the greatest enemies to our own happiness, if these considerations do not win us to yield him that obedience, which redounds not at all to his profit and advantage, but to our own.
Thus you see how God has enforced the observation of his Law upon us, both by his authority and by his mercy: the one, to work upon our fear; the other, upon our love; and both to engage us to obedience.
Now here it is observable, that, in the rehearsal of those mercies which should oblige unto duty, mention is made only of those, which seem to concern the Israelites, and no other people: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. From which some would infer, that the Decalogue only respects them; and that the commands then given do not at all appertain unto us, no more than the benefits commemorated.
But the answer is easy. For this mercy here mentioned, of deliverance from Egypt and the house of bondage, is to be understood either literally or typically.
If we understand it Literally, so indeed it refers only to the people of Israel, whom God brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm; and by such a series of miracles, that they were almost as ordinary as the common effects of God's Providence.
But if we understand this Typically and Mystically, so it is true, that God has brought us also out of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage: and therefore the enforcement of the Commandments, upon this account and consideration, belongs to us Christians, as well as it did belong to the Church of the Jews; for, should we run up the allegory to the spiritual sense of it, we shall find a wonderful agreement between them, and a near representation of our state in the state of the Israelites. Let it suffice to compare them together, only in a few remarkable instances. As they were kept in bondage under the rigorous tyranny of Pharaoh, who sought both by policy and power to destroy them: so were we kept in bondage under the tyranny of the Devil, of whom Pharaoh was a black type and shadow. And, as God delivered them from his hand by a temporal salvation: so has he delivered us from the power of the Devil by a spiritual salvation; redeeming us from the slavish employment of lading ourselves with thick clay, and leading us through the Red Sea of his Son's blood, in which all our spiritual enemies are destroyed; and conducting us through the wilderness of this world, unto the promised Canaan, that land that flows with milk and honey, the seat of rest and eternal joy and felicity, even Heaven itself: and, therefore, if the consideration of a temporal deliverance were so powerful a motive to engage the Israelites unto obedience, how much more effectually should we be obliged unto it, whose deliverance is far greater than theirs was; for God has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: Colossians 1:13. He has delivered us from the wrath to come: 1 Thessalonians 1:10. He has abolished death for us, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 2 Timothy 1:10. And, therefore, as our deliverance is spiritual, so ought our obedience to be; that being delivered from the justice of God, the condemning power of the Law, the reigning power of sin, the sting of an accusing conscience, the rage and malice of the Devil, and the intolerable torments of Hell, we might, with all love and thankfulness, cheerfully serve that God, whose mercy has been extended towards us in those things, which are of highest and most precious concernment.
And thus you see the reason of this Preface, I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt; and how it is both applicable and obligatory to us Christians, as well as to the Jews: containing a declaration of God's authority to enforce, and of his mercy to oblige us to the obedience of, those laws, which he delivers.
PRECEPTS
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
II. I come now to the PRECEPTS themselves; whereof the first and chief is, You shall have no other Gods before me.
Which because it is negative, and all negatives depend upon and must be measured by the truth of their contrary affirmative, therefore I shall first consider what duties are commanded in this precept; and then, what sins are prohibited.
i. Four things are here REQUIRED.
First. That we must have a God: against Atheism.
Secondly. That we must have the Lord Jehovah for our God: which forbids Idolatry.
Thirdly. That we must have the only true God the Lord Jehovah alone for our God.
And this forbids Polytheism, or the worshiping of many Gods; and Samaritanism, or the worshiping of false Gods together with the true, like those Samaritans spoken of, 2 Kings 17:33 who feared the Lord, and yet served their own Gods; making a strange medley in religion, and blending those things together that were utterly irreconcilable: as if they intended not only to be partakers themselves with Devils, but to make God so too; which is the greatest gratification that can be given to that proud and wicked spirit, whose ambition it is to emulate and rival God in worship. The Apostle has told us, That those things, which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to Devils, and not to God: 1 Corinthians 10:20. Now, thus to join any other thing with God as the object of our worship, is infinitely to debase and disparage him; since it intimates, that something, besides God, is excellent, and perfect as himself. And, therefore, Zephan. 1:5. God severely threatens to cut off and to destroy those, that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham.
Fourthly. It requires that all these services and acts of worship, which we tender unto the true and only God, be performed with sincerity and true devotion. This is implied in that expression before me: You shall have no other Gods before me, or in my sight.
And this forbids both Profaneness on the one hand, and Hypocrisy on the other. For, because the most secret and retired apartments of the heart are all naked and bare in the sight of God, and our very spirits are as it were dissected, and so exposed to his view and observation; therefore to have no other God before him, denotes that our serving and worshiping of him ought to be sincere and affectionate.
It is not enough, to have no other God before men; not to fall down prostrate before any visible idol set up in a temple: but the Law is spiritual, and searches the very thoughts and inward parts of the soul: and if there be any idol set up in the heart, although it be in the darkest corner of it; any secret lust or hidden sin, which is the soul's idol, and keeps it from being chaste and true to its God; any crooked ends and sinister respects, in the worship of God; this is to have another God, in the sight of Jehovah, and before him.
Indeed, we are very apt to rest contented, if we can but approve ourselves before men, and carry a fair show of religion and godliness.
But consider how weak and foolish this is: for, first, we cozen them with our appearances; and, then, we cozen ourselves with their opinions of us. It is not only before men, whose sight is terminated in the bark and outside of things, that we offer up our services; but before that God, who is the Searcher of the Heart and the Trier of the Reins, who looks quite through us, and judges not according to outward appearance, but judges righteous judgment. For us to regard men, and seek to commend ourselves to them in the service of God, is as great a folly and irreverence, as it would be for one, who is to treat with a mighty prince, to regard and reverence only the images in the tapestry and hangings. Alas! men are but as so many blind images, in respect of God: they cannot see the heart, nor the affections; and those outward acts of worship, which they do see and commend without the heart, are despised by God. He requires truth in the inward parts; and is not delighted with the ostentation of performance, but with the sincerity of intention: for every one is delighted with that, which does most of all declare some singular excellency that is in him. But, it is God's excellency and prerogative, to contemplate the heart, to weigh and consider the spirits of men: and, therefore, he is chiefly delighted in the sincere desires and breathings of the heart after him; because, by these, we own him to be an all-knowing God. But when we perform duties of religion only to be seen and applauded of men, we make God only our pretense, but men our idols; and set up as many Gods before him, as we have spectators and observers.
And thus we have seen what positive duties are required of us in this precept: That we should worship a God, and him the true God; and the true God only, and that in truth and sincerity, as doing all our services before him. So that you see this First Command respects WORSHIP.
It would be too long, and indeed almost endless, to insist particularly on all the duties that are included in the true and sincere worship of the true and only God. I shall, therefore, speak only of the THREE CHIEF AND MOST REMARKABLE.
1. The Love of God.
2. The Fear of God.
3. Invocation of, and rendering praise unto him.
In these three, especially, does consist the having the Lord for our God.
1. In this command is required of us, the most supreme and endeared love of God.
Yes, indeed, the Love of God is not only the sum of this, but of all the commands of the First Table: and, therefore, as I lately told you, when our Savior would give an abridgement of the Law, he comprises all the Ten under Two Great Commands: Matthew 22:37, 38, 39. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. From whence the Apostle deduceth that great conclusion: Rom 13:10 that Love is the fulfilling of Law. It is so; if not formally, yet virtually and effectively: for it will powerfully and sweetly sway us to yield a ready submission and obedience to what is required of us; and that, not only as it is the dictate of divine and sovereign authority, but from the free spontaneous tendency of the soul itself: which, when it is once touched with this celestial and serene flame, must rebel against its own inclinations, as well as against God's commands, if it be not carried out towards that object, in which alone it can find full acquiescence and satisfaction.
This Love of God has in it Three Acts or Degrees; Desire, Joy, and Zeal:
(1) An earnest and panting Desire after God: Psalm 42:1, 2. As the deer pants after the water-brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: oh, when shall I come and appear before God? As the poor imbossed deer, that is closely pursued, faints and melts with the heat of the chase; and hastens to the known river where it was accustomed to quench its thirst, to find both safety and refreshment there: so does the holy amorous soul reach and breathe after God. He thirsts after the water-brooks, the streams of his ordinances, wherein God does pour out his grace and his Spirit to refresh she longing desires of his holy impatience: but, not being satisfied with this, he still makes up to the fountain; and never rests contented, until he has engulfed and plunged himself into God, and is swallowed up in beatitude.
(2) From the fruition of the beloved object springs Joy.
For joy is nothing else, but the rest and acquiescence of desire. And, therefore, according to the measures of God's communicating himself to our souls; such, proportionably, will be the increases of our joy. Something we enjoy of God in this life, while we are absent from him in the body: he is pleased to give us transient glances of himself, when he fills his ordinances and our duties with his Spirit: and, yet, these reserved communications are so ravishing, that the distended soul is often forced, by the agony of sweetness, to cry out, with holy Simeon, Now, Lord, let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation. How overflowing then will our joy be, when we come to Heaven, where our fruition of God shall be entire and eternal! where we shall see him as he is, and know him as we are known by him! where the unveiled glories of the Deity shall beat full upon us; and we, forever, sun ourselves in the smiles of God! certainly, the joy of such a state would be intolerable; but, only, that God, who fills us, will then likewise enlarge and support us.
(3) If our fruition of God be hindered and obstructed, our love to him will then express itself in a holy Zeal.
Zeal is the indignation of the soul; and a revenge, that it takes upon whatever is an impediment to the obtaining of its desires. The earnest desire of a true Saint, is the enjoyment of God, and the glory of God; and, of both these, sin is the only let and hindrance And, therefore, a soul, that is passionate for God, has not so great an indignation against anything, as against sin. Can he endure to see that God, whom he loves dearer than his life, daily provoked and injured! to hear his name blasphemed; to see his ordinances despised, his worship neglected, his servants abused, and the most sacred truths of religion denied, and the sacred mysteries of it derided? He is the most meek and patient man on earth, in his own concerns; unwilling to observe the wrongs that are done him, and much more to revenge them: but when God is injured, the dear object of his love and joy, he can no longer refrain; but, whatever befall him, rises up to vindicate his honor, and thrusts himself between to receive those strokes which were aimed at God; and what he cannot prevent or reform, that he bitterly bewails.
This is true Zeal; and he, that says he loves God, and yet is not thus zealous for him, is a liar.
Now try your Love to God by these things. Are your desires fervent and affectionate after him? Do you find a holy impatience in your spirit until you enjoy him? Will nothing else content you, but God? Can you say, that there is none in Heaven nor in earth, that you desire in comparison with him; and, if the whole world were thrown into your bosoms for your portion, you would pluck it thence, and cast it at your feet, resolving that you will not be put off with such trifles? Do you find a Joy springing and diffusing itself through your hearts, when you are engaged in communion with him? a sweet and potent delight, to which all the pleasures of sin are but flat and insipid? Are you Jealous for the Lord of Hosts? Are your anger and grief never so much kindled for any wrongs that are done unto you, as they are for the provocations that are daily committed against the great Majesty of Heaven? Can you mourn and weep for these in secret; and, if you have power and authority to do it, punish and avenge them openly?:? You may, for your comfort, conclude, that certainly God has kindled this heavenly flame of Love in your breast: a flame, that aspires heaven-ward; and will, at last, carry up your soul with it, and lodge it there where the Desire of Love shall be satisfied, the Joy of Love perfected, and the Zeal of Love eternally rewarded.
So much for the First principal Duty required in this First Precept, the Love of God.
2. In this Command is required of us the Fear of God.
For, certainly, we cannot have the Lord for our God, unless we supremely fear and reverence him. Yes, as love, so the fear of God is made the sum of all the Commandments, and indeed the substance of all religion: for, although it be but one particular branch and member of that worship and service, which we owe unto God; yet it is such a remarkable one, and has such a mighty influence upon all the rest, that, oftentimes, in Scripture it is put for the whole; and, generally, the character of a true worshiper and obedient servant of God, is given by this Periphrasis, that he is a man fearing God.
Now the Fear of God is either Servile or Filial; and both are a strong bond to duty and obedience.
Those, who are actuated only by a slavish fear, will beware how they stir up the dread wrath and severe justice of God against themselves, by any willful neglects or known transgressions.
And how much more those, who are actuated by a principle of Filial and Reverential Fear of God; who fear as much to offend, as to suffer for it; and to whom mercy and goodness prove as powerful motives of fear, as wrath and fury! Yes, there is no attribute nor perfection in God, but is very justly the object of our fear: for where this grace is true and genuine, it works in us rather a sedate awe and respect of God, a profound reverence and resilition of the Soul, than any turbulent and tempestuous passions of affright and horror. And, certainly, if we acknowledge that there is a God, it is but reason that we should thus fear him according to his essential greatness and glory: for, take away the fear of a Deity, and a supreme power, which is able to reward and punish the actions of men, and you open a floodgate for all villainy and wickedness to rush out and overflow the whole world. And, where this restraint of fear is taken off from the spirits of men, all laws given to curb their licentiousness are of no more force, than fetters of air to chain up madmen: and, therefore, very fitly does God enjoin the fear of himself, in this First Command; as that, which will season and dispose the heart to obey him, in all the rest.
3. Another principal part of worship required in this First Precept, is the Invocation of the Name of God in our Prayers and Praises.
The two former, namely, love and fear, respect the inward worship of God in our hearts: but this appertains to his outward worship; and, by it, we give express testimonies that we both love and fear him. For prayers and praises are the tribute and homage of religion: by the one, we acknowledge our dependence upon him; by the other, we own all our blessing and comforts to be from him; and to one of these two, all external worship may be referred. Certainly, such, as neither pray unto God nor praise him, cannot be said to have a God: for they acknowledge none; but are Gods unto themselves. For wherefore do we affirm, that there is a God, if we make no addresses unto him? If we have recourse only to our own power or policy to accomplish our designs; and, when they succeed, ascribe the success, of them only to our own wisdom and conduct; we make these, our idols, and give them the honor which is due unto God only. And, therefore, the Prophet Habak. 1:16 speaks of those, who sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
Now, as the love and fear of God are often used in Scripture, for his whole worship and service; so, likewise, is this Invocation of his Name. So we find it, Genesis 4:26. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord: that is, (as many learned expositors understand it, although some take it another way) then began men solemnly and publicly to worship God in their assemblies. And, Jeremiah 10:25. Pour out your fury upon the heathen that know you not, and on the families that call not on your name: i. e. those, who do not worship nor serve you. And the like we may observe in very many other places.
There is but one thing more that I shall remark to you; and that is, that, as this First Command requires, in the general, that the True God should be truly worshiped; so the three next following Commands prescribe the means and branches of his worship, and the way and manner how he would have it performed. For the Second Commandment requires us to worship God, who is a spirit, without any visible image or representation of the Deity: for, as it is impossible that there should be any true resemblance made of a spirit; so it is most impious to give any part of divine honor and reverence unto dumb idols: which, as to their materials, are but the creatures of God; as they are statues, but the creatures of are; and, as they are images, but the creatures of fancy and superstition. The Third Commandment requires, that we should never mention the name of the Great God slightly and impertinently; but, whenever we have occasion to utter it, we should do it with all prostrate veneration and serious affection. The Fourth prescribes to us the time, which God has set apart and sanctified for his solemn worship. So that you see each Command of the First Table is concerned in giving Rules for Divine Worship; but the first, which enjoins it in the general, is the ground and foundation of the other three.
And thus much shall suffice concerning the duties required in this First Command, You shall have no other gods before me.
ii. In the next place, let us see what is FORBIDDEN in it.
It forbids us Four things:
Atheism, or the belief and acknowledgment of no God.
Ignorance of the True God.
Profeneness, or the wretched neglect of the worship and service of God.
Idolatry, or the setting up and worshiping of false gods.
1. Atheism, or the acknowledging of no God, is forbidden and condemned by this command.
And well may this be reckoned the first sin forbidden; for, certainly, religion and worship will be found to be one of the most foppish vanities, that ever was imposed upon the credulous world; if either there be no God, to whom we might direct our devotions; or only a God of Epicurus's and Lucretius's stamp, that sits unconcerned in Heaven, and loathes the fatigue of business, taking no thought nor care of human affairs. For, if there be no God, or only such an one, what difference is there whether we pray or blaspheme? whether we lead holy and pious lives; or let loose the reins to all manner of lewdness and riot, and wallow in all the impure delights that vice and sensuality can recommend to our corrupted appetites? for, if there be no God, there can be no future cognizance taken of either, no rewards nor punishments proportioned to either. And, therefore, it will be here necessary to show the folly and unreasonableness of atheism; and to convince men that there is a God, without which all religion and worship are but folly and madness.
Some, perhaps, may judge it altogether needless to insist upon such a subject as this, among those who all acknowledge and worship the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
I heartily wish it were both unnecessary and impertinent; but, truly, if we consider that usually the practices of men are guided and influenced by their principles, we shall find reason enough to suspect that there are some notions of Speculative Atheism that lie at the bottom of all that Practical Atheism, which we may observe so generally to prevail in the world: for any considerate person would think it impossible, that men should so daringly rush into all those prodigious crimes and villainies, that everywhere rage and reign, were it not that they entertain loose and wavering apprehensions of the existence of a Deity; and encourage themselves in their vices by some unformed and callow thoughts, that perhaps all, that religion teaches concerning God and a future state, are only politic devices and fictions.
Nay, indeed, our age has too many, who, not only with the fool, say in their hearts; but are arrived to that height, of desperate impudence, as to avow it in express words; yes, to dispute and argue it, that there is no God.
I shall, therefore, confirm this great and primary truth, upon which depend all our religion and all our hopes, by some convincing and demonstrative arguments, which I intend to make as plain and obvious as the matter will permit.
(1) The Universal Consent of all nations strongly proves the being of a Deity.
For that, which all agree in, must needs be accounted a dictate of nature; and what is such must needs be acknowledged to be a maxim of truth.
Next to the report of our senses, we may credit the reports that nature and all mankind give, concerning the truth and existence of things. Now if we should impannel all the nations of the world upon this trial; not only the more civilized, where custom or the authority of laws might be suspected to introduce this belief, but those that are the most rude and savage: they would all, with one consent, return this verdict, That there is a God.
Nay, although one part of mankind has so strangely dissented from another, about all other things; as concerning their laws, government, and customs, yes, and manner of worship; yet those, that differ in all things else, seem only to agree in these two; Human Nature, and the Belief of a Deity. Never was there any nation so wild and barbarous, that acknowledged no God; but their great fault and folly was, that they acknowledged too many. And it is strange to think, that the whole race of mankind, in so many generations as have successively followed one another since the beginning of the world, yes and if there were no God from all eternity, should not have grown wise enough to free themselves from so trouble, some an opinion, as that of the existence of a God: an opinion, that crosses their worldly interests, contradicts their sensual desires, damps their joys, torments their natural consciences; and which, those, who are wicked, would give whatever is dearest to them, to have utterly rooted out of their minds; it is strange, I say, that they should not, all this while, be able to deliver themselves from the tyranny and fetters of this fancy, were it only imposed upon them by false reports and surmises.
How could the world be so easily drawn into such several shapes and forms of religion; which, among the heathen, were almost infinite; and, among others, too various and different: were there not a natural inclination in the souls of men, to embrace some religion or other; and an indelible character of a Deity imprinted on their minds? Insomuch, that, in the times of darkness, when the truth was not clearly revealed to the world, because they knew neither the true object nor the right way of worship, this restless notion of a Deity put them upon inventing divers vile, uncouth, and ridiculous superstitions. But yet this is so far from invalidating, that it strongly confirms to us their belief of a Deity; in that they submitted themselves to observances, not only unreasonable, but many times barbarous and inhuman, if they thought them acceptable to the gods whom they worshiped. Yes, rather than they would be without a Deity, they would dig them gods out of their gardens; or consecrate dogs, and serpents, and any vermin that first met them in the morning, and had the good luck thereby to creep into honor.
What, then, is it likely that the world received this notion first by tradition; whereas, before, men generally believed there was no God? This cannot be: for would they in reason quit their former persuasion, to receive this new false one; especially, when it is the only thing, that fills them with fears and torments, and a thousand affrights and horrors? Yes, those, who would gladly wear off this notion of a God, and persuade themselves to be atheists if they could, what violence have they offered to themselves to do it! And when they thought they had prevailed, yet this impression has still returned, when they have been startled with thunder, or earthquakes, or sickness, and the dreadful apprehensions of approaching death.
Possibly, some few may have been found in the world, who have dissented from the rest of mankind in this belief of a Deity: yet their dissent is not sufficient ground for us to conclude, that therefore it is not a dictate of nature. For how many are there, that violate the laws of nature; and do those things, which the innate light and reason of a man abhor and abominate! yet none will from thence infer, that there are no such things as natural laws: so neither, though some might have utterly razed out of their minds the notion and belief of a God, will it thence follow, that this belief of a Supreme Being is not an impression of nature.
But, suppose the number of atheists had been never so great, is it not far more probable that it should rather be a dictate of nature, that there is a God, than that there is not: since the disbelief of his being would open a wide gap to all manner of lewdness and licentiousness; yes, and to the bold commission even of those sins, which are against nature itself? Shall such men be thought to speak the sense of nature, whose opinion so directly tends to bring in sins contrary to the light and laws of nature? For, take away the belief of a Deity, and it is as much to be doubted, whether the refined discourses of reason, and the consideration of decency, and the intrinsical rewards of virtue, will be of force sufficient to restrain men from the most enormous and unnatural vices. That, therefore, must needs be a dictate of nature, which is almost the only thing, which gives authority to the law of nature: and such is the Belief of a God.
(2) Another convincing demonstration of the existence of a Deity, is taken from the serious consideration and review of the Frame and Order of the Universe; in which there are as many wonders, as there are creatures.
And, certainly, he must needs be very blind and stupid, that reads not God in every one of them.
Cast but your eyes upwards, and contemplate the vast expansion of the heavens, which are the canopy of the world, the roof of this great house the universe, the lid or cover that is put over all the works of nature. Behold how gloriously this canopy is studded! How many glittering lights are hung up in this roof, to illuminate our inferior world; and to discover to our eyes all visible objects, and to our mind the Invisible God! Who has gilded the rays of the sun, of silvered the face of the moon? Who has marshaled the huge host of Heaven; and set the stars in such arrays, that not one of them has broken its rank, nor strayed out of its course and order? Whose hand is it, that turns the great wheels of Heaven; and makes them spin out days, and months, and years, and time, and life unto us? Who has ordered the vicissitudes of day and night, summer and winter, that these run not into one another, and blend themselves and the whole world in confusion; but, with a perpetual variety, observe their just seasons and interchanges? Do not all these wonderful works proclaim aloud, that, certainly, there is a great and glorious God, who sits enthroned on high; and who has thus paved the bottom of Heaven with stars, and adorned the inner parts of it with glories, yet to us unknown? Upon which very reflection, the Psalmist tells us, The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament shows his handiwork: Psalm 19:1.
But, not to carry the atheist up to Heaven, let us descend lower; through the vast ocean of liquid air: and there observe, how the grosser vapors are bound together in clouds, which, when the drowth and thirst of the earth call for refreshment, dissolve themselves into small drops, and are as if it were sifted into rain. How comes it to pass, and whose wisdom and providence has so ordered it, that there should not fall whole clouds and cataracts, but drops and showers? that they should not tumble upon us, but distill? an effect so wonderful, that there is scarce any other work of nature, that the Scripture does more frequently ascribe unto God, as a demonstration of his power and government, than that he sends rain upon the earth. Yes, and these clouds, how often are they charged with thunder and lightnings; as though it were so ordered of purpose, that, if their context cannot convince, yet their terror might affright the atheist! Who can give any satisfactory account, how that artillery came there planted? or how those terrors of mankind are there generated? Let the atheist tell me how it comes to pass, that such contraries meet together in one; and that the same cloud should be both a fountain of water, and yet a furnace of fire. And, therefore, the Prophet ascribes this particularly to God's Almighty providence: Jeremiah 10:13. He makes lightnings with the rain; and accounts it such a remarkable instance of the divine operation, that he repeats it again, Chapter 51:16.
If we descend into the lowest story of this great building, the earth; what a shop of wonders shall we find there! That the whole mass and globe of it should hang pendulous in the air, without anything to support it; and, whereas small bodies of little weight fall through the air, yet that this great and ponderous body should be fixed forever in its place, having no foundation, no support, but that air which every mote and fly does easily cut through; that this round ball of earth should be inhabited on every part; that the feet of other men should be opposite to ours, and yet they walk as erect, and be as much upon the face of the earth as we are; that the middle point of the earth should be the lowest part of it, and of the universe, and whatever is beyond that be upwards: these and many others are such unaccountable mysteries to our comprehension, and yet are found so infallibly certain by experience and manifold proofs, that he must be an atheist out of mere spite, who shall seriously consider them, and not be induced by that consideration to adore the Infinite Power and Wisdom of the Author of them.
It would be too long to instance in the various sorts of creatures that we behold; how artificially they are framed; what an excellent configuration there may be observed in their several parts; what subserviency of one to another; how they are suited to the offices of nature; what secret channels and conveyances for life and spirits; what springs of various motions are included in the small body of a fly or of a mite. Certainly, there is not the least thing, that an atheist can cast his eye upon, but it confutes him: but, especially, if he shall seriously consider the wonderful structure of a human body, the excellent contrivance and use of all the parts, he cannot chose but, after he has admired the artifice of the work, admire also the Infinite Wisdom of the Maker, and cry out with holy David, I am fearfully and wonderfully made … and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth: Psalm 139:14, 15. Yes, not only a David; but Galen, a heathen, one, who it is thought, was not over credulous in matters of religion: yet, when he had minutely inspected the many wonders and miracles that are contained in the frame of our body, he could not forbear composing a hymn to the praise of our All-wise Creator.
And, therefore, as the Lord Verulam observes, God never wrought a miracle to convince an atheist, because his ordinary works may convince him; and, unless men will be willfully and stubbornly blind, they must needs subscribe to that of St Paul: Acts 14:17. God has not left himself without witness, in that he does good, and gives us rain from Heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And, Romans 1:20. The invisible things of God are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead: so that they are without excuse. When we see footsteps evidently imprinted on the earth, shall we not easily collect that certainly someone has passed that way? When we see a stately fabric built according to all the rules of are, and adorned with all the riches and beauty that magnificence can expend about it, must we not presently conclude, that certainly there was some skillful architect that built it? Truly, every creature is quoddam vestigium Dei: we may observe his footsteps in it; and see how his attributes, his wisdom, his goodness, and his power have passed along that way. And the whole world is a stately fabric; a house, that God has erected for himself: the magnificence and splendor of it are suitable to the state of the Great King: it is his palace, built for the house of his kingdom, and the honor of his majesty: and we may easily conclude, that so excellent a structure must needs have an excellent architect, and that the builder and maker of it is God.
Now that, which makes some proud spirits backward to acknowledge God in the works of nature, is, that they think they can, by their reason alone, give a plausible account of those effects and Phenomena which we see in the world, by deducing them from second and natural causes. And, therefore, many of those, who are of an inquisitive and searching genius, when they find such effects depend upon and flow from such and such natural causes, applaud themselves in the discovery; and look no further nor higher, but neglect the First and chief Cause of all, even God.
Hence some have thought, that reason and philosophy are great enemies to religion, and patrons of atheism: but, in truth, it is far otherwise; and the atheist has not a more smart and keen adversary, since he will not submit his cause to be tried by Scripture, than true reason, and profound philosophy.
But if any, who seem to be knowing and learned men, are less inclined to the belief of a Deity, it is not their learning, but their ignorance, that makes them so. The same Lord Verulam has well observed, that a little philosophy inclines a man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy brings it about again to religion. And I dare challenge the most learned men in the world, to give a satisfactory account of the most vulgar and common appearances in nature, without resolving them at last into the will and disposal of the God of Nature. If I should ask them, What makes the grass green, or a stone to fall downwards, or the fire to aspire upwards, or the sun to enlighten and warm the world? What answer can they give, but that it is the property of their natures; or what is altogether as insignificant and unintelligible? But, if I should question farther, How came their natures to be distinguished with such properties? they must either here be silent; or confess a First Cause, which endowed their natures with such properties and actions: for, although a man may, for some few successions of causes and effects, find one to depend upon another; yet they must all, at last, be resolved into and terminate in God.
And this is the Second Demonstration of the Being and Existence of a Deity.
(3) Unless the being of a God be presupposed, there can no tolerable account be given of the being of anything.
We see innumerable beings in the world, different from each other both in kind and particulars. Now what rational account can the atheist give, how these things come to have a being? There are but two ways imaginable: either that the world was formed by chance; or, else, that it had its being from all eternity. And, accordingly, as if it were still fatal for them to encounter with the same inconveniences for which they disavow religion, atheists are divided into two sects.
[1] There is the Epicurean Atheist: who affirms, that the world indeed had once a beginning, but it was merely by chance: for, there having been from all eternity infinite particles of matter moving to and fro in an infinite space; at last, meeting casually, they linked one in another, and so, by mere chance, formed this world which we now see. A fancy, so grossly ridiculous, that, were it not now again taken up by some who pretend to be great lights in reason and philosophy, I would not condescend so much as to mention it.
But, as Cicero says, both judiciously and ingeniously, as soon shall they persuade me, that an innumerable company of loose and disordered letters, being often shaken together and afterwards thrown out upon the ground, should fall into such exquisite order, as to frame a most ingenious and heroic poem; as that atoms, straying to and fro at random, should ever casually meet together to make a world consisting of Heaven, and of air, and sea, and earth, and so many sorts and species of living creatures, in the frame and composure of which we see such wonderful and inimitable skill.
Had Archimedes's or Posidonius's sphere, in which were imitated all the motions and conversions of the sun, moon, and planets, been presented to the most ignorant or illiterate nations under Heaven, they could not be so grossly stupid, as to think such a piece, a work of mere chance, but of accurate are and study. And shall any doubt, when he sees, in the great machine of the world, the same and many other conversions made in a more perfect manner, than they can be represented in any such type, whether it be a work of uncertain chance, or else the product of a most perfect mind and comprehensive understanding? For, certainly, if a strong and mastering reason be required, only to imitate the works of nature; much more, then, to produce them.
And why had not those atoms, that could thus fortuitously frame a world, why had they not built houses too, and cities, and woven us garments‡; that so, by very good chance, we might have found these necessities ready provided to our hands, and saved the trouble and labor of making them? Did ever any atoms fall into such exact order, and knit so artificially together, as to frame a clock, or a watch, or any other piece of ingenious mechanism? And will the atheist then be so silly, as to believe that these little dusts of beings should, by mere hazard, meet and join together, to frame the whole world; and bestow such various forms and motions upon creatures, as we daily see and admire? Look but upon the most contemptible worm that crawls, we shall find it a far more excellent piece of mechanism, a far more curious engine, than any that ever the are or wit of man could frame. And shall chance make these, yes, creatures of a more wonderful composure, which yet could never make a watch, or a clock, or any of those engines which we have contrived for the use and service of life?
And what will they say to the accurate operations of sense and reason? Is it possible, that one small dust should see or feel another? and, if not one, then not ten thousand put together. Shall their configuration give them this faculty, which their being and substance does not? Which I shall then believe, when I shall be convinced that a statue, carved the most exquisitely that are can perform, can any more see, or taste, or feel, than it could while it was rude and unformed wood.
But, suppose that sense could be caused by mere matter put in motion; yet what shall we say to the refined speculations and profound discourses of reason? Is it likely, or indeed possible, that little corpuscles should reflect and argue? that atoms should make syllogisms, or draw up parties between pro and con? Or will the atheist grant, that there is no other difference between himself and a mere senseless block, but only configuration of parts? and that when he disputes most subtilly for his cause, all his reasons and arguments are but a little dust that flies up and down in his brains? But, that the agitation of material particles should produce any sprightly acts of wit and discourse, is so monstrously abhorrent to true reason, that I doubt I shall never be persuaded to believe it, until some cunning man convince me, that the highway too is in a deep speculation, and teeming with some notable discourse, whenever the dust is stirred and flies about it.
And yet, forsooth, men must now-a-days be atheists, that they may be rational; and think it a high demonstration of their parts and ingenuity, to doubt of a Deity, and call all religion into question. Whereas, were there anything in the belief of a God and the most mysterious points of our religion, half so absurd and ridiculous, as there is in atheism, I should most readily explode it, and count it altogether unworthy to be entertained by any man that is sincere and rational.
[2] Therefore, others' being pressed with the huge and monstrous absurdities of this way of giving an account of the appearances of nature, hold, that the world is from eternity, and never had any beginning at all. And these are the Aristotelian Atheists.
But,
1st. It is altogether unreasonable, to deny a God; and yet grant that very thing, for which alone they deny him. The only reason, that tempts atheists to deny a Deity, is, because they cannot conceive a Being Infinite and Eternal; and, therefore, when they yield the world to be so, what do they else, but run into the same inconvenience which they would avoid; and, that they may not grant one eternal being, grant innumerable? So fatal it is, for error to be inconsistent with itself, and to trip up its own principles.
2dly. If the world be eternal, there must of necessity have been passed an infinite succession of ages. Now, our understanding is as much non-plussed to conceive this, as an Infinite Being that should create the world: for, if the world had no beginning, then an infinite number of days and years, yes, of millions of years and generations of men, are already actually passed and gone. And if they are passed, then they are come to an end: and so we shall have both a number that is actually infinite, and likewise somewhat infinite and eternal that is come to an end: a very proper consequence for one, that avoids the belief of a Deity, because he would be rational, and cannot conceive a being that is infinite!
3dly. If there have already been infinite successions of generations in the world, certainly, those, which are yet to come, will make them more; and so we shall find a number greater than that, which is allowed to be actually infinite. Or if, to avoid this contradiction, the atheist should affirm, that the generations to Abraham and the generations to David were both equal because both infinite, he will thereby fall into two other gross contradictions: the one, that a number added to a number should make no addition; the other, that, since the generations to Abraham were but a part of the generations to David, the part should be equal to the whole.
4thly. There is no one moment in succession, which was not once present: and, consequently, imagine a duration as long as you please, yet in it of necessity there must be someone moment, which when it was present, all the rest were future; and if all the rest were future, this moment was then the beginning. So that it is impossible there should be a successive duration without a beginning, and therefore impossible it should be from eternity.
5thly. In all the revolutions of generation and corruption that can be imagined, yet the life of animals must necessarily be before their death: for none can die, until he has lived; and none can live, but he must pass sometime before he dies. There was, therefore, a time before any animal died: consequently, their corruption and death were not from eternity: neither, before their death, had they lived an infinite time, but only some few days or years; and therefore their generation and life were not from eternity.
These things I do but cursorily mention, to give you a taste of the folly and unreasonableness of atheism; nor, perhaps would it be proper to insist on them at large: but, by these few arguments, you may see how unreasonable it is for an atheist to boggle at the belief of a Deity; whereas, let him lay down whatever principles he will, he shall find his reason more puzzled and entangled by these absurdities that will necessarily follow upon them, than he shall by any difficulties that are consequent upon the belief of a God. Which belief unless we entertain, we can give no tolerable account at all of the various beings, that are in the world: for neither are they eternal, neither have they happened by chance; as I have demonstrated to you.
It is therefore absolutely necessary, that there be some First Cause of all things, which we behold, which is not itself caused, nor produced by any other: for if everything were caused by some pre-existent being, then there never was a being, before which there was not another; and so this gross absurdity will follow, That, before there was a being, there was a being: a fit consequence for atheists, who pretend only to rational speculations, to swallow! Therefore, we must necessarily rest in some First Cause, from which all other things have their origin; and is itself caused by none: and that is the Great God, whom we adore; the Great Creator, and both Governor of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
This is therefore a Third Demonstration of a Deity.
(4) Perhaps it would shrewdly puzzle the metaphysics of an atheist, to answer the argument of Bradwardine.
It is possible, that there should be such a being, as should exist necessarily; since it is no more a contradiction, to exist necessarily, than to exist contingently; and a far higher and more absolute perfection. But, if it be possible, that there might be such a being; then it is certain, that there is: because necessity of existence is included in the very essential conception of it: or else this contradiction would follow, That it is possible for that not to be, which yet is necessary to be. This being, therefore, must needs be eternal, independent, and self-sufficient; and that is the God, whom we adore.
(5) But, to leave these more abstruse and scholastic notions, in the fifth place, If there be no God, then neither have there been any miracles performed in the world, nor any prophecies or predictions of future contingencies.
[1] There can be no Miracles performed without a Divine and Infinite Power.
For, certainly, if there be no being above nature, there can be no effects either above or contrary to the course of nature: for nature, when it is left to itself, cannot act contrary to its own laws.
Now that there have been miraculous works performed, the atheist cannot deny; unless he will deny the truth of all records, and think it reasonable to make all faith and credit among mankind a sacrifice to his opinionativeness. All heathen authors, as well as the Scriptures, give abundant testimony to this: and, although they deny the doctrine of the Scripture; yet there is no reason they should disbelieve it, when it only relates matter of fact. In this behalf, we desire they would give it as much credit, as they give to the histories of Livy, or Tacitus, or any other author of approved honesty. And, certainly, it is but reasonable to credit the consonant depositions of several plain men, who all profess themselves to have been eye-witnesses of those things which they write. Yes, the Jews and Heathens, who lived in those very times, and were most inveterate and cankered enemies against the name of Christ, would have given whatever was dearest to them in the world, could they have proved any forgery in those miracles, or deceit in the relaters of them: but the evidence was so clear, that they were forced to confess, even in spite of their own malice, that such strange works were done and really effected. But yet their spleen against the truth was such, that they imputed them only to the power of magic, and the operation of evil spirits. But will our atheist do so too? If so, he must needs acknowledge a God, by acknowledging a Devil: if not, he has as little reason to believe anything in the world, which he himself has not seen; as to believe the truth of those reports, which we have received from undoubted hands, delivered to us by the unquestionable testimonies of those who have known and seen what they have reported.
Therefore, if ever there have been any such extraordinary effects, as restoring sight to the blind, and feet to the lame, and life itself to the dead; and that, by no other application than only a word's speaking; there must certainly be a God. For these things are not within the power of Second Causes; being so contrary to the course of nature: and therefore must be ascribed to a Supreme Deity, an Infinite Power, who is the Author and great Controuler of Nature.
[2] As there could have been no miracles performed, so neither could there be any Prophecies or Predictions made of contingent events, unless we acknowledge a God, who, in his infinite wisdom and counsel, foresees whatever shall come to pass, and reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets: Amos 3:7.
We have many prophecies recorded, which have already had their undoubted effects. Not to instance in all, I shall only mention two. The one is that prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning the final destruction of Jerusalem: Matthew 24:2 which received its full accomplishment about forty years after they had crucified the Lord of Life and Glory. And the other, that prediction concerning Cyrus, that he should re-edify Jerusalem, after it had been destroyed by the Babylonians: Isaiah 44:28 and, to make this prophecy the more remarkable, it is said, chapter 45:4 that, for Israel's sake, God had called him by his name: this was a famous and very particular prophecy of a person, named near two hundred years before he was born; and those things punctually foretold of him, which he should afterwards perform. The like we have, 1 Kings 13:2 where the prophet declaims against the idolatrous altar and worship of Bethel; and foretells that Josiah should destroy it: calling him by his very name, three hundred and forty years before he was born: O altar, altar! thus says the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon you shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon you, and men's bones shall be burnt upon you: which we read was exactly fulfilled by the same Josiah, 2 Kings 13:20 for he slew all the priests of the high places which were there upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon them. Now let any atheist give a rational account, how these future contingents could be thus certainly and circumstantially foreknown and predicted, were there not a God in Heaven, that reveals secrets: Daniel 2:28. They could not certainly see such free and contingent events in the stars; especially so long before they were to be produced: or, if they might; yet, certainly, they could not read names there, nor spell the constellations into words and syllables. There is, therefore, a God, who gives knowledge, and declares things to come according as it pleases him to illuminate the minds of his servants the prophets, to whom and by whom he spoke.
And this is a Fifth Demonstration of the Being of a Deity.
(6) The sixth and last is this, there is a Conscience in man: therefore there is a God in Heaven.
Conscience could have no power at all over us, unless it were given it from above. How comes it to pass, that wicked wretches are still haunted with pale fears and ghastly horrors; that they are sometimes a terror to themselves, and to all that are about them? They would, if it were possible, abandon themselves, and run away from their own being: but only that they have a witness and a judge within them of all their crimes and impieties; and feel such secret stings, and unseen whips lashing their souls, that the tortures they endure and inflict on themselves make them sometimes weary of their lives, and put them upon that desperate course of choking both themselves and their consciences too with a halter: whence I say, should this proceed, were there not a God, a Just and Holy Deity, whom conscience reveres? These torments and regrets do not always proceed from fear of shame or punishment from men. No: but conscience has a power to put them upon the rack for their most secret sins, which no eye ever saw, no heart ever knew but their own. Yes, and it forces them sometimes themselves to confess and divulge their own infamy, and voluntarily to render themselves to human justice: whence is this, but only from that secret influence of a Supreme Being, that has an awe and authority over conscience; and makes it review the sins of a man's life with horror, because it knows that the Just and Holy God will at last review them with vengeance.
And therefore we find, that those, who, in their prosperity, have lived most regardless of a Deity; yet, when their conscience has been awakened by dangers, or sickness, or any surprising accident, the apprehensions of a God have then strongly returned upon them, and filled them with amazement and confusion. Thus the historian reports of that mad wicked emperor Caligula, who made an open mock and scorn of religion, that yet when it thundered, he would creep under his bed to hide himself from the vengeance of that Jupiter, whom at other times be would not spare to deride and threaten. And therefore, certainly, if there be any such thing as natural conscience in all men, it will necessarily follow, that there must be a God; for, were there no God, there would be no conscience.
And thus I have given you these Six rational Demonstrations, that there is such a Supreme and Infinite Being as a Deity. Many others might be added; but these I account sufficient to convince any atheist, who will indeed be swayed by that reason which he so much deifies and adores, that there is another GOD besides and above it.
(7) Well then, what remains, but that, as we have evinced the Folly and Unreasonableness of Speculative Atheism, so we condemn the Impiety of Practical Atheism; the profaneness and irreligion of those, that, as the Apostle speaks, live as without God in the world; that live, as though there were no God; nor Devil, nor Heaven, nor Hell, nor Future State, nor any Distribution of Rewards in it.
Indeed, every wicked man is, in this sense, an atheist: and such the Apostle has condemned: Titus 1:16. They profess, that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. Did they really and cordially believe, that there is a Just and Holy God, that takes notice of all their actions; a great and terrible Majesty, who will call them to a strict account for all their cogitations, all their discourses, and all their works; an Almighty God, who has prepared wrath and vengeance to inflict on all those, who despise his authority, and transgress his law; would they dare to profane his glorious and reverend name, by impertinent using of it in their trivial talk? would they dare to rend and tare it, by their oaths and blasphemies, and hellish execrations and curses? Did they believe, that he has prepared Tophet of old, that the pile thereof is fire and much wood, and that all the wicked of the world shall be cast into it, and there be made an everlasting burnt-sacrifice to the incensed wrath of the Great God; did men believe the horrors and torments of the fire and sulphur, the stench and darkness, the burning chains and fiery whips, the woes and anguish of the damned in Hell, which are as far from being utterable, as they are from being tolerable; did they but as certainly believe these things, as it is certain, that, if they believe them not, they shall eternally feel them, would they dare still venture on to treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath? would swearing, and lying, and stealing, and drunkenness, and impurity so generally reign among us as they do?
Indeed, we persuade ourselves, that we do believe these things: we profess that there is a God, and that God infinitely holy and infinitely just; and that he will recompense tribulation, anguish, and wrath upon every soul of man that does evil. But, alas, this is only a verbal belief; contradicted and borne down by a practical atheism! The little influence that the belief of a Holy and Just God has upon us, to regulate our actions, and to cause us to walk in a holy awe and dread of his Divine Majesty, clearly evinceth, that we may possibly fancy these things, but do not believe them: for, if you did seriously and heartily believe that there is a great and a jealous God, who has said, Vengeance is mine, and I will repay it, what is there in the world, that could persuade you to offend him?
Possibly, though you Believe that there is a God, yet you are not fully persuaded that he is so holy nor so just as his word declares him to be: not so holy, in hating of your sins; nor so just, in punishing them. But, if you relies on this confidence, know,
[1] That this is only to hope in his mercy, in spite of his truth. He has sworn, that he will take vengeance on all impenitent wretches; and wound the hairy scalp of such an one as goes on still in his sins. And God will be true to his threatenings, as well as to his promises; although you, and ten thousand others like yourself, eternally perish.
Nay,
[2] If you Believe there is a God, and yet think that this God will spare you, though you go on in the presumption of your heart to add iniquity unto sin, you are far worse than an atheist: for it is better to have no opinion of God at all, than to have such an opinion as is unworthy of him; for the one is but infidelity, the other is contumely. Even Plutarch, a heathen, could say, That it were far less injurious to him, if any should deny that there is such a man in the world as Plutarch, than if he should grant, that such an one indeed there is, but that he is faithless, inconstant, cruel, or revengeful. So, it is not so heinous an affront against the Divine Majesty, to deny that there is any such Supreme Being, as to acknowledge that there is indeed a God, but that this God is not either infinitely holy in hating your sins, or infinitely true to his threatenings, or infinitely just in punishing men's impenitency and disobedience. This is a degree of impiety worse than atheism; and yet this, are all ungodly sinners guilty of.
Know, then, O Sinner, and tremble, that there is a God, who sees and observes all your actions; who writes them down in the book of his remembrance, and will call you to a strict account for them. God will then judge you out of your own mouth, you Wicked Servant. You Believe that there is a God; why do you not then fear and serve him? You Believe that there is a Heaven and a Hell, and an eternity to come: why then do you not live answerably to this belief? Either blot it out of your creed, and avow that you do not believe in God the Father Almighty, or else live as those should do, who own so great and terrible, so pure and holy a God. For a speculative atheist to be profane and wicked, is but consonant to his principles: for wherefore should not he gratify all his lusts and sensual desires, whose only hope is in this life; and who does not look upon himself as accountable for anything hereafter? But, for you, who acknowledge a Deity, to live as without God in the world, to break his laws, to slight his promises, to despise his threatenings, is the greatest and most desperate madness in the world: you show yourself hereby to be worse, not only than an atheist, but worse than a devil: for the very devils believe and tremble; and yet you, who profess yourself to believe, do not tremble.
If therefore, we would not be inexcusable, since we know God, let us glorify him as God; yielding all holy obedience to his laws, and humble submission to his will: conforming ourselves to his purity, depending upon his power and providence, and trusting in his infinite mercy and goodness; until we, at last, arrive unto that state of perfect bliss and felicity, where we shall fully know the ineffable mystery of the Deity, see him that is now invisible, and live there as much by sense and sight as here we do by faith and expectation.
And thus much for the First Sin forbidden in this First Commandment, which is Atheism.
2. The Second Sin that it forbids, is, Ignorance of the True God.
For this precept, which requires us to have the Lord Jehovah for our God, as well includes the having of him in our understandings, by knowing him aright; as in our wills and affections, by loving, fearing, and worshiping him. The right worship of God must, of necessity, presuppose the knowledge of the object, to which we direct that worship; or, otherwise, we do but erect an altar to the Unknown God, and all our adoration is but superstition: yes, and we ourselves are but idolaters, although we worship the True Deity; for all that service, which is not directed to the Supreme Essence, whom we conceive to be the Infinitely and Eternally Holy, Just, Merciful, and Glorious, beyond what we can conceive, is not offered to the True God, but to an idol of our own making, shaped out in the ignorance and blindness of our minds. And, therefore, our Savior Christ lays this as a black brand upon the Samaritan Worship: John 4:22. You worship you know not what; and that, because, with other Gods, they worshiped the True God, under a confused notion of the God of the Land; as you may read 2 Kings 17:26 without any distinct knowledge of his nature, will, and attributes.
It has been a proverbial speech, That ignorance is the mother of devotion: but, certainly, such a blind mother must needs bring forth a blind and deformed daughter; a devotion, more rightly called superstition, than devotion; a devotion, shaped only by the fancy, and imposed by irrational fear or humor.
Now because the being and existence of a deity, is a notion so common and natural to mankind, as I have already demonstrated; and that we are strongly inclined to the worship of a God, it will be necessary rightly to know that God, to whom this homage of our souls, and all our affection and veneration is due: for, while we remain ignorant of this, it is impossible but that we should be idolaters; giving that, which is proper to God alone, to some vain created fiction of our own deluded understandings.
Idolatry, therefore, is a sin more common among us than we imagine: for as many ignorant persons as there are, so many idolaters there are; who, though they fall not down before stocks and stones, yet form such uncouth ideas and strange images of God in their minds, that no more represent his infinite perfections and excellencies, than those dumb idols that the heathens worship.
In prosecution of this general, I shall lay down these following propositions:
(1) That it is a very hard and difficult matter to have right and genuine conceptions of the Divine Majesty, when we address ourselves unto him to worship him.
I think I may here appeal to the common experience of Christians, whether the most difficult part of their duties be not rightly to apprehend the object of them. Our fancy is bold and busy; and still ready to make too much use of its pencil, and to delineate a God in some shape or other, before whom we present our services: so that, when we should be wholly intent upon our adoration, we must necessarily be engaged in reformation; to pull down and break in pieces those false images, that we had set up: and yet, as soon as we have done this, our imagination falls to work again, makes new pictures of a God; and sets them full before our eyes, as so many idols for us to worship. And, although both reason and religion endeavor to correct these bold attempts of fancy; yet it is a mighty distraction in our duty, to be then disputing the object, when we should be adoring it. I shall only instance in one duty: and that is prayer. How few are there, that do not fashion God in some bodily shape, when they come to pray unto him! We are too apt to figure out his limbs, and to conceive him a man like ourselves. All the proportions, that fancy has to draw with, are corporeal; and whenever we frame a notion of angels, or God, or any spiritual substance, we do it by sensible resemblances. Now this is infinitely derogatory to God, who is a spirit; and therefore cannot be represented in any form, without a vast incongruity: and he is the Father of Spirits, infinitely more spiritual than spirits themselves, in comparison with whom angels and the souls of men are but drossy and feculent beings; and therefore cannot be worshiped under any form, without idolatry: for that is not a God, which we can shape and mold in our imaginations.
We read how jealous God is, lest any resemblance should be made of him: Deuteronomy 4:15, 16. Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves (for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire,) Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure. And, certainly, if the erecting of a visible image of God be gross idolatry, it is no less than a mental and spiritual idolatry, to frame an invisible image of God in our fancy and conceptions.
And, therefore, although the Scripture frequently ascribes to God the members and lineaments of a man; as eyes, and mouth, and ears, and hands, and feet, etc.: yet we must not be so stupidly ignorant, as to believe that these are properly appertaining to the Divine Essence, (which was the old exploded heresy of the Anthropomorphitæ); but these descriptions are given us, only in condescension to our weaknesses and infirmities: and though they are spoken áíèñùðïðáèùò, after the manner of men; yet they must be understood èåïðñåðùò, after such a manner as becomes the Majesty of the Divine Nature. And, by such expressions, the Scripture only means, that all those powers and faculties, in us, are likewise to be found, although in an infinite and transcendent eminency, in the being of God. He bears and sees, and is able to effect whatever he pleases; and that, without any configuration of parts or organs, which are utterly repugnant to the simplicity and spirituality of his essence. And, therefore, to shape and fashion out such a God in our thoughts, when we pray unto him, is but to make and worship an idol: and unless faith and religion demolish such images which we set up in our fancy, the worship, which we direct unto them, is hardly to be esteemed the worship of the True God, but the worshiping the work of our own making, and a creature of our own imagination.
And, yet, unless we do represent God to ourselves, when we worship him, it is very hard, if not altogether impossible, to keep up the intension of our spirit, and to hinder our mind from straying and gadding.
Therefore,
(2) The right way to attain unto a true notion and a sound understanding of the Divine Nature, is by a serious consideration of his Attributes.
For these are his very nature; and, when we know them, we know as much of God as can be known by us, in this our weak and imperfect estate.
These Attributes of the Divine Nature are manifold; and, commonly, are distinguished into negative, relative, and positive. I shall only enumerate the chief of them, simplicity, eternity, unchangeableness, immensity, dominion, all-sufficiency, holiness, truth, omnipotence, omniscience, justice, and mercy. Of which the principal, and that most respect us, are Mercy and Justice: all the other are declared to us, in order to the illustration of these. For the glory of these has God created the world, and all things in it: especially those two capital kinds of creatures, angels and men. For these, has he permitted sin, which is so odious and detestable to his infinite purity. For these, has he sent his Son into the world, to taste of death for every creature. For these, has he proclaimed his Law, and declared his Gospel; the threatenings of the one, and the promises of the other. For these, has he appointed a day, and will erect a tribunal of judgment, that he may make the glory of his mercy and of his justice conspicuous: his justice, in the eternal damnation of impenitent wretches, who are vessels of wrath, fitted by their own sins for destruction; his mercy, in the salvation of penitent and believing souls, who are vessels of mercy, fitted by his grace for eternal glory. All other attributes, I say, serve to illustrate these two: and, as we conjoin them either to mercy or justice; so they are most enforcing motives, either of hope or fear. It is a mighty support to our hope, when we reflect upon the mercy of God, accompanied with the attributes of eternity, immutability, truth, and omnipotence. And, again, it will affect us with a profound fear and dread of this great and glorious God, to consider that the same attributes attend on his justice: so that both are almighty; the one to save, the other to destroy.
Now if we would conceive aright of God when we come to worship him, let us not frame any idea of him in our imaginations; for all such representations are false and foolish: but labor to possess our hearts with an awful esteem of his attributes; and, when we have, with all possible reverence, collected our thoughts, and fixed them upon the contemplation of Infinite Justice, Infinite Mercy, Infinite Truth, Infinite Power, and the rest, let us then fall prostrate, and adore it: for this is our God. And therefore the Apostle tells us, 1 John 4:8. God is Love: not only loving; but love itself, in the abstract. And, 1 John 1:5. God is Light.
(3) All the knowledge, that we have or can have of God here, is collected from what he has been pleased to discover of himself, either in his Works, or in his Word.
We have but two books to instruct us; the book of the Creatures, and the book of the Scriptures.
From the works of creation and providence, we may come to know much of God; even his eternal being and godhead: and the lectures, which are read out of this book, are so convincing and demonstrative of many of the glorious attributes of God, that the Apostle tells us, the very heathens themselves were left without excuse, because they did not worship him as God; when, by the things which they saw, they knew him to be God: Romans 1:21.
But, to us, God has given more clear and lively discoveries of himself: declaring to us those attributes, by his word; the knowledge of which we could never have attained, by his works alone. And, therefore, the Scriptures are called the lively oracles of God: Acts 7:38 and they are the glass, wherein, with open face, we behold the glory of the Lord: 2 Corinthians 3:18.
(4) When we have improved our understandings to the highest advantage, and strengthened them to the largest and most comprehensive size; yet still we shall be left in the dark, and it will be utterly impossible to know God as he is in himself. He dwells in that light, to which no mortal eye can approach. He hides and veils himself with light and glory. It is his alone privilege and prerogative, as to love, so to know himself: for nothing better can be loved; nothing greater can be known. God is incomprehensible to all his creatures; but is comprehended by himself: and that Ever-Blessed Essence, which is, infinite to all others, is yet finite to its own view and measure.
All the discoveries we receive of God, are not so much to satisfy an inquisitive curiosity, as to excite pious affections and devotion: for Reason, which is the eye of the intellectual soul, glimmers and is dazzled when it attempts to look steadfastly on him, who is the Father of Lights; and its weakness is such, that that light, which makes it see, does also strike it blind. Yes, our Faith, which is a stronger eye than that of reason, and given us that we might see him who is invisible: yet here, in this life, it has so much dust and ashes in it, that it discerns but imperfectly; and receives the discoveries of a Deity refracted through the glass of the Scriptures, so allayed and attempered, that though they are not most expressive, of his glory, yet they are fittest for our capacity.
The full manifestation of his brightness is reserved for Heaven. This beatifical vision is the happiness and perfection of saints and angels, on whom the Godhead displays itself in its clearest rays. There we shall see him as he his, and know him as we are known by him. Here we could not exist, if God should let out upon us the full beams of his excessive light and glory.
And, therefore, we read in Scripture what dreadful apprehensions the best of God's saints have been possessed withal, after some extraordinary discoveries that God had made of himself unto them. Thus Isaiah cries out: Isaiah 6:5. Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips … and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. And, when our Savior Christ put forth his divine power but in the working of a miracle, the glory of it was so terrible and insupportable, even to holy Peter, that he cries out, Luke 5:8. Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Though God be the very life of our souls, and the manifestations of his love and favor better than life itself; yet, such is our limited estate here in this world, that we cannot see God and live. Frail nature is too weak to contain its own happiness, until Heaven and eternal glory enlarge it: and then it shall see those inconceivable mysteries of the Trinity in Unity, the Hypostatic Union of the Human Nature with the Divine: then it shall view and surround the incomprehensible God; and be able to bear the unchecked rays of the Deity, beating full upon it. In the mean time, we must humbly content ourselves with those imperfect discoveries, that God is pleased to allow us: still breathing after that estate, where we shall enjoy perfect vision; and, in it, an entire satisfaction and happiness.
Let us, then, most earnestly covet the knowledge of God; and endeavor to make ourselves here, as like to what we hope to be hereafter, as the frailty of human condition will permit. This is the chief glory of a man: one of the highest ornaments and perfections of a rational soul; that, which does, in some sort, repair the decays of a fallen estate; and renew those primitive characters, which ignorance and error have obliterated in our souls. And, indeed, without the knowledge of God, we can never be brought to love him, to trust and confide in him, nor to serve him as we ought. And, although there may be a great deal of zeal in ignorant persons; yet zeal, without knowledge, is but a religious frenzy: it is religion, frighted out of its wits. A man, that knows not the bounds of sin and duty, is a fit subject for the Devil to work upon; who will be sure so to manage him, that he shall do a great deal of mischief, very honestly, and with very good intentions.
3. A Third Heinous Violation of this First Command, is by Profaneness.
Now Profaneness may be taken either in a mote large and general, or in a more proper and restrained, sense.
If we take it properly, so it signifies only the neglect or despising of spiritual things: for, in a strict acceptance, he is a profane person, who either slights the duties of God's service, or the privileges of God's servants.
But, in the larger and more common sense of the word, every ungodly sinner, who gives up himself to work wickedness, and lives in a course of infamous and flagitious crimes, is called and reputed a profane person. And, indeed, such an one is profane in the highest degree, that not only neglects the more spiritual duties of religion; but the natural duties of moral honesty, temperance and sobriety: for, as there are but two things in practicals, which make an excellent and accomplished Christian, religion and virtue, the one directing our worship towards God, the other our conversation towards men; so, on the contrary, the despising of religion and neglect of virtue make up that consummate and accomplished profaneness, which we see so common and prevalent in the world.
But, concerning the wickednesses which usually meet together, and are concerned in this sort of profane persons, I shall not now speak; reserving them to be treated of in their proper place, when I come to insist on those commands, which each of their sins transgresses.
At present, I shall only take notice of that, which is properly called profaneness; and speak of it as a distinct sin, distinctly prohibited in this precept. And, here, I shall first give you some account of the name, and then of the thing.
Profane has its notion of etymology, quesi porro, or procul à fano; which signifies "far from the temple."
Now because their temples were the usual places, wherein they solemnly worshiped; therefore, the word Profane is transferred to denote those, who neglect and put far from them the worship of God, And so, according to this propriety of signification, many others, besides lewd and debauched wretches, will be found to be profane. For, not only those, who let loose the reins to all manner of villainies; but even those, whose morality is unblamably, and perhaps exemplary; who lead a sober and rational life, and scorn a vicious action, as a baseness below the nature and unworthy the spirit of a man: yet such grave, prudent, and honest persons do, too many of them, especially in these our days, deserve the censure and black brand of being profane. And, therefore, that we may the better judge who are the profane, and on whom that imputation justly lies, let us consider first, What the sin of Profaneness is; and, secondly, What are the true and proper Characters of a Profane Person.
(1) What Profaneness is.
I answer, in the general, Profaneness is the slighting and neglecting of things holy and sacred; an undervaluing and despising of those things, that are spiritual and excellent. And whoever is guilty of this, let his outward demeanor in the world be as fair and plausible as morality or hypocrisy can adorn it, yet he is a profane person; and heinously violates this First Command, which enjoins us to worship, reverence, and honor the most high God, whom we profess to own.
Now spiritual and sacred things are,
[1] God himself, in his Nature and Essence: whom we profane, whenever we entertain any blasphemous or unworthy thoughts of him, derogatory to his infinite perfections.
[2] God, in his Name: which we profane, when, in our trivial and impertinent discourses, we rashly bolt out that great and terrible name, at which all the powers of Heaven and Hell tremble. And how much more do we profane it by oaths and execrations; which are now grown the familiar dialect of every mouth, and looked on only as a grace and ornament of speaking! scarce can we hear any discourse, but these flowers are sprinkled among it; and the name of God must be brought in, either as an expletive or an oath. And what does sadly forebode the growing profaneness of the next age, children are taught or suffered call upon God in their play, before they are taught to call upon him in their prayers.
[3] God, in his Attributes: which we then profane, when our affections or actions are opposite or unsuitable unto them We profane his holiness, by our impurity; his omnipotence, by our despondency; his omniscience, by our hypocrisy; his mercy, by our despair; his justice, by our presumption; his wisdom, by our sinful policy; his truth, by our security notwithstanding his threatenings, and our slothfulness notwithstanding his promises. And, in this sense, every sin, that we commit, is a kind of profaneness; as it manifests a contempt of the infinite perfections and excellencies of the Deity: for there is man, whose heart is possessed with, a reverential and due esteem of the Great God, that can be induced, by any temptations, to sin against; him and provoke him. Every sin is a slighting of God: either a slighting of his justice, or mercy, or holiness, or power, or all of them: for what do you else, when you sin, but prefer some base pleasure or some sordid advantage, before the Great God of Heaven? The Devil represents the delights of sin, or the profits of the world unto you, to entice you; but your conscience represents unto you the everlasting wrath of the Great God, if you consent; his justice ready to sentence you to everlasting torments, and his power armed to inflict them: now if you yield, what do you but vilify and despise the Almighty God; as if his dread power and severe justice were not so considerable as to outweigh, either the impure pleasures of a vile lust, or the sordid gain and advantage of a little transitory pelf? Nay, could you by one act of sin make all the treasures and delights of the whole world tributary to you; should the Devil take you when he tempts, as he took Christ, and show you all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and promise to instate it all upon you: yet, to prefer the whole world before the authority of God, who has strictly forbidden you to think anything in it worth the venturing upon his displeasure and the hazarding, his wrath and vengeance, is a most notorious slighting and despising, the Great God, and argues a profane spirit: how much more then, when we sin against God, for nothing; and defy his wraths and justice, without being provoked to it by any temptation! We find how heinously God takes it, and speaks of it as a mighty affront and indignity, that our Lord Christ should be so undervalued as to be sold for thirty pieces to silver; for it argued not only treason but contempt: Zechariah 11:13. A goodly price that I was prized at by them: and yet, truly, Judas was a very thrifty sinner, in comparison with many among us; who not only betray Christ to the mocks and injuries of others, but crucify him daily, and put him to an open shame for far less. Yes, there are many, that would not suffer so much as a hair of their heads to be twiched off for that, for which they will not stick to lie, and swear, and blaspheme. What should tempt the impious buffoon to deride religion, travest the Holy Scriptures, and turn whatever is sacred and venerable into burlesque and drollery; but only, that he may gain a little grinning and sneering applause to his wit, from a company of mad fools like himself? or what should tempt the cheap swearer to open his black throat as wide as Hell, and to belch out his blasphemies against Heaven, and the God of Heaven; but only, that be fancies that a well mouthed oath will make his speech the more stately and genteel? And are these matters of such consequence, as to be called or accounted temptations? Certainly, there can be nothing else in these sins, besides a mere mad humor of sinning: which declares a most wretched contempt of God, when we do that for nothing, which his soul hates and his law forbids; and a most profane spirit, in making that common and trivial, which is infinitely holy and sacred.
Thus you see how God is profaned in his Nature, in his Name, and in his Attributes.
[4] The Time, which God has set apart and consecrated for his own worship and service, is sacred and holy: which we profane, when we employ any part of it in the unnecessary affairs of this life, but much more in the service of sin. This is a sacrilegious robbing God of what is dedicated entirely to him. And that, either by his immediate appointment; as the Sabbath: or by the appointment of those, whom God has set over us, and entrusted not only to preserve our rights and properties, but also his worship inviolate; as special days of joy or mourning, thanksgiving or humiliation.
[5] The Ordinances of Jesus Christ are holy and sacred: which we profane when either we neglect them, or are remiss and careless in our attendance on them. But of this I shall speak more anon.
Thus I have shown you what profaneness is. It is a slighting and despising of spiritual and sacred things: such as are holy originally, as God, his name and attributes; and such as are holy by institution, as his sabbaths and ordinances.
(2) By what we have thus spoken concerning profaneness, we may the easier dispatch the second general propounded, which was, to give you some particular characters of a Profane Person; that we may be the better able to look into our own hearts and lives, and both observe and correct that profaneness which resides there.
[1] Therefore, he is profane person, that thinks and speaks slightly of religion.
Religion is the highest perfection of human nature. By it, man differs more from brute beasts, than he does by his reason. For brute creatures have some notable resemblance and hints of reason; but none at all of religion: they glorify God, as all the works of the creation do, by showing forth his infinite attributes in their frame and production; but they cannot adore nor worship him. This is a pre-eminence peculiar to the most perfect pieces of the creation, men and angels. For, as it is a perfection of the Deity, to be the object of worship, to whom all adoration both in Heaven and earth ought to be directed; so it is the perfection of rational creatures, to ascribe honor, and glory, and praise, and worship to him, who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever. And, therefore, they, who despise religion, despise that, which is their own chief excellency; and profane that, which is the very crown of their natures and beings.
But, alas, have we not many such profane persons among us, who deride piety, and make a scoff of religion; that look upon it only as a politic invention, to keep the rude and ignorant vulgar in awe?
Yes, and those, who take up their religion, not by choice, but merely by chance; either as a patrimony left them by their fathers, or as a received custom of the country wherein they were born: never troubling themselves to examine the reasonableness and certainty of it? These, likewise, are profane spirited men; who do not believe religion to be a matter of that concernment, as to require their exactest study and industry in searching into its grounds and principles, but think that any may suffice, whatever it be.
Again: those, who do secretly despise the holiness and strictness of others, and think they are too precise, and make more ado to get to Heaven than needs. But, indeed, they are not too precise: but these are too profane, who thus despise religion, as unnecessary and superfluous.
[2] He is a profane person, who neglects the public worship and service of God, when he has opportunity and ability to frequent it.
And, alas, how many such are there, who yet think it foul scorn to have this black name fixed upon them; yes, and are the readiest in the world to brand others with it, that are not of their way and sentiments! but, let them be who they will, that despise and forsake the solemn assemblies, they do interpretatively despise and forsake God, whose especial presence is only in two places; Heaven, and the Church: in the one, by his glory; in the other, by his presence.
Now these are of two sorts: some, that absent themselves, out of a wretched sloth, and contempt of the word and ordinances of Jesus Christ; others, that withdraw themselves, out of a pretended dissatisfaction and scruple of conscience. Both are profane; but the one sort strangely mingles profaneness and hypocrisy together; and the other is profane out of ignorance or atheism.
1st. Some are Negligently Prfoane, and absent themselves from the ordinances of Jesus Christ, and the solemn worship of God, upon mere sloth and reachlessness.
And how many such carelessly profane are in these parts, the thinness of our congregations does too evidently declare. If we should now go from house to house, should we not find the far greater part of the inhabitants idly lolling at home? who, after they had snorted out the forenoon in their beds, and thereby perhaps digested their last night's drunkenness, spend the afternoon in their chapel, the chimney, either with vain chat, or intemperate cups; and sacrifice to their God, their belly, while they should be worshiping the Great God of Heaven. Possibly, a fair day, or want of other diversion, may sometimes bring these droans to church: yet this is so seldom, that we may well suspect they come, not indeed for custom sake; but rather out of novelty, than devotion. But if it prove a wet or louring day, these under people, whom neither rain nor cold can prejudice at a fair or market, dare not stir out of their doors, nor step over their own threshold into God's, lest they should hazard their health, instead of gaining their salvation. What shall I say to such brutes and heathens, as these are; who not only deny the power, but the very form of godliness? Some few of them may, perhaps, be now present to hear me: and may my word, nay, not mine, but the word of the Living God, strike them! God will pour out his wrath upon the heathen, and upon the families that call not on his name.
2dly. Some, again, are Humoursomely Profane; who withdraw themselves from the public worship of God, merely upon pretended scruple and dissatisfaction.
I think it is no uncharitableness to say, that where scruple at the administration of ordinances is only pretended to color contempt of the ordinances, there religion is only made a mask and vizor for hypocrisy: for he, that shall scruple to pray by a Set Form, and yet not scruple to swear extempore; he, that shall scruple to eat and drink at the Lord's Table kneeling, and yet not scruple to drink at his own table, or at an ale-bench, until he cannot stand; he, that shall scruple the cross in baptism, and yet not scruple the breaking his baptismal vow; he, that shall scruple obedience to man's laws, and yet not scruple disobedience to God's, but shall lie, and defraud, and perjure, and oppress, and look upon it as the privilege of his perverseness and contradiction, to do so; I shall make no scruple to call such a scrupulous swearer, or drunkard, or cheat, a gross and profane hypocrite.
I do not, I dare not say, that all those, that separate from our communion, are of this note; no more than that all, who join with us, are free from these crimes: no, I believe and know the contrary; and that very many, who have in the simplicity of their hearts, followed Absalom in a rebellion, do now likewise follow Korah in a schism.
Towards such, I would take up words of meekness; and, in the affections of love, expostulate with them: but, alas, they do not, they will not hear me! I would beseech them to account of us as ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God, as well as others: and, if they cannot deny that we are so, will they deny us audience, when we come as ambassadors from the Great King of Heaven, to deliver his message to them in his name? Do we not preach the same truths; and exhort you, as far as we are able, to the practice of the same holiness? Do we not administer the same Sacraments wherein are represented and sealed to all believing partakers the benefits of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ?
What is it then?
Are we therefore rejected, because, as we have our commission from God, so we have our mission by law and authority from men? If it be so, this is not zeal, but contumacy and perverseness.
Or are they our own personal faults and miscarriages, the neglect of our ministry or the scandal of our lives, that make men to abhor the offerings of the Lord, and forsake his tabernacle? Indeed, I would much rather deplore, than excuse them. Yet, since this imputation cannot, without great wrong and injustice, be laid upon all, why is the defection from all? Why are godly, laborious, and conscientious ministers forsaken and despised, as well as the rest? But, suppose they were all as black, as aspersions and calumnies would render them: yet, certainly, they cannot be thought worse than the Scribes and Pharisees; who were not only vicious in their lives, but corrupt in many principal parts of their doctrine: yet, such was the authority and reverence of Moses's chair, that our Lord Christ himself, who was the great Teacher of the World, sends his own scholars to learn of them; only because they were the allowed and authorized instructors of the people: Matthew 23:2, 3. The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All therefore, whatever they did you observe, that observe and do; but do not you after their works: for they say, and do not.
Or, finally, is it that the ordinances of Jesus Christ are, as they say, burdened with some observances, which they cannot so well digest and comply with? Not now to defend these things in particular, let me only say, That they nothing hinder the energy of the gospel, where it is attended on with an humble submiss soul, and tractable and docile affections. And whatever slight opinions the overweening fancies of the men of this generation may have taken up concerning our way of worship; yet, I am sure that many thousands of souls have been converted and saved, since our happy and blessed reformation from popery, by the ordinances of Jesus Christ, administered with all the same observances which are now so much vilified and condemned. And I pray God profaneness be not laid to the charge of a great many, who not only neglect, but deride and despise that worship, which God has accepted and rewarded; and that way of administration, which he has sanctified in the conversion, and sealed in the salvation of many blessed and glorious saints now in Heaven.
Yet I do not think all those, who do as yet refrain from our public assemblies, merely out of the dissatisfaction of their consciences; who do desire and endeavor to be satisfied and would willingly close with their duty, as soon as it is discovered to them, without sticking at the examples of others, or their own former contrary practice: I dare not I say, think them guilty of profaneness; although, for the present, they may be very much misguided.
But, for others, that either absent themselves out of mere carelessness and a wretched neglect of the commands of Christ, or only out of humor and frowardness; and, because they have been of another way, therefore they will stiffly and pertinaciously maintain it, and cast all the odium they can devise, and all the dirt they can rake together, though it be with lies and slanders, upon us: such, as search for all manner of arguments, not so much to satisfy their consciences, as merely to cavil against our worship; and, when they can neither condemn it by scripture nor reason, do it by bitter inventives, odious reflections, and a scoffing contempt, on purpose to make it both hateful and ridiculous to the people: such, I shall be bold in the Lord, to pronounce profane and irreligious wretches. And, whereas they cry out upon the profaness of others, and make that a pretense why they separate and rend the body of Christ into schisms, they themselves are most profane: despising the holy ordinances of Jesus Christ, and thereby making themselves unworthy to be admitted to such holy mysteries; and worthy to be excluded, not only by their own voluntary obstinacy, but by a judicial censure.
So much for the Second Character of a Profane Person.
[3] He is also a profane person, who neglects the performance of religious duties in private.
Every house ought to be a temple dedicated to God; and every master a priest, who should offer unto God the daily sacrifices of prayers and praises. But, alas, how many profane persons have we, and how many profane families, who scarce ever make mention of God, but in an oath; nor never call upon his name, but when they imprecate some curse upon others! How many, who wholly neglect the duty of prayer; and think they sufficiently discharge their trust, if they provide for the temporal subsistence of their families, though they utterly neglect the care of their souls, and their spiritual concernments! Such profane families as these, God ranks with infidels and heathens, and devotes them to the same common destruction: Jeremiah 10:25.
Nor ought our family duties to be seldomer performed by us than morning and evening. In the morning, prayer is the key, that opens unto us the treasury of God's mercies and blessings: in the evening, it is the keys, that shuts us up under his protection and safeguard. God is the Great Lord of the Whole Family both in Heaven and Earth: other masters are but, under him, entrusted to see that those, who belong to their charge, perform their duties both to him and them. One of the greatest services, that we can do for God, is to pray unto him and praise him. And, how unjust and tyrannical is it for a master of a family to exact service to himself, when he takes no care to do service to his great Lord and Master, to whom it is infinitely more due!
Neither is there any excuse that can prevail to take off your obligation from this duty.
Not that you are ignorant, and know not how to pray. For many are the helps, that God has afforded you. Do but bring breath and holy affections: others have already brought to your hands words and expressions proper enough for the concerns of most families. And, besides, use and common practice will facilitate this duty; and, by an incessant conscientious performance of it, you will, through the promised assistance of the Holy Spirit, be soon able to suit your affections with pertinent expressions, and to present both in a becoming manner unto the Throne of Grace.
Not the multiplicity and incumbrance of your affairs. For, the more and the weightier they are, the more need hask you to ask counsel and direction of God; and to beg his blessing upon you in them: without which, you will but labor in the fire, and weary yourself for very vanity.
Not your bashfulness and modesty. For will it not be a far greater shame to you, that those, whom you govern, and perhaps overawest even by your rash and unreasonable passions, should be able to overawe you from so excellent and necessary a duty? Be ashamed to sin before them; be ashamed to talk loosely, to profane the name of God, to be intemperate, or unjust before them, to defile your mouth and their ears with unclean and scurrilous discourses: be ashamed to neglect your duty: but be not ashamed to pray; for our Savior has told us, Mark 8:38, that whoever shall be ashamed of him … in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels.
And, therefore, since there is no just reason, why you should refrain prayer from the Almighty, whoever you are that do so, be your conversation in all other respects never so blameless, (which yet it is not very probable that it should be, when you beg not grace from God to direct it) you are a profane person; and declarest yourself to be so, by the neglect of the most holy and spiritual of all those duties, wherein we are to draw near unto God.
[4] He is a profane person, that performs holy duties slightly and superficially.
All our duties ought to be warmed with zeal, winged with affection, and shot up to Heaven from the whole bent of the soul. Our whole hearts must go into them; and the strength and vigor of our spirits must diffuse themselves into every part of them, to animate and quicken them. And therefore the Apostle commands us, Romans 12:11 to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Sacrifices, which under the Jewish economy were the greatest part of God's solemn worship, were commanded to be offered up with fire: and no other fire could sanctify them, but that, which miraculously shot itself down from Heaven, or from the presence of God in the sanctuary, which was ever after kept burning for that very use: Leviticus 9:24; 6:9. So, truly, all our Christian Sacrifices, both of praise and of prayer, must be offered up unto God with fire; and that fire, which alone can sanctify them, must be darted down from Heaven; the celestial flame of zeal and love, which comes down from Heaven and has a natural tendency to ascend thither again, and to carry up our hearts and souls upon its wings with it.
But, indeed, commonly our duties are either,
1st. Offered up with strange unhallowed fire.
They are fired by some unruly passion of hatred, or self-love, or pride and vain glory. Like those choleric disciples, that presently would command fire to come down from Heaven to consume those, who had affronted them by refusing to give them entertainment: only, that God, by such a severe miracle, might vindicate their reputation, and revenge the contumely that was done them. But this is a fire kindled from beneath, and, therefore, our Savior himself sharply checks their furious zeal: You know not what manner of spirit you are of: Luke 9:55. And, certainly, whenever we pray thus in the bitterness of our spirits, devoting our enemies to destruction, and that because they are ours, rather than God's; when we pour out a great deal of gall mingled with our petitions; such a prayer cannot be from the dove-like Spirit of God, which is meek and gentle, and makes those so who are led and inspired by him. Every party and persuasion of men is very ready, boldly to prescribe unto God those ways and methods, by which he ought to be glorified: and, if any shall but question their principles, or oppose their rash and unwarrantable proceedings, their touchy zeal is straight kindled; and nothing less than solemn prayers must be made, to devote such an one to ruin and destruction, as an enemy to God and to religion. Here is fire, indeed! but it is wild-fire, kindled from beneath: the fuel of it is faction, popularity, pride, contention, and vain glory; and it sends forth a great deal of smoke from corrupt and inordinate passions.
2dly. If there be none of the former incentives to heat them, then our duties are commonly very cold and heartless.
Our Prayers are dull and yawning, and drop over our lips without any spirit or life in them: how often do we beg God to hear us, when we scarce hear ourselves! and to grant us an answer, when we scarce know what it is that we have asked! We make our requests so coldly and indifferently, as if we only begged a denial.
So, likewise, in our Hearing of the Word: we bring with us very slight and profane spirits to those holy and lively oracles. What else mean the vagrancy and wanderings of our thoughts; our lazy and unbecoming postures, which would be counted rude and unmannerly to be used in the presence of some of those that are here with us, were they any where else but in the church? What means our weariness; our watching every sand that runs; our despising the simplicity of the Gospel; our prizing the sound of words more than the weight of things: but, especially, our indulged sloth and drowsiness? a sin, that I have observed too common in this place. What, cannot you watch with God one hour? Do we speak poppy and opium to you? Or do you expect that God will now reveal himself to you in dreams? Have you not houses, have you not beds to sleep in; or do you despise the Church of Christ? Certainly, God requires our most wakeful and vigilant attention, when he delivers to us the most important things of his law and of our salvation. These, and many other things, which, to particularize, would perhaps be to descend below the majesty of this work, do too evidently declare, that the precious truths of the Gospel are grown vile among us; that we have taken a surfeit of this heavenly manns, this bread of life, and now begin to loath it. Beware lest this surfeit bring not a famine after it.
It plainly argues much profaneness in our spirits, when we bring only our outward man, out dull and heavy carcases to attend upon God, while our hearts and minds are straying and wandering from him. This is a sign, that we despise God; and account anything good enough, the lame and the blind, to be offered up unto him. Against such, God has thundered out a most dreadful curse: Malachi 1:14. Carsed be the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, and vows and sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, says the Lord of Hosts, and my name is dreadful. You, who suffer your thoughts, or your eyes which are the index of them, to rove in prayer, of to be sealed up with sleep in hearing, you Despise the Great God, before whom you appear; and think it enough, if you affordest him your bodily presence, although your heart be, with the eyes of the fools, in the ends of the earth. For such a service is but mockery. And it is less irrision, to tender God no service, than to perform it slightly and perfunctorily: the one, disobedience; but the other, is contempt.
This is a Fourth Character of a Profane Person.
[5] He is a profane person, that performs holy duties for worldly ends and advantages.
For what greater contempt of God can there be, than to make his service truckle under the base and low designs of this present life! This is to make religion tributary to interest, and God himself a homage to mammon. And this all hypocrites are guilty of; though they mask their designs with specious pretenses, and draw the veil of religion over their sordid and wicked contrivances: yet they cry out, with Jehu, Come, see my seal for the Lord of Hosts; when he drove on so furiously only for the kingdom.
Indeed, a hypocrite, though he be not commonly so esteemed, is the most profane wretch that lives. The gross, profligate sinner offers not half so much indignity to religion, as he does.
For,
1st. The hypocrite calls in God to be a complice and partaker with him in his crimes; and entitles his majesty, who is infinitely pure and holy, to the wickedness he commits, as if they were done for his sake, and merely upon his account: and so makes God to be the patron of sin, who will be the judge and condemner of sinners.
All his injustice, rapine, and rebellion are colored over with the fair pretenses of the glory of God, the interest of the kingdom of Christ, the advancement of the power of godliness, reformation of idolatry and superstition, etc. and there is no act of fraud or violence, faction or sedition, but he thinks it justified and hallowed by these glorious names: which is nothing else but to rob men, and make God the receiver, who is the detester, and will be the punisher of such crimes. Now the open and flagitious wretch, although he hates God as much as the hypocrite, yet he does not so much deride him: his wickednesses are plain and avowed: and every one may see, from whence they proceed, and where they tend; that they come from Hell, and directly tend thither: religion is not at all concerned, to color, but only to condemn them. And, judge you, which does most despise God and Godliness: either he, who professes it not at all; or he, who professes it only that he may abuse and abase it, and make it subservient to such vile and sordid ends as are infinitely unworthy of it.
2dly. The wound, that religion receives from hypocrites, is far more dangerous and incurable, than that, which the open and scandalous sinner inflicts upon it.
For religion is never brought into question, by the enormous vices of an infamous person: all see, and all abhor his lewdness. But, when a man shall have his mouth full of piety and hands full of wickedness, when he shall speak Scripture and live Devilism, profess strictly and walk loosely: this lays a grievous stumbling-block in the way of others; and tempts them to think, that all religion is but mockery, and that the professors of it are but hypocrites; and so embitters their hearts against it, as a solemn cheat put upon the credulous world. Certainly, such men are the causes of all that contempt, which is cast upon the ways and ordinances of God; and their secret profaneness has given occasion to the gross and open profaneness, that now abounds in the world: and the hypocrisy of former years has too fatally introduced the atheism of these.
Nay, a hypocrite must needs be an atheist: and, in his heart, deny many of God's glorious attributes, but especially his omniscience; and say within himself, as those, Psalm 73:11. Tush, God shall not know; and is their knowledge in the most High? For did they but believe, that God looks through all their disguises; and that his eye, which is light unto itself, pierces into their very souls: did they but seriously consider, that all things are naked and before him; that he knows our thoughts afar off, and is privy to our closest designs: they would not, certainly, be either so daringly wicked, or so childishly foolish, as to plot upon God, and seek to cozen and delude Omniscience.
Now this profaneness of the hypocrite, in seeking temporal things by spiritual pretenses, is much more abominable than the profaneness of others, who seek them by unjust and unlawful means: for the one only makes impiety, but the other piety itself an instrument of his vile and sordid profit; than which, there cannot be a greater scorn and contempt put upon religion.
[6] He is a profane person, who makes what God has sanctified common and unhallowed.
And have we not many such profane persons among us? Many, that abuse the holy and reverend name of God, which ought to be had in the highest esteem and veneration, about light and frivolous matters? who only make mention of him in their idle chat; but are mute and dumb, when anything should be spoken to his praise? Many, that profane his Sabbaths; and, although God has liberally allowed them six days for the affairs of earth, yet will not spare the seventh for the affairs of Heaven; but impiously invade, what he has set apart and consecrated for himself, and his own immediate worship and service? Many, that never speak Scripture, but when they abuse it: making the Bible their jest-book; and prostituting those phrases and expressions, which God has sanctified to convey unto us the knowledge of himself and eternal life, to the laughter and mirth of their loose companions? So that those very words, which the Holy Spirit inspired into the penmen of the Sacred Scriptures for the edification of the Church, the Devil inspires into these wretches for their own damnation, and the damnation of those that have pleasure in such horrid profaneness.
[7] He is a profane person, who despises spiritual privileges and enjoyments.
Upon this very account, the Scripture sets that black and indelible brand upon Esau: Hebrews 12:16. Lest there be any profane person among you, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. And why is Esau stigmatized as profane, for selling his birthright, but because in those first ages of the world, the firstborn or eldest of the family was a priest, and that sacred function by right of primogeniture belonged unto him? and therefore we read, that the Tribe of Levi were taken by God to be his priests and ministers, in exchange for the firstborn. Now to slight and undervalue an office so holy and sacred, a privilege so eminent, a dignity so sublime and spiritual, to part with it only for the satisfying of his hunger, was a sign of a profane spirit; in preferring the God, his belly, before the God of Heaven; and forever renouncing his right of sacrificing to the True God, only that he might sacrifice one pleasant morsel to his impatient appetite.
And, certainly, if it were so profane in Esau to slight and despise the priesthood in himself, they are also profane, who vilify it in others; and make those the objects of their lowest scorn and contempt, whose office it is to stand and minister before God and Christ. Certainly, if a dishonor done to an ambassador reflects upon the prince that sent him, will not Christ account it as an affront and injury done unto him, when you affront and injure those his messengers and ambassadors, whom he has sent to treat with you in his name, and about the concernments of his kingdom?
But, not to speak more of this, lest we should be thought to plead for ourselves: are not those profane, who despise and despise the high privileges and dignity of the children of God? who despise those, whom God so highly honors, as to adopt them into his own family, to admit them into near communion and endearments with himself, to make them his own sons, and give them the privilege of heirs of eternal glory? Doubtless, he, who despises him that is begotten, despises him likewise that begets; and the common disrespect, which is shown to the servants and children of God, argues a secret contempt of him, who is their Master and their Father.
Now lay these things to your own hearts, and bring them home to your own consciences, and see whether you are in none of these particulars guilty of profaneness. Do none of you think slightly of religion; accounting it either a politic design, or a needless preciseness? Are none of you negligent in the public worship and service of God; nor yet in private and family duties; or, if you perform them, is it not very carelessly and perfunctorily; or, if you seem zealous in them, is it not your zeal excited by some temporal advantages, and low base worldly ends and designs? Do you not make that common and unhallowed, which God has made holy; either by abusing his Name, polluting his Sabbaths, or vilifying his Word in your ordinary raillery? And, lastly, do none of you despise spiritual privileges and enjoyments, and those likewise who are invested with them? If so, however fair and specious your lives and actions may be, although you may think the rude debauched sinner at a vast distance from yourselves, and account him the only profane person: yet, certainly, this black style belongs as properly to you; and you are profane violators of this First Command, which requires you to take the Lord for your God, and accordingly to honor and reverence him and whatever appertains unto him.
And, thus much, for the Third Notable Transgression of this Command, Profaneness.
4. The Fourth and last breach of this Command is by Idolatry: You shall have no other Gods besides me; which they transgress, who set up any other God besides the Lord Jehovah.
Idolatry, according to its etymology and use, signifies a serving of images or idols. Now, an idol, though it properly signifies an artificial effigie or resemblance made to represent anything or person; yet, in divinity, it signifies anything besides the True God, unto which we ascribe divine honor and worship.
And, as an idol is twofold; one, Internal, in the fiction and imagination of the mind; another, External and visible, either the work of men's hands as statues and images, or else the work of God's hands as the sun, moon, and stars, or any other creature: so there is a twofold idolatry; the one, Internal, when in our minds and affections we honor and venerate that as God, which indeed is not so, but is either a creature of the True God, or a fiction of a deluded fancy; the other, External, which we are then guilty of, when we express the inward veneration of our souls, by outward acts of adoration. As, for instance: whoever shall believe the consecrated bread in the Sacrament to be transubstantiated and changed into the true and proper body of Jesus Christ, and, upon this belief, shall in his mind revere and honor it as his God, as the Papists do, he is guilty of Internal Idolatry: but if, to this internal veneration, he add any external rites of worship, as prostration, invocation, etc. he is then likewise guilty of External Idolatry.
It is the former of these two kinds of Idolatry, which is here prohibited in this First Commandment: You shall have no other Gods before me; that is, you shall not give unto anything, either in Heaven or earth, that inward heart-worship of affiance, love, fear, veneration, and dependence, which is due only to the True God, the Lord Jehovah.
The imperate acts, or outward expressions of this inward worship, are that, which we call External Idolatry, which is specially forbidden in the Second Commandment: of which I shall treat, in its place and order.
Now concerning this Internal Idolatry, observe these following propositions.
(1) Whoever acknowledges, and in his heart worships another God, different from that God, who has revealed himself unto us in his Holy Scriptures, he is guilty of this Internal Idolatry, and the breach of this First Commandment.
And, therefore, not only those miserable creatures, who worship the Devil: or those, that have recourse to diabolical arts and charms: or those, who worship men, whose vices were their áðïèåùóéò, and their crimes their consecration; as Bacchus, and Venus, and others of the heathenish Gods: nor those, who worshiped men famous for their virtues; as the heathens did their heroes, and the papists do their saints: nor those, who worship any of the creatures of God; as the host of Heaven, fire as the Persians, or water as the Egyptians, or the creatures of are, as statues and images, as if possessed and animated by their Deities; in which respect Trismegistus called images the bodies of the Gods: and with the same madness are the Papists possessed, who are persuaded that God, and Christ, and the saints dwell in certain images made to represent them, and by those images give answers to their votaries, and perform many wonderful and miraculous works; whereas, if there be any spirit that possesses them, as perhaps there may, we have reason to believe, that, since their worship of them is the very same with the heathens, those spirits are likewise the same, namely, not God, nor saints, but devils and damned spirits. But, I say, not only these are idolaters and transgressors of this First Command, but those also, who compound a God partly out of the figment of their own erroneous minds, and partly out of his own infinite attributes: and thus are all Arians, Socinians, and Antitrinitarians guilty of idolatry; for they acknowledge one infinite and eternal being, but, denying the Persons of the Son and the Holy Spirit, they worship an idol, and not the True God, for the only True God, is both Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(2) Whoever acknowledges, and in his heart worships more Gods than the only Lord Jehovah, is guilty of idolatry, and the violation of this First Commandment.
Thus was the idolatry of those nations, which the king of Assyria planted in Israel, after he had carried away the Ten Tribes into captivity: for it is said, 2 Kings 17:33. That they feared the Lord, and served their own Gods. And, upon this account also, are all Arians and Socinians, who deny the natural divinity of Jesus Christ, justly charged with idolatry: for since they say that Christ is God, and do worship him as God, yet deny that he is of the same nature and substance with the Lord Jehovah, they must of necessity make more Gods than one, and those of a diverse essence and being; and, therefore, are not only guilty of blasphemy, but idolatry: of blasphemy, in robbing Christ of his Eternal Sonship, and the Divine Nature; of idolatry, in attributing divine honor and worship unto him, whom they believe to be but a creature, and not God by nature.
(3) Whoever does ascribe or render to any creature that which is proper and due only unto God, he is an idolater, and guilty of the transgression of this First Commandment.
Now this attribution of the divine properties to the creatures, is either explicit or implicit: explicit, when we do avow the attributes of the divine nature to be in those things, which are not capable of them; as those, who hold the body of Christ, to be omnipresent: implicit, when we render unto any creature that inward worship, esteem, and affection, which is due only unto the infinite perfections of the Deity.
And, although our Reformed Religion be very well purged from the former idolatry; yet, certainly, the professors of it are not well purged from this latter idolatry: for, even among Protestants themselves, we shall find very many that are in this sense idolaters.
For,
[1] Whoever chiefly and supremely loves any creature, is an idolater; because our chief love is due only unto God.
Hence the covetous person is expressly called an idolater; and covetousness, idolatry: Colossians 3:5. Mortify your earthly members; … impurity … evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. And the sensual epicure is likewise an idolater: Philippians 3:19 his belly, says the Apostle, is his God. The proud person is an idolater: for he loves himself supremely; sets up himself for his own idol; and falls prostrate before that image, which he has portrayed of his own perfections, in his own fancy and imagination. And, generally, all such, who love and admire anything above God, or esteem anything so dear that they would not willingly part with it for his sake, have set up another God before him, to which they give that service and respect which is due only to the Great God of Heaven.
[2] Whoever puts his trust and confidence in any creature more than in God, is guilty of this inward heart-idolatry.
As when we depend upon interest, or power, or policy for our safeguard and success, more than on that God, who is able both with and without created helps and means to relieve us. And that we do so appears, when we are secure and confident in the enjoyment of such created comforts and supports; but altogether diffident and dejected, when we are deprived of them: for since God is always the same, we should likewise have the same courage and spirit, did we place our whole affiance in him.
[3] He is an idolater, and a very gross one, who sets up any creature in his heart, whether saint or angel, to pray unto it, and to betake himself unto that vain refuge in his straits and necessities.
For invocation properly belongs to God alone: as an act of worship, which he has challenged to himself; and the highest glory, that we can give to his Divine Majesty. And, therefore, he has commanded us, Psalm 50:15. Call upon me, not upon any saint or angel, in the time of trouble, and I will deliver you. And, therefore, the Papists are most gross and stupid idolaters, who direct their petitions, not unto God, but unto saints and angels: which is nothing else but to advance them into his throne, and to ascribe unto them his infinite perfections; for prayer and adoration suppose the object of it to be omnipresent and omnipotent, omnipresent to hear, and omnipotent to save, or else they are in vain.
Thus much, for the First Commandment.
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
You shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of anything, which is in Heaven abode, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the mater under the earth. You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
IDOLATRY is twofold.
Either spiritual and internal, residing in the affections and disposition of the soul; which we are guilty of, when we devote our supreme love, fear, and dependence unto any created being, which are due only unto the True and Only God. And this idolatry is forbidden in the First Commandment, as we have already seen.
Or, else, it is more gross and external, consisting in a visible adoration of anything besides God; who, as he challenges the affections of the soul, so requires also the homage and reverence of our bodies, in those services which we perform unto him. And this idolatry is particularly forbidden in this Second Commandment, which I have now read unto you.
In which we have these three parts:
I. The PRECEPT itself, which runs negatively, and is branched forth into two several prohibitions; but both tending to the same end and effect: the one forbidding images to be made, You shall not make to you any graven image, or any likeness of anything; the other forbidding them to be worshiped, You shall not bow down yourself before them, nor serve them.
II. Here is added a severe COMMINATION against those, that shall presume to violate this Command: I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God; visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation.
III. Here is likewise for the encouragement of obedience; the addition of a gracious PROMISE, of Showing mercy unto thousands, that love God and keep his commandments.
I. I shall begin with the COMMAND or PROHIBITION: which is twofold: You shall not make images: You shall not worship them. Not that the carver's or painter's are, but only the people's idolatry; not the ingenuity in making, but the stupidity in worshiping, those dumb representations; is here forbidden. The brazen serpent in the wilderness, the cherubim, and other resemblances in the temple, are a sufficient proof and evidence of this.
This prohibition, therefore, must be interpreted according to the subject matter which is here spoken of; and that being only divine worship, it is plain, that it is not unlawful to represent to the eye any visible thing by an artificial image of it: but only when God says, You shall not make, and You shall not worship, the meaning is, You shall not make anything, with an intention of worship; and, You shall not worship anything, which you or others have made. But, concerning the prohibition of this command, I shall speak more hereafter.
For the more full and clear understanding of this precept, I must desire you to recall to mind one of those several general rules which I formerly gave you, as helpful to instruct you in the due extent and latitude of the Commandments; and that was, That the negative commands do all of them include the injunction of the contrary positive duties: as, when God forbids the taking of his name in vain, by consequence he commands the hallowing and sanctifying of his name; where he forbids murder, he commands all lawful care and endeavor to preserve our own, and the life of others; where, in the First Precept, he forbids the owning and cleaving unto any other God besides himself, he enjoins us to acknowledge him as our God, to love, fear, and hope in him only. So, here in this Second Command, where he forbids the worshiping of images, by consequence he requires us to worship him according to the rules which he has prescribed us. And, therefore, as under the First Command is comprehended whatever appertains to the Internal Worship of God; so, under this Second, is comprehended whatever appertains to the External and Visible Worship of God.
Here, I shall, first, speak concerning the External Worship of God; and, then, of those Sins, which are contrary unto it, and condemned in this Commandment.
i. Concerning the WORSHIP OF GOD, I shall lay down the following propositions:
1. The true and spiritual Worship of God, in the general, is an action of a pious soul, wrought and excited in us by the Holy Spirit; whereby, with godly love and fear, we serve God acceptably, according to his will revealed in his Word: by faith embracing his promises, and in obedience performing his commands; to his glory, the edification of others, and our own eternal salvation.
This is the true spiritual worship of the True God, who is a spirit: and it comprehends in it, both the inward worship of our hearts and souls, and likewise the outward worship of holy and religious performances; of which I am now particularly to treat.
2. Therefore, this External Worship of God is a sacred action of a pious soul, wrought and excited by the Holy Spirit; whereby, with all reverence, we serve God both in words and deeds, according to his revealed will, in partaking of his sacraments, attending on his ordinances, and performing those holy duties which he has required from us; to his glory, the edification of others, and our own eternal salvation.
This worship of God, although it be external, is nevertheless spiritual: for it proceeds from the Spirit of God exciting our spirits to the performance of it; and is directed by a spiritual rule, unto a spiritual end, the glory of God and our own salvation.
3. The Parts of this external worship are divers and manifold; whereof the most principal and essential are the celebration of the sacraments, solemn prayer, and solemn praise and thanksgiving.
But, besides these, there be many other things, which belong to the service of God; yes, as many as there are duties of religion and piety: such are a free, open, and undaunted profession of the truth; a religious vowing unto God things that are lawful, and in our own power; an invoking of the testimony of God to the truth of what we assert, or to the faithful discharge of what we promise, when we are duly called to do it by lawful authority; a diligent reading of the word of God, and a constant and reverent attendance on it when it is read and preached; and divers other duties, too long to be here particularly enumerated: some of which belong to the proper worship of God, immediately as parts of it; others, mediately, as means and helps to it.
4. Although God does especially delight in the acts of our internal worship, and principally regards the esteem and veneration that we have for his great and glorious Majesty in our hearts; yet this alone suffices not, without the performance of those parts of external worship and visible acts of piety and religion, which may to the glory of God express the devout dispositions of our souls.
The inward acts of piety are those of faith, in believing; of hope, in expecting our reward; of charity, in loving both God and our neighbor; of fear, in reverencing him; of patience, in a contented bearing whatever burdens it shall please the All-wise Providence of God to lay upon us; and of a cheerful willingness, to perform all the duties of obedience which he enjoins us. These belong to the internal worship and service of God, and are especially pleasing and acceptable unto him. And, indeed, without these, all other acts of worship are both dead and unsavory: for, as the spirit of a man is his life, so the internal and spiritual piety of the heart, our love, fear, and reverence of God is the life of all our duties, without which they are but as a dead carcass; so far from being a sweet smelling savor, that they are noisome and offensive to that God to whom we offer them.
But of this Internal Worship I have already spoken.
That, which we are now to consider, is the External Worship of God, which he has absolutely required from us, when we have ability and opportunity to perform it.
For, although there need no overt-actions to make the sincerity of our affections and intentions known unto God; yet it is necessary, for his glory and the good example of others, to declare that to the world by visible signs and expressions, which was before known unto him in the secret purposes and thoughts of our hearts.
For,
(1) God has no less strictly enjoined his External Worship, than he has his Internal.
What can be more external, than the ceremonial part of the Evangelical Law, the participation of Baptism and the Lord's Supper? Both of which are yet most expressly commanded: Matthew 28:19. Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38. Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ. And for the communion of the body and blood of Christ, see Luke 22:19. Do this in remembrance of me: which command they do heinously violate, and refuse to give the most evident sign and tessera that they are Christians, who either totally neglect, or else very seldom attend this most holy and spiritual ordinance.
(2) We find that God does severely both threaten and punish such, as give External Worship unto any other but himself.
How often are the Israelites reproved, for bowing the knee to Baal, for baking cakes to the Queen of Heaven! Yes, and very usually idolatry is set forth in Scripture, by some of those visible actions, which some of these false worshipers used to express their devotion towards their false deities. As, bowing the body unto them: Joshua 23:16. Served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them: Judges 2:12, 17, etc. Kissing the hand unto them, in token of reverence: Job 31:26, 27. If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; And my heart has been secretly enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand: This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. So, likewise, bowing the knee to any idol, and kissing it: Hosea 13:2. Let the men, that sacrifice, kiss the calves. And so, when Elijah complained of the total defection of the Israelites from the service of the True God unto idolatry, God, to comfort and encourage him, tells him, that he alone was not singular, but that there were seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that had not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which had not kissed him: 1 Kings 19:18. And therefore, certainly, since he makes so punctual a computation of those, who had not alienated their bodily worship to the service of an idol, he does respect and accept those, who in faith and sincerity tender it to himself.
(3) God has created the Whole Man, both Soul and Body for Himself, and he sustains both in their being; and, therefore, he expects homage and service from both: from the soul, as the chief seat of worship; from the body, as the best testimony of it.
(4) Not only our Souls, but our Bodies too are Redeemed by Christ; and, therefore, both should be employed in his worship and service.
The whole man is bought with a price: the whole is justified: the whole is sanctified. Yes, our very bodies are said to be the temples of the Holy Spirit: 1 Corinthians 6:19. And where should God be worshiped, or that worship appear, but in his temple? And, therefore, upon the account of that purchase, which Christ has made of us to himself, the Apostle draws this inference, in the aforementioned place: You are not your own; for you are bought with a price: wherefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
(5) The Body is likewise to partake of the Blessings of Obedience, and therefore it is but reasonable it should partake of the Service of Obedience.
Many blessings are promised to our outward man, here in this life; and, hereafter, it is to be made a glorious and incorruptible body, like unto the body of our Lord Jesus Christ: it is to be clothed with light, and crowned with rays; never more to suffer injuries without, or diseases within: and therefore, certainly, duty belongs to it, since so many great and unspeakable privileges belong unto it.
Thus you see how reasonably God requires from us the service, not only of the inward, but of the outward man: and, therefore, we are not to slight that outward reverence, which is necessary to testify a due sense of his glorious presence when we come before him: neither must we rob him of any part, either of his service, or of his servant, but sacrifice ourselves entirely unto him; our bodies upon the altar of our souls, hearts, and affections; and both soul and body upon that altar, which alone can make both acceptable, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a Fourth Position.
5. All that outward reverence, which we show towards God in his worship and service, must be measured and estimated according to the customs and usage of places and countries; so that what they use as a sign and expression of honor to their superiors, they ought much more to use in the presence of the Great God, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. And, therefore, uncovering of the head, bowing of the body, an humble submission and settled composure of the whole man, which, among us are but fitting signs of respect and reverence when we appear in the presence of those who are much our superiors, ought likewise to be used by us in the presence of God, who is infinitely such: not, indeed, that they are essential parts of worship; but signs and testimonies of it.
6. The last position is this: We ought not to worship God with any other external worship, than what himself has commanded and appointed us in his Holy Word. The Scripture has set us our bounds for worship, to which we must not add, and from which we ought not to diminish: for whoever does either the one or the other, must needs accuse the rule, either of defect in things necessary, or of superfluity in things unnecessary: which is a high affront to the wisdom of God; who, as he is the object, so he is the prescriber of all that worship, which he will accept and reward.
I well know that this rule has given (I cannot say cause, but) occasion to many hot disputes about Ecclesiastical Rites and Constitutions: some condemning whatever is prescribed or used in the service of God, besides things expressly commanded in Scripture, for encroachments upon the authority of God, and additions unto his worship, which he requires to be performed according to the pattern in the mount, and the model he has delineated for it: others, again, maintaining the privilege and authority of the Church, in ordaining some things for the more decent and reverent performing of the service of God, which are not particularly required in the Holy Scriptures.
I shall not plunge myself into this angry and quarrelsome controversy: only give me leave to say, and sadly to lament, That the seamless-coat of Christ is rent in pieces among them, while some think it more decent to sew on loops and fringes to it, and others will have none. And, truly, I think our differences are of no greater importance in themselves, though too woeful in their consequents, than this amounts unto. I shall clearly express my sense of this matter in a few words, without any reflection or bitterness; and so leave it to the judgment of every ordinary discretion.
Things, which belong to the worship of God, may be considered either as Parts of that worship, or only as Circumstances and Modifications of it.
(1) First, therefore: Whatever is imposed on us as a substantial Part of the worship of God, if it be not expressly required of us in the Holy Scriptures, is to be not only refused, but abominated: for this is a plain addition to what God bath commanded; and, by it, we lay an imputation upon him, as though he wanted wisdom to ordain what is necessary for his own service.
Then, and then only, is any constitution of man imposed for a part of divine worship, when obedience unto it is urged upon us, not only from the authority enjoining it, but also from the necessity of the thing considered simply and nakedly in its own nature. For, as it is with God's laws, some things are commanded because they are good, and some things are good only because they are commanded; so is it with laws and impositions of men about matters of religion and worship: some things they command us to observe, because they are in themselves necessary antecedently to their command, as enjoined us before by God; and therefore this is no ordinance or doctrine of man, but of God; unto which the magistrate, who is the guardian of both tables, does well to add the sanction of secular rewards and punishments: other things are necessary for our observance, only because they are commanded by their authority, to whom we owe conscientious obedience in things lawful and indifferent. But we utterly deny, that the imposition of any such things makes them any parts of worship, of which they are only circumstances; or that these observances are necessary to us, or acceptable to God antecedently to the command of authority; or that the worship of God were imperfect, defective, unacceptable, and invalid to the ends for which it is appointed, were not these observances commanded, and performed. If, indeed, we thought otherwise, the bitterest of all their invectives, and the loudest of all their exclamations in calling our worship, superstition, will-worship, and idolatry, would not show so much passion, as a just and rational zeal. But, God forever forbid, that any such ordinances of man should be introduced into our Church. We all join in this vote; and do utterly renounce any such authority, and deny any such practice. We usurp not upon the consciences of any; nor endeavor to persuade them that that is in itself necessary, which is not so by God's commands, or the law of nature; or that that is unlawful, which is not condemned by either. We endeavor to keep ourselves and you as much from a Positive, as a Negative Superstition. We endeavor to put due bounds between things simply necessary, either by the command of God or their own natural reason and goodness, and such as are in themselves indifferent. We say, that nothing is a part of worship, but what belongs to the former; but some things that belong to the latter may be used in worship as fit and decent circumstances: and, when such things are imposed, they become necessary; not indeed in themselves, for no human authority can alter the nature of things, but to our practice, and our consciences are obliged to them. But, how? not indeed simply and absolutely, so that it shall never be lawful to omit them: but only in two cases; in case of scandal, and contempt. We ought not to omit them, if we judge any offence will be taken by others at our neglect; we ought not to omit them at any time, out of a contempt and disrespect towards them.
And thus you see we put a vast difference between that, which is a part of worship, and that, which is but a circumstance of worship: if anything be commanded us by men, as a part of worship, which is not commanded us by God, we ought not to submit unto it.
But,
(2) If anything be imposed on us, not as a part of worship, but as a Circumstance and Modification of worship, we may and we ought to submit unto it.
[1] If the things so imposed be in themselves lawful and honest: which they are, if not condemned by the Scripture.
[2] If they tend to order and decency in the Church. Of which, certainly, they are as fit to be judges, who have authority both in Church and State, as every private, and perhaps less-knowing, Christian.
[3] If they are imposed by the command of a lawful power; to whom we ought to submit, in all things, that are lawful.
[4] If they are such, as, neither for their levity nor number, eat out or distract the seriousness and devotion of our spiritual worship: which I think cannot justly be imputed to the observances of our Church; being very few for number, and very grave and modest for use.
If such things as these be imposed upon us, the worship of God is not thereby either changed or adulterated; neither is there any addition made unto it: but the substance of that worship is still in conformity to God's laws, when yet the outward and indifferent manner of it is in conformity to man's. Certainly, it is no addition to Baptism, to give a name to the baptized; though we find no express command for it. And I much wonder among our carping brethren, some or other had not scrupled this, as well as another observance. It is no addition to the Ordinances of Jesus Christ, to appoint at what hour they shall be celebrated, of in what garment, or in what decent posture: for all these things are extrinsic to the worship of God, and fall under the cognizance and direction of our superiors.
Certainly, did we but rightly weigh what is required as a part of worship, and what only as a circumstance of worship, a great deal of heat, and contention, and uncharitable prejudice would be removed and prevented. It is true, our Savior, Matthew 15:9 condemns the Scribes and Pharisees, that taught for doctrines the commandments of men: that is, they taught those things, which were but the traditions and ordinances of their elders, to be in themselves absolutely necessary to the serving and worshiping of God. But, certainly, this reproof falls not upon those, who, though they do enjoin what they judge fit for order, yet do not teach them for doctrines; and are so far from thinking their commandments an essential part of worship, that they would abhor and anathematize all those that do so. Necessary they are to be submitted unto, and practiced; because enjoined by that authority, to which God has committed the care of the First Table, as well as the Second: but not necessary in themselves, as any part of the worship and service of God, without which, although they were not imposed by men, it would be unacceptable to him. And whoever thinks so, let him be accursed.
And, now that I have delivered my judgment without bitterness, give me leave to make some few lamentations, in the grief and bitterness of my soul. Is it not to be bitterly lamented, that, in a Reformed and Orthodox Church, there should be such schisms, rents, and divisions: altar against altar, pulpit against pulpit, and one congregation against another? And what is all this contention and separation for? Oh, they will tell you, it is for the purity of religion; for the true and sincere worship of God: that they may serve him purely, without human additions or inventions. Thus goes the cry: and a company of poor ignorant well-meaning souls, because it is very demurely and gravely spoken, take it up, and join with it, never examining the grounds and bottom of it; but conclude, that these must needs be in the right, who complain of corruptions, and pretend to a happy and glorious reformation. Alas, my Brethren, was there ever any schism in the world, that did not plead the same? Did not others, upon the same pretenses, separate from their communion, upon which they now separate from ours? And may not the same argument serve to crumble them into infinite fractions and subdivisions; until, at last, we come to have almost as many churches as men, and scarce a man constant and coherent to himself?
But what is it, in our worship, which they dislike? The substantials of it are all the same with their own. We utterly disavow, that we make that any part of worship, which the Scripture has not: and I think that man very much forsaken of reason and common understanding, who shall endeavor to persuade us, that we intend worship, when we ourselves most earnestly and seriously profess the contrary.
Is it then that we differ about mere accidents and circumstances? I confess we do: but assert, withal, that these things are not a just cause of separation from us.
If we look back upon the Primitive Times, we shall find that almost every Church had its different rites and observances; and, yet, under that diversity, maintained unity and communion. Yes, and at this day, the Reformed Churches observe different customs one from another; and yet they inviolably hold communion together, and we with them. The Gallican, Belgic, Helvetian, and German churches reject us not, nor we them; although we differ, in rites and discipline, and those things which are left to the prudence of every Church to constitute as they shall judge most necessary for order and edification.
Now, certainly, if these different rites and observances be no ground for one National Church to separate from the communion of another, they can be no ground for private persons to separate from the communion of that Church to which they belonged. Nay, although they might, with reason, dislike many usages, either as frivolous or incongruous: yet it becomes the temper and modesty of a pious Christian, in things merely circumstantial, to submit his practice to the judgment of that authority under which he lives; and not to separate from the communion of the Church, to forsake its assemblies, to disown its administrations, only because he thinks some things might be more conveniently ordered, according to the model of his own or other men's apprehensions: which, in the folly and sad consequences of it, would be to act like him who took up a beetle, and struck with all his force to kill a fly that he saw on his friend's forehead. What else were this, but to rend the body of Christ by an angry contending about the fashion of its garments; and to tear away its limbs, by a violent striving to strip off those clothes which they think indecent?
For my part, I freely profess, that were my lot cast among any of the Reformed Churches beyond the seas, I would presently join in their communion, and not at all scruple to conform myself to their received customs; although, perhaps, in my own private persuasion, I may judge some of them to be less serious and less reverent than those of the Church of England, which are now so passionately decried and condemned. I have ever venerated that oracular advice of Ambrose to Augustine: "If you will neither give offence, nor take offence, conform yourself to all the lawful customs of the Churches where you come."
But I will not farther enlarge on this choleric and touchy controversy: only I pray, that our wanton dissensions, about these less important matters, may not provoke God to deprive us of the substance and essentials of our religion; and reduce us to such a condition, wherein we should be heartily glad, could we enjoy the liberty of the Gospel and the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, under any of those forms of administration, which are now so furiously debated among us. It were just with God to extinguish the light of his Gospel, when we use it not to work by; but all our study and strife is how to snuff it.
And thus much, in the general, touching the External Worship of God required in this Commandment.
ii. The SINS FORBIDDEN by it are two:
Contempt of the worship of God; and
Superstition in performing it.
Concerning the former, I have already spoken largely, in giving you the Characters of a Profane Person.
I shall, therefore, at present speak only of Superstition.
"Men were called superstitious, not from desiring that their children might survive them: but because they celebrated the surviving memory of the dead; or because that surviving their parents they worshiped their images as their Household Gods."
But, whatever be the etymology of the word, we may take this short description of it: That it is a needless and erroneous fear, in matters of religion.
And this is twofold: either Negative or Positive.
Negative Superstition is, when men do fearfully abstain from and abhor those things as wicked and abominable, which God has not forbidden, and therefore are in themselves lawful and harmless. And those, who are bigotted with this superstition, will be sure to cry out against all that do observe such things as they condemn, for miserably seduced and superstitious souls. Which is the exact humor of the men of our days; who, as Diogenes is said to have trampled upon Plato's pride with far greater pride, so these exclaim against superstition with far greater superstition. For superstition is not, either the observing, or not observing of such things; but the doing of either with an erroneous fear, lest God should be displeased and provoked if we did otherwise. He is, therefore, negatively superstitious, who makes the not doing of that, which is lawful and harmless, a matter of conscience and of religion.
Positive Superstition is, when men do fearfully observe and perform those things, which either are forbidden, or at least no where commanded by God. Or, if you will, it is a restless fear of the mind, putting men upon acts of religion, which are not due or not convenient.
This Positive Superstition expresses itself two ways. For, sometimes, it gives divine honors to that, which is not God: and, sometimes, it performs needless and superfluous services to the True God. Both these are the effects of superstition: but are commonly known by their proper names; the one being Idolatry, and the other Will-worship. And both these are forbidden in this Commandment:
1. Idolatry is a part and species of superstition.
So we find it expressly, Acts 17:16 compared with verse 22. In the 16th it is said, that Paul's spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city of Athens wholly given to idolatry. And in the 22d it is said, that Paul reproved them as being too superstitious. And, therefore, though all superstition be not idolatry, yet all idolatry is superstition; yes, and the blackest kind of it.
Now idolatry is nothing else, but the giving of religious worship unto an idol. And an idol is not only an artificial image or representation of anything, whether real or fictitious, set up to be worshiped; but any creature of God, whether angels or men, sun, or moon, or stars, etc. to which we give any religious honor and service. The worshiping of any creature, whether in Heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth, is idolatry; which is particularly and by name forbidden in this Commandment.
And, indeed, this is a sin so absurd and stupid, that it is a wonder it should ever be so bewitching, as to inveigle the far greater part of the world. The prophet Isaiah does very frequently deride the folly and madness of idolaters: especially Chapter 44:16. He burns part of his wooden God in the fire: he roasts his meat with it, and is satisfied: he warms himself: and the residue thereof he makes a God: he falls down unto it, and worships it, and prays unto it, and says, Deliver me, for you are my God. A most gross and bestial stupidity! as if there were more divinity in one end of a stick, than the other. And yet a sin most strangely bewitching: after which, all the heathen world ran a whoring; and from which, all the remonstrances and threatenings, which God makes to his own people of Israel, could not restrain them. Yes, and so strangely besotting is it, that a very great part, even of those who profess the name and doctrine of Jesus Christ, are most foully guilty of it: I mean the Papists: who, to hide their shame in this particular from the notice of the people, have covered it with a greater; and thought fit rather to expunge this Second Commandment, than to leave their image-worship to be censured and condemned by it. For, in all their catechisms and books of devotion, which they have published for the use of the vulgar, they have sacrilegiously omitted this Second Commandment; as fearing that the evidence of it would convict and condemn them of idolatry, in the consciences of the most ignorant and illiterate that should but hear it rehearsed.
Let us now proceed to consider, who may justly be condemned of idolatry, and the violation of this precept.
(1) He is an idolater, that prays unto any Saint or Angel.
For he ascribes that unto the creature which is an honor due only unto God the Creator. Our faith and our invocation ought to terminated in the same object: Romans 10:14. How shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? And, therefore, if we cannot, without blasphemy, say, that we believe in such a saint or angel; neither can we, without idolatry, pray unto that saint or angel.
(2) The most execrable idolatry that is, is that of entering into League and Correspondence with the Devil: to consult and invoke him; and, by any wicked arts, implore or make use of his help and assistance.
And, of this are those guilty in the highest degree, who enter into any express compact with the Devil; which is always ratified with some homage of worship given to him. And, in a secondary and more low degree, those who apply themselves to seek help from such forlorn wretches, as use traditionary charms and incantations, or any vain observances, to free them from pains and diseases, or other troubles that molest them. For all those things, which have not a natural efficiency to produce that effect for which they are used, may very reasonably be suspected to have been agreed on formerly between the Devil and some of his especial servants, and that all the virtue they retain is only from that compact: which as it was explicit in those that made it, so it is implicit in those that use them; for they still act in the power of that first stipulation and agreement.
(3) Whoever bows down his body in religious Adoration of any Image, or other Creature, is guilty of idolatry; and does most expressly transgress the very letter of this Command, You shall not bow down before them, nor worship them.
It is but here a vain refuge, unto which the Papists betake themselves, when they excuse themselves from being guilty of idolatry, because, although they worship images, yet they worship the True God by them.
For,
[1] They worship the images of very many creatures, both men and angels.
For me now to examine their evasion concerning ëáôñåéäïõëéá, and õðåñäïõëéá, would perhaps be as improper in this auditory, as the distinction itself is vain and frivolous.
[2] Whereas, they pretend to worship the True God by an image, we reply, That it is most impious to attempt to represent God by any visible resemblance; and therefore much more to worship him, could he be so represented. For God, who is infinite, cannot be circumscribed by lines and lineaments; and, being invisible, cannot be resembled. And, therefore, God does again and again inculcate it upon the Israelites, that, when he delivered the Law unto them, he appeared not in any shape; that they might not audaciously attempt to delineate him, and so be enticed to idolatry. Thus, Deuteronomy 4:12. You heard the voice of words, but saw no similitude; only you heard a voice. And verse 15. Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves, (for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire,) Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure. When therefore they plead, that they worship the Only True God by images; this is no better, than to excuse one horrid sin, by the commission of another.
[3] To worship the True and Only God by an image, is gross idolatry.
This the Papists deny: and place idolatry, in worshiping of images set up to represent false and fictitious Gods; or, else, in worshiping them with a belief that they themselves are gods.
But,
1st. Upon the same account the Israelites ware not idolaters, in worshiping the Golden Calf.
For they were not so brutish, as to believe that calf itself to be their God. Nay, it is most evident, that they intended to worship the True God under that representation. See Exodus. 32:4. These be your Gods, O Israel, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. They could not be so stupid, as to think that that very calf, which they themselves had made, had delivered them from Egypt; but they worshiped the True God, who had given them that great deliverance, under this hieroglyphic sign and resemblance: which appears, verse 5: Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord: in the original it is Jehovah, the proper and incommunicable name of the True God. And yet, that this worship of theirs, although directed unto the True God, was horrid idolatry, the Scripture abundantly testifies, verse 31. Oh this people have sinned a great sin, 1 Corinthians 10:7. Neither be you idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Acts 7:41. They made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol.
2dly. Micah and his mother were certainly guilty of idolatry, in making and worshiping their images: and, yet, that they were made to be symbolical representations of the True God, and erected to this very purpose that he might be worshiped by them, appears clearly from the history, as we have it recorded, Judges 17:3. I had wholly dedicated, says she, the silver unto the Lord, (Jehovah, Hebrews) for my son to make a graven image and a molten image. Which when he had done, he hired a Levite to be his priest. And, in confidence of the reward of so much piety, concludes, verse 13 that, certainly, now the Lord Jehovah would bless him, and do him good. Nothing can be clearer, than that all this worship was intended by him to the True and Only God; yet, being performed by images, it was no better than rank idolatry.
3dly. If the Papists, in worshiping the True God by images, be not idolaters; then neither was Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, an idolater, in setting up his calves at Dan and Bethel.
For whoever rationally considers the occasion and political grounds of this innovation, must needs conclude, that Jeroboam intended not to introduce a new God; which would have made the people to fall faster from him, than tyranny and oppression did from Rehoboam: but only to set up some visible signs and representations of the True God; and to persuade the people, that they need not go to Jerusalem to seek his presence and to offer their gifts and sacrifices, for the same God was as much present with them in those figures as he was at the temple of Jerusalem between the cherubim. And therefore we find, that the idolatry of Jeroboam is distinguished from the idolatry of those, who worshiped Baal and other false Gods: see 1 Kings 16:31 where God speaks concerning Ahab, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
Nay,
4thly. Although some among the heathens might be so grossly stupid, as to suppose the images themselves to be Gods, and so to worship them; yet their wise and learned philosophers were far enough from such a senseless error: yes, they were forced to use as many distinctions, and subtle evasions concerning their worshiping of images, as now the Papists do; and truly most of them are the very same, and seem but borrowed out of the schools of the Heathens.
But especially they insist on this: That they venerated not their statues, as they were made of such or such materials; but only as they were the houses and bodies of God, where his presence resided, and by which his power was manifested: That they worshiped not the visible sign; but the invisible Deity by it.
And what does the Papist say more than this? namely, That they worship the images of God, not as if they were themselves God; but only as they are the visible signs and symbols of the divine presence: and so all their worship is directed unto God through them.
So that, in matters of Idolatry, I profess I can find no difference at all between Heathens and Papists: for, as the more learned Papists do profess that they worship the True God by the image; so, likewise, did the more learned Heathens.‡ And, for the ignorant and vulgar Papists, I am very apt to suspect that they do, as the ignorant Heathen, terminate and limit their worship in the very images, before which they fall prostrate; esteeming them to have divine power and virtue of their own: for they are most grossly blinded and infatuated in this their image-worship; and may as well take a stone or a block to be a God, as the great dragon to be a saint: as the poor woman did, who offered one candle to Michael, and another to his dragon, that is, the Devil. And therefore, certainly, if the Heathen World were ever guilty of idolatry, so is now the Popish Church; their worship, and all the reasons of it, being so exactly parallel.
And, thus much, concerning the first branch of superstition, which is Idolatry.
2. The second is Will-worship.
Concerning this I shall speak but very little, having already prevented myself.
Now Will-worship is nothing else, but the inventing and ascribing any other worship unto God, besides what he has been pleased to command and institute.
God will not be worshiped according to our fancies, but his own appointment: For, as we must have no other God, besides the true; so that God must have no other service performed unto him, besides what himself has required and prescribed: for this were to impute folly and weakness unto him, as if, indeed, he would have servants, but knew not what service to enjoin them.
And thus we have finished the prohibition, You shall not make unto you any graven image, etc.
Let us now consider the Sanction of this precept; and that is twofold.
First. By denouncing a severe and fearful THREATENING against all those, who should presume to violate this precept: For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the Children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
Secondly. By making a gracious PROMISE of mercy to the careful and conscientious observers of this precept: Showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
II. In the THREATENING we have these things considerable:
Who it is, that denounces it: I, the Lord your God.
What it is, that he denounces and threatens: To visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.
The persons, against whom this threatening is directed: Those that hate him. And by the context they are such as, despising the Only True God, prostitute themselves unto idols.
The duration and continuance of that vengeance, which he will take upon them: It shall be to The third and fourth generation. His wrath shall extend to their children, and their children's children.
i. Let us consider WHO IT IS THAT DENOUNCES THIS THREATENING I, the Lord the God am a jealous God: so most read the words as our English translation renders them. But others no less rightly read them thus: For I, the Lord your God, am strong and jealous: for the word El, which is here used, signifies the mighty God.
And according to this acceptance, the words contain in them a description of God.
1. By his Relation to us: Your God; a God, who has separated you from all people of the earth, to be his peculiar treasure; who has brought you near unto himself, even into the bond of the covenant; who has betrothed you in righteousness, and is not only your Maker, but your Husband: as the prophet speaks, Isaiah 54:5.
This God it is, who commands you faithfully to perform the marriage-vow, that is between you and him; and not to go a whoring after the vanities of the Gentiles nor to expose your shame and nakedness before any false or idol-God: for idolatry is spiritual adultery; and is most frequently set forth under that name and notion, in the Holy Scriptures.
2. Your God is described by the Mightiness of his Power. He is El kana, a Strong and Jealous God; able to revenge any dishonor, that is done him by your unchaste lewdness.
3. He is described by that violent passion, which in men is called Jealousy: I, the Lord your God, am strong and jealous.
Jealousy is an affection or passion of the mind, by which we are stirred up and provoked against whatever hinders the enjoyment of that, which we love and desire. The cause and original of it is love; and the effect of it is revenge.
Now God, to deter the Israelites from idolatry, sets forth himself as a Strong and Jealous God, that they might be assured not to escape punishment: for he is strong, and therefore can inflict it; and he is jealous, and therefore will inflict it, if they shall dare to abuse and injure that love which he has placed upon them.
This jealousy is not to be ascribed unto God, as if there were properly any such weak and disturbing passion in him; but only by way of accommodation and similitude, speaking after the manner of men: so that there is not "the same inward affection," but "the same outward effect." And so, likewise, is it to be understood, when God is said to be angry, to be grieved, to repent, etc. that is, his actions towards us are like the actions of one that is angry, or grieved, or repents: although the Infinite Serenity of the Divine Essence is not liable to be discomposed or ruffled, by the tempests of any such like passions, as are incident to us mutable creatures.
Now the reason why God calls himself here a Jealous God, you will find in these following particulars:
(1) Jealousy is Distrustful and Suspicious.
It dares not rely upon the truth and fidelity of the person of whom we are jealous, but is full of misgiving doubts and fears. And so God (although, in propriety of speech, he can doubt nothing, nor fear anything, yet) is pleased to express his jealousy by such speeches, as intimate distrust and diffidence. And, therefore, when the Israelites made that solemn promise to the Lord, Deuteronomy 5:27. All, that the Lord our God shall speak unto us, we will hear it and do it: God returns answer, as one that misdoubted the real performance of so fair a promise, verses 28, 29. I have heard the voice of the words of this people … they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!
(2) Jealousy is Searching and Inquisitive.
It is a hard matter to escape the discovery of a jealous eye; which is still prying and seeking after that, which it would be reluctant to find. So the eye of the all-seeing and all-knowing God is continually upon us: he critically observes every look, and every kind of glance, that we cast upon ourselves: not the least motion of our hearts, not the least twinkling of our thoughts, can escape his notice and censure. And, of all sins, there is none, that God does more jealously observe than that of idolatry; for this is the violation of that marriage-faith, which we have plighted to him. And therefore we find that the idolatrous Israelites, as though they were conscious of the great abuse they offered to their Maker, their Husband, (as the prophet styles God, Isaiah 54:5.) sought out dark and obscure groves to act their wickedness in; that, although they were not chaste, yet they might seem to be cautious. But, in vain is it, to draw the curtains of a thin shade about them: a few leaves could not cover their shame, nor their nakedness from him, who is all eye everywhere, and whose eye is everywhere light to itself: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all: 1 John 1:5. It is not possible to conceal from him the prostitution of an unchaste and impudent idolatry. And, therefore says the Psalmist, Psalm 44:20, 21. If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched forth our hands to a false God; Shall not God search this out? for he knows the secrets of the heart.
(3) Jealousy, as it is searching and inquisitive, so it is an Angry and Revengeful Passion.
And, therefore, Solomon calls it, the rage of a man: Proverbs 6:34. Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. And, Canticles 8:6. Jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are as coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame. For, as love is the most soft and tender affection of human nature; so jealousy, which is the sowering of love, and turning it into vinegar, is the most wild and furious.
Now God is pleased to style himself a Jealous God, to express the heat of his wrath and indignation against sinners. So, Deuteronomy 29:20. The Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under Heaven. See what dreadful effects this smoaking jealousy has, when it breaks forth into a flame: Zephaniah 1:18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
And, what signal revenge this devouring jealousy of the Almighty God has taken upon sinners, the whole world is full of sad instances. This fire has kindled the eternal and unquenchable flames of Hell. When the proud and rebellious angels aspired to be gods, God turned them into devils, and these devils into Hell; for his jealousy could not endure to have rivals in his glory. All the ruins and calamities, that have ever happened to persons or nations, are but the effects of God's jealousy against sin. And, of all other sins, his jealousy takes most remarkable vengeance against idolatry; for this is spiritual whoredom; a provocation, which the Jealous God can least endure. See Deuteronomy 32:16, 17, 19. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up. And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And, verse 21. They have moved me to jealousy with that, which is not God: they have provoked me to anger with their vanities. A fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest Hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. And so, in the following verses, God exaggerates those sore and heavy judgments, which he would bring upon them in the fury of his jealousy, because of this heinous sin of idolatry.
And thus we have seen in what respects God is said to be a Jealous God.
What remains now, but that expostulation of the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 10:22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? We, who are but as dust before the whirlwind, and as dry stubble before the consuming fire, shall we dare by our sins to affront and challenge that God, who has said, Vengeance, is mine, and I will repay it? And yet, such is the madness of every desperate sinner, that he rushes upon God's neck and upon the thick bosses of his buckler; and daily provokes him, who is infinitely able to destroy both body and soul in hell-fire. Indeed, Jealousy, of itself, without power to wreak vengeance, is but a weak and contemptible passion; but, when it is armed with Almighty strength, it is justly terrible. Now the Lord your God is àì ÷ðà, a strong and jealous God. Every sin you commit is a horrid wrong done unto him; and a violation of that faith, which you owe him. He has wooed your affections, sought your consent; and this you have vowed unto him, in your baptism: and yet you perfidiously follow other lovers, and give your heart unto the world and the Devil, which are God's greatest co-rivals. The highest indignity, that can be done against love, is to despise and slight it; and to embrace those, who are far more base and sordid: and how notoriously then do you affront God, when you Despise his love and your own faith, to cast yourself into the embraces of every vile lust, which now pollutes your soul, and will hereafter damn it! O foolish and unkind, that you are, to neglect the love of the Great King of Heaven and Earth; and to make choice of the Devil, who is but the slave of God, and solicits you only to make you his slave! Yet were it somewhat if you could defend yourself, and maintain your choice against the jealousy and wrath of the Great God whom you thus Despise and provoke: but, assure yourself, his wrath and his jealousy will smoke against you; yes, kindle upon you, until it has burnt you down to the lowest Hell: and that day is coming, wherein he will expose your nakedness and your shame before men and angels, and upbraid you with the folly, as well as wickedness of your choice; and then condemn you to be an eternal consort with those Devils, whom you have preferred before himself. Believe it, it is a sad and fearful thing, to fall into the hands of the Living God; for he is a jealous God, and a consuming fire; as Moses speaks, Deuteronomy 4:24.
And, thus much, for the First Observable in this Commination, namely, Who it is that denounces it: I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God; or, I, the Lord your God, am strong and jealous.
ii. The next thing considerable is, WHAT JUDGMENT THIS STRONG AND JEALOUS GOD THREATENS TO INFLICT: and that is, to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.
Visiting is a figurative expression: and, in the general, God is said to visit, when, after a long space of time, in which he seemed to have forgotten, or taken no notice of men, he declares by his providence that he has still observed their ways and doings.
And this word of Visiting, may be taken, either in a good or in an evil part.
In a good part when God bestows great mercies and salvation upon his people, he is said to visit them: and thus it is frequently used in the Scripture.
In an evil part, God is said to visit, when he rewards those sins, at which he seemed to connive, with deserved punishments. So, Psalm 89:32. I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. And Jeremiah 5:9. Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
And, in this sense, is the word to be taken here: Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children; that is, punishing the fathers' iniquity in their children and posterity. And thus we have it interpreted Jeremiah 32:18. You recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their Children after them.
Now here arise two important queries to be resolved:
Whether it be just with God, and consistent with the divine veracity, to punish the sins of the fathers upon the children.
Whether God does always observe this method of revenging the fathers' crimes upon their posterity and offspring.
1. For the Former Query. There seems some difficulty in reconciling Scripture to itself in this particular, and in reconciling such a proceeding to justice and equity.
For, sometimes, the Scriptures do expressly mention the punishment of parents' sins to be inflicted upon their children: Exodus. 34:7; Jeremiah 32:18. etc. And, when God commands Saul utterly to destroy Amalek, he gives this reason of his injunction: 1 Samuel 15:2. I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt. And yet almost four hundred years were passed, between the journey of the Israelites from Egypt, and the issuing forth of this command: and, therefore, it is not probable, that any of those Amalekites, who opposed them in their way, were then alive to bear the punishment of that offence: Yes, and our Savior threatens the Jews of his time, Matthew 23:35. That upon them should come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar: That is, the sins of the progenitors, from the beginning of the world unto that very age when they murdered Zachary the father of John the Baptist in the court of the temple, shall be punished in this generation.
And, yet again, we read as expressly, Ezekiel 18:20. The soul, that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the iniquity of the wicked shall be upon him. And, again, Jeremiah 31:29, 30. In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity.
And, indeed, this seems most agreeable to the rules of justice, that the innocent should not be punished for the sins of the nocent and guilty.
To solve this difficulty and reconcile this seeming contradiction, I shall premise some Distinctions; and then draw from them some Conclusions, satisfactory to the question propounded.
Punishments are either temporal; such as befall in this present life: or else eternal; such as are reserved to be inflicted upon all impenitent and disobedient sinners in the world to come.
Again: children may be considered, either as imitating the crimes and transgressions of their parents; or repenting of them, and reforming from them, and so not walking in their fathers' steps, but in the ways of God's commandments.
(1) Certain it is, that God never visits the iniquity of the fathers upon Repenting and Reformed Children with Eternal Punishments.
And, in this sense, it is everlastingly true, that the son shall not bear the iniquity of his father; but the soul, that sins, it shall die; and every man shall bear his own burden.
But some may say, "Are we not made liable even to eternal death, only by the sin of another? Has not the sin of our first father brought condemnation upon all his posterity? And, therefore, how is it true, that the son shall not, in this respect, bear the iniquity of his father?"
To this I answer: It is not his sin, considered personally as his, that has made us obnoxious unto eternal death: but it was our sin, as well as his; for, in him, we all sinned and fell. Adam was our federal head and common representative, and sin was legally ours; even as his obedience would have been, had he persevered in it. But now the case of Adam is singular, and much different from that of intermediate parents. They, indeed are our natural heads; but not our federal heads, as Adam was. Their actions are only their own, and not ours; and have no influence at all upon the determining of our eternal state and condition: and, therefore, we shall not be accountable to God, at the Last Day, for what they have done; but only for what we ourselves have done in the body, whether it be good or evil.
Yet,
(2) If the children imitate the wickedness and crimes of their fathers, it is but just and righteous with God, to punish them with eternal death and damnation for them. It is but fit that they should inherit their fathers' damnation, who inherit their fathers' transgressions. But, in this case, it must be observed, that God punishes them, not because they are their fathers' sins, but because they are their own.
(3) God may, and often does, visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children with temporal punishments; whether the children imitate the offences of the fathers, or else reform from them.
And these temporal punishments are, many times, very sore and heavy: languishing diseases; racking and tormenting pains; loss of estate, sometimes ravished from them by violence, sometimes melting away insensibly. The father, possibly by his unjust oppression and extortion, intails a curse upon his estate; which like a canker, eats it out and consumes it in his son's days: so that nothing is left in his hands but shame and poverty; although, perhaps, he might never know the sins, for which God blasts him. Yes, we find that God does inflict temporal death on the child, for the offence of the parent: thus 2 Samuel 12:14 in Nathan's message to David, Because, by this deed, you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also, that is born unto you, shall surely die.
Thus God does very frequently inflict temporal punishments upon the children, for the fathers' transgressions.
Nor is it at all hard to reconcile this with the measures of justice and equity, because of that near relation which they bear unto their parents: for, certainly, it is just with God, to punish a sinner in all that is related unto him. Now children are parts of their parents: yes, their parents live and survive in them; and, therefore, certainly, God, in punishing them, may justly strike what part of them he pleases. And this even Plutarch, a heathen, could observe: speaking how God did often inflict grievous judgments on the posterity of lewd and wicked men, he tells us: "It is nothing strange and absurd, for those, who are theirs, to suffer what belongs to them."
And thus we have briefly vindicated the justice of God, in visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children.
2. But, then, another question is, Whether God does always observe this method of revenging the offences of fathers upon their children in temporal punishments.
To which I answer, no, he does not. Neither does this threatening in the Commandment oblige him to do it: but only shows what their sins do deserve; and what he might justly do, if he pleased to use his power and prerogative. And, therefore, we read of the children of wicked parents, who yet were both pious and prosperous: such were Hezekiah, and Josiah; the one the son of Ahaz, the other of Amon. But, most commonly, we may observe it in the course of Divine Providence, that the posterity of wicked parents pay off their fathers' scores to divine justice, in the temporal evils and calamities that are brought upon them. But, yet, if they themselves be pious and holy, this may be for their comfort, that whatever afflictions they lie under, shall be for their benefit and advantage; and they are not punishments to them, but only fatherly corrections and chastisements: for the very things, which they suffer, may be intended by God as a punishment to their ancestors, but a fatherly correction to themselves; and what to the one is threatened as a curse, to the other may prove a blessing and an advantage, as it gives them occasion of exercising more grace, and so of receiving the greater glory.
Suffer me to close up this with one or two practical meditations.
First. If it be the usual method of Divine Providence, to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, see then what great reason parents have to beware that they do not lay up a stock of plagues and curses for their posterity; nor clog the estate which they leave them, with so many debts to be paid to the justice of God, as will certainly undo them.
You, who, by fraud and cozenage, heap together ill-gotten wealth, think perhaps of leaving so many hundreds or thousands to your children: but consider not, withal, how many curses you put into the bag; curses, that, in time, will rot and eat out the very bottom of it. You, who, by this or by any other way of wickedness, either swearing, or drunkenness, or impurity, provoke the Holy and the Jealous God, does it nothing grieve you to think, that your sins shall be punished upon your poor children's backs? Possibly, you are so fondly tender of them, that you are reluctant to chastise them, when they really deserve it for their own faults: yet are you so cruel to them, as to abandon them over to the justice of God; to be severely scourged for faults, which are not their own, but your. Whose heart would not yearn, and whose affections would not be turned within him, to go into a hospital, and there view over all those scenes of human misery and wretchedness which are presented to us; the blind, the lame, the deaf, the dumb, the maimed, the distracted, the ulcerated and loathsome leper, and those several maps of man's woes and torments that are there exhibited? Think then with yourself, "This is the inheritance, this is the portion, bequeathed them by their accursed parents:" and, as you would have your own children to be made the same sad spectacles of divine wrath and vengeance, so go and sin them into the same condition. Certainly, wolves and tygers are more merciful to their offspring, than wretched man! It is you yourself, O cruel man! who have crippled, and maimed, and tormented, and beggared, and undone your own children: and, perhaps, every sin you commit, either murders or tortures a poor helpless infant; one, whose greatest misery it is, that ever he was born of you. I beseech you, Christians, think seriously of this thing: and, as ever you would wish well to those dear pledges which are as your own affections, so beware how ever you provoke the Holy and Jealous God, by any known and willful sin; who will be sure to repay it home, either in your own persons by his immediate judgments upon yourselves, or, that which will go as near the heart of every tender and compassionate parent, by his sore judgments on your poor children and posterity.
Secondly. See here what great reason you have to render thanks and praise unto God, that you are born of holy and pious parents; such as treasure not up wrath for you, but prayers.
Possibly they were but poor and low in the world: but yet they have bequeathed you a rich patrimony; and made God Executor, who will faithfully discharge his trust, if you discharge your duty; and give you a blessing possibly in this life, but certainly in the life to come. Let others boast their blood and their parentage; and reckon up a long row of monuments and ancestors: if they have been wicked, lewd, and ungodly, but your virtuous and the sincere servants of God, they possibly may be the last of their family, and you the first of your: however, know that it is far more noble to be born of those that have been born of God, than to be the grandchildren of the Devil. You have better blood running in your veins, even the blood of them, whom Christ has judged worthy to be redeemed, and washed with his own blood, whose names are written in Heaven in the Lamb's book of life: a greater honor and dignity, than if they were written in the worm-eaten pages of idle heraldry. And, if you follow their good examples, your relations and portion too are greater and richer, for you have God for your father, Christ for your brother, and the whole Heaven of stars for your inheritance.
And, thus much, for the Second General, what is here threatened in the Commandment: namely, The Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. I shall be more brief in the two remaining.
Therefore,
iii. Let us consider THE PERSONS AGAINST WHOM THIS THREATENING IS DENOUNCED: Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of those that hate me. And who those are, is explained in the antithesis subjoined: Keeping mercy for thousands of those that love me, and keep my commandments.
If then those, that keep God's commandments, are lovers of God, (which our Savior expressly affirms, John 14:21. He, that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me;) by direct consequence it follows, that those, who transgress the commandments of God, are haters of God. And what worse can be said of the very Devil himself? Let them pretend never so fair, and speak words full of respect and reverence, yet bring them to this trial, do they observe and keep the commandments of God or no? If not, they are haters of God and goodness.
And, indeed, it is impossible, that those who are disobedient and rebellious, should love God. For can they love him, who has required from them what they do so extremely reluctant? Can they love him, whom they must needs apprehend armed with wrath and vengeance, to punish and torment them everlastingly for their sins? Can they love him, who, if they have any consciences in them, they must needs know, hates them with a perfect hatred, and will be avenged on them in their eternal ruin and destruction? Certainly, if we love God because he first loved us, these cannot but hate him, to whom their own consciences must needs attest, that God hates both them and their ways.
iv. Consider THE DURATION AND CONTINUANCE OF THAT VENGEANCE, WHICH GOD WILL TAKE UPON THOSE WHO THUS HATE HIM.
On their own persons, he will revenge himself eternally; and be ever satisfying his wronged justice, in their sufferable torments: but, on their posterity, he will be avenged unto, the third and fourth generation.
And yet, even in this very threatening, there is mercy contained. Mercy it is, that such a wicked and accursed race are not cut off, and cast out of his sight and grace forever: and that, where once the wrath of God has seized on any family, it does not burn down and consume the whole before it; but he graciously stops its course, and gives not way to all his fury. And, in this, mercy glorifies itself against judgment; in that he shows mercy unto thousands, but visits iniquity only unto the third and fourth generation.
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
It is a known rule, that all the Precepts of the Law respect, either those duties which we owe immediately unto God, or those which we owe immediately unto man. The former constitute the First; the latter, the Second Table.
The Commands of the First Table are prescribed us, for the regulating our Divine Worship; which is either internal and more spiritual, or external and more visible.
The Internal Worship of God, with the humblest veneration of our souls, and most sincere affections of our hearts, is required of us in the First Commandment; as I have already declared.
The External Worship of God consists of three parts: Prostration of the Body; Profession of the Mouth; and the Observation of Prefixed Time. And each of these has a particular command to enjoin them.
The first of these, namely, Prostration of the Body, is required in the Second Commandment: of which I have spoken.
The second, namely, Profession of the Mouth, comes next to be considered.
And, to guide and regulate this, we have our rule prescribed in the Third Precept of this table: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, etc.
In which words we have:
First. A Prohibition: You shall not take, etc.
Secondly. A Commination or Threatening:For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that, etc.
In the Prohibition, three things are to be inquired into:
What is meant by the NAME OF GOD.
What it is to TAKE THE NAME OF GOD.
What it is to TAKE GOD'S NAME IN VAIN.
I. What is meant by the NAME of God?
I answer: The Name of God bath sundry acceptations in the Scripture.
i. Sometimes it is taken for THE NATURE AND BEING OF THE DEITY ITSELF.
Nor is it an unusual figure to put name for that thing or person, that is expressed by it. As, Revelation 3:4. You have a few names even in Sardis, that have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: that is, you have a few persons in Sardis. So, likewise, we may observe it to be frequently used, when the Scripture speaks of God and Christ: Psalm 20:1. The Name of the God of Jacob defend you: that is, let the God of Jacob himself, who is the only true and almighty potentate, be your shield and your defense. Psalm 135:3. Sing praises unto his Name: that is, offer your returns of thanks and praises unto that God, from whom you have received your mercies and salvation. So, Psalm 115:1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto your Name give glory: that is, let the glory, which is due unto you, be entirely ascribed unto yourself. And so concerning Christ: Luke 24:47. Repentance and remission of sins are to be preached to all nations in his Name: that is, through him: and John 1:12. He gave power to become the sons of God, to as many as believed in his Name: that is, to as many as believed in him. And thus it is used in innumerable places.
ii. Sometimes the Name of God is taken for THE WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE AND HEAVENLY DOCTRINE REVEALED TO US IN THE SCRIPTURES.
Thus the Psalmist, I will declare your name unto my brethren: Psalm 22:22. Which the Apostle cites as spoken in the person of Christ; Hebrews 2:12 and the meaning is, That Christ should declare and make known to the world, a true spiritual doctrine and way of worship; and teach them a religion, which should both perfect their reason, and save their souls. And, as a testimony of the accomplishment of this prophecy, our Savior himself tells us, John 17:6. I have manifested your Name unto the men, which you gave me. And, verse 26. I have declared unto them your Name, and will declare it: that is, I have instructed them in the true religion, and right worship of the Great God. And so it is taken, likewise, Micah 4:5. All people will walk every one in the Name of his God; and we will walk in the Name of the Lord our God, forever and ever: that is, we will walk in that way of worship and religion, which is appointed and approved by the Lord our God.
iii. The Name of God is taken for THAT, WHEREBY GOD IS CALLED: AND, BY WHICH, HIS NATURE AND PERFECTIONS ARE MADE KNOWN UNTO THE CHILDREN OF MEN.
For names are imposed to this very intent, that they might declare what the thing is, to which the name does belong. Thus, when God had created Adam and made him the Lord of this visible world, he caused the beasts of the field and the birds of the air to pass before him, both to do homage to their new sovereign, and likewise to receive names from him; which, according to the perfection of his knowledge, did then aptly serve to express their several natures, and were not only names, but definitions too. And so, when we read of the Names of God in Scripture, they all signify some expressions of his Infinite Essence, in which he is pleased to spell out himself unto us, sometimes by one perfection, and sometimes by another.
Now these Names of God are either his Titles or his Attributes. Concerning which I have formerly treated at large in expounding to you the First Petition of the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be your name; and, therefore, shall here only mention them, and so proceed.
1. His Titles are his Name.
And they are some of them absolute: and such are those glorious titles of Jah, Jehovah, God, I am. I am has sent you, says God to Moses. And these are names altogether incomprehensible and stupendous.
Others are relative; respecting us. So, his name of Creator denotes his infinite power in giving being to all things. Lord and King, signify his dominion and authority in disposing and governing all that he has made. Father signifies his care and goodness in providing for us his offspring: Redeemer, his mercy in delivering us from temporal evils and calamities, but especially from eternal death and destruction.
These, and other such-like titles, God does assume unto himself, to express, in some measure, as we are able to bear, what he is in himself.
2. His Attributes also are his Name.
Some of which are incommunicable: as his eternity, immensity, immutability, simplicity, etc. which are so proper to the Divine Nature that they belong to no created being.
Others are communicable: and so, mercy, and goodness, and holiness, and truth, etc. are the attributes of God. Communicable they are, because some rays of them may be found in the creatures: but, yet, in that infinite degree and excellency, which they have in God; so, they are incommunicable, and proper only to the Deity. And, therefore, though angels or men may be said to be holy, or just, or good; yet none of them are so originally: none are so, infinitely and unchangeably; none are so, simply and in the abstract, but only God himself.
These then are the Names of God.
And here in the text, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, we must understand it concerning the Name of God in this last acceptance; that is, for any name of his, whereby he is pleased to reveal himself unto us; whether it appertain to his titles, or to his attributes: neither of these must be taken in vain.
II. Let us consider what it is to TAKE THE NAME OF GOD.
I answer briefly: To take the Name of God is no other, than to make use of it, either as the object of our thoughts, or the subject of our discourses. And so we find this phrase used, Psalm 16:4. I will not take up their names into my lips. And, Psalm 50:16. What have you to do … that you should take my covenant in your mouth? that is, that you should speak, or make mention of it. So that, to take God's Name, is, to speak or mention it.
III. Let us consider what it is to TAKE GOD'S NAME IN VAIN.
To this I answer: God's Name is then taken in vain,
When it is used, without propounding to ourselves a due end.
When it is used, without due consideration and reverence.
When it is used, in an undue and unlawful action.
i. WHEN IT IS USED, WITHOUT PROPOUNDING TO OURSELVES A DUE END.
The end specifies the action: if the end be vain, the action must be so too.
Now there are but two ends, that can justify and warrant the use of any of God's Names; either his Titles or his Attributes: and they are,
1. The Glory of God. And,
2. The Edification of ourselves and others.
Whatever is besides these, is light and frivolous; and can be no good ground to us to make any mention of his great and terrible Name: which is so full of glory and majesty, that it should never be uttered, but where the subject of our discourse is serious and weighty.
I will not now speak of those, who vend the holy and reverend Name of God with oaths and blasphemies; a sin, by so much the more heinous and abominable, by how much less temptation there is to it, either of pleasure or profit. This is an iniquity to be punished by the judge. And, would to God, laws were put in severe execution, to cramp the black tongues of all such profane wretches; whose number so abounds and swarms, that we can no where walk the streets, without being assaulted with whole volleys of oaths and curses.
But, for others, who are of more blameless conversation, may it not be observed how their discourses and familiar tattle are filled up with the Name of God and Lord? I beseech you, consider: what end do you propound to yourselves, in thus using the great and terrible Name? Are all your discourses so serious, as to bear the burden of that great Name? Are they all immediately directed to the advancement of his glory? Or do they all promote the benefit and welfare of those who hear them? If so, then indeed the Name of God can never be more seasonably used. But if you make the Highest Lord serve only to express some small wonderment, or the Great God only an expletive to fill up a gap in your speeches; certainly, these are such low and mean ends, that God will not hold you guiltless. He accounts himself contemned, when you mention his Name to such idle purposes; and will revenge the dishonor, that you do him by it.
ii. The Name of God is taken in vain, WHEN IT IS USED, WITHOUT DUE CONSIDERATION AND REVERENCE.
Whenever we make mention of him, we ought seriously to ponder his infinite greatness and glory; and to bow our hearts in the deepest prostration before that Name, to which all the powers in Heaven and earth bow down with most humble veneration.
But is it possible, for those, who speak of God promiscuously and at random; is it possible, that they should utter his Name with reverence, when all the rest of the discourse is nothing but froth and levity? Nay, if they be reproved for it, will they not allege for their excuse that, which is their very sin, That they did not consider it? And, what! will you dare to bolt out the great Name of the great God without considering it? Is that a Name to be sported with, and to be tossed to and fro upon every light and vain tongue? The tongue of man is called his glory: Psalm 57:8. Awake up, my glory. And shall the glory of man be the dishonor of God? Shall that, which was created to be a principal instrument of magnifying and exalting God's Name, run it over without affection or reverence?
Those things, which we most of all despise and despise, we use as bye-words; and lay no great stress nor sense upon them. And, truly, when we speak of God, without considering how great, how glorious, and excellent a being he is, how holy, just, and powerful, we do but make him a bye-word; which is the highest contempt and indignity, that can be cast upon him.
And, therefore, the best means, that can be used to secure us from that habit and wicked custom, that many of us have inured ourselves unto, of taking God's Name in vain, is seriously to consider whose Name it is, even the Name of the Great God, who is present with you, and hears you pronounce it: that God, to whom the greatest and most glorious things compared, are base and vile nothings: that God, who is jealous of his honor, and will dreadfully revenge himself upon the despisers of it. And, if you have but wrought these considerations into your heart, and habituated them to your thoughts, you will forever be afraid to speak of his majesty vainly and irreverently.
iii. The Name of God is taken in vain, WHEN IT IS USED, TO AN UNDUE AND UNLAWFUL ACTION; especially, when it is brought to confirm a falsehood, either in perjury or heresy: which is a most horrid impiety.
And, therefore, it is observed, that the same word, which is here rendered Vain, signifies also False or Deceitful. So that this Precept, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, may be rendered also, You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in falsehood. Not that this is the only unlawful using of it, but that this is the chief and most notorious abusing of it. And, indeed, what greater sin can there be, than to bring God to be a witness to our lie? To make him, who is Truth itself, attest that, which is falsehood and deceit? And, therefore, Proverbs 30:9. Agur prays against pinching poverty, as well as superfluous riches; Lest, says he, I be poor, and steal, and take the Name of my God in vain. That is, lest poverty compel me to steal; and fear of shame or punishment tempt me to swear by the Name of the Great God, that I have not done it. This, indeed, is to take God's Name in vain, in the worst and highest sense.
IV. Suffer me now to close up this with some PRACTICAL APPLICATION of it to your consciences.
i. Let this CONVINCE YOU OF THE GREATNESS AND HEINOUSNESS OF THIS SIN, AND DEEPLY HUMBLE YOU THAT HAVE BEEN GUILTY OF IT.
I well know, that the commonness, whether of God's mercies towards us, or of our sins against him, takes off much from our observation, and abates them both in our estimate. And because this is so common a sin almost in the mouths of all persons, our ears are so beaten to it, that we now little regard it. Possibly, should we hear a devil incarnate belch out some direful oath, we should start and tremble at it: but, when we hear the Name of the Great God, and our only Lord, slip along in some trifling and impertinent discourse, this we take no notice of: and the commonness of the sin has almost stifled all reproofs.
I beseech you, Christians, consider,
1. That we are not to weigh sins by the opinion of men, but by censure and sentence of God.
He has no more allowed you to take his Name in vain, than he has to blaspheme it. The irreverent using of it is as expressly forbidden, as the abjuring and cursing of it. And when the Law of God has not dispensed with us, it is most intolerable presumption, that we should dare to dispense with ourselves.
2. Again consider, you, that sportest away the name of God in your ordinary prattle, what will you have to rely upon in your greatest distresses?
The Wise Man tells us, Proverbs 18:10. The Name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runs unto it, and is saved. But, alas, what comfort can you find in the Name of God, in your greatest necessities; since it is the same Name, that you have used and worn out before, in the meanest and most trivial concerns? You have already talked away the strength and virtue of it; and will hardly find more support from it in your tribulation, than you gave reverence unto it in your conversation. Let us then be more cautious, than to spend so excellent a remedy against all fears, and sorrows, and afflictions, vainly and unprofitably. Your Name, says the Spouse, is an ointment poured forth: Canticles 1:3. But, certainly, if, upon every slight occasion, we break the box, and expose the Name of God to common air, it will in time lose its scent and virtue; and, when we have most need of it, we shall find no refreshment, no comfort in it. Besides,
3. This common and irreverent using of the Name of God, will insensibly over-spread us with a spirit of profaneness. We shall, by degrees, arrive to a plain contempt of God, whom we thus hourly and unnecessarily take into our mouths.
For, what else is this, but to make ourselves rude and familiar with that Infinite Majesty, towards whom the profoundest testimonies of respect and reverence must fall infinitely short of expressing our due distance? But by using his name vulgarly and promiscuously, what do we else, but make it our sport; and blow it up and down with every idle breath, as children do bubbles in the air?
4. Again, can you, in duty, easily compose yourself to reverence the holy and dreadful Name of God, when you have thus accustomed yourself to name him, without any veneration or respect, in your common discourses?
Certainly, it is the hardest thing imaginable, to make the heart fall down prostrate before that God, whom you invokest in prayer, when once you are used to invoke him slightly in your ordinary converse.
Let me, therefore, beseech you, O Christians, as you tender his glory, of which he is jealous, that, whenever you speak of God, or but mention his Name, you would do it with a holy awe and dread of his Divine Majesty; that you would seriously consider, that that Name, to which every knee bows, both of things in Heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, whether they be angels or devils, requires from you more respect and honor, than to be idly blurted out with every rash and foolish expression.
And you, who are masters of families, and have children and servants committed to your care, beware that you stop this growing sin in them early. It is the sin and shame of parents, that they suffer little ones to lisp the Name of God; and to learn the first syllables and rudiments of oaths and curses, before they can well speak: whereby they lay a deep foundation for their future impiety; and thereby bring the guilt of the next generation upon us, who, by indulging them in these young sins, do but introduce those habits of wickedness into them, which perhaps can never afterwards be rooted out?
ii. There is also another kind of taking the Name of God in vain: and that is in our DUTIES and HOLY PERFORMANCES.
And this is done two ways:
1. When, in our prayers, we ask those things of God, which are unlawful or unwarrantable.
As when we pray, on the behalf of our lusts, to obtain provision to fulfill them: James 4:3. You ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. When we pray, out of envy, malice, and revenge, that God would make himself a party in our unreasonable and angry quarrels; such prayers as these are vain: for what we thus desire, either shall not be granted unto us; or, if it be, shall be granted unto us in wrath.
2. When we perform holy duties slightly and without affection, we then likewise take the Name of God in vain.
And, therefore, all hypocritical services, all battologies, and heartless repetitions are vain; and God's Name is not sanctified, but abused in them. For, whatever we do in such a manner, as we may be certain God will not accept, is done in vain: now God will accept of no performance, which is not accompanied with the heart, and filled with most devout affections; and, therefore, they are performed in vain, and to no other effect, but to increase our guilt and our condemnation. Such invocations are but scoffings of God; and all the motions of our lips, without the correspondent motion of our hearts, is no better than making mouths at God.
iii. There is also another kind of profaning the Name of God, and taking it in vain, which is of a far higher and more heinous nature: and that is, by UNLAWFUL OATHS AND EXECRATIONS.
Now an oath, in the general, is a confirmation of our speeches, by calling in God to witness and attest the truth of them: called, therefore by Tully, a Religious Affirmation.
And it is of two kinds: Assertory, and Promissory. The former, when we assert that such a thing either has been or is. Or the latter, when we engage that, for the future it shall be, and be performed by us: which oath we do sufficiently and with a good conscience keep, if we use our utmost endeavors to accomplish what we have thus sworn; although the effect may be impeded by many invincible obstacles intervening.
Now because a spirit of error and giddiness has seized on some persons, who think that every oath is unlawful, and the taking of the holy and reverend Name of God in vain, and so a violation of this Commandment; I shall therefore briefly state that much-controverted question, whether, at any time or in any circumstances, it be lawful for a Christian to assume the Name of God in an oath; and then I shall proceed to show you, what oaths are unlawful, and execrable sins.
1. For the first, I assert,
(1) That an oath is so far from being always sinful, that it is sometimes a Duty, yes, an Act of Religion, and part of the Service and Worship of God; and, therefore, not only lawful but necessary.
This we find, Deuteronomy 6:13. You shall fear the Lord your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his Name. Yes, the Psalmist mentions it as a matter of exultation, as if some notable service were done by it unto God: Every one, that swears by him, shall glory: Psalm 63:11. And if we consult the approved examples of holy men in Scripture, we shall frequently find them, either exacting oaths from others, or else themselves invoking the testimony of the Most High God, to confirm the truth of what they speak: The places are too numerous, to be cited; and too well known to need it.
But, because the great cavil against these, is, that they are only authorities produced out of the Old Testament, and we are now obliged by the precepts of a superior Lawgiver, the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore, I say in answer, That the objection argues too great a vilifying and contempt of those Sacred Oracles, which were given to the Church, by the hand of Moses; and that things of a moral nature, as an oath is, cannot in one age of the world be a duty, and in another a sin, when it is attended with the same circumstances.
And, yet further, for their satisfaction, let us see what is spoken concerning oaths in the New Testament, or in the Old relating to it. In the Old, we have a prophecy of what should be hereafter, in the times of the Gospel: Isaiah 45:23. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. And, again, Jeremiah 12:16. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name … then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But, yet, if neither of these will suffice, let us see some more immediate confirmation of this out of the New Testament itself. We find Paul himself, more than once, attesting the truth of those grave and weighty matters, which he delivers in his Epistles, by calling God to witness: which is the very form and nature of an oath: so 2 Corinthians 1:23. I call God for a record upon my soul, that, to spare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth: and, so, again, Philippians 1:8. God is my record, how greatly I long after you all: and what other, than a kind of oath, is that vehement asseveration of the same Apostle, 1 Corinthians 15:31? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus, I die daily. And, again, Romans 9:1. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. And, if you would yet have an example somewhat more perfect, we may see it in the practice of a holy Angel: Revelation 10:5, 6. The angel stood upon the sea, and upon the earth, and lifted up his hand to Heaven, And swore by him that lives forever and ever, who created Heaven … and the earth, and the things in them … that there should be time no longer. So that you do abundantly see, by all these instances, that it is not simply and universally unlawful to assume the holy Name of God in an oath; and to call him in, to be a witness to the truth of what we affirm.
The grand objection, that lies against this, is taken from two places of Scripture. The one is that of our Savior: Matthew 5:34–37. But I say unto you, Swear not at all: neither by Heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the Great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, because you can not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yes, yes; Nay, nay: for whatever is more than this, comes of evil. Can anything be more express against all manner of oaths, than this; where we have a cautious enumeration of many of them, which were most vulgar and common?
The other place is that of James: chapter 5:12. But, above all things, my brethren, swear not; neither by Heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yes be yes, and your nay, nay; lest you fall into condemnation? Can anything be more express, or more commanding than this, above all things, my brethren? and, lest you fall into condemnation?
But, for answer to this, we must know, that our Savior and his Apostle do not here simply and absolutely condemn all oaths; but only that common and profuse swearing, which the Scribes and Pharisees taught corruptly to be no sin.
For, in this point of oaths, they had divulged among the people three false traditions.
The one was, That it was lawful for them to swear commonly, and without restraint, by any creature.
The other was, That that was no binding oath, wherein the Name of God was not expressly used: and, therefore, though they should swear by creatures, yet were they not perjured, although they should not perform what they thus uttered; except some few cases, wherein interest made them conscientious. This we have, Matthew 23:16, 18. Woe unto you, you blind guides! which say, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing. And, Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing. That is, they taught that such an oath was not obligatory, because it was only by creatures. And yet, even here, they excepted such oaths, as were conceived and uttered by the gold of the temple, or the gifts on the altar, out of a politic covetousness; that, by so great a reverence shown to the gifts that were offered, the people might be induced to offer more freely, and by that means their share of them might be the larger.
A third false doctrine that they taught, was, That common swearing was no sin, although it were by the Great God, if what they swore were true. And, by this, they give scope and liberty to confirm all that they said with an oath, if they only took care to utter nothing that was false.
Now only against these three corrupt traditions, are our Savior's and the Apostle's words directed.
[1] For it is perjury to violate an oath conceived by creatures; and that, because of the near relation, that all creatures have unto God, the great Creator. This reason our Savior mentions in the fore-named place: Swear not … by Heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: nor by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the Great King. And, more expressly, Matthew 23:21, 22. He, that shall swear by Heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him that sits thereon: even as he, who shall swear by the temple, swears by it, and by him that dwells therein. And so, by the same proportion of reason, whoever shall swear by any creature, does also virtually swear by the Almighty Creator of it: and, therefore, it is as much perjury to falsify an oath made by any of the creatures, as though it were made by the Great God himself; because the creatures are all of and from God. And,
[2] Although it be perjury to falsify an oath taken by any creature; yet it is a sin, likewise, and utterly unlawful, to make any such oath, insomuch as it is an idolatrous ascribing a religious worship unto the creature which is due to God only. And in this sense, especially, I understand these words of our Savior, Swear not at all; i. e. by any creature. And this, the following enumeration of Heaven, and earth, and Jerusalem, and their head, which were the usual forms of their oaths, and by which our Savior forbids them to swear, does clearly prove to be his true meaning.
[3] These places teach, that it is a sin to swear at any time, or by anything, although the Great God himself, unnecessarily and arbitrarily: and, therefore, swear not at all, unless some just reason and cogent necessity constrain you to call in so great a testimony to confirm the truth of what you speak: for common and quotidian swearing is a high contempt and irreverence shown to the Majesty of that God, whom we bring in to attest to every trifle and frivolous thing we utter.
And this I take to be the true sense and meaning of these places of Scripture: and that they do not simply and absolutely condemn all manner of oaths; but the corrupt doctrine of the Scribes and Pharisees, and the corrupt practice of their disciples, who thought it no sin to swear familiarly, if so be that they did not swear falsely. So that the meaning of, Swear not at all, is, Swear not unnecessarily and voluntarily.
(2) Now to make an oath lawful, it must have these three qualifications mentioned by the Prophet: Jeremiah 4:2. You shall swear, The Lord lives in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness.
[1] A warrantable oath must be accompanied with Truth.
For it is taken in the Name of the God of Truth: Isaiah 65:16. He, that swears in the earth, shall swear by the God of truth. And, therefore, it behooves him to consider, whether what he deposeth be truth, or not. Yes, moreover, we must be fully Certain, that the thing is as we attest it: for a man may be guilty of perjury in swearing that which is true, if he either believe it otherwise, or be doubtful of it.
And, therefore, he, that is Called to give his oath, must look to these two things:
That his words agree with his mind.
That the thing agree with his words.
He, who fails in the second, is øåõäïñêïò, "a false swearer:" he, who fails in the first, is åðéïñêïò, "a foreswearer:" and, in both, is a perjured person.
[2] A lawful oath must be taken in Judgment; discreetly and deliberately; advising and pondering with ourselves before we swear.
And, here, we must Consider both the matter; whether that be right and good: and the ends; whether they are duly propounded by us. And there are but two ends, that can warrant an oath: one, is the benefit of ourselves or others: the other, is the glory of God. And whoever shall swear without a due consideration of these ends, and a holy and sincere desire to accomplish them by his oath, he swears rashly and unwarrantably.
[3] A lawful oath must be taken in Righteousness and Justice.
And, therefore, it is very wicked to bind ourselves by an oath Or vow, to do things, that are either impossible or sinful.
1st. The matter of a just oath ought to be possible. And, therefore, we see how cautious Abraham's servant was, when his master made him swear, to take a wife for his son Isaac, of his kindred, Genesis 24:5. Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. And so should we, in all our promissory oaths, caution and limit them with those reasonable exceptions, of as far as we know, and can lawfully endeavor.
2dly. The matter of a just oath must be not only possible, but lawful and honest too. For, if it be unlawful, we are necessarily ensnared in sin: for either we must violate God's command, or our own oath. And, therefore, it was a most wicked oath in the Jews, who combined together against Paul; and bound themselves under a curse, that they would neither eat nor drink, until they had killed him. And so every oath, which engages men to sedition, disturbance of government, and rebellion, is in itself an unlawful oath; and obliges them to nothing, but to repent of it, and renounce it.
According to these three qualifications, must every oath be regulated: else, it is not a lawful oath, but a horrid contempt of God, and taking of his Name in vain.
2. But, to speak no more concerning lawful oaths, let us now consider those, which are too common among us: such, I mean, as are apparently Unlawful and Sinful.
Two things make an oath unlawful: falsehood, and rashness.
(1) When it is False.
And this, indeed, is a most desperate sin, to vouch a lie upon God's credit; and to father a falsehood upon him, who is the God of Truth, yes, Truth itself. This manifests the highest contempt of God, when we call him to witness that, which the Devil prompted us to speak. Should not we ourselves take it for a high affront and indignity, to be made vouchers of other men's lies, and tales, and properties to put off their falsehoods? How much more, then, is it a most hellish wickedness, committed against the Great God, to assert a known lie, and then call in God to attest it for a truth! which is no other, but to father a brat of the Devil, who is a liar, and the father of lies, upon God, who hates liars, and has appointed severe torments for them. See how dreadfully God is incensed by this sin: Jeremiah 7:9, 15, 16, where he speaks of it as almost an unpardonable offence: Will you steal, and murder … and swear falsely? Therefore I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out your brethren. Pray not you for this people; neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them; neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear you. And so, Zechariah 5:4, speaking of the curse, that should go forth over the face of the whole earth: I will bring it forth, says the Lord of Hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and it shall consume it, with the timber thereof, and with the stones thereof.
(2) As false swearing is a notorious profaning of the Name of God; so, likewise, is Rash swearing, in our common and ordinary discourses.
A sin, that generally abounds and prevails among us. Almost every mouth is black with oaths; and we may see the very soot of Hell hang about men's lips. Nay, I have observed it, especially in these parts, to be not only the sin of more lewd and profligate wretches, who mouth their oaths with sound and cadence; but of those, too, who would be thought very severe and strict Christians, who scarce speak a word without a drawl, or a sentence without an oath, and who will pule and whine even in swearing itself. If these men separate to be better instructed, I wish with all my heart their teachers would be pleased so far to condescend from their higher speculations, as to instruct them, that to attest anything by their Faith, or by their Truth, is a wicked oath. For all oaths, which are conceived by any other thing besides the Great God, however modest they may be in their sound, yet are more impious in effect, than those louder ones, which immediately call God himself to witness: and therefore the Prophet speaks of it as a most heinous and almost unpardonable sin; Jeremiah 5:7. How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have for saken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. For, since an oath is a sacred thing and part of divine worship, those, that swear by any created being (as certainly their Faith, and Truth, and Conscience is, if they have any) are guilty not only of vain swearing, but of idolatry too.
3. But some will say, What so great evil can there be in an oath, so long as it is truth which they assert by it? This I know is the common reply and excuse of those, who are guilty of this sin, and reproved for it.
To this I answer,
(1) Although it may be true, that they speak; yet it is a most provoking sin, so far to debase the holy and reverend name of God, as to bring it to attest every trivial and impertinent thing they utter; and, if it be by any creature, it is by so much the worse. No oath is in itself simply good, and voluntarily to be used; but only as medicines are, in case of necessity. But to use it ordinarily and indifferently, without being constrained by any cogent necessity, or called to it by any lawful authority, is such a sin as wears off all reverence and dread of the Great God: and we have very great cause to suspect, that Where his name is so much upon the tongue, there his fear is but little in the heart.
(2) Though you swearest that, which is true; yet customary swearing to truths will insensibly bring you to swear falsehoods. For, when once you are habituated to it, an oath will be more ready to you than a truth; and so when you rashly boltest out somewhat that is either doubtful or false, you will seal it up and confirm it with an oath, before you have had time to consider what you have said or what you are swearing: for those, who accustom themselves to this vice, lose the observation of it in the frequency; and, if you reprove them for swearing, they will be ready to swear again, that they did not swear. And therefore it is well observed of Augustine‡: Melius nec verum juratur quam jurandi consuetudine, & in perjuriam sæpe caditur, & semper perjurio propinquatur: "We ought to forbear swearing that, which is truth: for, by the custom of swearing, men oftentimes fall into perjury, and are always in danger of it."
4. Now to dehort you from this sin of common swearing, consider,
(1) That it is a sin, which has very Little or No Temptation to commit it.
The two great baits, by which the Devil allures men to wickedness, are profit and pleasure.
But now this common rash swearing is the most unprofitable, barren sin in the world. What fruits brings it forth, but only the abhorrence and detestation of all serious persons, and the tremendous judgment of God? The swearer gains nothing by it at present, but only the reputation of being a devil incarnate; and, for the future, his gains shall be only the torments of those devils and damned spirits, whose language he has learned and speaks. He, that sows the wind of an oath, shall reap the whirlwind of God's fury.
Again: What pleasure is there in it? Which of his senses does it please and gratify? "Were I an epicure," says one, "I would hate swearing." Were men resolved to give themselves up to all manner of sensual delights; yet there is so little that can be strained from this common sin, that certainly unless they intended to do the Devil a pleasure, rather than themselves, they would never set their black mouths against Heaven, nor blaspheme the Great God who sits enthroned there.
Ask them why they indulge themselves in such a provoking sin; some cannot forbear out of mere custom; and others are pleased with the lofty sound, and genteel phrase of an oath, and count it a special grace and ornament of speaking. And, what! Are these temptations? Are these such strong and mighty provocations, that you cannot forbear? Shall the Holy Name of the Great God be torne in pieces by you, only to patch and fill up the rents of your idle talk? If this be the motive and inducement that makes you commit so great a sin, as commonly there is no other, know, that you perish as fools perish; and sell your souls to damnation and eternal perdition, for very nothing.
Others, perhaps, will plead for their excuse, that they never use to swear, but when they are vexed and put into a passion. But what a madness is this, when men anger you, to strike at God, and to provoke him far more than others can provoke you! If you are never so highly incensed, why should you throw your poisonous foam in God's face? Have you no other way of venting your passion, but to fly in God's face, and to revenge yourself on him, when men have injured you? Certainly, your passion can be no more a temptation to do this, than it would be to stab your father, because your enemy has struck you.
(2) It is a most Foolish sin; because it contradicts the very end, for which they commit it.
The common swearer perhaps thinks, that he shall be much the sooner believed for his oaths: whereas, with all serious and judicious persons, there is nothing, that does more lighten the credit of his speeches, than his rash binding and confirming the truth of them by swearing. For what reason have I to think that man speaks truth, who does so far suspect himself, as to think what he relates is not credible, unless he swear to it: and, certainly, he, that owes God no more respect, than to violate the sanctity and reverence of his Name upon every trifling occasion, cannot easily be thought to owe the truth so much respect as not to violate it; especially considering that there are far stronger temptations unto lying, than unto swearing.
(3) Consider that the Devil is the Author and Father, not of Lying only, but of Swearing also.
Let your yes be yes; and your nay, nay; says our Savior: for whatever is more than these, comes of evil: Matthew 5:37 åê ôïõ ðïíçñïõ åóé i. e. it comes of the Evil One, who is still prompting the swearer, and putting oaths upon the tip of his tongue.
5. I shall now give you some Rules and Directions; by the observance of which, you may avoid this too common sin; and so conclude this subject.
(1) Beware of the first Rudiments and Beginnings of Oaths, if you would not learn them.
And such are a company of idle words, frequently used in the mouths of many, which formerly were bloody oaths, but are now worn to rags, and disguised into imperfect sounds and nonsense. Few, that speak them, know what they mean; but, if they did, certainly they would tremble at such execrable words, that hide and dissemble the most horrid oaths that can be uttered: some of them being blasphemous; as those, that are conceived by the limbs of God: and others being idolatrous; as those, which are conceived by creatures; as in that ordinary by-word of "Marry," which is no less than swearing by the Virgin Mary. And it is a notable artifice of the Devil, to bring such foolish and masqued words into common use: that both they may swear, that use them, although they know it not; and that, by using themselves to unknown oaths, they may be brought, in time, to take up those that are known.
Again: all vehement asseverations have in them somewhat of the nature, and are dangerous beginnings of oaths: and those, who do accustom themselves to them, will, in time, think them not forcible enough to confirm their speeches, and so be brought to attest them by oaths. Make nothing, therefore, the pawn and pledge of a truth; but speak it out simply and nakedly, as it is in itself: and this will sooner conciliate belief, than the most strong and binding asseverations that you can invent. This sin of swearing is strangely growing and thriving: for, by a customary using of asseverations, we shall insensibly, upon every occasion, be tripping upon an oath: and a custom of swearing will, at length, bring in perjury: and a custom of perjury, blasphemy; and make them deny that God, by whom they have so often forsworn themselves, and yet go unpunished. Beware, therefore, that you allow not yourselves any form of asseveration; but let your yes be yes; and your nay, nay: proceed no further, for Christ has allowed you no more.
(2) Subdue, as much as you can, all inordinate Passion and Anger.
For anger is, usually, the cause and provocation of oaths and blasphemies. Anger is a fire in the heart; and swearing is the smoke of this fire, that breaks forth at the mouth: and those, who are violently hurried with this passion, do usually find nothing so ready at hand as an oath; which, if they cannot be revenged on him whom they conceit to have done them the injury, they fling against Heaven itself, and thereby seem to take an impious revenge upon the Almighty God.
(3) Labor to possess your heart and over-awe it, with the most serious Considerations and Apprehensions of the Greatness and Majesty of God.
This will be a good preservative, to keep you from abusing and profaning his Name, in common and rash swearing. Is he the Great and Terrible God of Heaven and Earth? And shall I put that indignity upon him, to call him from his throne to witness every vanity and trifle that I utter? Would I serve any mortal man so, whom I respect? Or would not he account it an affront and injury done him? How much more, then, will the Great God be provoked; who is so great and glorious, that it tires the conceptions of angels to apprehend his majesty! How much more will he be provoked to have his Name, which he has commanded to be sacred and reverend, daily rubbed and worn out between those lips, that talk so many light, foolish, and impertinent vanities!
There are several other violations of this Third Commandment: as blasphemy, rash vows, unnecessary lots, etc. which being chiefly to be condemned upon the same account as swearing, and a vain irreverent invoking the Name of God, I shall not treat of them particularly, but leave the sins and guilt of them to be estimated, together with a due consideration of the several circumstances that attend them.
The great Positive Duty required in this Command, is, the reverencing and sanctifying the Name of God, whenever we make mention of him, or of anything that relates unto him. But because I have, in a former treatise, spoken concerning that subject, I shall therefore wave it at present, and here put an end to the Exposition of this Third Commandment.
THE
FOURTH COMMANDMENT
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord the God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your stranger that is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made Heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
WE are now arrived, in pursuance of our designed method, to the Fourth and last Commandment of the First Table: and with the Exposition of this, I shall shut up the consideration of those Duties, which do immediately concern the Worship and Service of God.
We have already observed, as a great deal of wisdom and excellency in the matter of each command, so a great deal of heavenly are in the method and digestion of them. And, upon serious reflections on both, we may very well conclude, that they are as well the contrivance of the divine understanding, as the engraving of his finger.
The First requires that, which is first and principally to be regarded, namely, the Inward Veneration of the True God, in the dearest love, and highest esteem, and choicest affections of a pious soul.
The Second enjoins the External Expressions of this reverence, in the prostration of the body, and other acts of visible worship. For, although God chiefly regards the heart, and the frame and disposition of the inward man; yet he neglects not to observe the due composure of the body, as a testimony of the soul's sincerity.
And, as this requires us to honor the majesty of God in our gestures; so the Third requires us to glorify the Holy and Reverend Name of God in all our speeches and discourses: never to make mention of it, but with that prepossession of holy awe and dread, that might compose us into all possible gravity and seriousness.
And, because everything is beautiful in its season, therefore we have subjoined to all these a particular Command, concerning the time wherein God prescribes all these to be more especially offered unto him. And this is that Precept, which we have now under consideration: Remember the Sabbath-Day, to keep it holy, etc.
In the words we have a COMMAND, and the ENFORCEMENT of it.
The Command is to sanctify the Sabbath.
And this is justly observable: in that, whereas all the rest are simply either positive or negative, this is both. Remember to keep it holy: and, in it you shall not do any work. As if God took an especial care to fence us in, on all sides, to the observation of this precept.
The Enforcement also is more particular, and with greater care and instance, than we find in any other command.
For God has here condescended to use three cogent arguments to press the observation of this law upon us.
The first is taken from his own example, whom, certainly, it is our glory, as well as our duty, to imitate in all things, in which he has propounded himself to be our pattern: The Lord rested the Seventh Day, and therefore rest you also.
The second, from that bountiful and liberal portion of time, that he has allowed us for the affairs and business of this present life: Six days shall you labor, and do all your work; and, therefore, it is but fit and equitable, that the seventh should be given to God, who has so freely given the rest to you.
The third, from the dedication of this day to his own immediate worship and service: The Lord blessed the Sabbath-Day, and hallowed it. So that it is no less a sin than sacrilege, and stealing of that which is holy, to purloin any part of that time, which God has thus consecrated to himself; and to employ it about either sinful or secular actions.
I. I shall begin with the COMMAND, Remember the Sabbath-Day, to keep it holy.
The word Sabbath, signifies rest, and cessation from labor: and it is applied unto several things.
First. It signifies the Temporal Sabbath, or the recurring seventh day or year, which we are now treating of. And because this was the most principal day of the week, therefore we find that the whole week is denominated from it, a Sabbath: Luke 10:12; Matthew 28:1.
Secondly. It signifies a Spiritual Rest, a rest from the slavery and drudgery of sin, and those sordid labors which the Devil, our grievous task-master, exacts of us. And of this Spiritual Sabbath, the temporal one is a sign and type. So Exodus. 31:13. My Sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord, that does sanctify you.
Thirdly. It is used likewise, to signify the Eternal Rest of the Blessed in Heaven, where they rest from all their labors, and from all their sorrows, in the full fruition of the Ever-Blessed God, and of all blessedness in him. So the Apostle: Hebrews 4:9: There remains a rest unto the people of God. The word is óáââáôéóìïò, there remains a Sabbath, or the celebration of a Sabbath, unto the people of God.
It is only of the first of these, the Temporal Sabbath, that I am now speaking.
And, here, neither shall I speak of the Sabbath of Years, when the land was every seventh year to rest from the labor of tillage and husbandry; as we find it Leviticus 25:4. The seventh year shall be a Sabbath of Rest unto the land; nor yet of the greater Sabbath of the Jubilee, observed every fiftieth year, at the period of seven sabbatical years, wherein all possessions and inheritances which had been sold or mortgaged, were again to return to the first owners; which Sabbath you have described, Leviticus 25:8, etc. But I shall only treat of the Sabbath of Days, which this Commandment does principally respect.
And the general heads upon which I shall proceed, are these Four.
Its Primitive Institution.
Its Morality and Perpetual Obligation.
Its Change from the Last to the First Day of the Week.
The Manner how God has required it to be sanctified by us.
i. Concerning its PRIMITIVE INSTITUTION.
When the Sabbath was instituted, there is some difference between learned men.
Some put a late date upon it: and refer its beginning to the promulgation of the Law; or, at farthest, to the sending of manna to the Israelites. And they ground their assertion upon this: that, before that time, we read not in all the history of the patriarchs, and first ages of the world, of any Sabbath that was observed and sanctified by the holy fathers who then lived; which, doubtless, they would not have neglected, had any such command been given them.
Others, who I believe concur with the truth, fetch its original as high as the creation of the world: grounding their opinion upon that unanswerable testimony, Genesis 2:2, 3. On the seventh day God ended his work, which he had made; And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. Now that there cannot in these words be understood any prolepsis, or anticipation, declaring that as done then, which was done many ages after; appears plainly, because God is said to sanctify the Sabbath then, when he rested: but he rested precisely on the Seventh Day after the creation; therefore, that very Seventh Day did God sanctify, and made it the beginning of all ensuing Sabbaths. So that you see the Sabbath is but one day younger than man; ordained for him, in the state of his uprightness and innocence, that, his faculties being then holy and excellent, he might employ them, especially on that day, in the singular and most spiritual worship of God his Creator. And, although we find no more mention of the Sabbath, until Moses had conducted the Children of Israel into the Wilderness, which was about two thousand four hundred and fifty years after the creation; yet it is not to be supposed, that, among the people of God, who were very careful, as in observing the Law of God themselves, so in delivering it likewise to their posterity, that the observation of this Law or of this Day utterly failed, but was continued among those that feared God, until it was again invigorated with new authority by the promulgation of it from Mount Sinai.
And, thus much, for the Institution.
ii. Concerning the MORALITY of the Sabbath, is a greater controversy, and of far greater moment.
Some loose spirits contend, that it is wholly ceremonial; and so, utterly abolished at the coming of Christ: and will not be under the restriction of their liberty, in observing any days or times. Others, again, make it wholly moral; and affirm, that the observation of the very seventh day from the creation, is a Law of Nature, and of perpetual obligation; and, therefore, think themselves bound to keep the Jewish Sabbath.
That I may clearly state this obscure and difficult question, I shall only premise, That those things are said to be Moral and of the Law of Nature, in themselves rational and fit to be done, although there were no express command to enjoin them. So that, where there is a great equity in the thing itself, enough to sway a rational and honest man to the doing of it, that is to be accounted Moral, and authorized by the Law of Nature. That is of Positive Right, which is observed, only because it is commanded; and has no intrinsical goodness or reason in itself, to commend it to our practice, but obliges us only upon the injunction and authority of another. As, for instance: It is naturally good to obey our parents, to abstain from murder, theft, adultery, etc. to do to others as we would be content to be dealt with: these things we are obliged unto by the very light of reason and the principles of nature, although there had been no written Law of God to impose them. But then there were other things, to which God obliged some of his people, that had nothing to commend them besides the authority of his command: and such were the various ceremonies under the Law; yes, and in innocence itself, that prohibition given to Adam not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The former sort are moral and natural commands; the latter, positive and instituted. The former are commanded, because good: the latter are good, because commanded.
1. Certain it is, that a convenient portion of our time is due unto the service and worship of God by natural and moral right. For, certainly, it is but fit and just, that he should have a large share of our life and time, who has given us life and time here upon earth, and has created us to this very end, that we might serve and glorify him. Yes, had it been propounded to ourselves how much we would have allowed for God, could we, without shame and blushing, have set apart less time for his service from whom we have all, than himself has done? This I think is by all agreed to.
2. The Law of Nature does not dictate to us any particular stated days to be set apart for the Worship of God, one more than another. For, indeed, there can be no natural reason, why this day more than that; why every seventh day, rather than every sixth, or fifth, or fourth: for all days being in their own nature alike, reason can find no advantage to prefer one of them before another. But that, which is obligatory by the Law of Nature, ought to be plain and evident to all men; or, else, evidently deducible from some natural principles. Now if we lay aside the positive command of God, there is no one day in itself better than other: and, therefore, there is a memento prefixed to the Command, (Remember, that you keep holy the Sabbath-Day) which is not added to any other precept; intimating to us, that the observation of a special day is not a dictate of nature, but only an imposition of God, which he requires us to remember and bear in mind.
3. That the Seventh Day should be especially consecrated to the service and worship of God, is from his positive will and command: and therefore is as binding and forcible, as if it were a Law of Nature engraved on our hearts; unless the same authority alter it, that did first enjoin it. For this, being a positive law, is therefore good and necessary, because commanded. And if it had not been revealed to us, we should never have been obliged to this observation; nor made obnoxious to punishment, for failing in it.
Yet, again,
4. This declaration of the will of God concerning the sanctification of the Sabbath, is attended with a moral reason: and, therefore, is not merely and barely positive; as Ceremonial Laws are. Which reason is, that God rested on the Seventh Day; and, therefore, we ought so to do. Now, although this reason carries not such a natural evidence in it, as to have obliged us, unless it had been revealed: yet, being revealed, we may discern a certain aptitude and fitness in it to oblige us to the observation of the Seventh Day, rather than any other; since piety and religion require, that we should imitate God, in those things, wherein he would have us to imitate him. So that I account this Command to be Moral-Positive: moral, in that it requires a due portion of our time to be dedicated to the service and worship of God: positive, in that it prescribes the Seventh Day for that especial service, which the Light and Law of Nature did not prefix: and mixed of both, in that it gives a reason of this prescription, which has somewhat of natural equity in it; but yet such, as could not have been discovered without special and divine revelation.
Now, because the observation of a Sabbath has thus much of morality and of the Law of Nature in it, it is most certain that we are bound to keep a Sabbath, as much as the Jews were; although not to the circumstance of the duty.
For,
(1) This Command was obligatory, even in Paradise itself, in the State of Innocency; and, therefore, contains nothing in it unworthy the state of a Christian. It is no ceremonial command; nor to be reckoned among those things, which were typical, and prefigured Christ to come in the flesh: and, therefore, neither was it abolished at his coming; but still there lies a strict and indispensable obligation upon us, to observe a Sabbath holy unto the Lord.
(2) The Reasons of this Command are all of them Moral and Perpetual; and, therefore, such is the obligation of it, to us Christians. The equity is the same to us, that it was to them: namely, that we should allow one day in seven to the worship of that God, who so liberally allows us six for our ordinary affairs: the ease and refreshment of our bodies from the labors of our callings, is as necessary as then it was; and we are still as much obliged, with thankfulness to remember and meditate upon the great mercy of our creation, as they were. And, therefore, if these were sufficient reasons, why the Jews should observe a particular Sabbath, they are still as forcible and cogent with us. Again,
(3) Our Savior, foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem, bids his disciples pray, that their flight might not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath-Day: Matthew 24:20. And yet the destruction of that city happened about forty years after the death of Christ: and therefore, certainly, those, who were his disciples, lay under an obligation of observing a Sabbath-Day; because our Savior intimates, that it would prove a heavy addition to their affliction, if they should be forced to take their flight on the Sabbath, when they ought and desired to be employed in the spiritual exercise of devotion and holy duties proper to that day.
But, although the sanctifying of a Sabbath be thus obligatory to Christians; yet it is not the same Sabbath-Day, to the observation of which the Jews and the people of God, before Christ's coming into the world, were bound. But it is, with good ground and upon good authority, changed from the last to the first day of the week; from Saturday to Sunday; called now the Lord's Day, because it was that day of the week on which our Lord and Savior rose from the dead: in memory of which, and in a thankful acknowledgment of the great mercy of our redemption, fully completed by his resurrection, the Sabbath has been translated to this day; and is now rightly celebrated on this day, by all the Churches of Christ throughout the world.
iii. And this CHANGE of the Sabbath is the third head which I promised to speak of.
Now, as the first institution of the Sabbath was by divine authority; so likewise is the change of it. For, as God rested from his labor on the last day of the week: so Christ rested from all his labor, sorrows, and afflictions on this day; in which he fully completed the work of our redemption, and manifested it to be perfected by his resurrection from the dead. Therefore, as the Jewish Sabbath was sanctified, because of the finishing of the Work of Creation: so was the Christian Sabbath, because of the finishing of the Work of Redemption; which is of far greater importance, and therefore deserves more to be celebrated than the other. Christ sanctified this day by his resurrection; and the Apostles confirmed the observation of it, both by their writings and uniform practice: and it has such an inviolable stamp of divinity upon it, that now it is no more alterable to the end of the world.
Nor is it needful, that an express command of Christ should be brought for this change out of the New Testament. It is sufficient, if, by necessary consequence, it may be deduced from Scripture.
And, yet,
1. We have express places of the Scripture thus far, that the First Day of the Week is mentioned as the stated time for Christians to meet together, to preach, to hear, and to break bread in the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper, and to perform other duties of religion.
So, Acts 20:7. Upon the First Day of the Week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them. Which plainly declares, that the solemn meetings and assemblies of Christians were then on this day: the Jewish Sabbath beginning to wear out; and the Christian Sabbath, or the Lord's-Day, coming into its place and stead.
Again: The public collections, for the poorer saints, were ordained by the Apostle to be made on this day. Now concerning the collection for the saints.… Upon the First Day of the Week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him: 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2. And this very rule and custom, the Apostle says he had before established in the Church of the Galatians. And why should this day be chosen for their collections, but only because the assemblies of Christians were held on this day; and so gave a better convenience to gather their charity, than at any other time?
Again: John says of himself, that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's-Day: Revelation 1:10 which is no other but this our Christian Sabbath, that has received this title and denomination from our Lord Christ. For what some say, that the Lord's-Day means no more than the day of the Lord's appearing to him, and revealing those many mysterious visions, is vain and dilate, and scarce agreeable to the sense and gravity of Scripture expression. It signifies, therefore, this day: wherein the Apostle being, in all likelihood, taken up with spiritual meditations, God was pleased to gratify him with the revelation of those great things, which were afterwards to take their effect and accomplishment.
Put the force of these Scriptures together, and they will certainly amount to the full proof of the institution of this First-Day Sabbath. It is called the Lord's-Day: it was appointed and used for the assemblies of the saints; for the preaching and hearing of the Word, and administration of the Sacrament; for the collection of alms for the relief of the poor; and this not in one church only, but in other churches of the saints; and that likewise not at some more solemn times only, but weekly. Put these together, and what more plain and evident proof can a thing of this nature admit of?
2. A second argument, to prove this change, shall be that, which with all sober men may be sufficiently valid; which is the constant and uninterrupted practice of the Church in all ages, from the time of man's redemption by the death and resurrection of Christ, to this very present day.
Christ himself began the sanctification of it by his resurrection: on the same day he appeared to his disciples: and he himself informs them of his resurrection; John 20:19.
I have already declared unto you the practice of the Apostles: and, for the practice of the Primitive Church immediately after the Apostles, all ecclesiastical histories do, with one consent, testify that the solemn assemblies of Christians were held on this day: which unvaried custom and observation of the Church of Christ ought to be of great weight with all solid and serious Christians. And if we add to this, likewise, the unanimous consent of the most holy and spiritual men, who are generally found to be the most strict observers of the Lord's-Day; and, lastly, the great blessing, that God has poured out upon his people in the plentiful effusion of his Grace and Spirit on them in his holy ordinances celebrated on this day; it will be past all question and debate, that this is the day that the Lord has made for himself, and therefore let us be glad and rejoice therein.
We have thus considered the Institution, Morality, and Change of the Sabbath. All which are the more abstruse and intricate, partly, from the silence of the Scriptures, which leave us to collect the truth by inferences and deductions: and, partly, from the different opinions of learned men; whose queries and disputes about these points are so various and endless, that, as Maldonate said of Luke 2:34. "The place had been much easier understood, if no man had attempted to expound it," so I may say of the questions in hand, It had been much easier to determine them, if no man had debated them. I have endeavored to make them as plain and perspicuous, as the nature of the subject would permit; laying aside all contentious arguments and needless cavils, both of one side and the other.
iv. The fourth general propounded, remains now to be considered: which as it is of greater concernment than the rest, so it is of equal difficulty: and that is, concerning THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE SABBATH.
In treating of which, I shall observe the same method: and satisfy myself in laying down positively what Scripture and Reason dictate, without engaging in those tedious disputes about it, which might make this discourse both unpleasing and unprofitable.
This Commandment, therefore, speaks of a Twofold Sanctification of this day: the one, which it has already received from God; the other, which it ought to receive from man: and the former is given as a reason of and motive unto the latter.
1. God has sanctified the Sabbath-Day.
So we have it, verse 11. The Lord blessed the Seventh Day, and hallowed it. Where these two words blessed and hallowed, are only exegetical one of the other; and carry in them the same sense, common to both.
Now God blessed and hallowed the Sabbath-Day, not by infusing any inherent quality of holiness into it: for neither days, nor places, nor any inanimate things are subjects capable of real holiness:
(1) But God blessed and hallowed it, by Separating that day from others: bestowing a higher Dignity and Privilege upon it, as the day; whereon both himself chose to rest from the works of creation; and the day, whereon he requires that we also should rest from the works of our ordinary vocations.
For, to hallow and sanctify, is to set anything apart from profane and common, unto sacred and spiritual uses. God, therefore, sanctified the Sabbath, when he selected it out of the course of other days, and set it apart from the common employments and services of life; ordaining, that the spiritual concernments of his glory and our salvation should be therein especially transacted. And this is that blessing, which God has conferred upon this day: for what other benefit is a day capable of, but only, that, when the other six days, like the unregarded vulgar of the year, were to be employed in the low and sordid drudgery of earthly affairs; this Seventh Day God has raised from the dunghill, and set upon the throne, appointing it, according to Ignatius's phrase, ôçí âáóéëéäá, ôçí ðáôïí ôùí ìåñùí: "The prince and sovereign of days:" exempting it from all servile works; and designing it for such spiritual and celestial employments, that, were it observed according to God's command, eternity itself would not have much advantage above it, but only that it is longer. So that, in the ring and circle of the week, the Sabbath is the jewel, the most excellent and precious of days.
(2) God has blessed and sanctified it, not only in this relative, but also in an Effective Sense: namely, as he has appointed it to be the day, whereon he does especially bless and sanctify us.
Yes, and possibly he makes the means of our sanctification to be more effectual on this day, than when they are dispensed on any other, common days. God does then especially give out plentiful effusions of his Spirit, fills his ordinances with his grace and presence: and we may, with a more confident faith, expect a greater portion of spiritual blessings from him, when both the ordinances and the day too are his; than when, though the ordinances be his, yet the day is ours. In this sense, God may be said to bless and sanctify the Sabbath-Day, because he blesses and sanctifies us on that day. As the Psalmist, most elegantly and in a high strain of poetry, says, that God crowns the year with his goodness: Psalm 65:11 not that the plenty and fruitfulness of the year is any blessing unto it; but it is a blessing unto men, whose hearts God then fills with food and gladness.
In both these senses, may God be said to bless and sanctify the Sabbath.
2. As God sanctified the Sabbath, so Man is commanded to sanctify it also: verse 8. Remember the Sabbath-Day to keep it holy.
Now we sanctify and hallow a day, when we observe it holy to the Lord; sequestering ourselves from common affairs, to those spiritual exercises, which he has required us to be conversant about on that day. God sanctifies it, by consecration: we sanctify it, by devotion. He has set it apart for his worship: and, on it, we ought to set ourselves apart for his worship; and to be taken up only with those things, which he has either allowed or prescribed us. And, therefore, God does lay an especial claim to this day. For, although he be the Supreme Lord of all; and does dispense, and as it were draw out the thread of time, and days, and years for us, out of the infinite bottom of his eternity: yet he does not so particularly challenge any part of it to himself, as he does this Seventh Day. Whence it is said, ver 10. The Seventh-Day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. The six foregoing days of the week are your; and you may dispose of them in the honest works of your calling, as prudence and convenience shall direct: but this day God challenges to himself, as his peculiar portion of our time, because he has ordained it for his worship and service; and, therefore, it is called his. And, when we devote ourselves to his service and worship, meditating on his excellency, magnifying and praising his mercy, and invoking his Holy Name, we then hallow this day, and give unto God that which is God's.
And thus you see what it is to sanctify the Sabbath: both as God has done it, by dedication; and as man ought to do it, by observation.
But the great difficulty is, in what manner the Sabbath ought to be sanctified and kept holy: whether or no we are bound to the same strict and vigorous observation of our Christian Sabbath, as the Jews were of theirs, under the oeconomy of Moses.
To this I answer, in the general: That, as our Sabbath is not the very same with theirs, but only the same analogically, bearing a fit proportion to it: so, likewise, our sanctification of the Lord's-Day (for thus I would rather call it, than the Sabbath) is not, in all particulars, the same that was required from the Jews; but bears a proportion to it in those things, which are not ceremonial, nor burdensome to our Christian Liberty.
But, more particularly: The sanctifying of this day consists, partly, in abstaining from those things, whereby it would be profaned; and, partly, in the performance of those things, which are required of us, and tend to promote the sanctity and holiness of it.
(1) Here, first, I shall lay down this: That, in order to our due sanctifying of the Sabbath, we ought to abstain from the common and servile Works of our ordinary Callings and Vocations.
So we have it expressly, verse 10. In it you shall not do any work. And this God prohibits, not that rest and cessation is in itself acceptable unto him, or any part of his worship and service; but only because earthly employments are an impediment and distraction to that heavenly frame of spirit, which we ought to maintain in all the parts and duties of this day. The works of our callings are not evil in themselves, but lawful and good; and such, wherein on other days we serve God, and whereon we may expect a blessing from him: but yet our mind is so narrow and stinted, that we cannot, at once, attend them and the service of God, with that zeal and fervor, that he requires; and, therefore, that we may be wholly employed in his work, he has taken us off from our own.
This prohibition of working on the Sabbath is strongly enforced, by the concession of six days for our ordinary labor: a concession, I call it, considering the indulgence granted unto us. But yet it is not merely a concession, but a command too: Six days shall you labor, and do all your work; but the Seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord. That exceptive particle, but, intimates unto us, that none of that work, which is lawful to be done on ordinary days, ought to be performed by us on the Sabbath.
I know it is a question, whether these words, Six days shall you labor, be a precept, or a permission only. To me, they seem preceptive; requiring us diligently to attend that vocation and state of life, in which the Divine Providence has set us; and to perform the offices of it, with care and conscience: for it is said, you shall labor, not only you may labor. And those, who contend that they merely signify a permission of the daily works of our callings, open too wide a gap for sloth and idleness to creep in, without violating any commandment, or being censured and condemned for sin.
But I shall not trouble you with the disputes about this. Only let me take notice of the weakness and inconsequence of one inference, that is commonly drawn from it: and that is, If it be a divine precept, that we ought six days to labor, then can we not by any constitution whatever be taken off from the lawful works of our callings, nor obliged to keep any other days holy and solemn besides the Sabbath: for God's laws do not contradict themselves; and wherein soever human laws contradict the divine, they are of no force nor validity.
But this argument fails in its deduction. For the command, Six days shall you labor, is not to be understood absolutely and unlimitedly, but with a just restraint and exception: that is, You shall labor six days ordinarily; unless any of them be set apart, either by your own private devotion or by public authority, for the immediate worship and service of God.
And that this is of necessity to be so understood, appears, if we consider how many days in the week God himself did dedicate, in those Feasts, which he commanded the Jews strictly to observe, notwithstanding that they were enjoined six days' labor. Besides every New Moon; the Passover, in remembrance of their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, and as a clear type of Christ, who, as a lamb without spot, was offered up to God for us. Then Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, fifty days after the Passover; a memorial, that the Law was given to them from Mount Sinai fifty days after their departure, out of Egypt; typifying, likewise, the sending of the Holy Spirit to inspire the Apostles with heavenly truth, and to enable them to preach the Gospel, which is the Law of Jesus Christ, which was accordingly fulfilled fifty days after Christ, our great Passover, was sacrificed for us. Then, thirdly, the Feast of Atonement or Expiation, which was celebrated on the tenth day of the seventh month whereon the high-priest was solemnly to confess unto God both his own sins and the sins of the people, and to make atonement for them; typifying thereby the full expiation and atonement of our sins, made by our High-Priest, Jesus Christ. And, lastly, there was ordained likewise the Feast of Tabernacles, on the fifteenth day of the same month: and this was to last, not only one day, but a whole week together; and was instituted to be a memorial to them of their journey through the wilderness, wherein, for forty years, they lived in tents and tabernacles. All these feasts we find appointed by God himself, and imposed upon the Israelites, Leviticus 23.
And, not only did they account themselves obliged to keep these days holy, which were enjoined by the divine command; but those also, which were appointed by human authority. And such were the Feast of Purim, to be kept two days following; in remembrance of their deliverance from the malicious and bloody designs of Haman, Esther 9:21. And the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple; first observed at the rebuilding of their Temple after their return from the Babylonish Captivity; as you may read, Ezra 6:16: and from that time perpetuated unto the days of our Savior Christ; who, though it were but of human and ecclesiastical institution, yet was pleased to honor that solemnity with his presence: John 10:22. Besides, we frequently read of Fasts, both personal and national, appointed upon some emergent occasions, to appease and divert the wrath of God: as the Fast of the Fifth and the Seventh Month, for seventy years together: Zechariah 7:5. And the like to these, without doubt, either our own private devotion or the public authority, of the nation, may, in the like circumstances, impose on us, without violating this command of six days' labor.
But, although this Six Days' Labor was not so strictly required, as not sometimes to admit the intervention of a holy rest; yet the Seventh Day's Rest was so exactly to be observed, as not to admit any bodily labor or secular employment. God would not have this holy rest disturbed by the tumultuous affairs and businesses of life: and we find this command strictly enforced, by the double sanction both of a promise and threatening, Jeremiah 17 from verse 24 to the end: If you diligently hearken unto me, says the Lord, to bring in no, burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath-Day, but hallow the Sabbath-Day, to do no work therein; Then shall there enter into the gates of this city, kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David … and this city shall remain forever.… But, if you will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath-Day … then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. Yes, God was so accurate about this, that he descends to a particular prohibition of several sorts of works, which he would not have to be done on the Sabbath-Day. On that day, the Israelites were not to gather manna: Exodus. 16:26 nor to gather in their harvest: Exodus. 34:21 nor to buy or sell: Nehemiah 10:31 nor to tread the wine-press: Nehemiah 13:15 nor so much as to gather sticks: Numbers 15:32 nor to go from their places of abode, to provide themselves food: Exodus. 16:29 yes, so strictly were they tied to the observation of this Sabbath, that they might not so much as, kindle a fire: Exodus. 35:3. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath-Day. Unto all which prohibitions from God, the Jews added many superstitious and ridiculous ones of their own, not grave enough to be here mentioned; whereby they made that burden, which was before heavy, to be altogether insupportable by their foolish and vain traditions.
Now the great question is, How far these prohibitions do concern us, and whether we are obliged to the punctual observance of them as the Jews were.
To this I answer, in the negative, that we are not: for we are bound to nothing by the Law of Moses, but only what was of moral and natural right in that law; and as for other ordinances, which were positive, we are set free from them, by that liberty, which Jesus Christ has purchased for and conferred upon his Church. We do not celebrate the Lord's-Day itself, upon any obligation laid upon us by the letter of this Fourth Commandment; for that expressly enjoins the Seventh Day from the Creation, whereas ours is the Eighth: but only from the analogy and proportion of moral reason; which requires, that a due and convenient portion of our time should be separated to the service and worship of God. But, for the fixing of the very day, why it should be this rather than any other, we acknowledge it to proceed from the consecration of it by our Savior's Resurrection, the Institution of the Apostles, and the consequent Practice of the Universal Church of Christ in all ages, as I have already declared. And, therefore, should we as scrupulously and nicely observe it in all circumstances, as the Jews did their Sabbath; possibly, it would not be a sanctification of the Sabbath, but a fond and groundless superstition.
The Lord's Day is, therefore, to be observed, as only in things that are in themselves moral and rational. Nor will this give any scope to the libertinism of those, who would willingly indulge themselves, either in worldly affairs or loose recreations, on this day. For it is moral and rational, that the whole of that day, which is set apart for the worship of God, should be employed in his worship. This likewise is moral, and of spiritual obligation, that we do not our own pleasure, nor speak our own words on his holy day; as the Prophet expresses it, Isaiah 58:13.
This obliges us Christians, as well as the Jews. For if a day be dedicated unto God, certainly every part and parcel of it belongs unto him; and we ought to rest from all our worldly employments, that might steal away our thoughts and affections from God, or indispose us to his spiritual worship and service.
But, yet, this extends not to those small punctualities of gathering sticks, kindling a fire, and preparing food for ourselves: for these things, doubtless, may be done, without being any moral impediments to our piety and devotion on this day. Yes, they may be moral helps and furtherances unto it.
For, notwithstanding this rest and cessation from labor, that is required from us on the Lord's Day, yet there are three sorts of works, that may and ought to be performed on it, how great soever our bodily labor may be in doing them.
And they are,
Works of Piety:
Works of Necessity: and,
Works of Charity.
[1] Works of Piety are to be performed on the Lord's Day: yes, on this day especially, as being the proper works of the day.
And such are not only those, which consist in the internal operations of the soul; as heavenly meditations, and spiritual affections: but such also, as consist in the external actions of the body; as oral prayer, reading of the Scriptures, and preaching of the word. Yes, on this day are ministers chiefly employed in their bodily labor, and spending of their spirits: yet it is far from being a profanation of the Lord's Day; for holy works are most proper for holy days. And not only are such works to be performed on the Lord's Day, but they were enjoined also on the Jewish Sabbath. And therefore says our Savior, Matthew 12:5. Have you not read in the Law, how that on the Sabbath-Days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and yet be blameless? This word, therefore, of profaning the Sabbath, is not to be understood of a formal profanation; as if they did that, which was unlawful to be done on that day: but only of a material profanation; that is, they labored hard in killing and flaying, and dividing and boiling, and burning the sacrifices in the temple: which, had they not been instituted parts of God's worship, had been profanations of the Sabbath; but, being commanded by God, were so far from being profanations, that they were sanctifications of that day. And, upon this account, likewise, were Sabbath-Days' Journeys permitted to the Jews: which though they were not actions of piety in themselves, yet were they actions tending towards piety; that those, who were remote from the places of worship, might assemble themselves together to hear the Scriptures read and expounded to them. This appears, 2 Kings 4:23 where the husband of the Shunamitish Woman expostulates with her: Wherefore will you go to the prophet today? It is neither new moon nor sabbath. Whence it may be clearly collected, that they were permitted to travel a certain space, to attend upon the worship and service of God. And this Sabbath-Day's Journey some limit to a mile; others two, the distance of the utmost part of the Camp of Israel from the Tabernacle of the Congregation. But, with very good reason, it may be thought that the Sabbath-Day's Journey, was any distance from the place of their abode to the next synagogue; which, commonly, not being above a mile or two, that distance was vulgarly called a Sabbath-Day's Journey.
So that it appears, that Works of Piety, or Works immediately tending to Piety, may lawfully be performed with the strictest observation of the Lord's Day.
[2] Not only works of piety, but Works of Necessity, and of great convenience, may also be done on the Lord's Day.
And they are such, without which we cannot exist, or not well exist: and, therefore, we may quench a raging fire; prevent any great and notable damage, that would happen either to our persons or estates; fight for our own defense, or the defense of our country; without being guilty of the violation of this day: concerning the last of which, histories inform us, that the Jews were so scrupulous, as to suffer themselves to be assaulted and slain by their enemies, rather than they would on this day lift up a weapon to repel them, until Matthias persuaded them out of this foppish superstition: 1 Maccab. 2:40. And not only those works, which are of absolute necessity; but those likewise, which are of great convenience, may lawfully be done on the Lord's Day: such as are kindling of fire, preparing of meat, and many other particulars too numerous to be mentioned. We find our Savior defending his Disciples against the exceptions of the Pharisees, for plucking the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them on the Sabbath-Day: Matthew 12:1, etc. Only let us take this caution, that we neglect not the doing of those things until the Lord's Day, which might be well done before; and then plead necessity or convenience for it: for, if the necessity or convenience were such as might have been foreseen, our Christian prudence and piety ought to have provided for it before this holy day; so that we might wholly attend the immediate service of God in it, with as few avocations and impediments as are possible.
[3] Another sort of works, that may and ought to be done on the Lord's Day, are the Works of Charity and Mercy.
For, indeed, this day is instituted for a memorial of God's great mercy towards us; and, therefore, in it we are obliged to show charity and mercy: charity towards men, and mercy to the very beasts themselves. And, therefore, although the observation of the Sabbath was so strictly enjoined the Jews, yet was it to give place to the works of mercy, whenever a poor beast did but stand in need of it. So Matthew 12:11. What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath-Day, will not lay hold on it, and lift it out? And so, again, Luke 13:15. Does not each one of you, on the Sabbath, loose his ox or his donkey from the stall, and lead him away to watering? Yes, and this the very heathens observed on their festivals: when other works were forbidden, yet works of mercy were expressly allowed; and, by name, the helping of an ox out of a pit. Works of mercy, therefore, are to be done even to beasts themselves, whatever labor may be required to the doing of them: and how much more, then, works of charity to men like ourselves! which charity is to be shown, either to their souls, or their bodies; for both, many times, are extremely miserable. To their Souls, in instructing, advising, exhorting, reproving, comforting and counseling of them, praying for them; and, if, in anything they have offended us, freely forgiving them: this, indeed, is a work of charity proper for the Lord's Day; a work, highly acceptable unto God, and the best way that can be to sanctify it. Neither are we to forbear any work of charity to their Bodies and outward man: and, therefore, we find how severely our Savior rebukes the superstitious hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who murmured against him as a Sabbath-Breaker, because he had healed some of their infirmities on the Sabbath-Day: Luke 13:14, 15, 16. The ruler of the synagogue said unto the people, with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath-Day, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath-Day. See how our Lord takes him up: You hypocrite! does not each one of you, on the Sabbath, loose his ox? etc. And ought not this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham … to be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath-Day? And so, again, Matthew 12:10. Christ heals a man, that had a withered hand; and justifies this work of charity to this man, by their works of mercy to their beasts; and asserts, verse 12. It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath-Days. Yes, he appeals to their very consciences in this, whether a benefit done to a poor helpless creature could be counted a breach and violation of the Sabbath: Mark 3:4. Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath-Days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill? Certainly, it is a right Sabbath-Day's Work, to do good; and to put ourselves to any work and labor, that may tend to the saving of life, or easing of pain, or healing of the diseases and sickness of our brother. And our Savior has told us, Mark 2:27. That the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. The strict and punctual observation of the Sabbath is to give place, whenever the exigence or good of our neighbor does require it; for God prefers mercy before sacrifice.
Thus you see what rest is required from us, on the Lord's Day; and what works may be done on it, without any violation of the law, or profanation of the day.
And this is the first thing, in order to our sanctifying the Sabbath, namely, That we ought to rest from the common and servile works of our ordinary callings and vocations.
(2) The sanctification of the Sabbath does especially consist in a diligent and conscientious attendance upon all the Ordinances of God, and the Duties of his Worship, appointed to be performed on this day: and that, whether in Public, or in Private, or in Secret.
[1] Consider what duties you are to be engaged in, in the Public and Solemn Worship of God on this day: for, in them, a great and principal part of the sanctification of it does consist.
This I mention, in the first place, as most preferable. For, certainly, as long as, through the mercy of God, we have the public and free dispensation of the Gospel, we ought not to slight nor turn our backs upon this visible communion of the Church: but to honor and own the freedom of the Gospel, by our constant attendance on the dispensations of it; lest, despising the mercy of God in giving them to us so publicly, we provoke him, at length, most justly to necessitate us to those retirements, which now so very many, out of sloth or faction, do so much affect. I pray God, that this prove not the sad and direful consequence of that contempt, that is cast upon the public, by some persons, whose only study and business it is to divide Christ, and make rents and schisms in his body the Church.
Now the Public Duties, which are necessary to the right sanctifying of the Lord's Day, are these:
1st. Affectionate Prayer, in joining with the minister, who is our mouth unto God, as well as God's mouth unto us.
For, as he is entrusted to deliver his sovereign will and commands, so likewise to present our requests unto the throne of his grace. We ought heedfully to attend to every petition; to dart it up to Heaven, with our most earnest desires; and to close and seal it up, with our affectionate Amen, So be it. For, though it be the minister alone that speaks, yet it is not the minister alone that prays; but the whole congregation, by him, and with him; and whatever petition is not accompanied with your most sincere and cordial affections, it is as much mocking of God, as if your own mouth had uttered it without the concurrence of your heart: which is most gross hypocrisy. Consider what promises are made to particular Christians, when they pray singly, and by themselves: Whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will grant it you: John 15:16, and 16:23. What great prevalence then must the united prayers of the Saints have; when they join interests, and put all the favor, that each of them has at the Throne of Grace, into one common stock! When we come to the public prayers, we are not to come as auditors, but as actors: we have our part in them; and every petition, that is spread before God, ought to be breathed from our very hearts and souls: which if we affectionately perform, we may have good assurance, that what is ratified by so many votes and suffrages here on earth, shall likewise be confirmed in Heaven. For our Savior has told us, Matthew 18:19, That if two shall agree together on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by his Father which is in Heaven.
2dly. Our reverent and attentive Hearing of the Word of God, either read or preached, is another public duty necessary to the sanctification of the Sabbath.
This was observed also in the times of the Law, before Christ's coming into the world: Acts 15:21. Moses, of old time, has in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath-Day. Their synagogues were built for this very purpose: and, as their temple was the great place of their legal and ceremonial worship; so these were, for their moral and natural worship. In the temple, they chiefly sacrificed; and, in their synagogues, they prayed, read, and heard. And every town, and almost every village, had one erected in it, as now our churches are: where the people, on the Sabbath-Day, assembled together, and had some portion of the Law read and expounded to them. Much more ought we to give our attendance on this holy ordinance, now, in the times of the Gospel; since a greater measure of spiritual knowledge is required from us, and the mysteries of salvation are more clearly declared unto us. And may that tongue wither, and that mouth be forever silenced, which shall dare to utter anything in contempt and vilifying of this holy ordinance! For such excellent things are spoken of the preaching of the Gospel, that it is the power of God: 1 Corinthians 1:18 that it is the salvation of those who believe: verse 21 that it is the sweet savor of the knowledge of God: 2 Corinthians 2:14: that, certainly, whoever disparageth it, rejects against himself the counsel of God; and neglects the only appointed means for the begetting of faith, and so for the obtaining of eternal salvation: for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God: Romans 10:17.
3dly. Another public duty pertaining to the sanctifying of the Lord's Day, is Singing of Psalms.
For this day being a festival unto God, a day of spiritual joy and gladness, how can we better testify our joy, than by our melody? Is any man merry? says James, chapter 5:13 let him sing psalms. And, therefore, let profane spirits deride this how they please; yet, certainly, it is a most heavenly and spiritual duty. The holy angels, and the spirits of just men in Heaven, are said to sing Eternal Hallelujahs unto the Great King: and if our Sabbath be typical of Heaven, and the work of the Sabbath represents to us the everlasting work of these blessed spirits, how can it be better done, than when we are singing forth the praises of him that sits upon the throne, and of the Lamb our Redeemer? This is to join with the heavenly choir in their heavenly work; and to observe a Sabbath here, as like that eternal Sabbath there, as the imperfection of earth can resemble the glory and perfection of Heaven.
4thly. Another public duty belonging unto the sanctifying of the Lord's Day, is the administration of the Sacraments, especially that of the Lord's Supper.
And therefore it is mentioned, Acts 20:7. Upon the First Day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, that is, to partake of the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, Paul preached unto them: which intimates, that the primary intent of their assemblies was to receive the Lord's Supper; and that, upon occasion of this, the Apostle instructed them by preaching. It is most evident by all the records of the Church, that it was the apostolic and primitive custom to partake of this most holy ordinance every Lord's Day, and that their meetings were chiefly designed for this; to which were annexed prayer and preaching. I am afraid, Sirs, that one of the great sins of our age is not only the neglect and contempt of this ordinance by some, but the seldom celebrating it by all. The Apostle, where he speaks of this holy institution, intimates, that it should be frequently dispensed and participated: 1 Corinthians 11:26. As often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup. Let us consider, then, what dishonor they reflect upon Christ, who, although this ordinance be too seldom administered, yet either totally withdraw themselves from it, or very rarely partake of it. I shall no longer insist upon this, but leave it to God and your own consciences: for, certainly, if either persuasion, or demonstration itself, could prevail against resolution, enough has been many times said heretofore, to spare me the labor of making this complaint any more.
And, thus much, concerning the Sanctification of the Lord's Day, in the Public Duties of his Worship and Service.
But what! have you no Sabbath-Work to do, after you return from the congregation and public assemblies? Yes, certainly, the day is not done when the church dissolves; and the whole of it is holy to the Lord. And, therefore,
[2] When you return every one to your families, there are Private and Family-Duties to be performed.
Walks and visits are not to be evening-work of the Sabbath: but holy and spiritual conferences are then proper; either to bring to your remembrance the truths you before have heard, or to engage your own hearts, or the hearts of others, to admire and magnify God for all his great wonders of providence and redemption. Indeed, if a walk be thus improved, it may be a walk to Heaven. So we find the two disciples, who on this day were walking to Emmaus, how they entertained themselves, and shortened their way with spiritual and holy discourses: Luke 24:13, 15. But those, who have families to look after, will be best employed, in seeing that those, who are under their charge, spend the vacant time of the Sabbath in holy exercises; either reading the Scripture, or giving an account of what truths they have been taught, or joining with them in praises and prayer unto God: or, indeed, in all of these, in their several courses and order; until night calls for repose, and delivers them over, with a sweet seasoning and blessing, to the labors and employments of the ensuing day and week. And,
[3] If there be any spare time from these public and private duties, then sanctify it by entering into your Closet; and there unbosom your soul before God in secret prayer, spread your requests before him, lay open your wants and desires. And though, perhaps, you are not gifted to word a prayer, yet sigh and groan out a prayer: for your God hears you; and he understands the language of sighs, and knows the meanings of his Spirit in the inarticulate groans of his children. Here, likewise, in secret, meditate on what you have heard: admire the glory of God in his works, the goodness of God in his providences, the infinite mercy of God in his promises. Certainly, meditation is one great duty of a Sabbath; without which, to hear the word of God only, is but to swallow our meat without chewing it. It is meditation, that makes it fit for nourishment: this sucks the juice and sweetness out of it, concorporates it into us, and turns it into life and substance.
Thus if we endeavor to sanctify the Lord's Day, the Lord will sanctify his day and his ordinances unto us: and, by them, convey so much joy and comfort into our souls, that they shall be a temporary Heaven unto us; and fit us for that eternal sabbath, where we shall continually give praise and glory unto him, that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever.
So much for the Fourth and last Commandment of the First Table.
INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND TABLE
The whole sum of practical religion consists, either in those duties which immediately concern the worship and service of God, or those which immediately concern our converse with and demeanor towards men. Both are compendiously prescribed in the Decalogue: the former sort, in the First; the latter, in the Second Table of the Law.
I have already, according to my designed method, finished the Exposition of the Four Precepts of the First Table; and have discoursed to you, both concerning the Internal and also the External Worship of God.
It remains now, in pursuance of this work, to pass unto the consideration of the duties and precepts of the Second Table; all which do concern Man, as their primary and immediate object.
But here, by the way, let us observe the distance, that God puts between himself and us. We are, as it were, set at another table from him, as being infinitely inferior to his great and glorious Majesty.
First, he prescribes what concerns himself; and, then, what concerns us: which teaches us,
First. That, in all our actions, whether civil or sacred, God ought principally to be regarded, his glory ought to be our highest aim and end. This we are to seek, in the first place; and, for the sake and interest of this, to promote the good and benefit of men. This, therefore, condemns those, who disturb and pervert the order of the Law; and, instead of serving men out of respect to God, serve God merely out of respect to men.
Secondly. This teaches us to observe our due distance from God. He challenges all possible reverence from us, insomuch that he will not permit so great a disparagement to his honor, as to have his concerns intermingled and blended with ours, no, not in the same table. And this checks the insolence of those, who dare to rush in upon God with that malapert sauciness, which is too common among some brainsick people in our days: who think that communion with God consists in a familiar rudeness; and that they never draw near enough unto him, unless they run upon his very neck.
But this only by the way.
Now in this Second Table are contained Six Precepts, all of them enjoining our duty towards man. And he may be considered, either as our superior, our equal, or our inferior. Our duty towards our superiors and inferiors (which are correlates) is prescribed in the first of these six which I have now read unto you, and our duty towards our equals in the other five.
All which do respect our neighbor, either, in his person; or, in the exterior gifts of wealth and credit.
His person is to be considered, either naturally, or mystically.
Naturally, as he is in himself and his own person: and so the Sixth Commandment provides for his security: You shall not kill.
Mystically, as he is in the state of marriage, which of two makes one flesh: and so care is taken for him in the Seventh Commandment: You shall not commit adultery.
If we consider him in respect of his external gifts of wealth and good name, so we shall find that the first is fenced about and secured by the Eighth Commandment: You shall not steal.
His credit and good name is secured by the Ninth: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
And, because the violation of these laws by outward and flagitious acts proceeds from the latent wickedness and concupiscence of the heart, therefore God, who is a spirit, and whose law and authority can reach even to the soul and spirit, has not only prohibited the gross perpetration of these crimes, but has strictly forbidden the inward and secret intention of them, charging us not to harbor so much as a thought or desire towards them, in the Tenth Commandment, You shall not covet.
In the due performance of all these, consists the observance of that Second Great Command, Matthew 22:39. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
THE
FIFTH COMMANDMENT
honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God has given you.
I shall begin with the first of these, honor your father and your mother; which respects the mutual duties of superiors and inferiors.
And here we have a Precept and a Promise.
The PRECEPT is, to honor them.
The PROMISE, that your days may be long upon the land, which the Lord your God has given you.
I. Here we may, as formerly we have done, observe a ray of the infinite wisdom of God, in the order and method of this Commandment.
For, after he had prescribed laws for his own honor, his NEXT CARE IS FOR THE HONOR OF OUR PARENTS; because they are, next under God, the authors and original of our lives and beings.
God, indeed, is properly and primarily our Father; and, of him, is the whole family in Heaven and earth named, that is, of him they are and exist: In him we all live, and move, and have our being. Earthly parents do but convey to us that being, which God had beforehand laid up in store for us.
And, therefore, when our Savior bids us to call no man father upon the earth; for one is our father, which is in Heaven: Matthew 23:9 this must not be understood, as though we ought not to give that name and title of Father to those, who are our earthly parents; the fathers of our flesh, as the Apostle styles them, Hebrews 12:9 but only, that their paternity is not so original nor so absolute as God's, who is the Father of our spirits: who not only forms the man of our bodies by his secret and wonderful artifice, but creates our souls; and, by his breath, kindles in us such sparks of ethereal fire, as shall never be quenched nor extinct to all eternity. And, therefore, though we owe to the fathers of our flesh honor and reverence, as they are the instruments of our beings; yet we owe much more unto God, even unlimited and boundless respects and obedience, who is the prime cause and author of them.
But, indeed, this word, Father, has also another sense in our Savior's speech. For the Jews were accustomed to call their doctors and instructors by the name of fathers; and gave up themselves, without hesitation or contradiction, to believe and follow their dictates.
Now, when our Savior bids us to call no man father on earth, his meaning is, that we must not so mancipate ourselves either to the commands or doctrine of any man, as to prejudice the authority, which God, the great and universal Parent of All Things, challenges over us; but, still, our obedience to their injunctions, and our belief of their instructions, ought to be cautioned with a subordination to the commands and notices of the Divine Will: yet we may call and honor others as fathers, by yielding them a secondary respect, subservient to the honor and glory of God.
This command, of honoring our parents, is very large and comprehensive; and not to be limited only to the grammatical signification of the word, but extends itself to all that are our superiors. And that appears, because honor belongs principally only to God: but, secondarily, and by way of derivation, it belongs also unto those, whom God, the Great King, has dignified, and made as it were nobles in his kingdom. For, as the king is the fountain of honor within his dominions; so God, who is the Universal Monarch of all the World, is the true fountain of honor among mankind, ennobling some above others by titles and pre-eminencies which he bestows upon them: and all such superiors, whom he has been pleased thus to raise, are to be honored by us as our fathers.
And, therefore,
First. Our Governors and magistrates are our Fathers, and so to be accounted and reverenced by us. Indeed, they are Patres Patriæ, "the Fathers of their Country:" for all government being at the first domestic and paternal, the father or chief of the family having power of life and death over his children, necessity at last taught them to devolve both the care and the authority of this charge upon some selected persons, to whom they committed the government both of themselves and theirs: so that magistrates, succeeding in the place and office of parents, are now the public fathers; having the same power devolved upon them, which formerly resided in the fathers of families. Hence we read that common and successive name of the kings of the Philistines, Abimelech; which signifies, The King, my Father.
Secondly. The Master of a Private Family is, likewise, a Father: and that, not only with respect unto his children, but to his very servants. And, therefore, 2 Kings 5:13 we find that Naaman is called Father by his servants: My Father, if the prophet had bid you do some great thing, etc.
Thirdly. A Teacher in any Are, Science, or Invention is, likewise, called a Father. Thus, Genesis 4:20, 21. Jabal is said to be the father of such as dwell in tents; and Jubal, to be the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
Fourthly. A Superior in Wisdom and Counsel is, likewise, called a Father. So, in Joseph's speech, Genesis 45:8. God has made me a father to Pharaoh.
Fifthly. The Ministers of the Gospel have, likewise, the honorable titles of Fathers conferred upon them. And that, both because indeed they are superior to the people in things appertaining unto God, having the dispensation of the grace of the Gospel committed unto them; and because likewise, through the concurrence of the Spirit's operation with their ministry, they beget souls unto Jesus Christ. Thus, Paul tells the Church, 1 Corinthians 4:15 that he was their Father, having begotten them through the Gospel. And, therefore, we have great reason to magnify our office: in the execution and performance of which we ought to demean ourselves as fathers, with all gravity and authority; and to let those know, whose petulant affronts and scorns tend to the vilifying both of our persons and functions, that they despise not us only, but Jesus Christ who has sent us, and the Eternal Father who has sent him. So he himself has told us, Luke 10:16. He, that despises you, despises me; and he, that despises me, despises him that sent me.
Sixthly. Superiors in any Gift of Divine Providence, whether of riches, or of age, or of knowledge, and the like, are to be reverenced and honored by us as Fathers. So, 1 Timothy 5:1, 2. The elders entreat as fathers; … and the elder women, as mothers.
So that you see how large and copious this word Father is, taking in many other relations and states of men, besides those, to whom it is now commonly applied.
Here, then, in opening to you the sum of this Commandment, I shall endeavor to show you what are the mutual and reciprocal duties of these following relations:
i. Of natural Parents, and their Children.
ii. Of Magistrates supreme and subordinate, and their subjects.
iii. Of Husband and Wife: for, there, likewise, is a superiority resident in the one, and obedience due from the other.
iv. Of Masters and Servants.
v. Of Ministers, and the People committed to their charge.
vi. The duties of those, who have a superiority either in the gifts of God's grace or of his bounty, towards those that are inferior to them; and of theirs, reciprocally, towards those that excel.
For all these are Fathers, and honor is required to be given them by virtue of this Command.
I know I am now entering upon a work, which, to many, will be very harsh and unpleasing. For, as there is nothing, wherein the truth and power of godliness and the very life of religion is more concerned, than a conscientious performance of relative duties; so there is nothing that grates and jars more upon the spirits of men, than to be put in mind of and reproved about these duties, which are of such common and daily occurrence in the whole course of our lives. Yet, I beseech you, lay your prejudices and affections under the authority of God's word; and be persuaded to believe these things to be exceeding weighty and momentous, how plain soever they may be, which not only the light and law of nature dictates unto us, but the Spirit of God has been pleased frequently to recommend in the Holy Scriptures; yes, more frequently, and more expressly, than any other duties whatever.
i. I shall, therefore, begin first, with the Mutual Duties of PARENTS and CHILDREN.
And here I shall speak,
Of the Honor that is due to Parents from their Children.
And, then, what Parents are obliged to do for their Children.
1. For the former of these, the Command says, honor your father and your mother.
Now this Honor, which they are to defer unto them, consists in these Four things, Reverence, Obedience, Retribution, and Imitation.
(1) Children are to Reverence their parents.
Now reverence is nothing, but an awful love; a fearfulness to offend, out of the respect we bear them. It is not such a fear, as terrifies and drives us from the presence and company of those whom we dread; for that is slavish and tormenting: but a genuine, sweet, and obliging fear; a fearful esteem and veneration; a fear, that will engage us to attend on them, to observe and imitate them, and to abstain from doing anything that might grieve or trouble them.
This reverence which we owe our parents, is accustomed to express itself outwardly by two things, Speeches and Gestures.
[1] Our Speeches must be full of respect and honor; giving unto them the highest titles, that their quality and condition will admit.
They must, likewise, be very few, and very humble and submissive. Talkativeness is an argument of disrespect; and, by the answers of the lips, the heart is tried and sounded. Therefore, we find how mildly and reverently Jonathan speaks to his father Saul: although he were then pleading for his David, and managing the concernment of his friend's life, which was far dearer to him than his own; yet see with what modesty he urges it: 1 Samuel 19:4, 5. Let not the king sin against his servant, against David … for he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, etc. And God blessed a speech so well tempered, and so full of soft and melting oratory, with success. Yes, we find an instance of a disobedient son in the parable of our Savior: Matthew 21 who, though he obeyed not the commands of his father, yet thought it too shameful a crime not to give him good words and reverend titles: verse 30, I go, Sir. And, certainly, it is but fit and meet, that we should give them the best and the most obliging language, who have taught us to speak; and to please them with our words, who have instructed us how to form them. Yes, that rude and boisterous language, which many of the sons of Belial use towards their parents, is so odious and detestable unto God, that he has, in his Law, threatened to punish it with the same punishment, as blasphemy against himself: Exodus. 21:17. He, that curses his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. And, Proverbs 20:20. He, that curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
[2] We must likewise show them reverence in our Gestures; and comport ourselves with all lowliness and modesty before them, in bowing the body, and showing all other external signs of respect.
So we find, Genesis 48:12 that Joseph, as highly exalted as he was in the Court of Pharaoh, when he brought out his sons to receive the blessing of Jacob his father, he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And, on the contrary, that an ill-conditioned look towards a parent, is severely threatened: Proverbs 30:17. The eye, that mocks at his father, and despises to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
(2) But, as we must honor them with reverence, so especially with Obedience; without which, all external reverence is but mere formality, if not mere mockery.
See that large charter, which God has given unto parents: Colossians 3:20. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Our obedience to them may be considered, either as active or passive; and we are obliged by God's command to yield them both: active obedience, in whatever is not contrary to the will and law of God; passive, in whatever they impose upon us that is so.
And, therefore, we are to obey our parents, in whatever honest calling and employment they will set us. David, though destined to a kingdom, is yet by his father Jesse appointed to keep the sheep: 1 Samuel 16:11. We ought not, until at last we are emancipated and set free by their consent, to enter into wedlock, without their knowledge, or against their consent: for we find the holy fathers have still taken the care of the disposal of their children in this affair; and the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 7:36, 37 declares, that it is in the parents' power, either to marry their children, or to keep them in a single estate: but yet, no question, so, as that children have still a negative vote, and ought not to be forced against their own will and consent. Yes, so far does the authority of a parent extend, that it reaches also to the very garb and apparel of their children; who ought to conform themselves therein, according to their allowance and direction: Genesis 37:3.
But if parents shall abuse their authority, by commanding what is sinful, and what God has contravened by his law and command; yet children are not hereby disobliged from obedience: but only directed to choose the passive part of it; and to bear their wrath and choler, yes, and their punishments too, with all patience and submission. For, as the Apostle speaks, Hebrews 12:10 they oftentimes chasten us after their own pleasure; and yet we are to give them reverence. We ought to bear with their infirmities, whether they be natural or vicious; and endeavor to hide and cover them from others: and, therefore, we read what a curse was laid upon Cham, for disclosing the nakedness of his father: Genesis 9:25 and, indeed, it is a cursed thing, to expose the nakedness and weakness of our parents to the scorn and derision of others.
But this is not all: for,
(3) As we must honor them by reverence and obedience, so likewise by Remuneration and Retribution; requiting the benefits we have received from them, so far as we are able, and they need.
This the Apostle expressly enjoins: 1 Timothy 5:4. If any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to require their parents: that is, when they are fallen to poverty or decay, or otherwise require assistance from us, we are obliged liberally, according to our proportion, to afford it. And he affirms that this is good and acceptable before God.
And, therefore, we find our Savior sharply reprehending that unnatural doctrine among the Scribes and Pharisees, which dispensed with children from the relief of their parents: Matthew 15:5, 6. You say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatever you may be profited by me; And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free.
Which place, because it is obscure and intricate, admits of divers expositions.
Some say it was the doctrine of the Scribes and Pharisees, that, although a man did not honor nor support his parents; yet he should be guiltless, if he should tell them that he had offered in the temple a gift for his and their good, and that therefore they could require no more relief from him.
Others, that it was a solemn oath, among the Jews, to swear by the gift or offering, which was brought into the temple, and presented there as a sacrifice before God: which oath was obligatory in the highest degree, whatever the matter of it might be: Matthew 23:18. And the Scribes did teach, that, if a man had sworn thus to his parents, "By the gift you shall have no profit by me," then he was forever disobliged from relieving them, were their necessities never so great and urgent. And, according to this exposition, the words should be thus translated: But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, by the gift if you have any profit by me, (where must be understood some curse or imprecation upon themselves, which they did usually express, as, Let me die, or the like) then he shall be free from the obligation of honoring, that is, of relieving and maintaining, his father or mother.
Whichsoever interpretation be most consonant to the corrupt doctrine of the Scribes, and the corrupt practice of the Jews, (as I suppose the latter is) our Savior condemns it for a most vile hypocrisy; making the commandments of God of none effect, through their traditions.
Certainly, it is one of the most unnatural sins in the world, for children, who have ability and opportunity to relieve their necessitous parents, to allow them to want a livelihood and comfortable subsistence, who are the cause and authors of life and being unto their children.
(4) But, we must honor our parents, by Hearkening unto their good Instructions, and Imitating their Godly Practices.
So, Proverbs 6:20. My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not the law of your mother. For, although good instruction be, for the matter of it, always to be embraced, from whoever it shall proceed; yet, when it shall come from a parent, it obliges us, not only because it is good, but because it is authoritative. Neither are we only to hearken to their counsel, but also to imitate the holy examples of our parents: and, therefore, it is commended in Solomon, that he walked in the steps of his father David.
Suffer me only, in a word, to set home this upon the consciences of stubborn and disobedient children. Consider what your demeanor has been towards your parents, to whom you owe yourselves, your lives, your education: benefits, that can never be repaid them, although you should undergo all the hardships imaginable to make an acknowledgment of them. Can you imagine the cares, the parching thoughts, the perplexing fears, which your tender parents are continually distracted with, for your good? And will you so requite their love, as to despise their persons, of whom you yourselves are a part, and make their very affections rebel against them? Certainly, were there any ingenuity of nature, or were not the principles of reason and equity quite spent and extinguished in you, the love and solicitude they have expressed for you would again return unto them, if not in equal measures, yet in the most ample and acceptable that is possible for you to render. And, if there be any of you, who, by your stubbornness and disobedience, have brought down the grey hairs of your parents with sorrow to the grave, consider seriously what an unnatural sin you have been guilty of: and, because you cannot now beg pardon of them, beg pardon of God, the Great and Universal Father of all: beg that he would not revenge your disobedience to your parents, by the disobedience of your children towards you.
Thus you have seen what duties Children owe unto their Parents.
2. Let us now see what are the reciprocal duties of Parents towards their Children: for, in all unequal relations, the superiority rests only in one part, yet the duty is divided between both.
The duty, therefore, of parents respects either the temporal or spiritual good of their children: for both are given them in charge.
(1) As for their Temporal Good, two duties are incumbent upon them, Protection and Provision.
And both of these the Law of Nature teaches them. Do we not see, even in brute creatures themselves, that a strong parental affection makes them dare unequal dangers, and expose their own lives to the greatest hazard, only to defend their young? We see with what indefatigable industry they either lead them unto, or bring them in their food and nourishment; until they have taught them the are and method of providing for themselves, and living at their own finding. And, if the instinct and impulse of nature be so powerful in irrational creatures, how much more should it prevail in us, in whom reason should perfect nature: and we be the more careful, inasmuch as the charge committed to us is more noble: and that it is not a sparrow nor a chicken, that we are to look after; but a man, a king of the universe, designed for great employments and to great ends, an heir of the world; and, if we fail not in educating him, one who may be an heir of eternal glory!
[1] We owe them Protection.
And this their weakness and helplessness often call for at our hands. How many diseases and dangers is their feeble infancy exposed unto! and, in their growing childhood, want of care and experience runs them daily into more. Now, parents are to be their guards; and, by their skill and strength, fence off those wrongs and injuries, that threaten them: and, in so doing, they perform, not only a parental, but an angelical work. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in Heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father, which is in Heaven: Matthew 18:10. And if God, the Great Father of the whole Family both in Heaven and Earth, has, out of his infinite tenderness and compassion, appointed his holy angels to be their guardians, that they, who attend the throne of his Glorious Majesty, should likewise attend the cradles, and beds, and wandering steps of little ones; it is not only inhuman, for parents to neglect the care of their children, but devilish to do them hurt, or destroy them themselves: the too common practice of many wretches, who, to hide and cover their shame, either abandon or murder the fruit of their affections.
[2] As parents owe their children protection from incident evils, so likewise Provision of necessities and conveniences, according to the rank and degree in which the Divine Providence has set them.
And this the Scripture often inculcates: Matthew 7:9, 10. What man is there among you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or, if he ask a fish, will he give him a scorpion? intimating unto us, that we are bound to give our children what is fit for the sustentation of that life, which they have received from us. And, indeed, they are our flesh and our bone: they are ourselves multiplied. Now nature teaches us to cherish and nourish our own flesh, as the Apostle speaks: Ephesians 5:29. Nay, the Apostle has laid this charge exceeding high: 1 Timothy 5:8. If any man provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel: and that, because even the infidels and heathens are taught by the Light and Law of Nature, to make provision for their own. And this provision is not only for the present, but our care is to extend farther: and, according to our ability, bating the expenses of decency and charity, we are to take care for their future subsistence; and, if we cannot leave them a patrimony, we are to leave them an are and calling, whereby, through the blessing of God, they may procure their own livelihood. So the Apostle, 2 Corinthians 12:14. The children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And, if we must place them out to a vocation, we must endeavor, with all our prudence, to fit it to their genius and inclination: for, otherwise, it will not be a vocation, but a vexation unto them, all their days: still remembering, that, if we piously design any unto the work of the Lord, it should be those, who are most pregnant, and whom God has endowed with the greatest gifts for so high a ministration. For it is a sin, very like to that of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, to consecrate priests unto the Lord of the refuse and vilest of the people; and to think those fit enough for the temple, who, through the deformity of their body or the defects of their minds, are not fit for a shop, or for any other employment.
And, so much, for those duties of Parents, which concern the Temporal Good of their Children.
(2) But then they are obliged to others, of a higher and nobler nature, which concern their Spiritual Good, and have an influence into their eternal happiness.
[1] And, here, their first duty is to Incorporate them into the Church of Christ, by the presenting them to holy baptism; which is the laver of regeneration, and which Jesus Christ has instituted for the admission and initiation of new members into his body the Church, and of new subjects into his kingdom.
Nay, it is not an empty bare ceremony; but it is a seal of the promise of the covenant, a sign of the grace of the Spirit and a means appointed to convey it to the soul. And, therefore, those parents are highly injurious to their children, who, either through carelessness or contempt, debar them from so excellent and spiritual an ordinance and privilege; yes, indeed, the only spiritual privilege, which their age makes them capable of. What do they else hereby, but put their children into a worse condition than the children of the Jews? who, in their infancy, were admitted to the Sacrament of Circumcision, which the Apostle calls a seal of the righteousness of faith: Romans 4:11 and, certainly, if this seal of circumcision were broken by the coming of Christ, and no other were instituted whereof the children of believers under the Gospel might be made partakers; our infants then must needs be in a worse condition than theirs; and Christ's coming into the world has, in this respect, rather diminished the privileges of the Church, than enlarged them. It ought, therefore, to be the first and chief care of every godly parent, to offer his children to this holy ordinance: especially considering, that they are partakers of his sinful and corrupt nature, that he has been an instrument of conveying down along to them the guilt of the first transgression, and that defilement which has infected the whole soul; and therefore it is the least that his charity can do for them, to offer them unto that remedy, which our Savior has provided both to remove the guilt, and cleanse away the filth of their natures. For, be the parents themselves never so holy and sanctified, yet their children are born in their filth, and in their blood. And this Augustine expresses by a very apt similitude. "The chaff," says he, "is carefully separated from the wheat that we sow; and yet the wheat, which it produces, grows up with husks and chaff about it." So those, whom the Holy Spirit has sanctified and cleansed, yet produce children naturally unclean, though federally holy. And, therefore, being born within the promises of the covenant, their parents ought to see that the seal of the covenant be applied unto them; that is, as they derive corruption from them, they may by them be brought to the means of cleansing and washing.
[2] When they are thus initiated and entered into the Church of Christ, another duty that parents owe them is, to Instruct and Admonish them, to Educate them in the Fear and Knowledge of God.
And this the Apostle expressly enjoins, Ephesians 6:4. You fathers … bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And so, Deuteronomy 4:9. Forget not the things which your eyes have seen … but teach them your sons, and your sons' sons. We find that God gives an honorable testimony concerning Abraham, and confides in him upon this account: Genesis 18:19. I know Abraham, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. And Solomon extols his father David for his care in instructing him: Proverbs 4:3, 4. I was my father's son … and he taught me also, and said unto me, Let your heart retain my words: keep my commandments and live.
This instruction must not be nice and critical, but familiar and obvious; teaching them such fundamental truths and principles of Christian Doctrine, as are of absolute necessity to be known, and in such a manner as may be most suitable to their capacity and discretion.
And if parents would be but careful and conscientious in the performance of this duty, infusing into their minds, before they are filled with vanity, the knowledge of God, and of Christ, and of Religion; and forming their wills, while they are flexible, to the love of piety and virtue; the next generation would not generally see so much debauchery in youth, nor so much obduracy in old age, as is now everywhere too visible and apparent. By this means, the minister's work would be half done to his hands. It would be needful only to feed his flock with strong meat; and to press them only to a vigorous and cheerful performance of those duties of holiness, to which their pious education made them before inclinable.
This way of instruction is either,
1st. By reading to them or causing them to read the Holy Scriptures; and pointing out to them those observables, which are most agreeable to their age and apprehensions.
Thus it is said of Timothy, that from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures: 2 Timothy 3:15. And, doubtless, he was trained up in that knowledge, by the care of his mother and grandmother, whom the Apostle honorably commends, Chapter 1:5. And,
2dly. By catechizing and instructing them in the grounds and principal doctrines of religion.
Indeed, a continued discourse is not so informing, nor does it fasten and rivet instruction into young minds so well, as where it is diversified by questions and answers. This makes them masters of their own notions; and able to wield and manage them afterwards, to their better advantage. And, truly, this I take to be the very reason why so many sit grossly ignorant, under many years' preaching of the word unto them; scarce able to give any tolerable account of the very first principles of the oracles of God, because they were never educated in this way of catechizing, they were never tried, nor searched, nor the strength of their memories and capacities, exercised by questions. For running and continued discourses are like the falling of rain upon a smooth rock, where it trickles off as it descends: but questions and examinations are like digging of it, and making it fit to retain what is poured upon it.
But whatever method you may judge most profitable; yet, certainly, instruction, in their tender years, is absolutely necessary to season them early with the knowledge of the grounds of religion, and a love and veneration of piety, which will afterwards have a mighty influence to keep them from being led away either with the errors or ungodly practices of lewd and ungodly men. Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it: Proverbs 22:6. For, when the reluctance of corrupted nature is thus early mastered, and virtue habituated in them, (as there must be strong convictions and almighty grace, to break off the long accustomed habits of sin: so) there must be very powerful and prevalent temptations, that shall induce such an one, whose knowledge of God and love of virtue have grown up with him from his childhood, to turn a recreant to his former profession and practice; and to forget that, before which he can hardly remember anything: or if, through the violence of temptation, he should be hurried into any extravagancy and excess, his conscience has a greater advantage to reduce him again, than it has upon others, who are trained up ignorantly and barbarously. It will still pursue him, and disturb him in his sins; and his early notions of piety and religion will embitter the sweets, which he imagined, and others perhaps find in them; and his conscience will never leave crying, and clamoring, and threatening, until it bring him back, with tears in his eyes, and sorrow in his heart, and shame in his face, to his former regular and unblamably conversation.
[3] Another duty, which parents are obliged unto, is not only the giving of their children good instructions, but good Examples, to set before them the copies and pattern of those virtues, which they teach.
And this, indeed, is the most lively and the most effectual way to profit them. You who before your child blaspheme the Name of God by swearing or cursing, you who abuse yourself and others by riot and intemperance, do you expect that ever he should reverence that holy and dreadful Name which you profanest; or love that sobriety and temperance, which you possibly may commend to him in words, but do much more forbid him by your deeds? For it is the glory and boast of children, to be and to do like their parents. And although there be few so forlornly wicked and utterly abandoned over unto vice, but that they would have their children love and practice virtue, and may perhaps sometimes exhort them thereunto; yet, alas, what effect can empty words have, when they are contradicted and overborne by deeds? When the corrupt nature you have given them shall be improved by the ill examples you daily give them, what avail all your exhortations and admonitions, unless it be to upbraid and reproach yourself, and increase both your own condemnation, and theirs too?
Even the heathen satyrist could say, Maxima debetur puero reverentia: "We ought to reverence and stand in awe of children:" that they see nothing vicious or dishonest by us, not so much for the shame of it as the example. For there is no pest so contagious, as vice: the least converse will serve to rub it upon others; especially parents' vice upon their children; who, if they think it not obedience and a part of duty to imitate them, yet cannot but conclude themselves secure both from reproofs and corrections.
The practice of superiors has, certainly, a mighty influence in forming the manners of those, who are subject to them: for let them prescribe what rules and enact what laws they please, let their authority be as great as can be, yet their example will be far greater than their authority; and inferiors will be encouraged by it boldly to transgress, when shame and consciousness shall tie up the hands of those, who should punish them. But now, when a godly parent shall not only, with the most tender and affectionate words that love can dictate, instruct his children in the ways of holiness, but walk before them in those ways; not only by admonitions, show it to be most rational, but by constant practice show it to be most pleasant and delightful; certainly, that nature must needs be most deplorably vicious, which can in this case be refractory, and will not go where both wind and tide lead him: whereas others, possibly, who have only the breath of good instructions, are carried away headlong and drowned in perdition, by the stronger current of evil examples.
[4] If neither instructions nor good examples will prevail, then Correction and Discipline is necessary; and becomes a duty, though perhaps it may be as grievous to the parent to inflict it, as it is to the child to suffer it.
I know there may be, and often is, excess in this kind; when choler and passion prescribe the measures of punishment. This is fierce and inhuman tyranny, and argues such parents to be devoid of natural affection. And this immoderate, ungoverned correction, is so far from profiting children, that it oftentimes exasperates them, and makes them the more stubborn and intractable; or else it only dispirits and stupefies them. And, therefore, the Apostle has twice cautioned parents against this provoking way of discipline: Ephesians 6:4. You fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. And again: Colossians 3:21. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
Yet, notwithstanding, where age and decency will allow it, and prudence does require it, it is sometimes necessary to use the severity of discipline.
And let not a foolish fondness here interpose: for, certainly, God loves his children with a much more parental affection, than you can love yours; and yet he tells us, Revelation 3:19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. And the Apostle tells us, Hebrews 12:6. Whom the Lord loves, he chastens; and scourges every son, whom he receives. If there be not a due exercise of discipline and correction, nothing else can be expected, but that our children will wax wanton with us; and, next, rebellious against us.
Now this severity must be used early, before age and spirit have hardened them against the fear or smart of correction. The Wise Man has told us, Proverbs 13:24. He, that spares his rod, hates his son: but, he who loves him, chastens him early.
This is the way;
1st. To deliver him from greater sufferings and mischiefs, that else will follow. Better the rod, than the tree. You may, for anything you know, redeem his life by it; and deliver him from the hand of justice, and eternal wrath of God; and save his soul from everlasting smart and torment. So, Proverbs 23:13, 14. Withhold not correction from the child; for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die. You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from Hell. And,
2dly. By this course you shall bring yourself much comfort: most likely, in his reformation; or if not in that, yet at least in the conscience of having performed your duty, and done all that lay in your power for his good. But what support and comfort can that parent have, who, when his children grow lewd and debauched, shall sadly reflect upon it, that it was only his fondness and foolish pity which ruined them? Take this for certain, that as many deserved stripes as you spare from the child, you do but lay upon your own backs; and those, whom you have refused to chastise, God will make severe scourges to afflict and chastise you.
And these are the duties, which you owe to your children, immediately respecting their Spiritual Good: initiating them by baptism; giving them good instructions, good examples, and necessary correction.
(3) There is one duty more, and it is a very principal one, which respects both their Temporal and Spiritual Good: and that is, fervent and earnest Prayer to God for them; without which, all the rest will be ineffectual.
Whenever, therefore, you come unto the Throne of Grace, bring these your dear pledges upon your heart with you. Earnestly implore of God, that he would own them, and provide for them, as his own children: that he would adopt them into the family of Heaven, make them heirs of glory, and co-heirs with Jesus Christ: that he would give them a convenient portion of good things for this life, that they may serve him with the more cheerfulness and alacrity; and a large portion of spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus, and at length bring them to the heavenly inheritance. And know assuredly, that the prayers of parents are very effectual; and have a kind of authority in them, to imperate and obtain what they sue for.
This is the blessing or blessing, which holy fathers in Scripture have bestowed upon their children; and we find that their blessing was their destiny. Thus Jacob blessed his sons, the patriarchs; and, as it were, divided among them the treasures of God's blessings: and God, the Great Father, would not have the blessings of a father pronounced in vain, but ratified and fulfilled them in the success.
And, as parents' blessings have great influence upon their children, so likewise have their curses: and, therefore, they should beware what they wish or pray against them. A rash and passionate curse is oftentimes direfully fulfilled; not only to the ruin of the children, but to the too late sorrow and repentance of the parents. We know how deep the curse of Noah stuck in Cham, and all his posterity. For the words of a father are weighty and authoritative, even with God himself; and he will not lightly allow them to fall to the ground, when they are spoken either for or against those, over whom he himself has given them power and authority.
I shall close up this with one word to those, who are parents. Consider what a great charge God has entrusted you with. In your hands are deposited the hope and blessing, or else the curse and plague, of the next age. Your families are the nurseries both of Church and State; and, according to the manuring of them now, such will their fruits be hereafter. Consider, I beseech you, how you have managed this great trust. Are your children like olive-branches round about your table, each promising to bring forth good fruit in due season? Have you taken care, by your good instructions and good examples, to form the Lord Jesus in them? Have you taken care, by correction and discipline, to cut off all excrescencies and superfluities of naughtiness from them? Or, do they remain still sons of Belial; wild, rude, unnurtured, and disobedient? Certainly, God will require an account of them at your hands: for they are his, and only left in your keeping, and to your education. But, alas, the lewd practices, and the too ripe sins of young ones, do clearly convince parents, rather to have infused wickedness into them, than curbed it. And the wit and forwardness of their wickedness, beyond their years, make it evident, that they have but borrowed it from your examples. Beware, lest God punish you in them; and punish them for what they have learned of you, and you in Hell for not better instructing and admonishing of them.
And, if any of you have reason sadly to complain of the stubbornness and disobedience of your children, I beseech you seriously to reflect upon the cause of it; and consider whether it may not be justly imputed to your want of care in their education, or to the bad examples you have given them; or, possibly, by their rebellion and undutifulness towards you, God justly punishes your rebellion and undutifulness towards your father. I remember a story of a graceless and desperate young wretch, who, being thwarted by his aged father in some of his lewd pranks, invaded his grey hairs; and dragged him by them along the ground, to the very threshold of his door: his poor old father suffered it silently until then; but then, looking pitifully upon him, he said, "Son, forbear now, and let me go; for I remember I dragged my father to this very place, and there left him:" and acknowledged the righteous judgment of God in so just a requital. But, whatever your conscience shall suggest to you to have been a provocation unto God thus to punish you, (and certainly it is one of the greatest punishments that can befall a man in this world) humbly crave pardon of him, who is your Father, and beg him, that he would be pleased to turn the hearts of the children unto their fathers, and the hearts of all unto himself.
Thus we have considered the Duties of natural Parents towards their Children, and the Duties of Children reciprocally towards their Parents.
ii. But there is also another rank of Fathers, and they are political: Patres Patriæ, "the Fathers of their Country;" unto whom we owe honor and reverence, by the obligation of this command. And these are the MAGISTRATES and GOVERNORS, that God has set over us.
They are his deputies and viceregents upon earth; and the authority, with which they stand invested, is originally in and derivatively from the supreme King of Kings, and Lord of all Lords. Their kingdoms are but the several provinces of his universal empire. He has given them their patent, to be his lieutenants and viceroys: for by him kings reign and princes decree justice: Proverbs 8:15 not by his permission only, but by his ordinance and appointment. And, whereas a great and conspicuous part of the image of God consists in his sovereignty and dominion, he has so expressly stamped this image of his upon them, that, for their likeness to him in it, he gives them the same glorious name by which himself is known: Psalm 82:6. I have said, You are Gods; and Exodus. 22:28. You shall not revile the Gods, nor curse the ruler of your people. And our Savior tells us, John 10:35. That they are called gods, because the word of God came unto them: the word of God, that is, the appointment and commission, which they have received from God.
It is observable, that, as other inferior creatures revere the very countenance of a man, and those few strictures of the defaced image of God which are still remaining there; and that, although they far exceed in strength, yet they dare not, unless enraged, make use of it against their natural, though weaker lords: so also, that God has spread such an awe upon the face of authority, that a look or a word from a lawful magistrate shall more daunt and terrify, than the armed force of an enemy. There is some secret character, that God has imprinted on them, which makes them venerable; and, although their subjects do as far exceed them in strength, as they do in number: yet strength alone was never made to command, but rather to obey and execute; and power ought to be the servant of authority.
Nor has God ordained magistracy, only out of respect to some few whom he has ennobled, that they might enjoy a privilege and prerogative above the common and vulgar sort of men; but he has ordained it for the general good of mankind. Yes, and I have often and seriously thought, that, next to the invaluable gift of Jesus Christ, the best and the greatest good that God ever gave to the world, was this appointment of magistracy: for, were it not for this, the whole world would be turned into a wilderness, and men into savage beasts, preying one upon another. Did not the fear of man restrain them, when they have cast off the fear of God; did they not dread the infliction of temporal punishments, when they slight the threatenings of eternal; we might be as safe among lions and tygers, as among men; and find better refuge and better society in solitudes, than in cities: within would be fears, without violence; and, everywhere, tumults, uproars, and destructions; our dwellings, our persons, our possessions, all exposed to the fury of bloody and merciless invaders; and, as the prophet speaks, Hosea 4:2. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they would break out, until blood touched blood; and there would be no more peace nor agreement on earth, than there is in Hell. But the All-wise God, who has subdued the beasts of the earth to man, has likewise subdued man (who else would become more wild and brutish than they) unto man. So that those, who stand not in any awe of the God of Heaven, yet are awed by the gods of the earth; and whom the thoughts of Hell and eternal wrath cannot scare from wickedness, yet many times the thoughts of a prison or of a gibbet does.
Magistracy, then, being an institution of such great eminency and absolute necessity, let us see what are the duties,
Of those, who are invested with it towards their subjects: And, then,
The duties of their subjects reciprocally towards them.
1. Of the first, I shall speak but briefly, since we are chiefly concerned in the knowledge and practice of the second.
Magistrates, therefore, may be considered, either as supreme or subordinate, according to the distinction the Apostle makes of them: 1 Peter 2:13, 14. The king as supreme; and governors, sent by him, as subordinate. Each of these have their respective duties belonging unto them.
(1) As for Supreme Magistrates, their duty is,
(1) To establish and maintain the true Worship and Service of God; and to purge out all corruptions and abuses, that have any way adulterated it with superstitions or idolatrous mixtures.
God has appointed a sovereign prince to be custos utriusque Tabulæ; "a guardian of both Tables of his Law:" and has put the sword into his hands, not only to be an avenger, in cases of injury, done by man to man; but to be an avenger, in case of the violation of those laws, which immediately respect his own worship; and to be a reformer of the corruptions of the Church, as well as of the disorders of the State.
Indeed, this power and supremacy, which we thus ascribe unto him, is not formally and intrinsically spiritual or ecclesiastical, but only objectively such. For they neither have the power of Order, which gives authority to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, which properly belongs unto the ministerial office; and whoever he be, that shall intrude himself thereunto without a lawful call and ordination, be his gifts or place never so eminent, he is guilty of the same presumption that Uzziah was, and may dreadfully expect the same, or a greater punishment: 2 Chronicles 26:16, 19. His heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed … and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense: and, while the censer was in his hand, the leprosy rose up in his forehead. Neither have they the power of the Keys committed unto them, to bind and loose, to retain and remit sins by a due pronouncing of ecclesiastical censures. For those two powers, of Order and the Keys, appertain only unto the Ministers of the Gospel; for to them only, were they committed.
Yet princes have a power of jurisdiction over Church-Affairs; and ought, by their laws and authority, to provide, that God be worshiped in his own prescribed way; that heresies be rooted out, schisms and rents healed, stubborn despisers of God's laws, as well as theirs, severely punished, the mouth of blasphemy stopped, ministers commanded to and encouraged in the conscientious performance of their duty; that nothing be tolerated in practice, contrary to the rules of a good life; that nothing be broached in doctrine, contrary to the form of sound words, which has been delivered unto us. Thus far reaches the magistrates' duty and authority, in things pertaining unto the Church. And, therefore, we find, in the Scripture, that when the worship of the True God was so much corrupted and forgotten among the Israelites, that Micah, out of a blind and idolatrous devotion, made him a whole chapel of gods to worship, the Holy Spirit gives this as a cause of so great an abomination, that In those days, there was no king in Israel: Judges 17:6. In Judges 19 we read that tragical history of adultery, and impurity unto death; and the very same reason is given for the licentiousness of those times, verse 1. In those days, there was no king in Israel. And this plainly intimates unto us, that, not only adultery and murder, sins against the Second Table of the Law; but also idolatry and false worship, against the First, ought, and might have been either prevented or punished, had there been a king and ruler in Israel; and that it had been his duty to have drawn his sword and exercised his authority against the one, as well as against the other. We read likewise of some kings reproved, because they took not away the high places, but suffered the people still to burn incense on them; notwithstanding they proceeded far in other parts of reformation. Others are commended, that they did remove them. And, among the most renowned acts of Hezekiah's piety, it is mentioned to his immortal honor, that he commanded the Priests and Levites to sanctify themselves, and cleanse the temple, and restore the true worship of God, after many years' interruption, when it was not only disused, but almost forgotten: 2 Chronicles 29. The like also did king Josiah with the like zeal, and received the like approbation and testimony from God.
This, therefore, is the first and chief duty of supreme magistrates, namely, To maintain the true worship and service of God, and to reform whatever corruptions and abuses they find to have crept into it.
[2] Another duty is, to appoint Men of approved Ability and Integrity to be in Authority under them.
For, because kings cannot be omnipresent, nor omniscient, it is, therefore necessary that they should hear with other men's ears, and see with other men's eyes, and act with other men's hands; and therefore they ought to make choice of such, as are men of known fidelity and wisdom, to commit so great a charge unto: for, be the fountain never so clear, yet the streams must needs be polluted, if they run through filthy channels. Kings, therefore, should do according to the counsel of Jethro: Exodus. 18:21. Provide, out of all the people, able men; such, as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness: and place such as these over them. But where this course is not taken; but such are entrusted with command and authority, who either neglect the government of the people, or oppress them in it; what does the prince, but give away the half or more of his kingdom? for what is not ruled, is lost. Neither should these substitute magistrates be too numerous: for the very multitude of them may possibly be more burdensome to the people, than helpful to the prince.
[3] Magistrates ought to distribute Justice impartially, to maintain the cause of the poor oppressed, and to restrain the insolence of their proud oppressors; to crush them by just authority, who would crush others by their unjust tyranny.
This is a truly royal and princely virtue, which will prove, not only an ornament to the crown, but a safety to the throne: For the throne is established by righteousness, says the Wise Man: Proverbs 16:12.
[4] Princes and magistrates ought to be most Exemplary for Virtue and Piety.
The eyes of all the people are upon them; and their actions have as great an influence upon their subjects, as their laws. Facere rectè cives suos princeps optimus faciendo docet: cùmque sit imperio maximus, exemplo major est, says Paterculus: "A good prince teaches his subjects to live well, by living well himself: and, although he be greatest in command, is yet still greater in example." And, therefore, he is doubly bound to virtuous actions; both by his conscience, and by his condition: the one, as he respects his own personal good; the other, as he offers the good of his people: who commonly take their measures from their superiors; and think imitation of their practices, to be a more acceptable service, than obedience to their laws.
But I cannot insist on every particular duty of princes and magistrates, neither perhaps would it be here very proper.
In a word, therefore, they ought to fear God, above all; to seek his honor and glory, who has raised them to the highest pitch of human honor and glory; to be prudent in their designs, courageous in their performances, faithful in their promises, wise in their counsels, observant of their own laws, careful of their subjects' welfare, merciful to the oppressed, favorable to the good, terrible to the evil, and just towards all. Let them remember these two things: that they are Gods, and therefore should rule and govern as they judge God himself would do, were he visible here upon earth; and that they are Men, and therefore must give an account unto the Great God of all that trust which he has reposed in them. And, certainly, if they be careful to perform every part of their duty, though we may look only at the splendor and glory of their state; yet the cares and troubles that attend it, will be found so great and weighty, that we shall find it all reason in the world to make the burden of their crowns lighter by our ready and Cheerful obedience. It was well observed by the Lord Verulam, That princes are like the heavenly bodies, which cause good or evil times; and which have much veneration, but no rest.
(2) But then, for Subordinate Magistrates, who receive their authority from the supreme; and are between the people and the prince, as the prince is between the people and God; we have already heard how they ought to be qualified: Exodus. 18:21. They must be men fearing God, men of truth, and hating covetousness.
Their chief duty is, to see that the laws be executed according to their full intent, without respect of persons; neither fearing to punish the rich, nor sparing to punish the poor; making no difference between one person and another, where the cause makes none. For, whoever are thus partial, want that courage and firmness, that ought to be in a magistrate, and should make him as inflexible as the rule of justice itself is; neither being frighted by the power or threats of those who are great, nor melted or softened with the cries of the mean, but moved only by the cause. And, therefore, the Scripture has expressly forbidden them, Exodus. 23:3 to countenance a poor man in his cause: for pity may sometimes as much bribe and corrupt judgment, as rewards. They ought to divest themselves of all passions, private interests and affections: to be impartial in the execution of justice upon the mightiest offender, as well as the meanest; upon their dearest friends and relations, as well as upon strangers or enemies. This will give strength and authority to the laws; which else are but cobwebs made to catch the smaller flies, while the great and strong ones break easily through. This is the way to conciliate reverence and veneration to the laws and government, which, in our days, are most contumeliously despised and vilified; and, by this course, judgment shall run down our streets as water, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
In brief, because I would not too long insist upon this subject, though it be large and various, let magistrates, of what rank soever they be, seriously consider that weighty charge given them by God himself: 2 Samuel 23:3. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, He, that rules over men, must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
2. Let us, in the next place, consider the Duties of Subjects towards their Magistrates and Rulers.
And these are, in the general, three: Honor, Obedience, and Prayer to God for them.
(1) We must Honor and Reverence them.
It is the Apostle's command; 1 Peter 2:17. Fear God. Honor the king.
We must give unto them a Threefold honor: in our Thoughts, in our Speeches, and with our Substance.
[1] We must honor and reverence them in our Thoughts; looking upon them as the lively and visible images of God upon earth.
Indeed, the Divine Perfections are the highest object of our reverence: and, therefore, as you would esteem and honor any for their wisdom or for their holiness, because these are some lineaments and draughts of the image of God; so you ought to reverence those, to whom the Almighty God has communicated his adorable power and authority: for this also is the image of God in them. Yes, and though it should so happen that they bear no other resemblance unto God, neither in his wisdom, nor justice, nor holiness, but are wicked, cruel, tyrannical, and unwise; yet that power and authority alone, with which they stand invested, challenges our respect and reverence: for in this, at least, they are like unto God; and whoever slighteth and despises them, slighteth and despises one of God's glorious attributes shining forth in them: we ought not to harbor any undervaluing or ill thoughts of them. But, where a people are so happy as to be governed by those magistrates, who have a whole constellation of Divine Attributes shining in them; magistrates, that are just and merciful, wise and holy; they ought to give unto them the greatest reverence that can belong to creatures, and to esteem and respect them next unto God himself. But, although all these should be wanting, yet that power and authority, which God has delegated unto them, is truly reverend and awful: and the Wise Man has commanded us, not to curse the king, not in our thought: Ecclesiastes 10:2.
[2] We ought to honor and reverence them in our Speeches; speaking what good of them we know, and prudently concealing their vices, or their infirmities.
For, to what else can it tend when we blaze abroad the faults of our governors, but only to loosen the affections of their subjects from them? And how much more horrid a wickedness is it, then, falsely to calumniate them; and, by reviling whispers, to fly-blow the ears of their subjects; and, by little arts, and suspicious intimations, and half-sentences, to insinuate politic jealousies into the minds of the people, and to possess them with nothing but fears and sad apprehensions of what miseries and sufferings are coming upon them, through the mal-administration of affairs, and either the design or neglect of their governors! all which tends to nothing, but to make the people either disdain or hate them. I beseech you beware, that you do not, by misinterpretations, traduce the actions of your lawful rulers; nor hearken to those, who do: whose words and whose breath serve only to blow up the coals of civil dissension, which, if mercy prevent not, will break forth again into a raging and devouring war. Beware, that you suffer none of those leeches to fasten upon you, whose very mouths will draw blood. We have seen the sad experience of it already; and may justly fear, when we see them use the same methods, that they intend the same effects. The Apostle gives such a black brand: 2 Peter 2:10. Presumptuous are they, self-willed: they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
[3] We ought to honor them with our Substance, when the necessity of their affairs and public concernments call for supply.
And, indeed, this is but a debt we owe them: for we have somewhat of theirs in our hands; and it is no unjust demand, for them to require their own. Tributes and public payments are theirs, when made so by law: for the rest is ours, no otherwise than by the same law; and, therefore, to withhold what is thus legally bestowed on them, is no other than theft, and an unjust detaining of what is none of your own. Hence our Savior commands us, to render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's: Matthew 22:21. And the Apostle, Romans 13:7. Render to all their dues: tribute, to whom tribute is due; custom, to whom custom; fear, to whom fear; honor, to whom honor. And, although possibly sometimes the burden may fall heavy, yet we ought freely and cheerfully to contribute: partly considering, that such is the privilege of our kingdoms, that nothing is imposed upon us by violence, but given by ourselves, and is our own act; and, partly, that whatever we possess, we owe the enjoyment of it to the blessing of government.
This, therefore, is the first duty we owe unto magistrates, namely, Honor and Reverence.
(2) Another general Duty we owe them, is Obedience.
And, for this, we have as express and frequent commands, as for any duty that belongs to Christian Conversation: Romans 13:1. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers, that be, are ordained of God. 1 Peter 2:13, 14, 15. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme: Or unto governors, as … sent by him; For so is the will of God. Neither is there any cause whatever that can supersede our obedience: for, if their commands be lawful, we are to obey them, by performing what they require; if they be never so wicked and unlawful, we are to obey them, by suffering what they threaten. But because I have had other occasions largely to treat on this subject, I shall not now further prosecute it.
(3) Another great duty of subjects, is fervent and earnest Prayer for them.
So the Apostle: 1 Timothy 2:1. I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty.
But why for kings? It might seem more necessary, that prayers should be poured out for those, that are afflicted and distressed; who have nothing else to relieve them, besides God and prayer. But kings are in a high and prosperous condition: many seek their favor, and all fear their displeasure.
Yet it is very needful to pray for them; for, indeed, they stand in much more need of our prayers, than private persons do.
For,
[1] The Charge laid upon them is greater, and the burdens pressing them are heavier, than what lie upon other men; and, therefore, they should be eased and helped by our prayers.
What Paul says, 2 Corinthians 11:28 that he had the care of all the Churches upon him; we may say of a king, that he has the care of the whole Church, and of the whole State too, incumbent upon him. A crown is a heavy, though a glittering ornament: and how can it be otherwise, when the welfare of so many thousands depends upon them and their counsels? It is their work, to provide for the execution of laws, the exercise of religion, the restraining and punishing of all impiety and ungodliness. They must see that right and equity be administered, that no injustice nor violence be committed, but all affairs guided according to law and righteousness. These are the constant cares, that attend government: and that, which adds to all these burdens, and makes them out of measure sinking and intolerable, is, that all these burdens must sometimes be borne under the discontents and murmurs of an unsatisfied people. We had need, therefore, to pray earnestly unto God, that so great a trust and so great a burden being committed unto magistrates, they may be endowed by him, through whom kings reign, with abilities to discharge their trust, to his glory, and the comfort of their subjects.
[2] The Account they must render at the Last Day is greater; and, therefore, they more need our prayers than other men.
What they do is usually of general concernment, or else of general influence: and, therefore, they must answer not only for themselves, but for almost the whole nation, who either obey the commands or follow the examples of their governors. We should, therefore, especially pray for them; that, having a greater account to make than other men, they may at that day appear before the King of Kings with boldness, and pass from a corruptible crown to a crown of glory and immortality.
[3] Their Temptations are more; and, therefore, they more need our prayers than other men.
For, having all at command; the pleasures, the splendor, and gaiety of the world are more likely to be snares to them than others, who converse not so much with them. And, besides, the Devil is more assiduous and subtle in his temptations towards them than others: because, if they can be perverted by him, they will prove great and most effectual instruments to promote his kingdom. And, therefore, in Micaiah's parable, 1 Kings 22 no sooner had God asked the question, Who shall persuade Ahab? but there steps forth an evil spirit, and undertakes the employment. Satan loves to be busy about princes and rulers, because there he thinks he can make the greatest earnings. To tempt private persons, is but to tempt by retail; but to tempt princes, and to seduce the rulers of a land, this is to destroy by wholesale. And, therefore, as they are exposed to more temptations, so should they be supported and strengthened by more prayers.
Let us, therefore, heartily perform this duty to them, and for them; a duty, not more beneficial to them, than to ourselves and the whole nation: for, if we can prevail for a blessing upon them, we ourselves shall certainly share in it: if, by our fervent prayers we can obtain of God to bestow on them wisdom and zeal, holiness and piety, peace and prosperity, certainly, our own share in these mercies is worth the venture we send for them; and we shall then sit safely under the shadow of our king, and he himself under the shadow of the Almighty.
iii. I have heretofore told you, that this Fifth Commandment comprehends in it, not only the mutual offices between parents and children, but generally all the duties to which both superiors and inferiors stand reciprocally bound: and, therefore, having already spoken of the mutual Duties of Parents and Children, of Magistrates and Subjects; I shall now proceed to consider the Duties of HUSBAND and WIFE: for, in this relation also, though it come nearer to an equality than the former, there is a superiority on the man's part, and subjection due unto him from the woman.
And, here, while I am treating of this subject, I beseech you give not way to any levity of mind, or vanity of thoughts. Think it not a light, jocular thing; as, too often, the marriage-relation, and the offices that appertain unto it, are accounted: for it is matter of duty, that I am now propounding unto you; and matter of duty is no less than matter of life and death eternal. And, therefore, I charge you, that you attend unto it: not to get advantages of sport and merriment one with another, and to object them each to other in a ludicrous and jesting way, as it is everywhere too common a custom; but attend unto it, as a matter of as great seriousness and weight, as any that belongs unto the right ordering of your Christian Conversation; a matter, that presseth your consciences to the due observance and practice of it; and, if despised or neglected, will press your souls under guilt, and sink them under wrath. And, certainly, they, who are so vain as to think the duties of this relation to be of no great concernment, must needs likewise be so impious as to impute trifling to the Holy Spirit of God, who has, so frequently and with so much earnestness and instance, recommended them unto us. There is scarce any one Epistle, wherein the Apostles do not particularly insist on these things: and, certainly, what was worthy their care to write and teach, is worthy our care to learn and practice.
The duties, therefore, of married persons are either special or common: special, are those, which are the duties only of one party to the other; and that, either of the husband to the wife, or the wife to the husband: common, are those, which belong to both, and are by both to be mutually performed.
1. I shall first begin with those Duties, which belong to a Husband towards his Wife.
And they are these:
(1) Conjugal Love.
Indeed, love is a beautiful ornament to all relations, but it is the foundation and first principle of this. It is love, which ought at first to tie the marriage-knot: and it is love alone, that can afterwards make it easy. No other respect whatever can keep it from wringing and galling us. And, although want of love cannot dissolve the bond, yet it does the joy and comfort of a married state. Now, of all the objects that are allowed us to love here on earth, a wife is the chief; yes, to be loved above parents, children, and friends, and the dearest of all other relations: Genesis 2:24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. And, if you would know the full measure of this love, the Apostle has prescribed it: Ephesians 5:28. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies: and, verse 33. Let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself: you must be as careful and tender of their good, as of your own; and resent any injury done unto them, as much as if it were done unto yourselves. And, indeed, there is great reason for it: for marriage makes, of two, one mystical person: it does but compensate our damage, and restore the rib to our side again. And, therefore, by marriage two are said to be made one flesh: Mark 10:8. They twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. And, therefore, all violence and outrage against a wife, into which the rude and boisterous fury of some brutish men does too often break, is as unnatural, as if you should see a man beat, and wound, and gash himself. And, certainly, they are mad and distracted passions, which take revenge upon themselves: Ephesians 5:29. No man ever yet hated his own flesh; that is, no man acting rationally and as becomes a man; but loves and cherishes it. So that we are to love our wives with the same tenderness and naturalness of affection, as our own beings; and they should be as dear to us, as ourselves. And, if you would have this high affection mounted a degree higher, see verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. If a natural affection will not suffice, behold here a supernatural one; and the greatest instance of love, that ever was expressed or conceived, brought to be the rule and pattern of ours. Christ loved the Church, his Spouse, although there were many spots, blemishes, and imperfections in her: he loved her so, as to leave his Father, and cleave to his Wife: he loved her, better than himself and his own life; and shed his most precious blood for her; and, rather than the wrath of God should fall upon his beloved Spouse, he thrusts himself between, and receives those heavy blows on his own person. So ought men also to love their wives: so infinitely, if it were possible; but, because it is not so, sincerely.
And, therefore,
[1] They must love them, though they often bewray many Weaknesses and Imperfections; which they ought meekly to bear with, though they must not countenance nor encourage them. Love will cover a multitude of faults; and, so long as they are but faults and not crimes, we ought no more to divorce our affections than our persons from them. There is indeed a touchy love, which will cause great wrath for very small offences; but, usually, such kind of love turns into bitterness and exasperation: therefore, offences of this nature should prudently be passed by, only with a glancing reproof, or with a silence that shall be more instructive than noise and clamor. Here the Apostle exhorts husbands: Colossians 3:19. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
[2] We should so love them, as not to upbraid them with the Necessities or Incumbrances of a Married Life: but be content to abridge ourselves of our former freedom; and to forego our former privileges, either of plenty or pleasure, which we enjoyed in a single condition, without reproaching then with it. Many fools there are, who fancy nothing but joys and delights in a married life: but, when they enter into it, and find many unexpected troubles, and that they cannot live either at so much ease or with so much splendor as before, think to right themselves by perpetual brawls with their wives; imputing the cause to them, and charging on them all the burdens and inconveniences, under which they both labor, and of which commonly the woman has the greater share. Now this is not to love as Christ loved the Church; who, for her sake, stripped himself of his glory, and voluntarily humbled himself, first to the dust, and then to the death, the cruel and cursed death of the cross.
[3] We ought so to love them, as to interpose and step in between them and Danger; and rather suffer it to fall upon ourselves, than upon them: for so Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it; redeeming it from the wrath of God, by his own undergoing it, and delivering it from death, by suffering death for it.
[4] We ought so to love them, as to endeavor to promote the spiritual good of their Souls; and, by good counsels and instructions, insinuate into them the love of piety and holiness: that so, as Christ sanctifies the Church, his spouse, we may also sanctify ours; and present them unto God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
In these Four things, we are to love our wives even as Christ loved his Church; by bearing with and pardoning their weaknesses; by being willing to submit to many in conveniences for their sakes; by interposing ourselves between them and danger; and, lastly, by endeavoring to promote their spiritual good and benefit.
And, thus much, of the First Duty, which is Love; on which I have insisted the longer, because it comprehends all other duties in it: for where there is this sincere and conjugal affection, although it may have different methods of expressing itself, according to the different tempers of men; yet it will certainly, in this, as in all other cases, command the whole train and retinue of other affections to wait upon it, and see that nothing be wanting to the good of the object on which it is fixed. I shall, therefore, be the briefer in the rest.
(2) Another duty of the Husband, is provident Care for his Wife.
He ought, says the Apostle, to nourish and cherish her, as Christ does the Church. He must, therefore, impart unto her, according to his rank and ability, whatever may be for her necessity or comfort: and not waste that, in riot and excess among his lewd and wicked companions, companions that the Devil has given him, which ought to be for the support of her, whom God has given him for his companion; and who, in the mean while, has nothing to feed on but her sorrows, nothing to drink but her tears. See how deeply the Apostle has stigmatized such wretches: 1 Timothy 5:8. If any man provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
(3) Another duty that Husbands owe their Wives, is Protection from Dangers, when they are in jeopardy.
And, therefore, when the Amalekites had burnt Ziklag, and with the rest of the prey had taken David's wives; he pursues them with no more than six hundred men, though they were a great host, and rescues his wives from their captivity: 1 Samuel 30:18. And, indeed, the weakness and feebleness of that gender, being more helpless in dangers than ours and less able to relieve themselves, calls for this ready aid and support from us; and he, who is so churlish as not to afford it, is so unnatural also as to suffer a part of himself to perish. A wife is compared, in Scripture, to a fruitful vine: now a vine is a weak tender plant, and requires support, and the husband should be as the house-side for her stay and support; and therefore woman was at first made of a rib taken from under the man's arm: the office of the arm is to repel and keep off injuries; which signifies unto us, that the husband ought to defend his wife from all wrongs and injuries, that she may be exposed unto.
(4) Another duty is Instruction and Direction.
Therefore the husband is called her head; the seat and fountain of knowledge and wisdom: Ephesians 5:23. The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church. And, therefore, as all direction and consolation is derived from Christ; so should the husband likewise derive down and communicate knowledge, and comfort, and guidance to the wife: called, therefore, her Guide; Proverbs 2:17. And Peter requires of husbands, that they should dwell with their wives according to knowledge; to be able to advise and inform them in all emergent cases, especially concerning God and their souls. Whence Paul enjoins wives, 1 Corinthians 14:35 that, if they will learn anything, they must ask their husbands at home: and, therefore, much more is it required of the husband, that he should have laid up a good stock of knowledge, and be able to teach them; lest such, as creep into houses, and lead captive silly women, ensnare their wives. For such is the subtlety of deceivers, following therein the method of the Old Serpent, that they first begin with the woman, and then make use of her to seduce the man: for heresy, as all other sins, does first inveigle the affections; and then, by them, corrupts the reason. And, therefore, the husband should be well grounded and principled with knowledge, that he may keep his wife from being led away by the crafty subtlety of those, who lie in wait to deceive; and who, by good words and fair speeches, affected phrases, and jingling expressions, that have nothing in them but sound and error, pervert the hearts of the simple. But if, as it sometimes happens, God has endowed the wife with a greater measure of prudence, and solid and substantial knowledge, than the husband; it is then his part to hearken to her advice, and to yield not indeed to the authority of the counselor, as she is bound to do, but to the authority of the counsel: and this she ought to tender him, with all respect and submission; not having power to enjoin what she knows to be best and fittest, but only with modesty propounding it, and with meekness persuading him to embrace it.
(5) Another duty of the Husband, is Tenderness and Mildness towards his Wife; not causelessly grieving her, either by speeches or actions.
That is a wretched family, where those, who are joined in the same yoke, spurn and kick at one another. If the wife be careful in performing her duty, there belongs to her a kind and loving acceptance of it, and praise and commendation for it: or, if she sometimes should fail, she ought not to be rebuked with bitterness; but with meekness, and in such a way as the reproof should show more of sorrow than of anger. But perpetual brawlings and contentions, besides that they wholly embitter this state of life and eat out all the comfort of it, instead of preventing offences for the future, do usually provoke and exasperate to more; and are perhaps a greater fault in the husband, than that, which he exclaims at in his wife. Besides, it will certainly indispose them both, to the performance of those duties, which belong unto them in their general and particular callings. It will hinder their prayers: for how can they lift up their hands without wrath, as the Apostle commands, 1 Timothy 2:8 when they burn in choler one against the other? How can they pray to God for blessings upon each other, when they have been cursing and reviling each other? And, as for the duties of their particular callings, do we not see, that, in those families where this baneful contention reigns, they are commonly neglected; and all runs to wreck and ruin, out of a kind of revenge, that one party thinks, to take upon the other: the husband, out of discontent, will not provide, nor the wife manage; and so nothing is cared for, but only how they may quarrel and rail at each other: a misery, that many families fall into, through the indiscreet heats and fierceness of the man upon every trivial offence of the wife; though, perhaps, it was sometimes unthought of, and sometimes unavoidable.
(6) Another duty of the Husband, is to give due Respect and Honor unto his Wife.
1 Peter 3:7. Give honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel; for, being weak, she ought to be used with the more respect and gentleness. Think honorably of her, as the person whom God saw best and fittest for you in all the world; and be not tempted, so much as in a thought, to believe that any other could have been either so proper or so beneficial unto you. Speak honorably of her, not divulging any of her failings and imperfections, to her discredit; but giving her the due praise of those virtues and graces, that are in her: for he, that disgraces his wife, disparageth himself; and every one will censure him as guilty of folly, either in choosing or in governing her. Treat her honorably: neither making yourself a servant to her humor, for that will dishonor you; nor making her a slave to your, for that is to dishonor her: but use her as your bosom-friend, your endeared companion; and, in everything but authority, equal to yourself.
(7) The last duty of a Husband, is prudent Maintaining and Managing of his Authority.
His authority over his wife is God's, who has entrusted him with it: and our Savior illustrates his own authority over the Church, by the authority of a husband over his wife: Ephesians 5. And, therefore, it is not basely to be betrayed, nor to be maintained with rigor and a tyrannical violence. But the right and most effectual way of keeping up this authority, is by prudence and gravity, by soberness and piety, and a stayed, exemplary, and strict life. This will cause a reverent esteem and veneration in the wife, and in the whole family; whereas a humoursome lightness at one time, and as humoursome severity at another, will but expose us to contempt for the one, and hatred for the other. It is a hard matter for him to be reverenced by others, who does not first reverence himself; for he, that will prostitute himself by foolish and ridiculous humours, or by vile and wicked actions, either injustice, or intemperance, or lying, etc. it is impossible but that he must fall under the scorn of his nearest relations: and therefore, Nabal's churlishness and drunkenness made even wise Abigail to call him Fool; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But where there is an excellent mixture of prudence and piety together, the one to be a guide, and the other to be an example, these will make a man truly awful and reverend; and induce the wife and the whole family to esteem, and to imitate him. And, thus much, for the Duties of the Husband towards the Wife.
2. Let us next consider the Duties of the Wife towards the Husband: and they are these, which follow:
(1) Subjection and Obedience.
And this is required from them, as absolutely and peremptorily, as unto Christ himself: Ephesians 5:22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. And, again, verse 24. Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ; so let the wives be to their own husbands, in everything.
And not only does the Apostle give authority and command for it, but enforces it by sundry reasons. As,
[1] The Woman was made out of the Man, and therefore ought to be subject unto him: 1 Corinthians 11:3, 8. The head of the woman is the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. She is bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; and therefore ought to pay him the homage of obedience and subjection for those materials of her being, which she first received of him.
[2] Because the Woman was made for the Man, and therefore ought to be subject to him. So, in the next verse, Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. She owes her being to the man's necessities and convenience; and the great end of her creation, next to the glory of God, was that she might be helpful and profitable to man: Genesis 2:18. It is not good that man should be alone: I will make him a help meet for him: and, therefore, having received their beings for the sake of man, they ought to be subject unto him.
[3] Another reason, which the Apostle gives, is taken from the Priority of the Man's Creation: 1 Timothy 2:12, 13. I suffer not a woman … to usurp authority over the man. For Adam was first formed; and then Eve: and, therefore, in the same rank of creatures, it is but fit that he should be first in dignity, who was first in nature. And,
[4] Because, by the occasion of the Woman, sin entered into the world. So, verse 14. Adam was not deceived; but the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression: and, therefore, it is but fit and just, that she, who made all mankind disobedient against God, should herself be made subject and obedient unto man. And this sentence we find inflicted upon her as a punishment for her transgression: Genesis 3:16. Your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. Not as though there would have been no subjection due from her to man, if sin had not entered into the world by her means; for the reasons before alleged do manifestly prove the contrary: but that now her subjection is a curse; and whereas before it would have been easy and pleasing unto her, now it is become burdensome and grievous: man being by sin made more humoursome, and harder to be pleased; and she being made less able and willing to do it, God justly and righteously punishing her, by imposing on her a work which she herself has made irksome and difficult. And, let me add to these reasons of the Apostle,
[5] That the Man's Titles do imply Superiority and Authority over the Wife. Such as Lord: 1 Peter 3:6. Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. He is likewise called the Head and Guide of his wife: 1 Corinthians 11:3; Proverbs 2:17.
[6] The Husband represents Christ, the Wife the Church; and that, in this very particular of superiority and subjection: and, therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the wife be to her own husband.
And thus we see their subjection abundantly proved, both by natural and spiritual arguments.
And, in token of this subjection, the Apostle tells us, 1 Corinthians 11:10 that the woman was to have power over her head, because of the angels. Which place, especially the latter clause of it, is diversely interpreted. But I think all agree in this, That this power, which they were to have on their heads, was a veil or covering; which, at other times, but most especially in the congregation, women ought to wear on their heads; and which, in the primitive times, covered not only their heads, but all their face, as a guard to their modesty, and a screen to keep off loose and wanton eyes. And this veil is called power; to signify, that they were under the power and authority of their husbands. But the men were uncovered in their assemblies, as the Apostle tells us, verse 4. to signify, that they had nothing over them; but were superior to all visible creatures, and subject only unto God. This Power, or Veil, women were to wear because of the angels: not, as Tertullian did grossly conceive from that mistaken text, Genesis 6:2 to hide their beauty from the sight and inspection of angels (for what veil could do that, or how can angels be affected with corporeal beauty?) but either, by Angels, are meant the Ministers of the Church, before whom they are to show modesty and bashfulness: or else, perhaps, the Celestial Angels, who are always present and attending in the assemblies and congregations of the faithful; and, therefore, women should not do anything unfitting and unseemly before them: or, lastly, because the angels themselves do reverence Christ, who is their Head; and, in token of their subjection unto him, are said to veil and cover their faces: Isaiah 6:2 and therefore women also, in token of their subjection to their husbands, who are their heads, as Christ is of the Church, should likewise cover their heads and faces with a veil. So we find Genesis 24:65 that when Rebekah saw Isaac coming towards her, she took a veil and covered herself, as a sign of her subjection to him.
And this subjection is recommended unto them, by the example of holy women, to whose practice they ought to conform their own. So, 1 Peter 3:5. Holy women, who trusted in God, being in subjection unto their own husbands. And Paul gives it in charge to Titus, to exhort wives that they be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands: Titus 2:5. And himself exhorts them to the same duty: Colossians 3:18. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
These commands are so many and so express, that there is scarce any other duty, which the Scripture does urge with so much instance and earnestness, with such pressing reasons and enforcing motives, as this of the wives' obedience. The duty is frequently expressed, Submit yourselves; and the manner of performing it, Be subject, as to the Lord: submit, in the Lord.
Which phrase carries in it three things: a Motive: a Direction: and a Limitation.
1st. A Motive to obedience. It is done to the Lord.
And though, through the froward and peevish humours of the husband, they may have no other encouragement to observe and obey him; yet, to the conscientious wife, this will be encouragement enough, that the Lord will accept and reward her obedience: her Heavenly Husband, Jesus Christ, will account it as a service done unto him. For marriage being a type of our mystical union unto Christ, he especially is concerned that the duties of that relation be performed so, as to bear some proportion to that spiritual mystery.
2dly. A Direction how to perform it. It must be as to the Lord. She must obey her husband, not only with a design of pleasing him, but the Lord Christ.
For, were it not that God commands it from them as part of their duty and obedience to him, it might sometimes seem very fit that humoursome and self-willed men should be crossed; and that those, who have no other reason but their will, should fail of that observance and obsequiousness, which they tyrannically expect. But then consider, it is not the husband only that commands, but the Lord; and the wife must eye his sovereign authority, through the authority of her husband: and then it will appear, that though there be no necessity in what is required, yet there is a necessity she should perform what is required.
3dly. The words import likewise a Limitation of her obedience. The wife must submit and obey, but in the Lord, and as to the Lord: that is, only in lawful things, wherein, by her obedience to her husband, she may not offend against God.
And, excepting this, in all other cases the wife is absolutely bound to obey the will and commands of her husband, to the utmost of her power. It is true, he abuses his authority, if he command things unnecessary and unfit; but yet, neither her unwillingness to perform them, nor her judging them inconvenient to be done, can excuse her, or exempt her from the obligation that lies upon her of a ready obedience: nothing can do this, but the unlawfulness or impossibility of what is enjoined. In all other things, although they be never so contrary to her humor and inclination, she is bound by the Law of God and Nature to obey; and to submit, if not her judgment, yet at least her practice to the will of her husband: whether she think it fit or unfit to be done, so long as it is not unlawful, unless she can meekly persuade her husband to revoke his command, she is obliged to perform it. Otherwise, when the Apostle commands wives to be subject to their husbands in everything, it would signify no more than in everything which they think fit: and this, certainly, is no greater a subjection, than every husband would readily yield to his wife; and falls infinitely short of the Apostle's intent, who requires this subjection of the wife to the husband in everything, as the Church is subject unto Christ; which, certainly, is not in everything she thinks fit; neither ought she to take upon her to judge or reject his laws, but to fulfill them.
This, therefore, is the First and most comprehensive Duty of a Wife, Subjection and Obedience.
(2) Another duty of the Wife towards her Husband, is Respect and Reverence of his Person: Ephesians 5:33. Let the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Now reverence consists in two things, Esteem and Fear.
[1] She ought to cherish a high Esteem of him; if not for his gifts and graces, yet at least for that relation in which he stands to her, as her lord and her head, superior to her by God's appointment and ordinance. Yes, she must look upon him as that person, whom God, out of all the numerous millions of mankind, has particularly chosen and selected for her; and one, whom he saw fittest and best to be her head and guide.
[2] Another part of reverence is Fear: not a servile slavish fear, for that is inconsistent with love; but an awful and a loving fear, which will show itself in two things.
1st. In her Care to Please him; endeavoring to conform her actions to his inclinations, so far forth as they are not repugnant to the supreme duty which she owes to God: 1 Corinthians 7:34. She, that is married, cares for the things of this world, how she may please her husband: and, therefore, she will endeavor how to comport herself in her speeches, and in her gestures, and in her whole demeanor, so as may render her most grateful and most amiable to him.
2dly. In her Joy in Pleasing him, and Grief in Offending him. Indeed, a good wife should be like a mirror. A mirror, you know, has no image of its own; but receives its stamp and image from the face, that looks into it: so should a good wife endeavor to frame her outward deportment and her inward affections, according to her husband; to rejoice when he rejoices, to be sad when he mourns, and to grieve when he is offended. This is that reverence, which wives owe to their husbands; thinking highly and honorably of them for their place sake, and endeavoring to avoid and shun whatever may offend them: and, therefore, those who are cross and vexatious, and, either by clamors and contentious speeches, or by thwarting and peevish actions, grieve and sadden the hearts of their husbands; let them know, that they highly provoke the Lord, who has commanded reverence and respect to be paid to the husband as his type, and as part of that reverence and respect which is due unto himself.
(3) Another duty of a Wife, is Helpfulness to her Husband.
She ought, indeed, to be a help to him in everything. To his Soul: in furthering his graces; and wisely and opportunely admonishing him to his duty, at least by a holy and blameless conversation: so commending the Gospel of Christ unto her husband, that at length he may begin to esteem and reverence that piety, which has so adorned and qualified his wife: and what know you, O wife, whether, by such an exemplary life as this, you may save your husband? as the Apostle speaks, 1 Corinthians 7:16. To his Body: by cherishing and tendering of it. To his good Name: by endeavoring to augment and preserve it; reporting well of him; and silencing and convincing any scandalous rumors, that may be spread abroad concerning him. To his Estate (wherein, indeed, lies her chief helpfulness, and which she ought to make her constant and daily employment): if she cannot bring in, and get anything to increase the stock, yet she ought prudently and frugally to manage what her husband entrusts her withal, and not to waste it vainly and profusely: for, let her know, that whatever is so spent or wasted is but stolen; and, if she shall alienate anything from her husband contrary to his consent, either expressly declared, or else upon good grounds supposed to be tacitly granted and allowed, it is no better than theft: and, therefore, when we read that Abigail, without the consent of her husband, took a considerable present to bestow upon David to divert his ireful intentions; it may very well be supposed, that, if Nabal had known, as well as she, the danger wherein he stood, he would have been as forward to encourage her to do it, as she was ready and willing; and, therefore, here were good grounds to suppose a tacit and implicit consent unto the action. The husband is the true and only proprietor of all; and though the wife has a right to all, yet it is only a right of use, and not of dominion: she ought not to dispose of his estate; or any part of it, contrary to his mind and consent. Her proper office is, providently and faithfully to manage the affairs of the family that are committed to her oversight and care: and, therefore, in the description of a good wife given us at large, Proverbs 31 from verse 10, to the end, we find the whole of it taken up in showing her industry and care in ordering the affairs of the family.
(4) Another duty of the Wife is Modesty; and that, both in Apparel and Behavior.
[1] In Apparel: that it be according to her place and rank; not affecting gaudiness or strange fashions; nor yet affecting, on the contrary, a singularity of obsoleteness and outworn antiquity: for pride may be equally shown either way. The best temper is, for them not to wear garments to be taken notice of. The Apostle gives them this rule: 1 Pet 3:3, 4. Let not the woman's adorning be that outward adorning, of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel: But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible; even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price. And so, Paul. 1 Timothy 2:9, 10. I with … that women adorn themselves with modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array: But (which becomes women professing godliness) with good works. This indeed is the best ornament; that, which makes them lovely in the sight of God; and that, too, which makes them esteemed by all sober and serious persons. Indeed, I do not think that costly array is in either of these places absolutely forbidden: doubtless, gold and jewels may lawfully be worn, if we keep ourselves within our rank and quality; and fashion ourselves to those, who are most sober in that rank, rather than to those, who are most light and vain. But the prohibition is to be interpreted, either by the degree, i. e. be not excessive nor vain in your apparel; which, happens when the habit exceeds either the quality or the ability of those that wear it: or else it is to be interpreted by a comparison; let not the adorning be the outward adorning of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; that is, study not so much how to set off yourselves in your garments, as how to adorn yourselves with a meek and quiet spirit, with sobriety, modesty, and good works, which is the richest and most beautiful robe you can wear.
[2] As she must be modest in her apparel, so in her Behavior and Deportment. Her countenance, gesture, and speeches must be all fitted to show the inward calmness and serenity of her mind: and, therefore, imperious, clamorous, and turbulent women, who at every word spit passion and poison, are a torment and vexation to themselves, and more to their husbands. The contentions of a wife, says the Wise Man, are a continual dropping: Proverbs 19:13. And it is such a dropping, as will at last eat and fret through his very heart, though it were made of stone.
These, therefore, are the Duties of the Wife.
3. There are likewise Common Duties to be performed by both mutually.
I shall only name them to you.
Such are fervent prayers to God, both severally and together, that he would be pleased to pour down his blessings and his graces upon them, and give them wisdom to demean themselves towards each other aright; conjugal love; communion of themselves, of their estates, of their habitations; a mutual bearing one another's weaknesses, with prudent and pious endeavors to heal and remove them; the nurture and education of children; the government of their family committed to their charge, for whom they are to provide, not only what is requisite for their corporal good, but much more for their spiritual, inasmuch as their souls are much more worth than their bodies; and therefore they ought to observe constant family-duties, and make choice of honest and religious servants, and, so far as in them lies, keep out the infection of evil company from entering within their doors, as carefully as they would the plague. And, while they thus live and thus love, they have good reason to, believe, that, as they are joined in a near relation each to other, so they are both joined in a near relation to the Lord Jesus, who is the Husband of his Church, and all the Faithful in it; and, when death shall dissolve their marriage-union, and separate them one from the other, it is only to bring them to live forever with that Husband, from whom they can never be separated nor divorced.
And, thus much, for the Mutual Duties of Husbands and Wives.
iv. Let us, in the next place, proceed to consider the duties of another family-relation; and that is between MASTERS and their SERVANTS.
For these also are comprehended under this Commandment, Honor your Father and your Mother, since there is a confessed superiority of the one over the other; and, upon that account, as I not long since told you, servants have honored their masters with the stile and compilation of Father. Thus, 2 Kings 5:13 when those prudent servants sought to mitigate the rage of proud Naaman, who thought his greatness too much slighted by the Prophet, in that he would only cure and not compliment him, they reverently call him Father: his servants came, near and spoke unto him, and said, My Father, etc.
And, here, not to discourse of dominion and servitude, whether the original and foundation of either be in nature and institution, nor of the difference of servants by war, purchase, or compact; I shall only speak of what is more immediately pertinent to my subject, and what may be more instructive and profitable to you, namely, the mutual and reciprocal duties, that Masters and Servants ought to perform each to other.
The duties, that equally concern them both, consist in the general, either in the right choosing or in the right using of one another.
1. I shall begin with the Servant's Duty, and that
(1) As to the Choice of his Master.
He ought, where his choice is left him free, to choose a faithful master; such an one, as fears God, and will be willing to promote the spiritual good and salvation of his soul: with such, certainly, he shall best serve, who do themselves serve God; where he shall have nothing but reasonable and lawful commands to obey, and pious examples to imitate. Many poor ignorant souls have had cause forever to bless God, that his providence has cast them into such families, where they have received the first knowledge and the first savor of godliness. But, if the servant be, beforehand, knowing and religious, what comfort can it be to him to live, where there is a constant neglect of holy duties; nothing, but excess, and riot, and profaneness, and abusing of the Name of God, and scoffing at his service and servants? Certainly, necessity should hardly induce him, much less choice lead him, to be a servant in a family, where the Devil is the master of it. The Psalmist sorely complains, that he was forced to take up his abode among wicked and ungodly men: Psalm 120:5. Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
And, as it cannot but be exceedingly burdensome and tedious to you and cut your soul to the very quick, to be at the command of those, who rebel against your God; to hear his holy Name blasphemed; his ways, and worship, and people derided, which are dearer to you than your very life: so is it very dangerous and full of hazard. It is hard to keep zeal and the sparks of grace and divine love alive, when you have the greatest helps to it that can be administered: how will you then preserve them alive, when you have so many quench-coals about you; when the floods of ungodliness shall compass and surround you about? Either you must dissemble your piety; and that is the ready way to lose it, for grace is like fire, stifle and keep it close, and it will certainly die: or else you must put yourself upon the sore temptation of being mocked and scorned for it. You know not how far you may forsake God and your first ways, for compliance sake. It is the hardest thing in the world, to be religious alone; and to keep up zeal and affection for God, when all that we converse with are wicked and ungodly. Vice is the most contagious plague that is: and it will be a very great wonder, if those, with whom you familiarly converse, with whom you eat and drink and sleep, do not, at last, infect you. We see holy Joseph, by living long in the Egyptian Court, had learned some of the court-fashions, and could readily swear by the life of Pharaoh.
Venture not yourself, therefore, into those families, where the governors are either corrupt and erroneous in their principles, or lewd and dissolute in their conversation: for it will be hard for you to swim against the stream, both of example and authority; or, if you should be able to bear up against both, it will cost you more pains and struggling to do it, than all the temporal advantages you can there reap will be worth to you.
This is the First Duty that belongs to a Servant, namely, that he choose a pious and religious master.
(2) After you have made your choice, and are entertained, consider how you ought to Demean yourself towards your Master.
And here, if, by what you shall hear, your duty seem very hard unto you; yet it is no harder than it has pleased God to make it: yes, and possibly not so hard as your master's; for he is bound to give an account for you unto God, but so are not you for him. Your miscarriages shall be severely revenged upon him, if they have been through his default of needful instruction, or of care and discipline; but so shall not his upon you. And, therefore, in this respect, all inferiors have a mighty advantage to sweeten the baseness and lowness of their condition, that they shall not be punished for the sins of their superiors; but superiors may for the sins of their inferiors: yes, and sometimes for their due obedience too, when they command them things, though not unlawful, yet unfit; for that may be a sin in a superior to command, which is a duty for an inferior to obey, when commanded: and, certainly, in the end, his task will be found easiest, who is to obey; rather than his, who commands.
Now, here,
[1] The chief and comprehensive duty of a Servant, is Obedience unto the Commands of his Master.
For this is absolutely enjoined them: Colossians 3:22. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. And, again, Ephesians 6:5. Servants, be obedient to them, that are your masters according to the flesh. In all things, that are not dishonest and contrary to the laws of God, there obedience is required: yes, although in many things their commands should be impertinent, or too imperious and tyrannical; yet servants, in such cases, are no more exempted from obedience, than their masters shall be from punishment: for the unreasonableness of their commands they shall give an account unto God, their master; and you, for detracting your obedience, both to them and him.
[2] Another duty is, a patient Suffering their Reproofs and Corrections.
Yes, and so patient are they to be, as not so much as to answer again: Titus 2:9. Exhort servants … to please their masters well in all things; not answering again. So strictly has religion tied them up to obedience, that they ought not to reply against a rebuke; nor to derogate so much from the authority of their masters, as to murmur at it: and, therefore, to use violence against them is so high a degree of disobedience, that it approaches near to sacrilege.
Yes, and this quiet and silent submission is required also, not only where the servant has given just cause for reproof and correction, but although he suffer from the groundless rage and passion of his master. See 1 Peter 2:18, 19, 20. Servants, be subject to your own masters, with all fear: not only to the good and gentle; but also to the froward. For this is thank-worthy, if a man, for conscience toward God, endure grief, suffering wrong fully. For what glory is it, if, when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently? But if, when you do well, and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. See, here, with what pressingness the Apostle enjoins them this duty. And, indeed, a duty so hard, so contrary unto flesh and blood, had need to be pressed home upon your consciences, You ought to be patient, not only when you are justly reproved and corrected for your faults: but, if the distempered rage of a master should break forth without any reason, or contrary to all reason; if he should reprove and buffet you, not for your faults, but for your duty; you ought to take it patiently, and not to strike again: no, not so much as to answer again; that is, not to answer with taunts and invectives, but calmly, and at fit and convenient seasons, to present unto him the justice of your actions, and the reasons that moved you to them.
I must confess, that, of all things which belong unto the duty of servants, this is the most difficult: and there is nothing, that can sweeten and facilitate it, but only conscience of their duty, and the acceptance and reward which they shall find with God for it: and, therefore, they had need to pray for a great measure of self-denial, and mortification of those passions which will be apt to struggle in them upon this occasion; and, by an eye of faith, look up to God to support them, esteeming, it a chastisement inflicted upon them by their Heavenly Master: and that, be their spirits, never so high, will enable them to undergo it without any more murmuring, than they would use against God himself, when he immediately afflicts them.
[3] Another duty of Servants is, a reverential Fear of their Master.
Malachi 1:6. A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is my honor? And if I be a Master, where is my fear? And the Apostle has commanded servant? to be obedient to their masters with fear and trembling: Ephesians 6:5. And, again, 1 Peter 2:18. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear.
Which fear is to be expressed by them in their Speeches and Actions.
In their Speeches, by forbearing any clamors or irreverent muttering in their presence. Their words must be few and humble; giving them all those respectful titles, that belong justly to their place and quality. Yes, and they must not only speak fair to them while they are present, but speak well of them when absent: begetting in others as good an opinion of them as they may; concealing their infirmities; and what they cannot speak truly of them to their credit, therein to be silent.
They ought likewise to testify their reverence in their Actions: comporting themselves with all the expressions of modesty and respect; before them; and readily doing, not only what their masters shall expressly command them, but what they judge will be pleasing and acceptable to them: and, therefore, we have that expression, Psalm 123:2. The eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of hen mistress: intimating to us, that good servants will not only readily obey when they have a verbal and oral command, but will be ready to take the least sign, the least beck from their masters, and strive, not only to fulfill, but even to prevent their commands, by the readiness and respect of their obedience.
[4] Another duty of a Servant is, Diligence in his Master's Affairs.
He ought to set his mind to them, and employ his time in them. For he is not faithful, who is negligent; and he steals from his master, who does not use his strength and spend his time in his service. Every slothful servant is a thief; and, so much advantage as he hinders his master of by his negligence and idleness, of so much he does but rob him. And, therefore, in the Parable of the Talents, when the master takes an account of every man's improvements, he calls that servant, who had not used his talent, nor been industrious in his service, not only slothful, but wicked: You wicked and slothful servant: Matthew 25:26.
[5] Another duty is, Fidelity and Trust in what is committed to their charge: not defrauding their masters; nor purloining from them the least value; but serving them with all faithfulness and integrity.
So, Titus 2:9, 10. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters … Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity. And unto this appertains carefulness in preserving their master's estate; not wasting or consuming it, either by riotous living, or negligence. Doubtless, many men have sunk and decayed under the unfaithfulness or carelessness of their servants, either stealing from them, or prodigally wasting what was theirs. Let such know, that every farthing stands upon account in God's debt-book: unless they make amends to their masters, if ever Providence shall enable them to do it, they must make a punctual payment to Divine Justice, which is infinitely the more dreadful creditor.
[6] As trust in affairs, so likewise Truth in Speech is another duty of a servant.
They ought to approve themselves such, that their masters may repose themselves upon their words. And, as servants are the hands and the eyes of their masters; so they ought to make no other report unto them, than what is as certain as though they had touched it and seen it themselves. We read of Gehazi, that when he was returned from taking a bribe of Naaman, he stood very demurely before his master, with a lie ready prepared in his mouth. Whence come you, Gehazi? Your servant, says he, went no where. But this lie cost him a leprosy, that stuck incurable to him and to all his posterity after. I am reluctant to be uncharitable, but I much doubt, that, if the same judgment were inflicted upon every servant that comes to his master with a lying excuse, every family would be infected, and very few in this relation escape that loathsome contagion. Certainly, it is only a cowardly, base, slavish fear, that induceth one to this vile sin of lying. And, what! will you be more afraid to offend your master by confessing a fault, than to offend your God by committing another to conceal it? What else is this, but to heap up sin upon sin, and to make a single transgression to become two thereby? A sin, the most odious unto God, who is truth itself; and, usually, most detestable to men, and with difficulty pardonable by them; for it imputes a great deal of folly and ignorance to them, as such who are so weak that they cannot find out the matter. And, therefore, the Psalmist says, He, that tells lies, shall not tarry in my sight: Psalm 101:7.
[7] Another duty of Servants, and it is the last I shall mention, is to serve their masters with Good Will, and in Singleness of their Hearts: not grudgingly, as of constraint, for that is slavish; but readily and cheerfully, as unto the Lord: not as men-pleasers, only with eye-service, being no longer diligent than their master's eye is upon them, but careless and negligent as soon as his back is turned; but, as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart: as the Apostle commands and directs them; Ephesians 6:5, 6, 7.
Now to perform service unto their masters as unto God and Christ, imports these two things.
1st. A serious consideration, that God is concerned in everything they do, as the object of it. So, Colossians 3:23. Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. And, therefore, servants are commanded to have respect, not so much unto men, as unto God. This is the way to ennoble your service, be it never so mean: it is God, whom you serve in them; that God, whom the greatest princes and potentates of the earth ought to serve. And be the employment what it will, yet the greatness and glory of that Master, to whom you do it, put an honor and dignity upon it.
2dly. To do service as unto the Lord, implies your doing of it upon this very account, because God has commanded it. Be the action what it will be, yet if you can truly say that you do it, not only because your master has commanded it, but because God, his Master and yours, has laid the authority of his command and injunction upon you to, obey him, this prefers a man's service unto God, and makes it an action done truly unto him.
And this may be a great encouragement unto servants, (for indeed their condition generally wants encouragement) that, though their employments may be the meaner and inferior drudgeries of this life, and those possibly not very well accepted by their harsh and froward masters; yet, be their work never so painful and laborious, while they perform it out of conscience to God's command, it is accounted as done to him, and not to them: they are his servants, more than theirs; and he will kindly accept and bountifully reward them.
We have thus considered the Duties, which Servants owe unto their Masters.
2. Let us now proceed to those Duties, which Masters owe reciprocally to their Servants.
And those consist, as before I noted, either in the right choosing, or in the right using of them.
(1) The Master's first duty is a prudent Care and Circumspection in the Choice of his Servants.
And, indeed, this is a matter of great moment; and that, whereon the happiness and comfort, or else the misery and trouble, of a family does very much depend.
Now there are two qualifications in a servant, that ought chiefly to be regarded in the making choice of him.
The one, is ability to discharge his place; and manage those affairs, which you commit to his care and trust.
The other, is conscientiousness and piety in doing faithful service, not to you only, but to God, the common Master of you both.
And, indeed, this latter is of more importance and of greater concernment to you, than the former. For when you entertain a godly person, though possibly not so sufficient for your employment as some others, it will be a commendation of your charity, that you maintain one of God's servants in your family. But when you entertain a lewd profane wretch, only because he is able to dispatch his work, you maintain one of the Devil's slaves, and take into your house a sworn servant to the mortallest enemy you have in the world: which is justly reproachable both with folly and impiety.
Yet how little is this usually regarded! I know it is the custom of too many, that, if they can light on those, whom they think proper for their affairs, never inquire what their principles or what their practices be as to religion; whether Popish or Factious, whether for the Mass or the Meeting: but choose them as they would do beasts of burden, the most strong and able; and account it the only property of good servants, to be able to perform their office, and willing to drudge as much as they would have them.
But, let them know that they make a very unwise and a very sinful choice. For such servants will assuredly make much more work, than they dispatch; and leave filth in the house, than they cleanse out. Though they be never so able and fit for their employments; yet think not such an one fit for you, who refuses to serve that God, whom you yourself are bound to serve: and believe it to be a design of the Devil, to help you to one, who shall do your work, but undo your family. One vile and wicked servant is enough to corrupt a whole household: for, assure yourselves, they come there to do the Devil more service, than you; and their lewd examples and presumptions will seduce and draw others into the same excess with themselves.
For, to this, I impute the rise and growth of that general profaneness, that is too reigning in most families: especially in those, whose quality or estates require a numerous attendance. They are commonly too careless what ruffian and debauched servants they entertain: and their children, which else might be the ornament and glory of the nation, conversing with these, learn from them those first rudiments of vice, which afterward their condition and wealth enable them to perfect into consummate villainy and devilism. Here, they learned the first taste of excess and intemperance: here, they were taught the first syllables of oaths, and instructed how to lisp out curses and obscenity; and, according to their proficiency, were applauded by these impious wretches for their genteel docility and aptness. Such servants as these should be rooted out; not only as the pests of particular families, but their influence reaches farther, even to corrupt those who may hereafter have an influence on the state and commonwealth: for they serve only to give youth the first relishes of sloth, and pleasure, and vice, which, by woeful improvements, grow at last to be inveterate habits; and make them only a shame to their families, and a curse to the kingdom.
So it is proportionably, in all meaner families: where the servants be wicked, the children ordinarily will be more ruled by their examples and flatteries, than by their parents' authority and commands.
And, therefore, it highly concerns you to make a prudent choice at first; or if, therein, you have been mistaken, as soon as you can to rid your houses of those vermin and caterpillars, which else will destroy the verdant and budding hopes of your children; and to bring in those, who are sober, stayed, and godly, who will make it their great care, first to serve God, and then you. Take the resolution of the Royal Psalmist for your pattern and direction: Psalm 101:6, 7. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he, that walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He, that works deceit, shall not dwell within my house: he, that tells lies, shall not tarry in my sight. Certainly, those will be the best servants to us, who are faithful servants to God; or, if they should be less fit for your occasions, yet they will sufficiently earn their wages, though they only pray for you. It is said of Joseph, Genesis 39:5 when he was brought into Potiphar's house to be his servant, That the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in the house, and in the field. Godly servants bring a blessing along with them to the families where they reside: and, having such a servant, you have a friend in court; one, that can do you kind offices in Heaven, through his interest at the Throne of Grace. And, therefore, as it is your duty, so it is your wisdom and your concern, to make choice of such: these best know their duty: these will make most conscience of performing it; in their integrity and faithfulness, your heart may repose; and they will entitle you and your family to those blessings, which attended them.
That is the First Duty, respecting the Choice of Servants.
(2) Another general duty of Masters is, rightly to Use them when they are chosen.
And that consists likewise in two things, Government and Provision.
[1] Their Government ought to be Prudent and Discreet: such, as may maintain their authority, and yet not be soured, into tyranny.
And, therefore, it should be a master's care, to demean himself gravely and awfully before his servants: his very countenance and comportment should be enough to beget reverence in them. But when the master is vain and light, the servants will grow, first familiar, and then contemptuous.
Government consists in two things, Command and Correction. But that, which does most of all tend to make both effectual, is good Example.
1st. First, therefore, a master ought wisely to Command and Enjoin his servants what they should do.
And, herein, is required a great deal of skill and prudence. For, though servants ought not to inquire into the reasons of all that their masters bid them do: yet, doubtless it is a very difficult matter for them to bring themselves to do that, which is apparently vain and ridiculous; and, by imposing such things upon them, the master will much hazard the loss or diminution of his authority: and, therefore, in laying his commands upon them, he ought to have regard both to the manner and matter of them.
(1st) As to the Manner.
He ought not to command with rigor, with ill language and revilings; as is the custom of too many, who, when they enjoin their servants anything, preface their commands with a reproach: which tends to nothing but to discourage them; to make them hate the employment, and him that sets them about it; and, by this means, we make our servants to become our enemies. The Apostle, therefore, has given this caution: Ephesians 6:9. You masters, do the same things to your servants, forbearing threatening. Nor yet should they prostitute their authority by any submiss entreaties: for it is an evil which the earth itself cannot bear, when a servant reigns and bears sway over his master; as the Wise Man observes, Proverbs 30:22 but there should be such an equal mixture of mildness with gravity, and love with authority, that the servant should not only be compelled, but inclined by it unto obedience. Indeed, there is required much evenness of temper in him, that would make a good master: not to be hurried with violent and causeless passions, nor to be swayed by irrational humours; for nothing does more detract from authority, than humoursomeness: because servants, not having any standing measure of what will please such a master, will at last grow careless of it; and despise the commands of him, who is as much a servant as they are servants; yes, a very slave to his passions and humours, than which there cannot be a baser and a viler slavery: and therefore those, who are servants to fickle and capricious masters, though they may seem very obsequious to them, yet cannot but secretly despise them: for power may, indeed, make their commands to be obeyed; but it is reason only, and gravity, that can make them venerable and reverend.
(2dly) As a Master ought to respect the manner how he commands, so like wise the Matter what he commands.
And, in this, take these Three Rules.
[1st] He ought to command nothing, but what is Lawful to be performed.
For both he and his servant have a Supreme Lord and Master in the highest heavens, whom they both ought to fear and obey. His service is no farther due to you, than as it is consistent with the service of God; and, when you command anything contrary thereunto, you are not a master, but a tempter. It is true, he is bound in conscience to observe you; yet it is only in those things, wherein the Law of God has left his conscience free: and, therefore, where the Great and Universal Lord has laid a prohibition upon him, his obedience is superseded; and your commands do only bind yourself to guilt, not him to observance. He is bound to work for you; but not to lie, nor to steal, nor to cheat for you: and, if you are so wicked as to enjoin him any such thing, it is no uncivil answer, to say to you, as the Apostle did, Acts 5:29. We ought to obey God rather than men.
[2dly] A Master's commands must be not only lawful, but Possible.
To command things impossible, is the height of folly. And, therefore, when Abraham commanded his servant to procure a wife for his son, he prudently answers, What if she will not come? upon which supposition, his master acquits him from the oath of God, that was between them: Genesis 24:8. If the woman will not be willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this oath. To command things impossible to be effected, will but detract from the master's authority, and lessen his esteem, and cause the servant to think his own discretion to be a better guide for his actions than his master's: yes, although the thing be not simply impossible in itself, but only to the servant, considering either his inability or employments; or if it be hugely inconvenient, or prejudicial, or unseasonable; the master ought not, in conscience or prudence, to exact it. For, as to command things unlawful, is impiety, and things impossible, folly; so, to require things unreasonable and prejudicial, is mere tyranny: and, as such, it is recorded in Pharaoh and his task-masters; who, to weary and wear out the Israelites, exacted the whole tale of bricks, but would not allow straw to make them.
[3dly] A Master's commands ought not to be Vain and Impertinent; but he should have some swaying reason, though perhaps not always fit to be communicated to the servant why he commands such things from him, reason sufficient to satisfy his own judgment and his own conscience.
These Three Rules ought to be observed by Masters: they ought to command nothing, that is unlawful to be done; nothing, but what is possible; nothing, but what is profitable and useful.
And this is the First Part of a Master's Government, namely, prudently commanding of his servants.
2dly. It is the Master's duty to Correct those servants that are stubborn and disobedient.
The Wise Man tells us Proverbs 29:19. There is a servant, who will not be corrected by words: for, although he understand, he will not answer.
Yet, here, prudence must be the measure of what discipline is fit for them; according to their age, disposition, and the nature of their offence. A reproof will work more effectually with some, than stripes: and those, who have sincere spirits, though in a servile condition, will either be discouraged or exasperated by a too-rigorous usage. And God has expressly interposed his will, in this particular: Leviticus 25:43. You shall not rule over him with rigor, but shall fear your God.
Indeed, no correction is to be inflicted on them, out of passion and revenge; but either, for reformation and amendment, that they may be the more wary for the future; or, for example's sake, to terrify others from the same or the like offences. Even a heathen could say, Nemo sapiens punit, quia peccatum est; sed re peccetur "No wise man does punish, because the offence is already committed," for then it comes unseasonably and too late; "but that it might not be committed again."
But, still, be sure that the corrections be not immoderate and too severe: neither exceeding the proportion of the fault, for that is cruelty; nor unbecoming you to inflict, or the age and quality of your servant to suffer, for that will be reproachful to both.
Generally, reproof is the best discipline. But if they be such contumacious fools as not to be amended with that, although it be lawful and in some cases necessary to use a sharper method towards them; yet the best and most prudent course, and that which will tend most to your quiet and credit, is to discharge them.
Now, to move you to mercy and lenity towards them, consider,
(1st) That you yourselves have a Master, the Great and Glorious God.
This the Apostle urges: Ephesians 6:9. Masters … forbear threatening, knowing that your Master also is in Heaven. Think with yourselves how often you provoke him; and yet he forbears you, although you are infinitely more inferior to him, than any servant can be unto you: and this will calm your passions; and cause you, if not altogether to wave, yet at least to allay and mitigate, the rigor and severity of your chastisements.
(2dly) Consider, that they are equal with you, in respect of God.
It is true, they are your servants; but both you and they are fellow-servants to the Great Lord and Master. And if you, in a rage, should take your fellow-servant by the throat and imperiously abuse him, fear, lest your Lord may require it; and vindicate his wrongs, in the punishment of your tyranny. There is no respect of persons with him; but he, that has done wrong, shall receive for the wrong that he has done. And what are you, O vile worm, that you should domineer over your fellow; who is molded of as good earth, and has as precious and immortal a soul in him, as yourself? For,
(3dly) Consider, that you are equal, likewise, in nature: only Divine Providence has made the difference.
Whence then such a supercilious disdain of servants, Quasi non iisdem tibi et constent et alantur elementis, eundemque spiritum carpant, (as Macrobius); "as if they did not consist of the same materials, nor draw the same breath with yourself?" They are servants; but yet they are men: they are servants; yes, rather, they are your fellow-servants. And it is in the power of the same Providence, who has subjected them to you, to change the scene; to exalt them, and bring you into bondage. Why then should you despise them? whereas you know not how soon you may be brought under a more miserable servitude. They are servants, out of necessity; when, perhaps, their masters are voluntary slaves. Some are slaves to their lusts; others, to covetousness; others, to ambition; and all, to hope, all to fear. And there is no servitude so justly contemptible, as that, which is voluntary and willful.
(4thly) Consider, again, that he, who is a servant to men, may be the Lord's free-man; whereas he, that is free among men, may be a slave to his lusts, and by them to the Devil: and, therefore, we ought neither to think despicably of servants, nor to use them severely; but to treat them with love, as, our fellow-creatures, our follow-servants, yes, and fellow-heirs of the same inheritance of life and glory.
And, thus much, concerning the Master's Duty in Government.
[2] Another general, wherein his duty consists, is Provision; and that, both for their Temporal and Spiritual Good; for the welfare, both of their bodies and their souls.
1st. As for their Temporal Provision, he is bound to supply them with things necessary for them, according to the tenor of the agreement and compact made between them: Colossians 4:1. Masters, give unto your servants that, which is just and equal. He ought to provide for them food and clothing; or, else, in lieu of any of these, faithfully to pay them their agreed wages. Leviticus 19:13. The wages of him, that is hired, shall not abide all might with you, until the morning. And, again, Deuteronomy 24:14, 15. You shall not oppress a hired servant, that is poor and needy … At his day, you shall give him his hire: neither shall the sun go down upon it … lest he cry against you unto the Lord, and it be sin unto you. This oppression of servants, in withholding from them the covenanted reward of their labor, is a crying and provoking sin. So the Apostle: James 5:4. The hire of the laborers, which have reaped down fields, (so likewise of those, who have done any other work and service for you) which is of you kept back by fraud, cries; and the cries of them that have reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
2dly. As the Master is to make temporal provision for their bodies, so much more is he to provide for their Spiritual Welfare, and the good of their souls; inasmuch as their souls are incomparably to be preferred before their bodies.
Every master is to be both a priest and a prophet within his own family, as well as a king. He is to instruct them in the will and laws of God; to inform their ignorance, resolve their doubts, excite and quicken them to the service of God; to rectify their errors and mistakes; to pray with them and for them; to direct them in the way, that leads to Heaven and happiness; and, above all, to walk before them in it by his holy and pious example.
But how few are there, that do conscientiously perform this duty! Do not the most think it enough, if they provide necessities and conveniences for the body, the dull, outward, and earthly part of man? and, indeed, it were enough, if they had only beasts to look after.
But, remember, your servants, and those who belong to your charge, have precious and immortal souls; capable of eternal glory and happiness, but liable to eternal misery and torments: and God has entrusted you with, these souls of theirs, and will require them at your hands. What a heavy and tremendous doom will pass upon you, when God shall demand at your hands the souls of your servants, or of your children, which have perished through your default! Will it be enough then to plead, "Lord, I fed and clothed them, and was careful of their health and welfare?" Yes, indeed, if their bodies only were committed to your care, this were enough: but see, there they stand condemned, and ready for eternal flames, for the ignorance which you ought to have informed, for the profaneness which you oughest to have chastised and hindered, for those neglects of holy duties in the which you ought to have gone before them; and, therefore, though they shall die and perish in their sins, yet their blood will God require at your hands, whose carelessness or evil example bath hardened them in wickedness, and led them on securely to destruction.
Let me, therefore, warn you, who are Masters and Heads of Families, that, as you tender the souls of those who are under your charge, yes, as you tender your own souls, which are deeply engaged and concerned in theirs; so, that you would use all diligence and industry, in promoting their spiritual good, that you may at the Last Day present them with joy before the tribunal of God: "Lo, here I am, and the children and servants that you have given me." That you may with joy and triumph present them before the Throne of Justice then, be frequent in presenting them before the Throne of Grace now. Let not a day pass, without its stated hours of prayer in your family. Instruct those, that are ignorant: reduce those, that are erroneous: admonish and rebuke, with all authority, those, that are faulty: discard those, that are contumacious and incorrigible: let not a scoffing Ishmael, a scorner and derider of piety and holiness, remain within your doors: and, especially be careful that both you and your family do strictly observe and sanctify the Lord's Day; for therein consists a great part of the life and strength of religion, and this day usually gives a seasoning to all the days of the week after. Prepare your families, by private duties, for public: let none of them stay at home from the ordinances, but upon great and urgent necessity: allow them not to wander, some to one pasture, and some to another; but, where the ordinances of God are duly dispensed, and where you yourself are called, thither do you lead your, that, as they altogether receive their bodily food in your house, so they may altogether receive their spiritual food in the house of God: take an account of their profiting by what they hear: be as careful to see your family well employed in the service of God upon that day, as to see them employed in your own service and affairs the other days of the week: and therefore, be not long nor unnecessarily from them; for God has made you his overseer; and, if his work go not forward in private family-duties, especially on the Lord's Day, you can never expect a blessing upon what they do for you.
And, thus much concerning the Mutual Duties of Masters and Servants.
v. The next sort of relative duties, that I shall treat of, is, that of PASTORS and their FLOCKS; Ministers and their People. For, between them also, is such a relation of superiority and inferiority, as brings them under the direction of this Commandment.
We do not arrogate too much to ourselves, nor take too much upon us, when we affirm that we are superior to the people; and have an authority over them, in things spiritual and appertaining unto God. And although, through the vices and foul miscarriages of those who are dignified with this high honor, and partly through the baseness of their outward state and condition; to which may be added, likewise, the baseness and abjectedness of their spirits, as a consequent upon the former, basely prostituting themselves, and forfeiting the respect that is due to them, by their sordid crouching for a morsel of bread at the lower end of a gentleman's table: though by these, I say, not only their persons, but their office be sunk into the lowest scorn and contempt; yet I cannot but, with the Apostle, magnify my office, which is truly excellent and venerable: and it is the great sin of the people to despise this calling; although the follies and indiscretions of ministers themselves may not only occasion, but invite them to do it.
Here I shall plainly set down the reciprocal duties, which they ought mutually to perform each to other.
1. The Duties of Ministers, either respect their Call to that office, or their Management and Discharge of it.
(1) The great duty, that respects their Call, is, to look to it, that they be rightly called; that they do not temerariously thrust themselves into so sacred a function, unless they be duly set apart thereunto.
For, as the Priests under the Law were taken from among men, and ordained for men things pertaining to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices, as the Apostle speaks, Hebrews 5:1 so, likewise, the Ministers of the Gospel are to be duly sanctified and set apart for this high employment, to stand before the Lord, and to minister in things that appertain unto his worship:, and it is an intolerable presumption, for any to intrude themselves into this lot, without being selected thereunto by that order, which God himself has appointed and left unto his Church. For no man takes this honor unto himself, but he, that is called of God; as the Apostle subjoins, verse 4. And, therefore, God complains of those prophets, whom he had not sent, and yet they ran; and to whom he had not spoken, and yet they prophesied: Jeremiah 23:21. Audacious-undertaking men, it seems they were: like some of late days, who thought their forwardness alone a sufficient consecration; and the seal of whose commission bears only the stamp of their own impudence.
Now to the constitution of a minister there is requisite a Twofold call.
[1] He must have an Inward call; which consists both in the gifts of the Holy spirit, and in the inclination of his will to use them for God's glory in this holy ministration.
Of these Gifts, with which he must he endowed, some are absolutely necessary to capacitate him for the office, others are only conducible to make his ministration in it the more effectual.
That, which is absolutely necessary, is a competent knowledge in the truths of the Gospel; without which, the great end of the ministry cannot be attained, which is to teach and instruct the people. It is, indeed, their duty to strive after an eminency in this knowledge: for they are the lights of the world; and should be able to diffuse abroad their beams, that they might enlighten those that are ignorant, and sit in darkness. But, yet, there is no stated measure nor standard for their knowledge: for we find that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Minister and Teacher of the World, sent forth his disciples to preach, when yet they were very ignorant of many important truths of the Gospel. Eminent knowledge is, therefore, necessary for their duty; but competent knowledge is necessary for their office.
That, which is highly conducible to the effectualness of their ministry, is sanctifying grace, and a holy life and conversation. Not that they are not true ministers without this: for we find a Judas sent forth, with the same authority and commission as the rest of the disciples. Yes, and the Apostles, who had Christ himself for their Master and Instructor, yet are by him sent to attend upon the ministry of the Scribes, and Pharisees; who, though they were very wicked and ungodly hypocrites, yet because they sat in Moses's seat, i. e. because they had a rightful authority to teach the people, therefore he commands his own scholars to hear and obey them: Whatever they bid you observe, that observe and do: Matthew 23:2, 3. It is not, therefore, personal grace, that gives authority to our ministry; but yet it may and does contribute much efficacy unto it. God may feed his people, as he did Elijah, by a raven; and make a cold breath kindle the sparks of grace in the hearts of others, and blow it up into a flame. But yet it is far more comfortable and profitable to the people, to sit under a minister who shall go before them in example, as well as in doctrine; who not only prescribes them rules of holiness; but is himself an example to those rules. Such an one, who speaks from the heart, is most likely to speak unto it; and, having himself experienced the ways of holiness, can more savourily recommend them to the acceptance of his flock. And, certainly, he will be more likely to speed in his errand, when he shall persuade them to nothing but what he has found the goodness and sweetness of in himself. All others are but like those Mercurial Statues, which, in old times, were set up in cross-ways, with their hands extended to point out the right road to passengers, but themselves never walked in them. These, indeed, may be serviceable to direct their people. But a minister should not only be a director, but a leader: he should not only point out the way, but walk before his flock in it. And it is commonly observed, that they are the labors of such, that God most usually owns and crowns with success.
[2] As he must have an inward call in the gifts of the Spirit of God; so, likewise, he must have an Outward Call by a solemn separation of him to this work, through Imposition of Hands.
This, indeed, gives him the ministerial power; and invests him with authority to dispense the ordinances of Jesus Christ, as an officer and minister of the Gospel; And this authority Paul calls a gift, 1 Timothy 4:14. Neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. This gift here spoken of, I take to be nothing else but the ministerial office conferred upon him by Ordination, according to those predictions and prophecies, which were before given of him by some divinely inspired men; who foretold, that he was by God designed for the work of the ministry, and should glorify God by a careful discharge of it; of which we read chapter 1 verse 18. Yes, this office is by our Savior himself called the Holy Spirit: and Ordination, how harsh soever the phrase may seem to be, is a giving of the Holy Spirit; not indeed either in the gifts or graces of it, (which were afterwards plentifully bestowed upon them on the Day of Pentecost) but only authority to exercise the ministerial function. Consult John 20:22, 23. When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said, Receive you the Holy Spirit: which Holy Spirit I take to be nothing else, but their solemn mission to the ministry.
And this, though perhaps it may seem a strange interpretation of the place, I cannot but judge to be the true sense and import of it, upon these two considerations:
1st. That the Holy Spirit was in no other respect at all, at that time, given to them. They neither received any extraordinary degree of grace, nor any extraordinary gifts of grace, more than they were before endowed with. Yes, it is plainly expressed, that as yet the Holy Spirit was not given them in his extraordinary gifts, but they were commanded to wait for the promise of the Father at Jerusalem; and the first accomplishment of that promise was on the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit descended upon them in the form of fiery cloven tongues. Here, then, being a receiving of the Holy Spirit, and that not in the extraordinary gifts or graces of it; what can remain, but that our Savior, by breathing on them, gave them the Holy Spirit, that is, mission and authority to preach the Gospel, and to dispense his ordinances to the Church?
2dly. The words following interpret these in this sense. Receive you the Holy Spirit. Whoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whoever sins you retain, they are retained. Now these words seem to me a clear exposition of the former, Receive you the Holy Spirit, i. e. Receive you authority to remit and retain sins; which is one great part of the ministerial power, to declare pardon to the penitent, and wrath to the incorrigible and obstinate.
This, though it may seem a strange, yet to me it seems the only, true and consonant exposition of this place. But I shall not now further vindicate it.
Now, as our Savior used this sign of breathing upon his disciples when he ordained them; so the Apostles afterwards instituted and used another sign, namely, Laying on of Hands: of which there is frequent mention in Scripture, and which was introduced into the Christian Church from the pattern of the Jewish Church. Thus we read, Acts 9:17 that Paul is ordained by the Imposition of the Hands of Ananias: he put his hands on him, and said, The Lord Jesus … has sent me, that you might receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit; i. e. that he might be endowed with ministerial gifts, and invested with the ministerial authority. And, again (which I wish heartily our Dissenting Brethren, who so much decry re-ordination, would but a little more maturely weigh and consider) he the second time receives mission and ordination with Barnabas: Acts 13:2, 3. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. Yes, this Imposition of Hands was so inseparable an attendant upon Ordination, that sometimes it is used alone to signify it. So, 1 Timothy 5:22. Lay hands suddenly on no man; i. e. Ordain no man rashly, and without due advice.
Now, since this External Call is so expressly and frequently mentioned, and the manner of it so particularly described, how daringly presumptuous are they, who, without regarding those methods which the Holy Spirit has prescribed, yes, despising and despising them as obsolete and outworne formalities, rush into the ministry, and pretend an Inward Call of gifts and graces: which yet, in very many of them, are no other than most of the people might as well pretend unto, if they had but the like impudence; and so we should have more ministers than people, more shepherds than sheep! But let their gifts and their graces be never so eminent and admirable, they ought not to take this honor to themselves, until they are set apart by the Church; and, as well empowered to preach by an outward mission, as enabled to do it by their gifts and qualifications.
And, thus much, for the first thing which a Minister ought to regard, which is his Call to that office.
(2) When we are assured, that our call is right and according to the will of God, there are then many other duties incumbent upon us in the due Exercise of our calling.
As,
[1] We ought to be good Examples to the flock.
This Paul most expressly enjoins Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:12. Be you an example to the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Indeed it is very sad, to consider how the unsuitable conversation of ministers does quite enervate all the force and strength of their doctrine and exhortations. For, let them speak with the tongues of angels, and preach as holily and powerfully as if the Holy Spirit did immediately inspire them: yet, if their lives be loose and their conversation contradictory to their doctrine, the people will be ready to conclude, that so much strictness is not necessary, that they only urge it as a matter of high and nice perfection in religion, and that certainly they know a nearer way to Heaven than through so many severities which they press upon the people; and that, therefore, they will take the same course, and run the same venture that their ministers do.
And, indeed, how is it likely, that such a ministry should be effectual to bring others to holiness, when the minister himself declares to all the world by his actions, that he looks upon it as unnecessary? What hold can his admonitions and reproofs take upon the consciences of men? Certainly, his own guilt must needs rise up in his throat, and choke his reproofs. For conscientiousness of the same miscarriages will retort whatever we can say against others, more strongly upon ourselves; and suggest to us that it is but base hypocrisy, to blame that which we ourselves practice. With what face can you press others to repent and reform? what arguments can you use to prevail with them, who, by continuing in the same sin, do yourself judge those arguments to be of no force?
Indeed, it were a temper to be wished and prayed for, that we could only respect how righteous the reproof is, and not how righteous the person who gives it; and be content to have our motes plucked out, though it be by such as have beams in their own eyes: that we could learn that hard lesson, which our Savior gives his disciples, to do as they say, but not to do after their works; for, indeed, there is no more reason to reject sound admonition, because it comes from an unsound heart, than there is to stop our ears against good counsel, because it is delivered perhaps by a stinking breath.
But yet, so it usually fares, that, when ministers of defiled and loose lives shall yet preach up holiness and strictness to their people, and, as they ought, reprove them sharply for their sins; they will be apt to think, "What! is he in earnest? And does he not see that he himself is as bad or worse? With what face can he thunder out woe, and wrath, and Hell against my sins, which yet are no more mine than his own? Does he think to fright me with denouncing threats and curses, when he himself, who stands as fair a mark for them as I, slights and contemns them? Or does he envy me my sins, and would engross them all unto himself?" And thus, with such carnal reasonings drawn from the evil examples and wicked lives of ministers, they sit hardened under their preaching; and account all they say, but as a lesson they must repeat, and a tale they must tell to get their living by. Certainly, such shall perish in their iniquities; but the blood of their souls God will require at your hands.
But, when a minister walks conscientiously and exemplarily before his flock, his doctrine gains a mighty advantage to work upon them, by his life. This is building up the Church of Christ with both hands; showing them both the equity and the easiness of that holiness, which he persuades them to, by his own practice. When he reproves, his reproofs break in upon the consciences of his hearers with conviction and authority; and, if they do not reform, yet at least they daunt and terrify them, and make them self-accused and self-condemned. "Here is one, that reproves me for sin, who believes it to be as evil as he represents it, by his own eschewing it. Here is one, that denounces wrath if I repent not, who doubtless believes it to be as terrible as he declares it, by his own carefulness to escape it." Certainly, preaching never comes with such power and energy into the conscience, as when the minister preaches as well by his works as by his word: and, to induce the people to it, is first obedient himself to the truths which he teaches them. Men are easier led by examples, than by precepts; for, though precepts are the more exact, yet examples are the more easy way of teaching: and he is a perfect workman, who joins both together; neither teaching what he will not do, nor doing what he dares not teach; and therefore it is observed of our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Teacher of his Church, that he began both to do and teach: Acts 1:1.
Now ministers must be exemplary, both in themselves, and in their families.
In Themselves, they must be blameless, as the stewards of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no strikers, not given to filthy lucre: lovers of hospitality, lovers of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; as the Apostle sums up their duties, Titus 1:7, 8. These are the things, which will give them a good report among those, which are without; and will recommend the doctrines and truths which they teach, to the acceptance and love of their very enemies, and the enemies of their holy profession.
They must likewise be exemplary in their Families: a Minister must rule well his own house; having his children in subjection, with all gravity: 1 Timothy 3:4.
And, because there are so many who are ready maliciously to asperse us, we must, by a serious and circumspect conversation, cut off all occasions from slanderous tongues; that they, who watch for our halting, may be ashamed when they can find nothing to reproach us with, save in the matter of our God.
But if any such there be, who speak like angels, but live like devils; who, when they are in the pulpit, it is pity they should ever come out, and when they are out, it is a great pity they should ever come into it again; who are heavenly lights in it, but hellish fire-brands out of it: would to God they would consider how they destroy the very end of their calling; and, instead of converting souls, do but harden them in their sins; making men abhor the offerings and ordinances of the Lord; putting arguments in their mouths to justify their continuance in their wickedness, or else prejudices in their hearts; causing them to depart and separate from holy institutions, because dispensed by profane and scandalous ministers. Let them pretend never so highly to uniformity and obedience; yet, certainly, these are the men, who have made all our Separatists, that now sadly rend our Church in pieces: for, when the sheep see a wolf set over them instead of a shepherd, no wonder if they run from him and scatter into other pastures. It is in vain for them to tell people, that they ought to be obedient to the laws of the Church, their Mother, when those, that tell them so, are not obedient to the laws of God, their Father.
And oh, that they would but consider, not only the damage which they do to the Church, of which too many of them seem zealous propugners; but the heavy woe and wrath, which they bring upon their own souls. Every sermon they study, they do but draw up a bill of indictment against themselves; and, every time they preach, they do but pronounce the sentence of their own damnation: and woe unto such pastors, when they, whom Christ has set over his sheep, shall themselves be found at the Last Day standing among the goats!
[2] Another great duty of Ministers is, a diligent and conscientious Employing of their Gifts and Talents.
They must be both able and willing to teach. They themselves must be well-grounded in the knowledge and doctrine of Christ: The priest's lips should preserve knowledge, and men should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts: Malachi 2:7. And, therefore, the Apostle rejects a novice; a raw, ignorant, and inexperienced person: for, if the blind lead the blind, both will be in danger of falling together into the ditch. And God himself tells such ignorant and foolish teachers, Hosea 4:6. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
And, as they, must be able to teach, so they must be diligent in teaching. A necessity is laid upon them: and woe unto them, if they preach not the Gospel; as the Apostle speaks, 1 Corinthians 9:16. They ought to be instant in season, and out of season: 2 Timothy 4:2. Preach the word: be instant, in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and doctrine. Not as if the Minister must be continually in the exercise of preaching, but he ought to preach in season, i. e. in the ordinary and stated times for it; and out of season, i. e. on extraordinary occasions, when the necessity or utility of the Church shall require it.
His doctrine ought to be,
1st. Sound: such, as cannot be condemned: Titus 2:1. Speak you the things, which become sound doctrine. It must have its authority, either from the express words of Scripture, or the analogy of faith rationally deduced from Scripture; for he, that preaches false doctrine inconsistent with these, does but mingle poison with his people's meat.
2dly. It must be profitable: not setting before them alien and unintelligible notions; or such thin airy speculations, as can scarce consist with sense, much less with divinity: for this is to give them wind instead of food. 2 Timothy 2:14. Charge them before the Lord, that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. And, Titus 3:8. These things I will that you affirm constantly; that they, which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
3dly. Their preaching must be plain, and suited to the capacity of their hearers, as much as can be without disgusting any: for he, that shall only disgorge and tumble out a heap of bombastic theatrical words, at which the people only stare, and gape, and wonder, preaches to them in an unknown tongue, although he speak English: and this is but to give them stones instead of bread.
4thly. Their preaching must be grave and solid, not slovenly and too much neglected; for that will but beget a nauseating in the hearers: nor yet too nicely and sprucely drest; for that will be apt to divert the attention from the matter to the phrase. Their Sermons ought to have a lovely and matron-like, not a gayish and meretricious attire. The truths they preach must be delivered in such words, as may adorn, but not hide nor bury them: such, as may rather recommend the doctrine to the confidences, than the are and rhetoric of the preacher to the ears and fancies of the hearers.
5thly. They ought to preach powerfully and with authority: 1 Timothy 4:11. These things command and teach. We come to the people in the name of God, and are his ambassadors; and therefore ought to deliver his message boldly, being sent to the people by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords: and those, who mince his errand, as if they were afraid to speak that, which God has given them in commission, shall, at their return unto him, receive the reward of treacherous and unfaithful messengers.
There are very many other duties, which cannot, without too much length, be particularly insisted on.
As Hospitality, according to the measure of their estates: 1 Timothy 3:2. They must be given to hospitality. And, Titus 1:8. They must be lovers of hospitality. And, therefore, they ought to be liberally and plentifully endowed, that they may make their table a snare in a good sense; and may get some to follow and observe them, though it be but for the loaves. And here it will be a good point of their wisdom, if they can handsomely make use of such opportunities, as we find our Savior did after he had miraculously fed the multitude, to break unto them the Bread of Life, and with their bodily nourishment to feed their souls.
Then, Gravity, in their discourse, and in all their converse. A minister should neither speak nor do anything, that is unseemly. Intemperate mirth, clamorous talk, scurrilous jestings, but especially the least syllable of an oath although it be never so much varied and disguised, in a minister's mouth, as it is wicked, so it is utterly unfitting the dignity of his profession, and renders him mean and contemptible.
Again. A pious and assiduous care in Visiting the Sick; who are certainly most capable of good advice and counsel then, although perhaps they have all their life-time before despised and refused it. You may possibly do more good by the sick bed, than in the pulpit: for death is a terrible and thundering preacher; and he must needs be a most forlorn and obdurate wretch, who will not listen to your admonitions, when the hopes of a long life, which made him formerly reject them, have forsaken him.
Again. Diligence in Catechizing and Instructing the Younger in the principles of faith and religion. Root them well at first, and they will continue stable ever after. This will save yourselves and your successors much labor afterwards: for, if once you can insinuate into their minds piety and verity, they will grow up to farther degrees of perfection in the ordinary course of your ministry; and be your comfort and rejoicing here, and your crown and glory hereafter.
There are many other duties necessary to the right discharge of the ministerial function: but these already mentioned shall suffice; and all others may be reduced to some of these.
I shall, therefore, conclude this with my earnest request, that you would ever seriously meditate upon that charge, which God gives the Prophet, and in him all ministers: Ezekiel 3:17, 18, 19. Son of man, I have made you a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked of his evil way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity: but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness … he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
2. The People's Duty towards their Minister is especially two-fold.
(1) Obedience: in being persuaded by his good advice and admonitions.
We have this most expressly commanded; Hebrews 13:17. Obey them that have the rule over you: that is, not only civil magistrates, and your rulers in state affairs, but ministers also; for so it is added, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give an account: that they may do it with joy, and not with grief. And they are called the elders, that rule well: 1 Timothy 5:17.
I know that this obedience to ministers is a duty so utterly forgotten in the practice of most men, that I doubt of some prejudice in them against these places of Scripture, by which it is so plainly enjoined. Alas, that ever Christ and his Apostle should invest us with such authority, which when we assume, we are looked upon by the people as almost as ridiculous for it, as if we had only a reed in our hands, and a crown of shame rather than of dignity put upon our heads; and are accounted of, rather as insolent usurpers upon their liberty, than as officers empowered by God himself! Sirs, we take to ourselves no power over you, but what God has by his patent and charter given us; and, when we propound to you the will of God revealed in his word, or in cases not so clearly determined therein do give our judgment as those who have found mercy to be accounted faithful, we do and may challenge your obedience to it, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, For we find, that, in those particular cases, wherein the Apostle had no express revelation from Christ; yet he prescribes to the Corinthians what he judges fit for them to do, and by that direction obliged their practice: not, indeed, simply and absolutely; yet so, that, in such circumstances as the Apostle supposes, they had sinned if they had done otherwise than he directed them. We desire not to lord it over God's inheritance, by any burdensome imposition of things, either unlawful, or in themselves unfit. But, when we require from you those things, which God himself has commanded; or, if not expressly commanded, yet which are, in the judgment of those to whom you owe obedience, thought convenient and lawful to be done; I know not how you can excuse yourselves from disobedience against God, if, in these cases, you be not obedient unto us. And, if you call this usurpation, and a taking too much upon us, you do but speak the language of Korah and his accomplices: Numbers 16:3 and shake not so much ours, as God's title and authority over you, who has given us this power and commission.
(2) Another duty of the People is to honor their Ministers as their Spiritual Fathers.
Yes, the Apostle speaks of a double honor, that is due to them: 1 Timothy 5:17. Let the elders, that rule well, be accounted worthy of double honor. All must have that honor given them, which is due to their function; but those, who rule the flock well, êáëùò, i. e. not barely commendably, but excellently, must have this honor doubled to them: and those, who not only thus rule, but excel others in teaching them likewise, must have this double honor doubled upon them; especially they, that labor in the word and doctrine.
This Double Honor is commonly taken, for the Honor of Reverence, and the Honor of Maintenance: and, perhaps, this place does most especially mean this latter, when it speaks of double honor. For this word ôéìç often signifies reward and maintenance; and is, in that sense, used in this very chapter, verse 3. ×çñáò ôéìá, ôáò ïõôùò ÷çñáò, Honor widows, i. e. Relieve widows, that are widows indeed.
And here, by the way, we may see how groundless their assertion is, who, from this place, establish an order new and unknown to the Church of God until of late, of Lay-Ruling Elders. For, if this text gives them any such authority, it gives them the double honor too; and so, consequently, by divine right they may challenge maintenance from the people, as well as the ministers themselves: nay, and if they rule well, a large and plentiful maintenance, double as much as may suffice others of their own rank and order; which honor when they shall challenge to themselves, as doubtless they may upon as good proof and evidence as the authority they pretend to, certainly their pastors will find greater reason to annihilate these creatures of their fancy and politic accommodation, than ever they had to forge them.
But, to return. We owe them,
[1] The honor of Reverence.
We ought to honor and esteem them, for their office and their work-sake. So, expressly, 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13. We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you … and to esteem them very highly in love, for their work's sake. And, again. Philippians 2:29. Receive him therefore, in the Lord, with all gladness; and hold such in reputation. And certainly they, who cast any contempt upon ministers, either by injurious actions or reviling speeches (as it is grown a common custom, to make them a by-word, a very scoff, and song of the drunkards) do not so much despise them, as Christ who sent them. He, that despises you, despises me, says our Savior: Luke 10:16. And God will not leave this sin unpunished; yes, he speaks of it as almost an unpardonable crime: 2 Chronicles 36:16. They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of God was against his people, and there was no remedy.
[2] They owe unto them the honor of Maintenance.
So, Galatians 6:6. Let him, that is taught in the word, communicate unto him that teaches, in all good things. And there is good reason for it: for, If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? says the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 9:11. What you give them is not a matter of bounty, and mere voluntary benevolence; and the minister, who so accounts or receives it, undervalues his authority, and wrongs his right: but it is your duty, and his due. He must have a competent and liberal maintenance, not stinted to the bare size of necessity; but it should be affluent: such, as may enable him to relieve the necessities of others, to provide comfortably for his own family, and to use hospitality in his house. This is his due; and he owes you no more thanks for tendering it, than you do him for receiving it. Not here to dispute the divine right of the tenth part, (which yet was not all that was due to the ministers under the Law, for they had a considerable accession by offerings and sacrifices:) I think it certain, that the encouragement of ministers under the Gospel should equal, if not exceed theirs, inasmuch as our labor is far greater, and our ministry more excellent, than theirs. But they, who think it fit to keep ministers poor and dependant, may well be suspected to do it in favor of their own vices: for how shall he dare to reprove them, who is afraid of losing part of his stipend, or the benefit of his patron's trencher? But while the gentleman in black must sit below the salt, and after dinner converse with the better sort of serving-men, there is no danger that he should be so audacious as to find faults; or, if he should, no great heed will be taken to what so despicable a thing as he can say.
Thus much, for the Duties of Ministers and People.
vi. The first head of Mutual Duties between SUPERIORS and INFERIORS, that I shall insist on, is, between those who differ in the gifts of Divine Bounty.
And these may be considered, either as the gifts of Special Grace, or of Common Providence. Of which briefly.
1. God does endow some with an excellent measure of Sanctifying Grace; and is pleased to show the world, by a few rare and choice instances, how wonderfully he can sublime our corrupted nature, and how near he can exalt human frailty to an angelical perfection.
This, indeed, is the most excellent of all his gifts; and that, which we ought most earnestly to covet and desire: for, although other gifts, as knowledge, wisdom, power, etc. do, in some imperfect manner, assimilate us unto God; yet sanctity and holiness does far transcend all these: both because it stamps upon us the resemblance of the Divine Nature, in that attribute which is its greatest glory (whence God assumes it to his style, that he is glorious in holiness); and, likewise, because God has highly honored it, and given it the dignity and prerogative to be the only means of bringing us to the complete and eternal fruition of our felicity.
(1) Now those, whom God has thus blessed with an eminent degree of this his best gift, ought,
[1] To beware that they do not secretly despise their weaker brethren in their hearts; nor, with a censorious austerity, reject those, whom God has received.
It is often seen, that fellow-servants are more inexorable each to other, than their common Lord and Master; and that those errors and infirmities, which are rather the slips of incogitancy, than the products of a resolved will, can hardly obtain pardon among men, though God has forgiven and forgotten them. Now this arises from a spiritual pride, which makes us envious towards those who excel us, and scornful towards those who fall short: for when men grow conceited of their own excellencies and attainments, they will be ready to condemn other men's duties as formal hypocrisy, and their sins as total apostasy: they will mistake the smoking flax for a reeking dunghill; and be forward imperiously to cast them out of God's family, though themselves were but lately received into it out of mere charity.
Certainly, this is a spirit (though it too much prevails in this broken and shattered age, wherein every one thinks so much the better of himself, by how much the worse he thinks of others; yet this I say is a spirit) utterly unfitting the sweetness and mildness of the Gospel, which teaches us to be meek and gentle, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. It would better become you, O Christian, not to observe other men's falls, but to look to your own standing: You stand by faith, be not high minded, but fear: Romans 11:20. It is the worst way, that so excellent a thing as divine grace can be perverted, when it makes you proud and censorious.
For my part, I should much more confide in the security of an humble soul, that creeps along to Heaven, though with a slow, yet an even pace, than in the ecstatic zeal and fervor of such, who perhaps far outstrip others, but also despise them. For the one is still pressing forward, and regards with admiration those who excel: but the other is often looking back with disdain upon those, who are slower than himself; and, while he minds not so much his way as the advances he has made, offers many advantages to the Devil to trip him up, and give him many a sore and shameful fall.
And, therefore, O Christian, the more eminent your graces are, the more need have you to pray and strive for humility. The tallest cedars had need have the deepest roots, otherwise the storms and winds will easily overturn them: so, truly, the higher any grow, the more they spread and flourish, being like the cedars of God, beautiful in their leaves and plentiful in their sap, the more need have they to be deeply rooted in humility; or else, believe it, the wind and tempest of temptations, to which they stand more exposed than others, will not only sorely shake them, but utterly overturn them: when those, whom they shall despise as mean shrubs, shall stand secure; and, with a tender pity, weep over their fall.
[2] Another duty of such as are eminent in grace, is, to improve it to the benefit and advantage of others.
God has given you a larger portion, that you should be helpful to your brethren. The stock of grace which he has offered you, is not only that you yourself should live well upon it, but it was intended for the relief and comfort of the whole family.
Has God endowed you with a clear and distinct knowledge of the mysteries of the Gospel? Know, that this lamp was lighted up in you, that you should give light unto others: that you should diffuse and scatter abroad its rays round about you; to inform the ignorant, guide the doubting, confirm the wavering, resolve the scrupulous, reduce the erroneous, and convince the malicious opposers of the truth. This is not the Minister's duty only, though more eminently and especially his; but it is the duty of every private Christian, whom God has blessed with a large measure of true knowledge more than others, still keeping within his due bounds and limits.
Or, has the Holy Spirit kindled in your breast a flame of divine affection? And is it not to this end, that you should breath warmth into the languishing desires of others; and, by holy conferences and spiritual discourses, illustrating the beauty of holiness, the excellency of true piety in itself, and the rewards which it brings after it, apply your heavenly fire unto their chill and freezing hearts, until you have enkindled them too, and set them on a flame, that so both together might burn with vigorous love towards God and his Christ?
Or, has God exercised you with grievous trials and violent temptations? Wherefore is it, but that you should the better know how to support those, that are tempted; and, by your own experiences, counsel and comfort those, who are ready to sink under their load, which not only the weight, but the unusualness makes the more intolerable? For the greatest accent and emphasis, that such do usually put upon their miseries, is, that never any before were so severely afflicted, never any before were so violently assaulted. Let them know, that no temptation has befallen them, but what is common unto men; and that you yourself have come triumphantly from under the like. Expound to them the depths and methods of Satan: unravel his wiles and subtleties: stretch out the entangled folds of that old and crooked serpent: for, therefore has God comforted you in all your tribulations, that you might be able to comfort them who are troubled, with the same comforts by which yourselves have been comforted of God; as the Apostle speaks, 2 Corinthians 1:4.
Or, if you are not so fit either for instruction or counsel; yet, at least, let your graces be beneficial unto others, by a holy and exemplary conversation. If your graces cannot shine through your gifts; yet, at least, let them shine through your life, that others, seeing your good works, may give glory to your Heavenly Father. And, therefore, never complain that you can not honor God in so noble a way, as others; that you can not speak nor plead for him, as others do. If you live to him, you plead for him: for, certainly, a holy life is a much better commendation of holiness, than all the elaborate encomiums of are and rhetoric.
These are the duties of those, that excel in Grace.
(2) As for others, their duty is,
[1] Highly to love and esteem those, whose graces are more eminent and conspicuous.
God is the comprehensive and ultimate object of our love and veneration; and, therefore, the nearer any creature approaches to the similitude of God, the more ought we to esteem and prize it. Now God is not more lively represented in anything, than in the holiness of his saints. This is the most perfect portraiture and image of him, who has styled himself the Holy One of Israel. They are begotten of God, made partakers of the Divine Nature, and conformed unto his image: and, therefore, as we would adore this glorious attribute of God in its infinite original, so we ought to esteem and venerate it in those happy souls, to whom God has communicated some rays and strictures of it. Every one, that loves him that begat, loves him also, that is begotten of him, says the Apostle, 1 John 5:1 because of the likeness he bears to his Heavenly Father: and the more express this resemblance is, the more intense and the more endearing should our affections be. We ought to associate with them; to make them our bosom friends, our confidants, and our companions: our delight should be in the saints, and in the excellent ones of the earth, as David professes his to have been, Psalm 16:3.
[2] Another duty is, imitation of their holy examples; and following of them, wherein they follow the Lord Christ.
If you see others far outstrip you, mend your pace, endeavor to overtake them, tread in the same steps, and do your very utmost to keep even with them: envy not their graces, but be sure to emulate them.
Indeed, some there are, who, that they might not seem to be behind the best, prove hindrances and pull-backs to them, lest the forwardness of their zeal and piety should be a reproach to their own sloth: like truants at school, who, lest their fellows should get too much before them, do what they can to entice them from their books. But this is a most wicked envy, and the root of it is pride and laziness.
But a holy emulation never repines at, nor hinders the proficiency of others: it rather would, by all means, promote it; but only it will put us upon endeavors to be as forward as any. It will not be a curb to them, but a spur to us. And such an emulation as this, every true Christian should highly cherish. For the shame of being outstript, is as great an incentive, as any that can be given unto virtue. Christians are like a company of men running in a race every one should strive, and strain every nerve and sinew to be first at the goal; the first, that should lay hold on the prize and reward.
And, here, be sure you set your pattern right. Take not the most noisy and airy Christians, who glory in talk and censures. Take not one, who has an affectation of being religious after a new mode and fashion. Take not one, who seeks to raise a fame for piety only, by decrying or condemning this or that form of profession; and who, if there were no differences among us, would lose very much of his reputation for sanctity: for these are only torrents, that run with a violent stream; but they are shallow, and we know not how soon they may grow dry, and deceive the hopes of those who come to refresh themselves at them. But propound those to yourselves for examples, who are of fixed principles and sober practices; who are grave and solid, and, in all the duties that belong to a Christian-Conversation, labor to do them substantially rather than ostentatiously; that live within God and themselves; that have deep thoughts and solid expressions of them, and whose actions are suitable and correspondent to both. Such an one is the Christian indeed; and such, for some such there are, I recommend to you for your imitation. And yet there is no man, that walks so uprightly, but that sometimes he steps awry. And, therefore, be not led by a blind and implicit adherence to them, but continually eye the rule; and, wherein soever they forsake that, be they Apostles, yes, or if it were possible, even Angels themselves, therein forsake them.
And, thus much, for the Mutual Duties of Superiors and Inferiors, in respect of Grace.
2. Let us next consider them, in respect of the gifts of God's Common Bounty, which he promiscuously distributes both to the good and to the bad. I shall but briefly mention them unto you.
God's gifts of Providence may respect either their Persons or else their Outward Estate.
Those, which respect the Person, are either gifts of the Mind or of the Body.
(1) Those, who excel in Gifts of the Mind, in knowledge, and wisdom, and parts, a profound judgment, or a winning elocution, etc. they ought to improve these to the good and advantage of others: not as Ahithophel did his politic counsel, or Tertullus his flattering oratory, to oppress right and equity; but to guide and advise, for the benefit of mankind, and the glory of God.
For these gifts, though they are not sanctifying, yet may be very serviceable to the Church. Hiram, though he were a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, yet provided many excellent materials for the building of the Temple. So God does, many times, embellish those who are strangers to him, with many admirable ornaments of understanding and learning; and makes use of the materials, which they have prepared and laid in, for the edification of his Church. And, as Noah employed many to build his ark, who were themselves overwhelmed in the deluge; so God, many times, employs such as these to build his ark the Church, who yet may at last be swept away with the deluge of his wrath, and drowned in perdition.
These, though they should possess such gifts without any sanctifying and saving grace, yet are they very considerable men; and our duty is to esteem and reverence them, to love their excellencies, and to encourage their labors, to praise God for them, and pray for an increase of their gifts. How much more then, when their natural and acquired endowments are conjoined with sanctifying grace; and the love of the truth does as much possess their hearts, as the knowledge of it does their heads! It is a sordid baseness, to detract from any man's worth, or extenuate his abilities, by some slanderous buts and exceptions; which is the disingenuous practice of many, who think all that added to their own praise, which they thus nibble away from another man's.
(2) Another superiority, which God has granted some over others, is that of Old Age, which is of itself reverend and awful; and we ought to give that due respect unto it, which both Nature and the Law of God requires: Leviticus 19:32. You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear your God. God has put a signal honor upon it, by styling himself the Ancient of Days: Daniel 7:9 and he threatens it as a great judgment upon a people, Isaiah 3:5 that the children shall behave themselves proudly against the ancients. We read how severely a scorn, cast upon an aged prophet, was revenged on those children, which mocked his baldness. A reverend awe before them is not only a point of manners, but part of a moral and express duty; and therefore it is said of Elihu, Job 32:4 that he waited until Job had spoken, because they were elder than he: and, verse 6 he says, I am young, and you are very old: wherefore I was afraid, and dared not show you my opinion.
And, if such respect and reverence be due unto them from others, they ought chiefly to reverence themselves; and, by grave, and prudent, and holy actions, to put a crown of glory upon their own gray heads. They ought not to be vain and light in their converse; nor children of a hundred years old; nor, by the folly and wickedness of their lives, expose themselves to that contempt, which will certainly be cast upon them, where age is not accompanied with gravity and prudence. And therefore we find it, Proverbs 16:31. The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness: otherwise, instead of being a glory, it is but a double shame and reproach.
(3) There is another sort of the gifts of common Providence, wherein some excel others, and that is, Riches and Honor.
These the Scripture calls Fathers. Nabal, although he were a fool and a churl; yet David, in his messages to him, does implicitly call him Father: 1 Samuel 25:8. Give, I pray you, whatever comes to your hand unto your servants, and to your son David.
Their duty is to be humble towards their inferiors, knowing that they are only external goods, and those the least considerable of all the stores of God's blessings, that make them to differ from others: and to communicate to the relief of others necessities, that they may be rich in good works, and make themselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when they fail they may be received into everlasting habitations; for he, that is rich only in hoarding and keeping up his store, is no better to be accounted of, than the base earth, which locks up more treasures in its affections, than they can in their chests.
And their inferiors' duty, is, to pay them all due respects, according to what God has bestowed upon them; to acknowledge the riches of God, in making them rich; and to endeavor promote, so far as in them lies, the spiritual good of their souls, that they may not be rich here and undone eternally. For a rich man may be more universally instrumental, either of good or evil, than others can: and, therefore, to win such an one to the faith, or to preserve him stable in it, is a most charitable work; not only to their souls in particular, but to the Church of Christ, the affairs of which may be much advanced by such a man's wealth and interest.
And, so much, for this last relation between Inferiors and Superiors, in the Gifts of God's especial Grace or common Bounty.
Thus I have, at last, gone through the mutual duties of many relations; some natural, some civil, some ecclesiastical, and some œconomical: I know not with what acceptance or success.
Possibly, some may think these things too mean and trivial to be so long insisted on. But, let me tell such, that Relative Duties, as they are the most difficult of all others to perform, so they are the best trials of true Christianity and the power of Godliness. He, that endeavors not to walk closely with God in these, let his notions and profession be never so lofty and sublime, it will be no uncharitableness at all to judge, that all his pomp is but a mere form of godliness, and a hypocritical ostentation.
Let me exhort you, therefore, in the fear of God, that you would be much in pondering these things. There needs no great labor, to understand them, nor to find out mysteries and concealed depths in them. It is true, they are plain; but they are of daily use: and it is but requisite, that we should not be long understanding what we are continually to practice.
Let me subjoin but one General Rule to this, and I have done with it: and that is, That, IN ALL THERE MUTUAL DUTIES, IT IS NO EXCUSE, FOR THE ONE PARTY TO FAIL OF THE MOST CONSCIENTIOUS AND CAREFUL PERFORMANCE OF WHAT BELONGS TO HIM, BECAUSE THE OTHER DOES SO. For, certainly, another man's sin cannot excuse mine: and God has bound us in duty, not only to one another, but all of us unto himself. And, therefore, although they may break their obligations and covenants, yet that does not take off our obligation. Should the father be careless of and cruel to his child; yet this does not at all exempt him from paying duty and obedience unto his father. Should a master be tyrannical over his servant; yet the servant's duty remains still stated and unaltered, to reverence, fear, and obey him. Should a minister be careless of the flock committed to his charge; yet his people are still bound to give him respect and honor, in regard of his office. Should a magistrate tyrannize over his subjects; yet still they are to own him, and obey his commands in all lawful things. For mal-administration of any office or any authority, cannot countenance and excuse want of duty in inferiors. Still we are as carefully to perform what God has required, as if they were the best parents, or magistrates, or masters in the world: and, if there be any wrong done or defect on their part, we must leave it to him, to reward our conscientious obedience, and to punish their willful offences. And so, likewise, it is incumbent upon superiors to perform their duties faithfully and conscientiously toward their inferiors, be they never so perverse, ungrateful, or rebellious; for their faults cannot excuse our neglects.
And, thus much, for this large and comprehensive Precept, Honor your Father and your Mother.
II. To the precept is added the PROMISE, as a motive and encouragement to obedience: That your days may be long in the land, which the Lord your God gives you. And this promise God's faithfulness stands engaged to fulfill, to all, that are dutiful and obedient.
Here we may observe, that, whereas the free and genuine administration of the Gospel promises eternal life and the joys and glories of Heaven to believers, the old Law runs generally upon earthly and temporal blessings; and, among them, insists frequently upon length of days and a happy and prosperous life, as the chief blessing and highest expectation of human nature: which must not be so understood, as if the promises of the Law were only for these beggarly and terrene concernments; but because this procedure was more suitable to the whole system of that pædagogy, wherein God thought fit to discipline them by types, and to lead them unto the sun by shadows. Therefore, as he allayed his own spiritual worship with the mixture of very many external rites and pompous observances; so he propounded, likewise their eternal rewards unto them, by temporal and earthly promises: and, by both, attempered their religion unto their estate of infancy; bringing it down, as much as possible, to the verdict of sense; reserving the manly and heroic duties of believing his word without a pawn, to the more grown ages of the Church.
But, however, although these promises made to the Jews were thus typical; yet these figures were not altogether so figurative, as not to be properly understood and fulfilled. Though Heaven were typified by Canaan; yet God's veracity would have suffered, if he had brought them to Heaven, the True Land of Promise, and not given them their inheritance in the earthly Canaan. So, likewise, that God might be true to his promise, it is not enough that he rewards the obedient with eternal life; but his faithfulness stands obliged to prolong their temporal life, to such a duration, as may be fit at least to make a type of the everlasting rest.
Neither does the more spiritual dispensation of the Gospel look upon this blessing of long life, as a thing below its cognizance; but propounds it as a promise of moment, though it be now divested of its typical use, and stands for no more than itself signifies. And, therefore, we find that the Apostle puts a value upon this Fifth Commandment on this very reason, that it is the first with promise: Ephesians 6:2, 3. And Peter, at large, transcribes that passage of Psalm 34. What man is he who desires to live, and loves many days? Let him depart from evil, and do good, etc. And Paul tells us, that godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of this life, and of that which is to come. And what is there, that can concern this life, more than life itself? God's faithfulness is, therefore, obliged by promise, to lengthen out a holy and obedient life.
Nor will it be very hard to vindicate his faithfulness, in the performance of this promise. Although God suffer many to grow old in their sins, whose youth began their course of wickedness with rebellion against their parents, and who continue, to their decrepit days, their impieties and rebellions against God: when as, early towardliness and piety are generally looked upon as mortal symptoms; and God seems especially to shorten their days, to whom he here promises a long life. For, since this present life is nothing else but a tendency and preparative unto eternity; neither it nor anything in it can be called good, but only as it relates to our eternal state. And, therefore, all promises of earthly blessings must necesarily imply this condition, that they shall be literally fulfilled unto us, if they may promote our eternal happiness; otherwise, they would not be promises, but threatenings; and that, which we apprehend a blessing, would indeed prove no other to us than a snare and curse. We may boldly challenge long life, when all the circumstances of it will tend to our everlasting welfare. But God, who knows how frail and yielding the best of us are, and in the series of his Divine Providence sees what prevailing temptations we shall be exposed unto, does oftentimes, in mercy, abridge this promise; and takes us from the world, lest the world should take us from him; and deals with us, as princes deal with duelists, they make them prisoners, that they might preserve them: so God, that he might preserve his people from their great enemy, commits them to safe custody of the grave. And, if this be to be unfaithful, certainly his faithfulness would be nothing else but an are to circumvent and undo us; should he, only to keep that inviolate, perform those promises, which would be to our hurt and detriment. Nor, indeed, can any man, whom God has blessed with a right judgment and due esteem of things, be willing to compound for the continuance of this present life, with the hazard or diminution of his future happiness.
Thus much, for the explication of the Fifth Commandment.
THE
SIXTH COMMANDMENT
You Shall not kill
The Commandments of the Second Table do all of them immediately respect that duty, which we owe unto men: whom we may consider, either as under some peculiar differences, or else in their common nature.
We have already spoken concerning the duties that belong unto them under the first acception; as they are differenced into Superiors and Inferiors.
There are other duties, which appertain universally unto all, under what difference soever they may be considered; whether they be Superiors or Inferiors, or Equals among themselves: and these are contained in the Five following Precepts: all which concern our neighbor, either in his Person, or in his Exterior Gifts of Wealth or Good Name.
His Person is to be considered, either naturally or mystically.
Naturally, as he is this individual man: and so, the Sixth Commandment provides for his security: You shall not kill.
Mystically, as he is in the state of Marriage; which, of two, makes up one mystical person: and so care is taken for him in the Seventh: You shall not commit abultery.
If we consider him in his External Gifts, so his Estate and Substance is safeguarded by the Eighth Commandment: You shall not steal.
His Reputation and Good Name, by the Ninth: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
And, as a strong fence set about him, and also about the other laws, that neither of them be violated, God has not only prohibited the outward acts of gross and flagitious crimes, but the inward, and lurking motions unto evil, in our Thoughts and Affections; and this, in the Tenth Commandment: You shall not cobet.
I shall begin with the First of these; which takes care for the Security and Indemnity of our Persons: You shall not kill.
I. And this forbids that barbarous and inhuman sin of MURDER, that first-born of the Devil, who was a murderer from the beginning; the first branded crime that we read of: wherein natural corruption, contracted by the Fall, vented its rancor and virulence; the sin of Cain, that great instance of perdition, who slew his brother Abel.… because his brother's works were righteous, and his own evil.
Neither does this Precept confine itself only to forbid the actual sin of murder; but all degrees and all causes of it: as hatred, and rash anger, revenge, and slanders, and false accusations, and whatever may prejudice the safety of our neighbor, or tempt us to see him perish, when it is in our power to rescue and relieve him.
Some old heretics extended the sense of this prohibition, You shall not kill, even unto brute creatures themselves; holding it unlawful to slay any of them for the use and service of our life. Possibly, indeed, unmercifulness even towards them, and a cruel tormenting of them, not to satisfy our occasions and necessities, but our unreasonable passions, may be reducible as a sin against this Commandment; for all acts of cruelty are so: but, simply to kill them for our necessity, cannot. God, the Universal Lord both of them and us, has granted us this prerogative in our charter, to have the power of life and death over them: Genesis 9:3. Every moving thing, that lives, shall be meat for you. And, doubtless, we may put them to any kind of death, that the necessity, either of our food or physic, will require. This killing, therefore, forbidden in the text, refers only unto men, like ourselves; and, therefore, it is very properly rendered by others, You shall do no murder.
1. Yet, NEITHER IS EVERY KILLING OF A MAN MURDER: for there are several cases, wherein, although one kill another, yet he is no murderer: as
1. In the Execution of Justice.
Magistrates, and such as have lawful power and authority may and ought to put capital offenders to death; and, if they do not, God will charge it upon them as their sin. It is an ancient law upon record, Genesis 9:6. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: as if there were no other way for expiation, no other method to wash away the stain and guilt of blood; but only by his, who unjustly spilt it. And, again, Deuteronomy 19:21. Your eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life. And, indeed, if we rightly consider it, this is not to butcher up mankind, but to preserve them. God has commanded magistrates to kill, that he might prevent murder: for our nature is so extremely corrupt, that there is no other effectual way to hinder us from killing, but by enjoining the magistrates to do it. And, therefore, as physicians, in cases of violent and immoderate bleeding, do often open a vein in another part of the body, as the best method to stop it, by revulsion; so, when the body politic bleeds by private rage and revenge, gushing out into murders, the way to stop this blood, is, to shed blood.
Neither does our Savior's command, not to resist evil, Matthew 5:39, gainsay this legal and punitive way of blood-shedding. For those words do only forbid private revenge; not public. We must not be judges in our own causes; nor, when we apprehend ourselves wronged, carve out to ourselves what measures of revenge our wrath and fury shall dictate. We, who have no authority nor commission, ought not to take life for life, nor eye for eye, nor tooth for tooth, much less, life for an injurious word, or an idle quarrel. We must not repay, with the least revenge, those, who have done us the greatest wrongs: in which sense, we must not resist evil; but, if we have in anything suffered wrong, we ought to bring all our causes and complaints to the magistrate; for into his hands has God put the sword of justice: Romans 13:4.
Revenge is so sacred a thing, that none ought to intermeddle with it, but those, whom God has appointed: for he has solemnly ascribed it to himself: Hebrews 10:30. Vengeance belongs unto me: I will recompense, says the Lord. And he has constituted the magistrate, as his deputy, in this work and office; and therefore he only ought to revenge, by punishment proportionable to the nature of the crimes committed.
So that, to speak properly, it is only God, and not man, that sheds the blood of wicked persons. The magistrate receives his commission from God, and does it as his minister and servant; yes, and in doing it, is so far from doing a cruel and unjust act, an act that will either pollute his hands or stain his conscience, that it makes him the more holy and pure. And, therefore, when Moses called the Levites to slay those idolaters that had worshiped the golden calf, he speaks of it as a holy function: Exodus. 32:29, Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord; even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
2. There may be bloodshed in a Just and Lawful War, without the charge or crime of murder.
Indeed we are commanded to follow peace with all men; and, as much as lies in us, and if possible, to have peace with all men: Romans 12:18. But sometimes, through the ambition and turbulent spirits of others, through their politic designs of picking unjust quarrels, it may be no longer possible to maintain peace; and, in this case, where we have right and equity on our side, it is lawful to wage war. I speak not now of private differences between person and person; but of public, between nation and nation: in which case, the supreme magistrate has the power of making war and proclaiming peace.
There are some, who decry this assertion; and think it contrary to the temper of a Christian, who is a son of peace, to be a man of war. I confess, there is nothing, that can justify war against another nation, but either,
(1) Necessary Defense against an Unjust Invasion. Or,
(2) Recovery of what is unjustly taken away. Thus David, pursued the Amalekites, who had carried his wives away captives. Or,
(3) The Punishing of some great Injury and Wrong. Thus David, likewise, wars against the Ammonites, for the contumelious usage of his ambassadors.
But, where the cause is just, the manner in which we prosecute it warrantable, the authority which engages us in it being rightly constituted over us, I see nothing, but that it is very fit, when it is very necessary, to take up arms, and in a public war to right ourselves upon injurious enemies. For, as there may be many wrongs done by one party against another, who must be judged by the law common to them both: so there may be many wrongs done by one nation against another, which if they will not consent to redress, there being no common magistrate, nor common law over them both, (except the Law and Right of Nations, of which the more powerful usually make little account;) in this case, certainly, the injured may very justly have recourse to war: for, what law is to persons of the same nation, that war is to persons of a different nation.
We read that among those many penitents that came to John the Baptist for instruction, when soldiers also came, he did not bid them lay down their arms or their commission. He preached not to them, Fight no more; Kill no man; but gave them directions how they should demean themselves in their calling: which he would not have done, if he had thought their calling itself unlawful. He bids them Do no violence: accuse no man falsely: but be content with your pay, or wages: Luke 3:14.
Neither did our Savior, when he so highly commended the Centurion for his faith, rebuke him for his profession; but extolled him for taking the ground and argument of his faith from his military calling: Luke 7:8. I am a man under authority, having under me soldiers; and I say unto one, Go, and he goes; and, to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. This very calling of his he urges Christ with, and makes it an argument to strengthen his faith: that, certainly Christ was able to cure his sick servant; because, if he who was but a captain had such authority over his soldiers as to command them to come and to go at his word, how much more absolute power had Jesus as Lord both of Life and Death, over all bodily diseases to command them to come and go at his pleasure! This I take to be the force and reason of his words. Upon which Christ gives him this large testimonial and encomium: verse 9. When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people.… I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
But, not to multiply more instances, that one place may seem fully convincing and satisfactory, John 18:36. When Christ was examined concerning his kingdom, he answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: which clearly implies, that, although wars and fightings were not proper means to advance the spiritual nature of the kingdom of Christ; yet, if the methods of his humiliation had permitted him to assume the royal scepter, his servants and followers might lawfully have fought to defend his claim and title. But enough of this.
3. A man may shed blood in the Necessary Defense of his Person, without being guilty of murder, when he is suddenly assaulted by those who attempt to take away his life, and has no other means left him to secure it. In this case, there being no possibility of having recourse to a magistrate for protection, every man is a magistrate to himself.
But here, because all cases of blood are tender, let me caution you, that it is not enough that the danger be impending, but it must be instant and present; such, wherein a man's life is in all probability lost, if he does not stand upon his defense. For in dangers, that are only threatened and approaching, we ought to trust Providence; and to use our best diligence to work our escape from them. But, if the assault be sudden, and no way of escape visible, we may lawfully take away the life of him, who unjustly seeks to take ours; for this is not a design to kill him, but to preserve ourselves.
Yes, we find, Exodus. 22:2 that God allows the killing of a thief, if he break into a man's house by night; but not so, if he attempt it by day. And, possibly, the reason of this law might be, because when any comes upon another in the night, it might be presumed that he takes the advantage of the darkness, not only to steal his goods, but to mischief his person: and, therefore, God allows it as lawful to kill such an one, as a part of necessary defense. From which I think we may safely conclude, that it is lawful also to kill those, who attempt upon our goods, when we have reason to fear they may likewise design upon our persons.
4. There is yet one case more, and that is Accidental Blood-shedding, which is not chargeable with murder; when blood is shed, without any intention or purpose of doing it.
Such a case we find mentioned in Scripture: as when, in hewing of wood from a tree, the axe should slip, and by chance kill a man's neighbor: Deut 19:5. And, therefore, for such innocent manslayers, God himself appointed Cities of Refuge, that they might fly unto them, and be safe from the avenger of blood.
But, here, we must look to it, that we be employed about lawful things: otherwise if we be doing that, which is unjustifiable, which accidentally proves to be the death of another, this cannot be excused from murder: and I am sure God exacts the same punishment for it. And therefore it is said, Exodus. 21:22 that if men strive among themselves, and hurt a woman that she die, though it was not intended by them; yet life shall go for life, because their strife and contention between themselves is an unlawful action.
There ought also to be a due care taken, to avoid any mischief, that may happen upon doing of a lawful action; by giving notice to those, who come in the way of danger, and forbearing to do it while they are there.
But, in all cases where the death of another is intended, let it be upon never such violent and sudden a passion, although there were no prepensed and rancouring malice borne towards them before, however our laws may be too favorable to it and call it manslaughter; yet, doubtless, it is, in conscience and in the sight of God, willful murder. For the manslayer, whom the Scripture mentions distinct from the murderer, is only he, who slays his neighbor accidentally; not designing nor intending him any harm. This is the only manslaughter; which our law is pleased to call Chance Medley: and whatever is not this, is murder, and ought as such to be punished.
ii. MURDER MAY BE EITHER OF A MAN'S SELF OR OF ANOTHER. Both of them are most black and heinous crimes.
1. As for Self-Murder, many of the ancient heathens thought it the most heroic and gallant way of dying, and would have recourse unto it upon very slight occasions; accounting it an universal remedy, that nature had put into their hands, to rid themselves of any trouble, which they were reluctant to bear.
Yet some, even among the heathens, have, very sharply as well as justly, taxed this wicked custom: among whom, that saying of Aristotle, in his Ethics, is very considerable: "For a man to die, only that he may avoid poverty or crosses, is not gallantry, but mere cowardice; and declares, that he wants courage to encounter them." In which particular, this heathen had a better illumination than the author of the book of Maccabees; who very unworthily commends one Razis, a Jew, for choosing rather to destroy himself, than yield to his enemy. Which passage, besides divers others, do evidently prove those books not to belong to the Canon of Scriptures; but deserve to be called, as they are, Apocryphal.
And, truly, Self-Murder, next to the unpardonable sin against the Holy Spirit, is, I think, the most dangerous and most desperate, that can be committed: and, because it leaves so little room for repentance, it leaves but very little for hope and charity. Those wretched creatures, whom God has so far abandoned as to permit them to fall into this horrid crime, had they but any the least care of their eternal salvation, they would certainly tremble, when they are offering violence to themselves; considering, that they must instantly appear before God, and lift up those hands at his great tribunal, which they but a minute before embrued in their own blood. It is a sin, which when the Devil tempts men unto, he cannot make use of his most prevailing wile and stratagem: for, when he tempts to other sins, he still drills on the sinner with hopes of living to repent and reform, and promises him mercy and forgiveness; but this of Self-Murder precludes all such hopes and expectations: for they die in their sins; yes, their death is their sin: and what a forlorn estate are they in, who resolve that their last act shall be a damnable sin! These are self-murderers to purpose; and destroy not only their bodies, but their souls too.
Consider, again, that it is a sin committed against the very standard and rule of our love to others: for God has commanded us to love others as ourselves; and, therefore, as we may not murder another, so much less may we murder ourselves. And those, who are hurried to this impious act, as they do actually destroy themselves, so they do virtually and interpretatively murder and destroy the whole world; and are as guilty before God, as if, together with themselves, they had murdered their parents, their children, their nearest relations, and all mankind besides: and that, because they destroy that fundamental law, which should regulate their love to their neighbors; and which is the stated rule, according to which they should endeavor after their welfare and preservation.
And, therefore, if ever the Devil work upon your melancholy and discontented pride, to tempt you to this damnable and almost unpardonable sin, be sure to collect all your strength unto you; and, with infinite abhorrence of it, command him to avoid. Let not any shame, or poverty, or horrors of conscience, fasten this hellish temptation upon you: for, know assuredly, that, if you hearkenest unto them and put them in execution, there is no probability, but that you must pass from temporal sufferings to eternal torments; which, be your condition in this life never so deplorable and wretched, you have no reason to hasten, but will, in Hell, think that they came too soon upon you.
2. The Murdering of Another, is a most heinous and black sin; a sin, that God does usually, by some wonderful method of his Providence, detect, and bring to punishment: and which dogs the consciences of those who are guilty of it, with horrid affrights and terrors; and has sometimes extorted from them a confession of it, when there has been no other proof nor evidence.
The two greatest sinners, that the Scripture has set the blackest brand upon, were both murderers; Cain and Judas: the one, the murderer of his brother; the other, first of his Lord and Master, and then of himself.
And God so infinitely hates and detests it, that, although the altar were a refuge for other offenders, yet he would not have a murderer sheltered there: but he was to be dragged from that unviolable sanctuary unto execution; according to that law, Exodus. 21:14. If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, and slay him with deceit; you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. And, accordingly we read, 1 Kings 2:30, 31 that when Joab had fled, and taken hold on the horns of the altar, so that the messengers, who were sent to put him to death, dared not violate that holy place by shedding his blood, Solomon gives command to have him slain even there, as if the blood of a willful murderer were a very acceptable sacrifice offered up unto God.
And, indeed, in the first prohibition of murder that we meet withal, God subjoins a very weighty reason why it should be so odious unto him: Genesis 9:6. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. So that Homicidium est Deicidium: "to slaughter a man, it is to stab God in effigy:" for, though the image of God's holiness and purity be totally defaced in us since the Fall; yet still every man, even the most wicked and impious that lives, bears some strictures of the image of God in his intellectuals, the freedom of his will, and his dominion over the creatures: and God will have every part of his image so revered by us, that he, who assaults man, is esteemed by him, as one who attempts to assassinate God himself.
This of murder is a crying sin. Blood is loud and clamorous. The first, that ever was shed, was heard as far as from earth to Heaven: Genesis 4:10. The voice of your brother's blood cries unto me from the ground. And God will certainly hear its cry, and avenge it.
3. But, not only he, whose hands are embrued in the blood of others; but those also, who are Accessory, are guilty of Murder. As,
(1) Those, who command or counsel it to be done.
Thus David became guilty of the murder of innocent Uriah; and God, in drawing up his charge, accuses him with it; 2 Samuel 12:9. You have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
(2) Those, who consent to murder, are guilty of it.
Thus Pilate, for yielding to the clamorous outcries of the Jews, Crucify him, Crucify him, though he washed his hands and disavowed the fact; yet was as much guilty, as those, who nailed him to the cross.
(3) He, that conceals a murder, is guilty of it.
And therefore we read, Deut 21:6, 7 that, in case a man were found slain and the murderer unknown, the elders of that city were to assemble, and wash their hands, and protest, that they had not shed this blood, neither had their eyes seen it: intimating, that, if they had seen and concealed it, they had thereby become guilty of the murder.
(4) Those, who are in authority, and do not punish a murder, when committed and known, are themselves guilty of it.
Thus, when, by the wicked artifice of Jezebel, Naboth was condemned to die, although Ahab knew nothing of the contrivance until after the execution; yet, because he did not vindicate that innocent blood when he came to the knowledge of it, the Prophet charges it upon him: 1 Kings 21:19. Have you killed, and also taken possession? The guilt lay upon him, and the punishment due to it overtook him; although we do not read, that he was any otherwise guilty of it, than in not punishing those who had committed it.
And those magistrates, who, upon any respect whatever, suffer a murder to escape unpunished, are said to pollute the land with blood: Numbers 35:31, 33. You shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer … but he shall be surely put to death. So shall you not pollute the land wherein you are; for blood defiles the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
II. But in this Commandment, not only the perpetration of murder, and the actual imbruing our hands in the blood of our brother, is prohibited; but, likewise, all CAUSES and OCCASIONS leading to it. As,
First. Envy: which is the rust of a cankered soul; a foul, meager vice, that turns the happiness and welfare of others, into our misery and torment. Thus Cain first enviously repined at the success and acceptance of his brother's sacrifice, and this quickly prompted him to murder.
Secondly. Unjust and immoderate Anger; which, if it be suffered to lie festering in the heart, will turn into the venom of a perfect hatred. This is not only a cause, but a degree of murder; and, as such, it is accounted by our Savior, who is the best expositor of the Law: Mat 5:21, 22. You have heard, that it was said by them of old time, You shall not kill.… But I say unto you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause, is in danger of the judgment: and whoever shall say to his brother, shall be in danger of the council: but whoever shall say, You Fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire. Which passage I have formerly, at large, explained to you; and, therefore, I shall at present wave it.
i. Now ANGER IS NOT, as Envy, SIMPLY AND IN ITSELF UNLAWFUL: for
1. There may be a Virtuous Anger, as well as vicious: an anger, that merits praise and commendation; and is so far from being a sin, that it is a noble and generous grace. To be moved with indignation for the cause of God, when his glory is eclipsed, his name dishonored, his ordinances profaned, his sanctuary polluted, his people vilified: this is a holy anger; and may well lose that common and vulgar appellation of Anger, and pass under the name of Zeal. Such was our Savior's, against those, that defiled the Temple; when, with a miraculous authority, he whipped them out, and vindicated the House of God unto the Worship of God, from the usurpation of the God of this World, Mammon. And, therefore, we find that passage, Psalm 69:9 applied to this action of Christ: The zeal of your house has eaten me up. So likewise, when, by their hypocritical silence, they seemed to discountenance and disallow the curing of a man on the Sabbath Day, it is said, He looked round about upon them with anger; being grieved for the hardness of their hearts: Mark 3:5.
2. Again. There is also an Innocent and Allowable Anger, when we have just provocation unto it: for religion does not utterly root out and destroy the natural passions, but only moderate and regulate them. We may be angry; but we must not sin in our anger: Ephesians 4:26. Be angry; but sin not. And,
3. There is a Vicious and Sinful Anger: which is a rash and foolish passion, a short frenzy, that puts a man, for the present, quite beside himself; and so agitates the spirits, that the blood boils about the heart, and sends up such sooty fumes, as darken the understanding, and deprive him of the use and benefit of his reason.
The two ingredients, that make up anger, are grief for some injury conceived to be done unto us; and desire of revenge, to discharge our gall and choler upon those that have wronged us, as if we gave ourselves ease by laying a load upon others.
ii. And there are TWO THINGS THAT MAKE ANGER TO BE EVIL AND SINFUL.
When it is without Cause.
When it is without Bounds.
1. Causeless Anger is a kind of murder; when men will fret and rage, although there be no provocation at all given them. Some men's galls overflow so much, that, upon every trivial occasion, or perhaps when there is none, but only their own umbrage and suspicion, they fly out into intemperate speeches and revengeful acts; and are presently all in a flame and combustion, when there is nothing to irritate them, but, their own choleric fancies: like clouds, that break out in thunder and lightning, when all the fire and sulphur is bred only in their own affections.
See this testy spirit in Jonah, who, though he were a holy, yet it seems, by his history, he was a very passionate man. First, he is angry, that God would spare Nineveh, after he had prophesied ruin and destruction to it: he grows into a pet, even with the mercy of God, as if he circumvented him, and designed to make him accounted a false prophet: Jonah 4:1. It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. Jonah is angry because God is appeased: the froppish man thinks the Almighty too easy; and can hardly forgive that mercy, which so readily forgave the Ninevites. And, again, when God had caused a worm to destroy the gourd, which he had prepared to shade this hot and angry head, Jonah falls into another fit of bitter passion for the loss of so poor a thing as his gourd: and, when, God meekly expostulates the cause with him, Do you well to be angry for the gourd? his passion so far transports him, that he dares to return this malapert answer, even to the Great God, Yes, I do well to be angry, to the very death: see, here, how his gall overflows, and taints both his reason and his religion: he hurls his fury, about against God and men. And, as he sits in his booth, looking, and praying daily that fire and brimstone might come down from Heaven to consume that great city, when he saw his expectation frustrated, and the date of his prophecy expired without the accomplishment of it, he quarrels with God, storms against everything, is weary of his life, and could rather have fired it himself, than it should have escaped.
2. As Causeless Anger, so Immoderate Anger is a great sin, and a committing of murder in our hearts.
Anger may be immoderate two ways; either in the degree, or in the Continuance and Duration of it.
(1) In the Degree: when it is vehement and excessive, transporting us beyond our due bounds and temper.
I know no law, that forbids a Christian to resent an injury. Our Savior Christ himself, when he was buffeted, was sensible of and reproves that insolence: John 18:23. If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but, if well, why smilest you me? Christianity does not make men stocks; but keeps them from being furies: it does not root up; but only prune our anger, and cut off all superfluities of naughtiness from it. It may, when just cause is given, warm, but not fire our spirits: but, when it breaks forth into reviling speeches, or into revengeful actions, be sure it has caught fire then, and is enkindled of Hell.
And, yet, the just anger of superiors, as magistrates, or masters, or parents, may lawfully break forth upon inferiors, in inflicting due punishments. Nor will this fall under the guilt of a sinful revenge, but a just reward: while they are careful, that the punishment exceed not the fault and crime committed.
But, for those, who have no authority over others, to seek revenge upon them, either by railing or defaming speeches, or by repaying injury for injury, is a transgression of this Commandment, the effect of immoderate anger, and a kind of murder in them.
(2) Anger may be immoderate in the Continuance and Duration of it. For age will sour it into hatred; and turn what was wine into vinegar.
And, therefore, the Apostle counsels us, Be angry; and sin not. But how may that be done? Let not the sun, says he, go down upon your wrath: Ephesians 4:26. And, indeed, he, that goes to bed, and sleeps with anger boiling in his breast, will find the scum of malice upon it the next morning.
This is a passion, which, if it be long cherished, will excutere Spiritum, "drive away the Spirit." For how can you think that the dove-like Spirit of God will reside, where the heart remains full of gall; or, that the celestial flame of divine love should burn bright and clear, where there are so many thick fumes and vapors continually rising up to damp and choke it? How dare you betake yourself to rest, without first invoking the Great God, and locking up yourself by prayer into his custody and safe tuition? And how dare you pray, while wrath estuates and rankles in your breast? Can you, in faith, pray for forgiveness, who do not yourself forgive? Our Savior has expressly told us, that if we forgive not men their trespasses, neither will our Father which is in Heaven forgive us our trespasses: and, therefore, as long as anger and desire of wreaking our revenge upon those, that have, wronged us, are entertained by us, so long we invalidate our own players, by not performing that condition, without which, God will never hear nor accept them. And therefore be sure you be no longer angry, than you may lawfully abstain from prayer. For we are commanded to lift up holy hands, without wrath: 1 Timothy 2:8. For, certainly, dissension and animosity with men, is no fit temper to prepare us to hold communion with God. And, therefore, though your gift be ready to be laid upon the altar, remember yourself, look inward, and see whether all be quiet and calm there; if there be no grudge, no anger against your brother: if you find any, either go first, and actually reconcile yourself unto him; or if opportunity will not suffice for that, purge out the leaven of wrath and malice, and reconcile yourself unto him in your own heart: for, under the Law, no offering of the Lord was to be mingled with leaven; and now, under the Gospel, God will accept of no oblations, that are offered up unto him with the ferment of wrath and passion; although it may surprise us, yet let it not possess us. See what the Wise Man counsels us: Ecclesiastes 7:9. Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry: or if, through haste and incogitancy, it may seize upon you, yet let it not dwell there; for he adds, anger dwells in the bosom of fools. And, certainly, the calm and peaceable Spirit of God will not dwell in that house, where there are perpetual tumults and discords; and where our unruly passions make such a noise and uproar, that his secret whispers and suggestions cannot be heard.
And thus you see what kind of anger is sinful: that, which is causeless; and that, which is immoderate, either in degrees, or in duration. And, likewise, what anger is lawful: that, which is zealous for God's glory; and that, which is rightly tempered, for our own and our neighbor's good.
iii. Let us, in the next place, consider WHENCE SINFUL AND UNWARDANTABLE ANGER DOES USUALLY PROCEED.
You shall find this bitter fruit to have likewise its root of bitterness. The causes of it are commonly these:
I. Pride, and an overweening conceit of ourselves.
Pride is the fruitful mother of many vices; but it nurseth none with more care and tenderness, than this of Anger: and, therefore, the Wise Man tells us, Proverbs 13:10 that from pride comes contention; and, indeed, as the philosopher observes, Anger usually arises from an opinion, that we are despised and contemned. Now the proud man thinks every one contemns him, that does not value him as highly as he values himself; that is, beyond all reason: and if he cannot meet with such fools, he grows angry, and discontented with all the world.
Proud flesh about a sore, is always tender, and cannot bear the least touch: and so proud persons, if they be never so little touched, presently grow enraged; and think they have a great injury done them, if others do not as much admire and respect them, as they do themselves.
Whoever is much a self-over, cannot fail of frequent occasions to make him angry. Now the proud man is the greatest self-lover in the world: and the misery is, that he usually loves himself without a rival; and if all do not veil to him, to say what he shall dictate, and to think what he shall determine, and to do what he shall prescribe, he takes it for a high affornt; and as he has given himself an authority over others, he looks that they should submit to it, and acknowledge it. And others, perhaps, having no less pride, or, possibly, more reason, refusing to gratify his vain and arrogant humor, quarrels and dissensions arise, and endless jars and discords.
2. Another cause of this passion, is the Weakness and Feebleness of Nature.
And, therefore, it is truly observed by Plutarch, that those, who are of the infirmest natures and weakest constitutions, are most harassed with it: as, children, more than men; old age, more than the stayed part of life; and sick persons, more than those that are in health. For anger is a great weakness, and therefore lodges most in the weakest: ants and pismires, and such little creatures, are most busy with their stings; whereas strong and generous creatures must be much provoked, before they will be injurious.
There are many other causes of the violent: stirring of this exorbitant passion: as over-much love of vain trifles; which, if they come to any mischance, as usually they do, we are apt to be disturbed at it: easiness to believe at the first recommendation, and engaging our affections in things before we have had trial and experience of them; which, afterwards proving quite contrary to our expectations, the disappointment will excite our choler, etc. But I shall not insist on these.
III. Let us therefore, proceed to lay down some RULES, FOR THE RESTRAINING AND MODERATING OF ANGER.
And, that,
In Others.
In Ourselves.
i. In OTHERS.
It is hellish sport for us to irritate and stir up anger in others, only for us to laugh at, or to make our advantages by it; scarce a less sin, than to make them drunk, that we may abuse them: for prevailing passion is, for the time, a kind of drunkenness; and both are a degree of frenzy and madness. You ought not, therefore, unnecessarily to exasperate your brother, whom you know prone to this great weakness: otherwise, be assured that all his intemperate speeches and rash actions shall be imputed unto you, and are your sins as well as his; and whatever revilings he dischargeth against you, shall at last also be charged upon you. And what a foolish thing is it for you, to bear the sting of them here, and the punishment of them hereafter! The Wise Man has told us, Proverbs 14:9 that they are Fools, who make a mock at sin. And if you, for your recreation, provoke any to an undecent and unfitting passion, know, that such laughter is deadly to yourself; and you are like those poisoned persons, who laugh themselves to death.
ii. To prevent, and suppress it in YOURSELF, (for there it does most hurt, since another man's anger is none of my guilt, if I have neither been faulty in stirring it up, nor too easy to catch the flame from him,) take these following Rules and Directions:
1. Labor and pray for a meek and humble spirit.
Think lowly of yourself; and then, certainly, you will not be angry, if others conspire with you in thinking and speaking of you as you do of yourself. Most commonly, Anger, as I have said, proceeds from an opinion of being despised: now do you first of all despise yourself; and then all reproaches and injuries will signify no more to you, than that other men approve your judgment; and that, certainly, can be no cause of anger. You will not be angry for want of a ceremony or demonstration of respect, which others impose or exact; nor will you quarrel with any, for not relying on your judgment, or contradicting your sentiments, when you shall reflect upon your own ignorance and frequent mistakes. They are the high hills, whose heads are wrapped about with clouds and tempests, when the humble valleys are calm and serene: so humble souls, that lie low in their own esteem, remain undisturbed, when lofty persons are still molested with the tempests of their own passions.
2. Consider how often you give God occasion to be angry with you; which if he should take, you were forever undone.
He bears many affronts and indignities at your hands. And who are you? a poor vile worm. And who is he? even the great Almighty God, the Universal King of Heaven and Earth, that he should put up such wrongs at your hands! And shall God daily take injuries from such a wretched nothing as you are, God, who is your Lord and Master; and will not you bear them patiently from your fellow-servant, who, it may be, is in every respect equal to you; but only inferior to you in this, that he provokes you unjustly? Certainly, were we as tender towards our brethren, as we all desire God should be towards us; could we forbear others, as we ourselves would be forborne; there would never be any quarrel commenced; or, if it were, it would be soon compounded. What says the Psalmist, Psalm 103:9? He will not always chide; neither will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Let this great example be ours, not to be soon moved to anger, or quickly to free ourselves from it. Indeed, many there are, that are slow to anger; and, in that, they imitate God: but then they are tenacious and retentive of wrath, and hardly placable again: their anger is like an impression upon some hard metal; very difficultly made, and as difficult to be effaced. Let such consider what would become of them, if God should be as slow to be reconciled to them, as they are to their brethren. Nay, he is infinitely more wronged by you, than you can be by them; and yet he so far condescends, as first to seek reconciliation. And, although he be infinitely able, by the least expression of his wrath and power, forever to destroy you; yet, herein, God commends his love unto you, that when you were enemies, you were reconciled unto him by the death of his Son. Certainly, whoever does but seriously reflect upon the infinite patience and forbearance off God, if he has any sweetness diffused into his soul by that consideration, if he has any conscience of imitating his Heavenly Father in that which is his most adorable attribute, if he has any care to ascertain unto himself the pardon and remission of his own offences, he will therein find a powerful influence to sway him to the like acts of mercy and forgiveness.
3. Another rule is, Beware of prejudice against your brother.
For prejudice is a very ill interpreter of actions, and will be sure to expound them in the worst sense. Be not easy to believe, that those, who offend you, do, it with design, or that they despise and undervalue you. Rather think it anything else, than contempt of you. Believe that his offences proceed rather from his folly and indiscretion; or, that he is forced and necessitated to do it; that others have put him upon it. If they be your friends that wrong you, suppose it to be only a fault of their too great familiarity, and a misgoverned intimacy. If they be such as are subject to you, believe that, since they know you have power to chastise them, they would not do it purposely to provoke you. If they be vile and sordid persons, trouble not yourself with their affronts; for your reputation is above them. Thus, I say, incline to believe it anything, rather than a designed abuse. For, though a strict jealousy over our reputation, and an aptness to think ourselves wronged, seem to proceed from generousness and a sense of honor; yet, indeed, they proceed only from baseness and weakness of mind. Whoever accounts himself despised by another, is, in a sense, less than he, and confesses himself his inferior. He is the noble and heroic spirited person, who is unshaken with the petty affronts and injuries of others; and has so much stable confidence in the integrity of his actions, that he cannot believe any can traduce him or them: whereas, to be angry at them, does but, in a sort, justify slanders; and will beget a belief, that that, is not altogether groundless, whereat he shows himself so much concerned. It is an old maxim of prudence, Convitia si irascare, agnita videntur; spreta, exolescunt: "If you be angry at railings, you seem to acknowledge them; if you despise them, they vanish."
4. Be not familiar with any angry person.
For, as one fire will kindle another; so, it is likely, that his chober will kindle your, until both flame into an inordinate and extravagant passion. See the direction expressly given us: Proverbs 22:24, 25. Make no friendship with an angry man; and, with a furious man, you shall not go, Lest you learn his ways, and get a snare to your soul: indeed, there is no such fuel to wrath, as wrath; and it is a very hard matter to refrain being angry with him, who will causelessly be angry with us. And, as you must shun the company and acquaintance of choleric persons, so likewise of scoffers: for a scoff and a jeer is many times more provoking, than a blow; and nothing will sooner kindle the coals of contention, than a biting taunt: and, therefore, Solomon advises us, Proverbs 22:10. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yes, strife and reproach shall cease.
5. It is very good counsel, If you feel any motions of this unruly passion begin to stir in your heart, that you arrest it for some time, before you either speak or act.
Let this mud have some time to settle again, that reason may, in the mean while, recover its thorne, and direct you how to govern yourself like a wise man and a Christian. Speak not while you are in the impetuous hurries of your passion: for it was well said of Plutarch, That "it is good in a fever, but much better in anger, to have the tongue kept clean and smooth." But an interval of time, between your anger and your actions: for those, who act in the violence and paroxysms of their anger, do either they know not what, or else what they may have reason to repent of: and, therefore, Solomon tells us, that the discretion of a man defers his anger: Proverbs 19:11 and the beginning of strife is as when one lets out water: Proverbs 17:14. At first, when a man cuts the bank of a river, the passage is but little, and the stream may be easily stopped: but, by continual running, it will wear away the earth, and widen the gap; and whole floods and currents will pour out, where but some few drops were intended.
6. Contemplate the huge ugliness and deformity of this sin in others; how it makes men brutish in their souls, and deformed likewise in their countenances. It inflames the face, fires the eyes, and makes a man look like a fury, deaffens the ears, froths the mouth, makes the heart beat and pant, the tongue stammer, the voice harsh and rough, the speech precipitate, and oftentimes ridiculous: briefly it puts the whole man into a preternatural fever; and transforms the body into a monster, and the man into a devil.
And, what! shall I give way to passion, so uncomely a passion, that will make me scorned, when I would seem most terrible? Certainly, were there no other thing Whereof to accuse this immoderate anger, it were enough to render it odious: but, when it not only destroys what I was, but seeks the ruin and destruction of others, it concerns me to stop it in its first rise and ebullitions; lest the boilings of my blood proceed so far, as to attempt the shedding of the blood of others.
And, so much, for this Sixth Commandment.
THE
SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not commit adultery.
IN opening the former Commandment, we have seen what care God takes for the security and indemnity of every man's person. This Command, which I have now read unto you, extends father; and provides for his security, as he is considered mystically in marriage-union, which of twain makes one flesh. The one defends him from the violence of bloody rage and revenge; the other from the violations of impure lusts.
I judge it not convenient to be too circumstantial, in showing you what is prohibited under this precept. I know that some, especially the Popish Casuists in their treatises of Moral Divinity, such as Sanches, Diana, etc. have spoken of these things so minutely, and with such filthy accurateness, that they stuprate the very eyes and fancies of their readers; rathar teach vice, than condemn it; and instruct the ignorant to sin skillfully, rather than convince the guilty to bring them to repentance. Some wickednesses there are, which it is far better not to reprove, than to name; it is more expedient, to leave those who are guilty of them to be lashed by their natural light and conscience, than, by exagitating such crimes, teach others, not so much to abhor, as to practice them. And let this be my apology, if I pass over this subject with more than my accustomed brevity.
I. That, which is here literally and expressly FORBIDDEN, is
i. That detestable and loathsome sin of ADULTERY.
Which, properly taken, is a sin committed between persons, the one or both of them married unto another.
However, even in the highest circumstances, it is a most heinous sin; but on the married person's side, most inexcusable and intolerable. Genesis 39:9 it is called a great wickedness against God, even on the unmarried man's part. And, Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22 the temporal punishment assigned unto it, is no less than death: the same punishment, that belonged to murder: and greater, than was inflicted for theft.
And, if human laws were as severe in the punishment of the sin as divine, the fear of it might possibly be of greater influence, to deter men from such filthiness, than either shame or the denunciation of eternal punishments. Yes, we read in history, that our progenitors, the English Saxons, even while they remained pagans and idolaters, so hated this sin, that they made it, yes and simple fornication also, punishable with death; and severely inflicted it upon those, that were found guilty: which custom continued among them, after they were converted to Christianity, until the year of Christ 750, when the Anti-christian See of Rome, the Mother of Whoredoms, abrogated this law, as too rigorous for Christians. And Job calls it a heinous crime: yes, an iniquity to be punished by the judges: a fire, that consumes to destruction: Job 31:11, 12.
But although they may escape the judgment of men, either through the secrecy of their wickedness, or the too gentle censures of the law: yet they shall not escape the righteous judgment of God; nor those everlasting punishments, that he has prepared for them in Hell: Heb 13:4. Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
There are two things in this sin of Adultery, that make it so exceeding heinous.
1. The Luxury and Incontinency of it: in letting loose the reins to a brutish concupiscence; and yielding up the body to pollution, and the soul to damnation.
2. The Injustice of it: being a deceit of the highest and most injurious nature, that can be.
For,
(1) It is the violation of a most solemn vow and covenant: and so adds perjury to unfaithfulness; alienating that person to another, who, by the most sacred and strictest obligations, is bound only to that partner and yoke-fellow, to whom God, and their own consent, and the legal rites of the Church and State, have addicted them.
(2) It is source and cause of a spurious and suppositious birth: bringing in a strange blood into the inheritance of lawful children; whereby this unfaithfulness becomes theft, as well us perjury.
But, although this sin of Adultery be alone mentioned in the Command; yet, according to the rules laid down in the beginning of this work, all other kinds of Impurity are forbidden under the name of this one gross crime. For the Law of God is perfect: and, as all manner of chastity, both in our thoughts, speeches and actions, is there enjoined us; so, likewise, whatever is in the least contrary and prejudicial to a spotless chastity and an inviolate modesty, is hereby forbidden.
And, therefore,
ii. This Commandment forbids the impurity of FORNICATION.
Which, properly, is the sin committed between two single persons.
And, though it has not some aggravations, that belong to the other; yet, is an abominable sin, in the sight of God.
I know how it is extenuated by the impure Romanists, as a small stain, that may easily be washed off by the sprinkling of a little Holy Water. But it is no wonder, if they, who have drank deep of the Cup of the Fornications of the Great Whore, and are guilty, of spiritual fornication, should speak lightly of corporal fornication also.
But let us hear how God, who is infinite purity, has sentenced this sin, when he threatens that he himself will judge whoremongers; and tells us, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 that neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers … shall ever inherit the kingdom of God. No, the New Jerusalem which is above, is a Holy City, and no unclean thing shall forever enter into it. Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters: Revelation 22:15. And it were well with them, if all their punishment were only to be left without: but there is a lake of fire prepared for them, into which they shall be cast and plunged; the fire of Hell, to punish the flames of lust. Revelation 21:8. The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers (you see how, in both places, they are strung up with the vilest and most infamous sinners.) … shall have their portion in the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. The Apostle reckons up this, as one of the works of the flesh: Galatians 5:19. The works of the flesh are manifest: which are these: adultery, fornication, impurity, etc. and exhorts us to a careful mortification of it: Colossians 3:5. Mortify, therefore, your members, which are upon the earth: fornication, impurity, inordinate affection, etc.
iii. Here, likewise, are forbidden all INCESTUOUS MIXTURS; or impurity between those, who are related to each other within the degrees of kindred specified, Leviticus 18 from the 6th to the 18th verse; whether the kindred be by affinity or consanguinity; i. e. whether by former marriage, or by blood and descent. And the nearer any persons are so related to us, the greater is the abomination if we approach unto them: whether it be with pretense of marriage, which, in this case, is null and void; or, without any such pretense.
iv. Here is likewise forbidden POLYGAMY, or a taking a wife to her sister; that is, to another: Leviticus 18:18.
God, indeed, seemed to connive at this in the holy men of old: yet it never otherwise than a sin, from the foundation of the world. And, therefore, the Prophet Malachy refers us to the primitive institution of marriage, to show the obliquity of this practice: Malachi 2:15, Did not he make one? that is, Did not he create one woman for one man? Yet had he the residue of the Spirit: i. e. the same Spirit and power, whereby he created all things in the world, resided still in God: and, therefore, he could as easily have formed more women as well as one, had he not purposed to oblige them one to the other solely; and to teach them, by their being paired at first, not to seek multiplication of wives afterwards. Therefore, Polygamy was unlawful in the beginning; even then, when the necessity of increasing the world might seem to plead for it: and how much more unlawful now, when that necessity is ceased! Besides this, the Apostle has commanded, 1 Corinthians 7:2. Let every man have his own wife, and every woman her own husband.
v. Here also are forbidden all those monsters of UNNATURAL LUST, and those prodigies of villainy and filthiness, which are not fit to be named among men; but thought fit to be punished upon beasts themselves: as you may read, Leviticus 20:15, 16 and Leviticus 18:22, 23.
vi. All those things, that may be INCENTIVES to lust and add fuel to this fire, likewise forbidden in this Command: all impurities of the eyes, of contact, of lewd and obscene speech: all immodest spectacles, wanton actions, uncivil and garish attire; or whatever else may kindle, either in ourselves or others, any unchaste affections: for all these things do but lay in provision for the flesh, to fulfill it in the lusts thereof.
vii. Because this law is spiritual, therefore it not only forbids the gross outward acts of filthiness, but the INWARD IMPURITY OF HEART; all lustful contemplations, and ideas, and evil concupiscences.
For, it is not enough to refrain unchaste desires from breaking forth into act; but we must also refrain our hearts from entertaining any such desires. These flames, pent up in the heart, will soot and consume it; and, though its ruin be more invisible, yet it will be sad and fatal. As there is a heart-murder, so there is a heart-adultery; and he, that commits speculative impurity, and prostitutes his thoughts and imaginations to the impure embraces of filthy lust, is, according to our Savior's interpretation, guilty of the transgression of this command: so, Matthew 5:27, 28. You have heard that it was said to them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whoever looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
And thus you see what is prohibited.
All that now remains, is,
To set forth the exceeding Heinousness of this sin; and to show you why it is so justly odious unto God, and ought to be so unto us. And,
To give you some Rules and Directions, which may secure you from it.
II. The GREATNESS AND HEINOUS NATURE OF THIS SIN appears,
i. In that it is a sin, which MURDERS TWO SOULS AT ONCE; and, therefore, the most uncharitable sin in the world.
Other sinners can perish singly The Swearer damns none by his oaths but himself; and, although he curse others to the pit of Hell, yet shall descend thither alone for them. The Drunkard, with his intemperance drowns but his own soul in perdition. The bloody Murderer may say with Lamech, Genesis 4:23. I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my own hurt. And, indeed, all other sinners, though their wickedness prompt them to draw in associates and partakers with them; yet the nature of their sin does not require a partnership in their guilt; but their may be solitarily wicked, and perish alone: only this sin of Adultery necessarily requires partnership, and involves another in the same condemnation? And is it nothing to you, that another's damnation shall be set upon your score, and the blood of their souls charged upon your forever? Think with yourselves, what horrid greetings these unclean wretches will give each other in Hell, when they, who have here wallowed together in beastly sensuality, shall there wallow together in unquenchable flames; and, with ineffable anguish, exclaim against and curse, both themselves and one another: the one, for enticing; the other, for consenting; and both, for fulfilling their impure desires.
Or, suppose that God should grant you repentance unto life; yet, are you sure that his justice and severity will not harden the other in this sin, to which you have been the author and persuader? How know you, but they may persist, and perish in their wickedness? Divine vengeance may snatch them away, without affording them space or grace to repent. And is it nothing to you, that you have damned a soul, as well as defiled a body; and, for the satisfying of your brutish lust, have brought upon them everlasting woes and torments? If God has granted you mercy, how anxiously solicitous ought you to be, to deliver those out of the snares of the Devil, whom you have entangled therein; and, by all holy counsels and remonstrances, reduce them unto God by repentance! Or, if a speedy execution of Divine Justice should cut them off before, what a sad consideration will it be to you, that you have eternally ruined a poor soul! This, if you have any sense of sin, or of the wrath of the Great God, due unto it, will make you go mourning all your days, and bring down your grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.
ii. This is THE MOST DEGRADING SIN OF ALL OTHERS.
It debases a man from the excellency of his nature, and resembles him to the condition of brute beasts. The perfection of a man is, to govern himself according to law and reason; to bound and circumscribe his actions, by the rules of what is fit and honest: whereas beasts show the inferiority of their natures, by the scope and range of their unguided appetites: per vagas et effusas libidines. Hence the Prophet compares adulterers to fed horses; every one neighing after his neighbor's wife: Jeremiah 5:8. And God joins such impure persons with the vilest and most detestable of brute beasts: Deuteronomy 23:18. You shall not bring the hire of a whore, nor the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord your God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination to the Lord your God.
iii. This is a sin, that DOES, MOST OF ALL OTHERS, OBSCURE AND EXTINGUISH THE LIGHT OF A MAN'S NATURAL REASON AND UNDERSTANDING.
Nothing does so much darken the understanding, as the fumes of lust: Hosea 4:11. Whoredom, and wine, and new wine take away the heart. And, to this, the Apostle gives testimony: Ephesians 4:18, 19. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, becuse of the blindness of their heart; Who, being past feeling, have given themselves over … to work all impurity with greediness. So far does this beastly sin besot the mind and befool men, that, according to the chaste and modest phrase of Scripture-language, it is frequently called committing of folly; as if there were no folly like to this, and it alone deserved to carry away the name and title from all other sins: and, indeed, it is a most notorious and egregious folly; for a short pang and epilepsy of sensual delight, to betray the soul to a gloomy dullness, bitter remembrance, guilt, and eternal shame and death.
iv. This is a sin justly the MOST INFAMOUS AND SCANDALOUS AMONG MEN.
A sin, that brands them with the greatest shame and reproach; a reproach, which can never be wiped away: And, certainly, if such an one does ever seriously consider his own filth, he cannot but be ashamed of himself: for, although there be a shame consequent upon the act of every sin; yet the credit and reputation of a man is never so deeply blemished, nor so foully stained by any sin, as that of adultery: Prov 6:32, 33. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding: he, that does it, destroys his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away. Yes, the dishonor of adulterous parents is so foul, that, like a black blot, it diffuses and spreads itself even upon their children: Deuteronomy 23:2. A bastard was not to enter into the congregation of the Lord, unto the tenth generation.
v. Consider, that this sin of impurity is A KIND OF SACRILEGE; a converting of that, which is sacred and dedicated, unto a profane use.
What says the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 6:19? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? And if it were a sacrilegious impiety to turn the Temple of God, which consisted only of vile materials, wood and stone, to vile and inferior uses; if our Savior's zeal burned within him when he saw the sanctuary turned into a market, and the house of God made a den of thieves; how much more heinous wickedness is it, to convert the living temples of the Ever-living God, even our bodies, which were redeemed and consecrated unto God by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, unto impure and unclean uses, and to turn his sanctuary into a stew! The body is not for fornication; but for the Lord. And your bodies are the members of Christ. Will you then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid. And the Apostle thinks this sacrilegiousness of impurity so high an aggravation of the sinfulness of it, that he insists on it again, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17. Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which temple are you.
vi. Consider, if all these things will not prevail, the DREADFUL PUNISHMENT, that God threatens to inflict upon all, who are guilty of this sin.
Yes, he speaks of it as a sin, that he can hardly be persuaded to pardon; a sin, that puzzles infinite mercy to forgive: Jeremiah 5:7, 8, 9. How shall I pardon you for this?… When I had fed your children to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning: every one one neighing after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? And, indeed, God does often, in this life, visit this sin: sometimes, by filling their loins with strange and loathsome diseases: Proverbs 6:26: sometimes, by reducing them to extreme beggary; for this sin, as Job speaks, is a fire, that consumes to destruction, and would root out all his increase. Yes, this very sin is so great a punishment for itself, that the Wise Man tells us, Proverbs 22:14 that those, whom God hates, shall fall into it. Yes, and to express the exceeding sinfulness of this sin of impurity, the Apostle tells us, that God made it the punishment of several other sins, as black and horrid as can be well conceived. Romans 1:23 when he had spoken of the gross idolatry of the heathens in worshiping images, and falling down before stocks and stones, he subjoins, verse 24 that, for this cause, God also gave them up to impurity: as if impurity were bad enough to punish idolatry; and those were sufficiently plagued for their spiritual impurity, who were abandoned over unto corporal pollutions. But, however, although this sin may sometimes escape infamy, through concealment; and other temporal judgments of God, through patience and forbearance: yet it will certainly find them out at the last; and then those, who have burned together in lust, shall burn together in unquenchable flames. They shall have their portion in the lake, that burns with fire and brimstone.
These are the demonstrations of the Heinousness of this sin.
III. Let me now give you some CAUTIONARY RULES and DIRECTIONS; by observing of which, you may be preserved from it.
1. Be sure that you KEEP A NARROW WATCH OVER YOUR SENSES.
For those are the sluices, which, instead of letting in pleasant streams to refresh, do commonly let in nothing but mud to pollute the soul. There is no actual filthiness in the heart of any, but came in by these inlets. Through these, the Devil casts in abundance of filth: he stirs up indwelling lust; and, by the sinful object which the senses convey to the soul, he dungs that ground, which of itself was too fruitful before. Thus the Devil makes use of an adulterous eye, to range abroad, and fetch in provision for impurity: and, by it, as by a burning-glass, he sets the heart on fire; and then blows up the flames through the ears, by hearing lascivious discourses: and, therefore, make a covenant with your eyes; and carefully divert them from all loose glances, and all alluring and enticing objects: stop your ears against all rotten and filthy communication; and, if any begin such obscene talk, as is the common raillery of our days and almost of every company, blush not you to reprove them; but, by your reproofs, make them blush at their own shame and wickedness.
ii. ADDICT YOURSELF TO SOBRIETY AND TEMPERANCE; and, by these, beat down your body, and keep it in subjection to your reason and religion.
For, certainly, they, who indulge themselves in gluttony or drunkenness, their excess will froth and foam over into lust. And, therefore, it is said, in that aforementioned place, Jeremiah 5:7 that when the Israelites were fed to the full, they then committed adultery
iii. CONTINUALLY EXERCISE YOURSELF IN SOME HONEST AND LAWFUL EMPLOYMENT.
Lust grows active, when we grow idle. And, therefore, as fullness of bread, so likewise idleness, is reckoned as one of the sins of impure Sodom: Ezekiel 16:49. David, when he walks idly upon the roof of his house, lies open to the snares and is inveigled by the beauty of Bathsheba: had he then been at his harp and his psalms, he might have driven the evil spirit from himself, as formerly he did from his master Saul. Running streams preserve themselves clear and pure; whereas standing pools soon corrupt, and breed noisome and venomous creatures. While our mind is employed, there will be no time left for lust to dally with our fancy, nor to dandle an unclean affection in our thoughts: and, therefore, it may be remarked as a considerable circumstance in Joseph's rejecting the enticements of his lewd mistress, that the text says, He went into the house to dispatch his business: Genesis 39:11 noting to us, that the honest care of our affairs is an excellent preservative to keep us from this sin of wantonness and impurity.
But, above all,
iv. BE EARNEST AND FREQUENT IN PRAYER: and, if you sometimes joinest fasting with your prayers, they will be shot up to Heaven with a cleaner strength.
For this sin of impurity is one of those devils, that goes not out but by fasting and prayer. God is a God of Purity, Instantly beg of him, that he would send down his pure and chaste Spirit into your heart, to cleanse your thoughts and your affections from all unclean desires. Beg that the Holy Spirit would but once touch your heart, with the dear sense of his eternal love; that he would diffuse such a celestial flame through your soul, as may ravish it with a heavenly zeal and ardor, and make it scorn to stoop to the ignoble love of poor inferior objects. Represent to him, that your body is his temple, and your heart his altar in it; and desire of him, that no strange unhallowed fire may flame on his altar.
While you diligently and conscientiously make use of these means, you may comfortably expect to be kept pure and immaculate; innocent in your soul, and clean in your body: and, as you have kept yourself undefiled here; so, hereafter, you shall be found worthy to walk with the Lamb in white.
THE
EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not Steal
The foregoing Commandment, as you have heard, requires chastity in our persons. This, which I have now read unto you, requires honesty and uprightness in our dealings.
A virtue, immediately founded upon that first practical principle of all human converse, which our Savior lays down, Matthew 7:12. Whatever you would that men should do unto you, do you even so to them; and recommends it to us, as the brief sum and epitome of all the Scriptures; for this is the Law and the Prophets.
A principle, that carries such innate light and clear evidence in itself, that the very heathens do frequently inculcate it in their writings, as the primary dictate of that morality which they taught.
This is a maxim, which we all assent unto, not by any elaborate instructions, or dint of arguments, or any long train of consequences; but it strongly masters our understandings by its native evidence, and springs up in us an unpremeditated resolve of reason.
Both God and Nature have set up this standard in our consciences: and, usually, there needs no other judge of our actions towards others, than by comparing them with what, in the like cases, we would think just and fit to be done towards ourselves.
It may be, we are all partial to ourselves in our present concerns. And while we look only that way, we may possibly seek all advantages to promote them, though to another's detriment. But both reason and religion teach us to put ourselves in their stead; and then to manage all our transactions with them, as we ourselves would judge just and reasonable, were their condition ours.
And, therefore, when you deal with another, you should first be both parties to yourself. As, for instance: a servant should sit down, and consider with himself, what respect he would require, were he in the same circumstances with his master, and had servants under him. Children should consider, what duty and obedience they would expect, were they parents of children: subjects, what honor and submission they might reasonably demand, were they magistrates: and so, in any other relation. And, when they have thus seriously pondered it in their own thoughts, let them then perform the same duties to others in their real condition, which they judged to belong to them in their personated condition: for it is a never failing rule for the direction of our practice, That what you judge due to yourself, were you in another man's condition, is certainly as due to him in his own; and, if you actest not accordingly, you betray a great deal of selfishness and sinful partiality.
This is a rule applicable to all affairs; and there is scarce any one occurrence of a man's life, but he may regulate himself in it according to this direction.
And, indeed, there is scarce need of any other. Whatever you have to transact with your brother, though perhaps you may spy advantages upon him; and such, as if you should take, possibly he might never know, or never be able to redress: yet then take your conscience aside, and seriously ask whether you could be content, and think it honest and just to be so dealt with, yourself: if not, whatever the temptation be, or how much soever you might gain by hearkening unto it, reject it with scorn; as that, which would induce you to violate the first principle of common honesty among men, and contradicts all the laws, both of Nature and Scripture.
Were this rule but more generally observed among men, the world would not have that cause to cry out of rapine, extortion, oppression, fraud and injustice, that now it has. The rich would not grind the faces of the poor; nor the poor causelessly clamor against the rich: superiors would not tyrannize over their inferiors; nor inferiors murmur or rebel against their superiors: but an equal peace and uniform justice would overspread the face of the whole earth, and righteousness would run down our streets as a mighty stream.
And, therefore, let me once again recommend it to you (for, indeed, I cannot press it too often) that you would frequently set this Golden Rule before your eyes; to do nothing to any other person, which, were you in his capacity, you would think unjust to be done unto yourselves: and, whatever you would expect from others as your due, were you in their place and they in yours, to perform the very same to them: for, otherwise, you cannot but condemn yourselves in your actions, while you do that, which, upon this supposition, you cannot but be convinced is unjust; and withhold that, which you know to be due, and which yourselves would expect should be yielded to you by others. This is a dictate of nature and right reason: this is the sum of the Law and the Prophets; and all those various precepts, which are given us in the Scriptures for the conduct of our lives, are but as so many lines, that meet all in this center; and, if we apply it to each particular Command of the Second Table, we shall find them all founded upon this, and to be interpreted by it. We are required to honor superiors; to abstain from murder, from adultery, from theft, from false accusations, from coveting what rightfully belongs to another; and, all this, according to the same measures, by which we would have others to perform these very duties to us. So that self, which is now the great tempter to wrong and injure others, were it governed according to this universal maxim, would be the greatest patron and defender of other men's rights and dues.
I. I have the longer insisted on this, both because it is of such general influence unto the right ordering of our conversation; and also because the most visible and apparent violation of this natural law, is by the sin of Theft, FORBIDDEN in this Commandment, of which I am now treating.
i. THEFT, IN THE GENERAL, is an unjust taking or keeping to ourselves, what is lawfully another man's. He is a thief, who withholds what ought to be in his neighbor's possession; as well as he, who takes from him what he has formerly possessed.
All theft presupposes a right and propriety: for where nothing does of right appertain unto me, nothing can be unjustly taken or detained from me.
1. Certain it is, that God is the great Lord and Proprietor both of Heaven and Earth, and of all things in them: Psalm 24:1. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; and, 50:10. Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. By him and of him, are all things; and for his will and pleasure's sake, they are, and were created.
2. This great and absolute Lord has granted unto man a large Charter of the World; and, when he had taken an exact in ventory of those goods with which he had furnished this great house, the universe; (He saw everything that he had made; and, behold, it was very good: Genesis 1:31.) then he sets man to live in it, as his tenant; and freely gives him the use of and dominion over all the works of his hands; Genesis 1:28. Replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over all the fish of the sea, and over the bird of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. So, the Psalmist, Psalm 115:16. The Heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's: but the earth has he given to the children of men. A large and regal gift, whereby he has made over all sublunary things unto man; reserving unto himself the sovereignty and supreme lordship of all; and requiring only from man the homage and payment of obedience. Yet,
3. This large charter and donation gave no particular propriety unto any: neither, if man had continued in his happy and innocent estate, would there have been any need of meum or tuum, or any partition of these earthly possessions: but the common blessings had been enjoyed in common; and all things, which covetousness and corruption now ravine after, would have been as promiscuously enjoyed and used, as the common light and air; and each particular man's share in those blessings, would have been sufficient and satisfactory. But,
4. Sin entering into the world, their desires grew immoderate ofter these earthly enjoyments, and their attempts to attain them injurious unto others: so that it became necessary to prescribe bounds and limits to them; and to divide among them, what before lay in common among all: that each man, knowing his assigned portion, might rest satisfied with it, and be restrained from the unjust invasion and usurpation of another's right. And,
5. This could no otherwise be effected, but by human laws, by mutual compact and agreement, declaring what should be accounted, as every man's right and propriety. So that it is law, which is the great determiner of propriety; and there is nothing Mine or Your, farther than this assigns it unto us. Indeed equity must sometimes interpose to moderate the letter of the law: for, in some cases, should we rigorously prosecute our right, and insist upon every punctilio that we may call our due; this, although it would not be unjust, yet it would be justice turned into gall and wormwood: it would be a breach and violation of the Law of Christ and of Charity, which requires us rather to part with our own in small matters, than to be vexatious or contentious in recovering or defending it.
Thus you see how all right and property first came into the world: a general right, by the donation of God; a particular right, by the sanction of laws, allotting to each man his portion; which to invade, or usurp from him, is injustice or theft.
Whence it follows, that where there is no society, in occupation of any part of the earth, the right accrues to the first possessor; and, where things are found which appertain to none, they fall to the first seizer: for there can be no theft committed, where there is no precedent title. If any therefore should providentially be cast into some desert and uninhabited part of the world, that general charter, that God has given unto mankind of possessing the earth, empowers them to seize on it as theirs; and they may lawfully make use of the blessings of it in common, until, by mutual consent, they shall divide to each other their part and portion: but, after such a partition made, to use the same liberty is no longer lawful, but theft and robbery.
Thus you see what Theft is; and that this law of God, prohibiting us to steal what is another's, does presuppose a law of man, which makes property, and causes things to become either ours or another's.
ii. There are MANY KINDS OF THEFT.
1. The first kind of Theft, is, the taking away of what rightfully belongs to another, whether God or man.
(1) The highest and chief is that, which is committed against God by Sacrilege.
Now Sacrilege is an alienating from God, whatever he has appropriated to himself, or is upon good grounds dedicated to the encouragement and maintenance of his honor and service.
Indeed, the alienating of what has been given to superstitious or idolatrous uses, cannot be justly branded with this black mark of sacrilege; for it was not so much given unto God, as unto ignorance and superstition: and, therefore, our ancestors have done well and piously, in dissolving those nests and cages of unclean birds, that were so numerous and burdensome in these kingdoms; but, withal, in my judgment, would have done much better, if they had converted their revenues to some public use, either for the benefit of the Church or Commonwealth, rather than to their own private and particular gain.
But, where anything is indeed consecrated unto God, and set apart for the maintenance and encouragement of his worship and service, it is no less than sacrilege and robbing of God, to alienate any part of this to any secular uses, or to detain it from that use unto which it was separated.
And, of this, God himself grievously complains: Malachi 3:8, 9. Will a man rob God? as if it were a sin so heinous, as that it is hardly to be supposed any man would be guilty of it. What! not to allow that God his share among them, who had liberally afforded them all things to enjoy! Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Certainly, those things, which are appointed for the worship and service of God, whether they be originally by divine right or not, yet cannot be alienated nor detained, without involving the persons or the nation that does thus, in a most direful curse: for this is no other than a robbing God of his right. And, how far these nations may be concerned in this sin, and how deeply sunk under this curse, I leave it to the consideration of those, who have no other interests to sway their judgments, but that of piety and honesty.
(2) Theft is committed against Men, by an unjust seizing or detaining what of right belongs unto them.
And this may be done, either by fraud or force: and, therefore, our Savior, in reciting the Commandments, mentions them both, Mark 10:19. Do not steal: Defraud not.
(3) This is a sin, that God has threatened with many severe curses and punishments.
[1] The temporal punishment, which the Scripture awards unto it, is a fourfold, and sometimes a fivefold Restitution: as you may see, Exodus. 22:1.
And therefore Zacchaeus, when he was converted, offers a fourfold restitution to those, whom he had wronged: Luke 19:8. If I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
And yet, besides this restitution, it seems that sometimes the offenders were to be put to death; especially if the circumstances of their theft added cruelty and oppression unto it. This appears in the parable of Nathan: 2 Samuel 12. When he had most artificially aggravated the crime of the rich man, in taking away the poor man's lamb, he so raised David's compassion and indignation, that he pronounced this sentence: verse 5, 6. The man, that has done this thing, shall surely die: And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. So that you see, that, even under the Law of Moses, it was not unlawful, in some cases, to punish a thief with death; although the usual and prescribed punishment was restitution. Indeed, our law condemns them to death; nor is it justly to be reprehended, for rooting out such banes and pests from the commonwealth: for since punishments are to be inflicted, not so much out of revenge as caution; not because some have offended, but to deter others from offending; it is but reasonable that the penalty should answer this end: which we might very well doubt, whether among us any lighter than death would do, since we see so many still persist in this wicked course of life, notwithstanding the severity of the punishment which the law provides for them. Skin for skin; and all, that a man has, will he give for his life. If, therefore, the fear of death itself cannot be forcible enough to deter them, certainly the fear of restitution would be much less effectual; and such a gentle and mitigated punishment would but open a wide gap to all manner of robbery and rapine.
But, besides the punishment which is threatened by the law, consider,
[2] God leaves a Curse upon what is gotten by theft and deceit.
A curse, that will blast and consume all such wicked increase. They put it into a bag with holes; and, by some unperceivable providence, it strangely wastes and slips away between their fingers. But, usually, luxury and intemperance devour what is got by theft and rapine; God, by his righteous judgment, making one sin the vengeance of another. But, however, some secret withering curse seizes upon it; and what is thus wickedly added to our former possessions, will rub its rust and canker upon them all; and, if restitution be not duly made, will insensibly prey upon them and consume them. And, therefore, says the Wise Man, Proverbs 21:7. The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them: and, Jeremiah 17:11. As the partridge sits on eggs, and hatches them not; so he, that gets riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool. Many times God raises up such against them, who shall deal with them as they have dealt with others; and, when these spunges are full of what they have unjustly sucked up, shall squeeze them, and make them refund their ill-gotten treasure. Thus God threatens the Chaldeans: Habakkuk 2:8. Because you have spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil you. Such unjust gettings tend only unto poverty: and, in this sense, it is no solecism to say they have but gained a loss, and treasured for themselves and their posterity want and beggary. And, therefore, as you desire to thrive in the world, and to have your earthly comforts multiplied; so, be sure, that no gain of robbery, or oppression, or fraud and deceit be found in your hands: for this will devour even what you have gotten lawfully.
[3] Anxieties and Perplexities of Mind do always accompany ill-gotten wealth.
For it is a sin so much against the very Light of Nature, that conscience, if it be not utterly stupefied and senseless, will be still molesting and haunting men with troublesome thoughts and reflections: besides, the fear of detection, and the shame and punishment which will follow upon it, must needs be a continual disturbance unto them. Whereas, what is gotten with a good conscience, and in an honest and lawful calling, whether it be more or less, brings this contentment with it, that a man may quietly sit down and rejoice in that portion, which the providence and bounty of his gracious God and Heavenly Father has here afforded him. He drinks no widow's tears, nor orphan's blood. He eats not the flesh of the poor, nor breaks the bones of the needy. His conscience gnaws not upon him, while he is feeding on what his honest labor and industry have prepared for him: and, although it be but a bit of bread and a cup of water, that he can procure; yet is he entertained at a continual feast. His fare may be but mean; yet his cheer, his joy and comfort, is great: and the coarsest morsel he eats, is far more savory to him, than all the heightened delicacies of rich oppressors, whose consciences mingle gall and wormwood with their most pleasant bits, and gnaw and grind them as they grind the faces of the poor and needy. And, therefore, says the Wise Man, Proverbs 16:8, Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right. And the Psalmist, Psalm 37:16. A little, that a righteous man has, is better than the riches of many wicked.
[4] Robbery and deceit provoke God to cut men off by some Untimely Stroke and Immature Judgment. And that, either by the hand of human justice with shame and reproach, or of divine justice with wrath and vengeance. For so we find it threatened, Psalm 55:23. You, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days: that is, they shall not lengthen out their days to that period, which the course and strength of nature might seem to promise them; but the hand of God shall cut them off, in the vigor and midst of their flourishing years.
But, however it may fare with them in this life, however they may escape the reproach of men and the sword of justice: yet,
[5] They shall certainly be Eternally Cursed and Eternally Miserable.
Their ill-gotten goods shall not be able to redeem their souls, nor bribe the justice of God, nor give them the least solace and comfort. And what wretched fools are they, who must eternally perish for gaining of things that perish too; and bring everlasting torments upon themselves, for that which before brought them vexations and disquietments! 1 Corinthians 6:10. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Where then shall their portion be, but in that lake, which burns with fire and brimstone unquenchable? Where the Lord will spoil their very souls; as the Wise Man's expression is, Proverbs 22:23. Rob not the poor … For the Lord will plead their cause; and will spoil the soul of those, that spoiled them.
And thus you have seen what various ways God has threatened, that he will punish this sin.
(4) Before I can proceed farther, here are Two Questions to be answered.
[1] Whether, in no case, it be lawful to steal. What if the necessity be so urgent, that I must certainly perish, or else relieve myself by this means?
I say we ought not to do it, in any case: for theft is, in itself, a sin; and there can be no necessity to sin: for every man is bound rather to choose the greatest evil of sufferings, than to commit the least evil of sin.
Indeed, such necessity does somewhat mitigate the heinousness of the offence: but that is not at all considerable, in the direction of our practice; since it continues a sin still, and deserves eternal damnation. The Wise Man tells us, Proverbs 6:30, 31. Men do not despise a thief if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry: but this must be understood only comparatively, namely, that the reproach and infamy, which attend such a one, are not so great as that of an adulterer; as it appears verse 32: as if he should say, "To be an adulterer, is a far fouler reproach than to be a needy thief." Yet he adds, If he be found, he shall restore sevenfold: he shall give all the substance of his house: that is, though his necessity and hunger may take off somewhat from the shame: yet it shall not from the punishment of his offence; but he shall restore that, which he has stolen, sevenfold. Not that the restitution should be seven times as much as the theft; for the utmost that the law requires was but a fivefold restitution, Exodus. 22:1; but, as the word sevenfold is most frequently used in Scripture, to signify that, which is complete and perfect; so is it here: he shall restore sevenfold; that is, he shall make a full and satisfactory restitution.
Since, therefore, the punishment of theft shall not be relaxed upon the plea of indigence and necessity, it is apparent, that necessity cannot justify any from the guilt of theft.
And, therefore, let your wants be what they will or can be, you ought not to supply them by any such wicked and unlawful courses, whatever Aquinas says to the contrary. If God has given you strength and ability, you ought to labor; and to use your honest industry to procure necessities: if not, you ought to implore the charity and benevolence of others, whose hearts God may open to your relief. Or, if you should meet with such cruel Diveses, who will contribute nothing to your support, you ought rather, with godly Lazarus, to die in your integrity, than to steal anything from them: which, although it be their superfluity; yet it is not your right, without their donation.
And this is in answer to the First Question.
[2] What we shall judge of the Israelites spoiling the Egyptians of their jewels: of which we read, Exodus. 12:35, 36.
I answer: In this action there was no theft committed.
For,
1st. The supreme dominion of all things is the Lord's; and he may justly transfer the right and property, where he pleases.
Now they were commanded by the Lord to take these things of the Egyptians: and, therefore, they were rightfully their own; being made so by him, who has the sovereign power of all things, both in Heaven and earth
2dly. These things, which they thus took, might be well considered in lieu of their wages, which were not given them for their long service in Egypt.
And, therefore, it was but righteous in God to consign over these riches of the Egyptians to the Israelites, as a reward for their tedious servitude. Now those, who, by the command of the Supreme Lord of All, take that which is but a due reward for their labor, cannot certainly be condemned as guilty of theft. And this, it seems, was their plea, when, in the time of Alexander the Great, so many ages after the thing was done, the Egyptians sued the Jews by a juridical process, to recover what was taken from them. But,
3dly. This example is extraordinary and special; and not to be pleaded, nor introduced into practice.
For certain it is, that they had a most express command from God to spoil the Egyptians. But whoever shall pretend any such warrant now, by revelation or the impulse of his private spirit, may well be censured for enthusiasm, and condemned for robbery.
And thus I have done with the first and greatest kind of theft; taking away what rightfully belongs to another, whether God or man.
2. Another kind of theft is, Oppression, and Unreasonable Exaction.
And this, especially, is the sin of superiors towards their inferiors: taking advantage, either upon their weakness or their necessity, to impose most unequal conditions upon them; and such, as they cannot bear without their detriment or ruin: contrary to that law, which God gave unto his people, Leviticus 25:14. If you sell ought unto your neighbor, or buy ought at your neighbor's hand; you shall not oppress one another. Thus, those, who set their lands to the sweat and toil of others at too hard a rate, so that the laborious tenant cannot exist by his industry; those, that let out money at a biting interest, or rigidly exact it from insufficient persons; great ones, who fright the meaner into disadvantageous bargains, and force them, through fear, to part with what they enjoy, at an under-price: these, and other like, though they may not be condemned by human laws, which give too much permission to men to make the utmost advantage of their own; yet they are guilty by the Law of God, and their sin is no less than oppression; which is a sin hateful, both to God and man. The prophet Micah, chapter 3:2, 3 calls it a plucking off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; and chopping them in pieces as for the pot, and as flesh for the caldron. All unmercifulness, and hard dealings with others, are a kind of theft: for the Law of Nature, and much more the Law of Charity, binds you so to deal with others, that they may have no cause to complain of you to God; and, in the bitterness of their spirits, to imprecate his wrath and vengeance upon you.
3. Another kind of theft is, detaining from another what is his due, either by equity or compact.
And how many are there, whose profuse riot and luxury are maintained upon the entrusted goods of others; while the poor creditor, in the mean time, has no other satisfaction but good words, and scarce anything to live upon but his own tears and sighs! And how many withhold the hire of the laborer; who, when he has wearied out himself in their service, is denied that small reward, which he requires for his necessary refreshment! Yes, not not only denying it, but even deferring it beyond the time that they can conveniently be without it, is a kind of theft and oppression: Deuteronomy 24:14, 15. You shall not oppress a hired servant, that is poor and needy … At his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and sets his heart upon it: lest he cry against you unto the Lord, and it be sin unto you. Yes, in all our bargains and agreements, though they be never so much to your own prejudice, you are bound to stand to them, unless the other will voluntarily release you from the obligation: for this is one of the characters given of a godly person, Psalm 15:4. He, that swears, and covenanteth to his own hurt, and changes not; but, upon demand, is ready and willing to fulfill his agreement. How much more heinous and abominable is it, when men have already received the full value of their compact, unjustly to withhold what they have agreed to give! which is no better, than to take their labor or their goods from them, by violence and robbery; yes, and in one respect worse, inasmuch as it adds falsehood to stealth.
4. Another kind of theft is, in buying and selling.
And this is a very large and voluminous deceit: for the subtlety of men has found out so many artifices to defraud and overreach one another, that, to recount them, is almost as hard as to escape them. Here come in the false weights and the false measures, which are an abomination to the Lord, Proverbs 11:1: false and counterfeited wares; overcommending or undervaluing of goods, for advantage; and many other unjust contrivances, which men's consciences can better suggest to them, than any discourse. The Apostle has sufficiently cautioned and threatened such men: 1 Thessalonians 4:6. Let no man go beyond or defraud his brother, in any matter; because that the Lord is the avenger of all such. Believe it: there is a day coming, when the false weights shall be themselves weighed, and the scanty measures, measured, by a standard that is infallibly true. Possibly, you may deal so cunningly, that those, whom you overreachest, can have no advantage against you, nor right themselves by law: but, remember that the Great Judge will avenge them upon you, at the Last Day. Then all accounts shall be balanced, and so much found resting due, which you shall certainly pay: though not to those, whom you have wronged; yet to the justice of God, who is the great and universal creditor.
5. There are, likewise, many other kinds of theft: as prodigality, in wasting what should satisfy the just demands of others; taking of wages and reward, for what we do not endeavor conscientiously to perform; selling that, which we have no right to dispose of, or things, which ought not to be sold; taking bribes for justice, or rewards for injustice. But I shall not particularly insist upon these, and many others, that might be mentioned.
And thus we have seen what the Negative Part of this Precept is.
II. But, because every negative implies in it a positive, let us see what is the duty REQUIRED from us.
And that is twofold.
That every one of us should have some calling.
That all of us should be contented in that estate and condition of life, wherein the Divine Providence has set us.
i. You shall not steal: therefore, EVERY MAN OUGHT TO HAVE A CALLING, whereon he may comfortably exist; and wherein, by his labor and industry, he may provide at least necessities for himself and family. For, he, that provides not for his family, has denied the faith, says the Apostle, and is worse than an infidel.
1. Some there are, who live without any calling at all.
Such are like idle drones, that consume the labor of others; lazy vagabonds, to whom the greatest charity would be correction; who only serve to devour misplaced alms, and defraud the truly poor of their relief. Yes, if I should rank with these a company of superfluous debauched gentlemen, I think I should do them no great injury: such, I mean, who are neither serviceable to God, nor their country; who have nothing of true worth and gentility in them, but are a company of lewd and desperate roysters, the most unprofitable members in the commonwealth, and good for nothing but to kill and destroy one another in their drunken quarrels. I know there is no necessity for manual employment and labor, to those, whom God has liberally endowed with his earthly blessings: but yet they may have a calling; and, within their own sphere, may find employment enough to take up their time and thoughts; and such, as may make them the most beneficial men on earth, and truly honored and loved by others: for, by their authority, their example, the ampleness of the demesnes and revenues, and the dependence that others have upon them, they may be as influential to promote goodness and virtue, as too commonly they are to promote vice and villainy: and to such truly generous spirits, who intend to be so employed, let me commend the careful perusal of an excellent treatise directed unto them, intituled, "The Gentleman's Calling." But yet, withal, if they should condescend to some stated vocation and course of life, it would be no disparagement to their gentility: for, certainly, Adam was as much a gentleman, and had as large demesnes as any of them; and yet God thought fit to place him in Eden, that he might dress and keep the garden.
But as some have no employment; so,
2. Others have an unlawful employment.
Such, whose only work it is to instruct in vice, and excite men to it. And how many such are there, who live by the provoking and encouraging the wickedness of others; and continually make use of all the allurements, that might entice unto evil; and recommend debauchery, first to the fancy, and then to the will and affections!
3. Others have, indeed, an honest and a lawful calling; but they are negligent and slothful in it.
Now sloth tends to poverty: Proverbs 6:10, 21. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall your poverty come as one that travels; drawing nearer and nearer to you by soft and silent degrees: and your want as an armed man; who, though his pace be slow, by reason of the weight of his armor, yet his assaults are more irresistible and destructive. And poverty tempts to theft: Proverbs 30:9. Lest I be poor, and steal. And, therefore, this command, which forbids theft, must, by consequence, enjoin labor and industry in those lawful callings, wherein the Divine Providence has set us; according to that of the Apostle, Ephesians 4:28. Let him, that stole, steal no more: but rather let him labor; working, with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs; and so, by his industry, of a thief become a benefactor and alms-giver.
ii. It requires us to be CONTENTED WITH THAT PORTION OR EARTHLY COMFORTS, WHICH OUR HEAVENLY, FATHER ALLOTS UNTO US.
Hebrews 13:5. Be content with those things you have. And, certainly, he, that is not content with what God allows him, lies under a grievous temptation, by fraudulent and unjust causes to carve out his own condition to himself, and to invade the rights and properties of others.
Let us, therefore, check this repining temper early; and not think that we have too little, and others too much: but whatever God affords us, let us account it sufficient provision and a child's portion; and, although it be but food and clothing, neither the most delicate nor the most sumptuous, yet, having food and clothing, let us be therewith content; as the Apostle exhorts us: 1 Timothy 6:8. Let us look upon all other things, as superfluous or indifferent; and not murmur, although we should never obtain them: for, whatever is needful to your subsistence, God's providence and blessing upon your industry will furnish you with; and, what is not needful to this, is not worth your envy and repining.
And, so much, for the Exposition of this Commandment.
III. I shall only subjoin a word or two unto those, who are CONSCIOUS TO THEMSELVES, THAT THEY HAVE WRONGED OTHERS of what was their due, and either withheld or taken from them what by law and equity belonged to them.
Let such know, that they are bound to make them a perfect and plenary satisfaction, by making an entire and plenary restitutions if the thing they have stolen or purloined, be still extant and in their hand: or, if not; then by making a full and satisfactory compensation. Yes, be the thing great or small, more or less; though it should seemingly tend to the loss of your credit, by acknowledging such a wrong; or visibly tend to your impoverishing or undoing to restore it: yet, notwithstanding, you are bound to restore every farthing of that, of which you have wronged and defrauded your brother. Nor is it enough to confess the sin before God, and to beg pardon at his hands: but you must likewise render unto man, what is his due, and what you unjustly keeps from him, whether it be his by your promise or by his own former possession, as ever you hope to obtain pardon for your sin from the mercy of God: yes, and you are bound likewise, to the very utmost of your power to make him recompense, for all the damage which he has, in the mean time, sustained by your unjust withholding of his right and due from him; or, else, you shall never obtain pardon and remission for your guilt. And the reason is, because, as long as you detain what is another's, so long you continue in the commission of the same sin; for unjust possession is a continued and prolonged theft: and, certainly, repentance can never be true nor sincere, while we continue in the sin of which we seem to repent; and, your repentance not being true, pardon shall never be granted you.
But, you will say, "What if those, whom we have wronged, be since dead? How can restitution be made unto them?"
I answer: In this case, you are bound to make it to their children, or their near relations; to whom, it is to be supposed, that what you have wrongfully detained, would have descended, and been left by them. Or, if none of these can be found, nor any to whom of right it may belong, then God's right takes place, as he is the great Lord and Proprietor of All Things: and you ought, besides what you are obliged to give of your own, to bestow it on the works of charity and piety; for it is then escheated to him. Yet, withal, you have great reason to bewail, that you have so long deferred the restitution of it to the right owner, until now you have made yourself incapable of doing it.
This, possibly, may seem a hard lesson; and, doubtless it is so, in a world so full of rapine and injustice: but yet, as hard as it is, this is the Rule of Christianity: this is the inflexible law of justice; and, without this, you live and die without all hopes of obtaining pardon, by continuing in your sins impenitently.
And, thus much, for this Eighth Commandment.
THE
NINTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
The former Commandment provided for the security of every man's Property, that he may suffer no wrong nor detriment in his goods. This, which I have now read unto you, provides for the preservation of his Good Name, which is a much dearer possession.
For, A good name, says the Wise Man, Proverbs 22:1 is rather to be chosen than great riches: and therefore it ought to be kept by us, although not delicately and nicely; yet tenderly, and with respect. Whoever contemns fame, will soon prostitute virtue; and those, who care not what others say, will shortly arrive to that impudence of sinning, as not to care what they themselves do.
Indeed, a good name is so excellent a blessing, that there is but one thing to be preferred before it; and that is, a good conscience. When these two stand in competition, credit must give place to duty: and, in this case, it is far better to lose out repute with men, than our acceptance and reward with God. It oftentimes so happens, through the ignorance and general corruption of mankind, that what is honest, and pure, and just, is not yet of good report among them: piety is but affectation; strictness of life, a peevish hypocrisy; the cross, a scandal; Christ himself, a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners; his doctrine, heresy; and his miracles, impostures. And, if you lightest upon any such froward and perverse censurers, as too many such there are in all ages, who think it strange, as the Apostle speaks, that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you; seek not, by any base and sinful compliance, to redeem their good opinion: but rather glory in the testimony of their railing, and account all their reviling speeches to be but so many votes for your blessedness: Matthew 5:11. Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall speak all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Never covet a good name by bad actions. For what will all the concurring applause of the whole world signify unto you, if yet your conscience condemn you louder than they can extol you? This is but to have music at the door, when all the while there is chiding and brawling within. It is far better that others should wound your credit, than you your conscience. That is a wound, which their tongues can never lick whole again. All the reputation your popular sinning can bring you, will be but like hanging bells at a horse's ears, when all the while his back is galled with his burden. Whoever will be a Christian must resolve to go through bad report, as well as good: he should desire the one, but not anxiously refuse the other. And, if any will bespatter him, let him be careful, that it be only with their own dirt, and not with his; with their own malice, and not his miscarriages: And, while he thus keeps his conscience clear, he may be assured that his credit shall be cleared up at that day, when all their unjust reproaches shall but add a crown and diadem of glory to his head.
But, where a good name is consistent with a good conscience, we ought to prize and value it as one of the choicest of God's blessings in this world, and to use all lawful means to preserve it.
For,
First. This will render a man more serviceable to God; and the fitter instrument to promote his honor and glory in the world.
And, therefore, the Wise Man, Ecclesiastes 7:1 compares a good name to precious ointment; and, in the comparison, gives it the preference. For, as precious ointment diffuses its fragrancy through the room where it is poured forth, and affects all that are in it with its delightful scent: so do men's gifts, when they are perfumed with a good name, delight and attract others; and, by a sweet and powerful charm, allure them to imitate and practice those virtues, which they see so recommendable. And, therefore, we find it the Apostle's care, 2 Corinthians 6:3 to give no offence in anything, that the ministry might not be blamed. Though it be our great folly to estimate men's counsels by their own practice; since a diseased physician may prescribe a wholesome medicine: yet so it comes to pass, whether through the curse of God or the prejudice of men, that those, who have lost their credit, have, together with it, lost all opportunities and advantages of doing good in the world: let their parts be never so flourishing, and their gifts never so eminent; yet, if once this dead fly be gotten into this box of ointment, it will corrupt it, and render it unsavory to all. And the Devil has no such policy to make the gifts of those whom he fears might shake his kingdom unuseful, as either to tempt them to the commission of some infamous and scandalous sin, or to tempt others falsely to calumniate and report such profligate crimes concerning them: for then he knows such, an one is disarmed, and made unserviceable; and, if he can but once blast the leaves, the fruit will seldom come to any maturity and perfection. And, therefore, as you desire to be serviceable to God in promoting his glory, and to the world in promoting their good and benefit, which is the great end of our being, and the only thing worth living for; so, endeavor, by all wise and honest means, to keep up your good name. Be good, and appear to be so. Let your light so shine before men, that they seeing your good works, may glorify your Father which is in Heaven: Matthew 5:16.
Secondly. A good name, as it gives us advantage of doing good to others, so it lays an obligation upon us of being good ourselves.
For, if the world be so kindly mistaken, as to report well of us without any desert; yet this cannot but work upon us, if we have any ingenuity, and engage us to deserve it: so, happily turn that, which was praise, into motive. Or, if they give us but our due commendation, and our virtue justly challenges this fame: yet still it will engage us to do things worthy ourselves, and worthy that common estimate that men put upon us; that we may not fall short of what we have been, or what they still repute us to be. This is a laudable ambition, which seeks by virtue to maintain that credit, which by virtue we have acquired. And, doubtless, when other arguments have been baffled by a temptation, this has been a sheet anchor to the soul; and has often held it in the greatest storms, when the wind and waves have beat most furiously against it: "Should I consent to this sin, what a blot and dishonor should I get to myself! How should I be able to look good men in the face again? Would not this sin brand me for a hypocrite in their esteem? Would they ever look upon me, or receive me with affection, after this fall? Should I not carry the disgrace and scar of this wound visibly upon me to my grave? No, one sin shall never ruin all the comfort and all the repute of so many years' piety: and I, who have been so long noted and exemplary for holiness, will not by this one fact make myself a scorn to the wicked, and a shame to the godly." And, by these considerations, he rejects a temptation, that perhaps ran down all other considerations before it. But a man of a lost and desperate credit sins impudently, without any such restraint upon him: he thinks it is but in vain for him to abstain from any wickedness; for, whether he does or not, people will still believe him guilty: his credit is so disfigured and his name so infamous, that he thinks he cannot be worse than he is already reported; and so rubs his forehead, and outfaces censure, and with a brazen impudence cares not how wicked he is, nor how many knew him to be so.
Thus you have seen how cautious we ought to be, in maintaining our own good name.
But this Command requires us also, to preserve the repute and good name of others, as well as our own.
And it forbids,
The sin of Lying.
Detraction and Slander.
Base Soothing, and unworthy Flattery.
I. This Command prohibits LYING.
A sin, that comprehends under it all other violations of this precept: for Slander and Flattery are both of them lies, different only in manner and circumstance.
And, as it is a sin large and comprehensive, in its nature; so it is general and universal, in its practice. We may well complain, with the holy Prophet, that Truth is perished from the earth.
i. Here I shall, first, show you WHAT A LIE IS: and, then, the Heinousness and Aggravation of this common sin.
1. A Lie, according to Austin's definition of it, is a voluntary speaking of an untruth, with an intent to deceive.
And, therefore, in a Lie there must be these Three Ingredients.
There must be the speaking of an untruth.
It must be known to us to be an untruth, and a falsehood. And,
It must be with a will and intent to deceive him, to whom we speak it, and to lead him into error.
2. And, therefore,
(1) Parables and Figurative Speeches are no Lies.
For neither, as to the drift and scope of them, are they falsehoods; nor yet are they spoken with an intent to deceive, but rather to instruct the hearers: and so have neither the matter, nor the form of a lie.
The Scripture abounds with these Tropical Expressions, which, although in the proper signification of the words, they cannot be verified of the things to which they are applied; yet do very fully agree to them, in their figurative and transferred sense. Thus Jotham's Parable of Trees choosing them a King, was aptly accommodated to that sense, which he meant; and which those, that heard him, well enough understood. And thus our Savior Christ calls himself a Door; signifying, by that metaphor, that by him alone we must enter into Heaven and eternal life: a Vine; signifying, that, without our incision into him and spiritual union unto him, whereby we derive grace from his plenitude and fullness of grace, as the branches do sap and juice from the stock, we shall be cast out as withered and fruitless branches, fit for nothing but to be burned. Innumerable other metaphors are everywhere dispersed up and down in the Scriptures.
And, besides metaphors, the Scripture uses hyperbolies. I shall only instance in that famous one: John 21:25. Many other things Jesus did; the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. This high expression the Evangelist uses only to exaggerate the number of the miracles and remarkable passages of our Savior's life; and to signify to us, that he did very many other things, which are not upon record.
And sometimes the Scripture uses Ironical Taunts. Thus, in that bitter sarcasm of Elijah to the priests of Baal, 1 Kings 18:27. He mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a God. Which kinds of ironical speeches are so far from being intended to create error in the minds of men, or to confirm them in it, that they are spoken on purpose to convince them of their errors, and to make them appear to be shameful and ridiculous; and, therefore, are no lies.
But here we must take this caution: That, in using such figurative speeches, we ought so to circumstantiate them, that the hearers may easily perceive the drift and scope of our discourses; or, at least, may be assured that we intend some other meaning by them, than what the words do properly and in themselves bear. Otherwise, though it may not be a lie, in us; yet it may be an occasion of error and mistake, in them.
(2) Every falsehood is Hot a lie.
For, though it has the matter; yet it may want the form and complement to make it such. For, many times, men do speak and report that, which is not true; which yet they themselves do believe to be true: and so are rather deceived, than deceivers; and perhaps are far from any intention of imposing upon the credulity of others. Such an one is not so much to be accused of lying, as of folly and rashness; in reporting that for truth, the certainty of which is not clear and evident unto him.
(3) A man may speak that, which is true; and yet be a liar, in so doing.
As in these two cases:
[1] When we, report that to be truth, which, although it be so; yet we believe it to be a falsehood, and report it with an intent to deceive those that hear us. Or,
[2] When we report the figurative words of another, leaving out those circumstances, which might make them appear to be figurative. And, therefore, Matthew 26:60 they are called false witnesses, which came in against Christ; and testified, that he said, he was able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. In which, though there were many falsifications of the words of our Savior; yet had they reported the very words that he spoke, they had nevertheless been false witnesses; because, by their testimony, they wrested them to another sense, than what Christ intended by them: for, certainly, he is a liar, who reports my words, with a purpose to beget a wrong construction of them; as much as he, who reports me to have spoken what I never said.
(4) It is no lie to conceal part of the truth, when it is not expedient nor necessary to be known.
Thus, 1 Samuel 16:2. God himself instructs Samuel, when he sent him to anoint David king over Israel, that he should answer, he came to sacrifice to the Lord: which was truth, and one end of his going into Bethlehem; though he had also another, which he prudently concealed.
(5) A man may act contrary to what he before said, if the circumstances of the thing be altered, without being guilty of lying.
We have frequent examples of this in the Scripture. Thus, Genesis 19:2 the angels tell Lot, that they would not come into his house; but would abide in the street all night: yet, upon his importunity and earnest entreaties, they went in with him. And thus Peter, with some heat and vehemency of his humility, refused that Christ should wash his feet: John 13:8. You shall never wash my feet: but when he was instructed in the significancy of this condescension of our Savior, not only permits, but entreats him to do it. So, likewise, in all things of such a nature, we may lawfully change our words, upon the change of out minds; and, upon the inducement of some circumstances that were not known or considered by us, we may, without the imputation of lying, do otherwise than we before, resolved and declared.
But this, must be heedfully cautioned:
[1] That the actions be not such, as we are bound to perform by divine precept. Nor,
[2] Such, as we have bound ourselves unto, by the voluntary obligation of a vow made unto God. Nor,
[3] Such, as our not doing them, or doing otherwise than we have promised, should be hurtful or prejudicial unto others. For, if I have promised another that which is beneficial unto him, however I may change my opinion; yet I must not change my purpose: but, unless he will release me, or has forfeited the benefit of my promise by failing in the conditions of it, I stand engaged to perform what I have plighted unto him.
And thus you see what a lie is, and what is not a lie.
The sum of all I shall contract into this description of it. A Lie is a falsehood, either real or supposed so by us; spoken purposely and with an intention to deceive another. And, therefore, neither falsehoods not thought to be so, nor figurative speeches, nor truth partly concealed, nor the change of our mind and purposes upon the changing and alteration of circumstances, can be chargeable with that foul and scandalous sin of lying.
3. Lies are usually distinguished into Three Kinds:
The Jocular,
Officious, and,
Pernicious Lie.
(1) There is a Jocular Lie: a lie, framed to excite mirth and laughter; and to deceive the hearer, only to please and divert him.
Though it may seem very harmless, to deceive men into mirth and recreation: yet truth is such an awful and severe thing, that it ought not to be contradicted; no, not in jest. And God reckons it up, as a sin, against the Israelites, Hosea 7:3 that they made the king and princes glad, or merry, with their lies.
(2) There is an Officious Lie: which is told for another's benefit and advantage; and seems to make an abundant compensation for its falsehood, by its use and profit.
But yet, neither can this excuse it from being a sin: for, since a lie is intrinsically evil in itself, let the advantage that accrues by it be never so great, we ought not to shelter either ourselves or others under that rotten refuge. That stated maxim holds universally true in all cases: We ought not to do evil, that good may come thereof. And, therefore, although your own life or your neighbor's depends upon it; yes, put the case it were not only to save his life, but to save his soul, could you by this means most eminently advance the glory of God, or the general good and welfare of the Church; yet you ought not to tell the least lie, to promote these great and blessed ends. This the Apostle takes for granted: Romans 3:7.
Which place, because it may seem, at first glance, somewhat obscure, I shall briefly expound unto you. If the truth of God has more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner? The words, as they lie, seem to be favorable to such a beneficial lie: but if we consider the scope and drift of them, we shall see that they clearly condemn it. For the Apostle had, in the foregoing verses, taught, that the unrighteousness and sins of men did occasionally conduce to the manifestation of the justice and veracity of God, in fulfilling his threatenings upon them. Against this position, he raises an objection: verse 5. If the unrighteousness of men commend and illustrate the righteousness of God; how then can God be just, in taking vengeance on those sins by which he is glorified? To this the Apostle answers, two ways:
[1] He abhors the consequence: verse 6. God forbid, that we should think him unjust; because he punishes those sins, which accidentally serve for the manifestation of his glory. For if God were unjust, how then should he judge the world?
[2] He answers, by putting a like case, and giving a like instance: verse 7. If the truth of God has more abounded through my lie … why yet am I judged as a sinner? As if he should say: "By the like reason, as you infer, that it would be unrighteous in God to punish those, who are the occasion of so much glory to him through their sins; by the like, I might infer, that if, by my lie, I might glorify God, I were not to be accounted a sinner for lying." But this, says he, verse 8. is a most wicked consequence; and such, as would justify the slanders of those, who report that we affirm it lawful, to do evil, that good may come: whose damnation is just: that is, it is just with God to damn those, who slander us with such a gross untruth; and it is just with God to damn those, who hold so wicked and destructive a doctrine.
So that you see nothing could be more expressly spoken against these officious lies, than what the Apostle here produces in this place. He asserts, in the general, That we must not do evil, that good may come thereof; and he instances, in particular, That we must not lie, although the glory of God may be promoted by it.
(3) There is a Malicious and Pernicious Lie: a lie, devised on purpose for the hurt and damage of my neighbor.
Which is the worst and the most heinous sort of all; and has nothing, that might excuse or extenuate it. It shows a heart brimfull of the bitterness of malice, when this passion works out at the mouth, in slanderous reports and false accusations. All lies are in themselves sinful; but this is the vilest and most abominable of all.
ii. Now, for the AGGRAVATIONS OF THIS SIN, consider,
1. It is a sin, that makes you most like unto the Devil.
The Devil is a spirit; and, therefore, gross carnal sins cannot correspond unto his nature. His sins are more refined and intellectual: such as are pride and malice, deceit and falsehood. John 8:44. He is a liar, and the father of it. And the more of malice goes into the composition of any lie, the more nearly it resembles him. This is the first-born of the Devil; the beginning of his strength: for, by lies, he prevailed over wretched man: and therefore it is his darling and beloved sin, and the greatest instrument of promoting his kingdom. It is that, which, in his own mouth, ruined all mankind in the gross; when he falsely suggested to our first parents, that they should be as gods: and that, which he still puts into the hearts and mouths of others, to ruin and destroy their souls, and the souls of others: Acts 5:3. Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, says our Savior. And, certainly, when we speak a lie, we repeat only what he prompts and dictates to us. You never lie, but you speak aloud, what the Devil whispered softly to you: the Old Serpent lies folded round in your heart, and we may hear him hissing in your voice. And, therefore, when God summoned all his heavenly attendance about him, and demanded who would persuade Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead, an evil spirit, that had crowded in among them, steps forth and undertakes the office, as his most natural employment, and that wherein he most of all delighted: 1 Kings 22:22. I will go forth, and … be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. Every lie you tell, consider that the Devil sits upon your tongue, breathes falsehood into your heart, and forms your words and accents into deceit.
2. Consider, that it is a sin most contrary to the nature of God, who is truth itself.
A sin, that he hates and abominates: Proverbs 6:16, 17. These six things does the Lord hate; yes, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, etc.: and, Proverbs 12:22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. And, therefore, we have so many express commands given us against this sin: Leviticus 19:11. You shall not … deal falsely, nor lie one to another: Colossians 3:9. Lie not one to another: Ephesians 4:25. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth to his neighbor.
3. Consider, that it is a sin, that gives in a fearful evidence against us, that we belong to the Devil, and are his children.
For he is the father of lies, and of liars. God's children will imitate their Heavenly Father, in his truth and veracity. And it is a very observable place, Isaiah 63:8. Surely, says God, they are my people; children, that will not lie: so he was their Savior.
4. Consider, how dreadfully God has threatened it with eternal death.
Scarce any one sin more expressly and particularly. Revelation 22:15. Without, even in outer darkness, are dogs … and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves or makes a lie.
5. A lie shows a most degenerous and cowardly fear of men, and a most daring contempt of the Great God.
Whoever lies, does it out of a base and sordid fear, lest some evil and inconvenience should come unto him, by declaring the truth. And this Montaigne, in his Essays, gives as the reason, why the imputation of lying is the most reproachful ignominy, that one man can lay upon another; and that, which most passionately moves them to revenge: because, says he, "To say a man lies, is to say, that he is audacious towards God, and a coward towards men."
6. Mankind generally account it the most infamous and reproachful sin of all others.
A liar loses all credit and reputation among men; and he, who has made himself scandalous by lying, is not believed when he speaks truth. Yes, it is so odious and foul a sin, that we find it generally esteemed worse than any other sin; and the avoiding of this, thought a good excuse for the commission of others: for when men are moved with some violent passion, they oftentimes resolve to do those things, which, when their passion is allayed, they must look upon as grievous sins; yet, rather than be false to their word, and so censured for lying, they will venture to perpetrate. Thus Herod, for his oath's sake, beheaded John the Baptist. And the common excuse for rash and unwarrantable actions, is, "I said I would do thus or thus; and, therefore, I thought myself bound in honor to do it."
7. It is a sin, that God will detect; and exposes those, who are guilty of it, to shame and contempt.
Proverbs 12:19. Lying lips are but for a moment. And, when they are found out, as usually they are, by their own forgetfulness and the interfering of their own speeches, how shameful will their sin be to them! And the only reward they shall have for it, is, that those, who have accustomed themselves to lying, shall not be believed when they speak truth.
Thus much, concerning that heinous and odious sin of Lying.
II. There remain two other violations of this Commandment: the one is, by Slander and Detraction; the other, by base Flattery and Soothing.
And both these may respect, either ourselves or others.
I shall first speak of that common sin of SLANDER and DETRACTION: a sin, that is reigning and triumphant in this our age; and if I should likewise say, in this place, I think I should not myself be guilty of it, by that censure.
i. Indeed Slander and Detraction seem somewhat to differ. For SLANDER, properly, is A FALSE IMPUTATION OF VICE; but DETRACTION is A CAUSELESS, DIMINISHING REPORT OF VIRTUE. The one traduceth us to be, what, indeed, we are not: the other lessens, what we really are: and both are highly injurious to our good name and reputation, the best and dearest of all our earthly possessions.
When a man's life and actions are so blameless and exemplary, that even malice itself is ashamed to vent its venom by base slanders, lest it should appear to be malice; and the reproach should light rather upon the reporters, than him whom they seek to defame: then it betakes itself to those little sly arts of nibbling at the edges of a man's credit, and clipping away the borders of his good name, that it may not pass so current in the world as before. Thus, when any are so just, as to give others their due commendation either for learning, or wisdom, or piety, or any other perfection either of grace or of nature; you shall have those, who lie in wait to cut off other men's esteem, if they see it so strongly fortified by the conspicuousness of it and the general vote of the world, that they dare not attack the whole, then they lurkingly assault part of it; and what they cannot altogether deny, they will endeavor to diminish: "It is true, such a man is, as you say, learned and knowing: but, withal, so knowing, as to know that too. He is wise but his wisdom is rather politic, than generous; and all his designs are biased with self-ends. He is charitable: but his charity seems too indiscreet: or, if such, if you did not proclaim his good works, he himself would. He is pious and devout indeed, poor man, after his way, and according to his knowledge." Thus, by these blind hints, they endeavor, either to find or to make a flaw in another man's repute; well knowing, that a cracked name, like a cracked bell, will not sound half so clear and loud in the ears of the world, as else it might.
Thus you see what Sanders and Detractions are.
Now,
1. A man may be a Self-Slanderer, and a Self-Detracter.
And such are those, who traduce and defame themselves: and either assume to themselves those wickednesses, which they have not committed; or blameably conceal those gifts and excellencies they are endowed with, when they are called to discover them for the glory of God and the public good.
Some slander themselves, out of hope of reward; when they suppose that the crimes they boast of, may be accepted as services, by others. Thus, when Saul had slain himself, an Amalekite falsely reports to David that he had slain him; hoping to obtain a reward from him, for dispatching his enemy.
Sometimes, men impiously boast of those sins, which they never did, they never dared commit, merely out of a braving humor of vain-glory; and that, among their debauched companions, they might gain the reputation of valiant and daring sinners.
Others falsely accuse themselves of those sins of which they were never guilty, out of a despairing and dejected spirit. Thus, many a poor soul, that has labored under severe convictions, begins first to doubt, and then to conclude, that he has certainly committed the Unpardonable Sin against the Holy Spirit: and, in extreme anguish and horror, cries Guilty; and confesses the indictment, that is falsely drawn up against him, by the calumny of the Devil and his own black fears and melancholy.
Sometimes, men detract from themselves, out of a lying and dissembled humility: making this kind of detraction only a bait for commendation; as knowing the ball will rebound back the farther to them, the harder they strike it from them. This is usually an artifice of proud and arrogant persons; and those, who cannot endure to be contradicted in anything else, would be very reluctant you should yield to them in this.
And, lastly, others detract from themselves, out of a too bashful modesty; or to avoid some troublesome and unpleasing employments, which they are called unto. Thus, we find Moses, Exodus. 4:10 making many excuses, that he was not eloquent, but of a slow tongue, and slow of speech; and all, because he was reluctant to undertake that difficult and dangerous charge, of bringing out the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt.
All these kinds of self-slander and detraction are evil, and some of them most vile and abominable.
2. There is a slandering of and detracting from Another; wronging him unjustly in his fame and reputation, which we ought tenderly to preserve and cherish.
God and nature have entrusted us, mutually, with each other's good name. Your brother's credit is put as a precious depositum into your hands: and, if you wickedly lavishest it out, by spreading false rumors of him; or carelessly keeps it, by suffering others to do so, when it is in your power to justify him; know, assuredly, that it will be strictly required of you: for, in this respect, every man is his brother's keeper.
This slandering of others, may be either in Judicial Process, or else in Common and Ordinary Converse.
(1) In Judicial Process.
And then it is truly and properly False-witnessing: when you rise up against your brother in judgment; and attestest that, which you know to be false and forged, or which you are not most infallibly assured to be true.
And this sin is the more heinous and dreadful, upon the account of Two aggravating Circumstances, that attend it:
[1] Since usually all Actions, in law and judgment, concern either the person or the estate of your brother, by a false witness you not only wrongest him in his name and reputation, but in one of these; and so are not only a slanderer, but a thief or murderer.
Proverbs 11:9. A hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor. And, by so much the more odious is your crime, in that you pervertest the law, which was intended to be a fence and safeguard to every man's property, and turn it against itself, making it the instrument of your injustice and cruelty. The Psalmist, Psalm 52:2 compares Doeg's malicious tongue to a sharp razor: and, certainly, when you give a false testimony against your brother, your tongue is a sharp razor; and it not only wounds his credit, but cuts his throat.
[2] Since, usually, all judicial proceedings exact from the witnesses a tremendous oath solemnly taken by the name of the Great God of Heaven; to give in a false testimony, is not only to be guilty of slander, but of Perjury too.
Yes, and let me add one thing more, to make it a most accumulate wickedness: such a false testimony is not only slander and perjury; but it is Blasphemy too. For what else is it, but to bring the Most Holy God, who is Eternal Truth, to confirm a falsehood and a lie? What can be a higher affront to his Most Sacred Majesty, than this? for a sworn witness is therefore accepted, because he brings God in to be a witness too. And will not you tremble, O wretch, to cite God to appear a witness to that, which a thousand witnesses within you, (I mean your own conscience,) do all depose to be false and forged: and so, to transfer your injustice, and rapine, and bloody murder upon him; and shelter them all, under the shadow of his veracity and faithfulness?
You see, then, how horrid an impiety this is: and, yet, how common, not only those who by this wicked means suffer wrong, but others who are conversant in such judiciary trials, do too truly report.
May it please God to put it into the hearts of our rulers, to enact more severe and rigorous laws against those, who are found guilty of it! It is sad to think, that, whereas a thief shall be adjudged to death for stealing some petty inconsiderable matter, and perhaps too for the relief of his pressing necessities; yet two villains, that have conspired together, by false accusations and perjured testimonies, to take away a man's whole estate or possibly his life, should, for these far greater crimes, be sentenced to so easy a punishment, that only shame and reproach make up the severest part of it. Certainly, methinks, it were but just, that the least they should suffer should be a retaliation of their intended mischiefs: and that the same they designed against their brother should be inflicted upon themselves; whether it be loss of life, or loss of goods and estate. It is but all equity, that the complotters and artificers of mischief should perish by their own craft. And, if this rigor and wholesome severity were but once used, we should not have so many oaths set out to hire, nor would any make it a trade to be a witness: but innocency would be secured under the protection of the laws; and the laws themselves be innocent of the ruin of many hundreds, who, by this means, fall into the snares of ungodly men. Of this one thing I am sure, that God himself thought it a most equitable law, when he thus provided for the safety of his people Israel: Deuteronomy 19:18, 19, 20. If the witness be a false witness, and testify falsely against his brother, then shall you do unto him, as he had thought to do unto his brother: so shall you put the evil away from among you; And those, which remain, shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
(2) There is a slandering of others in our Common and Ordinary Converse.
And this is done Two Ways. Either,
[1] Openly and avowedly; in their presence, and to their faces.
And that is also twofold. Either,
1st. By reviling and railing speeches.
And, thus, Shimei barked at David: 2 Samuel 16:7. Come out, you bloody man, and you man of Belial. And I wish that our streets and houses did not, to their great disgrace and reproach, echo with such clamor; and that too many did not rake together all the dirty expressions which their wit and malice will serve them to invent, only to throw into one another's faces. A sin, which as it is sordid and base in itself; so it chiefly reigns among those, who are of a mean condition. But, wherever it be found, it is a disparagement to human nature, a sin against civil society, and argues men guilty of much folly and brutishness; and, I am sure, is a transgression of that express command of the Apostle, Ephesians 4:31, 32. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted; forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
2dly. But then there is another way of open, avowed slander: and that is, by bitter taunts and sarcastical scoffs.
And this is usually an applauded sin, among the more refined sort of men; who take a pride and glory in exposing others, and making them ridiculous: thinking their own wit never looks so beautiful, as when it is dyed in other's blushes. But this is a most scurrilous and offensive way: wherein, certainly, he has the most advantage, not who has most wit, but that has least modesty. These kinds of tauntings are sometimes such, as the Apostle calls cruel mockings; and reckons up as one part of those persecutions, which the Primitive Christians endured: Hebrews 11:36. Others had trial of cruel mockings. As Nero, for his barbarous sport, wrapped up the Christians in beasts' skins, and then set dogs to worry them; so these disguise their brethren in false and antic shapes; and then fall upon them, and bait them.
[2] There is a more secret and sly conveyance of slander: and that is, by backbiting, whispering, and carrying up and down of tales.
Like those busy tongues, Jeremiah 20:10 that would gladly find or make themselves some employment; saying, Report, and we will report. And, so, a false and slanderous rumor shall, like the river Nilus, spread over the whole land; and yet the head of it be never known: it shall pass on, to the indelible blot and infamy of your neighbor; and the first author of it lie hid and concealed in the crowd, as some fishes will in the mud, which they themselves have stirred. Against this sort of men, Solomon, in his Book of Proverbs, is very severe: and there is no one wickedness, which that excellent compendium of wisdom and morality does more inveigh against, than this of whispering about another man's disgrace: Proverbs 18:8. The words of a tale-bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. And this he repeats again, chapter 26:22 intimating to us, that the wound, which such a tongue makes, is deep, but yet hid and secret, and therefore the more incurable. And, Proverbs 16:28. A whisperer separates chief friends. He is, as it were, the Devil's trucheman and interpreter between them both: and goes to one, and buzzeth in his ear what such an one said of him, although perhaps it be altogether false; and, when he has by this means got some angry and choleric speeches from him, goes and reports them back to the other; and so, by his wicked breath, blows up the coals of strife and dissension between them. And, therefore, the Wise Man tells us, Proverbs 26:20. Where no wood is, the fire goes out; so, where there is no tale-bearer, the strife ceases. The Apostle cautions the Corinthians against this sin: 2 Corinthians 12:20. I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would … lest there be among you debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: and he reckons it up among the black catalogue of those crimes, for the which God gave up the heathen to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient: Being filled with all unrighteousness … full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers; Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things: Romans 1:28, 29, 30. Now one of the chief artifices of this sort of men, is to calumniate strenuously, according to that old maxim of the Devil; Calumniare fortiter, & aliquid adhærebit, "Slander stoutly, and somewhat will stick behind:" for, though the wound may possibly be healed, yet the scar will still remain; and be a blemish to a man's reputation, as long as he lives.
But, then, again there is another kind of slander and detraction: and that is, when a man divulgeth those imperfections and faults, which are truly in his neighbor, without being called or necessitated to do it. For, sometimes, truth itself may be a slander; when it is spoken with an evil design to the hurt and prejudice of another.
Indeed, if you be duly called to witness in judgment: or, if it be in your own defense and vindication; when, if you do not discover him that is guilty, you yourself may be supposed to be the person: or, if the crime be such, as ought not to escape unpunished: or, if he remain contumacious, after more private admonition; in which case, our Savior commands us to tell the Church: or, lastly, when it is for the safety and security of another, who might else be wronged, should we conceal from him the mischiefs, which others intend him: in these cases, it is both lawful and expedient to make known the faults of your brother.
But, then, be sure that you do it, not with any secret delight and exultation, that you have his credit to trample upon, to raise your own the higher; but with that true grief and sorrow of heart, that may evince to all the world, that nothing, but conscience and a sense of your duty; enforced you to publish his shame, which you should be willing to hide at the price of anything, but sin and your own shame.
But, alas! it is strange to consider the depravity of our nature, how we delight in other men's sins, and are secretly glad when their miscarriages give us an occasion to reproach and disgrace them. How many are big with such stuff; and go in pain, until they have disburdened themselves into the ears of others! And some are such ill dissemblers of their joy, that they do it with open scorn and irrision. Others are more artificially malicious; and, with a deep sigh, and a downcast look, and a whining voice, and an affected slowness, whisper to one: "Alas! did you not hear of such a gross miscarriage by such a one?" and then whisper the same thing to another, and a third; and, when they have made it as public as they can, hypocritically desire every one to keep it secret; for that they would be reluctant their neighbor should come to any disgrace and trouble about it. Believe it, Sirs, this, though the matter you report be never so true, is nothing else but slander: because it is done to no good end, but only to feed your own malice; and, like flies, to lie sucking the galled backs and sores of others. And, therefore, we find that Doeg, though he told nothing but the truth, 1 Samuel 22:9, 10 yet is by David challenged as a liar and slanderer: Psalm 52.
And thus you have seen what this sin of Slander is.
ii. I shall FINISH this subject, with giving you,
1. Some brief Rules and Directions, which, through the grace of God, may be serviceable to keep you from this common sin.
And, then, show you how you ought to demean yourselves under the lash of other men's slanderous tongues.
(1) If you would keep yourself from being a slanderer of others, addict not yourself violently to any one party or persuasion of men.
For, part-taking will beget prejudice; and prejudice is the jaundice of the soul, which represents other men and their actions, in the color which our own disease puts upon them. And, indeed, we have all generally such a good conceit of ourselves, that it is a very hard and difficult matter, to have a good esteem for others, who are not of our judgment and of our way. And this makes us, first, very willing to hear some evil of them: for, because we think that what we do is good, we cannot cordially think them good, who do not judge and act as we ourselves do; and so our minds are prepared to entertain reports against them from others, and then to spread them abroad ourselves. And I cannot but impute to this the great uncharitableness of our days; wherein love and brotherly kindness lie murdered under the violence of different persuasions, and different modes, and divers ways of worshiping one and the same God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, all those lying rumors and lying wonders, that one party invents to beat down the other. One party reports the other, to be all profane and superstitious: and the other reports its opposite, to be all hypocritical and seditious: and both suffer from each others' envenomed tongues; and, between both, truth suffers, and charity perishes, and is utterly lost. For shame, O Christians! Is this the way to promote God's cause, or Christ's kingdom? Does He or It stand in need of your lies? Will you speak wickedly for God, and talk deceitfully for him? Shall his honor be maintained by the Devil's inventions? I shall not speak partially; but wherever the fault lies, there let this censure fall: That it is certainly a very strong presumption of a very weak and bad cause, when the refuge and support of it are lies.
(2) If you would not be guilty of slander, be not busy in other men's affairs.
Keep your eyes within doors, and your thoughts at home. Inquire not what others say, nor what others do; but look to your own affairs; and guide them with discretion. You have work enough at home, within your own heart, and in your own house; and, if you are careful to manage that well, you will scarcely have either time or inclination to receive or divulge bad reports of others. And, therefore, the Apostle joins idleness, pragmaticalness, and tattling together: 1 Timothy 5:13. They learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also, and busy-bodies, speaking things which they ought not. They are idle, and yet busy-bodies; very idly busy: who, because they care not to employ their hands, set their tongues on work; and allow them to walk through the world, abusing and lashing every one they meet. A true description of a company of giddy flies in our times, that are always roving from house to house, and skipping about, now to this man's ear and by and by to that, and buzzing reports of what ill they have heard or observed of others.
(3) Take another rule. If you would not be guilty of slander, be frequent in reflecting upon your own miscarriages; or your proneness to fall into the same, or greater faults.
When you hear or know of any foul and scandalous sin committed by another, look backwards upon your own life and actions. Can you find no blots in your copy? Is the whole course of your life fair written upon your conscience? If not, how can you with any shame and modesty upbraid your brother with his miscarriages, when you yourself have been guilty of the like, or greater? Or why, O Hypocrite, behold you the mote that is in your brother's eye, and see not the beam that is in your own? Methinks, our shame for our own sins should be a covering to our brother's; and, when we ourselves are guilty, we should not be so malicious nor foolish, as to reproach ourselves, by reproaching him: otherwise, to eclipse and darken his good name, is but as when the moon eclipseth the sun; her own darkness and obscurity is made the more remarkable by it.
Or, if God, by his restraining grace, has kept you from those wickednesses, into which he has suffered others to fall; yet, then, look inward: view and search your own heart: ransack over your corrupted nature; and there you shall find those, yes and far greater abominations than those, like beds of twisted serpents, knotting and crawling within you. Say, with yourself, "How can I reproach him, who has but copied forth my own nature? How can I expose his infamy, who has but done what I have much ado to keep myself from doing? Possibly the same temptation might have prevailed over me too, had God let it loose upon me. I owe my preservation, not to any difference that was between us, but only to the free and arbitrary grace of God: by this it is that I stand; and shall I reproach him for falling, who should also myself have fallen, were I not strongly upheld by another?" Thus, I say, by reflecting on ourselves, we shall be withheld from being injurious, in our censures and in our reports of others: we shall hardly divulge their real miscarriages; much less accuse and slander them with false and forged ones. This is the Apostle's rule: Galatians 6:1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you, which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.
(4) If you would not be guilty of slander, listen not unto those, who are slanderers and detracters.
Lend not your ears to those, who go about with tales and whispers; whose idle business it is, to tell news of this man and the other: for if these kinds of flies can but blow in your ears, the worms will certainly creep out at your mouths. For all discourse is kept up by exchange; and, if he bring you one story, you will think it incivility not to repay him with another for it: and, so, they chat over the whole neighborhood; accuse this man, and condemn another, and suspect a third, and speak evil of all. I wish that the most of our converse were not taken up this way, in recounting stories of what passed between such and such, when all is to no other end, but to bring an evil report upon them. Now if any such backbiters haunt you, who make it their trade to run up and down with tales and news, give them no countenance, listen not to their detractions; but rather sharply rebuke them, and silence their slanderous tongues: and this will either drive the slander from them, or the slanderer from you: Proverbs 25:23. The north wind drives away rain; so does an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
(5) If you would not be slanderers of others, be not self-lovers.
For self-love always causes envy; and envy detraction. An envious man cannot endure another's praise; and, therefore, seeks all he can to blast it, by false reports and lying slanders: as if all, that were detracted from another, were added to his own reputation. When his neighbor's fame begins to grow tall, and to spread about him, he then seeks, what he can, to cut it down; because he thinks it hinders his prospect, and the world cannot take so fair a view of him as he desires: and, therefore, he is still hewing at it; sometimes with oblique, and sometimes with direct blows; sometimes striking at his parts, and sometimes at his piety: and, if he can but make these fall in the esteem of the world, then he thinks none shall be so much respected and honored as himself. A man, that is a self-lover, thinks all due unto himself: all praise and commendation must run in his channel, or else it takes a wrong course; and he accounts just so much taken from him, as is ascribed to another: and this puts him upon this base are of detraction, that, by depressing others, he may advance himself, and raise the structure of his own fame upon the ruins of his neighbor's. And, therefore, if you would not slander others, be sure do not too much admire yourself. For self-applause, and self-esteem, is like a pike in a pond, that will eat up and devour all about it, that itself may thrive and grow upon them.
(6) Be not too easy and facile to entertain suspicious and evil surmises against others.
For, if you begin to suspect evil of another, the next thing is to conclude it, and the next to report it. This suspicion is a strange shadow, that every action of another will cast upon our minds; especially, if we be beforehand a little disaffected towards them. Thus, very dreams increased suspicion against Joseph in his brethren. And, if once a man be out of esteem with us, let him then do what he will, be it never so virtuous and commendable, suspicion will still be the interpreter: and, where suspicion is the intepreter of men's actions, slander and detraction will be the gloss and comment upon them. Indeed, suspicion is always too hasty in concluding: and, many times, our jealousies and distrusts, upon very small occasions, prompt us to conclude that what we have thus surmised is certainly come to pass; and so we take shadows for enemies, and report that confidently for truth, which yet we never saw acted, but only in our own fancies.
Now, notwithstanding that this sin of slander and detraction is so great and heinous: yet may it not be justly feared, that many place their whole religion in it; and think themselves so much the better, by how much the worse they think and report of other men? Do they not think it a piece of zeal and warmth for the worship and service of God, to cry down all as superstitious, that do not worship him in their way? Do they not make it, if not a part, yet a sign of holiness, to be still finding faults, and crying out against others; to be censorious and clamorous?
Such a sort of men are all lewd and profane: and such a sort are all rebellious and hypocrites: and, then, to justify their censures, instance, possibly in two or three, of whom perhaps they know no more than the bare names.
And what tends all this to, but mutual exasperation? Those, that do not believe them, are exasperated against the reporters; and those, who do believe them, are exasperated against the slandered.
And, as it tends to exasperation, so likewise it encourages and hardens many in their sins. For, when they hear so much evil blazed abroad in the world; and few or none escape, without having some foul blot rubbed upon him, and infamous crime reported of him, whether truly or falsely, they think that sin and wickedness is no such strange thing; and so embolden themselves to commit that, which they hear is so common.
I beseech you, therefore, O Christians, for the peace of the Church, which else will continue sadly rent and divided; for the sake of Christianity, which else will be discredited and reviled; for your Brethren's sake, who else will be discouraged or exasperated; be very cautious what reports you either receive or make of others. Their good name is very precious; precious to God, when their blameless conversation deserves it; and precious to themselves. However, unless there be absolute necessity, and you be constrained to do it for the glory of God and the good of others, divulge not their imperfections, though they be real; and, in no case whatever, feign or devise false rumors concerning them. Take heed, lest, if you bite and devour one another, you be not consumed one of another, and one with another.
These are the Rules, to keep you from being guilty of slander against others.
2. But, if any are guilty of raising an ill report against you, observe these following Rules and Directions, how you ought to demean yourselves in this case.
(1) If the reproach they cast upon you be true and deserved; though they perhaps have sinned in disclosing it to the world, yet make this use of it: go you and disclose it, in your most humble and penitent confessions, unto God; yes, and if you are called thereunto by due form of law, give glory unto God by confessing it before men. Men possibly may upbraid you with it; but, by this course, God will forgive you, without upbraiding you.
(2) If you are falsely charged with that, which never was in your heart to do, yet improve this providence to stir you up to pray the more fervently, that God would forever keep you from falling into that sin, with which others slander you: so shall all their reproaches be thrown merely into the air, and fall at last heavy upon their own heads, while you rejoice in the whiteness and innocency of your own soul.
(3) If any unjustly slander you, revenge not yourself upon them by slandering them again.
I must confess that this is a very hard lesson; and requires almost an angelical perfection, to perform it well. We read in the Epistle of Jude, that, when Michael and the Devil contended about the body of Moses, it is said, that the holy angel dared not bring a railing accusation against that wicked spirit; but only said, The Lord rebuke you. And so, when men of devilish spirits spew out their slanders, and broach all the malicious accusations that their father, the Great Accuser, has ever suggested unto them, return not slander for slander; for so the Devil would teach you to be a devil; but, with all quietness and meekness, desire of God to rebuke their lies and calumnies; and, by all wise and prudent means, vindicate yourself: clear up your integrity; and make it appear, that, though the archers have shot at you and sorely grieved you, with their arrows, even bitter words; yet, still, your bow remains in its strength. What says the Apostle? 1 Peter 3:9. Render not evil for evil, or railing for railing. And, indeed, whoever does so, seeks only to heal a wound in his name, by making a much deeper one in his conscience.
(4) When you are falsely aspersed and slandered, refer yourself, and appeal to the all-knowing God: retire into the peace and refuge of your own conscience; and there shall you find enough, for their confutation and your comfort.
Know, that a good name is in the power of every slanderous tongue to blast; but they cannot corrupt your conscience to vote with them. Possibly, it is only the excellency and eminency of your grace, that offends them: if so, glory in it; for the reproaches of wicked men are the best testimonials, that can be given of an excellent and singular Christian. In a strict and holy conversation, there is that contradiction to the loose profane of the world, as, at once, both convinces and vexes them, reproves and provokes them. And, if you do thus reproach them by your life, wonder not at it, if they again reproach you by their lying slanders. Be not too solicitous how they esteem of you. It is miserable to live upon the reports and opinions of others: let us not much reckon what they say, but what reports our own consciences make; and, if a storm of obloquy and reproaches, railings and slanders, do at any time patter upon you, how sweet is it to retire inwards to the calm innocency of our own hearts! there, are a thousand witnesses, which will tell us we have not deserved them. How comfortable is it, to remit our cause unto God; and to leave our vindication to him, for whose cause we suffer reproach! Thus, Jeremiah appeals to God: Jeremiah 20:10, 12. I heard the defaming of many.… Report, say they, and we will report it.… But, O Lord of Hosts, you that try the righteous, and see the reins and the heart … unto you have I opened my cause. Thus, if, while wicked men are maliciously conspiring how to blot and sully our names, we can but keep our consciences clear; what need we much trouble ourselves how the wind blows abroad, since we are harbored under the retreat of a peaceable heart? They may possibly persuade others to believe their calumnies; but God, who searches the heart and conscience, knows that we are injured: and he is hastening on a day, wherein he will clear up our righteousness; and then the testimony of a good conscience shall put ten thousand slanderers to silence.
And thus I have spoken of this Second Sin, of Slander and Detraction.
III. The Third Sin against this Commandment, is, BASE FLATTERY and SOOTHING; which is a quite opposite extreme to the other, as both are opposite to truth.
Now this is, either Self-flattery, or the Flattering of others.
i. There is a SELF-FLATTERY.
And, indeed, every man is, as Plutarch well observed, his own greatest flatterer: and, however empty and defective we may be; yet we are all apt to love ourselves, perhaps without a rival, and to be puffed up with a vain conceit of our own imaginary perfections, to applaud and commend ourselves in our own thoughts and fancies, and to think that we excel all others in what we have; and, what we have not, we despise as nothing worth. From this abundance of a vain heart, break out arrogant boastings of ourselves, despising of others, a presumptuous intruding ourselves into those employments and functions which we are no way able to manage. Learn, therefore, O Christian, to take the just measure of yourself. Let it not be too scanty: for that will make you pusillanimous and cowardly; and, through an extreme of modesty, render you unserviceable to God and the world. But rather let it be too scanty, than too large: for this will make you proud, and arrogant, and undertaking; and, by exercising yourself in things too high for you, you will but spoil whatever you rashly and overweeningly venture upon. If you are at any time called or necessitated to speak of yourself, let it rather be less than the truth, than more: for the tongue is of itself very apt to be lavish, when it has so sweet and pleasing a theme, as a man's own praise. Take the advice of Solomon: Proverbs 27:2. Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
ii. There is a SINFUL FLATTERING OF OTHERS: and that, either by an immoderate extolling of their virtues; or, what is worse, by a wicked commendation even of their very vices.
This is a sin most odious unto God, who has threatened to cut off all flattering lips: Psalm 12:3. But, especially, it is most detestable in ministers, whose very office and function it is to reprove men for their sins: if they shall daub with untempered mortar, and sew pillows under men's elbows; crying Peace, Peace, when there is no peace to the wicked, only that they may lull them asleep in their security, they do but betray their souls; and the blood of them God will certainly require at their hands.
Thus much, for the Ninth Commandment.
THE
TENTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not covet your neighbor's house: you shall not covet your neighbor's wife; nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his or, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.
THUS are we, at last, through the divine assistance, arrived to the Tenth and last Precept of the Moral Law.
Indeed, the Papists and the Lutherans divide it into two; making these words, You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, to be one entire command; and then putting together the other branches of it, You shall not covet your neighbor's house, nor his servant, etc. to piece up the last. But then, withal, to keep the number of them from swelling beyond a Decalogue, or Ten Words, the Lutherans join the First and Second together into one; and the Papists, in propounding the Commandments to the people, wholly leave it out; fearing they may be corrupted by hearing it, because it speaks too boldly against their idolatry and image-worship.
But, how infinitely temerarious is it, for vile wretches either to invert, or defalcate, and, as it were, to decimate the Laws of the Great God; by the which, they and all their actions must be judged at the Last Day!
And, certainly, were it not, that they might the better conceal from the ignorant common people the dangerous and heretical words of the Second Commandment, they could have lain under no temptation at all, to do a thing altogether so unreasonable, as the dividing of this Tenth Commandment into Two: for, upon the same ground, might they as well have divided it into seven; since there are many more concupiscences mentioned in it, than that of our Neighbor's Wife, and of his House. And, if each of these must constitute a distinct precept, why not also, You shall not covet his Man-Servant: You shall not covet his Ox, etc.
Besides, the order of the words makes clearly against them. For, whereas they make, You shall not covet your Neighbor's Wife, to be the Ninth; in the text, those words, You shall not covet your Neighbor's House, go before them: so that, either they must needs confess it to belong to the Tenth, or else must grant a most unintelligible Hyperbaton both of sense and words; such as would, bring in utter confusion and disorder among those laws, which God certainly prescribed us in a most admirable method and disposition.
I. But, to speak no more of this: the sin, here prohibited, is CONCUPISCENCE, or an unlawful lusting after what is another man's.
For, since God had, in the other Commandments, forbidden the Acts of sin against our neighbor, he well knew that the best means, to keep men from committing sin in act, would be to keep them from desiring it in Heart: and therefore, he, who is a Spirit, imposes a law upon our spirits; and forbids us to covet, what before he had forbidden us to perpetrate. It is true, that other precepts are spiritual likewise; and their authority reaches to the mind, and the most secret thoughts and imaginations of the heart: for our Savior, Mat 5 accuses him of adultery, that does but lust after a woman; and him of murder, that is but angry with his brother without a cause: and it is a most certain rule, that whatever precept prohibits the outward act of any sin, prohibits likewise the inward propensity and desires of the soul towards it. But because these are not plainly and literally expressed in the former Commands, therefore the Infinite Wisdom of God thought it fit to add this last Command; wherein he does expressly arraign and condemn the very first motions of our hearts towards any sinful object: and, whereas before he had commanded us, not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to slander, and bear false witness; now, in the last place, for the greater security that these his laws should not be violated, he commands us, not so much as to harbor in our hearts any desire towards these. So that this Tenth Commandment may well be called Vinculum Legis: and it is especially the bond, that strengthens and confirms the Second Table: for because all our outward actions take their first rise from our inward motions and concupiscence, there is no such way to provide for our innocency, as to lay a check and restraint upon these.
Concupiscence is, sometimes, taken in Scripture in a good sense; but, more often, in an evil. There is an honest and lawful concupiscence: when we desire those things, which are lawful, to which we have right, and of which we have need. There is, likewise, a holy and pious, and a wicked and sinful concupiscence. We have both together, Galatians 5:17. The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
It is only concerning this sinful concupiscence, that we are at present to speak.
This evil concupiscence is the first-born of original sin; the first essay, and expression of that corruption, which has seized on us, and on all the wretched posterity of Adam.
For, in original sin, besides the guilt which results from the imputation of the primitive transgression to us and makes us liable to eternal death, there is likewise an universal depravation of our natures, consisting in Two Things.
First. In a loss of those spiritual perfections, with which man was endowed in his creation.
And this is the defacing of the image of God, which was stamped upon our nature in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness.
And, as a consequent upon this,
Secondly. In a violent propensity and inclination to whatever ever is really evil, and contrary to the holy will and commands of God.
And this is the image of the Devil, into which man, by his voluntary apostasy and defection, has transformed himself.
Now this inordinate inclination of the soul to what is evil and sinful, is properly the concupiscence forbidden in this Commandment. For the soul of man, being an active and busy creature, must still be putting forth itself in actions suitable to its nature. But, before the Fall, man enjoyed supernatural grace, though in a natural way; which enabled him to point every the least motion of his soul towards God, and to fix him as the object and end of all his actions: but, forfeiting this grace by the Fall, and being left in the hands of mere nature, all his actions now, instead of aspiring unto God, pitch only upon the creature. And this becomes sin unto us, not merely because we affect and desire created good; for that is lawful: but because we affect and desire it, in an inordinate manner; that is, without affecting and desiring God. And, thus, the soul not being able, without grace and the image of God, to raise its operations unto God, pitched upon what it can, namely, low, sinful objects, to the neglect and slighting of God, and the great concernments of Heaven. And this is, in the general, that inordinate disposition of the soul, which is here called coveting or concupiscence.
There are Four Degrees of this sinful lust.
i. There is the THE FIRST FILM AND SHADOW OF AN EVIL THOUGHT; the imperfect embryo of a sin, before it is well shaped in us, or has received any lineaments and features.
And these the Scripture calls the Imaginations of the Thoughts of Men's Hearts: Genesis 6:5. God saw … that every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually: that is, the very first figment and flushing of our thoughts, is evil and corrupt. Indeed, some of these are injected by the Devil. Many times, he assaults the dearest of God's children with horrid and black temptations: and importunately casts into their minds strange thoughts of questioning the very being of God, the truth of the Scriptures, the immortality of the soul, future rewards and punishments; and such other blasphemous, hideous, and unshapen monsters, against the very fundamentals of religion, for the truth of which they would willingly sacrifice their very lives, as a testimony to them: these, indeed, are not their sins, although they are their great troubles and afflictions; for they come only from a principle without them, and they are merely passive and sufferers by them, so long as they are watchful to abhor and resist them, and to cast these fiery darts of the Devil back again into his face. But then there are other first motions arising up in our hearts towards those sins, which are more delightful and pleasant to our sensual inclinations: these, whatever the Papists say to the contrary, as soon as ever they do but begin to heave and stir in our breasts, are truly sins; and do, in their measure, pollute and defile the soul: for the soul of man is like a clear mirror, upon which if you only breathe, you sully it, and leave a dimness upon it; so, truly, the very first breathings of an evil thought and desire in our souls, do sully their beauty, and dim their luster, and render the image of God less conspicuous in them than it was before.
ii. A farther degree of this concupiscence, is, WHEN THESE EVIL MOTIONS ARE ENTERTAINED IN THE SENSUAL MIND WITH SOME MEASURE OF DELIGHT AND DELIGHT.
When a sinful object offers itself to a carnal heart, there is a kind of inward pleasing titillation, that affects it with delight, and begets a kind of sympathy between them: that look, as in natural sympathies, a man is taken and delighted with an object before he knows the reason why he is so; so, likewise, in this sinful sympathy, that is between a carnal heart and a sensual object, the heart is taken and delighted with it, before it has had time to consider what there is in it that should so move and affect it. At the very first sight and glimpse of a person, we many times find that we conceive some more particular respect for him, than possibly for a whole crowd of others, though all may be equally unknown unto us: so, upon the very first glimpse and apparition of a sinful thought in our minds, we find that there is something in it that commands a particular regard from us; that unbosoms and unlocks our very souls unto it, even before we have the leisure to examine why.
iii. Hereupon follows ASSENT AND APPROBATION OF THE SIN IN THE PRACTICAL JUDGMENT; which, being blinded and forcibly carried away by the violence of corrupt and carnal affections, commends the sin to the executive faculties.
The understanding is the great trier of every deliberate action; so that nothing passes into act, which has not first passed examination and censure there: whether this or that action is to be done, is the great question canvassed in this court; and all the powers and faculties of the soul wait what definitive sentence will be here pronounced, and so accordingly proceed. Now, here, two things do usually appear, and put in their plea to the judgment against sin: God's law; and God's advocate, Conscience: the Law condemns, and Conscience cites that Law. But then the Affections step in; and bribe the judge with profit, or pleasure, or honor, and thereby corrupt the judgment to give its vote and assent unto sin.
iv. When any sinful motion has thus gotten an allowance and pass from the judgment; then it BETAKES ITSELF TO THE WILL FOR A DECREE.
The judgment approves it; and, therefore, the will must now resolve to commit it: and then the sin is fully perfected and formed within; and there wants nothing but opportunity, to bring it forth into act.
And thus you see what this concupiscence is, and the degrees of it: via. the First Bubblings-up of evil thoughts in our hearts; our Complacency and Delight in them, (as, indeed, it is very hard, and much against corrupt nature, not to love these firstborn of our souls); the Assent and Allowance of our Judgment; and the Decree and Resolution of our Wills: each of these is forbidden in this Commandment.
But if the sin proceeds any further, it then exceeds the bounds and limits of this Commandment; and falls under the prohibition of some of the former, which forbid the outward acts of sin.
Thus much, concerning Evil Concupiscence, in the general.
But here is mention likewise made of several particular objects of it: Your Neighbor's House, his Wife, his Servants, his Cattle; (under which are comprehended all sorts of his possessions;) and all is included under the last clause, Nor anything that is your neighbor's. So that, to desire to take from him, either his life, or his good name, or his virtue, is this condemned covetousness; as well as a desire to take from him his temporal possessions and enjoyments.
II. I shall close up all with some PRACTICAL USE AND IMPROVEMENT.
i. LEARN, HERE, TO ADORE THE UNLIMITED AND BOUNDLESS SOVEREIGNTY OF THE GREAT GOD.
His authority immediately reaches to the very soul and conscience, and lays an obligation upon our very thoughts and desires; which no human laws can do. It is but a folly for men to intermeddle with or impose laws upon that, of which they can take no cognizance: and, therefore, our thoughts and desires are free from their censure, any farther than they discover themselves by overt acts. But, though they escape the commands and notice of men, yet they cannot escape God: He sees not as men see; neither judges he as men judge: the secrets of all hearts are open and bare before his eyes: he looks through our very souls, and there is not the least hint of a thought, not the least breath of a desire stirring in us; but it is more distinctly visible unto him, than the most opacous bodies are unto us. The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity: Psalm 94:11. And, therefore, his law, like his knowledge, reaches unto the most secret recesses of the soul, scarcheth every corner of the heart, judges and condemns those callow lusts which men never espy; and, if these find harbor and shelter there, condemns you as a transgressor, and guilty of eternal death, how plausible soever your external demeanor may be.
And, therefore,
ii. CONTENT NOT YOURSELF WITH AN OUTWARD CONFORMITY TO THE LAW; BUT LABOR TO APPROVE YOUR HEART IN SINCERITY AND PURITY UNTO GOD: otherwise, you are but a pharisaical hypocrite; and wash only the outside of the cup, when within you are still full of unclean lusts.
This was the corrupt doctrine of the Scribes and Pharisees, that the Law reached only to the outward man: and, although we entertained and cherished wicked desires and evil purposes in our hearts; yet, so long as they did not break forth into outward crimes, they were not to be imputed unto us, nor did God account them as sins. And this Paul confesses of himself, that, while he was trained up in pharisaical principles, he did not understand the inward motions of lusts to be sins.
But, alas! this is but gilding over a dry and rotten post: which, though it may look beautiful, to men; yet, when God comes to examine it, will not abide the fiery trial. You are as truly a murderer, a thief, an adulterer in God's sight, if you do but harbor bloody, unclean, unjust thoughts in your heart; as you would be in men's, if you should actually kill, or steal, or wallow in the open and professed acts of impurity.
Indeed, most men do herein grossly delude themselves: and, if they can but refrain from the outward commission of gross and scandalous sins, they very seldom reflect upon their heart-lusts; which, like deep ulcers, rankle inwardly, and perhaps grow incurable, when all the while they may be skimmed over with a fair and inoffensive life. Although the heart fret and boil over with malicious, revengeful, lascivious thoughts; yet they usually dispense with these, and their natural conscience indulgeth them without disturbance.
But deceive not yourselves, God is not mocked; nor can he be imposed upon by external shows: neither will he judge of you as others do, or as you yourself do.
I know it is a very difficult thing, to convince men of the great evil that there is in sinful thoughts and desires; and, therefore, very difficult to persuade them to labor against them: for because they are of a small and minute being, therefore men think they carry in them but small guilt and little danger. Every man, that has but a remnant of conscience left him, will beware of gross and notorious crimes, that carry the mark of Hell and damnation visibly stamped upon their foreheads: such as he, that can without reluctance commit them, must needs own himself for the apparent offspring of the Devil. But, for an invisible thought, a notion, a desire, a thing next nothing; this certainly I may please myself withal; for this can hurt no one. By a malicious purpose, I wrong no man: by a covetous desire, I extort from no man: and what so great evil then can there be in this?
It is true, indeed, were you only to deal with men, whom immaterial things touch not, there were no such great evil in them: but, when you have likewise to do with an immaterial and spiritual God, before whom your very thoughts and desires appear as substantial and considerable as your outward actions; then know that these, as slight and thin beings as they are, fall under his censure here, and will fall under his revenge hereafter.
Now were this persuasion effectually wrought into the minds of men, were it possible they should indulge themselves as they do, in vain, frothy, unclean, malicious thoughts and desires? were it possible they should so closely brood on these cockatrice eggs, which will bring forth nothing but serpents to sting them to eternal death? were it possible they should delight in rolling and tossing a sin to and fro in their fancy; and, by imagining it, make the Devil some recompense for not daring to commit it? Certainly, such men are altogether unacquainted with the life and power of true grace, when as those sins, which they dare not act, yet they dare with pleasure contemplate and dally with, in their fancies and imaginations.
Turn, therefore, your eyes inwards. Bewail and strive against that natural concupiscence, which lodges there: and never content yourself, that you have dammed up the streams of your corruptions, from overflowing your life and actions; until you have, in some good measure, dried up the fountain of it.
iii. See here the best and the surest methods, to keep us from the outward violation of God's laws; which is, to MORTIFY OUR CORRUPT CONCUPISCENCE AND DESIRES.
And, therefore, as I told you, the wisdom of God has set this Commandment in the last place, as a fence and guard to all the rest. You shall not Covet; and then, certainly, You shall not Kill, nor Steal, nor commit Adultery, nor bear False-Witness; but be kept pure from all outward defilements of the flesh, when you are thus cleansed from the inward defilements of the spirit.
For, from these it is, that all the more visible sins of our lives and actions have their supply. And, therefore, says our Savior, Matthew 15:19. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Observe, that he puts evil thoughts in the front, as the leader of all this black regiment: for, out of this evil treasure of the heart, men bring forth evil things; and all the fruits of the flesh, the grapes of Sodom, and the clusters of Gomorrah, receive their sap and nourishment from this root of bitterness.
It ought, therefore, most deservedly to be the great and chief care of every Christian, to lay the axe to this root; to purge and heal this fountain, that sends forth such corrupt and poisonous streams; to keep his heart clean from sinful thoughts and affections, and then his life will be clean by consequence. And, therefore, God very pressingly requires this: Jeremiah 4:14. O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness … how long shall vain thoughts lodge within you?
And, let me add, that, unless we make this our chief care; unless we do most solicitously observe this Last Commandment, all our care in observing the former will be utterly in vain; not only in respect of our acceptance and reward with God, but as to any good issue and effect. All other endeavors will be as successless, as to attempt the cure of an ulcerous body, without purging it; where the corruption will quickly break forth again: or to attempt the emptying of a pond, that has many springs still rising up in the bottom of it; which will soon grow as full as ever it was.