Dr. TILLOTSON's SERMON Before the QUEEN. A SERMON Preached before the QUEEN AT WHITEHALL, March the 8th, 1688/9. By JOHN TILLOTSON, D. D. Dean of Canterbury. LONDON: Printed for Brabazon Aylmer, at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill; and Will. Rogers, at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet. MDCLXXXIX. A SERMON Preached at White-Hall. MATTH. 5. 44. But I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you. THE Gospel hath promised forgiveness of Sins to us upon two Conditions; That we sincerely repent of the Sins which we have committed against God; and, That we heartily forgive to men the injuries and offences which they have been guilty of towards us. I shall at this time, by God's Assistance, treat of the latter of these, from the Words which I have recited to you; which are part of our Saviour's excellent Sermon upon the Mount. In which he doth not only explain, but enlarge and perfect the Moral and Natural Law, by adding to it Precepts and Prohibitions of greater perfection, than either the Law of Moses or the Natural Law, in their largest extent, did contain. He forbids Polygamy, and Divorce, except only in case of Adultery; and likewise Revenge; none of which were forbidden either by the Law of Nature, or by the Law which was given by Moses. And to these Prohibitions our Blessed Saviour adds several new Precepts of greater perfection than any Laws that were extant before. But I say unto you, love your enemies. The Jewish Law commanded them to love their. Neighbour, meaning their brethren and those of their own Nation: But our Saviour, by commanding us to love our enemies, hath in the most emphatical manner that can be commanded us to love all men. For if any were to be excluded from our Charity, none so likely to be so as our Enemies. So that after a command to love our Enemies it was needless to name any others; because men are naturally apt to love those that love them. I say unto you, love your enemies; here the inward affection is required. Bless them that curse you; here outward Civility and Affability are required, in opposition to rude and uncivil Language; for so blessing and cursing do in Scripture frequently signify. Do good to them that hate you; here real acts of kindness are commanded to be done by us to our bitterest and most malicious Enemies. Pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you. These are the highest expressions of Enmity that can be, calumny and cruelty; and yet we are commanded to pray for those that touch us in these two tenderest Points of all other, our Reputation and our Life. And to secure the sincerity of our Charity towards our Enemies, we are required to express it by our hearty Prayers to God for them: To God, I say, before whom it is both impious and dangerous to dissemble; and from whom we can expect no mercy for ourselves, if with feigned Lips we beg it of Him for others. You see what is the Duty here required; That we bear a sincere affection to our most malicious and implacable Enemies, and be ready upon occasion to give real testimony of it. And because this may seem a hard duty, and not so easy to be reconciled either to our Inclination, or our Reason; I shall endeavour to show, that this Law is not only reasonable, but much more perfect and excellent, and the practice of it more easy and delightful, and upon all accounts much more for our benefit and advantage, than the contrary: And that upon four Considerations; which I shall endeavour to represent with their just advantage, and so as may, I hope, not only convince our Judgements of the reasonableness of this Precept, but likewise bend and sway our Wills to the obedience and practice of it. I. If we consider the nature of the act here required, which is to Love; which when it is not a mere Passion, but under the government of our Reason, is the most natural, and easy, and delightful of all the Affections which God hath planted in Humane Nature: Whereas ill-will, and hatred, and revenge, are very troublesome and vexatious Passions. Both the devising of mischief, and the accomplishment of it, and the reflection upon it afterwards, are all uneasy; and the consequences of it many times pernicious to ourselves, The very design of Revenge is troublesome, and puts the Spirits into an unnatural fermentation and tumult. The man that meditates it is always restless, his very soul is stung, swells and boiles, is in pain and anguish, hath no ease, no enjoyment of itself so long as this Passion reigns. The execution of it may perhaps be attended with some present pleasure, but that pleasure is unreasonable and brutish, momentany and short, like a flash of Lightning which vanisheth in the twinkling of an Eye. It is commonly said that Revenge is sweet, but to a calm and considerate mind Patience and Forgiveness are sweeter, and do afford a much more rational and solid and durable pleasure than Revenge. The Monuments of our Mercy and Goodness are a far more pleasing and delightful spectacle, than of our Rage and Cruelty. And no sort of thought does usually haunt men with more terror, than the reflection upon what they have done in way of Revenge. Besides that the consequences of this Passion do commonly prove very prejudicial to ourselves. For the Revenge of one injury doth naturally draw on more, and will oblige us for the same reason to a new Revenge of them; and this brings on a perpetual and endless circulation of Injuries and Revenges. So that whoever seeks Revenge upon another doth commonly in the issue take it upon himself, and whilst he thinks to transfer the injury which he hath received upon him that did it, he doubles it upon himself. Such, and so great are the troubles and inconveniences of a malicious and revengeful temper: but there is no torment in Love, as St. John excellently says. To be kindly affectioned towards all, to bear no grudge or ill-will, no thought of displeasure or revenge towards any man, is the easiest posture, the most pleasant state of the Mind. So that if not for their sakes, yet for our own, we should Love our Enemies and do good to them that hate us; because to be thus affected towards all men, is as great kindness to ourselves as it is charity to others. II. If we consider the qualification of the Object; it is our Enemy whom we are required to Love. In whom though there be something that is justly disgustful, yet there is something also that is lovely; and if we persist in our kindness to him, notwithstanding his enmity to us, the enmity may wear off, and perhaps at length be changed into a sincere and firm friendship. 'Tis true indeed, that with regard to ourselves personal enmity towards us is one of the most inconvenient qualities that a man can have, but not therefore the worst in itself. If we could be impartial and lay aside prejudice, we might perhaps discern several very lovely qualities in him which hates us: And Virtue is to be owned, and praised, and loved, even in an Enemy. And perhaps his enmity towards us is not so great and inexcusable a fault, as we apprehend; he is not perhaps our Enemy to that degree, nor so altogether without cause, as we imagine; possibly we have provoked him, or by his own mistake, or through the malicious representation of others, he may be induced to think so: And are not we ourselves liable to the like misapprehensions concerning others? of which we are many times afterwards convinced and ashamed: and so may he, and then his enmity will cease, if we will but have a little patience with him, as we always wish in the like case that others would have with us. At the worst, though never so sore and causeless an Enemy, though never so bad a Man, yet he is a Man, and as such, hath something in him which the blindest Passion cannot deny to be good and amiable. He hath the same Nature with ourselves, which we cannot hate, or despise, without hatred and contempt of ourselves. Let a man's faults be what they will, they do not destroy his Nature and make him cease to be a Man. The two great Foundations of Love are Relation and Likeness. No one thing, says Tully, is so like, so equal to another, as one man is to another. What difference soever there may be between us and another man, yea, though he be our Enemy, yet he is still like us in the main; and perhaps, but too like us in that for which we find so much fault with him, a proneness to offer affronts and injuries. And there is an essential Relation, as well as Likeness, between one man and another; which nothing can ever dissolve, because it is founded in that which no man can divest himself of, in Humane Nature. Dr. Barrow. So far is it from being true, which Mr. Hobbs asserts as the fundamental Principle of his Politics, That men are naturally in a state of War and enmity with one another; that the contrary Principle, laid down by a much deeper and wiser man, I mean Aristotle, is most certainly true, That men are naturally akin and friends to each other. Some unhappy accidents and occasions may make men Enemies, but naturally every man is friend to another: and that is the surest and most unalterable reason of things which is founded in Nature, not that which springs from mutable accidents and occasions. So that whoever is recommended to us under the notion of a Man, ought not to be looked upon by us and treated as an Enemy. Consider farther that an Enemy, even whilst he is exercising his enmity towards us, may do us many acts of real advantage; which though they do not proceed from kindness, yet in truth are benefits. The malicious Censures of our Enemies, if we make a right use of them, may prove of greater advantage to us, than the Civilities of our best friends. We can easily afford, nay the wisest Men can hardly forbear, to love a Flatterer; to embrace him, and to take him into our bosom; and yet an open Enemy is a thousands times better and less dangerous than he. It is good for many men that they have had Enemies, who have many times been to them the happy occasion of reforming those faults, which none but an Enemy would have taken the freedom, I had almost said would have had the Friendship, to have told them of. But what if after all, this Enemy of ours, this hated man, prove to be one of our best Friends? For so reconciled Enemies usually are. And if any thing will reconcile an Enemy, Love and Kindness will. An obstinate goodness is apt to conquer even the worst of Men. It is hardly in the nature of man to withstand the kindness of one whom, by all that we could do, we have not been able to make our enemy. After a man hath done the greatest injury to another, not only to find no revenge following upon it, but the first opportunity taken to oblige him, is so very surprising, that it can hardly fail to gain upon the worst disposition and to melt down the hardest temper. So that we should love our Enemies, if not for what they are at present, yet for what they may be, and in hope that by these means they may in time become our Friends. III. If we consider the Excellency and Generosity of the thing itself. To love our enemies, and to do good to them that hate us, is the perfection of goodness, and the advancement of it to its highest pitch. It is the most excellent and perfect act of the greatest and most perfect of all Graces and Virtues, I mean Charity; which by St. Paul is called the bond of perfection; and by St. James, the perfect and the Royal Law: because it inspires men with a greatness of Mind fit for Kings and Princes, in whom nothing is more admirable than a generous Goodness and Clemency, even towards great Enemies and Offenders, so far as is consistent with the Public Good. Love for love is but Justice and Gratitude; Love for no love is favour and kindness; but Love for hatred and enmity is a most Divine Temper, a steady and immutable Goodness that is not to be stirred by provocation, and so far from being conquered that it is rather confirmed by its contrary: For if Hatred and Enmity do not extinguish Love, what can? This is Goodness indeed; not only without Merit and Obligation, without Invitation or Motive; but against all reasonable expectation, and in despite of all Temptation and Provocation to the contrary. So that to return good for evil and love for hatred, is one of the greatest arguments of a great Mind, and of deep wisdom and consideration: For naturally our first inclinations and thoughts towards our Enemies are full of Anger and Revenge; but our second and wiser thoughts will tell us, that Forgiveness is much more generous than Revenge. And a more glorious Victory cannot be gained over another man than this, that when the Injury began on his part the Kindness should begin on ours. If both the ways were equally in our power, yet it is a much more desirable Conquest to overcome evil with good, than with evil. By this, we can only Conquer our Enemy, and may perhaps fail in that; but by the other, we certainly Conquer ourselves, and perhaps our Enemy too; overcoming him in the noblest manner, and walking him gently till he be cool, and without force effectually subduing him to be our Friend. This, Dr. Barrow. as One fitly compares it, is like a great and wise General, by Art and Stratagem, by mere dint of Skill and Conduct, by Patience and wise delay; without ever striking a stroke, or shedding one drop of blood, to vanquish an Enemy, and to make an end of the War without ever putting it to the hazard of a Battle. Revenge is blind and rash, and does always proceed from impotency and weakness of Mind. 'Tis Anger that spurs men on to it; and Anger is certainly one of the foolishest Passions of Humane Nature, and which commonly betrays men to the most imprudent and unreasonable things. Prov. 14. 29. So Solomon observes, He that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly; Eccl. 7. 9 and again, Anger resteth in the bosom of Fools: But to be able to bear provocation, is an argument of great Wisdom; and to forgive it, of a great Mind: So the same Wiseman tells us, He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, Prov. 16. 32. and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a City. It is a greater thing, in case of great Provocation, to calm a man's own spirit, than to storm and take a strong City. Whereas the Angry Man loseth and lets fall the government of himself, and lays the Reins upon the neck of the Wild Beast, his own brutish Appetite and Passion; which hurries him on first to Revenge, and then to Repentance for the folly which he hath been guilty of in gratifying so unreasonable a Passion. For it very seldom happens that any man executes an act of Revenge, but the very next moment after he hath done it, he is sorry for it, and wisheth he had not done it: Whereas Patience and Forgiveness do wisely prevent both the mischief to others, and the trouble to ourselves, which is usually consequent upon Revenge. IV. If we consider the perfection and prevalency of the Examples which the Gospel proposeth to us, to allure and engage us to the practice of this Duty. And they are the Examples of God himself, and of the Son of God in the Nature of Man. 1. The Example of God himself. The Scripture doth frequently set before us the goodness of God's common Providence to Sinners, for our Pattern. And this is the Argument whereby our Blessed Saviour presseth the Duty in the Text upon us, Ver. 45. in the Verse immediately after it; That ye may be the children of your heavenly Father, who maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and the good, and his Rain to fall on the just and the unjust. The same Argument Seneca also urgeth to the same purpose. How many (says he) are unworthy of the light, and yet the Day visits them? And speaking of the Gods, They bestow, (says he) their benefits upon the unthankful, and are ready to help those who make a bad construction and use of their kindness. And almost in the very words of our Saviour, Etiam sceleratis Sol oritur, etc. The Sun riseth even upon the most vile and profligate persons, and the Seas are open to Pirates. Thus is God affected towards those who are guilty of the greatest provocations towards Him. He bestows upon them the gifts of his Common Providence; and not only so, but is ready to forgive innumerable Offences to them for Christ's sake. This Pattern the Apostle proposeth to our imitation, Eph. 4. 32. Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you: chap. 5. 1. Be ye therefore imitaters of God as dear children. This temper and disposition of Mind, is the prime excellency and perfection of the Divine Nature; and who would not be ambitious to be like the most perfect and best of Being's? And so our B. Saviour concludes this Argument, in the last Verse of this Chapter, Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect, which St. Luke renders, Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father which is in Heaven is merciful. So that in that very thing which we think to be so hard and difficult, you see that we have Perfection itself for our Pattern. And this Example ought to be of so much greater force with us, by how much greater reason there is why we should do thus to one another, than why God should do thus to us. Our Offences against God are more and greater, than any man ever was or could be guilty of towards us: Besides, that there are many Considerations which ought to tie up our hands, and may reasonably restrain us from falling furiously upon one another, which can have no place at all in God. We may justly fear, that the consequence of our Revenge may return upon ourselves, and that it may come to be our own case to stand in need of Mercy and Forgiveness from others: And therefore out of necessary caution and prudence, we should take heed not to set any bad example in this kind, lest it should recoil upon ourselves. We who stand so much in need of Forgiveness ourselves, ought in all reason to be very easy to forgive others. But now the Divine Nature is infinitely above any real injury or suffering. God can never stand in need of pity or forgiveness; and yet of his own mere Goodness, without any interest or design, how slow is he to anger, and how ready to forgive? And, which comes yet nearer to us, there is also the Example of the Son of God, our Blessed Saviour; who in our Nature, and in case of the greatest Injuries and Provocations imaginable, did practise this Virtue to the height: And all this for our sakes, as well as for our Example. So that he requires nothing of us, but what he himself submitted to with the greatest Patience and Constancy of Mind; in our stead, and wholly for our advantage. He rendered good for evil to all Mankind, and showed greater Love to us, whilst we were Enemies to Him, than ever any man did to his Friend. He prayed for those that despitefully used him and persecuted him. And this, not upon cool consideration, after the injury was done, and the pain of his Sufferings was over; but whilst the sense and smart of them was upon him, and in the very Agony and bitterness of Death: In the height of all his anguish, he poured out his Soul an Offering for the Sins of Men, and his Blood a Sacrifice to God, for the expiation of the Gild of that very Sin whereby they shed it; pleading with God, in the behalf of his Murderers, the only Excuse that was possible to be made for their Malice, that is their Ignorance; and spending his last breath in that most charitable Prayer for them, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. The last Declaration which he made of his mind, was Love to his Enemies; and the last Legacy he bequeathed was an earnest Request to God for the Forgiveness of his Persecutors and Murderers. So that if any Example ought to be dear to us, and effectually to engage us to the imitation of it, this of our Blessed Saviour should; since the Injuries which he suffered have saved us from suffering, and the greatest Blessing and Happiness that ever befell Mankind is due to this excellent Example: And then with what Confidence, nay with what Conscience, can we pretend to share in the Benefits of this Example, without imitating the Virtues of it? Can we seriously contemplate the excessive Kindness and Charity of the Son of God to the sinful Sons of Men, after all our bitterest Enmity towards him, and most cruel and injurious Usage of him; and all this Charity exercised towards us, whilst he was under the actual sense and suffering of these things: and yet not be provoked by an Example so admirable in itself, and of such mighty advantage to us, to go and do likewise? But notwithstanding the power of these Arguments to persuade to this Duty, I must not dissemble some Objections which are, I believe, in many of your minds against it; and to which for the full clearing of this matter, it will be fit to give some satisfaction. And they are these: 1. That this Precept in the Text does not seem so well to agree with another of our Blessed Saviour's, in another Evangelist, If thy brother trespass against thee, Luke 17. 3, 4. rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. Here our Blessed Saviour seems not to require Forgiveness, unless he that hath done the Injury declare his Repentance for it: but the Text plainly requires us to forgive those who are so far from repenting of their Enmity, that they still pursue it, and exercise it upon us. Thus our Lord teacheth us, and thus He himself practised towards his Persecutors. But this appearance of Contradiction will quickly vanish, if we consider that Forgiveness is sometimes taken chiefly for abstaining from Revenge; and so far we are to forgive our Enemies, even whilst they continue so, and though they do not repent: And not only so, but we are also to pray for them, and to do good offices to them, especially of common Humanity: and this is the meaning of the Precept in the Text. But sometimes Forgiveness does signify a perfect Reconciliation to those that have offended us, so as to take them again into our Friendship; which they are by no means fit for, till they have repent of their Enmity, and laid it aside. And this is plainly the meaning of the other Text. 2. It is further objected, That this seems to be a very imprudent thing, and of dangerous consequence to ourselves; because by bearing one Injury so patiently, and forgiving it so easily, we invite more; and not only tempt our Enemy to go on, but others also by his Example to do the like: Which will make ill natured Men to provoke us on purpose, with a crafty design to wrest benefits from us: For what better Trade can a man drive, than to gain Benefits in exchange for Injuries? To this I answer three things: First, It is to be feared that there are but few so very good, as to make this kind return for Injuries: Perhaps, of those that call themselves Christians, not one in a hundred. And he is not a cunning man that will venture to make an Enemy, when there is the odds of a hundred to one against him, that this Enemy of his will take the first opportunity to take his Revenge upon him. Secondly, It is also on the other hand to be hoped, that but very few are so prodigiously bad, as to make so barbarous a return for the unexpected kindness of a generous Enemy. And this is encouragement enough to the practice of this Duty, if there be a probable hope that it will have a good effect; and however, if it should fall out otherwise, yet this would not be reason enough to discourage our goodness, especially since the kindness which we do to our Friends is liable almost to an equal Objection, that they may prove ungrateful, and become our Enemies: it having been often seen that great Benefits, and such are beyond requital, instead of making a man more a Friend have made him an Enemy. Thirdly, Our Saviour never intended by this Precept, that our goodness should be blind and void of all prudence and discretion, but that it should be so managed; as to make our Enemy sensible both of his own fault, and of our favour; and so, as to give him as little encouragement, as there is reason for it, to hope to find the like favour again upon the like provocation. Our Saviour commands us to do the thing, but hath left it to our prudence to do it in such a manner as may be most effectual, both to reclaim the Offender, and likewise to secure ourselves against future and further Injuries. 3. Lastly, It is objected, What can we do more to our best Friends, than to love them and bless them, than to do good to them and to pray for them? And are we then to make no difference betwixt our Enemies and our Friends? Yes surely; and so we may, notwithstanding this Precept: For there are degrees of Love, and there are Benefits of several rates and sizes. Those of the first rate we may with reason bestow upon our Friends, and with those of a second or third rate there is all the reason in the World why our Enemies should be very well contented. Besides that we may abstain from Revenge, yea, and love our Enemy, and wish him and do him good; and yet it will not presently be necessary that we should take him into our bosom, and treat and trust him as our intimate and familiar Friend. For every one that is not our Enemy is not fit to be our Friend; much less one that hath been our Enemy, and perhaps is so still. There must be a great change in him that hath been our Enemy, and we must have had long experience of him, before it will be fit, if ever it be so, to take him into our Friendship. All that now remains is to make some Inferences from the Discourse which I have made upon this Argument, by way of Application. And they shall be these four: I. If we think it so very difficult to demean ourselves towards our Enemies, as the Christian Religion doth plainly require us to do; to forgive them, and love them, and pray for them, and to do good offices to them, then certainly it concerns us in prudence to be very careful how we make Enemies to ourselves. One of the first Principles of Humane Wisdom, in the conduct of our Lives, I have ever thought to be this, To have a few intimate Friends, and to make no Enemies, if it be possible, to ourselvesâ–Ş St. Paul lays a great stress upon this, and presseth it very earnestly. For after he had forbidden Revenge, Recompense to no man evil for evil. Rom. 12. 17. As if he were very sensible how hard a matter it is to bring men to this, he adviseth in the next words, to prevent, if it be possible, the occasions of Revenge, V. 18. If it be possible, and as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men: That is, if we can avoid it, have no Enmity with any man. And that for two very weighty Reasons. The first I have already intimated; because it is so very hard to behave ourselves towards Enemies as we ought. This we shall find to be a difficult Duty to Flesh and Blood; and it will require great Wisdom, and Consideration, and Humility of Mind, for a Man to bring down his Spirit to the Obedience of this Command: For the fewer Enemies we have, the less occasion will there be of contesting this hard Point with ourselves. And the other Reason is, I think, yet plainer and more convincing, because Enemies will come of themselves, and let a man do what he can, he shall have some. Friendship is a thing that needs to be cultivated, if we would have it come to any thing; but Enemies, like ill Weeds, will spring up of themselves without our care and toil. The Enemy, as our Saviour calls the Devil, will sow these Tares in the night, and when we least discern it, will scatter the Seeds of Discord and Enmity among men; and will take an advantage either from the Envy, or the Malice, or the Mistakes of Men, to make them Enemies to one another. Which would make one wonder to see what care and pains some men will take, to provoke Mankind against them; how they will lay about them, and snatch at opportunities to make themselves Enemies, as if they were afraid to let the happy occasion slip by them: But all this care and fear surely is needless; we may safely trust an ill-natured World, that we shall have Enemies enough, without our doing things on our part to provoke and procure them. But above all, it concerns every man in prudence to take great care not to make personal Enemies to himself; for these are the sorest and the surest of all other, and when there is an opportunity for it, will sit hardest upon us. Injuries done to the Public are certainly the greatest, and yet they are many times more easily forgiven, than those which are done to particular Persons. For when Revenge is every body's work, it may prove to be no bodies. The general Wrongs which are done to Humane Society, do not so sensibly touch and sting men, as personal Injuries and Provocations. The Law is never angry or in passion, and it is not only a great indecency, but a fault, when the Judges of it are so. Heat of Prosecution belongs to particular Persons; and it is their memory of Injuries, and desire to Revenge them, and diligence to set on and sharpen the Law, that is chiefly to be dreaded: And if the truth were known, it is much to be feared that there are almost as few private as public Acts of Oblivion passed in the World; and they commonly pass as slowly, and with as much difficulty, and not till the grace and good effect of them is almost quite lost. II. Secondly, If we ought to be thus affected towards our Enemies, how great ought our kindness, and the expressions of it, to be to others? To those who never disobliged us, nor did us any Injury by word or deed; to those more especially, who stand in a nearer relation to us; to our natural Kindred, and to our spiritual Brethren to whom we are so strongly linked and united by common Bond of Christianity; and lastly, to our Benefactors, and those who have been beforehand with us in obligation: For all these are so many special Ties and Endearments of men to one another, founded either in Nature or Religion, or in common Justice and Gratitude. And therefore between all these and our Enemies we ought to make a very wide and sensible difference, in our Carriage and Kindness towards them. And if we do not do so, we represent our Saviour as an unreasonable Lawgiver, and do perversely interpret this Precept of his contrary to the reasonable and equitable meaning of it. For whatever degree of Kindness is here required towards our Enemies, it is certain that so much more is due to others, as according to the true proportion of our tie and obligation to them they have deserved at our hands: nothing being more certain than that our Blessed Saviour, the Founder of our Religion, did never intend by any Precept of it to cancel any real Obligation of Nature, or Justice, or Gratitude; or to offer Violence in the least to the common Reason of Mankind. III. Thirdly, Hence we learn the excellency and the Reasonableness of the Christian Religion, which hath carried our Duty so high in things which do so directly tend to the Perfection of Humane Nature, and to the Peace of Humane Society; and, which if all things be rightly considered, are most agreeable to the clearest and best Reason of Mankind: So that those things which were heretofore looked upon, and that only by some few of the wiser sort, as Heroical Instances of Goodness, and above the common rate of Humanity, are now by the Christian Religion made the indispensable Duties of all Mankind. And the Precepts of no other Religion, that ever yet appeared in the World, have advanced Humane Nature so much above itself, and are so well calculated for the Peace and Happiness of the World, as the Precepts of the Christian Religion are: for they strictly forbid the doing of Injuries, by way of prevention; and in case they happen, they endeavour to put a present stop to the progress of them, by so severely forbidding the revenging of them. And yet after all this, it must be aknowledged to be a very untoward Objection against the Excellency and the Efficacy of the Christian Religion, that the Practice of so many Christians is so unequal to the Perfection of these Precepts. For who is there in the Changes and Revolutions of Humane Affairs, and when the Wheel of Providence turns them uppermost, and lays their Enemies at their Feet, that will give them any Quarter? Nay, that does not greedily seize upon the first opportunities of Revenge, and like an Eagle, hungry for his Prey, make a sudden stoop upon them with all his force and violence; and when he hath them in his Pounces, and at his Mercy, is not ready to tear them in pieces? So that after all our Boasts of the Excellency of our Religion, where is the practice of it? This, I confess, is a terrible Objection indeed; and I must entreat of you, my Brethren, to help me to the best Answer to it: Not by any nice Distinctions and Speculations about it, but by the careful and honest Practice of this Precept of our Religion. This was the old Objection against Philosophy, that many that were Philosophers in their Opinions were faulty in their Lives: But yet this was never thought by wise men to be a good Objection against Philosophy. And unless we will lay more weight upon the Objections against Religion, and press them harder than we think it reasonable to do in any other Case, we must acknowledge likewise, that this Objection against Religion is of no force. Men do not cast off the Art of Physic, because many Physicians do not live up to their own Rules, and do not themselves follow those Prescriptions which they think fit to give to others: and there is a plain reason for it, because their swerving from their own Rules doth not necessarily signify that their Rules are not good, but only that their Appetites are unruly, and too hard and headstrong for their Reason: Nothing being more certain than this, That Rules may be very reasonable, and yet they that give them may not follow them. IV. The fourth and last Inference from this whole Discourse shall be this, That being convinced by what hath been said upon this Argument, of the Reasonableness of this Duty, we would resolve upon the Practice of it, when ever there is occasion offered for it in the course of our Lives. I need not to put you in mind, that there is now like to be great occasion for it: I shall only say, that whenever there is so, nothing can be tied more strictly upon us than this Duty is. It hath often been a great Comfort and Confirmation to me, to see the Humanity of the Protestant Religion, so plainly discovering itself, upon so many occasions, in the practice of the Professors of it. And setting aside all other advantages which our Religion hath been evidently shown to have above Popery in point of Reason and Argument, I cannot for my life but think that to be the best Religion which makes the best Men, and from the nature of its Principles is apt to make them so; most kind, and merciful, and charitable; and most free from Malice, and Revenge, and Cruelty. And therefore our Blessed Saviour, who knew what was in man better than any man that ever was, knowing our great reluctancy and backwardness to the practice of this Duty, hath urged it upon us by such forcible and almost violent Arguments, that if we have any tenderness for ourselves, we cannot refuse Obedience to it. For he plainly tells us, That no Sacrifice that we can offer will appease God towards us, so long as we ourselves are implacable to Men; Verse 23d of this Chapter, If thou bring thy gift to the Altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave thy gift before the Altar, and go thy way: first go and be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. To recommend this Duty effectually to us, He gives it a preference to all the positive Duties of Religion: First go and be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Till this Duty be discharged, God will accept of no Service, no Sacrifice at our hands. And therefore our Liturgy doth with great reason declare it to be a necessary Qualification for our Worthy Receiving of the Sacrament, that we be in Love and Charity with our Neighbours; because this is a Moral Duty, and of eternal Obligation, without which no positive part of Religion, such as the Sacraments are, can be acceptable to GOD; especially since in this Blessed Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood we expect to have the Forgiveness of our Sins ratified and confirmed to us: Which how can we hope for from GOD, if we ourselves be not ready to forgive one another? He shall have judgement without mercy, says St. James, who hath showed no mercy. And in that excellent Form of Prayer which our Lord himself hath given us, He hath taught us so to ask Forgiveness of God, as not to expect it from Him, if we do not forgive one another. So that if we do not practise this Duty, as hard as we think it is, every time that we put up this Petition to God, [Forgive us our Trespasses, as we forgive them that Trespass against us;] we send up a terrible Imprecation against ourselves, and do in effect beg of God not to forgive us. And therefore, to imprint this matter the deeper upon our minds, our Blessed Saviour immediately after the recital of this Prayer, hath thought fit to add a very remarkable enforcement of this Petition, above all the rest; For if, says He, ye forgive men their trespasses, Matth. 6. 14, 15. your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And our Saviour hath likewise in his Gospel represented to us, both the reasonableness of this Duty, and the Danger of doing contrary to it, in a very lively and affecting Parable, delivered by him to this purpose: Mat. 18. 23. Concerning a wicked Servant, who, when his Lord had but just before forgiven him a vast Debt of ten thousand Talents, took his poor Fellow-servant by the throat, and, notwithstanding his humble Submission and earnest Entreaties to be favourable to him, haled him to Prison for a trifling Debt of an hundred Pence. And the Application which he makes of this Parable, at the end of it, is very terrible, and such as ought never to go out of our minds; V. 35. So likewise, says He, shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye do not from your hearts forgive every one his brother his trespasses. One might be apt to think at first view, that this Parable was over done, and wanted something of a due Decorum; it being hardly credible, that a man after he had been so mercifully and generously dealt withal, as upon his humble Request to have so huge a Debt so freely forgiven, should whilst the memory of so much Mercy was fresh upon him, even the very next moment, handle his Fellow-Servant, who had made the same humble submission and request to him which he had done to his Lord, with so much roughness and cruelty, for so inconsiderable a Sum. This, I say, would hardly seem credible; did we not see in experience how very unreasonable and unmerciful some men are, and with what confidence they can ask and expect great mercy from GOD, when they will show none to Men. The greatness of the Injuries which are done to us, is the reason commonly pleaded by us why we cannot forgive them. But whoever thou art, that makest this an Argument why thou canst not forgive thy Brother, lay thine hand upon thy heart, and bethink thyself how many more and much greater Offences thou hast been guilty of against God: Look up to that Just and Powerful Being that is above, and consider well, Whether thou dost not both expect and stand in need of more Mercy and Favour from Him, than thou canst find in thy heart to show to thine offending Brother? We have all certainly great reason to expect that as we use one another, God will likewise deal with us. And yet after all this, how little is this Duty practised among Christians? And how hardly are the best of us brought to love our Enemies, and to forgive them? And this, notwithstanding that all our hopes of Mercy and Forgiveness from God do depend upon it. How strangely inconsistent is our practice and our hope? And what a wide distance is there between our expectations from GOD, and our dealings with Men? How very partial and unequal are we, to hope so easily to be forgiven, and yet to be so hard to forgive? Would we have GOD, for Christ's sake, to forgive us those numberless and monstrous provocations which we have been guilty of against His Divine Majesty? And shall we not for His sake, for whose sake we ourselves are forgiven, be willing to forgive one another? We think it hard to be obliged to forgive great Injuries, and often repeated; and yet Woe be to us all, and most miserable shall we be to all Eternity, if GOD do not all this to us, which we think to be so very hard and unreasonable for us to do to one another. I have sometimes wondered how it should come to pass, that so many persons should be so apt to despair of the Mercy and Forgiveness of GOD to them; especially considering what clear and express Declarations GOD hath made of his readiness to forgive our greatest Sins and Provocations upon our sincere Repentance: But the wonder will be very much abated, when we shall consider with how much difficulty men are brought to remit great Injuries, and how hardly we are persuaded to refrain from flying upon those who have given us any considerable provocation. So that when men look into themselves, and shall carefully observe the motions of their own minds towards those against whom they have been justly exasperated, they will see but too much reason to think that Forgiveness is no such easy matter. But our comfort in this case is, That GOD is not as Man; that his ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts; but as the Heavens are high above the Earth, so are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts. And the best way to keep ourselves from despairing of GOD's Mercy and Forgiveness to us, is to be easy to grant Forgiveness to others: And without this, as GOD hath reason to deny Forgiveness to us, so we ourselves have all the reason in the World utterly to despair of it. It would almost transport a Christian to read that admirable Passage of the Great Heathen Emperor and Philosopher M. Aurelius Antoninus, M. Aur. Antoni. lib. 7. Can the Gods, says he, that are Immortal, for the continuance of so many Ages, bear without impatience with such and so many Sinners as have ever been; and not only so, but likewise take care of them, and provide for them that they want nothing: And dost thou so grievously take on, as one that can bear with them no longer? Thou, that art but for a moment of time; yea, Thou that art one of those Sinners thyself. I will conclude this whole Discourse with those weighty and pungent Sayings of the wise Son of Sirach, Eccl. 23, 1, 2, 3, 4. He that revengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord, and he will certainly retain his Sins. Forgive thy neighbour that hath hurt thee, so shall thy Sins also be forgiven when thou prayest. One man beareth hatred against another, and doth he seek pardon of the Lord? He showeth no mercy to a man like himself, and doth he ask forgiveness of his own Sins? Enable us, O Lord, by thy Grace, to practise this excellent and difficult Duty of our Religion: And then, Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us: For thy mercy's sake, in Jesus Christ; to whom with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, Adoration and Obedience, both now and ever. Amen. FINIS. Books lately Printed for Brabazon Aylmer. THe Rule of Faith: or, an Answer to the Treatise of Mr. J. Sarjant. By John Tillotson, D. D. Dean of Canterbury. To which is adjoined, A Reply to Mr. I. S. his Third Appendix, etc. By Edward Stillingfleet, D. D. Dean of St. Paul's. The Advice of a Father, or Counsel to a Child: Direrecting him how to Demean himself in the most important Passages of this Life. The True Mother-Church: or, a Short Discourse concerning the Doctrine and Worship of the First Church at Jerusalem, upon Acts II. By Samuel Johnson, Author of Reflections upon Julian. Price 2 d. Books Printed for B. Aylmer and W. Rogers. SErmons and Discourses, some of which never before printed: The Third Volume. By the Reverend Dr. Tillotson, D. D. Dean of Canterbury. Octavo. A Discourse against Transubstantiation. In 8vo. Price 3 d. A Persuasive to frequent Communion in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. By John Tillotson, Dean of Canterbury. In Octavo. Price 3 d. A Sermon preached at Lincolns-Inn-Chappel; on the 31st of January, 1688, being the Day appointed for a public Thanksgiving to Almighty God for having made his Highness the Prince of Orange the Glorious Instrument of the Great Deliverance of this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power. By John Tillotson, D. D. Dean of Canterbury. Books lately printed for W. Rogers. AN Answer to a Discourse, entitled, Papists Protesting against Protestant Popery; being a Vindication of Papists not Misrepresented by Protestants. Quarto. A Sermon preached before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, at Guild-Hall-Chappel, on Sunday November 4th, 1688. By W. Sherlock, D. D. Master of the Temple. A Letter of Enquiry to the Reverend Fathers of the Society of Jesus. Written in the Person of a Dissatisfied Roman Catholic.