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The Nonsuch Professor
19. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is,
To take all the shame of his sins unto himself, and to give all the glory of his services unto Christ.

Many people take all the glory of their services to themselves, and lay all the shame of their sins on him; as if he who died on earth to redeem us from them, should live in heaven to confirm us in them.

The devil may flatter us, but he cannot force us, he may tempt us to sin, but he cannot compel us to sin. He could never come off a conqueror, were he not joined by our forces. The fire is his, but the tinder isours. He could never enter into our houses, if we did not set open our doors.

Many complain for want of liberty, who thrust their feet in Satan’s fetters. ‘The woman thou gavest me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’ As if he had said, ‘I took that as a gift from her, whom thou gavest as a gift to me.’ It is the worst of sins to chargeGod with our sins. They may receive theirpunishment from him, but they shall never receive their nourishment from him. He cannot be the unrighteous upholder of what he is the righteous avenger.

0 blasphemy, to charge that sun with darkness, by which the heavens are enlightened; or that sea with a want of moisture, by which the whole earth is watered! Our impiety is as truly the offspring of our souls, as our posterity is the issue of our bodies. ‘Every good and perfect gift cometh from above, from the Father of light, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ Whatsoever is truly good, hath its origin in God. Now the same spring cannot send forth both sweet and bitter waters. It is a known rule, that contraries destroy each other.

Many have more leaves to cover their wickedness, than they have garments to cover their nakedness. They lay their heresy at the door of the sanctuary; and call their diabolical seductions, evangelical revelations; as if the Father of light could bring forth the issues of darkness. What is this, but to set a crown of lead upon a head of gold?

We can defile ourselves, but we cannot cleanse ourselves. The sheep can go astray alone, but can never return to the fold without the assistance of the shepherd. Till we taste the bitterness of our own misery, we shall never relish the sweetness of God’s mercy. Till we see how foul our sins have made us, we shall never pay our tribute of praise to Christ for washing us.

If we were left to ourselves but for a moment, we should destroy ourselves in that moment. We are like glasses without a bottom, which are no sooner loosed than they fall. Many advance themselves to depreciate Christ; but we should look upon ourselves as nothing, and Christ as everything. ‘Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.’ Paul was willing to be esteemed a cypher, so that Christ might stand for a figure. Well may we abase ourselves for his advancement, who abased himself for our establishment. ‘Let Luther be accounted a devil, so Christ may be exalted as a God,’ said that flaming seraph of himself.

‘Without me ye can do nothing.’ The pen may as soon write without the hand that holds it, as our hearts work except the Spirit move them. Not only the enjoyment of our talents is from God, but the improvement of them is from him. ‘Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.’ It is not my pains, but thy pound that hath done it.

The children of God are like a clock, which soon stands still if it be not wound up. ‘Did not our hearts burn within us?’ But how long did the flame last? All the time he talked with them. When he gave over breathing on them, their fuel gave over burning.

Gracious hearts are like stars in the heavens, which shine not by their own splendour. He that takes the brick must give the straw to make it. There is no water except he smite the rock, nor fire except he strike the flint.

If he call us to the work of angels, he will supply us with the strength of angels. ‘For when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.’ A Christless soul is also a strengthless soul. Man is indebted to God for what he has, but God is not beholden to man for what he does. ‘For of him, and through him, and to him are all things; to whom be glory for ever, Amen!’ The humble heart knows no foundation but God’s grace; and the upright man knows no end but God’s glory.

Waters may rise as high as they fall. Whatsoever action hath God for its author, hath God for its centre. A circular line makes its ending where it had its beginning.

Reader, take heed of turning a sacred privilege into a privy sacrilege. If God give that grace which is not due to you, will you deny the praise which is due to him?

The wicked make their end their God; but we make God our end. The firmament is made more glorious by one sun, than by all the stars that stud the heavens. Thus Jesus Christ hath more glory given to him from one saint, than from all the world beside. He takes more pleasure in their prayers, and is more honoured by their praise.

‘Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.’ From the lowest act of nature, to the highest act of grace, there is no argument for the pride of man; but every consideration for the praise of God. If he make our nature gracious, we should make his name glorious. He that would be fingering the honour of God, is not worthy to receive the honour of a man. Caesar once said to his opponent, ‘Either I will be Caesar, or nobody.’ So the Lord saith, ‘Either I will be a great God, or no God.’ That man disparages the beauty of the sun, who sets it upon a level with the twinkling stars.

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The Nonsuch Professor
18. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is,
To set out for God at our beginning, and to hold out with God unto the end.

First, To set out for God at our beginning. ‘Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.’ In the distillation of strong waters, the first drawn is fullest of spirits. ‘The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God.’ God prizes a Christian in the bud; and delights in the blossoms of youth, above the sheddings of old age.

Is it not a pity that those plants should be found in Egypt, that will thrive so well in Canaan?

Naturalists inform us, that the most oriental pearls are generated of the morning dew. Had any of the children of Israel stayed to pass through the Red Sea with the Egyptians, they would probably have perished with them. That field is full of the richest corn, which is cleansed from its noxious weeds in the spring.

How pleasant is it to see the thousands of Israel seeking the heavenly manna in the morning of their lives! Is it not better to cry for mercy on earth with the publican, than to call for water in hell with Dives? To discover grace in an old sinner, is well; but to view it in vigorous youth, is better. All the beasts of sacrifice were offered to God in their prime. Jesus was carried in triumph upon a colt, the foal of an ass.

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The Nonsuch Professor
17. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is,
To be more employed in searching his own heart, than he is in censuring other men’s states.

Those bishops are too busily employed, who lord it over another man’s diocese. We are to allow believers for their failings, though we are not to allow them in their failings, ‘Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.’ It is a matter of greater moment to know the state of our hearts, than the state of our flocks.

Censorious men commonly take up magnifying glasses, to look at other person’s imperfections; and diminishing glasses, to look at their own enormities.

Plato entertaining a few friends at an elegantly spread table, Diogenes, a famous cynic philosopher, coming in at the same time, trampled upon it, saying, ‘I trample upon the pride of Plato!’ To whom Plato immediately replied, ‘Yea, but with a greater pride in Diogenes.’

They are fittest to find fault, in whom there is no fault to be found. There is no removing blots from the paper, by laying upon them a blurred finger. ‘Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.’ Reader, what do you get by throwing stones at your enemy’s windows, while your own children look out at the casements? He that blows into a heap of dust, is in danger of putting out his own eyes.

Reader, are there not the same lusts lodging in your heart, that are reigning in other men’s lives? The reason why there is so little self-condemnation, is because there is so little self-examination. For want of this, many persons are like travellers, skilled in other countries, but ignorant of their own.

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The Nonsuch Professor
16. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is,
To be more in love with the employment of holiness, than with the enjoyment of happiness.

Thousands of professors prize the wages of religion above its works; but a Christian will prize its works above its wages. Give me that singular preacher, who prefers his labour to his lucre; and the flock he attends, to the fleece he obtains.

Some men serve God, that they may serve themselves upon God. He loves not religion sincerely, who does not love it superlatively.

‘Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.’ Empty and yet fruitful; fruitful and yet empty. Thus that fertility which springs up from the bitter roots of self, has nothing but vacuity in the account of God.

Such professors do not make gain stoop to godliness, but godliness to gain, which is, as if a man should fit his foot to the shoe, when he should fit the shoe to his foot.

That tradesman is poor and needy, who must have ready money for all he sells. In all the good a carnal man doth for God, he seeks himself more than God. The clock of his heart will stand still, unless its wheels of profit be oiled.

If the virgin should only give her hand in matrimony for her bridegroom’s riches, she would not espouse herself unto his person, but unto his portion. This were not properly to make a marriage with him, but a merchandise of him. Saint Austin hath an excellent saying: ‘He loves not Christ at all, who docs not love Christ above all.’

‘Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.’—Christ was the object of their actions, but self was the end of their actions. They came to Christ to serve their own turns, and when their turns were served, they then turned away their service. They were cupboard disciples, more than men at their meat, but less than women at their work. When the loaves were gone, the disciples were gone; when he left off feeding them, they left off following him.

Reader, till you can love the naked truth, you will never love to go naked for the truth. Most persons are mercenary in those works wherein they should be filial and free. They look more after the streams, than upon the spring from whence they constantly run; and admire the beams more than the sun, from whence they are emitted. The want of pardon is the only spring of a servile man’s duty; he plies his prayers, as sailors do their pumps, only in a storm, or when fearful of sinking.

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The Nonsuch Professor
15. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is,
To take up his contentment in God’s appointment.

As many do the things which God dislikes, so they dislike the things which God does. If the children of Israel obtain no meat for their lusts, then they are weary of their lives. They are delighted with their burning corruptions, but are enraged with their trying conditions; which is nothing less, than to be in love with their malady, and out of love with their remedy. They studied more how to gratify their humour, than to satisfy their hunger. They complained of the shoe, but the disease lay in the foot.

Those who think too highly of their own deserts, will think too meanly of their estates. It is even the task of God, to satisfy the desires of men. He can do everything, but they are not pleased with anything.

There is no man but what has received more good than he has deserved, and done more evil than has been inflicted: he should therefore be contented, though he see but little good; and not discontented, though he suffer much evil. ‘Let your conversation be without covetousness; for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’ Where the seal of faith hath been set to the bond of truth, he who hath said it, will maintain thee in the want of maintenance.

When a wicked man’s purse grows light, his heart grows heavy. When he has something without to afflict him, he has nothing within to support him. That well known Scripture is unknown to him, ‘I know how to be abased, and how to abound; everywhere and in all things I am instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.’ It is hard to carry a full cup without shedding; or to stand under a heavy load without bowing. It is difficult to walk in the clear day of prosperity without wandering; or in the dark night of adversity without stumbling: but from whatsoever point the wind blows, the skilful mariner knows how to meet it with his sails.

Repenting is the act of Christian men, but repining is the act of carnal men. Though their estates be like a fruitful paradise, yet their hearts are like a barren wilderness. Such people are like spiders, which suck poison out of the sweetest flowers; and by an infernal chemistry, extract dross from the purest gold.

Outward prosperity cannot create inward tranquillity. Heart’s-ease is a flower that never grew in the world’s garden. The ground of a wicked man’s trouble is not because he has not enough of the creature, but because he cannot find enough in the creature. His possession is great enough, but his disposition is not good enough. Some are satisfied under the hand of God, because they are not sensible of the hand of God. They never fret, because they never feel.

We are not to be troubled that we have no more from God, but we are to be troubled that we do no more for God. Christians, if the Lord be well pleased with your persons, should not you be well pleased with your conditions? There is more reason that you should be pleased with them, than that he should be pleased with you. Believers should be like sheep, which change their pastures at the will of the shepherd; or like vessels in a house, which stand to be filled or emptied at the pleasure of their owner. He that sails upon the sea of this world in his own bottom, will sink at last into a bottomless ocean. Never were any their own carvers, but they were sure to cut their own fingers.

A covetous man is fretful, because he has not so much as he desires; but a gracious man is thankful, because he has more than he deserves. It is true, I have not the sauce; but then, I merit not the meat. I have not the lace; but then, I deserve not the coat. I want that which may support my dignity, but I have that which supplies my necessity. ‘Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.’—Here is the flesh of the creature to fill us, and the fleece of the creature to cover us.

It is reported of a woman who being sick, was asked whether she was willing to live or die, she answered, ‘Which God pleases.’ ‘But,’ said one, ‘if God should refer it to you, which would you choose?’ ‘Truly,’ replied she, ‘I would refer it to him again.’ Thus, that man obtains his will of God, whose will is subjected to God.

A contented heart is an even sea in the midst of all storms. It is like a tree in autumn, which secures its life when it has lost its leaves. When worthy Mr. Hern lay upon his deathbed, his wife, with great concern, asked him what was to become of her and her large family; he answered, ‘Peace, sweetheart; that God who feeds the ravens, will not starve the Herns.’ If the child be jealous of his father’s affection, he will soon be dubious of his father’s provision.

Our most golden conditions in this life are set in brazen frames. There is no gathering a rose without a thorn, till we come to Immanuel’s land. If there were nothing but showers, we should conclude the world would be drowned; if nothing but sunshine, we should fear the earth would be burned. Our worldly comforts would be a sea to drown us, if our crosses were not a plank to save us. By the fairest gales, a sinner may sail to destruction; and by the fiercest winds, a saint may sail to glory. When our circumstances become necessitous, our corruptions become impetuous; they rage the more, because stopped by the dam of poverty. If God withhold the hand of providence, we employ the tongue of insolence. We too frequently bite at the stone, till we break our teeth. We murmur because we are in want, and therefore want because we murmur.

A skilful pilot knows what winds tend to blow us into our harbour. An unquiet mind makes but a slow recovery. Contentment is the best food to preserve a sound man, and the best medicine to restore a sick man. It resembles the gilt on nauseous pills, which makes a man take them without tasting their bitterness. Contentment will make a cottage look as fair as a palace. He is not a poor man that hath but little, but he is a poor man that wants much. In this sense, the poorest are often the richest, and the richest the poorest.

‘Godliness with contentment is great gain.’ This is too precious a seed to grow in every soil. Though every godly man may not always be contented, yet every truly contented man is godly. ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.’ Such a Scripture will bring us plenty in scarcity; fulness out of emptiness. The water in a cloud soon ceases, but the water of a fountain continues.

As Seneca said to Polybius, ‘Never complain of thy hard fortune so long as Caesar is thy friend;’ so say I to thee, ‘Never complain of thy hard fortune, Christian, so long as Jesus is thy friend.’

Let your condition be never so flourishing, it is a hell without him; let it be never so fluctuating, it is a heaven with him. Can that man want anything who enjoys Christ? or can he be said to enjoy anything who is without Christ? Why should Hagar lament the loss of the water in her bottle, while there is a well so near?

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The Nonsuch Professor
14. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is,
To take up every duty in point of performance, and lay it down in point of dependence.

When the purest duties have been performed, the purest mercies should be implored. Many have passed the rocks of gross sins, who have suffered shipwreck upon the sands of self-righteousness. Some people live more upon their customs, than they do upon Christ; more upon the prayers they make to God, than upon the God to whom they make their prayers. This is, for the redeemed captive to reverence the sword, instead of the hand which wrought his rescue.

The name of God with a sling and a stone, will do more than Goliath with all his armour. Duties are but dry pits, though never so curiously wrought, till Christ fill them. Reader, I would neither have you be idle in the means, nor make an idol of the means. Though it be the mariner’s duty to weigh his anchor, and spread his sails, yet he cannot make his voyage until the winds blow. The pipes will yield no conveyance, unless the springs yield their concurrence.

What is hearing without Christ, but like a cabinet without a jewel? or what is receiving without Christ, but like a glass without a cordial? We can only ascend to heaven upon that ladder which was let down from heaven. The most diligent saint has been the most self-diffident saint. ‘And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.’ If you be found in your own righteousness, you will be lost by your own righteousness. That garment which was worn to shreds on Adam’s back will never make a complete covering for mine.

Duties may be good crutches to go upon, but they are bad Christs to lean upon. When Augustus Caesar desired the Senate to join some person with him in the consulship, they replied, they held it as a great dishonour to him to have any one joined with him who was so capable himself. It is the greatest disparagement that Christians can offer to Christ, to put their services in equipage with his sufferings. The beggarly rags of the first Adam, must never be put on with the princely robe of the second Adam.

Man is a creature too much inclined to warm himself by the sparks of his own fire, though he lie down in eternal flames for kindling them. Though Noah’s dove made use of her wings, yet she found no rest but in the ark. Duties can never have too much of our diligence, or too little of our confidence. ‘For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.’ A believer doth not perform good works to live, but he lives to perform good works.

It was a haughty saying of one, Coelum gratis now accipiam, ‘ I will not accept of heaven gratis.’ But he shall have hell as a debt, who will not take heaven as a gift.‘ For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.’ A true Christian stands at as great a distance from trusting in the best of his services, as in the worst of his sins. He knows that the greatest part of his holiness will not make the least part of his justifying righteousness. He has unreservedly subscribed to this sentiment, that ‘when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants.’

When we have kept all the commandments, there is one commandment above all to be kept; that is, ‘to trust not in an arm of flesh.’ In most of our works, we are abominable sinners; and in the best of our works, we are unprofitable servants. Our doings are not like the crystal streams of a living fountain, but like the impure overflowings of an unruly torrent. ‘I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.’ You see, beloved, the righteousness of Christ is to be magnified, when the righteousness of a Christian is not to be mentioned.

It is hard for us to be nothing in ourselves, amidst all our watchfulness; and to be all things in Christ, amidst all our weakness. To undertake every duty, and yet to overlook every duty, is a lesson which none can learn but Christ’s scholars. Our obedience at best, is like good wine, which relishes of a bad cask. The law of God will not take ninety-nine for a hundred. It will not accept the coin of our obedience, either short in quantity, or base in quality. The duty it exacts, is as impossible to be performed in this our fallen state, as the penalty it inflicts, is intolerable to be endured in our eternal state.

We do not sail to glory in the salt sea of our own tears, but in the red sea of a Redeemer’s blood.—Crux Christi est clavis paradisi, ‘ the cross of Christ is the key of paradise.’ We owe the life of our souls, to the death of our Saviour. It was his going into the furnace which keeps us from the flames. Man lives by death; his natural life is preserved by the death of the creature, and his spiritual life by the death of the Redeemer.

Moses must lead the children of Israel through the wilderness, but Joshua must conduct them into Canaan. While we are in the wilderness of this world, we walk under the guidance of Moses; but when we enter the spiritual Canaan, it must be under the leadings of Jesus. The same hand which shut the doors of hell, to keep us out of perdition, has opened the gates of heaven, to admit us to its eternal fruition.

Those who carry the vessel of hope, to the puddle of their own merit, will never draw the water of comfort from the fountain of God’s mercy. Luther compares the law and gospel to earth and heaven; we should walk in the earth of the law, in point of obeying, and in the heaven of the gospel, in point of believing. It was the saying of one, that he would swim through a sea of brimstone, so he might but arrive safe at heaven. Ah, how would natural men sing, if they could but soar to heaven upon the pinions of their own merit! The sun-beams of justice will soon melt such weak and waxen wings.

He that has no better righteousness that what is of his own providing, shall meet with no higher happiness than what. is of his own deserving. ‘For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.’ If such people rest not from duty, then they rest in duty. They are determined to sail in their own bottom, though they sink in the ocean. I would that all such did but know, that though good works are not destroyed by Christ, yet they must be denied for Christ.

When a glass reflects the brightness of the sun, there is but an acknowledgment of what was, not an addition of what was not. A curious picture praises a beautiful face; not by communicating what it wants, but by presenting what it enjoys. As God has none the less, for the mercy he gives, so he has none the more, for the duty he receives. Man is such a debtor to God, that he can never pay his due to God; yea, the more we pay him, the more we owe him for our payments.

It is Christ only, who is the righteousness of God to man, and man to God. We are so far from paying the utmost farthing, that at the utmost we have not a farthing to pay. That man will be a miserable spectacle of vanity, who stands upon the lame feet of his own ability.

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The Nonsuch Professor
13. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is,
To take those reproofs best which he needs most.

It was the saying of a heathen, though no heathenish saying, ‘That be who would be good, must either have a faithful friend to instruct him, or a watchful enemy to correct him.’ Should we murder a physician, because he comes to cure us; or like him worse, because he would make us better?

The flaming sword of reprehension, is but to keep us from the forbidden fruit of transgression.‘ Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head.’ Let him smite me as with a hammer, for so the word signifies. A Boanerges is as necessary as a Barnabas.

‘Am I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?’ Truth is not always relished, where sin is nourished. Light is pleasant, yet it may be offensive to sore eyes. Honey is sweet, though it cause the wound to smart: but we must not neglect the actions of friends, for fear of drawing upon ourselves the suspicions of being enemies. It is better to lose the smiles of men, than the souls of men. ‘Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, nor suffer sin to lie upon him.’ He who loves a garment, hates the moths which fret it.

‘Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee; but rebuke a scorner, and he will hate thee.’ Reproof slides from a scorner’s breast, as water from an oiled post. Instead of loving a man amidst all his injuries, he will hate him for all his civilities. Most people are like restive horses, which no sooner feel the rowel, than they strike with their heels; or like bees, which no sooner are angered, than they put out their stings.

There is much discretion to be observed in reprehension: a word will do more with some, than a blow with others. A Venice glass is not to be rubbed so hard as a brazen kettle. The tender reed is more easily bowed than the sturdy oak. Christ’s warfare requires no carnal weapons. Dashing storms do but destroy the seed, while gentle showers nourish it. Chariots too furiously driven, may be overturned by their own violence.

How many are there, who check passion, with passion; and are very angry in reproving anger! Thus, to lay one devil, they raise another; and leave more work to be undone, than they found to be done. Such a reproof of vice is a vice to be reproved. In reprehension, we should always beware of carrying our teeth in our tongues; and of biting while we are speaking. A surgeon would not be justifiable in dismembering a body, if he could effect a cure without it.

‘Brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.’—The word signifies, to set him in joint again; and to set a dislocated bone, requires the lady’s hand; tenderness, as well as skilfulness. Reprehension is not an act ofbutchery, but an act of surgery. Take heed of blunting the instrument, by putting too keen an edge upon it. Mark the reason which the apostle assigns for gentle reproof, ‘Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.’

If thy neighbour’s house be on fire, thine own may be in danger. We should be willing to lend mercy at one time, as we may have occasion to borrow it at another. We should do with other’s sins, as we do with our own sores; which, if a gentle scar will produce a sufficient discharge, we avoid cutting and slashing. If ravenous birds can be frayed away by a look, we need not expend powder and shot.

It is true, open sinners deserve open censures; but private admonitions will best suit private offences. While we seek to heal a wound in our brother’s actions, we should be careful not to leave a scar upon his person. We give grains of allowance in all current coin. That is a choice friend, who conceals our faults from the view of others, and yet discovers them to our own. That medicine which rouses the evil humours of the body, and does not carry them off, only leaves it in a worse condition than it found it.

It must be lamented, that many are as lost to the softest tongue of reproof, as the deaf adder is to the sweet voice of the charmer: they are always administering the bitter pills of calumny, for the sweet cordials of charity. Men love to be adored, yet hate to be reproved. But how can we praise what they do, when they are so far from doing what is worthy to be praised?

How securely would David have slept, if Nathan had not been sent to rouse him! How far do many travel in the downward road, for want of a wholesome friend to stop them in their journey! Private admonition is rather a proof of benevolence, than of malevolence. It was the saying of Austin, when his hearers resented his frequent reproofs, ‘Change your conduct, and I will change my conversation.’ The more a serpent is stirred, the more he gathers up his poison.

Some are to reproof, as tigers are to drums; because they cannot stop them, they will tear their own flesh. Man is a cross creature, and cannot endure to be checked; he would have a Touch me not, written upon himself: but who would chide the dog for barking, when the thief is approaching?—Sin is like a nettle, which stings when it is gently touched, but hurts not when it is roughly handled. Beloved, this rough hewing of reproof, is but to square us for the celestial building. As for flatterers, they may be named the devil’s upholsterers; who no sooner see men troubled at their lusts, than they are for laying pillows under their elbows: but let such know, that their want of the fire of zeal, will be punished with the fire of hell. He is an unskilful limner, who paints deformities in the fairest colours.

Reprehension should tread upon the heels of transgression. The plaster should be applied as soon as the wound is received. It is easier to extinguish a flaming torch, than a burning house. Gentle medicine will serve for a recent distemper, but chronical diseases require powerful recipes.

The sword of reproof should be drawn against the offence, and not against the offender. Man thinks this cup is not sufficiently bitter, except he mingle it with his wormwood and gall. ‘But the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.’ The severest sentences of the church are not mortal, but medicinal. They are to raise the dead to life, and not to put the living to death.

Who knows how much the majesty of a reprover may tame the insolence of an offender? ‘He that hateth reproof is brutish.’ He is brutish, like an angry dog that snarls and bites while the festering thorn is being taken out of his foot; or like a vicious horse that strikes the groom while he is rubbing off the dirt.

‘If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.’ The spaniel loses the prey, by barking at the game. The presence of a multitude makes a man take up an unjust defence, rather than lie down under a just shame. It is better to censure a man in private, than to spread his guilt by proclamation. How many do that in the market, which they should do in the closet! Sin is a miry depth; if we attempt to help others out, do not we sink them the deeper! Remember, tender lambs, though straying, must be gently returned to the fold.

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The Nonsuch Professor
12. Another singular action of a sanctified Christian, is,
To render the greatest good, for the greatest evil.

Mariners look for a storm at sea, when the waters begin to utter a murmuring noise. Theodosius the emperor, being urged to execute one who had reviled him, answered, ‘So far from gratifying your wish; were it in my power, if he were dead, I would raise him to life again; rather than, being alive, to put him to death.’

He makes a good market of bad commodities, who with kindnesses overcomes injuries. For a man to conquer another’s person, and be captivated by his own passions, is but to lose the palaceofa prince, to gain the cottage ofa peasant. A spark of fire falling in the ocean expires immediately; but dropping upon combustibles bums furiously. God has bound every believer in gospel cords to his good behaviour.

A carnal man may love his friends, but it is a Christian man that loves his enemies. ‘But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you.’ He calls to patience, who is patience itself; and he that gives the precept, enforces it by his own example. It is unnatural to hate them that love us; and it is supernatural to love them that hate us. A sinner can do much evil, but he can suffer none; a saint can suffer much evil, but he will do none.

He that takes up fire to throw at his adversaries, is in great danger of burning his own fingers. A gun ill charged, instead of hitting the mark, does but recoil on him that discharges it. He who glories in wounding others, will finally wound himself. If injuries be our enemies’ weapons, forgiveness should be ours. How many have had their blood seen, because they would not have their backs seen. Men’s actions towards others, are generally excused by others’ actions towards them. There is a twofold frenzy: that of the head, which deprives men of prudence; and that of the heart, which deprives them of their patience. To forget an injury, is more than nature can promise; but to forgive it, is what grace can perform. Patience affords us a shield to defend ourselves; but innocence denies us a sword to offend others. If ever you hope that your charity should live after you, then let resentment die before you.

It is written in the law of Mahomet, that God made angels of light, and devils of flame. Sure I am, that they are of hellish, constitutions, who play off the fire-works of contention. ‘Be ye angry, and sin not.’ Anger should not be a burning coal from Satan’s furnace; but a blazing coal from God’s altar. It should resemble fire in straw; which is as easily quenched, as suddenly kindled. He that would be angry and not sin, must be angry at nothing but sin. ‘Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil.’ He that carries passions to bed with him, will find the devil creep between the sheets; and why should we give place to him, who crowds in so fast himself?

0 man, shall thy life bemortal, and thy wrath immortal? Should we not give place to an offending brother, rather than to a designing murderer? How many are there who professto forgive, but cannot forget an injury! Such are like persons who sweep the chamber, but leave the dust behind the door. Whenever we grant our offending brethren a discharge, our hearts also should set their hands to the acquittance.

We should not only break the teeth of malice by forgiveness, but pluck out its sting by forgetfulness. To store our memories with a sense of injuries, is to fill that chest with rusty iron which was made for refined gold. The pot of malice should not stand upon the fire till it boils over. Christian, can you expect better treatment in the world, than he who was better than the world?

When Aristides, the Athenian general, sat to arbitrate a difference between two persons, one of them said, ‘This fellow accused thee at such a time.’ To whom Aristides answered, ‘I sit, not to hear what he has done against me, but against thee.’ How should a Christian shine, if a heathen give such light! ‘If therefore thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.’ Not the coals of vengeance to consumehim, but the coals of kindness to soften him.

Jesus was an intercessor both in his life and death; his dying breath was praying breath, and that not only for his sorrowful disciples, but for his enraged murderers also. ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ Thus he gave them the best wine for the bitterest gall. The Lord Jesus spreads a large table every day, and the major part who feed thereat are his enemies. ‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the failing together; and a little child shall lead them.’ The Lord Jesus can both tame the most cruel beast, and quench the most raging lust.

None but a patient Christ can make us patient Christians. As our passions were the causeof his, so his passion ist he cure of ours. Reader, if you cannot forgive others, God will not forgive you. You have his own authority for this, ‘For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.’ In vain do we ask God to be pacified to us, while we live at variance with others. How can we expect to have pounds remitted to us, if pence are not remitted by us?

I have read of a person who imbrued his hands in his own blood, because they were too short to reach his enemy’s. Poor revenge! How repugnant was this to the apostolic advice, ‘Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.’ This was the conduct of dying Stephen, ‘And he kneeled down, and prayed with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Could living men do worse to a dying man, or a dying man pray better for living men?

To do evil for good, is human corruption; to do good for good, is civil retribution; but to do good for evil, is Christian perfection. Though this be not the grace of nature, yet it is the nature of grace.

When Shimei cursed David in his distress, Abishai was for an immediate retaliation: ‘Shall I take off the head of this dead dog, for why should he curse my lord the king?’ What was David’s answer? ‘So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David.’ He was so far from taking off his head, that he does not even attempt to shut his mouth. The shoulders of charity are able to carry the burden of injury, without either being moved with violence, or removed from patience.

Though God suffer not his people to sin in avenging their enemies, yet he suffers not the sin of their enemies to go unavenged. ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. ‘Anger resteth in the bosom of fools.’ Where there is the most indignation, there is the least discretion. No men do more readily brook insults from others, than such as have learned to despise themselves. Make not an enemy of your friend, by returning evil for good; but make a friend of your enemy, by returning him good for evil.