Page images
PDF
EPUB

he was reviled, reviled not again: when he fuffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judg eth righteously. When we confider this example, can we refent fo highly every petty injury and provocation; and, upon every flighting word, proceed to a challenge and a quarrel, and entertain fierce and implacable thoughts of revenge e? When the Son of God, with fo much meekness, endured the continual contradictions of finners, and put up fuch outrageous affronts and indignities from his creatures, thofe ungrateful wretches whom he had made, and whom he came to fave, and for whom he offered to give that very blood, which they fo cruelly and malicioufly fhed, for the expiation of their guilt.

To all which I fhall add, his readinefs to forgive inju ries, confidering the temptations he had to wrath and revenge, from the fpiteful reproaches, and injurious calumnies, and continual perfecution of his bitter and implacable enemies, without a caufe; who purfued him with inceffant rage and malice, and never gave over till they had wrought his ruin, and, by falfe accufations, and a moft violent perfecution, and feditious tumults and clamours, they had forced the Roman governor, contrary to his inclination, and the convictions of his own mind and confcience, and against all reafon and juftice, to pafs fentence upon him, when he declared, he faw nothing in him' worthy of death, and to condemn him to a moft painful and ignominious death. Nor did their malice end here; but they aggravated his fufferings with fcurrilous taunts and reproaches, and all the rudeness and indignities imaginable and yet all this injurious and cruel ufage did not provoke him to one revengeful thought; could not extort from him fo much as one peevith or mifbecoming, or threatening word. When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he fuffered, he threatened not. But, notwithstanding all this provocation, he was more ready to forgive the injuries and indignities they put upon him, than they could be to offer them, and implored the mercy and forgiveness of God for them, as heartily and earneftly as they had folicited his death and deftruction.

[ocr errors]

It is easy to give precepts of forgivenefs, to bid men love their enemies, bless them that curfe them, do good to them that hate them, and pray for them that defpitefully ufe them, and perfecute them; and to forgive our brother that offends us, not only to feven times, but to seventy times feven, without ftint and limit: But the practice of this is exceeding difficult; for how hard do we find it to pafs by a little provocation, and, upon a very fmall affront and indignity offered to us, to fupprefs the thought and defire of revenge, and to command our paffion from breaking out in word or deed? But much more difficult is it perfectly to forgive, to love our enemies, to pray for them, and to be ready to do them good. Such a difficult virtue as this had need of all forts of inducements to engage us to the practice of it. And, therefore, our bleffed Lord did not think it enough ftrictly to enjoin it, and to enforce it upon us by the moft powerful confiderations, teaching us, in our daily prayers, to beg mercy and forgiveness of God upon this condition, that we forgive thers, and not to hope for it upon other terms; telling us, that, as we demean ourselves toward one another, in this cafe of injuries and provocations, fo God will deal with us; if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trefpaffes, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trefpaffes Nothing can be urged upon us with greater force than this duty is, becaufe, upon our practice and performance of it, all our hopes of mercy and forgivenefs from God are fufpended. But yet it is difficult after all this, and, therefore, to allure us more powerfully to the practice of it, our Lord hath given us the example of it in the whole courfe of his life: in which, being continually affaulted with injuries and provocations, he had perpetual occafion for the practice of forgiveness; and that in greater inftances, and upon occafion of greater injuries, than any of us are capable of receiving. He who could never ftand in need of forgive nefs from men, who needed none from God, who had it always in his power to have revenged, with eafe, and to the utmoft, all the provocations and affronts that wre offered to him; he who had none of thofe powerful ins ducements

[ocr errors]

Y 3

ducements to forgiveness which we have, was thus ready to forgive; and did it perpetually, upon the greatest, upon innumerable occafions; he forgave his enemies all their ill-will toward him, and all their vile and malicious ufage of him throughout his whole life: but most remarkably at his death, when the provocations were greatest and most violent, when they fell thick and in ftorms upon him, and when they were more grievous and piercing, in the very agony and anguish of his fuffering; in thefe hard and preffing circumstances, he was fo far from breathing out threatening and revenge against the authors of his cruel fufferings, that, with his laft breath, he did most effectually declare his free forgivenefs of them, and perfect charity towards them, by his fervent prayer to God for them; Father, forgive them, for they know not what they.. do.

5. And lastly, Our Saviour is likewife a pattern to us of the most needful virtues, and for the practice whereof there is the greatest and most frequent occafion in human. life..

Several of thefe I have already mentioned under the former heads, as fincerity, which hath an univerfal influence upon all our actions; and is a principal ingredient' into all the duties and fervices which we are to perform to God and men; humility and meeknefs, for the exercise whereof there is almost continual occafion in all our converfation with others. Thefe have been spoken to, I shall therefore instance in fome others, which are likewise of great and frequent ufe in human life.

(.) The great humanity of his carriage and deport ment, of which he gave manifold inftances, in his free and familiar converfation with all forts of people. He did not defpife the meaneft. How familiarly did he talk with the woman of Samaria? infomuch that his difciples were offended at it, and marvelled that he talked with her. He did not decline the converfation of the worst of men, where he had any hope of making them better by it; and though his companying with publicans and finners was often objected as matter of scandal to him, yet he would not, for that reafon, neglect any opportunity of doing good. He was affable to his inferiors, to the

meanet

meaneft person that had occafion to speak with him; yea, he rebuked his difciples, for forbidding the little children to come to him. They would have kept them from him, because they could not imagine to what purpose they fhould be permitted to come to him: but, though they were not capable of his inftructions, yet they were of his kindness and bleffing. He took them up in his arms, and laid his hands upon them, and blessed them; and he propofed them to his difciples, as emblems of that innocency and fimplicity, without which no man fhall enter into the kingdom of God.

His humanity likewife appeared in the tenderness and compaffion of his nature, towards all that were in want or mifery of any kind. He healed all manner of fickneffes and difeafes among the people, and went about doing good. And when his followers, by their long attendance upon him in defart and folitary places, to hear his doctrine, were pinched with hunger, he could not find in his heart to difmifs them without fome refreshment; and, having no other means, did it by a miracle. He was very apt to fympathize with the condition of others, to weep with them that wept, as he did with the friends of Lazarus over his grave; nay, he had a tenderness for his enemies; when he beheld Jerufalem, and the fad fate which hung over it for their obftinate impenitency, he could not refrain from tears at the thoughts of it.

Another inftance of his humanity was his eafinefs to be entreated, and readiness to yield to the request of those who defired his company, or implored his help and affiftance. And, as he was most ready to do good to all, fo he did not difdain to receive kindness from any; complying chearfully with the defires of those who invited him to. their houses, and accepting kindly any well-intended refpect. How did he refent the extraordinary kindness of the devout woman, who poured the box of rich ointment upon his head; taking care that the memory of it fhould be tranfmitted to all generations, and proclaimed over the whole world? Matth. xxvi. 13.

(2.) Another very needful virtue, and for which our Lord was very eminent, was his neglect and difregard of the opinion of men, in comparison of his duty. As he

was

was not affected, much lefs puffed up with their applause (which is an argument of a vain and light mind) fo was. he as little moved with their cenfures and reproaches, by which he was neither difordered in his paffions, nor difcouraged from well-doing. He took heed to his duty, and made fure to do the things which pleased God, and was not very folicitous what men faid or thought of him. He obferved in the Pharifees, how great a temptation and hinderance to the receiving of his doctrine, an undue regard to the praise and cenfure of men was: They loved the praife of men more than the praife of God, as he tells us, John xii. 43. and chap. v. 44. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh from God only? Not that we are to flight and neglect the opinion of others concerning our actions; that is pride and self-conceit; and our Lord himself was not fo regardless of his reputation, as not to take great care to give no juft occafion of cenfure, no needlefs handle to flander and calumny; he vindicated himself upon all occafions, and was ready to give a fair and reasonable account of his actions, to those who found fault with them, nay, even maliciously carped at them; he prudently avoided occafions of offence, and, by wife and cautious anfwers, many times avoided the faares that were laid to bring him under obloquy and reproach: But, in competition with his plain duty, he neither regarded the applaufe nor cenfures of men; he complied with them in nothing that was bad, to gain their good opinion and efteem; nor was he hindered and difcouraged from any thing that was good, for fear of being ill-fpoken of, or of having a bad interpretation put upon his good actions.

And this is a virtue very neceffary to a good man, efpecially in bad times, and requires a good degree of fortitude and firmnefs of refolution to make a man mafter of it. And it is not more neceffary than it is reafonable; for it is not in our power, whether men fhall fpeak well or ill of us; but it is in our power, whether we will do well or ill. It is many times impoffible to please men, they are fo divided in their opinions about good and evil; but we may make fure to please God, and to gain his

praise

« PreviousContinue »