IN the Rage of a devouring Pesti­lence, it is the Care of every wise Government to shut up the Per­sons infected, and to make a Mark over their Door, that all People may shun them, to prevent the spread­ing of the Contagion; yet with a just Compassion to the poor People who lie under the dreadful Distem­per, [Page 2] and a diligent use of Means for their Recovery.

And if our Faith had as quick and effectual Apprehensions as our Sen­ses, we should be as much concerned to prevent the pernicious growth of Sin, which is certainly the greatest Plague to Cities and Kingdoms, as well as to Families and particular Persons. It has been the destruction of one World already, and the gross and ge­neral overflowing of it is at this Day a pregnant Symptom of the approach­ing Ruin of the other.

A publick Sinner does not only sin against his own Soul, but against the Community of which he is a Member; yea, against the World in which he lives. The Mischiefs which attend his Sin are general, and spread wide­ly and universally. For hereby the Governour of the World is dishonoured and provoked, and the common Father of Mankind is disowned and defied. So that there is no Person but is con­cerned to hinder and prevent the Sin [Page 3] of another; and upon the view of any such Transgression, he has just cause of Offence and Resentment given him: and therefore he does at once hate both his Brother's Soul, and his own, if he quietly connives at it, and tamely passes it by; which is directly contrary to the Law of God in the Text, Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thine Heart; thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour, and not suffer Sin upon him.

In which words, the Holy and Righteous God binds this Duty upon the Consciences, not only of Mini­sters and Magistrates, but of every Man, That he maintain a vigilant and constant Concern for his Brother's Soul and Salvation. Next to our own Wel­fare, we are to have a kind and cha­ritable Concern for our Brother's. Our Brother; that is, every Person who having the same Nature, and deriving it from the same God, is a Brother as to all points of Duty re­quired by the common Lord of all. [Page 4] And therefore these words are an authentick Ground for this Point of Doctrine,

Observ. That there is a great want of Charity to the Souls of others, in those who make no Attempts to rescue them from the Power of any known Sin. Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thine Heart, thou shalt in any wise rebuke him: As if it were said, you may in your Lips, and in your other Carriage pretend what Kindness you will to others, but if you induce them to sin, or indulge them in it, all your glavering Professions of Friend­ship are mere sham and paint; yea they are real and hatred, an Artifice to subvert and destroy them for ever. Like the Tyrant's Engine (men­tioned by Sir W. Rawleigh) which was composed in the shape of a beau­tiful Woman, and contrived with that exquisite Art, that it would rise up and embrace any Person before whom it was placed, and at the same time [Page 5] stab them with a Multitude of mor­tal Wounds when it grasp'd them in its Iron-arms. And truly the Embra­ces of sinful Companions are alike fatal; it is the twisting of the old Serpent about them, full of Venom and deadly Poison. It is Hatred in the Heart, says the Text, if you rebuke not your sinful Brother, but negligent­ly suffer sin to lie upon him, and sink him into the pit of Perdition.

So that we have here three parts of spiritual Charity recommended to us. And these are enforc'd and press'd up­on us by three considerable Motives: And my speaking to each of these will be the proper Method to open and ap­ply the Duty of the Text.

I begin to consider the threefold spiritual Charity injoined in the Text. The first of which is,

I. A vigorous desire of the Happi­ness of our Brother's Soul.—Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thine Heart. The positive Injunction impli'd in this [Page 6] Expression is, ‘Thou shalt bear an in­ward and hearty Affection to thy Brother (that is, to every humane Creature) and thou shalt especially love his Soul, and do whatever thy Place and Capacity enables thee to­wards his Eternal Salvation.’

And indeed a real Christian cannot do otherwise; the Spirit of Christ will constrain him to it. For, if we have not so much of the spiritual Zeal and Temper of Christ, as to seek the Glory of God, and the Salvation of Men, We are none of his. A worldly, car­nal, and unchristian Spirit sways that degenerate Soul, who seeks his own, and not his Brother's Good. Yea, such a one gives a very shrewd Suspicion, that he does not heartily seek his own Spi­ritual and Eternal Welfare: For he that knows and feels the due import of those two words, Eternal Salva­tion, and conceives something of those innumerable, exquisite, and endless Woes, which are summ'd up in that one word Damnation, will [Page 7] be sensibly moved to pity such as he sees passing on directly towards the pit of Destruction. He will beg his Brother by all the Entreaties he can use, that he would not resist his own Mercies, nor destroy a Soul for which Christ died: Yea, he will use a sort of Violence with him (if there be any in the Perswasives, Rebukes, and Remonstrances of Love) to restrain him from Self-destruction, and to bar up his Way to everlasting Tor­ment.

And this Christian Affection to our Brother must not end here; namely, in a pious Exhortation and Admoni­tion only. But it is further required in the Text,

II. That our Love to Men be ex­ercised in a seasonable (and if need be, in a sharp and severe) Reproof of an offending Brother. This is com­prehended in the word Rebuke.—Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour. ‘Thou shalt not be di­verted [Page 8] from this good Office in any wise. Thou shalt not fear his Anger, nor the World's Censures, nor any Temporal Damage which may come to thee by so doing. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour when he gives thee cause to do it. Thy Neighbour, that is, He with whom thou conversest, for he is for that time thy Neigh­bour.’

But here we must observe the Li­mits of a few Cautions.

(1.) Our Reproof of our Neigh­bour must be managed in a Method sutable to his Station, and our Re­lation to him. An Elder (says the Apostle) is not to be rebuked, but en­treated as a Father, 1 Tim. 5. 1. Which implies, that the natural Fa­ther is likewise to be treated with the same Respect; not insulting over his Nakedness, but pitying his In­firmities. And Elihu wisely observed, That it is not fit for every one to go [Page 9] bluntly to a King, and tell him that he is wicked, or to say to Princes that they are ungodly, Job 34. 18.

We see with what Respect and humble Address, the Persons who ac­companied Naaman, corrected his Pas­sion. The Men were grieved at their Master's rash Resentment of the Pro­phet's Message, and were unwilling that he should turn away without a Cure of his Leprosy: whereupon (it is said) that they came near and spake unto him, and said, My Father, if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean? 2 King. 5. 13. And we find, that this kind and gentle Application to him won upon him effectually; their forcible Argument convinces his Judgment, and their humble Respect softens his Heart to embrace it; and so it came to a desired Effect, to the Cure of the Disorder of his Soul first, and then to the Cure of the Distemper of his Body.

And indeed the prudent Manage­ment of this Affair is the taking the Instrument by the right Handle, and so the most likely way to the desired Success; which introduces a second Caution, namely,

(2.) That in the case of rebuking any Person, we should take care to time it well. The proper Season is ve­ry material in the Administration of this spiritual Physick. The Physicians of our Bodies decline the giving of a Dose, tho never so excellent, in the Extremity of the Paroxism. And truly a Person in a Passion, or in Drink, or the like, must have time for the Height of his Fit to sink, that he may come to the Use of his Rea­son, before his Cure can be attempted with any Probability of Success.

Had Abigail reproved Nabal when he was very drunk, and in a violent Passion, as it seems he was when he sent that railing Message to King Da­vid, it is very probable that her self might have had the second Part of the [Page 11] same Outrage, as the only Effect of her Reproof, and Reward of her Pains: But she did more wisely; She said no­thing to him more or less till the Mor­ning-light; but then, when the Wine was gone out of Nabal, she lays open all the Parts of his desperate Folly and Rudeness before him; and applies it so home to him, that his Heart died within him, 1 Sam. 25. 36, &c.

So that the prudent Timing of our Rebukes is very conducible to their taking place upon the Person to whom they are applied. But then we must beware, on the other hand, that our convenient Season be not like that of Foelix, a mere trick to shun the Duty, never thinking of it more. It is of the two, better to mistake the Time of a Duty, than wholly to omit the Performance of it. Again,

(3.) We must not understand the Words of the Text so as to counte­nance the Popish Cruelties for their own Superstitions. It is true, we must not suffer Sin upon our Brother or [Page 12] Neighbour; and rather than let him alone to perish in his Vices, we may and ought to deliver him up to the Civil Magistrate, that the Delinquent may suffer the light Inflictions of le­gal Punishment here, in hope that he may be awakened by these, to shun that everlastiug Anguish which will inevitably come upon him, if he goes on in his Iniquity.

But then, it must be a Transgressi­on of the moral Law, or some Sin against the plain Revelation of God's Will: in which case the Offender's Conscience (if he has any) will ap­plaud both the Evidence against him, and the Judg who decrees his Punish­ment: for his own Heart will be both an impartial Evidence and Avenger against him, whenever he comes to himself.

But as for the bloody Methods of the Romish Inquisition, where inno­cent Persons are tortured, rack'd and burnt, because they will not pollute their Faith and Consciences by things [Page 13] of Man's Invention, and by Doctrines not only beside, but against the express Will of God: The Voice of all good Christians, yea of all Mankind, sends forth a loud Cry to Heaven against them: And every body sees, that the beating out of Peoples Brains is no good Means to bring any Perswasion into their Heads; and that those of the Trent-Council spake rather after the tyrannical Temper of Popery, than according to the Rules of Argumenta­tion, who were for answering Luther's Books by Fire and Faggot apply'd to the Author. This is a very inglorious Conquest, like Herod's Victory over the poor Infants, of which this Day puts us in mind. But there is not the least Affinity betwixt the inhumane Persecution of good Men, and the le­gal Punishment of wicked ones. That is diametrically opposite to this, for that crushes the best of Men, this chastises the worst: That puts Men out of the way of their Duty, this brings them into it: That injures the Conscience, [Page 14] this relieves it: That locks up the Gate of Heaven, this puts a Bar in the Passage to Hell. And, in a word, that is uncommanded by God, yea it is forbidden by him; but this is the express Will of God, which is the strongest Argument in the World to enforce it upon every sensible Consci­ence. And this leads me to the third Part of spiritual Charity in the Text: namely,

III. That we ought to use all law­ful and sutable Means to reclaim the open and obstinate Transgressor;—Thou shalt not suffer Sin upon him, i. e. ‘Thou shalt diligently pursue all pro­per Means to pull this Firebrand out of the Fire. Thou shalt appeal to the Minister, and to the Magistrate; not against the Man, but against the Sin: Thou shalt tell it the Church, (Mat. 18. 17.) Thou shalt inform the Bench (the Seat of Ju­stice) of it, (Deut. 13. 8.) That all fit spiritual Censures and temporal [Page 15] Chastisements may be applied to him in time, that his Soul perish not to all Eternity.’

And surely this cannot be disagree­able to the Rules of natural Affection, or Christian Charity, or humane Friendship, since the very Parents a­mongst the Jews were to appeal to the Magistrates of their City, to punish even with Death their Son who was a Drunkard, or a Glutton, and an ungo­vernable Rebel; as we read Deut. 21. 19. And however severe this may seem to the Person who fell under this exemplary Punishment, it was certainly a Kindness to the Commu­nity; which must needs find that good Order and sober Behaviour was main­tained by this strict Law; which was the Benefit proposed in the Insti­tution of it, viz. That all Israel might hear, and fear, and do no more any such Wickedness, (ver. 21.) And that such good Laws as these might not prove useless, for want of due Infor­mation and Prosecution, it was a stand­ing [Page 16] Rule and Statute in the Jewish Go­vernment, That in all great Enormi­ties, such as heard or saw the Fact were to be Informers and Witnesses against the Offender, tho it were a Friend as dear as their own Soul, or a Brother of their own Blood: yea, they were to be the Executioners too; as we read, (Deut. 17. 7.) The Hands of the Witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to Death, and afterwards the Hands of all the People: And this (it is said) was the only way to put away the Evil from among them. So that in such a Case where the Bowels of Nature, and the Endearments of Friendship begin to struggle against the Administration of Justice, and the publick Good, the Love and Fear of God must turn the Ballance, consider­ing that our overlooking of any gross Sin is a taking the Guilt of it into our own Bosom: yea, 'tis a spreading and diffusing of the Curses due unto it up­on the Face of the whole City and Na­tion in which we dwell.

So that it is very manifest, That the due Ministration of Justice is ab­solutely necessary to the Happiness of any State, in order to suppress Vice, and support Vertue; and so to procure the Blessings, and avert the Judgments of Almighty God, the Righteous Gover­nour of the World.

Now, the Tribunal of Justice is seated on these two Pillars, viz. First, Upon due Information against Offen­ders; Secondly, An impartial Executi­on of Justice upon them, according to the Proof of the Fact.

As to the first, viz, Information a­gainst the impudent and profligate Contemners of the Laws of God and Men. The desire of God's Glory, and Mens Salvation may induce us to it; and the Love of Vertue, and the com­mon Good, must needs enforce the Practice of it: Or however, the Laws of God ought to constrain us to it, and the Fear of God's Wrath should awaken us to wash our Hands from the Guilt of other Mens Sins. For you are un­just [Page 18] to the Offender's Soul, and your own, and to the publick Good, if you neglect it.

And, as for the vulgar Odium, and the common Reproaches against such Informers, they are vain and sensless, and are merely contrived by the lovers of Sin (and the invisible Patron and Promoter of it) to be a Shelter and Subtersuge for Vice and Profaneness.

For every Body knows, that without Legal Evidence, there can be no Legal Punishment. And tho the Magistrate be the best in the World, yet if the Crime be not duly proved and testifi'd before him, Justice it self will bind his Hands, and chain his Sword.

Had not the People who heard the Blasphemy and Curses of the Son of She­lomith, gone and told Moses of it, Lev. 24. 11. the Wretch might have curst on, and blasphemed as long as his Breath would have served him to do it. But they that heard him, did better; they went forthwith and informed the Magistrate of it, as they were in Duty [Page 19] bound; and so the Curses of Man were stopt, and the Blessings of God procured.

And O! where is the love of God, or of Vertue, or of the Souls of Sinners, or of the Publick Good, if we are discouraged from so good and necessary a Work, by such unreasonable Cavils as are usually made against it? Alas! what Love of God have they, who will not speak a good word for him before the face of his Enemies? Or what Cou­rage have they in the Cause of God, who cannot bear an ill word, or a Nick­name for his sake? And what a poor and pusillanimous Soul is that who dares not be good in ill Company, or in evil Times?

Ah! what insupportable Shame and Contempt will be poured out on those at last, who are now asham'd of Christ and of his Doctrine! How will they be able to stand before the great God? or to shew their Faces before his Holy Angels, those zealous Ministers of his, who do his Pleasure; or before that noble Army of Martyrs, who counted not their [Page 20] Lives dear when ever they might glori­fy God by such a Sacrifice? Yea, who shed their Hearts Blood for the sake of Religion, with greater Resolution than many now speak a few good words for it, either in reproving of Vice, or inform­ing against it.

Let us, for Shame, awaken out of such a tepid and torpid State. A bru­tish Stupidity is a shameful Reproach to a Man; and Spiritual Insensibleness is much more so to a Christian: and therefore let every one that bears the Name of Christ be zealous and indefa­tigable in his Work, and couragious and undaunted in his Cause.

Do you see a Person so void of Rea­son, as well as Faith, as to profane the sacred Name of God in vile and blasphe­mous Language? You must in any wise rebuke the Wretch, and not only so, but deliver him up to the Magistrate, as the People did in the like Case, Lev. 24. 11. They went and told Moses of it.

See you a Person so void of God's Fear, as to profane that Day which God [Page 21] hath blest and sanctified? Dare he ex­pose his Wares on that Sacred Day, or follow his Sports or Vices? See that you suffer not this Sin upon him, but suppress it by all lawful Ways and Means. As pious Nehemiah, Neh. 13. 17. who not only threatned and drove away such as brought their Goods to be sold, but contended with the Nobles of Ju­dah, who suffered it upon the Sabbath.

The same Care should be taken to reform not only plain and down-right Drunkenness, but unseasonable and im­moderate frequenting of Publick Hou­ses, which are not designed to cherish the Vices, but to supply the Necessities of Men.

And partieular Care must always be taken to root out that nasty Sin, which above others deserves the Name of Ʋn­cleanness; and to brand those impu­dent People with publick Shame and Correction, who dare proclaim their Impudence in the very Streets, and be­fore the Sun.

By these Sins a Land is greatly defi­led, [Page 22] and the Wrath of God highly in­censed against it. And therefore it be­comes every Christian to set himself couragiously against them, and to re­joice in an Opportunity of doing such a piece of Service to his great and good Master, as to bring them before the Magistrate to receive condign Punish­ment: That the World may see that there are some who dare be as bold and vigilant for the Honour of the Prince of Light, as some others are in the Ser­vice of the Prince of Darkness. And tho your Adversaries will cry out of a Beam in your own Eye, we are sure these are not Motes which you endea­vour to pull out of theirs; nor can they with any Reason or Justice, apply those words of our Saviour to you, Mat. 7. 5. unless they can prove you abundantly more guilty of that Sin for which they are punished, than themselves.

And as to the second Point, which is necessary to support our Religion, and the publick Good, namely, The impartial Execution of Justice upon profane and li­centious [Page 23] Persons: This is the Magistrate's peculiar Province; and blessed be God, that (as we have good and excellent Laws against Profaneness and Debau­chery, so) we have some righteous Magi­strates who duly put them in Executi­on. The good God raise up more of these Labourers, to cut down this ripe and exuberant Vintage of Vice, the Fields of which are grown even white unto Havest.

O! what an Honourable and Divine thing is Magistracy duly exerted in its proper Acts! How venerable is that Person in the sight of Angels and Men, who piously uses that Sword wherewith the God of Justice (to whom Vengeance belongeth) has girded him withal! Ah! let none dare to wear that Sword in vain, lest it be drawn at last forth against themselves by the Almighty God, as David did Goliath's, to the destructi­on of him that wore it.

Truly I here testify to you, that I know no other way for Magistrates to shun this, but by their present and im­partial [Page 24] executing of Justice upon Evil­doers, and supporting them that do well. This is indeed a blessed Work, and will receive a glorious Reward at last from God the Righteous Judg.

It is so God-like, to distribute just Punishments to such as do Evil, and to support Religious and Vertuous Per­sons; that the Magistrate who does it in the Integrity of his Heart, will find Favour with God, and Esteem among Men. It is indeed more than a single Good; there is a Constellation of Ver­tues and Advantages in it; it will glo­rify God, and credit our Religion; it will make our Publick Affairs Pro­sperous, and our Nation Happy. It will make the Name of such a Magi­strate truly Honourable, and his Con­science serene: yea, 'twill make his Life Comfortable, his Death Hopeful, and his Eternity Blessed.

And to press this further, let us con­sider the Motives express'd or imply'd in the Text, which tend to fix Holy Purposes, of setting in good earnest to [Page 25] this Duty, in every Person according to his Station and Capacity. And this will be the proper Application of what has been said.

Motive 1. Let us therefore remem­ber in the first place, That it is Ha­tred to any one, not to rebuke him for his Fault. For indeed it is the great­est Declaration of God's Wrath to­wards a Sinner, that he expresses up­on Earth, when he will no more reprove nor correct him for his Of­fences: As in that dreadful Expres­sion, Hos. 4. 17. Ephraim is join'd to Idols, let him alone. ‘Let him be no more disturbed, either by Re­proof or Affliction, but let him securely persist in his Sin, and harden in it, and perish.’ And can we be content that our Remisness in our Duty to our Brother's Soul, should draw on him these direful and eternal Plagues?

It is a part of the Law of Na­ture, as well as a Statute in Israel, [Page 26] That no Person hate his Brother in his Heart; but that he be very kind and compassionate towards him. We are to live by the mutual Kindness of each other; this is the end of our incorporating into Societies. And in­deed, this is suggested to us in the Frame of Nature.

Our good and wise Creator has so ordered the state of Humane Life, that no Person (of what Rank or Condition soever) can subsist without the Help and Assistance of others. We are born naked, destitute, and impotent, and should not survive our Birth many Hours, except some Eye pitied us, and did the common Of­fices of sutable Ministration to us. And thus we live many Years by the Kindness and Charity of others; being in our Infancy not only unable to provide our own necessary Food and Raiment, but even incapable of feeding or dressing our selves, tho the Means of both be provided to our hands.

And when a Man comes to ma­turity of Years and Strength, he is absolutely insufficient to supply his own wants of himself, but must crave the helping Hands of many others, both as to the necessaries of his Soul and Body. And it has pleased the common Father of all Men, to give peculiar Accomplishments to the va­rious Individuals, sutable to the Exi­gencies of the universal Kind. And the thing in which one Man excels, is providentially fitted to make up the Defects of the rest, by Him who di­stributeth to every one severally as he will.

And the Case is the very same, if we are considered as Christians. We are often minded in the Gospel, that we are Members one of another, and are to have the same Care of one anothers Welfare, as the Members in the Na­tural Body; where the least part has its necessary Use, and the greatest can­not say to it, I have no need of you. And this is one end of our Blessed Savi­our's [Page 28] uniting us in a Church, or Chri­stian Society; that we might be like Stones in the same Building, where each Stone supports, and is supported by some other, 1 Pet. 2. 5. And in Truth we so often want, not only the Counsels, but the Rebukes of a faith­ful Friend, that these are sometimes the greatest Kindnesses they can do us.

So then, every Excellency in Man, whether it be Spiritual, Moral, or Po­litical, infused or acquired, is a Ta­lent put into the Hands of that Person by the common Father of Men, to be imployed for the Good of the Commu­nity; like the Bulk of an Estate given to the eldest Son, for the good of the whole Family: Which is the first Consideration proper to move Men to do good to the Souls of others, and to rebuke them upon Occasion.

Motive 2. We are to remember our near Relation to every Man; He is thy Brother, says the Text, a sharer in thy Nature, a partaker of thy Blood. And [Page 29] except the Bowels of Humane Nature are perish'd in thee, thou canst not but feel a painful Regret when thou be­holdest one of thy own Kind going in the way of Destruction. Can you find in your Heart any tendency to ve­rify that severe Reflection upon Hu­man Cruelty which some have made, namely, that one Man is many times a Wolf and a Fury to another? This is a Carriage worse than that of Barbari­ans; for they shew Kindness to the Miserable, Acts 28. 2. Yea, it is worse than the savage Brutes; for the fiercest of them seldom prey upon their own Kind; and the very Swine run at the Cry of their Fellows to help and suc­cour them. Can Man then that was made after the likeness of God, be so much of a Devil to his Brother, as to indulge his Sin, and further his Course in the ways of Damnation? Surely, in such Persons, Righteousness, Charity, Tenderness, and Humanity it self is perished.

Motive 3. The Text further moves us to do all the good Offices of Piety one towards another that we can, by minding us, that he is our Neighbour.—Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy Neighbour. He is your near Associate, his Lot is providentially cast near unto you, that you might help and succour him. Friendly Assistance among Neigh­bours, is a mutual Debt; and every one with whom we converse, is for that time our Neighbour. We must there­fore endeavour to put a stop to his Sin, in order to prevent his Ruin.

If you see your Neighbour's House on Fire, all the Neighbourhood will cry shame upon you, if you get not out of your Bed, tho it be at Midnight, to help him quench the threatning Flames, that he be not ruined by them. And will you not be as vigilant to keep your Neighbour from falling into those Flames which can never be quenched? If not, there is a deplorable Defect both in your Faith and in your Charity.

Upon the whole Matter; since God lays this Duty of suppressing the scanda­lous Sins of Men upon every Person's Conscience, according to his Station and Capacity: Can any of us that have any sensibleness of Conscience, evade the Charge and binding Force of it?

Will you (like Gallio) care for none of these things? Or will you lull your selves to sleep with Felix his shifting excuse, fancying that you may here­after have a more convenient Season to do it? Or will you turn short with churlish Cain; and even ask God to his Face, Whether you are your Brother's Keeper? Yes truly; God has so far made you the Guardian of your Bro­ther, that if you see him about to cut his Throat, you must stay his Hand if you are able; or if he be Blind, and in his mistake be going directly upon the Mouth of a Pit, you must disco­ver his Danger, and disswade him from it, or every Body will deem you Ac­cessary to his Death. These are Cases in which every Body is convinc'd that [Page 32] he ought to succour his Friend, yea, his Enemy; and needs no Casuist to determin the bounds of his Duty in so plain a Matter. And what? shall we have more Care about the Body of our Brother, than about his Soul? And shall we be more concern'd to prevent his Temporal than his Eternal Ruin?

And does not he whom Satan hath blinded, need the Direction of those whom God has inlightn'd, as much as he who has lost his Bodily Sight? And has not that infatuated Soul, whom Lust and Passion hath put out of his right Mind, need to be bound with Chains, and to be rigidly dealt with, as much as any poor distracted Crea­ture in Bedlam?

It is true, neither of these sorts of mad People will at present give you Thanks for your Pains with them, be­cause, during their Lunacy, neither of them have Sense enough to discern, that what you do is for their Good. But you must wait the Recovery of their Senses, and then they will be ex­ceeding [Page 33] thankful to you, and bless the Time in which they were acquainted with you, and praise God who put it into your Heart to do them such a Kindness.

And if it shall so please God, that by all our Informations, Admoniti­ons and Reproofs, we become instru­mental to gain but one Soul from the Power of Satan to God; it will be an abundant Recompence for all our La­bours and Sufferings in it. For then all the Good he does, and all the Glory which he gives to God, will in a great measure redound to our Advantage in the other World, which should migh­tily invigorate our Endeavours of this kind; and if they be but hearty and diligent, they cannot wholly mis­carry.

But there are some who frequently make use of a proverbial Speech in this Case, to hinder the progress of this blessed Work, tho it be but little to their purpose; which is, That every Vessel must stand upon its own bottom. [Page 34] And thus far it is true, That every one must principally answer for his own Sins to God. But it's as true, That we may be partakers of other Mens Sins, 1 Tim. 5. 22. And that if we are sharers in their Guilt by Conni­vance, or a sinful Silence and Neg­lect, we shall also share in their Pu­nishment. Hence it is that we are ad­vised, Rev. 18. 4. That we partake not of the Sins of Babylon, that we receive not of her Plagues.

And as to the Case of publick and scandalous Sins, the whole Commu­nity is concern'd to bring the Trans­gressor to due Punishment: for we are often assured in the Book of God, that there's no other way to put away the Evil from the whole Body of the People, which is ever liable to the Vengeance of God, where such Enormities are unpunished, Deut. 13. 5. Deut. 19. 19. and 21. 21. So that we must con­clude, That such as frequently hear or behold those Vices and Impieties which the Laws of God and Man condemn, [Page 35] and yet never endeavour to bring them to a just Rebuke and Correction, are Sinners against God and Men: and next to the principal Acters, these Connivers at Sin are the Instruments of pulling down the Curses and Plagues of God upon a Land. For in the Case of uncertain Murder, Deut. 21. the Elders of the City were to protest, That their Eyes had not seen the Fact, as well as that their Hands had not done it. And, alas! how great are the Dangers of this our Nation, by reason of this de­plorable neglect of doing Justice up­on publick Wickedness. Vice has so long been uncontroll'd, that it's now grown Impudent: yea, it has been so long encouraged by great Examples, and dandled upon the Knees of some Magistrates, who ought to have tram­pled it under their Feet, (and with Samuel, to have hewn it to pieces, as he did Agag, before the Lord) that it is grown Monstrous, Scandalous, and Crying.

And therefore, as you would be found Lovers and Servants of God, and not Fighters against him: and as you would avert, and not pull down his Judgments upon your Native Land; I earnestly entreat you, yea, I charge it upon your Consciences (as my Text impowers me to do) that you seriously and resolutely set your selves from henceforth to a vigorous Prosecu­tion of all legal Methods of Reformati­on, as you would prevent the Judg­ments of God on Earth, and avoid the Vengeance of his Eternal Wrath.

I shall now conclude all with a few practical Inferences from the whole.

Infer. 1. We may from what has been said perceive, what a gross Mis­take the pretended Kindness of Com­partners in Sin is. If it be Hatred not to rebuke a Person for Sin, what a fa­tal Enmity is it to lead him into it, and caress him in it? The filthy Ac­quaintance [Page 37] of the Adulterers and A­dulteresses, and of all sinful Compa­nions, is not only Enmity against God, but against themselves also. They trip up each others Heels, and tum­ble in each others Arms into the bot­tomless Pit. The Rebukes of the Text have infinitely more kindness in them, than such treacherous Embraces, tho such abandoned Creatures have not competent Sense to perceive and va­lue it.

Infer. 2. Since God requires us to rebuke the Sins of our Companions in the Text, how difficult shall we find it to be innocent in ill Company! 'Tis very uneasy in some Tempers, to re­prove a Friend, or a Superior; and 'tis more uneasy to a tender Consci­ence, to omit a proper Season for Re­proof. And sometimes a defect in your Zeal may cause you to slip the fit Opportunity; and this will be to your wounding, when you reflect upon it with due Seriousness and Tenderness: [Page 38] So that you will always find your In­tegrity and Peace best preserved by a careful shunning of vain and loose Com­pany, as much as possible.

And in truth, this demonstrates the usefulness of those Religious Societies, which are of late erected in this City, which I pray God confirm and in­crease. For it is an invaluable Benefit for young Men to know what Conver­sation is proper for their Intimacy; and where they may join themselves with those who are going towards E­verlasting Bliss. The want of such edifying Company (and the Poison of the contrary) has been the Ruin of many a hopeful young Man and Wo­man.

Infer. 3. Lastly, How sad a Thought is it, and how should it cut us to the Heart, That there is so little Zeal for God in a Nation of professed Christians? How unlike are the most of those who bear the Name of Christ, to him of whom it is said, The Zeal of thine House [Page 39] hath eaten me up? Yea, how unlike are we to those Primitive Christians, whose holy Fervency carried them through the most threatning Dangers, whose Religion scattered the gross Fogs of Pro­faneness and Superstition with its bright and warm Beams, and made the Christian Name Illustrious and Honou­rable in the World?

O Sirs! as we love our Lord and Sa­viour, let us act something like our Ho­ly Profession, and our infinite Hopes: Let our whole course of Life demon­strate that we are indeed resolv'd for Heaven: Let our Speeches savour of our Holy Faith; and let us continually breathe of God, and the things of his Eternal Kingdom; and let it be seen in all Places and Companies, that we can­not bear the appearance of any Con­tempt of the Great God, and of his Holy Will and Authority.

Truly if ever our Holy Religion re­gains its Primitive Reputation and Re­nown, it must be by the exemplary Purity, Zeal, and Fervour of its Pro­fessors; [Page 40] even by a general, vigorous, and resolute Opposition to Vice, and a zealous and conscientious Practice of all Christian Duty. To which Holy Frame, I beseech God to raise every Soul of us, that we may not only escape the Pollu­tions of this World our selves, but be a means of pulling others out of the Mire of Sin here, and of saving them from the eternal Vengeance of God, which will otherwise be their Portion for ever.

Consider what has been said, and the Lord give you Ʋnderstanding in all Things.

Amen.