SERMON XXIV.

St. Matth. Ch. v. Ver. 25, 26.

Agree with thine Adverfary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; left at any time the Adverfary deliver thee to the Fudge, and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer, and thou be caft into Prifon : Verily I fay unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence till thon haft paid the uttermoft Farthing.

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Hefe words are an Appendix to thofe, which went before; they contain the Sanction which is intended to enforce the Duty of being reconciled to our offended Brother, when Quarrels and Differences have rifen betwixt us. Laws lofe their force, with out a Penalty annex'd; and though one would think it was Punishment enough to threaten, as Chrift doth in the preceding Verfe, that without Forgivenefs and Reconciliation, our Devotions are not, will not, cannot be plea fing to God, nor find acceptance in his fight; which was the fubject of our laft Difcourfe: H

Yet these words contain a Communication of fomething more dreadful, which fhall undoubtedly be inflicted on the Perfon that neglects to renew that Love, and Charity, which hath been broken by Quarrels, by Wrath, and Malice, and Offences given to our fellow Chriftians.

To apprehend the true defign of them, you must know, that our Saviour having in the four preceding Verfes affured us of the greatnefs of the Sin of inordinate Anger, and reproachful Language, and unwillingness to forgive, or to be reconciled to thofe, whom we have offended, goes on in the Text, profecuting the Subject he hath begun: And that none might complaiu of Gods rigor and severity in cafting a Man, for an angry word, or reviling Expreffion into Hell Fire, fhews by what degrees God proceeds to the Execution of that Sentence, not only in avenging, virulent, and angry Expreffions, and Names, and Titles, but uncharitablenefs, and backwardness to be reconciled to our Brethren, to whom we have given juft occafion of Offence.

Firft, God offers Mercy, and is willing to accept of our timely Repentance; and there upon to reverse the Judgment threatned. If we fall out with our Brethren, he will not prefenly take the forfeiture, and bid the Execu tioner, the roaring Lyon, feize upon us, but gives and allows time for Repentance and Reformation, upon which he is willing to be Friends to us. But if we delay that Repentance, and change, and forbear or neglect to

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be reconciled to God and Man, his Patience then will turn into Severity and Vengeance:

For, as among Men, he that comes to terms with his Antagonist, and agrees with his Adverfary quickly, yields betimes, and doth not ftubbornly ftand out against a Man more potent than himself, finds Favour, and Mercy, and kind Ufages; but if he be obftinate, and inflexible, he is without any more ado, brought before the Judge, and by him condemned, and delivered to the Officers of Justice, and by them thrown into Prifon, where he must lie, and perish, and never think to come out, till all the Debt be paid. So God is gentle, and gracious, and will not refufe him, that betimes acknowledges his Folly, which he hath committed, in yielding to the Temptation of the Devil, and the Flesh, when they tempted him. to uncharitable Language and Behaviour. If by his Actions and Endeavours to be reconciled, and to be Friends with his offended Brother, and to live in Love and Peace with him for the future, he agrees with God, who is highly concerned in the Offence; he will find very favourable Dealings at his Hands: But if these actual Demonftrations of Charity be delay'd, and the Man care not for the love of God, and his offended Neighbour, is intractable and obftinate in his Grudges, and fecret Hatred and Malice, and fcorns to return to his Duty, God then will judge and doom that Man to Prifon, even to Hell, where nothing, neither Men, nor Angels, can deliH 2

ver him; where he must abide till all his Scores be paid off, i. e. for ever,

This is plainly the meaning of our Saviour in the Text; fo that what is faid here is a Similitude taken from judicial Proceedings, ufed among Men, against their knavish Debtors, that are able to pay and will not. The Application to the prefent Purpose being very easy, it is not mention'd, but is in effect the fame with the Paraphrafe I have given in the Premises.

Before I go any farther, I muft necessarily refolve a Cafe, which lies in my way, and to which the. Text gives occafion, viz. Suppofe I have occafion to throw my Neighbour into Prifon for Debt, or fome other Mifdemeanour, muft I forbear to do it for fear of giving him any juft Offence; or if I have done it, muft I in order to be Reconciled to him, let him out again, perhaps to the undoing of my Family?

I Anfwer, 1. That it is not altogether unlawful to throw a Man into Prifon for Debt, or fome other great Mifdemeanour, is evident partly from the Practice of the Jews in the Text, not condemn'd by our Saviour, partly from the Publick Good, which would be very much Prejudiced without, it and partJy from the Circumftances of the Perfon we have fometimes to deal with, which may be fo, that it's better for his Soul and Body, to be fent to Prifon than to go free, not only becaufe he is thereby kept from doing further Mischief to his Neighbours, but because the

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Place he is confined to, may be a means to bring him to a serious Sense of his Spiritual Condition. For though there are Perfons, who are harden'd by Affliction and Danger, yet where there is any Ingenuity left, Affliction is the most likely means to make a Man come to himself again. Yet,

2. This throwing Men into Prison for Debt is not a thing to be done Rafhly, nor in Anger, nor by way of Revenge, nor because others do it, nor a trivial inconfiderable Debt; in all which Cafes it is certainly Sinful and Unlawful; but upon very mature Deliberation, and when all gentler means are Vain, when the Perfon is very Vitious or Obstinate, and will not pay what he owes, though he be able to do it. To throw a Chriftian into Prifon, who is fallen to decay, not through Vice, but by Providence, whofe converfation is Harmless and Blameless, and who forbears Payment, not because he is humorfom, and will not, but because he is not able, this is Barbarous, and can never be reconciled to the Rules of the Chriftian Religion; in this Cafe a Man gives juft Offence to his Neighbour, and must be reconciled, which cannot be done, except he lets the Prisoner go free, confeffes his Fault to him, and exercifes Compaffion to his Fellow Servant.

3. From a Man's being offended at what we do to him, it doth not always follow, that therefore we have given him juft Offence; for we may do our Duty, and he be offended at it, which must not be therefore forborn, because