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2. IF, fuch Chriftian applications cannot obtain their End, the Offender muft be forborn; provided the injury be not confiderable in it felf or in its Confe quences, although it be evident. Tis true, a wrong being done, he that did it becomes liable to Juftice; but it doth not follow, that a Man may not forbear him in light and trivial matters; for Charity and Peace fake we are to poffefs our Souls in Patience, with an humble fubmiffion to the good Provis dence of God for reparation in his way! And to this purpose is that Law of Chrift, Matth. 5. 39, 40. Whosoever fball fmite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other alfo; and if any Man with fue thee at the Law, and take away thy Coat, let him take thy Cloak alfo. Thefe are Proverbial Expreffions, which fignifie light and inconfiderable Injuries; and they are to be understood in a Comparative fenfe to this purpose; that when wrongs are fmall, and of no greater account than a little blow, or an upper Garment amounts to, rather than venture the breach of Peace or Cha rity, we are to be content with the lofs, if Reparation cannot be obtained by Soft and gentle Proceedings.

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3. WHERE the injury is heavy and grievous, fo that Reparation becomes neceffary, you are not to require it with your own hands, or by private and perfonal violences, but by the help of the Magiftrate. To this purpofe is that ojure belli. ther Law of Chriftianity, Rom. 12.9. lib. 2. c. Dearly Beloved, avenge not your felves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay it, faith the Lord.

Grot. de

20.Sect.8.

4. AS appeals to the Magiftrate in weighty Cafes are Lawful (for he is the Minifter of God, and his Office is to Relieve fuch as are Oppreffed) fo must the Proceedings before him be without Covetousness, without Envy, without Sinister Arts, and without any Gall and Bitterness of Spirit. For whatever a Man's Loffes are, he muft not lofe or let go his Charity. He fhould Love and Pity, and be ready to fhew Mercy, and to do good Offices to the Offender, even when he feeks Reparations for the Offence it felf. An enra. ged Heart, an Ulcerated Mind, Affections foaming out hatred and malice, these are the worst of Plaintiffs in the best of Caufes: They fpoil in a great measure a very just Controverfie, and make it all one in effect with Cruelty and Revenge; with this fcurvy difference, that a Mali

cious

cious Suit many times cuts deeper wounds than a private ftroak, when 'tis commenced upon premeditation, and carried on with implacability, and is at last

armed with the Sword of publick Juftice.

NOW by these Four Rules a Man may examine his Condition, and make a right judgment of his Charity; as every one ought to do, before he comes to the Holy Communion. If he fecks for Reparation by fair means, and after a Friendly and Christian manner; if it be not any inward rancour or hatred that moves him to it, but only the nature of the injury; if it be of fuch importance as that it makes Redress neceffary either for himself, or for his Relatives, who have a dependance upon him, and fome fhare with him in all his Civil Rights; if he be not his own avenger, but commits his Cause into the hands of those who judge for the Lord; and if in his whole Behaviour he manageth himself with Chriftian fimplicity and candour of mind, and with an heart defirous of perfect Reconciliation and Peace. I do not fee what just reason such a Man hath to forbear the use of the Holy Sacrament. The Injurer indeed is bound to make Reparation, and by all poffible means to Sollicite his Friendship, N 3

and

and to beg his Forgiveness; but the injured Party hath done all that either a Good or a Prudent Perfon can be fuppo fed able to do in fuch Circumstances. But if Malice, or Spight, or Inhumanity, a Quarrelfom Mind, a vexatious Spirit, an Oppreffive or Revengeful Humour be at the bottom of all this, or in any part of it, I have no more to fay, but that fuch a one must bewail his great wickedness, and Repent of it, and implore the forgiveness of God and Man for it, and endeavour to new-mould and rectifie his Uncharitable and Unchriftian Temper, before he prefume to go to the Lord's Table; the Bleffed Sacrament being too Holy a Thing, to be put into the mouth of a Tyger, or a Wolf. And fo much fhall fuffice to be spoken upon this Subject.

• СНАР.

СНАР.

Х.

Of our Behaviour at the time of Receiving.

H

AVING thus Largely Difcourfed upon the point of Preparation, because it is of fuch vaft Concernment in order to our acceptance with God, I proceed now to what is yet behind. For hitherto have brought you but as it were to the Porch of the Temple, and must lead you next to the very Altar of God; and confequently muft fhew, first what you are to do there, and then how you are to behave your felves after your departure thence.

I. FIRST then we are to Confider, that we are going upon no lefs a business than to offer up our Whole Man, not our Souls only (though that be the chief Oblation) but our very Bodies alfo, a Living. Sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable Service, as St. Paul speaks,

Rom. 12. I.

2. THAT we may not prefent the Sacrifice of Fools, nor turn our Offerings into an Abomination; 'tis neceffary for us N 4

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