is a sort of duty to mankind, though the person himself be an utter
stranger to me: The history of the good Samaritan in the gospel tells
me, that in such a case every man is my neighbour, though he be of a
different nation, sect, or party. But when men are fellow-subjects, or
fellow-citizens, or combined in any natural, civil, or religious
society, this rule of justice appears with more force and evidence; it
strikes a brighter light upon the conscience, and ought to have more
power upon the heart and practice; for combination into society is an
implicit contract or promise of mutual help under necessity.
I confess, several of the instances which I have mentioned under this
fifth head may be referred also to charity and mercy, of which I shall
speak hereafter: but for as much as the light of nature and the law of
God require these beneficial actions of men toward each other, I have
here placed them under the head of justice.
VI. The last piece of justice which I shall mention, is reparation to
those whom we have wilfully injured, as far as possible: And this is a
certain duty, whether we have done them injury in their souls, in their
bodies, in their estates, or in their reputation.
If we have led them into errors or heresy by our conversation; if we
tempted them to sin by our allurement or example; if we have solicited
their assistance in any base or guilty practices of our own; we ought
seriously to employ our best powers and prayers toward their recovery
from the snare of the devil: If we have wilfully injured their health;
if we have blasted their credit; if we have thrown a blot upon their
good name; if we have defrauded them of any part of their due, or wasted
their substance, let us know and consider that the law of justice
requires us to make what restitution we are capable of: But still it
must be done in such a manner as must consist with our duty to the rest
of our fellow-creatures round about us. It is a vain thing to pretend to
be sorry and repent that we have done our neighbour a wilful injury or
to flatter him with idle compliments of asking his pardon, while it lays
in our power to repair the damage he sustains in a way of consistence
with our duties, and yet we obstinately refuse it: Such a repentance as
this cannot be sincere in the sight of God, nor have we any reason to
hope that his justice or mercy will condescend to accept it.
We have heard these various instances of justice, this large and
particular account what is due to our neighbour, in the manifold
relations and businesses of life. I grant there are several difficulties
that may attend some of these instances in the particular practise of
them, by reason of the infinite variety of circumstances which may
surround our actions, and the unforeseen occurrences of human life. The
strictest rules of equity or justice, in some cases, require a
mitigation; and it is impossible to say before-hand what shall be
precisely and exactly due to our neighbour in every new accident or
occurrence. But a sincere love of justice wrought deep into the heart,
and a sacred regard to the golden rule of equity which Christ hath given
us, will lead us through most of these perplexities into the paths of
righteousness and truth.
It is time now to have the question put close to conscience; Has this
been the manner of our life? Has this been our conduct toward our
fellow-creatures? Are we children, and have we paid all due honour and
obedience to our parents? Has the father no cause to complain that we
have disobeyed his authority? Has the mother no reason to say, that we
have scorned her advice, or abused her tenderness and compassion? Are we
servants, have we never wasted the goods of our master, nor spent that
time in idle company, in folly, or in sin, which should have been
employed in his service? Have we dealt with our relatives in the same
family as becomes a brother, a sister, or a near kinsman, and fulfilled
the duties to which we were born? Do we never neglect to make due
acknowledgments for favours received? Have we loved those that love us,
and practised the law of justice and gratitude to those who have rescued
our souls and bodies from distress and danger, or laid obligations upon
us by peculiar benefits.?
Am I a trader, and do I practise strict justice and truth, in all that I
buy, and in all that I sell? Have I been carefully solicitous to wrong
no man, to defraud no man, to cheat and cozen no man? Do I hate the arts
of falsehood and knavery? Have I paid the full due to all that I deal
with, and do I keep the proper time of payment, which contract or custom
have appointed? Have I defended my neighbour from injury, and assisted
him in the day of his distress, as I myself should reasonably hope for
his defence and assistance? Have I sought to rescue his good name from
reproach and slander when it has been attacked? Or have I rather fallen
in with slanderers, and joined in with the wilful scandal? Have I
honestly sought to make restitution to another where I have been guilty
of wilful injury, and done what in me lays to repair the damage that my
injustice has brought upon him? Have I attempted to repair his losses,
so far as is consistent with the duties of my other relations in life?
Where is the person that can lay his hand upon his heart, and say, I am
guiltless before God in all this? Who can wash his hands in innocency,
and pronounce himself righteous? Surely such a discourse as this is,
should awaken conscience to sensible acts of repentance and mourning; we
should be willing and ready to yield to the conviction, where the word
of God fastens the charge upon us, and lay ourselves low before the
throne of a righteous God. _Blessed Lord God, if thou art strict to mark
iniquities, who can stand before thee? But there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared._ We have failed in many instances of
duty toward our fellow-creatures, as well as toward thee our Creator: We
have neither given to God nor to our neighbour the full due of love
which thy righteous law requires: We lie down in the dust before thee,
and betake ourselves to the refuge that is set before us: Jesus the
righteous is our hope, he not only paid to God and man all their due, in
the course of his holy life, but he also restored that honour to thy
justice by his death, which we had taken away by our unrighteousness. O
may every soul of us be forgiven for his sake, and created anew in
Christ Jesus unto good works? _Amen._
HYMN FOR SERMON XXIV.
_Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Justice and Equity_.
Come let us search our ways, and try,
Have they been just and right?
Is the great rule of equity
Our practise and delight?
What we would have our neighbour do,
Have we still done the same?
And ne’er delay’d to pay his due,
Nor injur’d his good name?
Do we relieve the poor distress’d,
Nor give our tongues a loose
To make their names our scorn and jest,
Nor treat them with abuse?
Have we not found our envy grow,
To hear another’s praise?
Nor robb’d him of his honour due,
By sly malicious ways?
In all we sell and all we buy,
Is justice our design?
Do we remember God is nigh,
And fear the wrath divine?
In vain we talk of Jesu’s blood,
And boast his name in vain,
If we can slight the laws of God,
And prove unjust to men.
Footnote 29:
See Sermon XXXIII.
SERMON XXV.
_Christian Morality_, _viz._ _Justice_, &c.
PHILIP. iv. 8.—Whatsoever things are just, &c.——think on these things.
If a bare proposal of the rule of duty, and the mention of the various
instances of it, were sufficient to persuade mankind to the practice;
then I need not prolong my discourse on this subject of honesty and
justice: For I have already proposed the sacred rule which our Saviour
has given us, Do to others as ye would that others should do to you; and
I have described the several instances wherein this rule must direct our
conduct, that we may be just and righteous in all our dealings amongst
men.
But alas! our natures are so corrupt, our consciences are so unwilling
to receive the laws of duty, and our perverse wills and passions have so
much reluctance to the practice, that we have need of arguments to
enforce it upon conscience, we have need of powerful motives to awaken
our souls to righteousness, and it is necessary therefore that I proceed
to the third head of discourse which I proposed, and that is to shew how
far the light of nature dictates to us the duty of common justice, and
what arguments may be drawn from thence to influence men to be honest.
I. If we consider the natural right that every man hath to keep that
which belongs to him, it will appear that this is the gift of God as the
God of nature. God, the common author of all our beings, requires that
this right be held sacred and inviolable.
I shall not run back to ancient ages, to trace the original grounds of
property, or how men became entitled to any of their possessions: It is
sufficient for me, that every man is born into this world with a right
to his life, to his limbs, to his liberty and safety, and to the good
things of this world which he possesses according to the laws of nature,
and of the nation where he is born. He has a right also that these
should be secure from the hands of injustice and violence, unless he
himself be some way concerned in the practice of injury to his
fellow-creatures. That man therefore who offers injustice or violence to
his neighbour in his body, or his soul, or estate, he robs him of his
natural right which God hath given him, and which the law of nature
secures to him: He sins against the God of nature, the common Father of
mankind; and his conscience hath reason to expect that the God of
nature, who is just and righteous, will avenge the mischief done to his
injured creatures.
Let it be always observed and excepted here, that the great God himself,
considered merely as the God of nature, and where he has not bound
himself by promise, reserves a right to resume what he has given, and
especially when his creatures have made a forfeiture of their blessings
by sinning against their Maker: But this does not authorize men to
deprive one another of their possessions, unless he has appointed them
from heaven the executioners of his vengeance by a most evident and
infallible commission particularly given by God himself; as in the case
of the Israelites spoiling the Egyptians of their borrowed jewels, and
depriving the Canaanites of their lands, and their lives: But I know not
any instance of that kind ever since.
II. If we consider the need that every man stands in of the help of his
fellow-creatures, justice and honesty will appear to be a natural duty
of the social life: And God, as he is the Governor of the world, will
take vengeance of any neglect or violation of this duty, either in this
world, or in the other.
Commutative justice, as it is described in the former discourse, is
built upon this foundation, that one man has need of another’s
assistance: Nor is there any the meanest figure amongst mankind so very
worthless, useless, and contemptible, but he may be capable of doing us
some service either now or hereafter. It is possible we may be in such
circumstances, as to stand in need of the help of the meanest, as well
as of the mighty; and therefore the duty of social life obliges us to
practice the rules of justice toward all. The rich stand in need of the
poor to perform the meaner offices for their convenience, as much as the
poor stand in need of the rich to supply them with food or money. The
master has need of the servant to assist and obey him, as well as the
servant stands in need of maintenance or wages from the hands of his
master. One man can never procure for himself all the necessaries, and
all the conveniences of life! it is indeed impossible. The same man
cannot sow his own corn reap his own harvest, keep his own sheep, make
his own bread, form all his own garments, build his own house, fashion
his own furniture, and secure his own possessions; no man can provide
for himself in all respects, without the assistance of his
fellow-creatures. Now those from whom he expects to receive help in any
of these instances, it is necessary he should give them help in other
instances wherein they stand in need of his. This is one foundation of
justice between man and man; that so every man may have the necessaries
and conveniences of life by his neighbour’s assistance. Thus _the king
himself_, as Solomon says, _is served by the field_; Eccl. v. 9. The
prince stands in need of the plowman: The plowman gives food to the
prince, and the prince gives to the plowman protection and safety.
I might run through the various instances wherein justice is to be
practised, and shew how the higher and lower orders and characters of
men have mutual need of each other: The buyer and the seller, the
artificer and the merchant, the teacher and the scholar; and thus I
might make it appear, that unless a due exchange of benefits be
maintained, and the practice of justice secured, none of us could enjoy
the safety, the ease, or the conveniences of life.
Where there is no practice of justice amongst men, no man can live safe
by his neighbour: Every one that is mighty and malicious, that is proud
or covetous, that is envious or knavish, would rob another of his due,
and either assume the possessions of his neighbour to himself, or make
havoc of them, and destroy them. There would be everlasting confusion
amongst men, slander and theft, cheating and knavery; plunder and
slaughter, and bloody violence would reign among all the tribes of
mankind; if justice were banished from the earth; for neither life, nor
liberty, nor peace, nor any of our possessions, nor our good name, can
be secured without it. Therefore the light and law of nature sets a
sacred guard upon justice, and has written the necessity of it in the
consciences of all men, who have not seared those consciences as with a
red-hot iron, and rased out so much of human nature from their souls.
The practice of justice has so extensive an influence into the whole
conduct of our lives, and the welfare of mankind, that some of the
heathen writers have made it to be comprehensive of all virtues.
But because sinful men are ready to break the bonds of commutative
justice and invade the property, the peace, or the life of their
neighbours, therefore government is appointed, and magistrates are
ordained to maintain peace and equity amongst men, and to punish the
breakers of it. This is the greatest reason why there must be such a
thing as magistracy and distributive justice amongst mankind; that those
who commit outrage upon their neighbours, and practice injustice toward
them, may be punished by the laws: For, as the apostle says to Timothy,
_the law is not made for the righteous, but for the disobedient, for the
ungodly, and for sinners; for murderers, stealers, and liars, &c._ That
it may be a strong restraint upon the violent inclinations of men, and
bring just vengeance upon them, when they bring injury upon their
neighbours. Therefore it is for the welfare of the innocent and the
righteous, that the laws have ordained vengeance for the guilty; that
those who would not injure their fellow-creatures, may be guarded in the
enjoyment of their own property and their peace, and may have them
secured from the sons of injustice.
And besides all the punishment that such sinners justly receive from men
on earth, God, the great Governor of the world, has often revealed his
wrath from heaven against all the unrighteousness of men, as well as
their ungodliness. He has hereby proclaimed his public approbation of
justice, and his hatred of all iniquity. His terrors have sometimes
appeared in signal and severe instances against those who have been
notoriously unrighteous, and who have broken all the rules of equity in
the treatment of their fellow-creatures. This the heathens themselves
have taken notice of. And they thought this to be so necessary for the
government of the world, that their priests have invented a sort of
goddess called Nemesis, whose office is to avenge the practice of fraud
or violence, and to bring down curses on the head of this kind of
criminals.
As the ancient records of the heathen world give us some histories of
divine vengeance, so the bible abounds with more awful and illustrious
instances of this kind; which leads me to,
The fourth head of my discourse; and that is, to consider what forcible
arguments and motives the christian religion affords for the practice of
justice among men.
If I were to speak of distributive justice, or that which belongs to the
practice of the magistrate, never was it more gloriously manifest, than
in and by God the Father, when he refused to pass by our iniquities
without punishment, and laid the dreadful weight of it upon the head and
soul of his own Son. Never could magistracy receive such a glory, as
when our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, hung and died upon the
cross, suffering the penalty that the law of God, the supreme
magistrate, had denounced against sinners.
And as punishing justice was glorified in all its terrors, so rewarding
justice also appeared most illustrious. Because our Lord Jesus Christ
had fulfilled obedience not only to the broken law which we lay under,
but to those peculiar laws which God the Father also gave him as a
Mediator; therefore it pleased God highly to advance him, according to
his own eternal covenant. God rewarded him, as a magistrate,
distributing justice to a person who had done the greatest things for
the honour of his sovereign: He exalted him at his own right-hand, and
gave him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow; for he deserved it at the hands of his Father, and his
Father distributed rewards equal to his desert.
Rewarding justice again appears glorious, in that God the Father
communicates unto us the rewards of the sufferings of his own Son. God
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, because _the blood of Jesus
Christ, his Son_, has paid for all our follies and unrighteousness; 1
John i. 9. Faithful and just to his Son, that he may not go without the
rewards of his sufferings: Faithful and just to us, because it was in
our name and stead that the Son suffered. But not to insist upon this
longer, commutative justice is abundantly enforced also by many
considerations drawn from the books of the Old Testament, as well as
from the gospel of Christ.
If we consult the moral statutes of God, which were given to the Jews,
we shall find them full of righteousness. These statutes are of
everlasting force, and their divine solemnity should impress our
consciences. _That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou
mayest live and inherit the land: And the judges and officers shall
judge the people with righteous judgment, and shall shew no respect to
persons, nor take a gift to pervert justice_; Deut. xvi. 18, 19, 20. _Ye
shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. Thou shalt
not defraud thy neighbour, nor rob him. The wages of him that is hired
shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Ye shall do no
unrighteousness in judgment, in weight, or in measure, just balances and
just weights shall ye have; I am the Lord your God_; Lev. xix. 12, &c.
_A false balance is an abomination to the Lord; but a just weight is his
delight_; Prov. xi. 1. _To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to
the Lord than sacrifice_; Prov. iii. 15. _Woe to him that buildeth his
house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong, who uses his
neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work_;
Jer. xxii. 13. _Remove not the ancient land-marks, nor enter into the
field of the fatherless: for their Redeemer is mighty, and he shall
plead their cause with thee_; Prov. xxiii. 10, 11.
If we review the records of the Jewish history, we shall find the cruel
and the covetous, the tyrant and the oppressor, made terrible examples
of the vengeance of God against unrighteousness. Survey the plagues of
Egypt, and the dreadful desolations of that fruitful country, with the
destruction of the first-born by the midnight pestilence, and the armies
of Pharaoh drowned in the Red sea, and you may read there the wrath of
God against the unrighteousness of men, written in dreadful characters.
They treated the race of Israel with cruelty and sore oppression; they
destroyed their male-children, and provoked God to bring swift
destruction upon themselves. Behold Adonibezek, king of the Canaanites,
with his thumbs and his great toes cut off by Joshua, and confessing the
justice of the great God. _Three-score and ten kings_, saith he, _with
their great toes and their thumbs cut off, have gathered their meat
under my table: As I have done, so God hath requited me_; Judges i. 7.
_See the dogs licking up the blood of Ahab in the place where he slew
Naboth the Jezreelite_, in order to take unjust possession of his
vineyard; 1 Kings xxi. 19. These things which were written of old time,
remain upon record for our instruction in the days of christianity.
But let us take more special notice what influences may be derived from
the gospel, and from the name of Christ, to enforce the practice of
justice among men.
I. If we look to our Lord Jesus Christ as a law-giver, how various and
how plain are his solemn and repeated commands, not only in his sermon
upon the mount, but upon other occasions too, that justice be practised
between man and man. He hath explained to us that glorious rule of
equity, on purpose to make the practice of justice easy, plain, and
universal, _love your neighbour as yourself_; that is, do to others, as
ye would that others do to you.
We cannot but think that the holy soul of our Lord Jesus was concerned
to secure the practice of justice and righteousness among his followers,
when we read his terrible rebuke to the pharisees for the neglect of it,
and a curse pronounced upon them; Mat. xxiii. 23. “Woe unto you scribes
and pharisees, hypocrites: for ye pay tythe of mint, and anise, and
cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy, and faith.” Judgment in that place may signify commutative and
distributive justice: all manner of exercise of righteousness towards
their fellow-creatures. Under a pretence of serving God better than your
neighbours, and crowding his temple with your presence, and his altar
with sacrifices and gifts, ye abandon common justice, ye neglect the
righteousness due to your fellow-creatures. There is a woe denounced
upon you, and my Father will inflict the curse, for _he hates robbery
for burnt-offering_; Is. lxi. 8. Nor will the God of heaven excuse you
from paying your dues to men on earth, under pretence of paying honour
or sacrifices to him.
There are many other threatenings in the New Testament written against
those that neglect justice, and pronounced by the apostles in the name
and authority of Christ, their exalted Lord. The covetous and
extortioners, those that take away the light of their fellow-creatures,
are shut out from the heavenly blessedness; 1 Cor. vi. 10. “Know ye not,
says the apostle, that none of these shall inherit the kingdom of God?”
As much as to say, it is so very obvious a thing, that an unjust man can
never enter into heaven, whatsoever pretence he makes, that I may appeal
to the meanest capacity, ye all know it. God will repay vengeance to
them that do wrong to their neighbours, whether they be great or mean,
for _there is no respect of persons with him_; Col. iii. 25.
II. Consider Christ as a pattern of justice and righteousness. Look to
the example of our Lord Jesus; you see him, who was the sovereign
Magistrate and Lord of all, who could distribute crowns and kingdoms to
men, submitting himself to commutative justice among creatures.
Behold the Son of God, who was the brightness of his Father’s glory, and
the delight of his soul before the creation; behold him stooping down to
our world, and taking flesh and blood upon him to become our brother,
that he might shew us how we ought to love our brethren. It was an
unparalleled instance of divine love that Christ has given us, when he
came down from heaven to become our neighbour, and to dwell amongst us,
that he might teach us to love our neighbours as ourselves.