Remedy l.Urge upon thy heart the severe prohibitions of revenge by the law (fGod, Remember that this is forbidden fruit, how pleasant and luscious soever it be to our vitiated appetites. O, saith nature, revenge is sweet : O but, saith God, the effects thereof shall be bitter. How plainly hath God interdicted this flesh-pleasing sin, Prov. xx. S2. " Say not I will recompense evil." Prov. xxiv. 29. " Say not I will " do so to him as he hath done to me.'"* Rom. xii. 17. " Recom- " pence to no man evil for evil." And ver. 19. " Avenge not your- " selves, but rather give place to wrath." Nay, that is not all ; but Prov. XXV. 21. " If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, " give him drink." The word feed him, as critics observe, signifies to feed cheerfully, and tenderly, as birds do their young ones : The scripture is a great friend to the peace and tranquillity of human society, which can never be preserved if revenge be not deposed. It was wont to be an argument urged by the Christians to prove their religion to be supernatural and pure that forbids revenge, which is so sweet to nature ; and verily it is a thousand pities such an argument should be lost. Well, then, awe your hearts with the authority of God in these scriptures, and when carnal reason saith, mine enemy deserves to be hated, let conscience reply, but doth God deserve to be disobeyed.? Thus and thus hath he done, and so he hath wronged me ; but what hath God done that I should wrong him ? If he dare be so bold to break the peace, shall I be so wicked to break the pre- cept ? If he fears not to wrong me, shall not I fear to wrong God ? O let the fear of God's threatenings repress such sinful motions.
Remedy 2. Set before your eyes the most eminent patterns of meekness and forgiveness, that your souls may fall in love with them. This is the way to cut oif those common pleas of the flesh for re- venge : As thus no man would bear such an affront : Yes, such and such have borne as bad and worse. I shall be reckoned a coward, a fool, if I pass by this : No matter, as long as I follow the examples of the wisest and holiest of men ; never did any suffer more and greater abuses from men than Christ did, and never did any carry it more peaceably and forgivingly, Isa. liii. 7. " He was oppressed, and he '• was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth : he was brought as a " lamb to the slaughter," &c. This pattern of our Lord the apostle sets before you for your imitation, 1 Pet. ii. 21, 22, 23. " For even *' hereunto are you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leav^
470 HOW TO KEEP THE HEART FKOM REVENGEFUL MOTIOXaf.
" ing US an example that we should follow his steps : Who when he " was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he threatened " not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." To be of a meek, forgiving spirit, is Christ-like, God-like ; " then shall " you be the children of your Father which is in heaven ; for he " maketh his sun to rise upon the evil and upon the good, and send- "eth rain on the just and unjust," Matth. v. 45. How eminently also did the Spirit of Christ rest upon his apostles ? Never were there such men upon earth for true excellency of spirit. None were ever abused more, or suffered their abuses better. " Being reviled (say " they) we bless ; being persecuted, we suffer it ; being defamed, " we entreat," 1 Cor. iv. 12, 13. Mr. Calvin, though a man of a quick spirit, yet had attained such a degree of this Christ-like forgive- ness, that when Luther had used some opprobrious language of him, the good man said no more but this, ' Although he should call me ' devil, yet I will acknowledge him to be an eminent servant of ' Jesus Christ.'
I have often heard it reported of holy Mr. Dod, that when one, enraged at his close, convincing doctrine, picked a quarrel with him, smote him on the face, and dashed out two of his teeth ; this meek servant of Christ spit out the teeth and blood into his hand, and said. See, here, you have knocked out two of my teeth, and that without any just provocation ; but on condition I might do your soul good, I would give you leave to dash out all the rest. Here is the excellency of a Christian's spirit, above all the attainments of moral heathens: Though they were excellent in many other things, yet they could never attain this forgiving spirit. It is the first office of justice, said Tully, to hurt no body, unless first provoked by an injury; whereupon Lactantius, O quam s'lmplicem veramque sententiam, duorum verhe- 9'am adjectione, corrupit ! What a dainty sentence spoiled the ora- tor, by adding those two last words ! Strive then for this excellency of spirit, which is the proper excellencv of Christians ; do some singular thing that others cannot do, and then you will have a tes- timony in their consciences. When Moses out-did the magicians, they were forced to confess the finger of God in that business.
Remedy 3. Consider 'well the quality of the person that hath wrong- ed thee : either he is a good man, or a wicked man, that hath done thee the injury : If he be a good man, there is light and tenderness in his conscience, and that will bring him at last to a sense of the evil he hath done ; however, Christ hath forgiven him greater in- juries than these, and why shouldst not thou ? Will Christ not up- braid him with any of those wrongs done to him, but frankly for- give them all ; and wilt thou take him by the throat for some petty abuse that he hath done to thee.'^
Or is he a wicked man ? If so, truly you have more need to exer- cise pity, than revenge towards him, and that upon a double account: For, (1.) He is beside himself, so indeed is every unconverted sinner.
HOW TO KEEP THE HEART FROM REVENGEFUL MOTIONS. 471
Luke XV. 17. Should you go into Bedlam, and there hear one rail at you, another mock you, and a third threaten you ; would you say I will be revenged upon them ? No, you would rather go away pity- ing them ! Alas, poor creatures ! they are out of their wits, and know not what they do. Besides,
(2.) There is a day coming, if they repent not, when they will have more misery than you can find in your hearts to wish them ; you need not study to revenge, God's vengeance sleepeth not, and will shortly take place upon them, and is not that enough ? Have they not an eternity of misery coming ? If they repent not, this must be the portion of their cup ; and if ever they do repent, they will be ready to make you reparation.
Remedy 4. Keep down thy heart hy this consideration^ that hy re-^ venge thou canst hut satisfy a lust, but hy forgiveness thou shalt coU" quer a lust.