2. Reproofs do always respect a fault, an evil, a miscarriage, or a sill, in them that are reproved. There may be mutual admonitions and exhortations among Christians, with respect unto sundry things in the course of their faith and obedience, without a regard unto any evil or miscamage. The general nature of a reproof is an admoni- tion or exhortation; but it hath its special nature from its regard unto a faidt in course, or paiiicular fact. And hence the word sig- nifies also " to chast'se;" whei'ein is a correction for, and the means of a recovery from, a miscarriage, 2 Sam. vii. 14, "I will reprove him with the rod of men;" that is, chastise him. This, therefore, is that reproof which we intend, — a warning, admonition, or exhor- tation, given unto any, Avhereby they are rebuked for, and with re- spect unto, some moral evil or sin in their course, way, practice, or any particular miscarriage, such as may render them obnoxious unto divine displeasure or chastisement ; for it is essential unto a regular repi'oof, that, in him who gives it, it may be accompanied with, or do proceed from, an apprehension that the person reproved is, by the matter of the reproof, rendered obnoxious unto the displeasure of God.
3. It may also be considered, that I'eproving is not left arbi- trarily unto the ivills of men. Whatever seems to be so, it loseth its nature if it be not a duty in him who reproves, and Avill come short of its efficacy No wise man will reprove, but when it is his duty so
480 HOW WE MAY LEAllN
to do, unless lie design the just reproach of a busy-body for his re- ward. The command is general, with respect unto brother and neigh- bour, Lev. xix. 1 7, " Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart : thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer siu upon him." But as to the particular discharge of this work as a duty, there must be either an especial office or an especial relation, or a concurrence of circumstances for its warranty. God hath, in his wis- dom and care, given rules and bounds unto our engagement unto duties; without a regulation whereby we shall wander in them with endless dissatisfactions unto ourselves, and unnecessary provocations unto others. But the duty of reproving, with the love, wisdom, ten- derness, and compassion required in the discharge of it, — its motives, ends, and circumstances, — its proper rules and limitations, — fall not under my jDresent consideration; but these things in general were necessary to be premised unto what do so.
That which the text instracts us in may be comprised m this ge- neral observation : —
Observation. Reproofs, though accompanied with some sharj-)- ness, if rightly received and duly improved, are a mercy and ad- vantage incomparably above all the satisfactions which a joint con- sent with others in sin and pleasures can afford.
The latter part of the proposition I have mentioned only to express the balance that is proposed by the psalmist between the best and most desirable advantages of wicked society on the one hand, and the sharpest or most displeasing severities that accompany the com- mimion of the righteous or godly. But I shall not at all handle the com^^arison, as designing only soyne directions hoiv men should beJtave tliemselves under reproofs, that they may be a kindness, and an ex- cellent oil unto them; or how they may by them obtain spiritual benefit and advantage unto their own souls. And this, however at present the matter may be managed, is of itself of great impoilance. For as, in the state of weakness and imperfection, of mistakes and miscarriages, wherein we are, there is no outward help or aid of more use and advantage unto us than seasonable I'eproofs; so in the right receiving and improving of them, as high a trial of the spirits of men, as to their interest in wisdom and folly, doth consist, as in any thing that doth befall them, or wherewith they may be exercised. For as scorners of reproofs, those that hear them unwillingly, that bear them haughtily and impatiently, with designs of revenge or disdainful re- tortions, have the characters of pride and folly indelibly fixed on tliem ])y the Holy GhOst; so their due admission and improvement is in the same infallible truth represented as an evident pledge of wisilom, and an effectual means of its increase. This is so nmch and so fre([uently insi.sted on in that great treasure of all wisdom,
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spiritual, natural, and political, — namely, the Book of Pi'overbs, that it is altogether needless to call over any particular testimonies unto that purpose.
Three things we are to inquire into, in compliance with our pre- sent design : — I. Hoiu reproofs may he duly received. II. The rea- sons tohy they ougJit so to be. III. How they may he duly improved.^
I. That we may receive reproofs in a dice manner, three things are to be considered: — 1. The general qualification of the reprover; 2. The nature of the reproof; and, 3. The matter of it.
1. The Psalmist here desires that his reprover may he a righteous man: "Let the righteous smite me," — "Let him reprove me." To give and take reproofs, is a dictate of the law of nature, whereby every man is obliged to seek the good of others, and to promote it according to his ability and opportunity. The former is directed by that love which is due unto others; the latter, by that which is due unto ourselves: which two are the great rules, and give measure to the duties of all societies, whether civil or spiritual. Wherefore, it doth not evacuate a reproof, or discharge him who is reproved from the duty of attending unto it, that he by whom it is managed is not righteous, yea, is openly wicked ; for the duty itself being an effect of the law of nature, it is the same, for the substance of it, by Avhom- soever it is performed. Yea, ofttimes such moral, or rather immoral, qualifications as render not only the reprover less considerable, but also the reproof itself, until thoroughly weighed and examined, ob- noxious unto prejudicate conceptions, do occasion a greater and more signal exercise of gi'ace and wisdom in him that is reproved than would have been stirred up had all things concurred unto the exact regularity of the reproof However, it is desirable, on many accounts, that he who reproves us be himself a righteous person, and be of us esteemed so to be. For, as such a one alone will or can have a due sense of the evil reproved, with a right principle and end in the dis- charge of his own duty ; so the minds of them that are reproved are, by their sense of his integrity, excluded from those insinuations of evasions, which prejudices and suggestions of just causes of reflections on their reprover will offer unto them. Especially, without the ex-