Gorr. 9. Of a goodArameo Chap.2! 49 carefully regarded becaufe whileft a man bath it , he will be the more wary and circumfpeft overhis wayes , that fo he may keep it : Whereas when it Jet:3.3: is loft , he puts on that frontem meretricium, fpoken of by the Prophet , a'Pfalw$8e4à Whores forehead , and like the deaf Adder , flops his ear againft all admoni- tion. In all thefe refpeEts and confiderations therefore,itis a fin for a man to neglect his good name. The Heathen man fo efteemed of it, that he faid, Exceptopro-' bro, reliqua amnia maledüla nihil exiftimo, Except hander and reproach (whichre- fleeted upon his good name) he would endure all other railings; for the wound made by a fiander will hardly be fo healed but that force fear will remain. For in this cafe, he that is flandred is difabled from doing that good which other- wife he might ; goodmen will be fufpicions of him , and evil men will never fpeak well of him , and therefore every man lhould be very careful ofhis good name. We proceed now to the offence it felf, or the fin here forbidden, (Falfe wit= tiding.) And this our Saviour tells us, proceeds from the heart. ForOut of the Matth. t5í9, heart proceed evil thoughts, &c. and among other things, 4hj sapquffa, Falfe wit. Mark 7, 224 nefs, and defoeumn, Foolifb/peal /peaking. So that the root of this fin is in the heart, where there is (as we Chewed in the former Commandements) a natural inclina tion, Graffari ad famine, to rob a man of his good name, thinking thereby to be better thoughtof our felves, and by calling dirt upon other mens taces,tomake our own feem the fairer. But in the next place, when men come to that which Efay fpeaks of, to dig 2. 77,e sáppud deep, to hide their coxnfel ; or with thofe in feremy, To confult and devife devices a- ration. ainft their neighbour, bow they mire himwith the tongue , and flander him fo Efayztgd g Y maYf % Jer, t8ä8, that none may credit him, this goes further ; for this is Suppuratio, the rankling of it inwardly. To this we refer thofe evil furmifings mentionedby the Apo - ftle, <moyoíeaa =impel, Light fufpicions,which are upon littleor no ground. Thefe t Tim; 6,4; we handled before in the (lath Commandement as occafions of unjuft anger, and qu by confeence of murther : But here we fpeak of them, as they are hurtful or prejudicial to another mans fame, or credit. And from this Saint games faith, that men proceed further, viz. From Jam:4. r1,í2. groundlefs fufpicions and furmifes , to take upon them the office of the Law- giver , viz. To judge and condemn And not only to give wrong judgment upon their brother , but to judge before the time , as Saint Paul faith, and fo they judge too haftily. And not only to judge of force outward allions , from which no neceffary conclulìon can be drawn , but alfo of fecret and inward thoughts , and of matters doubtful , which might be well interpre- ted and taken in a good fenfe; as we fee the Jews did with ehrift , and lobo Baptift: Of whom the one , for not eating , but abftaining, was faid to have a melancholy Devil; and the other, who came eating and drink- Mattli1i.ig9 leg, was accounted a Winebibber, e friend of Publicans and Sinners. And Luke 7.34, thus , whereas force outward things may be done to good or bad ends, they judge baldly De rebus feriis of the molt weighty matters, not regarding, pracedentia, or confequentia , what went before , or follows af- ter; with other circumltances which may often vary the nature of outward a&ions. Now this tefiis repentintu, this fudden witnefs, nunquem vere judicat, never Prov.tait9, gives a true verdisfi ; as we fee in thofe Barbarians, who no fooner faw the Vi- Ads 284. per cleave to Poulehand, but they concluded,that he was a murtherer. Thusmen give fudden judgment : whereas they ought as the Apoftle fpeaks, withmeeknefs 2'tim:t.21d to infiruît them ; waiting, if God at any time willgive them repentance. And whereas they fhould keep to the Apoflles rule, ThatTome mens fins areopen beforehand, go- u Titn:9.a41 issg before to judgment, and fame followafter: men give judgment prefently with- oat diftinftion. No fooner is a Viper feenupon the hand, but they pals the verdict. And whereas .G O D takes order, that Vbi mature) cantingit, ibi morietur; that private faults ihould be privately buried : Contrary to this, men dif.. cover the ferret fins of others , whereby they become flandercrs, though R r r z thep
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