Hopkins - HP BR75 .H65 1710

on the Lord'.r Prayer. Parents Reverence and Obedience, and ' Parents their Children Provifion and Educaticn. Subjefls owe their .iHagijlrates Honour and Tribute, and Magiftrate.r owe their Subjefls Juftice and Proteaion. S~rvantt owe t?eir i'llaflers ~ear, Diligence ahd Faithfulnefs, and Maficrs owe their Servants Mawrenanc~ and Encouragement; and .generally all Men owe one another Love, RefpeEl and Kmdnefs. Now rhefe Debu cannot Balance one another, that as much as is left unpaid me by any Perfon, fo much again I may refufe ro pay him. If a Farbcr pay not his Debt to his Child,. or a .il1agifi~ate t~ hi~ SubjeEl, o~ a .i11afler, to h.is Servant$_., 1 _they are. n?t hereby acqumed of their Obllgauons, bur fhll Duty, Obedience and Fattbfulnefs, IS required from lnferiCtt's to their Superiors : And fo on the contrary, Love, ProreGtion and Maintenance, is required from Superiors to their Inferiors, altho' peccant, as long as the Relation (hall continue between them: And the Reafon is, becauR: we are bound to rhefe Duties; not only by the Obligations that muttlal Offices lay upon "'• hue by God's exprefs Will and Command, and the PertOrmance of rhe Relations that is betwixt us: And therefore rho' it be LawfUl for Two Perfons that owe anmher an equal Debt of Money, or other f1.1ch like Things, to crofs out one D~bt by the other, and fo difC:ounr it between them, yet it is nor fo where the Duties that God requires are the Debts they owe w each other: For although others may tail in the Performanc.e of what belongs to their parr, yet thou oughreft not ro fail in thine; for thus ro be even with Men Is to run in Debt with GOd, and ro make him thy Creditor who will certainly be thy Revenger. And from hence it appears that this is the Debt that we are to forgive our Dcb· tors, fE>r we have no Power to releafe them from their Obligation to Duty whilft the Relation between us continues, no more than we have to reidnd the Laws ofGod, and of Nature. · Secondly, Some Men may ftand indebted to others in a Debt of SatisfaElion, as they .owe them reparation on good Grounds for Wrongs and Injuries doneagainfi them; and this is the Debt which we are to forgive others. Now as Wrongs and Injuries are of divers Sons, fo many divers Ways may others become Debtors tO us. And they are chiefly thefe Six that follow. · Firfl, By wronging us in our Perfons, either by unjuft Violence, or by unjuft Re· fhaims. Thus thePerfecudng Jews were Debtors to the .Apofi!es and Dijciplcs of Cbrift for ofcen Scourging and Imprifoning them • Secondly, By wronging us in our Place and Dignity, in the Office to which by God's Providence we are called. And fo alfo thofe that vilifie the Perfons, and de· traCt from the Authority of th6fe that are fet over them, become their Debtors. Thus .Aaron and hliriam were DebtOrs unto lrlifu for traducing the Authority that God had committed unro .h im, Numb. 12. 2. Thirdly, By wronging us in our Friends and. Rdations; e.ithe~ hy corrupting them; thu~ S~cbem became a D~btor to.Jacob and h1s Som for VlOlarmg his Daughter and thel! Sifler: Or elfe by defiroymg them; fo Herod to the Bublemitijh Mothers by Murdering their Children. Fourthly, By wronging us in our Right and Title, withholding from us what is our Due. Ftfthiy, In our Poff'effions, when either by Force or Fraud they rake from us what of Right belongs to us. Sixthly, and Lafily, in ou~ Reputation and good Name, unjufily defaming us for thofe Cnmes whtch only thell Maltce bath mvented and publtthed againfi us. To all thefe Wrongs we are fubjeEl, God permitting the Wickedrtels ofMen a large Scope to vent itfelf, and affording us a large Field to exercife our Meeknefs and forgiving Temper in each of thefe. Bur withal, iftho!C: who in any ofthefe, or any other, Particulars do Wrong their Brethren, are by the Sentence of our Saviour here pronounced D~btors this !hould Teach them to lock upon themfelves as obliged to make SatisfaElion acco~ding to the utmoll of their Power and Ability. • Thou ther.efO.r~ who art Co~fcious ro t~y felf of wro~ging any, eirber in t.heir Perfons, or D1gmt1fs, or Re::lat10ns, or Rtghts, or Poffeffions or Repll tations rho' it be thy Duty to Confefs it before God, and Humble thy felf to him f~r it begging Mercy and Pardon at his Hands, yet this is not enough. for by on; fingle Offence thou hall contratled a double Debt; thou !landed ind,btrJ ro the N n n Ju!lico

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