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396
CìMRIST
/AN MORALITY,
VIZ.
JUSTICE, &c.
[SERM,
XXII!!.
justice,
which
is
of so
much
greater importance
in
the
ehristian life.
I
take
them
therefore
in
the
order
in which they lie
;
and
having
treated
of
truth
and
gravity,
I proceed
now
to
consider the third
piece
of
morality
which he mentions,
that
is,
justice.
Whatsoever things
are
just,
--
-think
on
these things
let
these
be
the
objects
of
your meditation
and
of
your
.
practice.
And here
if I
should
entertain
you
in two
discourses
with this
single
subject
of
justice,
.I
hope
I
shall
not ex-
ceed the limits
of
your patience: For
it
is
what
the
apostle
frequently
insists
upon
as
a
glory to
christianity,
that
those
that
profess
it
be
just
or
righteous;
You
who
have
fixed
your hope
on the grace
of
God,
and
have
a
design to
honour
the
gospel,
to
you
I
would
recommend
this great
duty
of
the
law,
and
that
in
this method
:
I.
I
shall
endeavour
to shew
what
is
the
general
nature
of
this
justice, and
lay down
the universal rule
of
it.
II.
Discover
in various special instances what
those
things
are
which are
just,
or wherein our
justice or
righteousness must
appear.
III.
I
shall
give some
proof of
this
great
duty
of
jus-
tice
or righteousness
by
the light of nature, and accord-
ing
to
the
law
of
reason.
IV.
Shew
what
forcible influence
the
gospel
of
Christ
has
to
recommend justice
to your
meditation and
prac-
tice:
V.
Propose
a few
directions
how to
guard
yourselves
against temptations
to
injustice,
or
rather point
out.
some
of
the chief
springs
of
injustice,
that
you may avoid them.
And
while
I proceed
in this
work, you
will
rejoice in-
wardly
if
you
find
your
own
consciences sincerely
an-
swering
to the characters
of
this
virtue
in
any good mea-
sure
:
And
if
there
be
any shall
find
himself
a
guilty sin-
ner, and
very deficient
in
this
practice,
let
him
be
re-
proved, ashamed, and amend.
First
then,,
Let
us
consider the
nature of
this
justice,
and what
is
the most
universal
rule
of
it.
In
general,
justice
consists
in giving
to'every
one
their
due. According
to
the stations
in which
God
has placed
us,
and according
to
the several relations
in which
provi-
dence has
joined
us
to
our
fellow
-
creatures,
every
person
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