Works, Chapter 4 · Section 5
SECT. V.
FIfthly, By bearing each others infirmities. Christians like the clearest fire, will have some smoak, whereby they are apt to offend each others eyes, and to cause anger. The best and most pious, may sometimes be peevish. Those brethren that love sincerely, may too often quarrel; True Members of the same body, may by some accident be dis-joynted; Though contentions argue them to have flesh, yet they may arise where there is spirit. Therefore the Holy Ghost commandeth, Bear one anothers burthens, and so fulfil the Law of Christ; Here is the Commandment enjoyned, and the Argument whereby it is enforced, Galat. 6. 2.
First, The Precept; Bear one anothers burthens.
There is a threefold burden that Christians must bear for each other.
I. The civil burthens of their miseries and sufferings; Have a fellow-feeling with them in their afflictions; Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is afflicted, and I burn not? Rom. 12. 15.saith holy Paul. Herod and his men of War, will set a persecuted Christ at naught; The Chief Priests and Elders will mock him when he hangs upon the Cross, Luk. 23. 11. Mat. 27. 4. Edom rejoyced in the day of Ierusalem's trouble, they cryed Aha, so would we have it; But the true seed of Iacob, sigh for others sorrows, they weep with them that weep;Heb. 3. 3. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them, and them that suffer adversity; If one part of the natural body be in pain, the other parts are sensible of it; When one branch of a Tree is torn and mangled in Summer, the other branches are affected with it, and out of Sympathy (as it were) will not thrive so well as formerly. If one person of a family be sick, how much do his relations from a principle of nature, lay to heart his pain and illness! Christians are all members of the same body, branches of the same vine, children of the same family, and it would be monstrous and unnatural for them, not to feel each others miseries, and suffer in each others sufferings.
II. The Spiritual burthen of their iniquities and sins; Whether more immediately against God. Though we must not bear with them in their sins, yet we must help to bear their sins with them. We ought to sit on the same floor with them that are fallen down, and to mourn with them, and for them, and to bear some of the weight; This temper was so eminent in Ambrose, he would so plentifully weep with the sinning party, that a Great Commander under Theodosius beholding it, cried out, This man is onelyonly worthy the name of a Bishop.
As Stags when they swim over a River, to feed in some Meadow, they swim in a row, and lay their heads over one anothers backs, bearing the weight of one anothers horns, and when the first is weary, another taketh his room, and so they do it by course. So Christians must be willing to bear each others weight, whilst they are passing through those boistrous waters, till they land at their glorious eternal harbour.
Or whether their sins are immediately against our selves; If the teeth bite the tongue, that seeketh no revenge. When the feet through their slipping, throw the body upon the ground, it riseth up, and all is well. Some Christians are of such weak stomachs, that they can digest nothing that looks like an unkindness or injury; But its the glory of a man to pass by offences. Cyprian saith, to bear with affronts, is a ray of Divinity. A noble-spirited man will disdain to take notice of pet…y dis-respects, he will over-come contempt by contempt. But an heaven-born Christian hath higher principles, and more sublime motives to forgive his offending brother. I Paul, the Prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with a long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, Ephes. 4. 1, 2. And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven you, Cyprian de pat…ent.verse ult. It is reported of Cosroes the Persian King, that he caused a Throne to be made for him, like Heaven, with the Sun, Moon, and Stars, artificially placed above it, and under his feet thick and black clouds, and high winds and tempests. He that would have an Heaven here, I mean, enjoy God, and himself, must of necessity trample these under his feet.
It is good advice which Bernard gives in such a case; Dost thou hear that a brother hath said or done somewhat that reflecteth upon thee, or is injurious to thee? then saith he;
1. Be hard to believe it. He should have a loud tongue, that can make thee to hear such a report. I would give him little thanks (in case the honour of God were not concerned) that were the messenger to bring me such a sowr present; his pains would deserve but a poor reward, that brought me tidings of a discourtesie to rob me of my charity. The evidence shall be very clear, or I will write Ignoramus upon his Bill of Indictment; But if the thing be so plain that it cannot be denyed, then saith he,
2. Excuse his intent and purpose. Think with thy self, Possibly he had a good end in it. He spake as he heard, or he did what he did upon some good ground and account. Though the action seem to savour of injury, yet certainly in his intention there was no evil. Had I his eyes, I should see his end was right and honest; But if there should be no reason for hope, that his purpose was good, then saith he,
3. Think he did it ignorantly; that had he known the consequence, he would not have been guilty of such a crime. Surely the man thought no hurt, he spake on a sudden, such words came out of his mouth before he was aware, or he would never have spoken them; I my self in an heat, might have been as harsh. When high winds blow, storms will follow.
4. If thou canst not be perswaded but the injury was wittingly offered, then think, He was overcome with some great temptation. There were extraordinary fumes at that instant flying up into his head, which made him talk idly, and of which now he may be repenting before the Lord. The strong man was too hard for the weak Christian. Flesh and blood was easily conquered by Principalities & Powers; I may well forgive him, his sin will cost him sorrow enough before his Father smile on him.
III. The Natural burthen (as I may call it, though it hath a relation to spiritual, but not fully in the former sense) of their infirmities. Some by reason of bad instruments, are but bunglars at their work; They have naturally understandings very dull to receive, and memories very slow to retain spiritual things. They have ill constitutions of body, and thereby the worse frames of soul, and the more apt to be peevish and fretful; Now we exhort you brethren, that ye support the weak, and be patient towards all men, 1 Thes. 5. 14. All the persons in Gods family, are not of the same height and strength: though some are Old Men and Fathers, and others are Young and strong; yet some are little Children, Babes in Christ; some can go alone, or with a little help, if you hold them but by their leading-strings; but others must be carried in arms, and will require much love and patience to overcome their childish frowardness. Christ winks at their weaknesses, who hath most reason to be moved with them; though his disciples were raw, and dull, and slow to believe and understand, yet he bears with them. Nay, though when he was watching for them, and in his bloody sweat, his whole body being in a goar blood, under the weight of their and others sins on his back, and they lay sleeping and snoring, and could not watch with him one hour, he doth not fall fiercely upon them, but calmly asketh them, Could ye not watch with me one hour? and afterwards excuseth it for them,
First, From the natural cause; There heads were full at that time of… fumes; Their eyes were heavy with sorrow. They were full of grief for their dear Master, and their sorrow hindring the digestion of their food, filled them with vapours, which ascending to their brains inclined them to sleep.
Secondly, From the Moral cause; they would, but they could not. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak; there better part would move more swiftly, and do any thing at my call and command, but their flesh draweth back, and makes them drive heavily. Its no wonder that their pace is so slow, when like the snail, they have such an house, such an hinderance upon their backs; The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Who can think of this infinite grace of the blessed Redeemer in making such an Apologie for them, whom he had such cause to be full of fury against, and not be incited to imitate so admirable a pattern!
There is another famous instance in the Old Testament, and that is Gods patience towards peevish Ionah, by which all may see how much he bears with his froward children.
First Ionah runs from his business; God sends him to Niniveh, he will go to Tarshish; here was plain rebellion against his Soveraign. One would have expected that the jealous God should have given him a Traytors wages, and when he was at Sea have suffered the Ocean of waters to have swallowed up his body, and the Ocean of fire and wrath, his soul; but loe, he cannot permit his Ionah to perish; he will rather whip him to his work, then let him wander to his ruine. But how gentle is the rod? God cannot forget the love of a Father, though Ionah forget the duty of a childe, but will rather work a miracle, and make the devourer his Saviour, then Ionah shall miscarry. Tis true, he was tossed with a violent tempest and thrown over-board, but God provided him a shelter before the storm, and prepared a Whale to swallow him down, not for his destruction, but his deliverance; And the Lord spake to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah upon the dry land.
Well now, the childe is brought home, you will look that he should make some recompence for his former disobedience, by his faithfulness and diligence for the future; that the danger he had been in, the death he had so narrowly escaped, the miracle which had been wrought for him, and the extraordinary mercy he had so lately received, should have melted him wholly into Gods mould, and have made him, like Abraham, to have come up wholly to Gods foot. But alas he addeth sin to sin, and neither mercy nor misery prevail with him to know himself. Indeed he undertakes the journey and message he was called to upon a second command, but as unwillingly as the Bear goeth to the stake. After he had pronounced a sentence of death upon the Ninivites, and shewed them a warrant under the high Gods hand and seal for their speedy execution; how ill doth he take it, that upon their humble petition a Reprieve should be granted them? he frets inwardly against God, and through the exceeding heat of his heart his tongue blisters with casting Gods mercy in his teeth. He was wrath for that in which he had cause to rejoyce: His love to his brethren might have made him glad of their escape, and his love to his God should have quieted him in all his wise and holy proceedings; But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry, and he prayed unto the Lord: O Lord, was not this my saying in my Country? for I knew that thou art a gracions God, &c. Therefore O Lord take away my life. He quarrels with Gods providence, and he doth as it were twit God with (that which is the glory of all his Attributes and actions, and the best friend the poor children of men have) his Grace and Pity, desiring rather the destruction of above sixscore thousand persons, then that himself, by the blind ignorant world, should be reckoned a false Prophet. Behold impatience in its largest dimensions! Ionah will dye, because so many thousands are allowed out of infinite kindness to live. O what a nest of vermine was in the womb of this disobedience! Here is pride both in preferring his own will before Gods, and in his unwillingness to suffer a little in his repute in the eye of the people: Here was passion to the height, and that against God himself: Here was murmuring against sparing mercy, and the Divine pleasure: Here was unbelief, as if God could not repair his name, and repay him for the loss of his credit: Here was uncharitableness and want of love towards the poor Ninivites, whose condition called for the deepest compassion. What answer can be judged tart enough to such a passionate prayer? What language can be too harsh, what carriage can be too heavy towards such a cross-grain'd child? Its abominable for any man to contend with his Maker. Its bad for servants to strive with their Master; or children to resist their Father, though both these are their fellow-creatures: But for any to contend with God, whose dominion over us is unquestionable, and their dependance on him indispensable, between whom and them there is an infinite distance, is infinitely worse: But for Ionah, not onelyonly a man, but a new man, a child of God, a Prophet of the Lord, that should have taught others by his precepts and by his pattern, to submit to the severest Divine pleasure, one that had been signalized above others with eminent and distinguishing favours, both for this and the other world, to flie thus in Gods face, is worst of all. Surely, no punishment can exceed the desert of such peevishness, such passion: Some dreadful thunder cannot but be expected, as the consequent of such hot weather. But hear O heavens, give ear O earth, and be astonished at the calm milde voyce of the Great God; And the Lord said unto Ionah, Ionah, dost thou well to be angry? Mark what love sounds in this language? Such an affectionate voyce after such gross disobedience might make even marble to weep; and as that voyce from heaven, turn a Saul into a Paul. Could the fondest and most indulgent Father in the world be more meek, more milde in his expression! He appeals to Ionah's conscience whether such behaviour was answerable to his Oath of Allegiance; Dost thou well to be angry? Is this passion sutable to that submission which thou owest to me and my Providences! Eli said as much to his wicked sons; It is not a good report which I hear of you my sons, &c. when God was so incens…d against him for his mildness, that he sends him an ear-tickling and an heart trembling message: And yet God himself is so favourable and compassionate to one whose sin admitted of greater aggravations in some respects then those of Eli's sons, (Ionah sinned after such a miraculous salvation, and that against chusing, calling, pardoning, saving love, which Eli's sons did not;) nay, and when the Malefactor upon the reading of this gentle Indictment to him, instead of pleading guilty, and begging a Psalm of mercy, had stubbornly and obstinately justified himself; God who might have awarded judgement against him according to law, still forbeareth him, and when his pathetical words would not reclaim him, he trieth if a miraculous work will reduce him to his allegiance. O the tenderness of God towards his froward Children! I have sometimes wondred at his infinite patience towards so disobedient a Prophet; but alas, I experience it daily in his superabundant grace and goodness towards my own soul, notwithstanding my greater provocations.
Reader, by all this thou mayst see what cause thou hast to bear with thy fellow-Christians, when God beareth with his creatures, notwithstanding those multiplied affronts and dis-respects, which they offer to his glorious holy and infinite Majesty.
Secondly, We may observe in the foregoing Text, the prevailing Argument to this Precept; And so fulfil the Law of Christ. This was the great Law which Christ commanded so frequenty, so affectionately, and the Apostle mentioneth it here, as if it were the onelyonly Law, or all the Law, because this love is the fulfilling of the whole Law; As if he had said, O my Galathians, if ye have any love to Christ, and would evidence it to your selves and others, let there be no bitterness, nor envyings, nor heart burnings amongst you, but love your Neigbours as your selves, suffer with them in their sufferings; let their sore eyes and tears for sin, set your eyes a watering; pardon them, though they may offend and provoke you; bear with them, notwithstanding their passion and peevishness; for hereby ye will obey that great Law, which is indeed the whole Law containing your duty toward your brother, or that Law which the heart of Christ was so infinitely set upon, that he will have it called his Law, the Law of Christ; …his is my commandment, that ye love one another. Though he was the Churches onelyonly Law-giver, and so all the commandments enjoyned her were his; yet as amongst all the Disciples there was one that had most of his heart, and was called the Disciple whom Iesus loved; so possibly amongst all the commendments, that of love had most of his heart, and may fitly be called the commandment which Iesus loved. My commandment; the Law of Christ.
O how sweet is the musick, when Saints joyn thus in consort! and how harsh is the sound of jarring strings! a mutual yeilding and forbearance is no small help to our peace and safety. There is a story of two Goats, which may excellently illustrate the benefit of this duty. They both met on a narrow bridge, under which a very deep and fierce stream did glide; there was no going blindly back, neither could they pass forward for the narrowness of the Bridge; Now had they fought for their passage, they had been certain both to perish; this therefore they did, they agreed that the one should lye down, and the other go over him, and by this means both their lives were preserved. Whilst Christians are fighting like some small chickens, they are a prey to Kites, and other ravenous creatures. In quietness shall be their strength (Isa. 30. 15.) is true in this, as well as other senses.