A Christian Directory, Part 4: Christian PoliticsBaxter, Richard
Religion
A Christian Directory, Part 4: Christian Politics
Baxter, Richard
Casuistry; Christian sociology
_Consid._ XII. The person that you are angry with, is either a
child of God, or of the devil, and one that must live either in heaven
or hell. If he be a child of God, will not his Father's interest and
image reconcile you to him? Will you hate and hurt a member of Christ?
If you have any hope of being saved yourselves, are you not ashamed to
think of meeting him in heaven, whom you hated and persecuted here on
earth? If there were any shame and grief in heaven, it would overwhelm
you there with shame and grief, to meet those in the union of those
blessed joys, whom you hated and abused. Believe unfeignedly that you
must dwell with them for ever in the dearest intimacy of eternal love,
and you cannot possibly rage against them, nor play the devils against
those, with whom you must live in unity before God. But if they be
wicked men, and such as must be damned, (as malice will make you
easily believe,) are they not miserable enough already, in being the
slaves of sin and Satan? And will they not be miserable time enough
and long enough in hell? Do you thirst to have them tormented before
the time? O cruel men! O devilish malice! Would you wish them more
punishment than hell-fire? Can you not patiently endure to see a poor
sinner have a little prosperity and ease, who must lie in everlasting
flames? But the truth is, malicious men are ordinarily atheists, and
never think of another world; and therefore desire to be the avengers
of themselves, because they believe not that there is any God to do
it, or any future judgment and execution to be expected.
_Consid._ XIII. And remember how near both he and you are to
death and judgment, when God will judge righteously betwixt you both.
There are few so cruelly malicious, but if they both lay dying they
would abate their malice and be easily reconciled, as remembering that
their dust and bones will lie in quietness together, and malice is a
miserable case to appear in before the Lord. Why then do you cherish
your vice, by putting away the day of death from your remembrance? Do
you not know that you are dying? Are a few more days so great a matter
with you, that you will therefore do that because you have a few more
days to live, which else you durst not do or think of? O hearken to
the dreadful trumpet of God, which is summoning you all to come away;
and methinks this should sound a retreat to the malicious, from
persecuting those with whom they are going to be judged. God will
shortly make the third, if you will needs be quarrelling! Unless it be
mastiff dogs or fighting cocks, there are scarce any creatures but
will give over fighting, if man or beast do come upon them that would
destroy or hurt them both.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account