they fee others do, are really least in Danger of being so in the true Senfe of the Word; or, if they be indeed fcandalized or offended by thofe Things, they, of all others, deserve the leaft Compaffion: For a Scandal or an Offence being nothing elfe but a Stumblingblock laid before one to make him fall, or a Snare put in his Way to entrap him in a Sin, for any Man to fay, that he is fcandalized with this or the other Action which he fees his Neighbour do, is to fuppofe, that he is fenfible that that Action is a Block in his Way, and may occafion his Fall; that he is aware that it is a great Temptation to him to fin against God. Now, in this Cafe, I fay, he either is not fcandalized, or, if he be, he is extremely to be blamed for it; for, if he resists the Temptation, and keeps close to his Duty, notwithstanding this Occafion of finning, then he is not fcandalized or offended, because he avoids the Offence. On the other Side, if he clofe with the Temptation, knowing it as he doth, and be enfnared in the Sin, having his Eyes thus opened to fee the Danger, what Pity doth he deserve? He is to be accounted a wilful presumptuous Tranfgreffor.

3. Another Thing which I obferve from this Doctrine of Offences, is this, that we are oftentimes in as much Danger of scandalizing and offending others, by pleasing them, and complying with their Humours, as by doing fuch Things as are offenfive and diftafteful

distasteful to them. Thus, for Inftance, to give a Man Money, when we are morally certain, that he will spend it in fuch Ways as will either be hurtful to himself or others; or to fet strong Drink before a Man, who has already drunk beyond the Pitch of Temperance; in both thefe Cafes the Humours of the Men are pleafed and gratified; but yet, in Truth, we do, in both these Inftances, really scandalize or offend them, in the Scripture Sense of the Word; because we do directly lay a Snare and Temptation before them to commit Sin: Whereas, if we had been lefs kind in the one Cafe, and lefs civil in the other, though we had displeased them by being fo, we had avoided the giving Scandal, and done more agreeably to our Duty: And thus it is in all Cafes, where a Man lies under any criminal Mistake, or goes on in the Pursuit of any vicious Inclination or evil Custom. The Danger here of offending them doth not lie in oppofing their Humours or thwarting them in thefe Ways, or by fhewing by our Words and Actions how much we difapprove of them, but by complying with them, and by our Silence, or our Countenance, encouraging them in their finful Prejudices or vicious Courses.

4. Another Thing to be taken Notice of upon this Occafion, is this, that a Man cannot be guilty of offending his Brother in the Scripture Sense of the Word, fo long as he is doing his Duty. Or, if ever it does happen,

:

pen,

that any one is drawn or led to commit a Sin, by seeing another do an Action that he is really bound to do; in that Cafe the Sin lies wholly at his own Door, nor hath that other Man any Thing to answer for it: Here is indeed an Offence taken, but here is none given. The one Man is really fcandalized and offended, but the other Man not being the Cause of it, is not to be blamed for it; and the Reason of this is evident. No Man can be obliged to Contradictions, and therefore all the Parts of a Man's Duty must be confiftent one with another; and if so, then it cannot be supposed, that at the same time a Man is obeying a Law of God, he should at the fame time fin against his Neighbour, as he really must do, if by any Action of his that was a Duty, he could give Offence, or lay a Stumbling-block before his Neighbour. The Ufe that I make of this, is, that we are not to forbear any Action, when either the Laws of God, or the Laws of Man, whether Ecclefiaftical or Civil, have obliged us to (fo long as thofe Laws of Man are not inconfiftent with the Laws of God) for Fear of giving Offence to others; for if any be scandalized at our performing our Duty (as certainly it is every Man's Duty to obey God and his lawful Superiors) it is their Fault, and none of

ours.

5. There is one Thing more that is fit to be added, and then, I think, we have taken in all the material Difficulties that can hap

pen

pen in this Bufinefs, of giving Offence to our Brethren; and that is this, that tho' we can give no Scandal or Offence to any by any Action that it is our Duty to do, yet it may fometimes happen, that we may give Offence to others by an indifcreet Use of our Liberty in Things which are other wife lawful. My Meaning is this: A direct tempting of Men to fin, or the doing any ill Thing by which others may be encouraged to fin; these are not the only Inftances in which a Man may offend his Brethren (tho' indeed these are the most notorious and most

common) but a Man may give Offence alfo in the forbidden Senfe, when he doth fome Action lawful in itself to be done, and perhaps likewise done by him with an innocent Design, but which he forefees may probably be an Inducement or an Occafion to draw others into fome Sin; I fay, even this is a giving Offence, and laying a Stumblingblock before our Brethren. It is certain that every Man is bound, in Charity to his Brother's Soul, thus far to deny himself, viz. as to forbear thofe Actions which otherwise he might lawfully do, when the Case so happens, that those Actions, if they be done, will in all Probability be a Snare to others to do fomething that they ought not to do. And this is the very Cafe about which St. Paul is fo large in the 14th Chap. of his Epifle to the Romans, and 8th and 10th Chapters of the it Epiftle to the Corinthians, where he treats

of

of this Argument. The Sum of his Difcourfe of Scandals in thefe Epiftles, comes to this, that in Matters purely indifferent, which are neither tied upon us by the Laws of God nor Man, but it is perfectly left at our Liberty whether we will act or not act. in all these Cafes we fhould have fo much Regard to the Ignorance and Infirmities and Prejudices of those we converse with, as rather to forbear the Practice of thofe Things which are otherwife lawful, and we may freely do, than by using our Liberty in such Things, to give Encouragement to other Mens Sins, or to be a blameable Occafion of another Man's Fall.

Having thus far treated of the Nature of Scandals and Offences, in order to the rectifying fome popular Misapprehenfions about them, I proceed now to lay a little (and it fhall be but a little) to thofe Points, which the Text I am upon doth more particularly fuggeft to our Confideration, with Relation to this Matter.

Woe unto the World, fays our Saviour, becaufe of Offences; it must needs be that Offences come, but Woe unto that Man by whom the Offence cometh.

Three Things here our Saviour declares

unto us.

I. The Dangers and fad Confequences that Scandals or Offences do bring upon Mankind. Woe unto the World because of Offences.

II. The