Octob. 18. 1694. Imprimatur Gul. Stanley Procan Jos Beaumont Joh. Mountagu Jo. Eachard Joh. Covel A DISCOURSE UPON I Peter IV. VIII Wherein the Power and Efficacy OF CHARITY As it is a Means to procure the Pardon of Sin Is EXPLAINED and VINDICATED By the Reverend Mr John Whitefoot Sen. of NORWICH CAMBRIDGE Printed by John Hayes For William Graves and are to be sold by Samuel Oliver Bookseller in NORWICH 1695. TO All Good Christians whose Faith is made Effectual by CHARITY The AUTHOR Dedicateth this DISCOURSE Wishing Them Increase of that most Divine most Christian and most Spiritual Grace 1 Pet. 4. 8. And above all things have fervent Charity among your selves for Charity shall or will cover a multitude of Sins AS in the Ethnick Theology of the Greek Poets we read of a Famous Triade of Graces reported to be the Daughters of Jupiter So the Apostle St Paul makes mention of a certain Trinity of Christian Graces all special Fruits and Daughters of the Holy Spirit 1 Cor. 13.13 And now abideth Faith Hope and Charity but the greatest of these is Charity And that may duely be esteemed the greater 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or greatest of the Three in many respects besides that which the Apostle seems specially to aim at in that Text viz. That of continuance and duration in another Life after the Expiration of the other Two For Charity is a Vertue of the greatest Perfection that can be and most highly deserving the Name of Grace Gratia gratis data gratia gratum faciens As freely given as any other and most gratefull to God and Man This Charity is the Root Ground and Foundation of all Christian Piety as is intimated by the words of the Apostle Eph. 3.17 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Radicati Fundati That ye being rooted and grounded in love c. It is indeed the end and fruit of the other Two Faith teaches it Hope excites and cherishes it It is also of greatest Extent extending both to God and Man All Men our selves our Friends and Enemies Faith and Hope will be antiquated by possession sight and fruition but Charity is a thing that we shall carry with us into the other World where we shall improve and keep it for ever 'T is the end of the Commandment 1 Tim. 1.5 and the fulfilling of the Law Gal. 5.14 For all the Law is fulfilled in one word even in this Thou shalt love c. That one little Monosyllable Love is a perfect abbreviation of the whole Code and Pandects of the Divine Law The first and the great Commandment is this Mat. 22.37 c. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul with all thy mind and with all thy might And the Second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets He that truly loves God will not break any of his Commandments willfully and he that doth not love him cannot keep any of them 1 Jo 5.3 'T is this love that keeps us from transgressing the Law and so prevents sin and as I shall shew hereafter the same is usefull to cover sin and to procure the pardon thereof It keeps us from injuring or offending our neighbour and inclines us to forgive his offences against us 'T is the bond of perfection both of Nature and Grace of Humanity and Divinity A loving Disposition is that which we call Good Nature the most Ingenuous Noble and Amiable Whereas the want of it and especially the contraries to it an envious malicious peevish froward rigid cruel covetous and penurious mind is Ill Nature Disingenuous and Hatefull Therefore the extream opposite to Love beareth the name of Wickedness in an Emphatical Sense in the Greek and Latin as also in our own and other Languages that have any Derivation from them So the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 malitia malice are generally used And the Spirit of wickedness or the wicked Spirit is called by the name of Satan which signifies an absolute privation of all Love to God or Man together with the opposite to both consisting in his enmity to both But Charity is Goodness it self in the Common Sense of that Word and without it there is no such thing as Goodness truly so called And whereas there are divers sorts of Goodness noted by the ordinary distinction of Bonum jucundum utile honestum the pleasant profitable and honest Good Charity comprehends them all in the greatest Perfection nothing so pleasant both to the Lover and the Beloved nothing so Profitable to both nothing so Honourable 'T is the Perfection of Righteousness in the Sense of Holy Scripture where the word Righteous Mat. 6.1 some Copies read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Righteousness for Alms. and Righteousness do most frequently signifie especially in the Psalms more than meer innocence or common Justice Nor is the Sense of them to be contracted into the short and scanty measures of the Cardinal Vertue in the Ethick Philosopher or the Definition of Justinian Justitia est constans perpetua voluntas suum cuique tribuendi Though even that might pass for a Definition good enough with a Christian Gloss borrowed from St Paul and our Saviours command Rom. 13.7 8. Render to all their due where Love is one and the chiefest of all made so by the Common Law of Nature and by the express Precept of our Saviour of loving our Neighbour as our selves which makes it a general debt so interpreted by the Apostle Owe nothing to any man but to love one another And if this Obligation of debt could be dispensed with or abstracted from this Act of Charity in men as it is in God it would have so much the more of Divine Perfection as being more free St Paul calls it Piety or Godliness 1 Tim. 5.4 St James makes it Pure Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To shew Piety at home he means Charity Ja. 1 27. Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherless and the widows in their distress And the same Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies both Charitable and Godly It is the Energy Life and Perfection of Faith These are all Apostolical Titles vid. Gal. 5.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 2.18 21 26. I do not add the Scholastick Notion that it is the form of Faith because that 's liable to some Quarrel I shall conclude the present Encomium of this Grace in Three Words shewing that it is the most Divine the most Christian the most Spiritual Vertue 1. The most Divine For God is Love saith the most Loving and beloved Disciple twice over in one Chapter 1 Jo. 4.7 8 16. Beloved let us love one another for Love is of God And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God He that loveth not
knoweth not God for God is Love And we have known and believed the Love that God hath to us God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him So did some of the oldest of the Greek Poets call the Supream Deity and the Original of all Beings by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Love And so Plato and his Disciples call the First Person in their Trinity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 self goodness 'T is by this Vertue of Love that we are made partakers of the Divine Nature most eminently that being the Highest Perfection of the Image of God that we are capable of For God is Love not causally only but essentially Other Graces are from him Quicquid in Deo est Deus est but this is in him and whatsoever is so is himself Other Graces of Humility temperance and even those two mentioned by the Apostle together with this Faith and Hope do connotate something of imperfection incompetible to the Divine Nature But Love is Pure and Perfect Goodness Our English Name of God comes from Good And 't is observable from Exod. 34.6 where the name of God is proclaimed by himself most of the Royal Titles that make up the Dignity and Perfection of that Great Name are no other than a Comment upon this simple and Essential Attribute of Love The Lord passed by before him Moses and proclaimed The Lord the Lord God mercifull and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth keeping mercy for Thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin And 't is this Vertue of Love that makes us partakers of the Name of God in a qualified sense Homo homini Deus one man is a petty God to another as he is a Benefactor Such only were the Hero's and minor Deities of the Heathens Such as had been Eminent Benefactors to their Country in their Lives and were therefore Deified after their Death Such were all earthly Gods Kings and Princes they were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Benefactors Luke 22.25 So the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used for a Prince and rendred by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth primarily signifie a Liberal Magnificent Benefactor I say therefore that Love is the most Divine Grace as having most of the Name and Nature of God in it On the contrary those Vicious Dispositions which are most directly opposite to Love are the most Satanical and Diabolical malice hatred envy c. 2. Charity is the most Christian Virtue most strictly charged by Christ himself by his special Command and signally expressed in his Singular Example Jo. 15.12 This is my Commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you The Pronoun my is Emphatical signifying the Special Weight that he puts upon this Commandment And this is the reason as St Hierom reports that was given by the Beloved Disciple St John when the question was put to him by his Auditors why he did so much in ulcate that Precept in his Preaching Filioli diligite alterutrum Little children love one another he answered quia est preceptum Domini because it was the Command of his Lord meaning the Special and Principal Commandment and that which being obeyed would secure the fulfilling of all the rest that concerned humane society and was most necessary for the Constitution and the Preservation of the Church Indeed all Societies are maintained by the common Cement of Amity nor can any subsist without it But the Christian Society was designed to be the most Perfect of any that was possible to be amongst men and therefore was necessary to be most strictly obliged to this Bond of Perfection And therefore This precept of Charity was by Christ perfected in the proper measures and significations thereof and to be extended to all Mankind without exception of enemies which by no other law of Heathens or Jews had been expressly required Amicos diligere omnium est inimicos solorum Christianorum Tertul. To love friends was a common acknowledged obligation and practice of all men but to love Enemies too was a pure Christian law Joh. 13.34 Mat. 5.44 A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you He calls it a new Commandment notwithstanding it was as old as any other as old as Moses or Adam as to the matter and substance of it but almost antiquated by the manners of men and not well understood by the Jews and therefore was renewed by him who was the great Reformer of the world by his precept and example And this mutual love and amity was assigned by Him to be the badge and cognisance or mark of his Disciples whereby they should be known and distinguished from other People Joh. 12.35 By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another And accordingly this was observed in the primitive times as the signal mark and distinction of Christians as is testified by Tertullian or Minutius Felix Vide inquiunt ut invicem se diligunt 3. Love is the most Spiritual Grace 'T is the first fruit of the Spirit in St. Pauls Catalogue Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is Love c. And the rest that are added are no other then the known effects and symptoms of Love The fruits of the Spirit are Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Meckness c. 'T is the distinct character and proper attribute of the Holy Spirit as that name signifies the Third Person in the Blessed Trinity The three Primalities or signal properties noted in the Trinity of Persons are Power belonging to the Father Almighty Wisdome to the Son the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom are hid all the Treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col. 2.3 and Love to the Holy Ghost which is that which consummates the perfection of the Divine Nature rendring it infinitely good as well as great powerfull and wise And this Infinite Goodness is the flower and ultimate glory of the Divine Nature crowning his wisdom and power So that as the First Person in the Trinity may be esteemed the most Excellent in as much as it is the fountain and basis of the whole Deity and of all Being And the Second Person represented by the title of Wisdom called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ratio prima est substantialis is the first natural Emergency or advance of the same Being and therefore called the Son So the Third Person which is expressed by Love and is the immediate principle of all communication of Being and Goodness may in that respect be said to be flos gloria Deitatis the flower and glory and perfection of the whole Deity as the word Glory doth properly signifie the manifest ation and illustration of any Excellency CHAP. I. NOW the Text that I am treating of is an Exhortation to this most Divine most Christian most Spiritual Vertue emphatically expressed as a matter of greatest
Sense of his words and confining it without necessity to any other of less concern and weaker efficacy as most clearly that is which respects only the sins of other men But that which most strongly confirms this to be the special Sense of the Apostles words is to be collected from the Connexion of this Verse with the foregoing wherein he forewarneth the Jewish Christians to whom the Epistle is directed of a Fatal End that was near at hand and thereupon adviseth them what they should do to secure themselves in that event The end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer And above all things have fervent Charity among your selves for Charity will cover a multitude of sins Whether by the end of all things be meant the End of the world according to the common Interpretation and that said to be at hand in a certain Latitude of sence because it was now the last time the last hour the last days as was elsewhere frequently declared by himself and his fellow Apostles 1 Pet. 1.5 and 2 Pet. 3.3 Heb. 1.2 Jam. 5.3 1 Jo. 2.18 Jude 18. Meaning the last Age of the World whereof although the duration was not to be so short as might then be imagined from such words as these yet it was not to be long in the eyes of God with whom a thousand years are but as one day as he advertiseth them in his second Epistle Chap. 3.8 I say whether it be the end of the World or which is more probable to be the Apostles meaning the Fatal Destruction of the obdurate Jews their Nation Politie Royal City and Temple foretold by Christ himself and often spoken of by his Apostles which was then very near indeed This being the ground and occasion of the Apostles Exhortation to fervent Charity leads us to the most reasonable Interpretation of these latter words of the verse For Charity will cover a multitude of sins That is when the end of all things which is near at hand shall come fervent Charity added to and joyned with Repentance signified by the foregoing expressions of Sobriety Watching and Praying is the likeliest means to propitiate the wrath of God deserved by a multitude of sins and to save you from the formidable judgement of God which is to be expected I appeal to any indifferent Person whether this coherence of the Apostles words doth not determine his meaning to relate to the sins of the Charitable Person much rather than the sins of others For although it be no less true that the same Vertue of Charity will cover a multitude of sins in other men in such a sence as shall be declared afterward yet how that should be referred as by the Context in this place it is to the end of all things That is how Charity should cover a multitude of sins in other Persons when the end of all things is come is hard to conceive but easie enough to understand how it may then cover a multitude of sins in the Charitable Person as shall be shewed in its due place The most rational Objection against this Interpretation and Argument for the preference of the other Sense is raised from a parallel Text Prov. 10.12 Hatred stirreth up strife but Love covereth all sins And if the Apostles words seeming to be borrowed from that Sentence must receive the same Interpretation with that it must necessarily be understood of other mens sins by the two contrary effects of Love and Hatred set forth in that Text the one stirring up strife the other preventing it by covering the faults of other men by not taking notice of them or looking favourably upon them in order to a peaceable and friendly living with them But to this Objection it may be answered 1. That it is not evident that St Peter did intend any quotation of that Proverb there being no such intimation in the Apostles words as usually there is when any Text of the Old Testament is cited in the New by those words as it is written or other like not found in this place But to this Objection together with some others a fuller answer shall be made afterward § 2. The probability of this Sense being thus declared from the Context the Truth of it remains to be further confirmed from many other Texts of Scripture but I suspend the addition of them till I have answered the second Question viz. Supposing the sins spoken of in this Sentence to be the sins of the Charitable person the question is what 's meant by the word Covering or in what Sense they may be said to be covered by Charity The Answer to this Question is to be collected from the ordinary use of the same Phrase in other places of Scripture wherein it is frequently used to express the pardon or forgiveness of sin as Rom. 4.7 quoting Psal 32.1 Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered So Psal 85.2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy People thou hast covered all their sins In these Texts I suppose no doubt can b◠made but that the Covering of sin signifies the same thing with the Forgiving So Neh. 4.5 Cover not their iniquities an◠let not their sin be blotted out i. e. let i◠not be forgiven And because Covering a◠thing is one way of hiding therefore ou◠Translators have rendred the same Greek word used in another Text of like signification by the word Hiding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 5.20 He which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a Soul from death and shall hide a multitudes of sins i. e. shall procure the Pardon of them as the words are commonly interpreted or shall obtain the Forgiveness of a multitude of sins in himself as the learned Grotius and Dr. Hammond interpret them agreeable to the fore-given sense of the same Words in our Text. The converting of a sinner from the errour of his Way is an eminent act of Charity whensoever it is industriously sought and intended whatever the success be Nor is there any appearance of Incongruity to say or suppose that to endeavour the Conversion of an other man and thereby to procure the Pardon of his sins should be available towards the obtaining of a pardon of sins in the charitable Procurer For if that Sense which I have given of the words of St. Peter be admitted to import a certain Truth as I doubt not to evince from many other Texts afterward the like Sense of this of St. James whether by him intended or not will necessarily follow to contain the same Truth The Converting of a sinner or the sincere and earnest Endeavour thereof being as before was said an eminent act of Spiritual Charity But for the probability of that Sense of St. James his words I must at this time refer the Reader to the Notes of the forenamed Doctor upon the Text because it would be too great an Excursion to undertake the Confirming
signifie that Happiness which is promised to him that hath mercy on the poor to consist in the non-imputation covering or remission of his sins But a more indubitable Testimony out of the same Book to confirm this Doctrine is in Chap. 16.6 by mercy and truth iniquity is purged The vulgar Latin reads redimitur is redeemed Junius and Tremellius expiatur is expiateâ— agreeable to the proper signification of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 placavit expiavit so the meaning of the words is that by the practice of these Vertues the Pardon of sin is impetrated or obtained And one would think this Exposition of the wise mans words should be past all doubt But because the admission of it imports an irrefragable confirmation of the Doctrine which we labour to defend some Interpreters out of meer prejudice against that Doctrine have found out another meaning of the words affording no manner of favour to this conclusion Namely that the Mercy and Truth spoken of in this Text are to be referred to God only and not at all to Men making the Sence to be that iniquity is purged by the Mercy and Truth of God without any respect to those Vertues as practised by Men. But whether this Interpretation be not forced to comply with the opinion of them that advance it or to be preferred before the other which is so obvious and plain must be left to the judgement of the Impartial and Ingenuous Reader because I am not willing to trouble him with a tedious confutation of it Another Text to this purpose is that of Daniel 4.27 Wherefore O King let my counsel be acceptable unto thee and break off thy sins by righteousness or by Alms Vulg. Latin Septuagint Munster Syriack Arabick de Dieu c. as the word is there rendred by many learned Translators and as the same word is often used in the Old Testament and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the Poor if it may be a lengthening to thy tranquillity or a healing of thine error as it is in the Margent where to let pass the contest about the Translation of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether it ought to be as we have it according to other Protestant Translations break off or as it is in the Septuagint vulgar Latin Syriack Arabick and very many other Translators redeem thine iniquity it is evident that the Prophets counsel to the King was given to the end that he might obtain some remission of his sin and avoid the extremity of the threatning declared in the foregoing verses And the matter of that counsel consisting in the practice of Charity it is likewise evident that in the judgement of the Prophet such Charity is a thing available to that end otherwise his counsel was vain and unprofitable The like counsel is given by the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 1.16 17 18. verses to the people of Judah after a severe remonstrance of Gods displeasure threatning their Destruction and rejecting their hypocritical services He tells them what they should do to escape that Punishment of their sin and gain a full remission thereof Wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgement relieve the oppressed judge the fatherless plead for the widow come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be us wooll If these words uttered by the Prophet in the name of the Lord do not confirm that Sense of the Apostle which we contest for I know not what words will do it He that is not abundantly satisfied with the Evidence of these Texts of the New and Old Testament may see more to the same purpose Psal 41.1 Isai â—8 from the 7 tâ— verse to the 12th Ezek. 18.7 Mic. 6.8 Luke 19.8 9. And when he hath considered these Canonical Texts he may cast his eye upon two or three Apocryphals Tob. 4.7 8 9 10 11. and Chap. 12.9 For Alms doth deliver from death and shall purge away all sin Ecclesiasticus 3.30 Water will quench a flaming fire and Alms maketh an Atonement for sin The authority of these Texts doth not so much test upon the particular Authors as upon the general Sense of the Jewish Church which they are justly presumed to deliver especially while their Doctrine is found so agreeable to the Canonical Scriptures which were the Rule of their Faith To transcribe all the Texts which are to be found in the Bible to this purpose and make such particular Remarks upon them as we have done upon those few which we have cited before would swell the Discourse and be a Work of Supererogation by which we cannot hope to merit so much of the Reader as perhaps we may do by sparing his pains and our own CHAP IV. HAving now sufficiently as we think confirmed the General Doctrine founded upon this Text of St. Peter we are to proceed according to our promise to the answering some Objections which have been or may be made against this Sence of the words And I shall begin with that which seems to be most considerable I. Objection Namely that these words of the Apostle are quoted or borrowed from a Proverb of Solomons Prov. 10.12 Hatred stirreth up strife but love covereth all sins Where by the Antithesis of the two parts of the Sentence it is past all doubt that the sins to be covered by love must be the sins of others and not of the Charitable Person Answer To this may be answered 1. That it is no way evident that the Apostle did intend any quotation of that Proverb there being no such intimation thereof in this Text as is usual in other quotations out of the Old Testament by those words as it is written or the like used by this same Apostle in this Epistle Chap. 1.16 Because it is written be ye Holy as I am Holy And as it is evident that he doth not quote the whole Proverb whiles he leaves out the first part Hatred stirreth up strife so that he doth not cite the second part verbatim is plain by comparing the Texts Whereof one saith love covereth all sins the other only a multitude of sins But in the Septuagint which is generally followed in quotations out of the Old Testament in the New a far greater difference is found 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So it is in the Septuagint not agreeing so much as in one word with St. Peters supposed quotation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Hebrew Text indeed is something more agreeable to St. Peters words But then 2ly Suppose that the Apostle did allude unto the words of that Proverb as is not improbable it doth not therefore follow that he intended the same Sence it being very usual with our Saviour himself and the Evangelists and Apostles by way of accommodation to