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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A43663 The moral schechinah, or, A discourse of Gods glory in a sermon preached at the last Yorkshire-feast in Bow-church, London, June 11, 1682 / by George Hickes. Hickes, George, 1642-1715. 1682 (1682) Wing H1857; ESTC R10895 13,920 39

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Christian Religion because it is his Religion and to the First Day of the Week because it is the Lords Day All these things challenge a particular respect from us different from all other things of the same name and kind upon the account of their relation unto God and when we treat them with reverence for his sake the honour of it redounds to him because every action of that Nature is a solemn Ackowledgement and Declaration that he is the Great and Holy God These are all genuine duties and effects of Godliness or Religiousness as it is distinguished from other parts of Christian Piety But alas how little of it is practised in this Prophane Age How little Religious and how much Profane and Atheistical discourse is now to be heard in all Companies Nay how is the Worship of God which above all other things is ordained for his Glory dishonoured and profaned and almost perverted to the contrary End by the irreverent and unworthy carriage of man To see how many men behave themselves in the Service of God would tempt an indifferent man to believe that they designed not to acknowledge Wisdom Power and Goodness and their trust in and dependance upon his infinite Majesty but rather to deny him in the Action and declare to all the World that Religion is nothing but Superstition and that it is very uncertain whether there is a God or no or if there be whether or no he concerns himself in the Government of the World To this if we add the general practice of Rash and Vain Swearing on one hand and Solemn Perjuries on the other together with that utter disrespect which is now accounted brave and generous to cast upon all Things and Persons which belong unto God we must needs acknowledge that there are great numbers of men among us who tho' they may profess God yet in their Works deny him being so far from doing whatsoever they do to his Glory that there Actions tend and it is to be feared many of them are designed to extirpate the Notions of him out of mens Minds his Fear out of their Consciences and his Name and Religion out of the World II. So much for the first kind of Human Actions which immediately regard God from whence I proceed to the second which are such as regard our Neighbours and are practised in our Dealing and Conversation with them and in these Actions this is the Rule That they tend to Gods Glory when they tend to the Good of Men and are declarative of that excellent and comprehensive Virtue in us which the Greeks call Philanthrophy the Latines Humanity and the Christian Religion Love This is the general Supream Law which God hath commanded men that they should love one another according to that repeated Precept of our Saviour This is my Commandment and these things I command you that you love one another and that you love one another as I have loved you This reiterated Precept of our blessed Saviour made the Apostle say unto the Thessalonians Now as touching brotherly Love ye need not that I write unto you for ye your selves are taught of God to love one another and this saith St. John in his Epist Gener. is the Message that ye have heard from the beginning that ye love one another St. Paul in several places gives us the reason why our Lord so carefully enjoyn'd this duty upon us because it is the fulfilling of the Second Table of the Law By love saith he Gal. 5. serve one another for all the Law is fulfilled in one word thou shalt love thy Neighbor as thy self And love faith the Rom. 13. Worketh no ill to his Neighbour therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law This Character of Love which the Apostle gives us is indeed Negative but as all other Negatives are it is founded in positive sense so that his meaning is at large this love worketh no ill but worketh all manner of good to his Neighbour therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law In these two prime effects of love to do no ill and to do all manner of good are founded the Laws of Justice and Charity and in these two are comprehended all the duties which every man owes to other men For Justice powerfully restrains us from doing any harm or injury to our Neighbour and Charity pushes us on to do him all good Offices and Kindness and therefore all just and Charitable Actions which spring from the Divine Root of Humanity or Love must needs tend to the Glory of God and the manifestation of his Divine Nature who as St. John saith is love and who in the Saxon Tongue from which the Dialect of our Country is but one remove is called God because he is good as in our Saviours answer to the Ruler who called him good Master 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or man man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is one good save only God According to this Derivation of his Name the Apostle saith That Love is of God and that every one that loveth is born of God and he that loveth not or hath not the grace of Love in him knoweth not God for God is Love or made up of Love and kindness to men No man hath seen God at any time if we Love one another God dwelleth in us and his Love is perfected in us and hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit of Love In these words dwelleth and dwell the Apostle emphatically alludes to the Schechinah or Glory by which God manifested his Presence in the Jewish Tabernacle or Temple and the meaning of them is that we cannot give better Evidence of Gods abiding in us and dwelling in our Souls than by the Spirit and temper of Love if we would make it appear to the World that he is in us or that we are of him and conformed unto his Image and Example nay if we would maike it appear that we are acquainted with his divine Nature or declare that we believe he hath Loved us Nay would we shew our Obedience to his strictest and dearest Command which he hath exemplified in his Son or give a right proof to others that we love him as he hath loved us it must be by conforming all our dealings with men to the Rules of Justice and Charity which are the the genuine and immediate effects of Love Beloved let us love one another for love is of God and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him and this Commandment we have from him that be who loveth God loveth his Brother also Nay furthermore the best proof that we can give to our selves and others that we are Regenerate persons and have passed from a state of death unto life is our love to our Fellow-Christians for saith the Apostle We know that we have