will make glad the City of God in all the Cities of men where ever it hath an open chanel and a free course By what hath been said beloved you may perceive what my work the Lord assisting is like to be in handling this Scripture namely to discover to you that Love or Charity which is the end of the Commandment and chiefly indeed to discover to you those blessed springs A pure heart a good conscience and faith unfeigned out of which that charity flows and by which it must be fed day by day And this will I do if God permit But at the present I shall wave all these particulars and speak to one General Point as I hinted before raised from the whole Context and of this Verse or from all the particulars of it laid together and the Point of Doctrine is this DOCT. Those works of Love of Love to man much more of Love to God which are the end of the Commandment must flow from a good spring from a gracious Principle or a Principle of Grace This Point is very plain in the Text plainly collected from it For saith the Apostle Love out of a pure heart and the like Now that pure heart I shall shew clearly afterwards if the Lord bring me to it that the pure heart is a gratious heart So that the Love must flow from a principle of Grace There are three things especially in which the Completion the full Constitution and making up of a good work whether towards God or man doth consist and they must all three concur in the business Evil arises out of any single defect in that which is required Bonum oritur ex iâ—te ra causa malum ex qâ—olibet defectu But a good action must have a concurrence of all things requisite thereunto I name only these three First That the work may be good we must What required to a good work be sure that the matter of it be good It must be good in it self as being according to Rule And It must be good in the mind and in understanding of him that doth it for to do that which is good we not knowing and understanding it to be good or not being perswaded that it is good that action is not good to us Yea the Apostle tells you It is sin whatsoever is not of faith and there he speaks not of justifying faith but of perswading faith what ever is not of faith is sin And 't is possible for one that is in a justified state or one that hath justifying faith yet not to do a thing with a perswading faith and so it may be sin to him That 's one thing Secondly The aim or the end of the work must be good and among all ends that are good the chief and that which can never be left out is the glory of God Matth. 5. 16. Let your light so shine before men that they seeing your good works your works of Love may glorifie your Father which is in Heaven Not glorifie your self not set up self 'T was the setting up of self or the making self the end which corrupted and poisoned all those materially good very good actions of the Pharisees even their alms giving their praying their fasting as you may read at large in Mat. 6. 1 5 16. and those that follow The End doth denominate the action It must have a good end else though the matter be never so good the work is not good Thirdly Which is the matter in hand The Principle or spring of the work must be good 'T is possible for one to do a work that 's good for the matter of it and to have some good ends in it and yet not to do it out of a right principle and this is it which the Text and Doctrine speaks unless the Principle be good the work 's not good As the Fountain is such are the streams that come from it As the Tree is such is the fruit that grows upon it Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Eigs of Thistles Matth. 7. 16. Why the Thorn hath not a Principle in Nature to put forth a Grape the Thistle hath not a Principle in Nature to put forth a Figg and therefore saith Christ A corrupt Tree cannot bring forth good fruit Which words of Christ as they are primarily to be understood concerning false Prophets and their Doctrine so they may be truly applyed to all false professors and their ends they being corrupt they cannot bring forth good fruit If you would draw out of a vessel which is unseasoned or ill scented the liquor will taste of the Cask Now we all by nature are unseasoned yea we are ill scented vessels therefore the liquor that which passes from us considered so must needs have an ill scent an ill taste And hence that cutting question of Christ to the Pharisees Matth. 12. 34. O Generation of Vipers how can ye being evil speak good things They might possibly speak good for the matter Bad men wil often tip their tongues with good words and appear Chrysostom's Golden mouth'd speakers when their hearts are nothing but brass and dross But usually evil men speak evil that which is evil for the matter Their throats are an open sepulchre the poyson of Asps is under their lips as the Apostle speaks quoting it from the Psalms in Rom. 3. 13. And as they usually and naturally for that 's their natural Language speak evil so they always mar the good they speak either by their ill manner of speaking it or by their ill meaning in speaking it As the Devil when he made a confession of Christ and said he was the Son of the most high God it was a confession like that of St. Peter which Christ calls the Rock upon which the Church is built the Devil spake it out of a base intent and therefore Christ threw it away and rebuked him for it So evil men they spoil good speaking with their ill manner of speaking or their ill meaning in speaking and therefore Solomon hath that expression in Prov. 26. 7. As the leggs of the lame are not equal so is a Parable in the mouth of fools A Parable there notes a Divine saying a ruling word a commanding word that 's a Parable a word that should reign over us so saith he a Parable a divine saying in the mouth of a fool are like the leggs of the lame Good words do as it were lisp in the mouth of a bad man and his heart never keeps pace with his Tongue Thus you see Christ saith evil men cannot speak that which is good they cannot speak to the purpose fully now as they that are evil cannot speak so neither can they do good things answerable to the rule or pleasing unto God I do not say they cannot do good things but they cannot do good things answerable to the rule or pleasing unto God And that 's the Apostles conclusion Rom. 8. 8. after a further discourse he comes
it is that we drive at and in that sense 't is well said That the desire of the end is endless that is men Appâ—titus fiâ—is est infinicus will never end their desirings till they have attained their desired end namely that which is the scope and Aim which they have set up to themselves in any undertaking the end of a thing is the Aim or the scope of it Thirdly End is taken in this notion It notes the accomplishment or the fulfilling and Compleating of a thing and in that sense it is used in Rom. 10. 4. Christ saith the Apostle is the end of the Law for Righteousness The end of the Law he hath brought the Law to its end what end why to its accomplishment to its fulfilling so that we are not to seek for righteousness by the Law for our Justification for Christ hath made an end of the Law or accomplished the Law as to that point for righteousness Christ hath fulfilled the Law both in doing the precepts of it and he hath fulfilled the Law by enduring the penalty of it and so he is the end of the Law the fulfilling end of the Law It hath no more to require than that we obey the precept or endure the penalty of it and both these Christ hath fully done and so he hath fulfilled the whole Law and Indeed Christ having done so in his own person having been the end of the Law in his obedience both active and passive I may say He is the Abolishing end of the Law he hath taken it away as to that use for Justification by our own works the Law is quite out of doors as to that point Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness and no more are we to seek for righteousness by the Law Why now in the text the word end when 't is said that the end of the Commandment is charity the word end is to be taken in the two latter senses First charity is that which the Law aims at 't is the scope of the Law to bring us into a Love one to another and that we may walk in Love that 's the business of the Commandments of God the Aim the Scope of them And then secondly charity is the end of the Law that is 't is the fulfilling of the Law 't is the accomplishing end of the Law the Law is fulfilled in Love take it in two Scriptures Rom. 13. 10. Love is the fulfilling of the Law Love it is the Accomplishing end of the Law as in Gal. 5. 14. The whole Law is fulfilled in one word that 's a good word Indeed what is that one word by which the whole Law is fulfilled 't is fulfilled in one word even in this thou shalt love they Neighbour as they self to them the end here is to be taken in that sense charity it is the accomplishing 't is the fulfilling of the Law Thirdly One step farther what is that charity which is the end of the Commandment both the Final end and the fulfilling end of it What is this charity Charity is taken two ways in Scripture 1. More strictly as it consists in the relieving of those that are poor and in the comforting of those that are sorrowful this is charity to relieve the poor to comfort the sorrowful But secondly charity is taken in a more large sense 't is taken for Love in General and so some translate this text the end of the Commandment is Love For charity is a word of a narrower sense than Love is The end of the Commandment is Love and the truth is the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we rendeâ— in the text charity doth Indifferently signifie and is Indifferently translated Love or charity all the New Testament over I need not stay to quote places This word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Love to God Love to Man Q well but what is Indeed the Charity or Love here Intended in the Scripture A. I answer first I conceive the Love here Intended Is not love to God though that is Love above all things and the most excellent end of the Commandment yet I conceive in this place 't is Charity or Love to Man which is here meant And my Reason is this why I restrain it here to the Love of Man because the Apostle speaks of charity in opposition to those Fables and questions which false teachers were like to raise up in the Church The end of the Commandment is charity that all may be peaceable and quiet among the Brethren and he saith at verse 7. From which some having swerved from charity shot quite beside it saith he they are turned aside unto vain Jangling so that if we consider either the Antecedents of the text or the consequents it seems he confines charity or Love here spoken of to that love or charity which is among men among Brethren that 's one thing Secondly Charity here with respect to Brethren is not that charity which doth consist in opening our hand to relieve the poor though that is a most excellent piece of charity and I pray Remember it to open your hand to the relieving of the poor yet I conceive that 's not the charity here meant but the charity here meant is charity in the uniting our hearts and in the closing of our affections one with another and then Thirdly The charity here intended or the Love is not a lazy habit for one to say I have a love for God I and there it lyes and doth nothing I say the charity here intended is not a lazy habit but 't is that which is put forth by vigorous and lively actings and so some expound this Text Charity is to be taken Metonymically Charity for all the offices and duties of charity which we owe one to another 4. Lastly As 't is an Acting and an active charity which is here spoken of so it is not every kind of charity how vigorously soever acted which is the end of the Commandment but 't is the charity that flows out from and is fed by those three springs spoken of in the close of the Verse Namely 't is a charity flowing out of a pure heart a good conscience and faith unfeigned I cannot stay now to discover those springs to you for that would take up too much of the time Indeed it may take up all the time to make a little discovery of those springs All that I shall say at present is only this That the charity which issues out of these springs that 's the charity in the Text and that 's the charity which is the fulfilling of the Commandment So that here we have the Genealogy as I may call it the Pedegree the Parentage of Gospel charity Or to keep to the former Metaphor here we have the spring of that blessed River called charity the streams whereof like the streams of the River spoken of in Psal 46. 4. which is the favour of God to his people
those consuming Flames Bridges Remains being eight Sermons viz. Of Mans Blessedness 2. Affections Rightly placed 3. How to walk with God in our Calling 4. O Good and Bad Company 5. The Carnality of Professors 6. What our Work is and how to be done 7. Soul Resignation into the hands of God 8. Thâ— Dignity and Duty of Gods Called Ones Which was the last that ever waâ— preacht by that Learned and Judiciouâ— Divine Mr. William Bridge late Preacheâ— of the Word of God at Yarmouth A Discourse of Christs coming And the Influence which the Expectation there of hath on all manner of holy Conversation and Godliness By Theophilus Gale There are some other Pieces of the Reverend Author of these Sermons preparing for the Press 1 TIM 1. 5. Now the end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned THE holy Apostle St. Paul as appears in the beginning of the Chapter and Epistle finds some at Ephesus who troubled the Church with needless and with fruitless Doctrine and therefore if you consult the third and fourth Verses of this Chapter you will find he besought Timothy to abide at Ephesus when he went into Macedonia that he might charge some that they teach no other Doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Teach Doctrines contrary to what he had taught or Doctrines contrary to the General Tenour of the Gospel Such Teachers he calls accursed Gal. 1. 8. He would have him warn them at the fourth Verse Not to give heed to Fables and endless Genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in Faith Timothy was besought by St. Paul to give this charge to and concerning the Teachers at Ephesus And because those Fabulists and Genealogists were great pretenders to the Law therefore the Apostle tells them That the Law leads to the embracing of one another in love not to the imbroyling of one another in needless questions or in the venting of them and this he speaks in the Verse now Read The end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfained In which words we have two things First An Assertion laid down Secondly We have a limitation to the Assertion The Assertion is laid down in the beginning of the Verse The end of the Commandment is Charity The Assertion is limited in the close of the Verse 'T is Charity not Charity at large but Charity thus qualified or thus circumstantiated 'T is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned I shall first explicate the Assertion and then shew its Connexion with the limitation and give at the present one General Point of Doctrine from the whole Verse The end of the Commandment is Charity For the explication of this Assertion I must shew three things 1. What 's meant here by the Commandment 2. What 's meant by the end of the Commandment 3. What that Charity in special is which is the end of the Commandment And when I have briefly done these three things we shall come to a Point The end of the Commandment is Charity but what 's this Commandment The word which we here translate Commandment is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not the ordinary word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Commandment but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the word properly signifies as Criticks tell us A charge given by Judges or Superiours concerning somewhat to be done or forborn and thus 't is used in Acts 5. 28. where the High Priests tell the Apostles Did not we straitly command you that you should not teach in thiâ— Name Did not we straitly Command you The Greek there is an Hebraism in which St. Luke doth there express the minds of the Scribes and Pharisees Did not we straitly command you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Did not we command you with a Command which we veâ—y well render according to the sense of the Idiom Did not we strictly command you Or as Mr. Beza renders it Did not we command you again and again And in the very same sense doth the Apostle use the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the 18th Verse of the first of Timothy This charge I commit unto thee Why now if we should take the word Commandment in this strict sense it may have a special reference to the third and fourth Verses going before the Text whereas I toucht before St. Paul besought Timothy to charge some that they teach no other Doctrine To charge them or to Command them 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the root of the word which we render Commandment I charge thee to lay this Commandment upon them So we may well render it I command they teach no other Doctrine As if he had said the end why I besought thee to give that charge or Command was to promote charity whereas those other Doctrines did but breed questions and those questions breed Contentions among the Churches and among the Brethren the End of the Commandment the reason why I gave them that Commandment was to maintain love among Brethren Yea for as much as the Apostle at the 7. vers speaks of those who desire to be Teachers of the Law and in the 8. and 9. verses proceeds to speak of the nature and use of the Law I conceive the Word Commandment may be extended to the whole Law of God or to the whole Revelation or the mind of God concerning things to be done or forborn by us And so here is a figure here 's a change of number the singular is put for the plural Commandment for Commandments and indeed as the Doctrine of Grace is nothing else but a Collection of promises so the Law is nothing else but a Collection of precepts and in this sense saith Mr. Calvin here by the word Commandment we may take in all the Commandments of God Not only those that are exprest in the Decalogue but those which are scattered quite through the Holy Scriptures The end of the Commandment or of the Commandments the whole Revealed will of God concerning the Agenda or things to be done It is charity or it is Love and so much for the first thing what we are to understand by the Commandment Secondly what is the end of the Commandment the end of the Commandment is charity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 end may be taken in a threefold notion First The end it notes the conclusion and Period of a thing the conclusion of all things so the Apostle Peter in his 1 Epist 4. 7. The end of all things is at hand and it 's well for us to Remember that If the end of all things were at hand in the Apostles time how near is the end now the end the Period of all this visible world it is at hand Be ye therefore watchful and sober Secondly End notes as much as the Aim design plot scope of any Action what