ungovernable Lusts are the great Makebates and Dividers he that hath not attained a Government over his Passions is unprepared for Peace Selfishness and Pride Covetousness and Ambition Envy and Malice and Revenge are the bitter Fruits that grow upon the stock of our Ill Natures and are the sad occasion of all the disturbances in Church and State and have rendered Christendom a Field of Blood 'Till these Lusts are therefore subdued and we have gained a victory within outward Peace is impossible he that cannot rule his own Spirit will never long live at Peace with others An Angry Man will stir up Strife Prov. 29. 22. Be ye therefore angry and Sin not Eph. 4. 26. Let not your Anger boyl up to any sinful Excesses 2. Peace implies hearty Love 't is very hard and difficult long to maintain Peace with those we do not heartily love and utterly impossible to keep it up with those we hate Peace without Love is is no better than politick Dissembling and Peace with Hatred an insidious cover of Enmity Love is the only sure and lasting Bond of Peace and Hatred the Fountain of Discord and Violence If we would therefore forbear and forgive one another and let the Peace of God rule in our Hearts we must above all things put on Charity as a Rich Robe our best Ornament and the proper Livery of Christians This is indeed the distinguishing badg of Christ's true Disciples whereas the Disciples of the Pharisees were known by the broadness of their Phylacteries and enlarging the Borders of their Garments and of Iohn Baptist's by their Leanness contracted by Austerities much Fasting and Abstinence Christ would have â— known by their undissembled Love unfeigned Kindness and obliging Condescensions for each others good 3. Peace implies a diligent performance of all Offices of Justice and Humanity we must not love in word and Tongue only but in deed and in truth 1 John 3. 18. Justice is the Guardian and Humanity the Nurse of Peace the only Sovereign Remedy to prevent Disorders and put an end to Strife Punctual observance of Contracts truth in our Words and sincerity in our Promises injuring none in their Estates by fraudulent Incroachments or in their good Names by slanderous Reports is a great conserver of Peace and keeps off those Contentions which otherwise will unavoidably arise A tender Compassion to those in Want and hearty readiness to advice and assist relieve and comfort one another according to our particular Exigencies and Wants is also very necessary in order to the advancing Peace among Brethren 4. Peace implies courtesie and respectfulness this is not only an argument of a generous Education and good Reading but also a great ornament of Religion and required of every Christian Christ indeed came into the World to sweeten our Passions calm our Natures abate the sourness and polish the roughness of our Humours A sour Look sullen Spirit and scornful Carriage is very unbecoming a Christian is the indication of a Mind averse from Peace and provokes disdain in others But on the contrary respectful Gestures courteous Language civil Salutations and an affable Behaviour are accompanied with such winning Charms as few can resist And when a Mans ways thus please the Lord they will please men too and our very Enemies will be at Peace with us Prov. 16. 7. 5. Peace implies candid and favourable Opinions rash Censures uncharitable Surmises severe Reprehensions and unkind Misconstruction of our Neighbours Actions tend mightily to provoke Wrath and stir up Strife whereas equity in our Censures mildness in our Reproofs putting the best Construction upon and making the most favourable interpretation of our Neighbours Carriage and Behaviour is the surest way to conciliate Peace and promote it Christianity indeed teacheth us to be very severe in observing our own Sins but very favourable in reflecting on the Miscarriages of our Neighbours Let others usurp God's Prerogative that they may do the Devils Work turn Searchers of Hearts that they may become Accusers of the Brethren The true Christian hath so much to do at Home that he hath very little leisure to look abroad is so imployed in covering his own Deformities that he hath not time to gaze on the nakedness of others hides his Neighbours Faults with the Mantle of Love and makes all possible allowances that the nature of the action will bear will not conclude a Sin from an inevident sign as Eli from Hannah's Fervency concluded her Drunkenness If our Neighbour be overtaken with a Fault the Peaceable Christian will not from one particular act conclude an Habit nor call that a Mortal Plague which may be only one of the Spots of God's Children Nor will he pre-judge a Scandalous Sinners future State but pity and pray for him and seek to win him to Repentance 6. Peace implies restraint of Pragmaticalness if we would be quiet and at Peace we must mind our own Business 1 Thes. 4. 11. Those that impertinently meddle with things beyond their Sphere of Activity are disorderly Walkers 2 Thes. 3. 11. out of their proper rank and station are like him that taketh a Dog by the Ears Prov. 26. 17. may only irritate the anger of others and cause them to turn upon them and bite them He is therefore no Peaceable Minded Man that plays the Bishop in another Diocess 1 Pet. 4. 15. 2 General The advantages of Peace in Christian Churches 1. This renders the Church most like to God he is the God of Peace the Father of Mercies and not only full of Love but love it self 1 Iohn 4. 16. He is all that is good in the most eminent degree but he is love in a more especial and peculiar manner though all his Attributes be infinite yet his Love and Goodness is peculiarly Sovereign The best description we can frame of him in our Minds or whereby we can represent him to others is that he is Omnipotent Alwise Immutable Goodness under the old Testament a dispensation of Terror when the Riches of Divine Love were not displayed yet even then he accounts his Goodness as his greatest Glory and the most charming Beauty of his Nature And now what better way is there for his Church to be like him than to be at Peace and abound in all mutual Offices of Kindness and Love 2. Peace is the Churches greatest Beauty and Ornament 't was this commended Christianity of old hence Christian were called not Christiani but Chrestiani from a Greek Word signifying their benignity and sweetness of Disposition and Seâ— how the Christians love one another was a common Proverb in thâ— Mouths of Heathens themselves What can be more glorious than to behold the most harmoniouâ— Union and Communion of Saintâ— in the pleasant ways of true Wisdom and Goodness Rage and Fury may be the excellencies oâ— Beasts but Peace and Love is thâ— ornament of Men. How calm is the Mind how serene the
and ardent that brought our Lord from Heaven to Earth carry'd him through the difficulties of Poverty Reproach and Scorn enabled him to bear the contradiction of Sinners and the pain and shame of the Cross herein Christ as well as God the Father commended his love towards us Rom. 5. 8. rendred it great and admirable beyond all expression or parallel In that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us We must act according to this pattern Love one another with a pure heart fervently 1 Pet. 1. 22. Our Love must not be cold and indifferent frozen or congeal'd but we must entertain a fervent Affection one for another 3. Our Love must be prevailing as Christ's was Christ lov'd us above Gold or Silver or Earthly Pomp and Greatness above his own Temporal Ease and Delight and was ready to wade through Storms and Dangers and Difficulties for our sakes So must we love our Brethren above our Carnal Interest Honour Wealth and Pleasure Thus Moses evidenc'd his Love to the people of God by forsaking the dazling Honours and bewitching Pleasures of Pharaoh's Court and chusing Affliction with them rather than Sin Thus must we be willing to renounce our own Ease and Liberty for their sakes when God and his Honour calls Nay we must Love them better than the nearest ungodly Relations Christ lov'd those that were related to him in the Spirit far better than the nearest ungodly Relations according to the Flesh. There is indeed a natural sensitive Love and Propension towards near Relations and we are ordinarily bound in the first place to provide for them supply their wants and give them these outward effects of our Love But still we must have a higher rational esteem of the godly and value their Graces above the most lovely natural perfections of others and the best must be prefer'd in point of Honour though others may be prefer'd in point of Maintenance 4. Our Love must be impartial and universal as Christ's was He did not confine it to his own Countrymen the Jews and die to procure Pardon Grace and Glory for them only but for us Gentiles also while he was upon Earth The Faith of the Centurion and importunity of the Canaanitish Woman tho' Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel attracted his Esteem and Admiration and where-ever he beheld the Grace of God and Image of Holiness he lov'd it 'T is very observable he is more sharp and severe in his Invectives against the Pharisees than any other Persons because of their stingy narrow Spirit confining Religion to their own particular Sect and scorning and despising all that were not of their own Party as if all the rest of Mankind were in a Reprobate Damnable State Our Christian Love must thus resemble our Saviours It must be enlarg'd to all Saints to the whole Fraternity of Christians To be partial in our Love is a sign 't is unsound to make our own Opinions the Shiboleth to distinguish between a true and counterfeit Christian is very unreasonable Where there is a Profession of the Baptismal Covenant the Essentials of the Christian Faith and a Life in some measure answerable we must love such as Christians not withstanding their mistakes and erroneous Principles in lesser points We justly condemn the Church of Rome for confining Salvation to themselves and Damning all the World besides Let us take heed how we condemn our selves by contracting the Church of God into a narrower compass lest we censoriously damn those whom Christ will save and perhaps place on higher Seats of Glory than our selves We know who it was that said Lord I thank thee I am not as this Publican when he was really in a far worse condition Our Love to a Party must not blind our Judgments or pervert our Affections as to all the rest Keep up therefore an impartial universal Love to all professed Christians as such and hate a dividing Spirit Take heed how you stigmatize those with the Name of Hereticks who shall stand at the Right Hand of Christ and take not up the Devils accursed Imployment to become Accusers of those that are really your Brethren 5. Our Love must be proportion'd to the degrees of their Grace as Christ's was Christ that certainly knows who are most furnish'd with Divine Grace must needs love these with an higher degree than others of a lower Form and Classis in Christianity St. Iohn who it seems had the most ardent love and Eminent degrees of Grace among the Apostles was his peculiar Favourite and Darling Disciple had the highect place next his Lord lay in his Bosom according to the custom of those Eastern Countreys which was to lye and not to sit at Meals and is call'd the Disciple whom Iesus loved John 13. 23. Christs love was not a fond unaccountable Passion but the result of his Reason and Judgment Because he lov'd him best we may therefore justly conclude he was really above the rest in Piety Thus must our love be proportion'd Some are but weak Christians and we can have but small and doubtful perswasions of their sincerity Others are stronger and we may be more confident as to them The one must be lov'd as Christians but the other with an higher degree as bearing more lively representations of the holy God We must not respect the Persons of any but their goodness and love those best that are really so This Property will discover the Hypocrisie of many who will bear with Holiness in a lower degree and speak well of those who though Godly in the main are too remiss and careless in their Conversations but swell with Rage and Malice against those that are most Eminent for Piety What doth this Temper shew but a Graceless Heart if we bear not the highest Love to the best Christians how dwelleth the Love of God in us Alas can infinite perfect Holiness be lov'd by him that loves not the best Representations of it that this imperfect state affords If the light of the Moon which is not without its spots doth offend us how can we bear the far more resplendent brightness of the Sun it self How unmeet is he for the Communion of Angels and perfected Spirits that is not pleas'd much more that is offended with the highest degrees of Holiness in this state of Imperfection The true Christian having a prevailing Love to God will Love his Image where-ever he finds it and where it is more clear and unsullied and drawn out in more Beautiful Characters his Love will be proportionably greater and more affectionate 6. Our Love must be compassionate and sympathizing Christ could not refrain from weeping when he beheld Ierusalem where was the then visible Church of God and laments her foreseen destruction When Peter deny'd him not once but thrice with Curses and Imprecations He did not disregard him as he might justly do such a perfidious Servant but though he was unconcern'd for himself and silently bore the
Countenance how chearful the Discourse how sweet the Sleep and how full of Content is the whole Life of the Peaceable Minded Man How lovely a melody in the Ears of God and Men doth an Assembly of such Christians make when united together in acts of Religious Worship How much more pleasant are the smooth and even ways of Peace than the rugged Paths of Discord and Contention Is it not much more delightful to behold the Heavens smiling upon us with a serene and chearful Countenance than frowning with Clouds or big with Storms and Thunder Is it not much more sweet to sail in a quiet and calm Sea than to be tost about with a Tempest and be continually in fear of every rolling unruly Wave to hear Harmonious Sounds than grating Janglings and to dwell in a well Governed City than in a wild and savage Wilderness Peace is the way to the truest Pleasure and indeed is itself the greatest Felicity Hence the Angels in their holy Anthem when they wished the greatest Happiness to Men knew not how better to express their Sense than by saying On Earth Peace Good Will to Men Luke 2. 14. 3. Peace is the Churches strength Peace is the sinew of Society as Mony is of War the Cement that holds the parts together and distinguishes the Congresses of Men from Herds of Beasts or which is as bad the tumultuous Confusions of the Rabble Christian Churches might be immortal did they not kill themselves by Divisions the deepest Wounds have been given to Christianity in the Houses of its pretended Friends by Heresies and Schisms rending and tearing the unity of the Body He must be a great Stranger in the History of the Church who knows not that it flourished while it walk'd in love and injoyed Peace among its Children but the adding to the Foundation the Wood and Hay and Stubble of their own Inventions and dividing thereupon gave occasion to the rise of Turk and Pope and all the dismal consequences thereof Divisions stop'd the progress and cramp'd the growth of Christianity and hath so of Reformed Christianity to this day The most successful policy of our Enemies whereby they have done us the greatest mischief of all hath been by fomenting incouraging and cursedly improving our intestine Feuds We have foolishly put Weapons into their Hands or rather been destroying our selves while they have look'd on with Scorn and Laughter Were we but peacefully united among our selves we should quickly dishearten our Enemies and laugh at all the attempts of Rome and France and Hell for our ruin and Destruction Peace would be a mighty Bulwark to defend us and would better prevent the Invasions of our Foes than all our Wooden Walls on the Sea or Fortresses and Castles by Land 4. Peace tends to the comfort of the Church there can be no comfortable communion of Saints no bearing each others burdens no communicating the experiences of the workings of Gods Spirit in one anothers Souls of the answer of our several Prayers and various methods of God's dealings with us in his different ways of Discipline and Comfort so long as we are at variance among our selves When Souls groan under the burden of Sin and Guilt never was Drink so welcom to the Thirsty Traveller as the converse of truly Spiritual Christians to restore such in the Spirit of Meekness and speak Peace unto them from the Scripture and their own Experience But where Divisions are this cannot be had or if it be in some measure is often confined to an inconsiderable Party and each particular division wants the assistance of the rest so that the breach of their Catholick Love and Communion necessarily makes a breach in their comfort and hinders the mutual sympathizing assisting and comforting one another 5. Peace tends to the increase of the Church when our Lord repeated his Petitions for Unity he twice alledgeth one and the same reason that the World might know that God had sent him John 17. 21 23 As if the union and love of his Followers were the strongest proof of the Divinity of their Master and the powerfullest perswasive to Jews and Heathens to acknowledge and receive him for their Lord and Saviour as if his excellent Doctrin admirable Precepts and extraordinary Miracles would not do without it and indeed though Instruction be necessary and People perish for want of Knowledge yet Instruction without Example will do little good and no Example is more open to observation than that of Peace and Love and the want thereof in the Preachers of Truth makes the best Doctrin in their Mouths suspected hardens the Wicked in their sin and tempts many to Atheism If you speak with disagreeing Tongues Unbelievers will say you are Mad and sit down in the Seat of the Scorner to allude to 1 Cor. 14. 23. 6. Peace is a great means of Edifying by the means of Grace The Apostle in Eph. 4. 16. speaks of the close and intimate Union of the Body of Christ as a necessary means to receiving increase from Christ and edifying it self in love and Col. 2. 2. being knit together in love is laid down as a means to the full assurance of understanding to the full practical perswasion of the Truth and excellency of the Gospel and the want of this render'd the solemn Assemblies of the Corinthians fruitless and barren 1 Cor. 11. 17. St. Paul chargeth them with a sad miscarriage in their Spiritual Traffick growing worse in the use of what should have made them better the Holy Supper of the Lord and the reason is given Ver. 18. I hear there be Divisions among you Divisions abate the fervency of our Prayers blunt the edge of our Devotions seize on the vitals of Christianity evaporate the life and power of Religion in impertinent squabble and unless Almighty Grace prevent will quickly spread like a Gangrene so as to eat out the heart thereof 7. Peace in Christian Churches is an Emblem of Heaven the more that part of the Church which is Militant here below doth abound in Love and Peace the more it resembles that part which is triumphant above This is indeed the great difference between Angels and Devils Heaven and Hell the Devils have great degrees of Power and Knowledge perhaps not much below what Angels have but Angels and Glorified Saints abound in Love Sweetness Benignity and live in the joyful uninterrupted exercise of mutual Endearments whereas a Spirit of Malice and Envy Hatred and Revenge is the very complexion of Satan and temper of Hell But O how happy will it be to dwell in that Society where there 's no Mistake or Envy Ignorance or Prejudice or carnal Interest to occasion the least Jar or Discord but all pure Peace Seraphick Love and perfect Harmony as with God so also between themselves where the strange Fire of misguided Zeal is extinguished by the more powerful Flames of Heavenly Love and the unhappy names of dividing Sects are no more known where
slanders of the Witnesses yet he manifests his concern for Peter by his compassionate looks testify'd his sorrow for his Sin and drew not his Eyes away till he had look'd him into Repentance Nay tho' our Head be now in Heaven yet he hath a compassionate sense of the Extremities of his Members and accounts all the Affronts Persecutions and Reproaches offer'd to them as done to himself Thus when Saul then a Persecutor breath'd out nothing but Blood and Slaughter against the Churches He cries from Heaven Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Acts 9. 4. He is a merciful faithful High-Priest that is touch'd with a feeling of our Infirmities and bears a compassionate Love to all his Members in Misery And the same mind ought to be in us that was in him we ought to sympathize with our Fellow Members in distress and remember the afflicted as being our selves in the Body Heb. 13. 2. liable to the same Tryals and Parts of the same Mystical Body of Christ. If any Member be in pain all the rest are discompos'd and when some of the Members of Christ are discompos'd 't is natural for the rest to sympathize with them and be compassionately sensible of their trouble Thus we are commanded to weep with them that weep Rom. 12. 15. To bear one anothers Burdens and so fulfil the Law of Christ Gal. 6. 2. 7. Our Love must be constant and abiding as Christ's love was Christ's love to us was not for a small space of time but lasting and uninterrupted He loved his own and he loved them to the end John 13. 1. And the nearer his end appeared the higher marks of his Love did he give them the failings and miscarriages of his Disciples did not remove his Love or cause him to withdraw his affection their ignorance and unbelief after all his Teachings and Instructions their fiery unseasonable Rage against the Samaritans their Pride and Ambition Rashness and Cowardise and the base Perfidiousness of Peter did not incline him to lay aside his Thoughts of Love or leave the work of our Redemption unfinished but he still loved them to the Death Thus must we love our Brethren overlook their Failings pass by their Infirmities admire what is lovely and neglect what may cool our Affections This new Commandment must be every day renewed by us this is a Lesson we must be always Learning and a Duty we must be always imploying our selves about We must still be abiding in our Love till we enter among that happy Society where all Sins and unlovely Imperfections shall be done away and we shall always solace our selves with pleasing views of the Divine Purity and Holiness and the numerous Pictures and Representations of it among Angels and Glorified Saints 2. Our Love to one another must resemble Christ's Love to us in the outward Expressions of it 1. In the intimacies of our Friendship and Familiarity one with another Christ so loves all true Christians as to enter into the strictest bands of amity with them he is nearly united to them as their Head and Husband and calls them his Friends and his Spouse he is the Head and they are the Members the Vine and they are the Branches the Foundation and they are the Building the Root and they are the Fruit. The Communications of his Grace the quickening assistances and influences of his Spirit are imparted to them he writes his Law in their Hearts and causeth them to run in the way of his Commandments sanctifies their Natures pardons their Sins prevailingly intercedes for them and prepares them by Grace for Glory He hath communion with them in his Ordinances familiarly converseth with them in his Sacraments and is continually sitting them for that happy Fellowship with Father Son and Holy Spirit which glorified Saints injoy While he was on Earth he selected some few Persons prepared them by Grace for his Society and then made them his familiar Friends To them he clearly revealed the Mind and Will of God to them he unfolded the Mysteries of his Love and Commands of his Father to them he explained what was spoken to others in Parables these he blessed with his Heavenly Discourses and Pious Instructions with the special tokens of his Love and familiar Expressions of his Friendship Indeed he did entertertain a Iudas in his Family but he made a strict Profession as well as the other Disciples and was not known to be Hypocritical by any but Christ himself and had not the wisdom of God designed by his means to bring about the great work of our Redemption no doubt but this Son of Perdition would have been discarded and disown'd He did indeed eat with Publicans and Sinners but though for this he was falsly accused as their Friend and Companion yet he was not so he eat with them as their Physician and not as their Companion did not own them for his Friends but sought by his holy Discourse and obliging Carriage to make them so And the same Mind ought to be in us that was also in him Though Christianity allows not moroseness and incivility towards others yet all needless familiarity with Wicked Men is forbidden Our Eyes with Davids ought to be upon the Faithful in the Land Psal. 101. 6. To delight in wicked Company may justly fill us with doubts of our own sincerity we may know we are passed from Death to Life if we love the Brethren 1 John 3. 14. And we have just reason to fear we are yet in a state of Death if we delight in the Ungodly Common civilities may be paid to Wicked Men but special friendship is to be reserved only for those who we hope are the Friends of God If we love God above all surely we shall associate most with them that may warm our Hearts and raise our Affections and provoke us by their Example to an holy imitation We ought to imitate the Royal Psalmist who was a Companion of all them that feared God Psal. 119. 63. The Poverty and Meanness of such did not lessen his delight he priz'd a Saint in Rags beyond a Wicked Man though cloathed in Princely Robes or Imperial Purple We ought to have a friendly regard to all true Christians and though some because of their eminency in Grace suitableness to our Temper Neighbourhood and the like reasons may be our more intimate Friends Yet must not we despise any because of their meanness but as we have opportunity give them the special tokens of our Friendship too Vile Persons must be contemned and Scandalous Professors must especially be avoided but our intimate Acquaintance ought to be the Servants of God and the more Holy any are the more ambitious should we be of their Friendship and Converse 2. In our hearty Prayers one for another Christ was very earnest in his Prayers for true Believers they were the peculiar objects of his Love and purchase of his Death and therefore he prays for them in a peculiar
manner For Peter he prays for strengthening confirming Grace Luke 22. 31. and he put up a famous Prayer for his Disciples and all that should believe on him Iohn 17. that they might persevere in the Faith live in Unity increase in Grace and at last be translated to Heaven and abide with him in Glory And he hath laid a special Obligation on us to do likewise Hence in that excellent Form and Directory of Prayer Mat. 6. 9. he teaches us to say Our Father intimating that if we would gain acceptance for our selves we must come to God as in union with Christ and his universal Church Our Prayers must not be only for our selves but for the whole Church of God throughout the World we must hold Communion with all Christians in Faith and Love and an holy Profession thereof and while absent in Body must be as present with them in Spirit and still beg of God for them a freedom from the same Spiritual Evils and enjoyment of the same Spiritual Priviledges we would desire for our selves If the Psalmist under the old Law pray'd for the Peace of Ierusalem Psal. 122. 6. 137. 5 6. and makes such solemn Protestations never to forget her surely it is our great duty now the Church is surrounded with Enemies so potent and numerous never to forget Spiritual Zion but always be mindful of our Ierusalem If the legal Priests and Watchmen were bound to be God's Remembrancers and give him no rest till he establish and make Ierusalem a Praise in the Earth Isa. 62. 6 7. Then surely it is the duty of Spiritual Watchmen under the Gospel to put up their Petitions with fervour for the distressed Christian Churches and Servants of God We ought with the Apostle to give Thanks to God always for all Saints and make mention of them in our Prayers Eph. 1. 16. Be compassionately sensible of all their Troubles and continually bow our Knees before God that all his dealings may tend to their good that their Lives may be a credit to their Profession and that their Faith and Love and Patience and Humility and Self-denial may be effectual to convince Unbelievers enlarge the Kingdom of Grace and add new Inhabitants to the Kingdom of Glory 3. In forgiving one another Christ so loved us as to forgive all the injuries and affronts we have offered to him pardon of Sin is the great purchase of his Death And though our Sins be more numerous than the Hairs of our Head and exceed the Sands of the Sea for Multitude yet if we sincerely repent of them we may be assured they shall be forgiven And as Christ doth thus testify his love to us so must we testify our love to one another Have they wrong'd and injur'd us we must not bear a Spirit of Revenge but freely forgive them God will not forgive us except we forgive others Mat. 6. 11 14 15. Where God pardons any he gives them a heart to forgive others That Servant in the Parable was very disingenuous who when his Lord forgave him Ten Thousand Talents cast his Fellow Servant into Goal and would not forgive him an Hundred Pence Mat. 18. 23. And are not we guilty of the same disingenuity who when we know what numerous Talents God hath forgiven us cannot pass by a small injury of our Brother against us This act of Christian Love you see is strictly required and a special degree of it is due to true Christians above all others We are bound indeed to forgive Enemies while continuing and remaining such so far as not to return Evil for Evil to entertain no revengeful Thoughts and perform all general Offices of Justice and Charity towards them But a Friend and true Christian that hath offended us and returns to his Fidelity must be forgiven and again treated and entrusted as a Friend if he gives sufficient Evidences of his Sorrow and Repentance for former Faults For is he the Friend of God and shall he be esteemed as our Enemy Is God reconciled to him and shall we still retain our Enmity against him Surely if God be his reconciled Father we ought to be his reconciled Brethren also Account him no longer an Enemy but a Brother beloved Philem. 16. 4. In our Alms and Bounty to the Necessitous Christ though he himself lived on the Charity of others and had not a sufficient supply for himself and Disciples yet we find he did out of that small pittance give something to the Poor for in this Chapter Iudas who was the Steward of Christ's Family bore the Bag and was to disburse Mony for those uses for which his Lord designed it When he went out after his receiving the Sop the Disciples thought he was gone either to buy Provisions for the approaching Passover or to give something to the Poor John 13. 29 thereby implying it was our Saviour's custom to give to the Poor And if he thus loved his poor Members surely we ought to do so likewise Those who have a fruitless love to others have but a fruitless Faith to themselves They who pretend love to their Brethren and yet relieve them not according to their ability their Professions of Religion are vain We are bound indeed to supply the Wants of all even of Strangers and Enemies according to our ability and opportunities But to true Christians we are bound to open our hands more wide and be more liberal and bountiful Do good to all especially to the Houshold of Faith Gal. 6. 10. God hath made us but Stewards of the Earthly Blessings we injoy and given us our Stock of Worldly Goods that we might lay them out on those whom Providence hath made the Objects of our Charity he interprets that as done to himself which is done to his Servants and Christ's distressed Members Christ is resolved at the day of Judgment to insist on this Duty more than on any other The true Christian is himself devoted to God and therefore will devote all he hath to him will honour him with his Substance and the first Fruits of his Increase expend the Blessings received to Cloath Feed and Supply the Naked Hungry and Distressed If God hath intrusted him with many Talents he will not be so unreasonable as to think he hath therefore liberty given to pamper his Lusts or gratify his Fleshly Appetite but like a Wise Steward will seek out fit Objects for his Charity and seeing his Lord Redeemer out of that little which he had gave to the Poor will imitate his great Example 3. and because much is given will be proportionably liberal and bountiful 5. In our Counsels and admonitions Christ was very frequent and earnest in his pious Counsels and Instructions he did not only heal the Diseases of Mens Bodies but the chief design of his coming was to free the Sons of Men from all their Spiritual Maladies and Distempers Throughout his whole Life he was still explaining to Men the whole Will of God and
to his Disciples more plainly than to others Mat. 13 11. This evidence of Brotherly Love we ought to give also 'T is not only the duty of Ministers but of every private Christian in his Station to counsel and instruct his Brethren to inform the Ignorant and seek their Conversion tell them their duty and danger and shew them how they may flee from the wrath to come And it will be their wisdom and interest thus to win Souls to Christ and save Sinners from Death and Hell This must we do to the most vicious as we have opportunity But as we owe a special degree of Love to Fellow Christians so we are especially to counsel and admonish them To advise them in difficulties explain what they do not understand endeavour to impart our Light to them to increase their knowledge make additions to their Grace and further their Happiness He that loves his Brother will seek to help his Ignorance rectifie his Mistakes free him from Error and communicate his own Experiences to preserve him from Sin encourage him in Duty and make his passage to Heaven more pleasant and delighful 6. In kind and friendly Reproofs Christ frequently gave this Testimony of his Love to his Disciples reproved the smallness of their Faith Pride and Ambition and unbecoming Passions and the like Sins Thus must we also act Smooth Flattery is an Argument of Hatred and neglecting Reproofs when necessary is a piece of negative Flattery but a smart rebuke is oftentimes a great Argument of Love Leâ—it 19. 17. When therefore we see our Brother erring from his way we must seek by moderate Reproofs to stir up his dying Graces and bring him back to his Duty Here indeed much Christian Prudence and Discretion is necessary We are too apt to aggravate the failings of others and extenuate our own far greater offences Therefore let us be more ready to behold our own stains than the lesser spots of others and first cover our own nakedness before we cast the Stones of Reproof at our Brother Neither must we reprove upon bare Rumors and Suspicions without certain knowledge of our Brothers offence This is to shoot the Arrow before we see the mark If we are not certainly assur'd either from our own personal Knowledge or the undoubted Testimony of credible Witnesses that our Brother is guilty our reproofs will be but Slanders and our Charity in offering the Cure will not be half so great as our uncharitableness in believing the Disease Neither must we reprove sharply for small offences for every unvoluntary slip and failing To dip our Reproofs in Gall and Satyr upon every little miscarriage is a piece of impertinent officiousness and shews we are very much in Love with the Office Further our Reproofs must be seasonable Prov. 15. 23. When our Brother is most calm and sedate his Passions hush'd and still and his reason Reseated on the Throne as Water falling on a Red hot Iron only causes a great deal of noise and disturbance so Reproofs just upon the very act of Sin when our Brothers Passions are in disorder will only cause him to fume and fret the more Moreover our reproofs must be given in gentle Language Gal. 6. 1. Rebukes in reviling words look like the upbraidings of an Enemy and not like the kindness of a displeased Friend Nay let not your Reproofs be before others lest it alienate thy Brothers Heart and make him suspect 't is hatred and not love that puts thee upon this ungrateful Imployment but let them be between him and thee alone with all the secresie and privacy possible That he may see 't is thy love that urgeth thee to this Office of Kindness and good Men will hearken and endeavour to amend whatever is amiss Psal. 141. 5. Rebuke a Wise Man and he will love thee Prov. 9. 8. 8. In dying for one another The greatest Testimony of Christs Love was his dying for us Iohn 15. 13. Rom. 5. 8. Hereby perceive we the Love of God in that he laid down his Life for us and we ought to lay down our Lives for the Brethren 1 Iohn 3. 16. If Christ who was so much exalted above us in Glory and Majesty did lay down his Life for us much more ought we to dye for our Brethren who are of the same mould by Nature partakers of the same precious Faith by Grace and heirs of the same Inheritance in Glory If Christ dyed for Enemies and Strangers Slaves to Satan and Rebels against Heaven surely we ought not to account it hard to dye for Friends link'd to us by the nearest Bonds of Union Members of the same Body and belonging to the same Glorious Head seeing Christ did not account his Life too dear for us we ought not to account this command an hard saying or burden too difficult to be born But this Duty is only to be perform'd when we are specially call'd to it and the publick good of Christianity requires it to lay down our Lives without such a Call is to become Murderers of our selves and may be to the wrong and not the benefit of our Brethren For thereby we are incapacitated from doing them any further service in this World The great instance wherein we are to lay down our Lives for our Brethren is when we are call'd to seal the Truth with our Blood The Glory of God and Spiritual Good of our Brethren ought to be so dear to us that we ought willingly to Sacrifice our Lives rather than by any base and sinful compliances harden Unbelievers unsettle weak and wavering Christians or grieve the Hearts of confirm'd Saints 3. Some Practical Improvement I shall conclude all with a word of Exhortation 1. To my Brethren in the Ministry I have taken upon me the Office of putting you in remembrance of your Duty We all call our selves the Messengers of Peace and Ambassadors of the God of Love and are now come together to testifie our Love to one another Let us now therefore take up an unanimous Resolution that we will live together as united Brethren and imitate the great Example of our Lord Redeemer who hath given us our Commission Let us not be strange or shy or suspicious one of another harbour any envy ill-will or hard thoughts Take up any evil reports or hearken to the Tales of Whisperers and Backbiters who make it their Business to sow Seeds of Discord among Brethren While we all profess the same Holy Religion worship God after the same manner and pursue the same design of winning Souls to Christ why should we be angry or displeas'd if perhaps we have not the same Sentiments in some lesser Matters of difficulty any more than because we are not of the same Age Stature or Complexion Why should we envy one anothers Parts or Gifts or Success Or be offended because perhaps the Assemblies of others may be larger than our own It ought to be our Joy if our Lord
and Masters Work be carried on by others better than by our selves and we ought to embrace our Brethren for their Piety Warmth and Zeal and be highly pleas'd that God makes them Glorious Instruments for the Conversion of Souls The Apostle Paul could say that though some preached Christ out of envy and strife Phil. 1. 15 18. yet Christ was preached and therein he did rejoice yea and would rejoice We all preach Christ and I am perswaded none of us with contentious Spirits Let us therefore rejoice in one anothers success in the Work of the Ministy and make it our business to strengthen one anothers Hands in the service of our Lord Let not our Love be Complemental and Ceremonious but let it be real and hearty as becomes the Ministers of Christ Let it be express'd in all the instances forementioned by the Intimacies of our Friendship by our earnest and hearty Prayers by a readiness to forbear and forgive one another by our kind Counsels and Admonitions communicating to each other that Light and Knowledge we think we may have gain'd in the Mysteries of Religion by our friendly and gentle Reproofs one of another if there be occasion by our hearty faithfulness in informing each other of our faults and directing how we may best discharge the Work of the Ministry committed to us These my Brethren are the great Duties God expects from us and the obligations of Christianity forcibly engage us to the performance of them As we have therefore begun to do thus let us hold on that our Union together may be for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ and enlargement of the Gospel and an earnest and happy presage of a yet larger and more extensive Union among all the Faithful Ministers of Christ throughout the Land and if it be Gods will throughout the whole Christian World 2. To the people and indeed to us all in general Let us all be perswaded to the practice of this Duty The Plague of Uncharitableness hath dangerously Infected the generality of Christians and therefore it concerns every Messenger of peace to cry aloud and perswade Men to Love and Union This was the dying command of our Lord and Saviour and shall we neglect it How can we expect the Legacies and Benefits he hath bequeath'd if we omit the commands he hath given That must be a very unnatural Son that despises the last words and commands of his Father pronounced with his dying Breath and are not we very unnatural if we neglect the dying Admonitions of our Dear Redeemer When Men are just departing out of the World and especially good Men they use not to spend their Breath about Trifles but speak what they apprehend of greatest moment and what they desire may be more especially regarded Our Lord Jesus did not trifle with us when he was leaving the World And therefore seeing this was one of his last Commands we may be assur'd he laid great weight upon it and earnestly desired it might be principally observed by his Followers Nay he himself makes it the distinguishing Character of his Disciples whereby they may be known from all the rest of the World By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another John 13. 35. Do you therefore shew your respect to your Dying Lord and make it appear to the World that you are his true Disciples by a constant unintermitted Exercise of Love to one another FINIS Books lately Printed for John Dunton PRactical Discourses on Sickness and Recovery in several Sermons as they were lately preached in a Congregation in London By Timothy Rogers M. A. after his Recovery from a Sickness of near two Years continuance His Treatise Intitled Early Religion The Vanity of Childhood and Youth By Daniel Williams Minister of the Gospel The Life and Death of the Renowned Iohn Eliot the first Preacher of the Gospel to the Heathens in America Written by Mr. Cotton Mather Mr. Barkers Book Intituled Flores Intellectuales or Select Notions Sentences and Observations Collected out of several Authors Mr. Lees Joy of Faith Casuistical Morning-Exercises the 4 th Volume By several Ministers in and about London preached in October 1689. Books Printed for and Sold by John Salusbury THE Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits fully evinced by unquestionable Histories of Apparitions and Witchcrafts Operations Voices c. Proving the Immortality of Souls c. By Richard Baxter An end of Doctrinal Controversies which have lately troubled the Churches by Reconciling Explication without much Disputing By Richard Baxter In Octavo A Rational Defence of Nonconformity Wherein the Practice of Nonconformists is vindicated from promoting Popery and ruining the Church imputed to them by Dr. Stillingfleet in his Vnreasonableness of Separation By Gilbert Rule Minister of the Gospel In Quarto The Harmony of the Divine Attributes in the Contrivance and Accomplishment of Man's Redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ. By T. Cruso In Twelves Iames 4. 1. Col. 3. 12 13 14. Iohn 13. 36. Gal. 6. 10. Heb. 13. 15. 1 Pet. 3. 8. Mat. 7. 1. Rom. 14. 4. Iames 3. 1. Exod. 34. 6 7. Eph. 5. 1. 2. Prov. 20. 3. Psal. 133. 1. Mat. 12. 26. Gal. 5. 15. Phil. 2. 1 2. Jam. 4. â— Eph. 4. 3. Cor. 13. 4 5. Psal. 15. 3. Rom. 14. 4. 1 Cor. 1. 12. 3. 4. 1 Iohn 4. 7 8. Eph. 5. 1 2. Prov. 6. 16 19. Ver. 13 14 15 28. Ver. 31 32. Psal. 33. 3. Mat. 26. 29. Bishop Tillotson's Sermon on this Text. 1 Thes. 4. 9. 2 Cor. 8. 8. Heb. 11. 25 26. Mark 3. 35. Philem. 9. Col. 1. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 17. Luke 18. 12. 1 Cor. 1. 10. Luke 19. 41 42. Eph. 5. 32. Iohn 15. â— Ioh. 14. 22. Psal. 15. 4. 1 Cor. 5. 11. Luk. 17. 3. Ium 1. 27. 1 Iohn 3. 17. Mat. 25 34. Prov. 11. 30. Iam. 5. 20. Mat. 8. 26. 18. 1. Luke 9. 55 56. Bishop Hopkins Serm. on Lev. 19. 17.
Heart to quake and tremble As for Paul he is rude in Speech homely in his Expressions and hath no Majesty nor Presence in a Pulpit I admire therefore their Ignorance that are for him I am for Apollos A Third I am for Cephas How doth he stoop to the lowest and meanest capacity doth not Preach about such deep Mysteries as Paul nor with such flaunting Eloquence as Apollos but feeds us with the sincere Milk of the Word and teaches so plainly that the most Ignorant may understand him I wonder therefore he is no more followed and that Paul and Apollos are preferred before him I am for Cephas Thus we may suppose the Corinthians might jangle among themselves for which St. Paul so sharply reproves them and may not we take his Reproofs to our selves are not we apt to heap up to our selves Teachers and have Mens Persons in admiration so to value some as unreasonably to scorn and slight others forgetting that they are all the Servants of Christ deputed and sent by him that in much Wisdom and Mercy hath given them various Gifts for the Edification of the Church that as one is eminent in some respects so in others 〈◊〉 Brethren may exceed them 〈◊〉 must consider they all Preach 〈◊〉 same Doctrin and direct to the same way to Salvation and it is more the fault of our own corrupt Hearts than of the Minister if we profit not by their Labours 2. Be much in Contemplation of the Love of God in Christ This will blow up a holy Flame of Love to him and all his Members when we remember how dearly and tenderly Christ loves all his Saints this will constrain us to lay aside all Wrath and Bitterness and live in Peace such a glorious precedent must needs be a cogent Argument and can hardly be resisted Love and Peace is the very Image of our Heavenly Father the Copy Christ hath set us and the Lesson he hath written for our Learning in Lines of his own Blood An hearty Love to God will engage us to be at peace with the whole fraternity of Christians and love them without Dissimulation 3. Make the great design of Religion yours viz. the advancement of Holiness and recovery of the Image of God in the Souls of Men Remember Religion is not designed meerly to fill your Heads with airy notions to tip your Tongues for Discourse or enable you to talk plausibly for the truth that it consists not in little Speculative Opinions or Ceremonious Trifles but the great design of it is to direct us in the government of our Passions subduing our Lusts and conquering the Impediments that hinder our Recovery and Salvation In a word Religion consists in a penitent return to God by Faith in Christ and Obedience to his Gospel let us take this to be our main business then we shall have so much work to do at home that we shall have little inclination to pry into the Infirmities of others or quarrel with them That Man would be esteemed by all as bereav'd of his Wits that should be picking causless Quarrels with his Neighbours about a Chip of Wood or a broken Hedge when a Fire in his House is consuming his Goods and Children We all stand on the Borders of the Grave and Confines of Eternity our great business is to quench the Flames of Lust which otherwise will prepare us for Everlasting Burnings and therefore surely we should not waste our precious Minutes in strife and contention 4. Avoid Extreams in disputable Points Every Truth lyes in the middle between two Falshoods and he that goes far from one is apt to slip into the other After all the confidence and boast of disputers there will be uncertainty in lesser Points and when we travel in uncertain Roads 't is best to chuse the middle here we may be sure to meet with Charity and Peace and very probably Truth in their Company The great occasion of our Differences hath been that Men have look'd so much at the evil of one Extream as to forget the Error on the other side like an ignorant Physician who to Cure a Man of a dead Palsie casts him into a Phrenzy I dare with some confidence affirm that most of those Disputes that are so hotly agitated among Protestants are in the Extreams and consist more in words than things because the Curse of Babel has so confounded our Languages that though our Sentiments are much the same we understand not one anothers meaning And if Men would but hearken to calm dispassionate Reason they might soon find out such healing Reconciling Principles as would quickly make us one among our selves and a terror to our Romish Adversaries Let the Apostles Counsel be in this sense therefore obeyed Phil. 4. 5. Let your Moderation be known unto all Men. 5. Avoid unpeaceable Dividers those who make it their work to soment Differences and stir up Strife and sow Seeds of Discord among Brethren are said to be an abomination to the Lord take upon them a very ill imployment and carry on a design quite contrary to the Gospel of Peace and therefore are to be avoided that they may be ashamed I speak not this of my self but the Apostle Paul is very earnest in the same Advice Rom. 16. 17 18. Now I beseech you Brethren mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrin which ye◠have learned and avoid them for they that are such serve not our Lord Iesus Christ but their own Belly and by good Words and fair Speeches deceive the Hearts of the Simple 6. Frequently joyn together in the same Exercises of Religious Worship When Christians come together in the same Assemblies this naturally tends to abate their strangeness calm their Spirits remove unreasonable Jealousies and Suspicions and inclines them to a Cordial Endeared Love This was one great means of promoting that hearty affection which was among the Members of the primitive Church They continu'd stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrin and Fellowship and breaking of Bread and Prayer Acts 2. 42. And the same method would retrieve that love and peace the want of which hath crumbl'd us into parties and been the unhappy occasion of so many woful Effects Did we but more frequently resort to the House of Prayer more diligently hearken to and more faithfully improve Ministerial Instructions more readily submit to Pastoral Discipline more carefully watch over one another and more tenderly advise and reprove and edifie one another more solemnly pray with and for one another and more constantly celebrate that uniting Ordinance the Lords Supper together we should soon see the Blessed peaceful effects of so doing Did Neighbouring Churches counsel each other and maintain mutual correspondences for the advancement of Love and Holiness occasionally communicate together when convenient and look upon themselves not as divided Bodies or carrying on separate Interests but all united under the same Head acting according to the same Rule and for the
same end this would engage us to mutual offices of peace and we should readily comply with the Apostle's Counsel Eph. 4. 3. Keep the unity of the Spirit in the Bond of peace Many more Directions might be added but these if well practis'd would quickly extinguish those Heats and Animosities which have made Earth so like to Hell and produce those Heavenly Fruits of peace which might create a Paradise here below make the Church which in a very sad sense is now Militant nearly resemble the Church Triumphant And now Men and Brethren what remains but that we put in practice the Duties recommended Then might we hope our Land would become a Goshen not only in respect of Spiritual Light but also of its freedom from those Locusts and Caterpillars dividing Lusts that have so long wasted and consumed us Blessed be God that he hath in so great a measure heal'd our Breaches and thus far united us together May not we hope that this is but the beginning of what God designs for us like the dawning of the Morning in order to a perfect day May not we hope that those Glorious Times are hastning when the Lord shall be one and his Name one Zach. 14. 9. and that that Promise is near its accomplishment Ier. 32. 39. I will give them one Heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their Children after them May not we hope that the Philadelphian state which some expect now draws nigh when Brotherly Love shall flourish and be more enlarg'd How happy would it be if this Union were yet more extensive if the Name of Reformed Christian were only known and all those divided Names laid aside whereby we have been unhappily distinguish'd By Mutual Compliances and Condescentions this is no impossible Task And who knows but this beginning may issue in so happy a Conclusion This may well be the subject of our Wishes and earnest constant Prayers John 13. 34. A new Commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also love one another AMong all the advantages of the Christian Religion wherein it exceeds the defective Rules of Pagan Philosophy and obscure Institutions of Moses there is nothing wherein it more excels than in the Doctrin of Love and Charity a Duty which is urg'd in the plainest Words and pressed by the strongest Arguments and made not the high qualification of some eminent Saints but a necessary essential part of the new Creature A Duty not only necessary to some inferior uses but to all the great ends of Religion and not to be dispensed with on any pretence A Duty that is made the Badg and Character of Christ's Disciples and that which our dying Redeemer strictly charged his Followers to observe as in the Text A new Commandment I give unto you that ye love one another Our Saviour knowing the time of his Departure was near at hand in this Chapter gives his Disciples an admirable instance of his condescending Love in stooping to that servile Office of washing their Feet And this he did on purpose that they should imitate him and not think the lowest Offices of Charity for their Brethrens good too mean and base for them Afterwards having given the Sop to Iudas who went out with an intention to betray him he tells his Disciples of his speedy Separation from them and lest they should be too much cast down at hearing of his Departure he tells them that he should be Glorified and God the Father in him i. e. that he should give great discoveries of his Deity and God the Father would discover the unsearchable depths of his Wisdom inconceivable heights of his Love and infinite strictness of his Holiness and Justice by his Death and advance him straightway to the highest degrees of Glory And then being filled with an affectionate love to them he speaks as an indulgent Father to the Sons of his Love Little Children yet a little while I am with you ver 33. and as if he should have said O my Disciples whom I love with no less ardent affection than a Father doth his darling and tender Infant there remains but a small space wherein I shall make my abode with you in the Flesh therefore as I said to the Hardened Iews Whither I go ye cannot yet come One Request and Command I your dying Lord leave with you Let my Love to you be the rule and measure of your Love to one another A New Commandment I give unto you There is some difference among Expositors concerning the Sense of this Expression Some render it this renewed Commandment this Command that hath been almost obliterated by the corrupting Doctrins of the Pharisees and false Glosses of the Jewish Teachers I now by my Doctrin and Example renew unto you Some by New understand most excellent Thus we read of a New Song a most excellent Song of New Wine of the most delicious sort and kind q. d. Whatever Commands you neglect be sure to comply with this the most excellent of all Subjects take care to observe the New Commands of their Princes let your careful Obedience to this be as if it were newly promulged So others understand it A New Commandment say others because we must be still renewing it Owe no Man any thing but to love one another Rom. 13 8. Pay all your Debts but this Debt of Love you must be always paying and yet always owing I rather think it is called a New Commandment because it is expounded after a New manner directed according to a new Rule and required in higher measures and degrees than ever before for though this Duty was not wholly unknown to Mankind before yet never was it so taught or encouraged never was such an illustrious example given of it nor such weight and stress laid upon it in any former Institution and special Measures of Assistance proper to Gospel times are vouchsafed to work it in our Hearts So that it is as if our Saviour should have said Whereas it hath been said by them of old time thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self I give you a new Rule as I have loved you so love one another after a more indearing manner than the Iews that the World may see the excellency of my Doctrin above that of Moses Love bear an hearty esteem one for another and imploy your selves in mutual Offices of Kindness as acknowledging one another to be Brethren and Fellow Disciples As I have loved you though you cannot love one another to such a degree yet testify your love by such instances and to such degrees as your nature is capable of This is the meaning of the Text Christ came into the World to demonstrate and exercise his Father's Love and his own Love he came to kindle in the Souls of Men and therefore gives us this excellent Commandment The Words being thus explained the
Observation I shall raise from them is this That the last and great Command of our dying Saviour is that Christians should love one another as Christ hath loved them In Handling of which I shall observe this Method 1. I shall inquire who are the Objects of this Love 2. In what respects must we love one another as Christ hath loved us 3. Make some Practical improvement of the whole Discourse 1. The Objects of this Love 1. There is a common Love due to Men as Men all Men are God's Workmanship bearing his natural Image and capable of being serviceable to his Glory Thus Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self all Men are our Neighbours as partakers of the same Nature and capable of the same Happiness Special love to Christians doth not diminish but enlarge our common love to Men Wherever we see any part of Gods Image we must love it Our Saviour when he beheld that rich young Gentleman Mark 10. 21. he loved him he could not but be well pleased with his Morality though he was displeased he went no further Thus all the footsteps of Divine Goodness must be lov'd Vertue even in an Heathen is to be admired This will constrain us to Pity Pray for and hâ—lp all in distress according to our ability We must not be like the unconcerned Priest and merciless Levite in the Parable Luke 10. 30. who passed by the wounded Man and would not relieve him but like the good Samaritan who spoke comfortably to him supplied his Wants and bound up his Wounds 2. There is a Love due to Enemies Other Mens Faults and Sins against us give us no dispensation for the non-payment of this great Debt of Natures Law Loving all of the same kind Christ came to mortifie all Inclinations to Rage and Revenge and commands Affections and Words and Actions of Kindness and Benignity to those that have expressed the contrary unto us We must love our Enemies Mat. 5. 44. be cordially affected towards them wish them all the good in the World especially when they most need the good of their Souls Their Conviction Reformation and Amendment Other Mens Enmity must not pervert or blind our Judgments or hinder us from discerning what is amiable in them nor must it corrupt our Affections or hinder us from loving what is truly lovely We must bless them that curse us Not render reviling for reviling but give them friendly courteous words though they rail against us We must do good to them feed and cloth them if hungry or naked rescue them if in danger comfort them if in distress and all without the least Tincture of Malice or Revenge We must pray for them Forgive them our selves and pray to God to forgive them too Thus did our Saviour in the midst of his dying Agonies forgets not this Testimony of his Love to his imbitter'd Adversaries and with a generosity beyond Example pleads excuses for their Sin saying Father forgive them for they know not what they do Luke 23. 34. 3. There is a special Love due to all whom we charitably hope to be true Christians To this we are directed by the Text. Whoever makes a seemingly serious profession of Faith and Holiness and doth not disprove it by a contrary practice is to be allow'd the Name and special Love of a Christian. 'T is Gods Prerogative to see the Heart 'T is our Duty to observe the Life and he that makes a credible Profession and doth not live in wilful Sin is charitably to be esteemed as a Member of Christ. Though he differ from us in many Points yet if he holds the Foundations of the Christian Faith and manifests the Grace of God in his Life 't is uncharitable for us to judge he is not the object of Gods special Love and therefore it is unreasonable he should not be the object of ours Though he be weak in Parts and Gifts subject to many Passions and Infirmities consistent with real Grace though his Profession reach not to that heigth as to make him Eminent and his Conversation be not so exact as to make you confident of his Sincerity yet if he profess to be a true Christian and live not in any Sin which is the certain mark of an unbeliever he is to be lov'd as Christ hath loved us Gods Love indeed is Guided by Infallibility he loves none with a special Affection but sincere penitent Believers but our Love must be guided by our own weak and fallible discerning Where we see the Fruits of Piety in Mens Lives we must judge of the truth of their Graces according to the probability which those signs discover Though all be not so Eminent in Grace as Peter Iames and Iohn yet as the weakest Disciples it sincere are accepted by God so ought they to be embrac'd by us Christ will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax. Nor ought we to despise the Babes in Christ but love them as Members of the same Body and Heirs of the same Inheritance 2. In what respects must we love one another as Christ hath loved us Ans. Not in all Respects Christ so loved us as to purchase Grace and Glory for us But we are not capable of thus Loving one another We cannot pay down a valuable satisfaction for our own Sins much less can we super-erogate or purchase pardon for others Our own Oyl must be perfum'd with the Incense of Christs Merits before it can make our Faces shine before God and we have so little for our selves that we have none to spare for our Brethren Christ alone paid down a compleat satisfaction for them and us nor can we love our Brethren with an equal degree of Love to what Christ did He had not the Spirit by measure but the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him and therefore he lov'd us without any sinful mixture or imperfection but our Love as well as other Graces admit of very great defects The word As therefore doth not denote equality in degree but likeness in kind Our Love to one another must bear some likeness and resemblance of Christs Love to us 1. In the Inward Properties of it 2. In the outward Expressions of it 1. In the inward Properties of it 1. Our Love must be sincere and unfeigned as Christ's was Christ did not Hypocritically pretend Love or Dissemblingly feign Affection to us but sincerely lov'd us His Protestations of Love were all real and hearty not in Word and in Tongue only but in Deed and in Truth Thus ought our Love to be without Dissimulation Rom. 2. 9. A pretended Disciple indeed may like Iudas kiss and betray make large Protestations of kindness to the Saints and under this pretext of Affection hide a malicious heart and contrive their ruin But the true Christians Professions of Love as well as Prayers to God proceed not from feigned Lips 2. Our Love to one another must be fervent as Christ's was 'T was Love incomprehensibly great