Duty being found so Honourable in its order so pleasant and agreeable to the humane Nature in it self my pains in proposing Motives which was the Fourth particular are I hope prevented The distinct understanding of the Divine Perfections requiring such intention and purity of Mind such a concurrence of circumstances as are competent to very few therefore our Saviour urges the duty of love to God by an Argument that falls under Sense and is easily understood of all that is to say our Relation to God Thou shalt love the Lord thy God Though God is infinitely perfect yet he vouchsased to impart his likeness and form a relation to himself that he might exercise his Goodness upon us and make us happy First in our Creation in the Dignity Liberty and Ingenuity of our Nature acting as God freely and for the sake of ends understanding clearly loving regularly capable of Arts Philosophy Policy and Religion and are sure to live for ever Secondly in our Redemption when we so foolishly desire to be independent and did what lay in us to cast off our Relation to God then God that knew our infirmities pitied our follies and redeemed us by the blood of his Son from the captivity of sin from our miserable servitude under the Tyranny of our selves our irregular lusts and passions and restored us to the rectitude of our Will to the Love and Obedience of himself again Thirdly in His particular Care and Providence The Government of God is managed by infinite Wisdom And though all his benefits are not bestowed upon every man yet if we rightly judge we shall find they are dispensed with an equal and impartial hand If one has riches another has health if one has external honour another has a good reputation if one has strength another has wit Every man for the most part has some particular happiness in his own condition sufficient to ballance his wants Thou shalt therefore love the Lord thy God What therefore now remains Vse but that we resolve to determine our Affections which are never idle never indifferent upon this most perfect Object of whom our opinion shall never vary our desire shall never cool enjoyment never clog where our reception shall be gracious and our passion encouraged whose kindness is immutable and whose Love is Operative It is Strength in Difficulties in Hazards Wisdom in Temptations Victory in Distress a Refuge in Fears a Support in Death everlasting Life to which of his Mercy may He bring us all for Jesus Christ his sake the Righteous To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be ascribed all Honour Praise and Obedience now and for evermore Amen Matth. xxii 39 40. 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 THE Pharisees envying the Fame of our Saviour's Wisdom and fearing the success of his doctrine and the revolt of the Jews V. 15. took counsel together how they might intangle him in his talk and resolved upon a Question of State to be propos'd unto him Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar or not V. 17. To which they knew a direct and positive answer would either betray him into the high dipleasure of the King or at least into the hatred of the Potent Faction of Herodians But our Saviour who knew their thoughts defeated their malice by such a prudent and inoffensive answer as neither Party could except against viz. Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesars V. 22. and unto God the things that are God's and when they heard these words they marvelled and left him and went their way V. 23. and the same day the Sadducees came to him also who indeed believe no future state at all but they dissembled their opinion for the present and pretended to consult our Saviour as if they sincerely desired his Judgment in a case concerning the Resurrection of the dead but in truth with intent to expose the doctrine it self Namely if a Woman have seven Husbands upon Earth V. 28. in the Resurrection whose of the seven shall she be In answer to which our Saviour corrects their false and gross opinion of the future life and shows them their ignorance of the state of the question they proposed For in the Resurrection they neither marry V. 30. nor are given in marriage and thus with the same most perfect wisdom he astonishes the multitude V. 33 34. and put the Sadducees to silence too Last of all a Lawyer having heard of the wisdom of our Saviour that he had put the Sadducees to silence and was able to answer all the doubts and Questions concerning the life to come inquires of our Saviour under the style of Master V. 36. Which is the great Commandment Jesus saith unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind This is the First and the Great Commandment 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 Which words are a general Account of the Way and Method whereby we may attain everlasting life of such a conversation and course of action here as will procure to us everlasting blessedness in the World to come And all the duties qualities and habits which are required of us as conditions of Eternal life are comprehended by our Saviour under these Two Heads The first respects our duty towards God Thou shalt love the Lord thy God c. The second respects our duty towards our Neighbour in the words of my Text 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 In the handling of this useful and necessary Argument I shall confine my Discourse to this following Method First I shall explain the nature of the duty and consider what is understood by loving our Neighbour as our selves Secondly I shall illustrate the beauty and necessity of universal love and urge it upon your practice by several Arguments couch'd and implied in these words Thy Neighbor Thirdly I shall represent the likeness of this command to the former that of love to God in several Particulars and the second is like unto it Fourthly I shall consider upon what Accounts the Law and the Prophets are said to depend upon these two On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets Fifthly and Lastly I shall make Application of the Whole I begin with the first of these viz. the explication of the duty what is understood by Loving our Neighbour as our selves and that I may proceed more clearly I shall briefly consider these Three Things First Who we are to understand by our Neighbour Secondly What by Loving our Neighbour Thirdly What by Loving our Neighbour as our selves And first by our
Neighbour the object of the duty we understand the whole Society of humane Kind every Man that lives Amongst the Jews indeed this word was never understood to comprehend the Gentiles but however it was used indifferently for any Israelite as in the Ninth Commandment Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour Exod. 20. and again Thou shalt not stand against the life of thy Neighbour Lev. 19.18 that is of any Jew though not of any Man for they hated the Gentiles and esteemed them accursed But under the dispensation of the Gospel our Charity is inlarged to every individual Person over the face of the whole Earth and therefore our Saviour declares expresly that the good Samaritan was Neighbour to the Jew that was wounded St. Luke 12.38 And St. Paul reciting this very passage Rom. 13.8 changes the word Neighbour for that of Another a word of the most indefinite signification of any that is used He that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law for all duties are comprehended in this saying namely V. 9. Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self This for the object of the duty our Neighbour every man I proceed as I proposed in the second place to consider the nature of the duty it self What it is and when a Man may be said to love his Neighbour And forasmuch as all Mankind are made the object of our love it would be absurd to explain the nature of that love by such intimate acts of affection and desire as arise from a chosen friendship or a near Relation but our definition of universal Love ought to be very general that it may be practicable in the utmost and the true extent thereof as a duty that reaches to the farthest corners of the Earth and is exercised upon Persons and Countreys we never saw or heard of as well as upon those with whom we do converse To love our Neighbour then or the whole Society of Humane nature wheresoever dispersed and scattered about the World is sincerely and heartily to desire and wish the happiness of every Man to be contented and pleased that our Brethren should share with us in all the blessings and advantages we are capable of enjoying to promote our own particular good with safety and regard to the interest of the whole In a word to Love our Neighbour is to prosecute a publick interest to consent and assist with all our hearts in the mutual good of one another That is the Second I proceed in the Third Place to consider what we are to understand by Loving our Neighbour as our selves To Love our Neighbour is the Duty to love our Neighbour as our selves is the Rule or measure in the practice of it or the qualification with vvhich it ought to be exercised And there cannot surely be a better or a more easie copy proposed to our Imitation A Rule that is so streight and perfect in it self and impossible to be mistaken by us self-Self-love is the first and most evident principle of our being every man understands and feels the nature of it how sincere and pure it is how vigorous and strong how constant and immoveable But thus are we enjoyned by our Saviour to love our Neighbour even as our selves with the same most ardent desires with the same sincere endeavours to divert impendent evils and procure all possible good to others as we would do to our selves This in general More particularly I shall consider the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as thy self in a double sense First as obliging us to an intire and perfect Love that we have a regard to all our Neighbours interests that we love him in the same extent and latitude that we love our selves Secondly as obliging us to love him after the same manner that we love our selves to pursue his good with the same affections and dispositions of mind that we find in our selves in the prosecution of our own First to Love our Neighbour as our selves implies a perfect and intire affection to all his several interests that we love him in the same extent and latitude that we love our selves All our possibilities of happiness are contain'd and comprehended in these four particulars viz. our Soul our Life our Estate and Reputation Every man has a tender respect for these it is the business of our Lives and the object of our Reason to become as happy in all these several capacities as we can no man chuses folly or iniquity disgrace or poverty diseases or death simply and under the proper notion of them but according to our measure of knowledge and the opinion that we have of things we endeavour to avoid them as evil and procure the good that is contrary thereunto Wherefore then to love our Neighbour as our selves according to this interpretation of the words is to desire his good as we do our own in all his several capacities to be really pleased with his happiness in any of his interests and ready to assist him according to our power First in the interest of his Soul a man of universal Charity envyes no mans parts or Vertue but is delighted with the Image of God wheresoever he discerns it with the rays of Wisdom and Righteousness which are scattered amongst men He is troubled for the wickedness of the wicked passionately sensible of the horrid consequences of their proceedings his eyes with David run down with tears because men keep not the Law of God He is ready to communicate his Knowledge to give his Counsel to instruct the ignorant to recal the erring to reprove the foolish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Paul says of himself Not seeking his own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved To love our Neighbour as our selves implies a regard to his Life his Estate and Property A man of universal Charity is not only just to all men ◠Thes 4.6 not defrauding or oppressing his Neighbour in any matter Neither is he indifferent only to his Neighbours interest doing no unhandsom thing to any man but he positively seeks and studies his Neighbours weal. He rejoyceth at any opportunity of doing kindnesses to men he receives and addresses the complaints of the Oppressed visits the Sick cloaths the Naked feeds the Hungry he is ready to distribute Rom. 12. and is given to hospitality According to S. Paul's description of a Charitable man 1 Cor. 13. to which we shall have a particular respect in our present disquisition v. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Charity seeks not his own is not circumscribed within the narrow compass of his own advantage is not frozen into dry sterility but fruitful and abounding in acts of Mercy and Beneficence He considers himself as a member of the one Society of humane Nature and therefore as a partner with all the World he prosecutes a publick interest is glad of the prosperity of those above him obliging by all the arts of Civility and handsome conversation
and cold in his own pursuits We think no pains too great we leave no stone unturn'd we grudge no present self-denial in the prosecution of our own designs Thus also thou shalt love thy Neighbour even as thy self with fervency of affection with a Zeal for his Good It is not a tender expression a friendly wish an unwilling word a cold essay that fulfils the duty but a chearful service ready motions effectual assistances that we be patient to hear and willing to understand and be concern'd in a case that is worthy of us that we lay it to our heart and put it forward according to discretion by our counsel our friend our person our purse as the occasion may require for thus we love our selves with passion and solicitude Thirdly With constancy and everlasting affection self-Self-love can never abate or cool every Man pursues what he thinks to be good to the last it is a natural principle an essential property of our Being which can never be extinguished But thus are we obliged to love our Neighbour even as our selves all the days of our life This duty of universal love is never perfected It is not enough that we have been useful and beneficial in some particular instance but we must never stop never contract our selves never imagine that we have paid this debt of universal Charity but so long as we have ability and opportunity so long as we have objects before us that is so long as we live we must dilate and expatiate our selves to the benefit of our Neighbour for Thou shalt love him as thy self as well in all the several instances wherein thou lovest thy self as with the same affections and dispositions of thy mind with tenderness and passion with fervency and Zeal with steddiness and constancy And thus as briefly as I could I have explained the duty of universal Love and by comparing the temper of our Souls and the course of our conversation with the rules and measures I have now laid down we may know infallibly whether we are endowed with this grace of Charity or no whether we love our neighbour as our selves Are we pleased with the practice of Vertue or any worthy quality wheresoever we discern it or rather are not the infirmities nay the debaucheries of Men our delight and sport Do we govern our desires and aimes by the rules of equity and love Do we use no tricks no mines no unhandsome arts to circumvent another Are we content that every Man should prosper and be happy Are we ready for every good work Do the Loins of the poor bless us Job 31.20 are they warmed with the fleeces of our wool Job 31.20.22.22 Do we govern our Authority over inferiour Men with Justice Do we not trouble our own flesh Prov. 11.17 Do we not rob the poor because he is poor and oppress the afflicted in the gate May it not be said of us as Solomon complains Eccles 4.1 On the side of the oppressor there was power but the oppressed had no Comforter Are we willing to discern and praise the vertues of our Neighbour and to hide his faults Can we chearfully hear the Commendation of another and not embase the Character by some malicious insinuation Does not our Soul desire evil Pro. 21.10 and does our neighbour find any favour in our eyes Are we civil and ingenuous in our Carriage towards all Are we meek and approachable sincere and plain gentle and easie to be intreated Are we never weary of well doing never discouraged by our own mistakes in objects by the tricks and deceits that may sometimes be put upon us by the ingratitude of those we have obliged or the disappointments of those from whom we had expectation by the errours that a Zealous Charity may run into or the censures of unworthy Men to which it may sometimes be exposed Do we centre in a sense of Duty and the sincerity of our principle and design resolving never to look back or faint but persevere in a steddy course of universal Charity to the end This is to love thy neighbour as thy self And so I proceed as I proposed in the second place to perswade you to the practice of this duty of universal Charity by certain motives and encouragements couched and implied in these words Thy neighbour We are obliged to prosecute a publick interest to be kind and compassionate to all because we are neighbours and that implies First The Necessity of the thing To love our neighbour as our selves is our real Interest because of our Cohabitation and necessary converse with one another No affection or property of humane nature is more evident than a disposition to Society Our innate impresses of natural Affection Goodness and Compassion our passions of Desire and Love our abilities of inventing useful Art our faculty of Speech which is peculiar to Man and what only serves the purposes of Society do all suppose it and the impotence and inability of man in a loose and separate state to perfect his capacities to satisfie his natural desires nay to support and defend his life demonstrate it But without an hearty consent in the mutual good of one another without policy and a publick interest Society would be dangerous and useless black and uncomfortable solitude our only refuge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reason without Goodness is mischievous subtlety and would prove the greatest instrument of evil in the World The fierceness of the Leopard and the strength of the Lyon would not be so dreadful as the understanding of Rational Nature devoid of Justice Every man would be against his Brother our life would be a state of war a continual hostility Here an attempt by force there by subtlety and circumvention every where distrust and fears guards and preparations of defence So that according to the Principles of our Nature and the design of our Being we are one Society one interest one common happiness is amongst us all And no man that separates himself from the Community and proposeth with himself to stand on his own legs and acquire whatsoever pleases him by any means without respect to others can ever prosper or be safe because he can never hope to be endured Every man has a tender respect for his Life his Honour and his Interest which whensoever they are forcibly invaded will provoke him to retaliate the injury No man can expect with reason to be treated more civilly himself than he treats his neighbour Such a conceit is Vanity there is no foundation for such a deference in Nature but he raises the whole Society against himself and how he should acquit himself in such an unequal combat is not easie to imagine And therefore Qui se amat hunc alios sic amare Epist 6. Lips in Loc. says Seneca nec sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo He that loves himself will love his neighbour and consider himself as born for the benefit of the
World He that hates his brother says S. John 1 Ep. 2.11 walks in darkness but he that loves his brother abideth in the light The Metaphor of light and darkness signifies the knowledge or ignorance of our interest the selfish man is as wretched as those who are blind or travel in the dark exposed to grievous evils dangerous precipices sharp and rugged ways But he that loveth his brother abideth in the light acts wisely proceeds with confidence and good success lives safely and securely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is no danger of his stumbling of his offending others or being himself offended The Second motive to universal Love and Charity couch'd and implyed in these words thy Neighbour is the propriety in and the relation that we have to one another He is thy Neighbour All Mankind are of the same extraction and original sons of the same God Vno patre conditi unâ matre tanquam fratres uterini editi as the Father speaks S. Ambrose stamped with the same Divine Image equally inspirited with the breath of God The meanest man in the world agrees with him that is the greatest in that that is truly Great and Noble in him his Reason and Understanding Wherefore then since we are all children of the same Family and which is more professors of the same most holy Faith Citizens with the Saints of the houshold of Faith Eph. 2.19 Nay farther since our union is more intimate and we are members one of another Eph. 4.25 we ought to love as brethren to sympathize as parts of the same body to be easily touch'd with a sense of each others evils forasmuch as the case of our Neighbour is in a moral sense our own and we are stupid if we neglect it There is something of our selves in every man the same Divine Principle inlivens us the same blood runs in all our veins We have therefore a propriety a real interest in one another So that to love thy Neighbour is indeed to love thy self That is the second Thirdly From the necessity of a publick spirit in order to our Happiness and from the Relation that we stand in to our Neighbour arises another motive to universal Charity namely the beauty the harmony and the pleasure of the thing Whatsoever actions necessarily tend to the good of man and are agreeable to the Laws and impressions of humane Nature must of necessity be full of ease and pleasure The Soul exults and enjoys her self in the practice of them as her proper acts and operations As on the other hand an irrational course of proceeding is unnatural and therefore a violence to our frame and constitution as poyson or the sharpest pains are to the body But to love our Neighbour as our selves is not so properly a rational act a thing that is fit to be done as Reason it self our essential difference our very form To pursue the satisfaction of naturai desires by strength by craft or by any means is the property of Beings meerly sensitive But there is no other notion of humane Nature than that of making a distinction of actions nor of Rational Ends but Good nor of Good but publick Interest And therefore universal Love or a regard to others as well as to our selves is the perfection of our Being For let our distinctions otherwise be never so many or so great yet if our Will by nature be unbounded there is no Essential difference between us and Brutes Hence Love according to St. John is the very definition of God himself who is the standard of Rational perfection 1 Joh. 4.8 Beloved Let us love one another for God is Love How easie then would all Men be in this their most Divine and perfect state What a confidence would Love create what delight what trust what assurance what a free and chearful intercourse No Man would be diffident of his Neighbour as averse to his interest or cross him as an enemy but we should enjoy the unvaluable blessings of society with ease and peace But a Man of a shrivell'd narrow spirit that is wholly resolved into himself proceeds against universal Law and Right Rows against the stream with difficulty and fear with perplexity and danger he cannot live alone and yet he can never be sure of the good will of those with whom he must converse he is always practising hypocrisie and must accomplish himself with arts of disguise and tricks of deceit that undiscern'd which is impossible he may deceive the World He is under a perpetual constraint in the management of his conversation for fear he should be betrayed into that shame confusion and hazard which attend the detection of base designs and which they deserve who depart from this Royal Law of Love thy Neighbour as thy self a Law which in the practice of it would put a new face upon the World would banish gnawing cares and angry fears and give sincerity and chearfulness to every countenance There could be no misery amongst Men. We should all be happy in one another and anticipate that concord harmony and love which are supposed to constitute the joys of Heaven And thus I have explain'd the duty of universal Love and considered the beauty and necessity thereof from the words Thy Neighbour Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self It now remains that I should represent the likeness of this Command to the former that of Love to God and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self First In the nature of the duty they both oblige us to the same office of Love Secondly In extent and amplitude they are both comprehensive duties the former containing all the severals of the first the latter of the second Table Thirdly In that they suppose and are predicated of each other He that loveth God will love his Brother also 1 Joh. 4.20 As Philo truly says of moral vertues in the general they follow and are linked together As also Lastly I should have considered both the construction and the reason of this expression On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They consent and agree with these St. Paul interprets the word by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 13.9 If there be any other Commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self This is the end the scope and the design of the Law and the Prophets All the Precepts of the Jewish and the Christian Religion have their ground and existence in these two and into these they are finally resolved out of these universals flow all the particulars of both Religions And therefore for a Conclusion of the whole I shall only pray to God Vse that he would affect our minds with a sense of his goodness to us who has given us a Religion so easie to be learn'd and understood If we heartily believe the Being of a God we cannot but desire his favour and to
corrupt affections from every evil habit that is contrary to his Holy nature to his most pure and righteous Law that you may serve and worship him with some degrees of knowledge and with a sincere and perfect heart then you may assure your self that you are worthy to receive that your Devotion will be accepted and your Offering rewarded that you shall have Grace and assistance from above to grow better and better till you come to be perfect in Christ Jesus The sum of all is this the Minister by the command and in the name of God exhibits and offers the blessings of the Gospel to the Communicants and they by receiving the outward signs thereof profess themselves the Disciples of our Lord that they believe his Doctrine trust in his Mediation hope in his Promises and are resolved to live according to his Laws He then who is sincere in these his professions and resolutions receives worthily and he who presents himself in such a solemn manner at the Holy Sacrament making and being understood to make profession of his Christian Faith and a solemn dedication of himself to the obedience thereof for ever when at the same time he neither understands it regards it or designs to practise it is an Hypocrite a Prophaner 1 Cor. â— 27 a Blasphemer of God and therefore eats and drinks damnation to himself incurs the high displeasure of God and may therefore expect that the Judgments of God should follow him For for this cause many are sick and weak among you and many are fallen asleep as S. Paul interprets the damnation spoken of before v. 30. Par. Sir I thank you with all mine heart and if I be not too tedious to you give me leave to ask you one question more before I go Min. Pray ask me what you will for I assure you I am mightily pleas'd to find you so inquisitive Par. What is the reason then since as I understand by you a disposition to every Christian Grace is requisite in a worthy Communicant that the Rubrick â—re the â—â—munâ—ice and all Divines insist in a particular manner upon Love and Charity reconciling and being reconciled to our enemies Min. It is well observed they do so yet not as exclusive of any other duties But indeed there is all the reason in the world to remind our Communicants in a more particular manner of the duties of Love and universal Charity First Because the Religion of our Blessed Saviour which we here so solemnly profess is founded in Love and Mercy in the most perfect and ineffable goodness which moved Almighty God by the mediation of our Blessed Saviour to offer easie terms of Pardon Peace assistance and eternal Life to all that should embrace them 1 Joh. â— 10 Joh. 3 1â— Rom. 5. â— For He loved us when we were yet his enemies and sent his only begotten son into the world that whosoever would but believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life And therefore malice hatred envy and evil will are dispositions radically contrary to Christianity such as render us utterly unfit to have any thing to do with the solemn rites of this Religion Moreover secondly The Religion it self that Christian Law which we here profess to embrace and resolve to practise is a Law of Love Universal Charity is the principle and life of our Religion which influences the whole and mingles it self with every part thereof insomuch that it is distinguished and describ'd by this single Grace of Love â—om 13.9 â—al 5.14 â—att 22 â—9 â— Joh. 3.9.23 For love is the fulfilling of the law saith S. Paul And Hereby sayes S. John speaking of Love we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him And this is his commandment that we believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us Commandment So that all our professions of Faith and Obedience at the Holy Table are a prophanation of the name of God and wholly ineffectual to us so long as the temper of our minds and the dispositions of our Souls are contrary to the Religion we profess For unless Christ be in us Cor. 13. says S. Paul that is the Spirit of Christ the Goodness Love Meekness Compassion Patience Forbearance Condescension of Him and his Religion We are reprobates Malice indeed is an indication of a Diabolick Nature of a mind throughly vicious and degenerate It is a temper wholly inconsistent with a true principle of Christianity For in this the children of God are manifest 1 Joh. 3 10. and the Children of the Devil whosoever doth not Righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his Brother Again There is a particular fitness and congruity in forgiving injuries and reconciling enemies to the tenor and intention of the Holy Sacrament God is there exhibited as willing to be reconciled to repenting sinners He there renews and revives his Covenant of Grace and Mercy to us Does not reason then that is to say the Law of our Nature and the eternal immutable Law of reasonable Beings require of us that we in our capacity should do the same How can we expect that from another which in the change of circumstances we are not willing to do Therefore Matt. 7.12 if thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Which words though they are spoken by our Saviour with immediate respect to the Peace-Offerings for the Atonement of sins yet the reason holds in all our addresses to God for pardon and has been generally applied by Divines to the Holy Sacrament Here in especial manner we pray for and expect his Mercy But is it reasonable to hope for such a favour at the hands of God unless we are willing to give satisfaction to our power for the injuries we have done to others and are ready to forgive offences against our selves Our very nature will rebuke such a vain presumption And our Saviour has expresly taught us in the Parable of the Lord and his steward that a readiness to forgive our enemies is indispensably necessary in order to the pardon of our own miscarriages The Lord forgave his steward a vast debt but he forgetting the goodness of his Lord to him sues and seizes his debtors and fellow servants for trivial sums Wherefore his Lord was wroth Matt. 18. ult and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him So likewise says our Saviour shall my heavenly father do to you if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses Nay he has taught us to acknowledge the reasonableness of it in our daily prayer Matt. 6. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us He
and resolved themselves into the guidance of another whose Law is immoveably perfect and the same to every particular person There must be therefore an Universal and intire consent in their opinions desires and course of life as being derived from one and the same unalterable Law Iph. 4.15 They grow up into him in all things says St. Paul which is the head even Christ. And thus the unity of all sincere and faithful Christians with Christ and with one another may be easily understood of all and yet it is as real as strict and proper as the Metaphor in the Text before us by which it is exprest namely the unity of innumerable Particles of Flower by the balm or leaven which pervades and binds them all in one Lump or Loaf For we being many are one body and one bread V. 17. for we are all partakers of that one bread The Conclusion then is this that if all the faithful Christians upon earth are as the several parts of the same loaf if they are members one of another if they receive their vital influence from the same root 1 Cor. 12.20 if they are moved and acted by the same principle then we ought that is we must we can do no other than love one another intirely no love like that which sympathy and consent of will creates or to speak more properly love is not the creature of sympathy and consent but sympathy and consent of Will are Love they are the thing it self they cannot be distinguished And therefore without Charity without intire and perfect Love amongst our selves we cannot be united to Christ we cannot have eaten his Body or drunk his Blood The Elements will be no more to such as these nay less than common bread and wine We cannot be the members of the mystical body of Christ so long as we are separated from one another by the least degree of malice and evil will for no man ever hated his own flesh He then that loves not 1 Joh. 4 8. knows not God has no true principle of Religion for God is love Upon all these accounts it is that the Holy Sacrament has been always esteemed a token of Vnity a bond of Charity and a symbol of peace and concord And hence it was that in former times the Communicants brought their Offerings to the Minister Fruits of the earth or any Viands for entertainment which when the Sacrament was ended were eaten as a common feast by all degrees and ranks promiscuously without respect to place or quality And this was the feast of Charity â— Pet. 2.13 mentioned by S. Jude v. 12. and was concluded with a kiss in token of entire and perfect friendship But these pure and innocent Ceremonies being soon abused were afterwards disused Nevertheless we have something like them still continued in our Church namely in the Collection that is ordinarily made for the poor and after the Communion in eating and drinking what remains of the Consecrated Elements in the Church Rubr. without distinction of persons but as the custom is the meanest persons are invited to be the chief partakers of it Par. Sir I hope I understand you and I am heartily glad that I did not receive before I was instructed and I find upon the matter that it requires both time and retirement to prepare our selves as we ought to do and the first time more especially but I will endeavour by God's assistance to follow your directions Min. You have made a very good inference from our whole discourse the reason of the action and the solemnity of this most sacred Ordinance the several parts of our Religion which it has respect to require a very strict examination of our Knowledge Repentance Affections purposes and desires that so our apprehensions of the thing and the intention of our mind may bear a proportion to the outward action to the design the words and the gestures of the service Our devotion as you have heard is to be exercised upon every part of Christianity our particular defects are here to be bewailed the several graces of Faith Hope and Love universal Love towards God and Man are to be exerted in this solemnity and therefore it is very necessary to withdraw our selves from the world and retire into our selves some time before we receive That we may recollect the principles and the duties the blessings and the promises of our Religion that we may examine the state of our Soul what necessary Article of Faith we doubt of or do not understand what evil habit remains unmortified or is most unwilling to be subdued what is the sin that so easily besets us that has the advantage of our natural complexion violent inclination or present profit what methods we have taken or may take for the future to subdue it what improvements we have made since we last received and how we have kept our resolutions That we may sufficiently bewail our failings and take pleasure and satisfaction in our proficiency That we may excite and stir up our devotions by proper Meditations These are weighty matters yet very necessary and therefore require a previous consideration But to say how long how many hours or days or weeks a man ought to spend in Meditation and Prayer before he may presume to receive or to what degree of Knowledge and Virtue he must attain is both impossible and unnecessary Do you but remember that competent knowledge and great integrity with an hearty desire to grow in Grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 3.18 is the true preparation of the Soul and you shall be able with Sobriety to judge for your self He that wants this is not fit to receive but he that is thus qualified is a worthy Communicant though his knowledge may not be so distinct and clear or his virtues so shining and perfect as some other Christians possibly may be Has not God encouraged persons of weak Faith and a frail virtue provided it be true to hope for his acceptance Aatt 12.20 For he will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax says our Saviour that is he will support it and inflame it by the influences of his Grace if we have but the first beginnings of Holiness an hearty liking of it and desire after it he will nourish it and bring it to perfection Aatt 7.7.5.6 For to them that knock it shall be opened They that ask shall have They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled No man therefore that is inquisitive to know and sincere in practice has any reason to be discouraged For the Grace and assistance which God has promised he bestows and infuses into the hearts of men as by the immediate influences of his Spirit upon the Soul so especially through his Word and Sacraments It is certain we cannot be too well prepared but we may be too scrupulous about the degrees of Knowledge
do with me whatsoever pleases Thee Though Thou shouldst slay me yet will I trust in Thee I throw my self into the Arms of Thy mercy beseeching Thee to lay no more upon me than Thou shalt enable me to bear 1 Cor. 10.13 and all I beg upon the alone Account of the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ my Lord and only Saviour Amen A Prayer for Protection with Thanksgiving O Eternal God! Thou art the Almighty Father of the world I was created by thy Power and am preserved by thy Wisdom and Goodness I am truly sensible of Thy particular Grace and favour towards me in all the periods and states of life thro' which I have passed * Mention here the particular blessings of your condition whether in pious Parents or in hopeful Children prosperous estate faithful friends bountiful benefactors good busband discreet or virtuoâ— wife c. O blessed God affect my mind as it ought to be with a sense of thy bounty and beneficence that I may rely upon Thy Providence for the time to come that I may be wholly resign'd to Thy most blessed Will and fully satisfied under all Thy dispensations towards me Endue me O Lord with all those gifts and graces that may enable me to acquit my self as I ought to do in all the conditions of life which thou shalt be pleased to call me to open mine understanding rectifie mine errors quicken my diligence strengthen my faith and with my capacities inlarge my Charity that Thou mayst still continue to be gracious to me to direct my Counsel to preserve my health to guide my hand and to bless me in all my ways and works thro' Jesus Christ our Lord in whose most holy name and words I conclude mine imperfect prayers saying Our Father c. THE END Matth. xxii 37 38 39. Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind This is the first and great Commandment And the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self THE Immortality of the Soul and a future state of Bliss or Misery according as our actions in the flesh have been good or evil are the common Notions the indeleble Opinions the universal expectation of Mankind And therefore a distinct and perfect knowledge of Religion or of such an Institution of Faith and Manners as will certainly be accepted of God procure his favour here and everlasting blessedness in the Life to come is a matter of the highest concernment to us No reasonable Man that believes a future Judgment with the consequent Rewards and Punishments can find any peace or contentment in his Mind till by a clear understanding of his duty and a firm resolution to fulfil it he has founded to himself a rational hope of a happy life in the other World But though the thing it self has been always steddily believed yet a consistent regular account of this future Life was never stated nor the methods by which it might certainly be obtained which so much concerns us discovered to the World till the light of the Gentiles and the glory of Israel appeared to give us the knowledge of Salvation Even the Jews had no distinct and clear conception of the Life to come The opinions of the Pharisees themselves concerning it who were the most zealous assertors of it were very absurd and sensual insomuch that Josephus compares the heaven of the Phanisees to that of the Greeks who dream'd of fortunate Islands replenished with all imaginable delights of the Body quick and more curious appetites and more perfect objects of satisfaction But by the Ministry of our Blessed Saviour Life and Immortality are brought to light proposed intelligibly and asserted with Divine Authority Hence the Pharisees having heard of the Wisdom of our Saviour that he had put the Sadducees to silence cleared the Doctrine of the Resurrection and was able to answer all the doubts and questions concerning the life to come sent a Lawyer from amongst themselves V. 35. to make an experiment of his Judgment who enquires of our Saviour under the style of Master Which is the great Commandment Jesus said unto him Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and thy neighbour as thy self The Text is a general Account of the way and method whereby we may attain everlasting life of such a conversation and course of action here as will procure to us everlasting blessedness in the world to come And all the Duties Qualities and Habits which are required of us as conditions of Eternal life are comprehended by our Saviour under these Two Heads The first respects our duty towards God Thou shalt love the Lord thy God c. The second respects our duty towards our Neighbour Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self I begin with the first of these which respects our Duty towards God Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind This is the first and great Commandment And in the handling of this copious Argument I shall confine my thoughts to this following Method First I shall explain the terms and give you a more general account of the nature of the duty and the Principles into which it is resolved Secondly I shall consider the particular parts the necessary acts and exercises of Love to God First With all the Heart and with all the Soul And Secondly With all the Mind Thirdly I shall consider upon what Accounts the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul and with all the Mind may be said to be the First and Great Commandment Fourthly I shall perswade and encourage you to the practice of this duty and the pursuit of this habit of Love to God by several motives couched and implied in this one word Thou shalt love the Lord thy God Fifthly and Lastly I shall make Application of the whole I begin with the first of these the Explication of the terms and the consideration of the nature of the duty in the general and the Principles into which it is resolved Thou shalt love the Lord thy God To Love is to take delight and pleasure in the Object with a desire of such an enjoyment of it as the nature of the thing will bear and Reason will permit and the causes or reasons of such Delight and Desire are only two however various the objects about which they are exercised may be namely an opinion of personal excellency in the object it self or a sense of kindness or benefits received from it These are the onely Principles of Love these are the onely causes of all the delight and desire in the world that is voluntary and chosen Persons 't is true may be and very frequently are mistaken in their apprehensions of beauty and goodness whereby this best and most
believe his Word and rely upon his Promises because he is Truth it self and cannot be deceived he is Wisdom it self and cannot propose or promise at adventure he is Power it self and can bring into act whatsoever he decrees He is Goodness it self and neither can nor will deceive us If therefore our Love of God be sincere and with understanding the most intire and perfect confidence in his Word and Promises are necessary We shall inquire into his Will study his Laws submit our apprehensions to his determinations and stedfastly believe whatsoever he reveals If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreams Deut. 13.1 2 3. and giveth you a sign or a wonder and the sign or wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying go after other gods which thou hast not known and serve them thou shalt not hearken to that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord thy God proveth thee to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul The adhering firmly to the Word of God though a Wonder should be wrought in confirmation of a contrary doctrine is made a test of our Love of God by God himself That is the Second The Third particular implied in the Love of God with all the heart and with all the Soul is such an imitation of the Divine Perfections as our present state and capacity will permit Self-love or a desire of being happy and perfect in the kind is the necessary inclination or the first principle of every being And therefore whatsoever Good or excellence we clearly understand as essential to or perfective of our being or conducible to the ease and convenience of our life we cannot chuse but desire the possession of it It is not so properly an act of reason as an instinct of nature But if we love the Lord our God with all our Heart and Soul with sincerity and understanding we shall discern the beauty capacity and perfection of our own nature in the Qualities and the life of the first and most perfect of rational Beings and shall therefore necessarily desire to imitate those Divine vertues which we so adore and love The abstracted essence of God is impossible to be comprehended by a finite understanding but we judge of the Divinity as of all things else by effects and operations by his works of Creation and Providence by his Universal righteousness wisdom purity and goodness so visible in the government of the World If we therefore apprehend and admire these glorious Attributes of God we shall endeavour to transcribe his Copy and model our Souls according to this Exemplar because the resolution of the mind that such a quality is worthy and excellent includes desire and imitation we shall endeavour to be holy as God is holy in all our conversation that as he is so we may be in the World wise in the management of our ends just in our dealings merciful to the distressed ready to forgive our enemies in all things aspiring after the Divine perfections and setting the Life of God before us as the Rule of our Conversation That 's the Third The fourth particular implied in the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul is a constant uniform Obedience to his Will What a chearful flexibility what a readiness to do any thing that may be grateful and pleasant to each other may be observed in the love of equals If therefore love has such a power where the authority is precarious only and by consent how much more will the Love of God oblige us to the most diligent observance of His will forasmuch as the love of our Superiors includes obedience in its nature No man can intirely love a Prince or a Father that does not approve and obey his Precepts and therefore St. John defines the Love of God by keeping his Commandments 1 Joh. 5.3 This is the Love of God that we keep his Commandments We cannot add to infinite perfection we cannot oblige Him in any real services who is already Lord of all there remains therefore no possible testimony of our Love to God without the resignation of our opinions desires and actions to his will This is all we have to offer If a man Love me says our Saviour he will keep my words Joh. 14.23 and he that hath my Commandments and doth them he it is that loves me Would it not be the greatest solecism in love if our friend should prescribe us a method of happiness promise his assistance assure us of success and we should receive it civilly applaud his judgment believe all he says but never proceed to accomplish the methods he proposes Hence those who live in disobedience to the Laws of God are said to hate Him Exod. 20.6 Indeed if we have any true conceptions of the Divine perfections which love supposes we know that God is infinite in wisdom to direct and guide us infinite in goodness and will suit his commands to our abilities full of mercy and compassion and will pity our weakness and pardon our failings If therefore love wheresoever it is sincere is apt to create an extravagant desire of pleasing the object even with the utmost hazard and sometimes by unlawful practices by humouring vices flattering deformities serving the basest ends any thing indeed that they think may gratifie the person How much more will the love of God oblige us to the strictest care and observance of His will because we know that His will is perfect He can command us nothing nor can he be pleased with any thing that is not truly Good He cannot be giddy and inconstant frequish and uncertain humorsome and hard to be pleased as imperfect objects are but He will receive our addresses and accept our services He will enable us to obey him and make the best construction of all our sincere endeavours and at last compleat our love in the everlasting enjoyment of Himself That 's the 4th The last particular implyed in the Love of God with all the heart and with all the Soul is the most hearty sorrow whensoever we shall offend him with an earnest desire to be reconciled Whosoever loves will endeavour to recommend himself by an obliging deportment to the good opinion of the object pursues a kind acceptance waits a sutable return and expects at length the enjoyment of his hopes If therefore he has given any just occasion of Offence by omitting what was necessary to be done or by doing any thing that was contrary to his Pretensions or inconsistent with his Love it must needs affect him with indignation against himself that he should bring his own sincerity into question injure the person whose happiness is his greatest Joy retard his progress towards that end he chiefly aims at and superinduce a Cloud upon that Sun by whose influence he lives Thus also in respect of God if we love him with Understanding we cannot but
pursue his favour and most earnestly desire to be loved again because we know that our Love of God if it be sincere and pure will be returned in the most ravishing delights we know that his Love is Life that it is not an empty Passion but exerted in the most substantial effects and happy instances And therefore that we should have sinned against him must needs be the most insupportable affliction because in proportion to the nature of our offence our chief design of obtaining his favour and the light of his countenance will be hindred and all our work of so great importance may be to begin again And as we shall be deeply sensible of our offence so shall we also be very sollicitous to be reconciled One of the most essential acts of Love is a desire of the good opinion of the object nor is any thing more directly contrary to that Passion than stoutness and indifference No man can sit down and be satisfied under the displeasure of his friend till he has acknowledged his offence dimulced his anger by sutable mediations and all such other acts as reason in his case will suggest unto him Thus as our Love of God will make us very careful to obtain and preserve his favour so shall we also be extremely solicitous in case of offences to be reconciled If our love of God was ever real it can never be withdrawn when once we have understood and have been warmed with the love of God it is not possible in the nature of the thing that we should ever be reduced to indifference for the glory of God is immutable and his Beauty perfect which where they are understood will of necessity both attract and continue Desire and Love as being the only object that can fully delight and satisfie the faculty Neither is this all but we know moreover that we cannot be happy without his Love if He hide his face we are wretched and undone that Impartial Justice towards offenders is as certain an Attribute of God as Infinite Goodness Nothing therefore can discourage us we shall never give over our Confessions and Tears our Vows and Resolutions and the tender of all such satisfactions as are possible for us to make till we have reason to hope that our sins are pardoned and our persons are again received into his favour These are the essential parts the necessary acts of Love to God viz. That we prefer Him to all other objects whatsoever believe his Word and rely upon his Promises imitate his Life and obey his Laws be deeply sorrowful whensoever we offend him and earnestly endeavour to be reconciled All these several expressions are of the essence of Love and flow from the nature of the thing And so I proceed as I proposed in the second place to consider the more perfect exercises of Love to God with all thy Mind Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Mind In the explication of the Words it has been already noted that the Love of God with all the soul is such an adoration of God as proceeds from a sense of the Glories and excellencies of His Being as they are apprehended by reason and inferr'd from his Definition Nature and Operations but the Love of God with all the mind is with a more quick and sensible perception of the Divine perfections with reason improved into a more lively apprehension of the object A young Philosopher shall acknowledge the benefits of frugality suppose or of any other Vertue and shall be able himself to deduce the advantages of it by the rules of Logic and shall believe his deductions to be regular and true But a man of Age and Experience besides what reason suggests from causes to effects has a sense and feeling of the thing he is affected with it it has seized and taken possession of him he is one with the Notion Thus Reason infers the Perfections of God from necessary Principles the Judgment is satisfied and the Will performs such acts as are sutable and consonant to such opinions and apprehensions of the Soul But he whose knowledge has affected his mind not only knows believes and acts accordingly but he has also a more quick and sensible perception and enjoyment of the Divine Perfections by an inexplicable agreement harmony and delight he is one with them ravished and overcome of Desire and Love And the particular acts implied in the Love of God with all the Mind are chiefly Three The first is frequent Meditation and a due intention of the Mind upon the beauty and excellencies of the object This is both an act and a cause of the love of God with all the Mind Where our affections are fixed there all our faculties will be employed Love therefore will provoke us to the meditation of God and Meditation will improve our Knowledge and perfect our Love For since it is impossible to discover a blemish in absolute perfection the more we pry into Him the more of necessity we shall love him Whosoever then is affected sensibly and in his Mind with the love of God will separate considerable portions of his time for the contemplation of the Divine Perfections He will abstract his mind from sensible things that it may be purer and more free more apt to apprehend more easily impressed by objects Divine and Spiritual Nothing hinders our clearer Knowledge and more ardent love of God but the prepossession of our affections by the beauty and goodness of the World These we converse with these we admire and court but as for the infinite perfections of God we believe them as the Doctrine of the Church and hope to enjoy them through the merits of Christ according to the Tradition of the Fathers We resolve that God is incomprehensible as indeed He is and therefore we never endeavour to find out so much of his beauty as by a due disposition of Soul without revelation or ecstasie we might Whereas if our lives were more retired castigate and sober our spirits would be purer our minds more quick and vigorous objects Divine and Spiritual would be more agreeable more easily felt and enjoyed by us It were easie to consider particulars and show how a due intention of mind upon the attributes of God will more sensibly affect us Do we adore Him for so much of his Infinite Goodness as appears at the first view in the general or towards our selves How much more should we be affected if we look it round and consider throughly this perfection of the will of God That God who is Omnipotent and under no controle should be bounded in his Will by the Laws of Goodness Righteousness and Mercy That He should vouchsafe to communicate his own likeness and subject the whole Creation to the use and convenience of Man that He should love us when we were his enemies and restore our corrupted nature to its first integrity by the passion of his only Son That He should still follow us
with kindness wait to be gracious not easily provoked longer before He punishes That his love to Man should be equal and universal but managed with the most perfect wisdom diffused more warm and lively where it is necessary withdrawn and eclips'd as the temper of the subject may require it and all this without any cause or motive from without himself but it is the pure effort and energy of his own nature no sudden passion to beget it no slight mistaken injury no pride or envy to withdraw it but goodness sincere and pure equal and impartial exerted with the most perfect wisdom towards the whole Creation from the beginning of the world till time shall be no more O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Goodness of God! These depths and these riches of his goodness are not to be understood but by a due intention of the mind But whosoever thus exerts his Mind his utmost self in the contemplation of God will love Him with his Mind too because Desire and Love are always equal to our knowledge That is the First The Second particular implied in the Love of God with all our Mind is the Highest and most extreme Delight in such conversation with Him and enjoyment of Him as is sutable to our present state Desire of conversation with the object is a necessary act of Love The nearer we approach it the more we expect to be pleased and when once we have attained to an intimate conversation then all our previous passion and desire is perfected We now enjoy the object in continual assurances of mutual affection we communicate our hopes and fears our Joys and griefs we consult advise and assist each other and this indeed was the end at first proposed Thus also in respect of God wheresoever the Glories of his nature are apprehended there the humble profession of our Love the desire of his acceptance the discovery of our needs the opening of our hearts the imploring his assistance the expression of our passion in Hallelujahs and Songs of Praise will follow of necessity Where these are wanting there can be no opinion of the Goodness and Omniscience of the Wisdom and Power of God But if our love of God be with all the Mind with a more quick sensation of these perfections acts of Religion will be our greatest pleasure our most ravishing Delight For by these we converse with that invisible Majesty we adore receive returns and pledges of his love assurances of his favour and encouragement in our choice That 's the Second The last particular act implied in the love of God with all the Mind is a fervent desire of perfect union with Him and the Everlasting Fruition of Him Desire of the most intimate union according as the object is capable of being enjoyed is a necessary part of love And in respect of God there is no one thing that the Scriptures do more plainly assert and inculcate than the union of pious Men with God Good men are said to be joyned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 glued to the Lord and to be one spirit to dwell in Christ to put on Christ to be as closely united as the Vine and branches as husband and wife as the foundation and the building as the Soul and body Finally as God and our blessed Saviour for so our Saviour prays Joh 17.21 that those whom thou hast given me may be One as thou Father art in me and I in Thee that they also may be one in us May be one in us not essentially or hypostatically but in the consent of their will in likeness of disposition temper and design as if they were acted by the same Principle and in this the proper unity of Souls consists And thus our Saviour explains the Unity of Believers with himself by bringing forth the fruits of righteousness John 15.15 Indeed the effects of this Union the delights and pleasures which fill the minds of those who are thus united to God are ineffable and therefore according to S. Paul Eph. 5.32 it is a great mystery Whosoever therefore loves the Lord his God with all his mind with clearer knowledge and more pure desire will be impatient of a perfect Vnion of the most full and satisfying fruition of God in Heaven The more we know of God the more our Souls will desire him because he is absolutly perfect and therefore we are sure to be for ever entertained with fresh discoveries of Beauty and Glory Enjoyment will inflame our desire till our Souls shall be wholly resolved into the object O how despicable will all the World appear even Lise it self in comparison of a more perfect participation of the Divine Nature How earnestly shall we expect till our Knowledge shall be improved into its utmost capacity that we may see him face to face How shall we long for such a compleat enjoyment as shall not be allayed by infirmities and sins by temptations and despondencies by natural corruptions and impure affections but continue for ever vigorous and fruitful constant and indissoluble And as these higher and more perfect degrees of Knowledge and desire ought to be pursued as a duty so they are sometimes bestowed upon the diligent and sincere as a reward God is pleased to manifest himself unto them to raise their desires and refresh them with returns of his Love and cause them to drink of the rivers of His pleasure But if we never attain to this more spiritual frame if our minds through worldly impediments shall never be improved into a distinct and clear perception of the Attributes of God Yet if our love of God be with competent knowledge and great sincerity if it be fruitful in the necessary acts of Imitation Faith Obedience and the rest it will be rewarded and made perfect hereafter though it never arrive at the more perfect Knowledge and Desire of God here And thus I have considered the particular parts the necessary acts and exercises of love to God First with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul secondly with all thy Mind And the duty so particularly stated and examined we may easily discern the reason of that primacy and precedency which our Saviour ascribes to this above all the Commands of God This is the first and great Commandment And this was the Third head of discourse proposed It is first in the disposition of God himself He begins his Instituion of Laws with Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind Deut. 6.5 It is first in the order of Nature it is the root the principle and reason of all other duties whatsoever It is first in respect of the Object end or final resolution of the Duty being chiefly exercised upon the Majesty of God himself It is first in respect of Amplitude and Capacity forasmuch as all the other duties of Religion have a necessary dependance upon it and relation to it And the
to those on a level with him ready to support the weak and assist the needy And as he is kind to all so he is not easily provoked into displeasure against any man He is not quick and forward to discern the injuries and ingratitude of brutish people he is not apt to aggravate but excuse a fault he is ready to believe that it proceeded of mistake of rashness or inadvertency rather than of malice or evil will For so says the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 4. Love is of a gentle easie disposition believeth hopeth all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is not presently in a flame or feaver but resents an injury with a calm and steddy mind and studies no revenge for Charity will cover the multitude of sins Pro. 10 12. Pet. 4.8 Thirdly To love our Neighbour as our selves implies a regard to his Fame and Reputation A good name is better than life it self says Solomon We prefer it to all other interests whatsoever by the instincts of our very Nature No man can endure to be represented ill because it is the parent of contempt and neglect which of all other things is the most abhorr'd And therefore a man of universal Charity will be tender of his Neighbours Credit He heartily wishes that all men would behave themselves as they ought to do and live with decency and honour in the World Charity rejoyceth not in the wickedness of the wicked but rejoyceth in the truth that is in the upright conversation of men so Grotius upon the place He is more ready to discern the vertues and excellencies of others than his own He chearfully acknowledges worth and allows sufficient praise wheresoever it is due He puts the best interpretation upon any action that the nature of the thing will bear He judgeth no man till he understands the course of his Conversation nor any particular action till he knows the circumstances and affections of it Affectus tuus imponit nomen operi tuo as S. Ambrose speaks de offic He follows the rule of Epictetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ench. does any man drink much wine say not that he drinks to a debauch but simply that he uses to drink much because the same action may proceed from a good as well as from an evil cause He that strikes another as Simplicius in his Exposition of the place may do him good and he that feeds him may be his enemy He that steals as the case may be may do no ill and he that relieves another may do unjustly And therefore a charitable man is ever slow and sparing of his censures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hopeth all things and is willing to believe the best His Ears are shut to idle tales and evil reflections upon any man or if he is forced to hear them he endeavours to stifle the report and clear the imputation that if it be possible it may stop with him He is troubled for so much of it as he finds to be true and with an angry countenance he drives away the back biters tongue saith Solomon as the North wind driveth away rain Pro. 25.23 And thus by covering a transgression he seeketh love Prov. 17.9 Fourthly and Lastly As the result of all these instances of universal Charity a man that is really a friend to all will be courteous and easie gentle and civil in his outward conversation and deportment Haughtiness or elation of mind proceeds from an undue account a distinct unreasonable opinion of our selves above our Neighbours And all morose and supercilious conversation are the effects of conceitedness and pride of discontent and jealousie that we are not valued according to the price we have set upon our selves But a man that is frank and ingenuous that loves his Neighbour as himself treats and uses every man with the chearfulness and civility of a friend His own desires and expectations from his betters are the measure of his deportment towards those below him He then that loves his Neighbour as himself will be easie of access courteous and sincere in speech civil and obliging in all his conversation with him Since he is a friend to all he will not ruffle provoke or discourage any man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Charity is benign yielding and complaisant knows no supercilium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he is not full of himself V. 4. he is not puffed up This is to love our Neighbour as our selves as we understand it of loving him in all the several instances wherein we love our selves comprehended chiefly under his Soul his Life his Estate and Reputation But Secondly the Duty Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self not only obliges us to have a true respect to all his interests but to love him also after the same manner that we love our selves to pursue his good with the same affections and dispositions of mind which we find in our selves in the prosecution of our own It is always to be supposed that the Rule or Exemplar is more excellent than the Copy The love of a Man to himself is so unmixt and pure the unity so perfect that it is not possible he should confer it upon another in the same degree unless he could really and naturally unite him to himself Thus God Almighty is proposed to us the most imperfect of rational Beings as the Pattern of our Vertue Be ye Holy as God is Holy 1 Pet. 1.24 says St. Peter Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect St. Matt. 5. ult But in these and several other places we must not understand the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as denoting an exact Identity but only that our Principle be sincere our vertue true though far inferiour in degree Wherefore in our present case the qualification of the duty as thy self though it may not import an equality of love which is impossible yet at least it signifies that we love our Neighbour with the same kind of affections and dispositions of mind with which we love our selves and therefore Erasmus expounds the words by perinde ac teipsum in like manner as thou lovest thy self First With the greatest Tenderness and Sense every Man is affected intimately with his own affairs he feels every motion that concerns them because he knows he must enjoy or endure the event of his designs And thus we are enjoyn'd to love our Neighbour as our selves Not only to do him no hurt in any interest neither yet to do him service only but to be inwardly moved and affected with his case that we be Men of Bowels 1 Pet. 1.22 apt to be wrought into pity compassion and desire to do him good into Joy and delight at any prosperous event Secondly We love and pursue our own particular happiness with solicitude and diligence Our sensible apprehension and innate desire of good provoke and encourage our most earnest endeavours according to our knowledge to promote it No Man is indifferent
evil But overcome evil with good In the former clause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be not overcome of evil is understood of the injury received but evil in the latter clause overcome evil with good has respect to the injurious person Conquer your enemy by kindness bring him to confession of his baseness to repentance to offers of satisfaction to the very same submission even from his heart which you would propose to your self to force him to if you could conquer and disarm him in the open Field If thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good And thus much for the Explication of the duty and the sense of the words By which we may see that it has no relation at all to Government or the punishment of Offenders against the peace of the publick Nor to the resentments of Princes or the Wars and Peace of Nations Nor lastly to the defence of our Persons our lives and fortunes against the assaults and out-rages of wicked men These are Considerations of another nature with which our present argument is not in the least concern'd But the Duty of the Text concerns the moderation of our Passions under any opprobrious words or ill designs which have been spoke or form'd against us and obliges us to forbear revenge to seek no private illegal satisfaction for any such injury received that we do not therefore become his enemy because he seems to be ours that we harbour no ill will ill wishes or ill designs against him but endeavour to reconcile him to a state of amity and friendship by a readiness to oblige and serve him Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good And for the clearer illustration of this most perfect Precept of our Religion I shall briefly consider these Four Things First The indispensible Obligation of the Duty by the express Command of God Secondly The fitness and necessity of the thing considered in it self Thirdly The rewards and benefits which will accompany the practice of it Fourthly and Lastly The possibility of performing it And first of all This Duty That we be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good is indispensably required It is not to be understood as a Council of perfection as a glorious unattainable temper which we are not obliged to pursue but it is a positive Duty an express Command in which we are no more at liberty than in any other precept of our Religion S. Paul designedly in this and the following Chapters collects and repeats the principal duties of Christianity V. 2. or what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God And amongst the rest he mentions the love of enemies V. 20. and upon this he insists and stays for several Verses as being a duty more unwillingly received and inforces at last in the words of my Text Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good And our Saviour himself in the 5. of S. Matth. proposes and urges the love of our enemies after the same manner and under the same form as he does the rest of his precepts without any dispensation or indulgence whatsoever v. 44. But I say unto you love your enemies Indeed there is no one duty of our Religion more strictly enjoined more frequently inculcated or press'd by a greater variety of cogent arguments than that before us The very Spirit of Christianity is meekness and mutual condescention Col. 3.8 and therefore we are obliged to put away all anger wrath and malice to suffer all things to be kind Jam. 1.19 to think no evil 1 Cor. 13.5 to be patient towards all men to render to no man evil for evil or railing for railing 1 Pet. 3 9 but contrariwise blessing To put on as the elect of God Col. 3.12 bowels of mercy kindness humbleness of mind meekness long-suffering forbearing one another Eph. 4.31 forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us And all this is inforced upon us by the terrible sanction of God's everlasting anger towards us For if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your heavenly father forgive you S. Matth. 6.15 Nothing says S. Chrysostom is more odious to God than a man that is thirsty of revenge Hom. 27. â—n Genes the mischief of this sin is such that it deprives a man of the benefit of God's mercy and will not suffer it to have any place upon him And thus we see that to restrain our Passion to be meek in Spirit slow of resentment dead to revenge easie to forgive and ready to oblige an enemy is an indispensable duty of our Religion If it be objected that our Saviour seems to curse the Cities of Capernaum Chorazin and Bethsaida because they withstood his doctrine S. Matth. 11. Wo unto you Chorazin wo unto Bethsaida and thou Capernaum which art exalted unto heaven shalt be brought down to hell Or that S. Paul cursed Alexander upon a private personal injury offer'd to himself in his Second Epistle to Tim. 4.14 the Lord reward him according to his works Or that the most holy Saints have taken a liberty of imprecating evil upon their enemies Psal 109. They compassed me about with words of hatred they rewarded me evil for good and hatred for my good will let his days be few and let another take his office let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow let his children be vagabonds and beg their bread let the extortioner consume all that he has as he loved cursing so let it come upon him If the practice I say of our Saviour and of those holy Saints seem contrary to the precepts of love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you S. Augustine's resolution of that question is sufficient who observes how common it is in Scripture to foretel the event of future evils under the form of an imprecation So that all such places as I have now recited are to be understood not as the wishes of the speaker but as Prophecies of what will certainly come upon them And as for that of S. Paul He observes that he says not reddat let the Lord but reddet dominus the Lord will reward him for it There is therefore no indulgence to be found no dispensation allowed it is positively required That we be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good And indeed if it be well considered there is nothing more fit and reasonable in it self and this was the second head of discourse proposed As the benefits of cohabitation and Society are great so has it also this inevitable inconvenience that amongst so many persons of different humors diverse interests and various designs Justice and Honesty will be violated private and open injuries will be offered