Dirt that is utterly inconsistent with the Purity of Religion That Holy and Just One who descended from Heaven to cleanse raise and perfect our Nature took great care to rid us of all this Filth by the noblest Precepts and by his own the noblest and most perfective Example The Infinite Excellence and Dignity of his Divine Nature made all Offences against him swell to infinite degrees of Guilt and consequently rendred the Actors of them liable to all the degrees of Punishment which infinite Justice might have inflicted And yet with what evenness of Mind did he endure all Reproaches Contumelies Disgrace Stripes Buffetings Wounds Nails and Cross too He bore all though from the rudest the vilest the most malicious Hands with Patience and Lenity with Meekness and Self-denial with Humility and Resignation with Candour and the highest Charity to the last Gasp When he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously 1 Pet. 2. 23. And what was this for Why saith the Apostle Christ suffered for us leaving us an Example that we should follow his Steps IV. 4. Having thus discoursed of the two Characters of Charity relating to Anger and shew'd how we are to express this great Christian Grace in each respect by Commanding Governing and Moderating that mischievous Passion I proceed now to the Consideration of the next Property which is called Kindness Charity suffereth long and is Kind Meaning that a Charitable Person is Compassionate and Beneficent both in Disposition and Actions ready in every respect to do all the Good he can By giving us a Description St. Paul shews us a Duty and he opens it particularly in another place which seems to be an Explication of this whole Verse Eph. 4. 31 32. Let all Bitterness and Wratb and Anger and Clamour and Evil-speaking be put away from you with all Malice And be ye kind one to another The Greek Word in both places is in effect the same and the Apostle's meaning is that in stead of hating and maligning one another we should be tenderly affected and useful to each other ready from our Hearts to do one another all the good Offices which lie in our Power Now for the due Practising of this Matter the Laws of Charity require of us these following Things 1. That we have a true inward Sense of other Men's Wants and Afflictions This is that which the Holy Scripture calls Tender-heartedness Ephes 4. 32. Bowels of Mercy Colos 3. 12. And Having Compassion one of another 1 Pet. 3. 8. By which Expressions is meant that we should Sympathize with all that are in Distress and have a Fellow-feeling of one anothers Afflictions For where Men's Hearts are so hard and crusty that their Brethren's Calamities make little or no Impressions upon them there it is impossible for Charity to be so Kindly Free and Generous as the Laws of Christianity do require Whoso hath this World's good and seeth his Brother hath need and shutteth up his Bowels of Compassion from him how dwelleth the Love of God or of Man in him 1 John 3. 17. It holdeth true in all Cases as well as in that of Alms-giving for the Heart is the Spring of all our Actions And it is as hard for Charity to take its due course and scope where the Bowels are shut up as for a River to run where the Fountain is quite dried up Rocks many times yield a Stream but a Stony Heart never to be sure not that Liberal Supply of any kind which the Necessities of miserable Objects call for Therefore those Old Philosophers were cruelly mistaken who though they were for outward Offices of Humanity yet thought it unbecoming Reasonable Natures and inconsistent with a Man's Happiness to be moved with Compassion in the Mind and to be pierced with a sense of anothers Misfortunes This is to commit a Rape upon all Mankind to Ravish them of their Bowels Nay it doth not only stifle the very Principle of Charity but it prepares a way too for the greatest Injustice and Oppression For how can he stick at any thing though never so hard that hath no sense of it As long as the Affliction toucheth not himself he feels no more his Neighbour's Smart though he himself gives the blow than a Flint or an Adamant and at such Hands neither is Mercy nor Justice to be expected This was one great Reason why the Son of God was pleased to take Humane Nature upon him that he might be sensible of those our common Miseries whereof a Spirit is not capable of feeling In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest Heb. 2. 17. We have not an High-Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities but was in all Points tempted that is tried by Afflictions acquainted with Sorrows and Griefs like as we are Hebr. 4. 15. His own through-sense of the Hardships of the World made him the more willingly go about doing good during his abode in the Flesh and the more merciful to Mankind now since all Power in Earth and Heaven hath been put into his Hands And this will be in us the Principle of right Christian Charity to one another to be painfully affected with the Sufferings of others And to this end we should use all possible means to mould our Hearts rightly to supple them into a very soft tender and compassionate Temper and to let all moving Idea's sink deep into them because we are the Body of Christ and all of us Members of it knit together by the same Ligaments of Faith and Hope we should be all animated with the same Spirit of Charity too we should have as St. Paul speaks 1 Cor. 12. 25 26. The same Care one for another so that if one Member suffer all the Members should suffer with it 2. But Secondly This is not enough if it be all 'T is poor kindness just to be troubled for another and to say God help him Grief and Sorrow and Anguish and good Wishes must break out into Action else all the rest is but good natur'd Compliment The Laws of Charity bind us not to be Barren or Unfruitful but to be full of Good Works according as our own Capacities and according as the Wants and Necessities of other People are First To do their Souls all the Good we can This is the noblest Work of Charity because it is done to the noblest Part of Man And because there is a necessity for the Soul upon its parting from the Body to pass into an Everlasting Unchangeable State either of Happiness or Misery Greater Charity there cannot be than to minister such Helps and Means to it now as serve to prepare it for a Blessed Eternity As to instruct it in the right sound Faith to teach it the true Fear of God to subdue its Sinful and Inordinate Lusts and to bring it
in stead of viewing the Face and consider throughly first whether it be Just then whether it be Charitable also consistent with that Goodness and Kindness of Mind which becomes a Christian If the Thing be contrary to the Law of Love and such as we would not have another to do to our own selves we must with a very quick Hand lay the Bridle upon our Passions lest the Beast should prove Heady and by running away with us at all adventures rush us headlong into a great many Sins We should sit down a while and consider how short our Life is at the best and what little time in comparison we have to do Good in the World and how suddenly many drop into the Grave before they have done any at all We should consider what base Vices Hatred and Malice are what Dishonourable and Wicked Purposes they tend to what Mean and Hellish Arts Men are driven to for the putting of them in execution what Disorders they make in the World how Prejudicial they are to the Interest of Mankind to the Peace and Comfort of Humane Life and what Irreparable Mischiefs arise from them naturally not only to Single Persons but to Bodies to Families to Publick Societies nay to the whole Church and State when once they come to break out as very often they do into Epidemical Outrage We should consider too what Rewards they bring to the Actors themselves after all these Dreadful Consequences Vexation and Anguish of Spirit a Polluted Conscience a lost Credit an abbreviated Life and in stead of any solid Satisfaction in the Course or at the End of it Eternal Damnation at last both of Soul and Body What Fruit will Men have then of those Things whereof they ought even now to be Ashamed I am perswaded if People would but Deliberate thus before-hand and suffer their Minds kindly to entertain these or some of these Considerations it would be impossible for half so much Folly and Storm to be in the World Such an excellent way this is not only to express but to encrease Men's Charity to one another and to keep them from tumbling precipitously into a vast Complication of Wickednesses and Misfortunes which one day Uncharitable Wretches will repent of tho' perhaps not till it be too late till they have Sinned the time of their Peace away VII 7. The next Character of Charity is that it is not Puffed up alloweth not People to be Proud and Arrogant to be Haughty and Supercilious to have an immodest lofty and over-high Conceit of a Man 's own self or to behave himself with Contempt and Scorn towards those whom he looks down upon at a distance as his Inferiors There is hardly another Vice that is more Foolish more Hateful than Pride is none that is so like to the Devil's Temper I am sure none that stands in more direct opposition to all the Laws of Charity An humble Mind stoops to all though the meanest and lowest Offices nor is there any Act of Love which it is not willing to reach out a kind Hand unto though it be to the washing of Feet And the Reason is because a truly humble Man hath so modest an Opinion of himself and so high an Esteem of others that he is apt to reckon all good Offices to be a kind of Debt to them and a very necessary though a poor Tribute of Honour to the Meek and Lowly Jesus But Pride sets Men so remote from their Neighbours that to desire their Friendship looks like Incroachment and for themselves to offer it seems to them a Transgressing the Rules of Greatness and so in that distance and interval between State and Meanness many Acts of True Charity are wanting many Blessed Opportunities of doing Good drop to the Ground and are quite lost and perhaps too when the Necessities of Poor Wretches are most pressing Seldom do Proud Men think of God himself They care not for God neither is God in all their Thoughts saith David Psal 10. 4. They think not of him as their Maker and Benefactor by whom they live or as their Law-giver and Judge by whom they must be Sentenced to Eternity at least they think not with that Gratitude Reverence and depth of Thought which should swallow up all their vain Imaginations And if God be not in their Minds it is no wonder if Men be not there and if they be full of nothing but Themselves But this is not all The Case would be better though they did no Good if they did no Hurt neither But Pride is such an Injurious and Imperious Vice that where it Ruleth it admits of no bound but those of its own setting and those are as uncertain as precarious Priviledges under an Arbitrary Power Pride commonly hath Covetousness for its Factor to Toil and Drudge for its Maintenance and when those Vices go hand in hand nothing is safe that is within reach though it be Naboth's Vineyard Ahab was sick at Heart for it and to recover his Content the Poor Man's Blood was sought for too as the speediest Remedy Men of such Tempers are so bloated with an Opinion of their own Deserts that they fancy themselves to have a kind of Right to every Thing especially if it be judged necessary and convenient and how then can we hope for Charity when there is no room for Justice Fraud Rapine and Oppression are the usual designs of an elated Mind and 't is the harder to stop them because Proud People are ever apt to over-look their Actions think it a Diminution to obey such a Thing as Conscience are too Big to be taken to account too High to ask themselves is there not Iniquity in my Right Hand Indeed People who are thus puffed up have not always power to hurt others much in their Fortunes but then they seldom fail to oppress them in their Fame which is another Thing utterly inconsistent with that Candor and Goodness which evermore attends a Charitable Temper Pride is always very Censorious though many times there is no other Reason for the hard Character it gives but this only That it may have a Foil to set off it self The greatest Innocence is often Reproached because Proud People care not what others deserve but would have you know how Singular their own Merits are by exposing a Neighbour they hope you will think the better and the more highly of them By throwing Dirt upon others Faces they think their own will appear the more Beautiful like the haughty Pharisee in the Gospel who thought to Recommend himself to God by making Reflections I am not as other Men are Extortioners Vnjust Adulterers nor even as this Publican Luke 18. 11. By this Injurious and Uncharitable Practice many Mischiefs befal Mankind as Strife Railings Animosities Violence and all manner of Outrage So that Salomon saith Prov. 13. 10. Only by Pride cometh Contention 'T is the only Natural Mother of Contention There are Accidental Causes of it as Drunkenness
Construction In a word it is a Generosity of Temper that is apt to suit it self to the condition of others according to the moving Nature of their present Circumstances The Rule of Righteousness is To render every Man his own But this may be without Charity and therefore this alone is beneath the Generous and Noble Disposition of a Christian it doth not come up to the perfect Law of Christ Charity though it hath a mixture of Justice in it yet it is a great deal more and that it may be compleat as it should be these two Qualifications are very necessary First That it be of the same Nature with that Affection which we have for our selves Secondly That it resemble that great Love which the Lord Jesus express'd for us all First Our Charity to others must be of the same Nature with the Affection we have for our selves This is the true Rule of Charity especially as it is heightned and improved by the Christian Religion Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self that is with the same good natur'd and kind Affection though it may be not in the same Measure and Degree There is indeed a sort of Self-love that is sinful an Affection that begins and ends at home too when a Man is for pleasing himself only when he seeks his own only when he makes himself the sole end of all his Actions and would fain engross to himself all that is good and desirable in this World begrudging his Neighbour any considerable Share or Proportion of it Now this is so far from being a Rule of Charity that there is nothing of Charity in it nothing more opposite to the true Spirit of Charity than such a selfish Temper But there is too an innocent kind of Self-love which necessarily riseth out of a Natural Principle of Self-preservation when a Man notwithstanding the greatness and largeness of his Mind doth consult the Good of others so as not to neglect his own but takes a due Care of himself in the first place This Natural Affection every one hath for himself and it is attended inseparably with these two Properties First Every one loves himself Vnfeignedly and Sincerely To be sure there is no Flattery no Pretence no Compliment in this case Our Affections may be believ'd and trusted when they speak favourably on our own side for no Man ever yet hated his own flesh We cannot but wish our selves well and those Wishes always come from our very Hearts And according to this Rule the Christian Law obligeth us to measure out our Charity to others It must be Love without dissimulation Rom. 12. 9. Love unfeigned 2 Cor. 6. 6. Love not in word or in tongue only but in deed and in truth Jam. 3. 18. Under colour of Affection to contrive or help one anothers Misfortunes is like the Charity of him who betrayed the Lord Jesus with a Kiss People are not wont to be Traytors to themselves after such a manner Though in the Consequence and Event they many times prove their own Enemies and the worst Enemies they have yet no Man betrays himself with Judas his Purpose the Intention on which we all act is still levelled at that which we believe or suppose to be good for us And this is properly to love our Neighbour as ones self to be as really solicitous for his Welfare in all respects as for ones own to have the same reality and sincerity of Purpose to be influenced and animated with the same quality and truth of Affection though the Case may admit of a difference as to proportion Secondly Another Property that attends all innocent Love of our self is that it is firm and constant Because it flows from an innate Principle of Self-preservation it must of necessity hold and continue as long as Nature it self lasteth nor can any Circumstances Events or Disappointments alter any Man's Temper so as to render him fickle and unsteady to himself much less dissolve the strict Band which ties his own Heart to him faster than that which was between the Souls of Jonathan and David Why thus too must Brotherly Love continue Hebr. 13. 1. because the Reasons of Charity are ever the same viz. The Obedience we owe to the Law of God and the common Wants among Mankind which always call for our mutual Pity and Assistance there is a constant necessity for our Minds to be always benevolently and tenderly disposed And though Resentments may and oftentimes do unavoidably happen by reason of the Ignorances of some the Passions of others and the Hereditary Infirmities of us all yet no Provocations or Injuries must affect Men so as to harden their Spirits or fill their Bowels with Gall and Wormwood Since the fix'd Rule is that we must Love our Neighbours as our selves we are no more permitted to be weary of our Charity to other Men than we permit our selves to be weary of doing good to our own Souls But there is a higher and nobler Rule of Charity yet and that is to Love one another as the Lord Jesus himself hath loved us Because the Love even of ones self may be defective imperfect and mixed with some Alloy therefore the great Lover of all our Souls hath made his own Charity to be the Standard and Measure of ours Upon which account he calls it A new Commandment A New Commandment give I unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye love one another John 13. 34. In respect of the Matter of it the Law of Mutual Charity is an old one for it hath been written in the Hearts of Men from the beginning and it was expresly given to the Jews Lev. 19. 18. It is a New Commandment in respect of that High and Eminent Degree to which our Blessed Saviour hath raised it Men's Charity now must bear a Resemblance of his Love one another as I have loved you This is the thing which makes it a New Commandment indeed The Scripture speaks of three Things especially which were peculiarly remarkable in the Love of Christ 1. That he extended his Love to open and declared Enemies The Old Commandment which required the Jews to Love their Neighbour as themselves permitted them to Hate an Enemy nay in some cases bound them to express all manner of Hostility against such as were Aliens to the Faith and to the Commonwealth of Israel But saith the Apostle God commended his Love towards us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us and when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son Rom. 5. 8 10. And again when we were alienated and Enemies in our Minds by wicked Works Col. 1. 21. That is this was a stupendous a most amazing Expression of Christ's Love that he undertook the great Work of Redeeming a profligate World wretched Creatures that had bid God defiance that were Haters of all that is Good and Holy and thereby had brought themselves into a
lost and damnable condition And yet this he did voluntarily and of his own accord when there was nothing in the World to move him to it but his own infinite Compassion and Tenderness only 2. The second thing that was Peculiar and New in the Love of Christ was that he was before-hand with his Enemies in these Expressions of his Goodness to them Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you John 15. 16. And Herein is Love not that we loved God but that he loved us 1 John 4. 10. Meaning that this is a clear and astonishing demonstration of his Goodness that in transacting the mysterious business of Reconciliation he was pleased to have the first hand that he prevented us with his own early Offers and surprised us with Terms of Peace and Happiness when no such thing was either desired or expected or so much as thought of by the World But Thirdly That which was most peculiar of all most eminent and wonderful in the Love of Christ was his Dying for his Enemies There is not in the Old Commandment a Syllable of any Obligations to such an high degree of Charity as this is of laying down their Lives no not for their Brethren And one Reason of it is because length of Days and Temporal Felicity was the great Reward that was plainly and expresly promised under the Law to such as kept it And therefore they were not bound by any Principle of pure Charity to part for any Man's sake with that which was the greatest Blessing the Law could give them So that Christ's dying as he did the Just for the Vnjust was the sublimest act of Love that could be for greater Love than this hath no Man that a Man lay down his Life for his Friends John 15. 13. Only our Saviour's own Charity was far greater in laying down his most precious Life even for his Enemies His Commandment therefore that we should love one another as he himself hath loved us is altogether a new one such Charity was never before required of the World such Charity was never heard of before Charity of such a vast height and measure was quite a new thing Scarcely for a Righteous Man will any one die saith the Apostle Though peradventure for a good Man some would even dare to die Yet God commended his Love towards us it was infinitely beyond all the Charity that ever had been among Men in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us Rom. 5. 7 8. By what hath been thus briefly spoken we may now easily discern the true and genuine Nature of that Charity which is properly called Christian It is such a benevolent and tender disposition of Soul as inclines us to do not those Things only which the Laws of Common Justice require us to do but moreover all such kind and obliging Offices as becomes Creatures of the most compassionate Hearts and God-like Tempers To be affected with the sense of other Men's Wants as well as our own to pity them as our selves to wish and promote their Good with such unfeigned Desires and unwearied Endeavours as if our own Welfare were concern'd And because the Lord Jesus vouchsafed to express a common Love to us all we are to follow his most blessed Steps in expressing our Charity to Mankind as long as we live in the World to Bless and Pray for and to do good to our very Enemies to offer them Terms of Accommodation to give them Testimonies of a Reconcileable Temper to encourage and provoke them to be Reconciled by our own Example by shewing them our own Bowels and by letting them see how kind humble meek long-suffering and patient we our selves are and how ready to forgive them Briefly to have such ardent Affections unto all Men and especially to those who are of the Houshold of Faith as to serve them willingly not only with our Wishes and Labours and Substance but when need requires with our very Lives also Tho' Life be so dear a matter that Skin after Skin and all that a Man hath he will give for it yet upon great Occasions and in pressing Circumstances and for weighty and noble Ends to be ready as the Lord Jesus was to die for others after all other Services done for them this is to have that fervent and perfect and true Charity which the Christian Religion recommendeth to us above all Things II. 2. The Quality and Extent of Christian Charity being thus summarily Explain'd I proceed now in the second place to consider those Motives and Reasons which serve to make it Practical Now to digest this Matter into as clear a Method and under as few Heads as may be I shall propose these four Things in general to be considered 1. What great Good a Charitable Temper doth to a Man 's own Mind 2. How effectually it helps us to answer the Ends of the New Covenant 3. How near it brings us unto God even in this World 4. How it prepares and fits us for the Everlasting Happiness of another 1. What great Good a Charitable Temper doth to a Man 's own Mind Though a Crown of Righteousness a Glorious and Perfect Reward be laid up and reserved for us against the Day of Judgment yet all Virtue brings us something of a present Reward As it cleanseth the Spirit from the Corruptions of the World and from the Filthiness of the Flesh so it replenisheth the Soul with the greatest Satisfaction and Pleasure and by these means as well the Holiness as the Joy of a future State beginneth here Now of those Graces which at once purifie and delight the Mind a Spirit of Charity is One and perhaps the Greatest It rids the Soul of several Vices which affect the Conscience with the greatest Guilt and therefore must of consequence bring the greatest Plague Vices which Crucifie the very Soul and make every one his worst Tormentor as Pride Envy Malice and such like These are peculiarly called the Sins of the very Devil and therefore it is fit they should carry a Hell with them It is impossible for such scurvy Qualities to reign in a Breast where a Charitable Heart lies Kind Spirits are not wont to be Haughty Imperious and Tyranical especially towards those they really love Much less are they wont to be griev'd and afflicted at their Prosperity or to seek their Hurt Such Vices are altogether inconsistent with Charity and they always grow out of ill-nature like Nettles out of a Dunghil and methinks Men should shun them the rather because they always sting the very Mind that is their Nursery Hearts that are the proper and kindly Soyl of Virtue are never sensible of this Smart because they are free from the Causes of it and were the insides of Men to be throughly discovered I am confident it would be found that none are so easie and quiet within so satisfied in their Minds as those that have generous Affections for all Mankind If in such Breasts there
be any Dissatisfactions it is because their kind Endeavours are not successful or else because they are not able to do all the Good they would Uncharitable Wretches know not the Pleasure of doing Good nor what Peace and Complacency returns into ones Bosom by every Charitable Action nay sometimes by a bare Charitable Purpose and Design when some cross Accident hinders the Execution of it Indeed these inward Comforts cannot be sensibly known but by Experience and therefore Arguments of this kind may seem very feeble and impertinent to those who love themselves only and delight themselves in ways of Frowardness Yet the most unexperienc'd People may observe very much to this purpose from two palpable Instances we find in the Holy Scripture the one in Haman the other in St. Paul Setting aside the Story of Joseph's Advancement we meet not with such an Account as that of Haman of his Riches of his Honour and of his great Power as well over Ahasuerus himself as over all his Subjects And yet his Pride Envy and Malice the Vices I mention'd before over-top't and bore down all this Greatness One Thing he wanted still and that was the Compliment of Mordecai's Knee and for want of that nothing would satisfie him but the Destruction of poor Mordecai himself and all the Jews Rancour and Revenge in the highest degree and that which argued Pains Griefs Agonies and Tortures in his Mind of the highest degree too So that though the miserable Wretch boasted of his Wealth Glory and Authority over all the King's Princes yet said he all this availeth me nothing so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King's gate Esth 5. 13. Strange Torment surely that Nothing could allay that all his Splendor was nothing in comparison of that neither the Gallows he had provided for Mordecai was any thing if compared with the Rack in his own Breast A Spirit of Charity would have saved him all that expensive Vexation which his ill Nature put him to amidst all his Honours Half that Charitable Temper which was such a great Blessing to St. Paul amidst all his Troubles no meer Man ever loved the Souls of People more than he None was ever more Compassionate towards a needy World None that fled over Land and Seas with that vigorous Zeal to serve Mankind as St. Paul did none that suffered so much for his great Charity A short Inventory of his Hardships he himself gives us 2 Cor. 11. In Labours abundant in Stripes above measure in Prisons frequent in Deaths often of the Jews five times received I forty Stripes save one Thrice was I beaten with Rods once was I Stoned thrice I suffered Shipwrack a Night and a Day I have been in the Deep In Journeying often in Perils of Waters in Perils of Robbers in Perils by my own Country-men in Perils by the Heathen in Perils in the City in Perils in the Wilderness in Perils in the Sea in Perils among false Brethren Throughout this whole Series of Hardships we never find the Apostle cast down or disconsolate but on the contrary always Glorying of his Sufferings and of his Sufferings only as Sorrowful said he yet always rejoycing 2 Cor. 6. 10. And the Ground of his Rejoycing was this the Testimony of his Conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity he had had his conversation in the world 2 Cor. 1. 12. The comfortable Consideration that with an upright and honest Heart he had endeavoured to serve Mankind and to express his great Care of the Churches which were committed to his Charge Plutarch could observe That neither Riches nor Honour nor Power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor any thing else can bring a Man such Serenity and Divine Pleasure as a pure Soul A Soul from whence good Actions flow like a gentle and limpid Stream from a clean Fountain Though Misfortunes from abroad may affect such a Man yet comparatively they are not sharp and right Reason can help to take away that little Acrimony that is in them It is saith Plutarch an evil Conscience that is truly dolorous and galling it is this that creates Griefs from within Griefs that are more heavy and afflictive than any Accidents from without As a Feavour in the Blood is far worse and much more troublesom than the Heat of the Sun And therefore the true way to have solid Peace within is to have Minds full of Probity and in stead of entertaining any dishonest Purposes to be always Virtuously disposed and above all to be kindly and benevolently inclined and to do all the Good that lieth in our power 2. One great Reason why a benign and gracious Temper brings such Advantage to ones own self is because it is a Ray of the Divine Nature so that by searching into his Heart the Charitable Person cannot but be comforted with an humble and modest Assurance that he hath much of God himself in him And this is the second Thing we are to consider for the exciting of a Spirit of Charity in us how near it brings us to the ever-blessed God even while we stay in the World God is Love saith the Scripture 1 John 4. 8. Not only because all Love is of God as the Origine and Fountain of it but because it is one of the infinite Beauties and Glories of his Nature so essential to him and so perfect in him that he is the most transcendent and excellent Exemplar of Love made up of it so that he may be well called Love it self By reason of this Love God extendeth his Goodness to all his Creatures and especially to Mankind intending and ordering all Things here for their Good Threatning and Admonishing Commanding and Forbidding Assisting and Strengthning Cherishing and Chastizing them in order still to that great End their own Good and in all the Methods and Dispensations of his Providence expressing his Mercy and Tenderness towards us as it is most agreeable to his Wisdom and as far as it is consistent with the Honour and Authority of a Lawgiver Nor are the wicked'st Men denied a Share and Portion of his Goodness For though by the Rules of strict Justice he might without any more ado consign them to everlasting Misery and cut them off in the midst of their Impieties yet he offers to all Peace and Reconciliation in and by and for the sake of his Son whom he sent into the World to seek and to save that which was Lost that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life And to express the sincerity of his Desire that none should perish but that all should come to Repentance he daily shews the Riches of his Goodness and Forbearance and Long-suffering that thereby he may lead Wicked Men to Repentance not to be repented of Nay they have their Portion even of the Things of this Life too the the Rebel and the Runagate is taken care of as well as the Heir nor are any cast out of the hands
of that Provident and Supreme Governour of all Things who causeth his Sun to shine upon the evil and upon the good and sendeth Rain on the just and the unjust Mat. 5. 45. This great Goodness of God towards us all our Saviour himself makes use of as a powerful Argument and Motive for our Charity and Tenderness towards one another And truly if we consider the infinite Perfections of God by reason whereof he standeth not in the least need of any nor of all his Creatures the infinite Greatness of his Majesty above us and its Distance from us By reason whereof he might look down upon us with Scorn and Contempt His infinite Power over us by reason whereof he might easily cast us down into the bottomless Lake upon any Provocation His infinite Holiness and Excellency by reason whereof every Provocation comes to be of infinite Demerit and together with all this if we consider the infinite disproportion that is between the Sins acted against him and the Faults we commit against one another who stand all of us upon the same Level and need all of us each others Assistance nor have we any Power over one another but what is given and precarious Nor provoke one another but with Offences that are Reciprocal And after all our mutual Follies are beholding to one another too as well for asking as for accepting each others Pardon If I say we consider all this we must needs discover a great deal of Force in this Argumentation that since God so loveth us so pitieth us so forbeareth us so expresseth his Mercy and Compassion to us certainly we ought also and the rather by much to Love and Pity and forbear and shew Compassion and Kindness unto one another Love and bless and do good even to them that hate you that you may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven saith the great Exemplar of Charity Matth. 5. 45. By the Children of God are meant according to the usual Scripture Sense of the Phrase such People as partake of the Divine Nature such as resemble God and are like-minded such as express a Similitude of those imitable Perfections which are most eminently in Him For as our Dispositions and Tempers are so is our Alliance Thus our Saviour told those wicked Jews in John 8. 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil And the Reason was because they did the Deeds and the Lusts of the Devil were of Devilish Spirits and Inclinations resembled the Devil himself by their Wickedness Some Sins as I told you before are ascribed unto the Devil after a more peculiar manner as Pride the Sin that cast him out of Heaven And Lying for which reason he is called a Lyer and the Father of it Joh. 8. 44. And so Slandering for which reason he is called the Accuser of the Brethren Rev. 12. 10. So also are Envy and Malice the Devil's Sins for which reason he is called a Murderer from the beginning John 8. 44. And is compared to a Lion that walketh up and down seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5. 8. Now though People that are of such wicked Spirits may flatter themselves with a Perswasion that they belong to God yet in God's own account you see they are of the Devil's Family the Devil's Children and consequently Heirs of the Devil's Damnation because their Minds are of the same Venomous Temper and of the same ugly Hue and Complexion as if they had been Cast in the same Mould For the same Reason they whose Souls are pure and upright full of Grace and Goodness are called the Sons of God because they communicate of his Divine and Perfect Nature and resemble him in the Qualities and Dispositions of their Minds as Children are wont to resemble their Parents in the Features and Lineaments of their Bodies Nor can any Man resemble him better than by a kind and benevolent Disposition Because the Scripture doth up and down represent this as one of God's chief and most glorious Perfections a Perfection wherein he himself seems most of all delighted And therefore our Saviour discoursing of Mercy Charity and an Universal Love Matth. 5. singles out this as the strongest Argument to inforce the Practice of it that we may be the Children of our Father in Heaven and that we may be perfect even as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect 'T is not any formal Professions that bring us near unto God 't is not any dry Superstitions or empty Performances much less is it a furious Zeal for Notions and Opinions alas all this may be consistent with a Devilish Temper and Mind No it is a God-like Temper a Divine frame of Heart and chiefly a kind charitable and beneficent Disposition It is this this that ties us into a strict Relation to God into such a close Fellowship and Communion with him as maketh us his indeed As that Disciple observes whom the Lord Jesus particularly loved and who breathed nothing but Love himself 1 Joh. 4. 7. Love is of God and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God And again V. 12. If we love one another God dwelleth in us and his Love is perfected in us And again V. 13. Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit meaning that Temper and Affection which is so eminent in him And again V. 16. God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him Here then Men should lay their Hands upon their Hearts and examine how they beat what they are full of and how they are affected If Wrath and Bitterness Malice and Rancour Spightfulness and Uncharitableness dwelin them If Self-love Unmercifulness and Cruelty hardens them if the Wants and Miseries of others make no or very little Impressions upon them these are very bad Symptoms plain Signs that there is very little if any thing at all of God in such Hearts nothing but what savours of a narrow Spirit of a mean sordid and bruitish Nature Humane Rational Souls should have more exalted Faculties Souls that are of a Noble and Heavenly Extraction Souls that are so many Rays of the Divinity What can so become such Beings as Thoughts that are beneficial like the Sun-beams Affections that are as large as the Universe Motions and Operations like his who was the Redeemer of Souls whose whole Life was to go about doing Good His Miracles as well as his Sermons and Laws were Charity And by those Charitable Works he shewed himself to be the Son of God Nor may we think we can give the World or our own selves any satisfactory Evidence of our Relation to his Father or him but by Works of Charity as his were by doing Good to every Man as it lies in our power without Discrimination by Intreating them gently by bearing Wrongs and Indignities with meekness of Spirit by putting our Cause into God's hands without Self-revenge by blessing
almost said his only kindness is to a Vice that is his cruelest Enemy to a Vice that cuts and pierces him to the quick to a Vice that eats daily upon his Vitals and into his Heart and in return for its Entertainment gives him nothing but Gall and Wormwood And how can it be expected that a Man so imbitter'd should be Charitable to any other If you have Envying and bitter Strife in your Hearts glory not and lye not against the Truth This Wisdom descendeth not from above but is Earthly Sensual and Devilish For where Envying and Strife is there is Confusion and every Evil Work Jam. 3. 14 15 16. There is Meaness of Spirit Covetousness Detraction Hatred Lying Malice Fraud Oppression Partiality Cruelty and too often Blood-guiltiness it self The first Blood that ever was shed upon the Earth was shed out of meer Envy because the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his Offering Gen. 4. 4. Yet how was it a Crime in Abel or why was he to be blamed that God loved him An Envious Spirit being so inconsistent with Charity so repugnant to it so utterly destructive of it we should use all possible means to pluck out of our Souls this poisonous Root of Bitterness Then shall we be Charitable indeed when we unfeignedly desire not only the Eternal but even the Temporal Prosperity of all Men and strive according to our Ability to Promote it Then shall we express our Charity indeed when we seek not our own only but consider the Cases and suit our selves to the Circumstances of others as if they were our own too when we bless God for them and are satisfied and pleased to see our Neighbours sit at Peace under their Vines delighted and chearful with their Milk and Honey about them Then are we Charitable to all Men when in stead of fretting against any we take Compassion upon the worst lamenting and pitying their Infelicities as well as Sin when they abuse and misapply the Mercies of God to them Then are we Charitable indeed when we rejoyce for those Gifts which the Divine Bounty bestows especially upon Good Men when we are Thankful for them and make this Christian Use of them as to become our selves the Wiser and Better for them Then are we Charitable indeed when we are contented with our own present Portion and satisfied with other Men's entirely submitting to the Will of God with this comfortable Perswasion That in the several Acts of his Providence to them and us he doth that which is best for us all if not that which we most Covet yet that which we most Need. Briefly to Acquiesce in his Goodness and Wisdom considering how much we Enjoy above what we really deserve how many Thousands that deserve as well come vastly short of us and how little short we our selves comparatively come of those who deserve better to put a due value upon every the least Blessing of God and with all modest Resignation to leave our selves our Fortunes and our Brethren to his Government and Disposal This is at once to be Wise Patient Pious and Charitable also VI. 6. The next Character which St. Paul gives of Charity as a Rule for us to express it by is not so readily understood as the former because it admits of various Interpretations The Expressions which the Apostle useth is no where else to be found in the Holy Scripture Very probably it is a Latin word made Greek as some other words in the New Testament are and therefore it is no wonder if it bears a very doubtful Sense especially considering that it is no very common Word among the Old Latines neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Expression which our Translation rendreth Doth not vaunt it self But this is included in the following Character of Charity that is it is not puffed up If that Construction be right which Dr. Hammond mentions though without any Credit out of Phavorinus it should be rendred thus Charity flattereth not and certainly Flatterers are the most Uncharitable People in the World for they carry a Feather in their Hands with a design to do soft Execution and therefore are to be avoided as base and cursed Fellows as Destroyers and Pests saith Plutarch De Lib. Educ To which purpose that wise Heathen hath written a large Discourse Plut. de Adul Amici Discrimine Some Divines render the Apostle's Expression thus Charity is not Inconstant Others Charity is not Pretending Feigned and Hypocritical in which sense Clemens Alexandrinus and St. Basil seem to agree There are no less than nine or ten Interpretations of the Phrase But the fairest and that which is most followed by the Learned is that of St. Chrysostom and Tertullian Charity is not Precipitant or a Charitable Person doth not run headlong doth not act rashly boisterously and without due consideration That Noble Faculty the Understanding being planted in the Soul by Almighty God to direct us in all Cases Reason ought to be the Principle and Rule of our Moral Actions We should first propose to our selves a good End in all our Undertakings and then make choice of such good Means as right Reason tells us are fit and proper for the attaining it Unless we do manage our selves thus considerately we do not act like Rational Beings but like Mad-men Fools and Brutes Therefore when we are about to deal with one another we should strictly Examine before-hand Whether the End we drive at be Charitable or consistent with our Neighbours Good and Welfare and whether the Means we would use be Charitable in like manner For if either the End or the Means be contrary to the Law of Charity the Action it self must needs be very sinful and defile the Conscience and therefore it should be well weighed and considered before-hand Men should not do Things especially Things of this Nature in an hurry nor suffer their Passions to carry them violently on before Right Reason hath had Audience because when an Action is done hand over head it is a very great Chance if it be not Evil. The Thing Intended may be Evil for ought the Man knows for he considers it not and the course he takes to bring it about may be Evil too and seldom is an Action unadvisedly done but it is so And then Mischiefs unavoidably follow and some too that perhaps were not designed at the first 'T is St. Chrysostom's Observation That Charity makes one Prudent Cautious Grave and Condescending and by bringing the Mind to Temper and Thoughtfulness preventeth Rash and Injurious Proceedings But if Spleen make head against Reason and Inconsideration gets the Mastery Power strikes at every Thing that stands in the way which in that case is as a Knife in the Hand of a Mad-man Therefore in the whole intercourse of those Offices which usually pass between Man and Man we should deliberate about our Actions in good time and how Alluring soever any Thing appears we should narrowly look into the Nature of it
both are great Properties of Charity and the latter is not distinctly mentioned elsewhere in this Chapter I shall here take occasion to speak something of both in their Order 1. The first and most received Interpretation is That Charity teacheth us to be far from being Pleased and Delighted with the Sins and Iniquities we see other Men commit There are some of that Base and Inhumane Disposition that what to all Pious Souls is a Torment and a kind of Hell is to them a Paradise to hear ill Things of other Men especially of those they have no Kindness for that they may have a colourable Pretence to Defame and Depress them to bring them into Dangers and to use them Contumeliously and that they may render themselves the better Men as they think in the Esteem of the World Such were those Jews Jer. 20. 10 I heard saith the Prophet the Defaming of many fear on every side Report say they and we will report it All my familiars watched for my halting saying Peradventure he will be enticed and we shall prevail against him and we shall take our Revenge on him Meaning that they wish'd and sought for ways how to discover some Miscarriages or other in him that they might proceed against him and punish him in the Sanhedrim People of such a Temper are most highly Uncharitable and resemble the very Devil who makes it his business to tempt Men to Sin and delights to bring the greatest Evil upon us the Hurt and Ruine of our Souls nay to have God himself Dishonoured by us A Spirit of Charity teacheth us to Grieve and Mourn at anothers Sins though he be an Enemy because every Soul God hath made is Precious and the more Precious because it is Immortal and its Case is thereby the sadder when it drops into the Pit where the Worm dieth not nor is the Fire to be quenched This we should consider and lay seriously to Heart when we see or hear of any of those Iniquities Fornication Adultery Theft Covetousness Drunkenness Revellings Strife Sedition Heresies Envyings Murders and the like of which St. Paul expresly tells us That they who do such Things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5. 21. None are so to be pitied as such Workers of Iniquity how prosperous and flourishing soever their Condition may seem to be here even for that too they are to be pitied because God setteth them in flippery Places and when they fall they fall into Perdition without God's immediate Help which yet he hath no where promised without their Repentance And when Men are just going Repentance is commonly too late because it hath no time to be fruitful and is seldom true Considering therefore that our own Charity to such will then be too late also we should shew it them in time do them Good while we have an Opportunity while it is called to Day while it is yet our Hour and the Day of Salvation Our Bowels should yern upon a Brother as Joseph's did upon his Brother Benjamin Gen. 43. and we should retire as he did into our Chamber and weep there Weep and Mourn for the Sin now acted and earnestly Pray for the Pardon of it and with the United Assistance of an Holy Example Kind Reproofs and Charitable Counsels we should endeavour to recover the Miserable Wretch out of the Snares of the Devil if peradventure God will be pleased to give him Repentance in time Who is weak and I am not weak Who is offended and I burn not Said that great Lover of Souls St. Paul 2 Cor. 11. 29. This is fervent Charity indeed to be Passionately Afflicted to be on a Fire for the Crimes and Offences of others 't is like the Charity of the Tender-hearted Jesus that melted him into Tears when he beheld that perverse and bloody City O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy Children together as an Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings and ye would not Luke 13. 34. 2. But as I said there is another Interpretation yet of these Words Rejoyceth not in Iniquity It is St. Chrysostom's and I like it the rather because it is his viz. That Charitable Men are far from Rejoycing at the Calamity of those that Suffer especially that wrongfully Suffer by means of another's Iniquity To Triumph and Dance upon a Ruined Neighbour to Laugh at his Adversity to express Delight as those Men did at David's Misfortunes There there so would we have it This is a sore Evil a very horrible Violation of Charity which obligeth us to Rejoyce with them that Rejoyce and to Weep with them that Weep Rom. 12. 15. That is to Sympathize with our Brethren in every State and Condition This carrieth its own Light with it Now for our Practice of this Matter we must be careful to do two Things First We must construe the Dispensations of Providence after a fair and kind manner This is not a Place or Time for Rewards those are laid up for us in Heaven The present Life is for Trials and Discipline to Train us up and to Prepare us for a Blessed Eternity by such ways as God seeth best and fittest for us Many times Good Men fare Ill in this World as well as the Bad and sometimes worse because in some cases they can do themselves and others much more Good by their Hardships than it is possible for them to do by any other means Therefore we should not look upon the ill Usages Men meet with here as Arguments either of Displeasure in God or of Wickedness in his poor Suffering Creatures But as so many Dispensations of God's Wisdom and Goodness who acteth after his own way which is always for the best Consequently to trample upon one in Distress and to exult over him as if he were out of the Divine Favour because his Case is hard is both Uncharitableness towards the Man and Irreligion towards God too whose Proceedings are always Wise and Good though many times Mysterious till the Event opens the Meaning of them God doth nothing in vain As he is Good and never grieves the Children of Men but for good Purposes so he is Just and Righteous too and never spares the Workers of Iniquity but for good Purposes also For their Repentance if they will be led to it if not for the full manifestation of their Sins and for his own Honour and Glory in the end by making them Examples to the World Therefore saith our Apostle judge nothing before the time till the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of Darkness and will make manifest the Counsels of the Hearts and then shall every Man have Praise of God 1 Cor. 4. 5. The Second Thing we are to be careful of is To help those who want the Assistance of Charitable Hands those that Suffer by the Hand of Iniquity those that are Oppressed with Wrong When
use Reprehensions Reasonings Counsels Warnings Prayers every Thing that the miserable Creature needs and sometimes the greatest Pains are little enough I am loth to say too little But all is thought superfluous and to no purpose in a Case that is judged desperate All Endeavours as well as Hopes are given over because none will undertake a Task which he verily believes impossible It would be all one as if he should Preach or Pray over a Rock with a vain Design to remove it out of its Place with his Breath It is a great Discouragement even to a Charitable Man to have to do with those whose Spirits and Courses are wicked though they make great Professions of Religion And their Case is the more deplorable if they trust in themselves that they are Righteous while their Hearts and Souls are out of frame Yet an Hypocrite may be Reclaimed though with much difficulty The Shame of the World or the Gnawings of Conscience or the Melancholy Circumstances of a Sick Bed or the Frightful Prospect of Hell or some outward extraordinary Judgment may in time bring him to a sense of his sad Condition Captivity and Chains humbled Manasseh himself and one day God will be too hard for the sturdiest Sons of Belial Now as long as there are some though but faint and glimmering Hopes there are some Encouragements such as they be But for Labour which Men think will be certainly and utterly lost they can find no Reason and this is one great Mischief which comes by Uncharitableness of this kind that it damps the Minds and Endeavours of Men and violently hinders the carrying on of the Cause of the Son of God 2. But Secondly more than this such desperate Perswasions touching the forlorn State of others are a most powerful Temptation to those Uncharitable Wretches to Treat them with the extreamest Outrage who have the ill Luck to fall under their deadly Sentence Witness those Cruelties which have been acted by some Romanists as they have had the Power in their Hands over such as they are pleased to call Hereticks How false soever the Premisses be the Consequence is Natural For how can any gentle Dealings be expected by those who are presumed by these Zealots to be in a Damned State If God hath Cursed them why may not they If God hath consigned them to Eternal Flames why may not such as think so cast them into the Fire here This they believe is but the beginning of God's Work and where is the Fault if they do like God It is thus in all Cases where Men have the confidence to Usurp Christ's Authority and to Judge before the time whom they will they Save and whom they can they Punish with this Difference That in the midst of Wrath they think not as God doth upon Mercy Alas what becomes all this while of the great Christian Rule Charity hopeth all Things And the best it can of all Men Charity requires us to do others all the Good Offices which lie in our Power and when all is done the same Charity doth bind us also to leave every one to stand or fall to his own Master Lord that any Men should proceed to that sinful degree of Immoderation and Insolence as to confine all true Religion within a Party and to make another's Dissent the Infallible Mark of an Apostate and Reprobate 'T is well for us all that a Good God governs the World that he hath the Custody of our Souls and that he is to be the Judge who was the Redeemer of them For were we to determine one another's final Lot who is there almost that could be saved Suppose there were Five hundred Parties in the World after this rate it would be Five hundred to Nothing but every Man would be Damned because each Party would Damn all but it self and if that were Damned too by Four hundred ninety and nine it would be very great Fortune for it to escape Now what is all this but to thrust the Lord Jesus out of his Throne and for us to leap upon the Bench who must our selves be Arraigned at his Tribunal In the Name of God let us all walk by the same Rule and hope the best of all Men. Perhaps we may be sometimes mistaken in our Hopes but an Error of that kind hath an easie Pardon if it stands in any need of it I am sure we can be no Losers by our Charity Our Case may be desperate for want of it especially if our Uncharitableness drive us on to kindle Eternal Fires for our Brethren There the Loss is likely to be Infinite without any escaping We shall perish our selves by the Flames which we have raised as the King of Babylon's Servants did Dan. 3. 22. when they threw Shadrach Meshach and Abednego into the burning fiery Furnace Judge not saith our Blessed Saviour that ye be not judged For with what Judgment ye judge ye shall be judged and with what Measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again Mat. 7. 1 2. St. Paul himself though he had such abundance of Revelations yet he durst not take upon him to pass Sentence no not upon profess'd Infidels What have I to do to judge them that are without 1. Cor. 5. 12. They and all Mankind must be left to God's Tribunal who is the only Searcher of Hearts the only Judge that knoweth Infallibly who is or shall be his His Mercies are infinite his Paths are as yet past finding out His Ways are not as our Ways nor are his Thoughts as our Thoughts For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are his Ways higher than our Ways and his Thoughts than our Thoughts Isa 55. 8 9. He hath indeed affix'd a dreadful Penalty to his Laws especially under the Gospel But whether he hath not reserved to himself a Power of Remitting the Penalty in some special and extraordinary Cases is to us a Secret There is indeed but one ordinary and strait Path to Heaven by Faith and true Repentance yet who can tell but that the Wisdom and Providence of God may bring it so about that some little By-Paths wherein People of good and honest Minds though of different Perswasions do go now may in the end fall into the ready Road There is indeed this Doom annexed to the Promulgation of the Gospel He that believeth not shall be damned and yet Charity will not suffer us to pass the Sentence of Eternal Ruine either upon those Children which die Unbaptized or upon that vast Number of poor well-meaning Heathens who never heard of Christ and therefore lived and died in Infidelity For ought we know God may have some secret Ways of applying the Merits of Jesus Christ to the Souls of some People whom Censorious and Uncharitable Wretches look upon now as utterly lost and gone In all Cases we should judge Charitably of others as hoping for a favourable Judgment our selves And if in our Charity we chance to err 't is an