Authority of Jesus Christ and assents to his Doctrines Now this Assent of the Mind is required in order to the Practice of Christ's Religion because it is not imaginable how People can be brought to obey his Laws sincerely and universally unless they be first perswaded in their Hearts that he was the Son of God the very Christ sent by his Father from Heaven to help Mankind thither This puts a Divine Stamp upon the whole Christian Religion it gives it an unquestionable Credit and renders every the most difficult Article of it worthy of all Acceptation because it came from God and was revealed by the Son of God and therefore must needs be infallibly true Upon this account the belief of Christ's Authority and of the Truth and certainty of his Religion is the first thing necessary And for this Reason it was that his first Disciples took such pains every where to prove him to be the very Christ and inculcated the necessity of Faith in him For this was the ready way to bring the World in Obedience to him and nothing but this could prevail with Men to observe Christ's Institution with such strictness as the Primitive Christian did and for the sake of it to venture and undergo upon all Occasions the utter loss of all Faith then being required to produce Obedience as the proper Means in order to this noble End cannot possibly stand us in stead if it be only a Notion in our Heads if it be a liveless and unfruitful Perswasion if it be naked and alone if it hath not that effect and power upon our Souls as to bring on the Love and Practice of those other Virtues and Graces for the Production whereof it hath been all along intended Now of those Virtues and Graces Charity is the very chiefest this must accompany our Faith to make it as it should be such a Faith as we may safely rely on and therefore St. Paul describing that Assent of the Mind which availeth indeed calls it Faith which worketh by love Gal. 5. 6. Or as some Learned Criticks would rather render it Faith which is consummate and perfected by Charity The truth is all our Notions are very imperfect Things without this and though these Notions be never so right and Orthodox yet are they vastly short of our true Duty till they reach our Hearts and make us to open our Bowels towards other Men and to exercise our Hands in Offices of Love And therefore since without a Spirit of Charity nothing will avail us nor answer the great Ends of Christ's Religion no not our very Faith according to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 13. Though I have all Knowledge and all Faith and give away Goods Body Life and all and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing Since I say it is thus it is of infinite Concernment to us all so to subdue our Minds and Passions as to approve our selves in this respect the hearty Disciples of a meek and charitable Jesus Many Voluminous Disputations have been written which might have been better spared about Faith and Works and Justification whether we are justified by the one or the other or by both and great Endeavours have been used to Reconcile St. Paul and St. James upon this Point Rather I might say to set them at Variance for their Sense is the same touching the necessity of Works Evangelical as Piety Humility Meekness Patience and the like and very plainly and particulary upon the Point of Charity Here the most vulgar Eye may see their clear Agreement In Jesus Christ neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but Faith which worketh by Love saith St. Paul Gal. 5. 6. And He shall have Judgment without Mercy that hath shewed no Mercy saith St. James Jam. 2. 13. Therefore in a Case that is so positively and fully decided we should leave Controversie and fall to Practice and study how to be fruitful in good Works rather than how to make our Brains Prolifick This is the right way of performing the Conditions of the Evangelical Covenant and of bringing Peace and Comfort to our own Minds I am sure when we come to die it will turn to far better account for our poor Souls than all the Disputes which we shall leave behind us and which we shall leave too with this great Question which perhaps will never be determin'd Whether Men have managed them with as much Truth as Uncharitableness 4. Fourthly A Charitable Temper serves to prepare and fit us for the Everlasting Happiness of another Life Many Virtues are required to dispose us for the Enjoyment of that Happiness to make us capable of it to render us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1. 12. Neither will the Decrees nor the Power nor the Mercy of God bring us to that Fruition without due Qualifications on our part because there can be no true Happiness but where there is a Correspondence and Suitableness between the Mind and the Thing if a Man be not pleased with what he Enjoys nor finds any delightful Relish in it it is impossible for him to be happy by enjoying it nor can Heaven it self be a place of Pleasure to those whose Minds have as little Taste of those Divine Satisfactions as a vitiated Palate hath of the most pleasant Meats and Drinks To prepare our selves for those Delights it is necessary to transform our Souls into the love of them now and to accustom our selves now to the familiar and delightful Practice of those Virtues wherein the Felicity of another Life doth really consist Of which Virtues a charitable Disposition is one and a very great one because we shall be sure to carry that Disposition with us out of this World to continue with us everlastingly and to make us happy indeed in the enjoyment of a suitable Society of Blessed Spirits which are all made up of Love Charity never faileth saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 13. 8. Whether there be Prophecies they shall fail whether there be Tongues they shall cease whether there be Knowledge it shall vanish away But Charity endureth for ever it is an inseparable Glory of the Souls of just Men made perfect And this is another Reason why Charity is set above Faith and Hope because it is of infinite Duration As it is the most beneficial so it is the most lasting Virtue Faith is the Evidence or firm Perswasion of Things not yet seen Heb. 11. 1. And when we come to behold God Face to Face it will be no longer Faith but Vision And so Hope is the expectation of Things that are future and when we come to the actual Possession of them it will be no longer Hope but Fruition or Enjoyment But Love is of an unchangeable Nature nor will it ever cease because it is a Ray of the Immutable and Everlasting God This is the Happiness of Heaven that though there be different Ranks and Orders of Angels different States of
and wishing well to our very Enemies and by expressing our sincere Affections to all Mankind 3. These Things do naturally carry a great deal of Force with them So that if no Obligations were upon us from any Laws to this purpose the Divine Excellence of these Actions would Recommend them to our Practice because they are God-like Actions and therefore must needs be of the highest Excellence in their own Nature But besides this we are to consider yet in the third place how helpful a Spirit of Charity is to us in answering the great Ends of the New Covenant The grace of God or the Gospel that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all Men teaching us that denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Tit. 2. 11 12. Which shews that the design of the Evangelical Covenant is to reclaim Mankind to the Love and Practice of all manner of Virtue Because God is a most perfect Being himself of infinite Goodness and Rectitude in his Nature his blessed Purpose is to imprint upon our Souls his own Image according to the Capacity of our finite Faculties And in order hereunto he hath given us by his own Son the brightness of his own Glory not only the most excellent Promises all confirm'd and seal'd with his Blood upon the Cross but moreover the most perfect Example and the most perfective Duties Now of these Duties this of Universal Charity and Love is the Chief For Love being such a Divine Affection the Fruits of it must needs be Divine too if it be sincere and zealous As for Instance If our Love to God be pure and hearty it cannot but move us to a solicitous Care of doing nothing that is repugnant to God's Will and Holiness because this Affection is naturally attended with an earnest desire to please and imitate its Object or the Party we intirely love So also if a Man's Love to himself be Rational and Regular it must needs put him upon doing himself all the Good especially all the Spiritual Good he can because his Spiritual Part the Soul is to live for ever and therefore requires his tenderest Care that it may be everlastingly Happy The same Inclination doth true Charity work in us towards all other Men to be beneficial to them likewise for it always operates according to the nature of the Thing and according to the condition of the Object It cannot possibly be of any advantage to our Maker because he is out of the reach of our Charity and too high for it Can a Man be profitable unto God as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy Ways perfect Job 22. 2 3. And again If thou be righteous what givest thou him Or what receiveth he of thy hand Job 35. 7. No all our Goodness extendeth not to him Ps 16. 2. He neither needs it nor is he capable of being benefited by it because he is infinitely perfect and happy in himself But our Love to God hath this Effect it makes us admire and adore him serve and worship and endeavour to please him and to be like unto him and so it is an Instrument of Godliness as well as of Sobriety and Righteousness In this respect it may be said to be a Fulfilling of the whole Law even the first Table of it though indeed it serves most directly to Fulfil the Second And thus the Apostle argues Rom. 13. 8 9 10. He that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law For this Thou shalt not commit Adultery thou shalt not Kill thou shalt not Steal thou shalt not bear false Witness thou shalt not Covet and if there be any other Commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying viz. Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self Love worketh no ill to his Neighbour therefore Love is the fulfilling of the Law We cannot be Injurious to our own Souls or to the rest of Mankind or to God himself but it must proceed from the want of those enlarged Hearts and those fervent and tender Affections which the Gospel requires of us all Here then we should employ our greatest Pains and use our utmost Endeavours to kindle in us a true Spirit of Charity For it is the end of the Commandment 1 Tim. 1. 5. And because it is the most Perfective Grace the Scripture sets it above all Things even above Faith and Hope 1 Cor. 13. 13. Now abideth Faith Hope Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity The greatest not only because it is most profitable to others which the other two Virtues are not for Faith and Hope keep at home a Man believeth for himself and hopeth for himself nor is ones Neighbour the better for them 'T is this that is the active the dispensing Grace that walks about doing good and every one fares the better for it But 't is the greatest Virtue too because of the three it is the most beneficial to ones self also It gives him solid Reasons for his Hope which otherwise would be groundless and Perfection to his Faith which otherwise would be fruitless and consequently unprofitable even at home The Hypocrite's Hope shall perish And his Trust shall be as a Spider's Web Job 8. 13 14. A sorry weak Thing to bear ones Heart up especially on a Death-bed For Hope if it be right must be built upon some Promise nor can it go further than the Promise it self goes for if God hath not promised me his Mercy how can I reasonably hope for it Now it is plain that there is no Promise of that Nature but on condition of Charity on our part The Texts are so clear that they need no Comment 1 John 3. 10. In this the Children of God are manifested and the Children of the Devil whosoever doth not Righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his Brother And again V. 14. He that loveth not his Brother abideth in Death or is in a deadly State And again V. 15. Whosoever hateth his Brother is a Murderer and ye know that no Murderer hath Eternal Life abiding in him Nay to shew how extensive our Charity must be for our hopes of Mercy at God's hands our Saviour himself hath passed this Decretory Sentence That there is no Mercy for us unless we shew it our selves and that even to our Enemies Mat. 6. 15. If ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses As for Faith great Things indeed are spoken of it in the Scripture but withal we are told that without Works it is dead such a spiritless empty Thing without a Life of Virtue that it no more deserves the Character of a saving Faith than a dead Carkass deserves the Name of a Man Faith as it is distinguished from Works signifies here an Act of the Understanding whereby a Man owns the
Disease will seize them at the last and allow them some Time to prepare for another Life But what if they have not an Heart to Prepare themselves duly then though they may have Time 'T is possible for Men to Sin away the Grace of God and the Day of Salvation 'T is possible to harden the Heart so as to render it Uncapable of Good Impressions 'T is possible also to provoke the Holy and Just God to such an high degree as that he will refuse to Soften and Intender it and to listen to their Cries that would not call upon him while he was near They are dreadful Threatnings Prov. 1. from Vers 24. to Vers 30. Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my Hand and no Man regarded it But ye have set at nought all my Counsel and would none of my Reproof I also will laugh at your Calamity and will mock when your Fear cometh When your Fear cometh as Desolation and your Destruction cometh as a Whirlwind when Distress and Anguish cometh upon you Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me For that they hated Knowledge and did not choose the Fear of the Lord. This I fear is the usual Result of Habitual Wickedness and especially of Men's living in a course and habit of Uncharitableness because it is a Sin or rather a Complication of Sins so Diametrically opposite to the Laws of Jesus Christ and to the Spirit of his Religion that of all others now it seemeth to come the nearest to the very Sin against the Holy Ghost But suppose such People should at last express some Grief and Sorrow for their Wicked Temper and for those manifold Injuries and Mischiefs which are the usual Effects of Uncharitableness yet who can tell whether this Sorrow proceedeth from the Love of God and from a true Sense and Hatred of the Sin or whether it doth not come merely from an Apprehension of those Torments whereof their Consciences are now afraid If it be only the Fear of Punishment which extorteth those Expressions this is very consistent with an Evil Mind that would act over the same Sins again could they but renew their Lives And therefore this Sorrow is no better than Nothing in God's Account because it is not such a Godly Sorrow as worketh Repentance unto Salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7. 10. Let it be granted Lastly That the Sorrow is Genuine and Sincere yet little Comfort can come by it to the Dying Person because he hath no Time now to try whether his Mind be changed indeed and whether he be become a New Man and a New Creature So that at the best his Case is very bad because though he be a True Penitent yet it is more than he knows and consequently neither can his Comfort be solid nor can his Hopes of Pardon be built upon a sure Foundation In such a Labyrinth of Misery doth an Uncharitable Temper plunge every inconsiderate Wretch that the Pleasure he takes and the Profit he gets by Acts of Malice and Revenge doth not countervail the Thousandth Part of those Calamities and Dangers he exposeth himself to unavoidably Therefore it deeply concerns us all to be Wise in time to mend in time to Subdue and Rectifie our Dispositions in time and to new-mould our Hearts into a Resemblance of that Holy and Excellent Being who is a God of Compassion the Father of Mercies the Author of Peace and the Lover of Concord Men may fancy what they please but I take it for a certain Truth that according as our Tempers are either Good or Evil so God loves or hates us and so our Portion will be at the last If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ that is the Disposition and Temper of Christ he is none of his faith St. Paul Rom. 8. 9. And what was Christ's Spirit but a Spirit of Love His Doctrines tended to Peace and Charity His Miracles were Charitable he shewed his Power as God doth in doing Works of Pity and Compassion He went about doing Good And when his Hands and Feet were now Nailed to the Cross and hindred from doing any more he employed his Tongue and Heart in a Work of the greatest Charity of all in sending up a Charitable Prayer for the Pardon of his Enemies Here then is the Pattern that we must follow if we expect any Benefit by his Crucifixion As often as we look on him whom they pierced we must have an Eye upon his Temper as well as upon his Blood and we must make the one our Example as well as lay hold on the other for our Peace In stead of seeking the Hurt or intending the Hurt or wishing the Hurt of any we must apply and set our Hearts as the Lord Jesus did to do every one all the Good we can and then are we his indeed To sum up all then in the Words of St. Paul Let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour and Evil-speaking be put away from you with all Malice Be ye Kind one to another and Tender-hearted Put on as the Elect of God Holy and Beloved Bowels of Mercy Goodness Humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiveing one another If any Man have a Quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye And above all these Things put on Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness And let the Peace of God Rule in your Hearts to the which also ye are called in one Body Amen O Lord who hast taught us That all our Doings without Charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our Hearts that most excellent Gift of Charity the very Bond of Peace and of all Virtues without which whosoever Liveth is counted Dead before thee Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake Amen ALmighty and Everlasting God give unto us the Increase of Faith Hope and Charity and that we may obtain that which thou dost Promise make us to Love that which thou dost Command through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty Father who hast Given thine only Son to Die for our Sins and to Rise again for our Justification Grant us so to put away the Leaven of Malice and Wickedness that we may alway serve Thee in Pureness of Living and Truth through the Merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Almighty God who hast knit together thine Elect in one Communion and Fellowship in the Mystical Body of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord Grant us Grace so to follow thy Blessed Saints in all Virtuous and Godly Living that we may come to those Vnspeakable Joys which thou hast Prepared for them that Vnfeignedly love Thee through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen FINIS