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Christian Love,
AS MANIFESTED IN THE HEART AND LIFE.
BY
JONATHAN EDWARDS,
SOMETIME PASTOR OF THE CHURCH AT NOHTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS,
AND PRESIDEST OF THE COLLEQE OP NEW JEftSEr.
EDITED PROM THE ORIGINAIj MANUSCRIPT
By the Eev, TRYON EDWARDS, D.D.
Sl^TTH AMERICAN EDITION.
PHILADELPHIA :
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
1334 CHESTNUT STREET.
»• /.Tcd according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
THE TKDSTEES OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
Ii' tlic Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
INTEODUCTION.
Perhaps no person ever lived, who more habitually
And carefully committed his thoughts, on almost every
subject, to writing, than the elder President Edwards.
His ordinary studies were pursued, pen in hand, and
with his note-books before him; and he not only often
stopped, in his daily rides, by the way side, but fre-
quently rose even at midnight, to commit to paper any
important thought that occurred to him.
As the result of this habit, his manuscripts are
perhaps as thoroughly the record of the intellectual
life of their author, as those of almost any individual
who has a name in either the theological or literary
world. These manuscripts are also very numerous.
The seventeenth century was an age of voluminous
authorship. The works of Bishop Hall amount tc ten
(iii)
IV INTEODUCTION .
volumes octavo ; Liglitfoot's to thirteen ; Jeremy Tay
lor's, to fifteen ; Dr. Goodwin's, to twenty ; Owen's, to
twenty-eight; while Baxter's would extend to some
sixty volumes, or from thirty to forty thousand closely
printed octavo pages. The writings of Edwards, if all
that he wrote were published, would be more volumin-
ous than the works of any of these writers, if possibly
tlie last two be excepted. A large part of his unpub-
lished manuscripts have been carefully preserved and
kept together ; and some years since, were committed to
the editor of this work, as sole permanent trustee, by
all the then surviving grandchildren of their author.
Included in these manuscripts are various papers, of
interest and value, that have never been given to the
public, among which are the Lectures contained in
this volume. These Lectures were first preached by
Mr. Edwards in 1738, in a series of sermons to the
people of his charge in Northampton, and were appa-
rently designed by himself for publication ; for they
were written out in full, and soon after they were com-
pleted he began his discourses on the " History of Ec-
demption," which, it is known, he intended should be
mTEODUCTION. V
published. After his death they were selected for pub-
lication by Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Bellamy ; and were,
in part, copied out and prepared for the press, when,
for some reason, their preparation was interrupted,
BO that now, for the first time, they are given to the
public.
The subject of these Lectures is eminently practical
and important. Love is the first outgoing of the re-
newed soul to God ; '• We love him because he first
loved us." It is the true evidence of a saving work of
grace in the soul ; " The fruit of the Spirit is Zotc." It
lies at the very foundation of Christian character ; we
are "rooted and grounded in love.'''' It is the path in
which all the true children of God are found ; Ihey
" walk in love : " the bond of their mutual union ;
their hearts are " knit together in love : " their protec-
tion in the spiritual warfare ; they are to put on " the
breast-plate of love: " the fulness and completeness of
their Christian character ; they are " made perfect in
love : '' the spirit through which they may fulfil all the
divine requirements ; for " love is the fulfilling of law :"
and that by which they may become like their Father
VI tNTKODUCTION.
in heaven, and fitted for his presence ; for " G A is
A>»«," and Heaven is a world of love.
As to the character of the Lectures, it is suflBciT-nt in
a word to say, that they are marked throughout, by
that strong and clear thought, those broad and compre-
hensive views of truth, that thorough knowledge of hu-
man nature, and that accurate and familiar acquaint-
ance with the Scriptures, which characterize the works
of their distinguished author. It is believed they will
at once take rank with his well-known works on the
Will," the " AflFections," and " Redemption," and be
deemed as valuable in their practical bearings, as the
first is in its metaphysical^ the second in its experi-
mental^ or the third in its historical. Of these Lec-
tures, as of all his works, it may be said, as Johnson
said to Boswell when asked by the latter, " "What works
of Baxter's he shoald read ?" " Read all, for they are
aL excellent."
T. E.
PREFACE
TO THE SIXTH AMERICAN EDITION.
This work, under the title of " Charity and its
Fruits," or " Christian Love, as Manifested in
THE Heart and Life," was first published, from the
original manuscripts, in 1851. It was republished in
England in 1852. After that, several editions were
issued in this country, when the work was purchased
by a Christian gentleman of wealth and culture, with
the express view of printing it for distribution as a
means of doing good. He had himself been so im-
pressed with its great value as a treatise on the Chris-
tian spirit and life that he intended to issue edition
after edition, at his own expense, for gratuitous cir-
culation in every part of the land. On second thought,
however, he liberally presented the stereotype plates to
the Presbyterian Board of Publication, so ar-
ranging with them as to be able to carry out his de-
sign, while, at the same time, the work, in their hands,
might have a more extended circulation, and thus be
the means of greater good.
From the day of its first publication, the work has
received the highest testimonials to its value from
numbers of those best qualified to judge. One of our
ablest writers says : " This new work from the great mind
via PREFACE.
and heart of Edwards needs from me no word of com-
mendation. I find in it the same exhaustive analysis,
the same earnest spirituality, and the same wonderful
familiarity with the Bible and the human heart, which
distinguish his great work on the ' Affections.' How
true to the high standard of gospel truth ! How full
of the richest practical lessons! How affectionately
severe to the reader's soul !" And John Angell James
once said to an American clergyman, " Had I seen this
noble work of Edwards before I published on the
same subject, I should hardly have allowed my work
('Christian Charity Explained') to go to the press.
It is admirable— every word of it!" One Christian
gentleman, a man of thought and culture, writes,
" I keep ' Charity and its Fkuits ' on my table,
next to my Bible ;" while another, a minister of ripe
experience and extensive reading, says, "I hardly
know a book that has interested or profited me more.
I find, on looking over my copy, that I have marked
•with my pencil, as striking or instructive, more pas-
sages than there are pages to the book !"
Similar testimonies, from various sources, might
easily be multiplied. But the work will best speak
for itself. Published, as it now is, by the Presbyte-
EIAK Board of Publicatiok, as one of its standard
works, it is earnestly commended to the divine bless-
ing, and to the prayerful study of the reader.
October, 1S72.
CONTENTS.
LECTURE I.
PAOB
«LL TRUE GRACE IN THE HEART, SUMMED VP IN
CHARITY, OR LOVE 1
LECTURE II.
CHARITY, OR LOVE, MORE EXCELLENT THAN THE
EXTRAOKDINARY GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT . . 38
LECTURE 111.
AJX THAT CAN RE DONE OR SUFFERED, IN VAIN
WITHOUT CHARITY OR LOVE . . . .73
LECTURE IV.
CHARITY MEEK IN BEARING EVIL AND INJURIES . 96
LECTURE V.
CHARITY CHEERFUL AND FREE IN DOING GOOD . 139
CONTENTS.
LECTURE VI.
PAOK
THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY, THE OPPOSITE OF AN
ENVIOUS SPIRIT . , . , . . .161
LECTURE VII.
THE SPIRIT OF CHARITV, AN HUMBLE SPIRIT . .185
LECTURE VIII.
VHE SPIRIT OF CHARITY, THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH
SPIRIT 226
LECTURE IX.
THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY, THE OPPOSITE OF AN ANGRY
OR WRATHFUL SPIRIT 268
LECTURE X.
THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY, THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSO-
RIOUS SPIRIT ... ... 294
LECTURE XL
ALL TRUE GRACE IN THE HEART TENDS TO HOLY
PRACTICE IN THE LIFE 318
CONTKNTS.
LECTURE XII.
FA.OE
-IHARITT WILLING TO UNDERGO ALL SUFFERINGS FOR
CHRIST 361
LECTURE XIII.
ALL THE CHRISTIAN GRACES CONNECTED AND MU-
TUALLY DEPENDENT 386
LECTURE XIV.
JHARITT, OR TRUE GRACE, NOT TO BE OVERTHROWN
BY OPPOSITION 410
LECTURE XV.
THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVER TO RE COMMUNICATED
TO THE SAINTS, IN CHARITY OR LOVE . . . 433
LECTURE XVI.
HEAVEN A WORLD OF CHATIITT OR LOVE . . 463
LECTURE I.
OHAEITY, OR LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VntTTIE.
' Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and
have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophesy,
and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and
though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I be-
stow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my
body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me
nothing." — 1 Corinthians xiii. 1-3.
In these words we observe — First^ that some
thing is spoken of as of special importance,
and as peculiarly essential in Christians, which
the Apostle calls charity. And this charity,
we find, is abundantly insisted on in the New
Testament by Christ, and his apostles, — more
insisted on, indeed, than any other virtue.
But, then, the word " charity," as used in
the New Testament, is of much more exten-
sive signification, than as it is used generally
in common discourse. "What persons very
1
a LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
often mean by "charity," in their ordinary
conversation, is a disposition to hope and
think the best of others, and to put a good
construction on tlieir words and behavior;
and sometimes the word is used for a disposi-
tion to give to the poor. But these things
are only certain particular branches, or fruits
of that great virtue of charity which is so
much insisted on throughout the New Testa-
ment. The word properly signifies love^ or
that disposition oi' affection whereby one is
dear to another ^ and the original (" agape"),
which is here translated " charity^'''' might
better have been rendered " love^'' for that
is the proper English of it : so that by char-
ity in the ]N"ew Testament, is meant the very
same thing as Christian love ; and though it
be more frequently used for love to men, yet
sometimes it is used to signify not only love
to men, but love to God. So it is manifestly
used by the Apostle in this epistle, as he ex
plains himself in chapter viii. 1 — "Knowl
edge pufleth up, but charity edifieth," &c.
Here the comparison is between knowledge
and charity — and the preference is given to
charitv, because knowledge puffeth up, but
charity edifieth. And then, in the next two
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
verses, it is more particularly explained h*"tw
knowledge usually puffs up, and why charity
edifieth ; so that what is called charity in
the first verse, is called loving God in the
third, for the very same thing is evidently
spoken of in the two places. And doubtless
the apostle means the same thing by charity
in this thirteenth chapter, that he does in the
eighth ; for he is here comparing the same
two things together that he was there, viz. :
knowledge and charity. " Though I have all
knowledge and have not charity, I am noth-
ing ;" and again, " charity never faileth, but
— knowledge, it shall vanish away." So that
by charity here, we are doubtless to under-
stand Christian love in its full extent, and
whether it be exercised toward God, or our
fellow-creatures.
And this charity is here spoken of, as that
which is, in a distinguishing manner, the
great and essential thing : which will appear
more fully when we observe. Secondly^ what
things are mentioned as being in vain with-
out it, viz. : the most excellent things that
ever belong to natural men ; the most excel-
lent privileges, and the most excellent per-
formances. Firstj the most excellent privi-
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.,
leges, such as preaching witli tongues, the
gift of prophecy, understanding all myste-
ries, faith to remove mountains, &c. ; and tiec-
cmdly, the most excellent performances, siicli
as giving all one's goods to feed the poor, and
the body to be burned, &c. Greater things
than these, no natural man ever had or did,
and they are the kind of things in which men
are exceedingly prone to trust ; and yet the
apostle declares that if we have them all, and
have not charity, w^e are nothing. The doc-
trine taught, then, is this :
That all the viktue that is saving, and
THAT distinguishes TRUE CilEISTIANS FROM
OTHERS, IS SUMMED UP IN CHRISTIAN LOVE. This
appears from the words of the text, because
so many other things are mentioned that nat-
ural men may have, and the things mention-
ed are of the highest kind it is possible they
should have, both of privilege and perform-
ance, and yet it is said they all avail nothing
witho it this, whereas if any of them were
saving, they would avail something without it.
And by the apostle's mentioning so many
and so high things, and then saying of them
all that they profited nothing without charity,
we may justly conclude, that there is nothing
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE,
&i all that avails anything without it. Let a
man have what he will, and do what he will,
it signifies nothing without charity, which
surely implies that charity is the great thing,
and that everything which has not charity in
some way contained or implied in it is noth-
ing, i nd that this charity is the life and soul
of all religion, without which all things that
wear the name of virtues are empty and vain.
In speaking to this doctrine, I would first
notice the nature of this divine love, and then
show the truth of the doctrine respecting it.
And
I. I would speak of the nature of a truly
Christian love. And here I would observe
1. Tiiat all true Christian love is one and
the same in its prinoijple. It may be various
in its forms and objects, and may be exercised
either toward God or men, but it is the same
principle in the heart that is the foundation
of every exercise of a truly Christian love,
whatever may be its object. It is not with
the holy love in the heart of the Christian, as
it is with the love of other men. Their love
toward different objects, may be from differ-
ent principles and motives, and with different
views ; but a truly Christian love is different
2
6 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIBTUP:.
from this. It is one as to its principle, what-
ever the object about which it is exercised •
it is from the same spring or fountain in the
heart, though it may flow out in diflerent
channels and diverse directions, and there-
fore it is all fitly comprehended in the one
name of charity, as in the text. That this
Christian love is one, whatever the objects
toward which it may flow forth, appears by
the following things : —
jFirst, It is all from the same Sjpii'it influ-
encing the heart. It is from the breathing o^
the same Spirit that true Christian love arises,
both toward God and man. The Spirit o:^
God is a Spirit of love, and when the former
enters the soul, love also enters with it. God
is love, and he that has God dwelling in him
by his Spirit, will have love dwelling in him
also. The nature of the Holy Spirit is love ;
and it is by communicating himself, in his
own nature, to the saints, that their hearts are
filled with divine charity. Hence we find
that the saints are partakers of the divine na-
ture, and Christian love is called the "love
of the Spirit," Romans xv, 30, and " love in
the Spirit," Col. i. 8, and the very bowels of
love and mercy seem to signify tie same
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE. 7
thine with the fellowship of the Spirit, Phil. ii.
1. It is that Spirit, too, that infuses love to God,
Rom. V. 5 ; and it is bv the indwelling of that
Spirit, that the soul abides in love to God and
man, 1 John, xiv. 12, 13 ; and iii. 23, 24. And,
Second^ Christian love both to God and man,
is wrought in the heart hy 4he same worh of
the Spirit. There are not two works of the
Spirit of God, one to infuse a spirit of love
to God, and the other to infuse a spirit of
love to men, but in producing one, the Spirit
produces the other also. In the work of con-
version, the Holy Spirit renews the heart by
giving it a divine temper ; Eph. iv. 23, and
it is one and the same divine temper thus
wrought in the heart, that flows out in love
both to God and man. And,
Third., When God and man are loved with
a truly Christian love, they are both loved
from the same motives. "When God is loved
aright, he is loved for his excellency, and the
beaut}^ of his nature, especially the holiness
of his nature ; and it is from the same motive
that the saints are loved, for holiness' sake.
And all things that are loved with a truly
holy love, are loved from the same resp(ict to
God. Love to God is the fomidation of gra-
8 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
cious love to men ; and men aie loved, either
because they are in some respect like God in
the possession of his nature and spiritual
image, or because of the relation they stand
in to him as his children or creatures — as
those who are blessed of him, or to whom his
mercy is offered, or in some other way from
regard to him. Only remarking that though
Christian love be one in its principle, yet it is
distinguished and variously denominated in
two ways, with respect to its objects, and the
kinds of its exercise, as for example, its de-
grees, &c. I now proceed,
II. To show the truth of the doctrine^ that
all virtue that is saving or distinguishing of
true Christians^ is summed up in Christian
love. And,
1. We may argue this from, lohat reason
teaches of the nature of love. And if we duly
consider its nature, two things will appear.
First., That love will dispose to all proper
u-cts of respect to both God and man. This is
evident because a true respect to either God
or man consists in love. If a man sincerely
loves God, it will dispose him to render all
proper respect to him ; and men need no
other incitement to show each other all the
LOVE THE SUM -)F ALL VIKTUE. U
respect that is due, than love. Love to God
will dispose a man to honor him, to worship
and adore him, and heartily to acknowledge
his greatness, and glory, and dominion. And
so it will dispose to all acts of obedience to
God ; for the servant that loves his master,
and the subject that loves his sovereign, will
be disposed to proper subjection and obe-
dience. Love will dispose the Christian to
behave toward God, as a child to a father;
amid difficulties to resort to him for help, anc'
put all his trust in him; just as it is naturae
for us, in case of need or affliction, to go to
one that we love for pity and help. It will
lead us, too, to give credit to his word, andf^,
put confidence in him ; for we are not apt to
suspect the veracity of those we have entire
friendship for. It will dispose us to praise
God for the mercies we receive from him, just
as we are disposed to gratitude for any kind-
ness we receive from our fellow-men that we
love. Love, again, will dispose our hearts to
submission to the will of God, for we are
more willing tliat the Mall of those we love
should be done, than of others. We natural-
ly desire that those we love should be suited,
and that we sliould be ai^rreeable to them*
iO LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
and true affection and love to God will dls
pose the heart to acknowledge God's right to
govern, and that he is worthy to do it, and so
will dispose to submission. Love to God will
dispose us to walk humbly with him, for he
that loves God will be disposed to acknowl-
edge the vast distance between God and him-
self. It will be agreeable to such an one, to
exalt God, and set him on high above all, and
to lie low before him. A true Christian de-
lights to have God exalted on his own abase-
ment, because he loves him. He is willing
to own that God is worthy of this, and it is
with delight that he casts himself in the dust
before the Most High, from his sincere love to
him.
And so a due consideration of the nature
of love will show that it disposes men to all
duties toward their neighbors. If men have
a sincere love to their neiglibors, it will dis-
pose them to all acts of justice toward those
neighbors — for real love and friendship al-
ways dispose us to give those we love their
due, and never to wrong them. Rom. xiii. 10.
" Love worketh no ill to his neighbor," And
the same love will dispose to ti*uth toward
neighbors, and will tend to prevent all lying,
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE. 11
and fraud, and deceit. Men are not disposed
to exercise fraud and treachery toward those
they love ; for thus to treat men is to treat
tliem like enemies, but love destroys enmity.
Thus the apostle makes use of the oneness
that there ought to be among Christians, as an
argument to induce them to truth between
man and man. Ephesians iv. 25. Love will
dispose to walk humbly amongst men, for a
real and true love will incline us to high
thoughts of others, and to think them better
than ourselves. It will dispose men to honor
one another, for all are naturally inclined to
think highly of those they love, and to give
them honor; so that by love are fulfilled
those precepts, 1 Peter xi. 17, "Honor all
men," and Phil. ii. 3, " Let nothing be done
through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness
of mind, let each esteem other better thai
themselves." Love will dispose to content-
ment in the sphere in which God hath placed
us, without coveting any things that our
neighbor possesses, or envying him on ac-
count of any good thing that he has. It will
dispose men to meekness and gentleness in
their carriage toward their neighbors, and
not to treat them vith passion, or violence, or
12 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE
heat of spirit, but with moderation, and calm-
ness, and kindness. It will check and re-
strain everything like a bitter spirit ; for
love has no bitterness in it, but is a gentle
and sweet dis^^osition and aiFection of the
soul. It will prevent broils and quarrels, and
will dispose men to peaceableness, and to
forgive injurious treatment received from
others ; as it is said in Proverbs x. 12, " Ha-
tred stirreth up strifes, but love covereth all
sins."
Love will dispose men to all acts of mercy
toward their neighbors when they are under
any affliction or calamity, for wd are natural-
ly disposed to pity those that we love whe^".
they are afflicted. It will dispose men to
give to the poor, to bear one another's bur-
dens, and to weep with those that weep, as
well as to rejoice with those that do rejoice.
It will dispose men to the duties they owe to
one another in their several places and rela-
tions. It will dispose a people to all the duties
they owe to Iheir rulers, and to give them all
that honor and subjection which are their due.
And it will dispose rulers to rule the people
over whom they are set, justly, seriously and
faithfully, seeking their good, and not acy
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIKTUE. 1>5
by-ends of their ovm. It will dispose a
people to all propei duty to their ministers,
to hearken to their counsels and instructions,
and to submit to them in the house of God,
and to support and sympathize with and praj'
for them as those that watch for their souls ;
and it will dispose ministers faithfully and
ceaselessly to seek the good of the souls of
their people, watching for them as those that
must give account. Love will dispose to
suitable carriage between superiors and in-
feriors : it will dispose children to honor their
parents, and servants to be obedient to their
masters, not with eye service, but in single-
ness of heart ; and it will dispose masters to
exercise gentleness and goodness toward their
servants.
Thus love would dispose to all duties both
toward God, and toward man. And if it will
thus dispose to all duties, then it follows, that
it is the root, and spring, and, as it were, a
comprehension of all virtues. It is a prin-
ciple, which if it be implanted in the heart,
is alone sufficient to produce all good prac-
tice ; and every right disposition toward God
and man is summed ap in it, and comes from
14 LOVF, THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
it, as the fruit from the tree, or the stream
from the fountain.
Second^ Reason teaches that whatever per-
formances or seeming virtues there a/re with-
out love^ are unsound and hypocritical. If
there be no love in what men do, then there
is no true respect to God or men in their con-
duct ; and if so, then certain! j there is no
sincerity. Religion is nothing without proper
respect to God. The very notion of religion
among mankind, is, that it is the creature's
exercise and expression of such respect to-
ward the creator. But if there be no true re-
spect or love, then all that is called religion
is but a seeming show, and there is no real
religion in it, but it is unreal and vain. Thus
if a man's faith be of such a sort that there
is no true respect to God in it, reason teaches
that it must be in vain ; for if there be no
love to God in it, there can be no true respect
to him. From this it appears that love is al
ways contained in a true and living faith,
and that it is its true and proper life and soul,
without which, faith is as dead as the body is
without its soul ; and that it is that which es-
pecially distinguishes a living faith from
every other : but of this more ])articularly
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIKTDE. 15
hereafter. Without love to God, again, there
can be no true honor to him. A man is never
hearty in the honor he seems to render to an-
other whom he does not love ; so that all the
seeming honor or worship that is ever paid
without love, is but hypocritical. And so
reason teaches that there is no sincerity in
the obedience that is performed without love,
for if there be no love, nothing that is done
can be spontaneous and free, but all must be
forced. So without love, there can be no
hearty submission to the will of God, and
there can be no real and cordial trust and
confidence in him. He that does not love
God will not trust him : he never will, with
true acquiescence of soul, cast himself into
the hands of God, or into the arms of his
mercy.
And so whatever good carriage there may
be in men toward their neighbors, yet reason
teaches that it is all unacceptable and in vain
if at the same time there be no real respect
in the heart toward those neighbors ; if the
outward conduct is not prompted by inward
love. And from these two things taken to-
gether, viz., that love is of such a nature that
it will produce all virtues, and dispose to all
16 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIETTJE.
duties to God and men, and that without it
there can be no sincere virtue, and no duty
at all properly performed, the truth of the
doctrine follows, that all true and distinguish-
ing Christian virtue and grace may be sum-
med up in love. In the
2. The Scriptures teach tis that love is the
sum of all that is contained in the law of
God^ and of all the duties required in his
word. This the Scriptures teach of the law
in general, and of each table of the law in
particular.
First ^ The Scriptures teach this of the law
and word of God in general. By the law, in
the Scriptures, is' sometimes meant the whole
of the written word of God, as in John x. 34.
" Is it not written in your law, I said ye are
gods ?" And sometimes by the law is meant
the five books of Moses, as in Acts xxiv. 14,
where it is named with the distinction of the
"law" and the "prophets." And sometimes"
by the law, is meant the ten commandments, as
containing tlie sum of all the duty of man-
kind, and all that is required as of universal
and perpetual obligation. But whether we
take the law as signifying only the ten com-
mandments, or as including the whole written
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIKTUE. 17
word of God, the Scriptures teach us that the
sum of all that is required in it is love. Thus
when by the law is meant the' ten command-
ments, it is said in Romans xiii. 8, " He that
loveth another hath fulfilled the law;" and
therefore several of the commandments are
rehearsed, and it is added, in the tenth verse,
that " love" (which leads us to obej them
all,) " is the fulfilling of the law." 'Now un-
less love was the sum of what the law requires,
the law could not be wholly fulfilled in love ;
for a law is fulfilled only by obedience to the
sum or whole of what it contains and enjoins.
So the same apostle again declares, 1. Timothy,
i. 5, -' Now the end of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart, and of a good
conscience, and of faith unfeigned, &c." Or
if we take the law in a yet more extensive
sense, as the whole written word of God, the
Scriptures still teach us, that love is the sum
of all that is required in it. In Matthew xxii.
40, Christ teaches, that on the two precepts
of loving God with all the heart, and our
reighbor as ourselves, hang all the law and
the prophets ; i.e. all the written w^ord of
God ; for what was then called the law and
18 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
the prophets, was the whole written word of
God that was then extant. And,
Second^ The Scriptures teach the same thing
of each table of the law in jparticiilar. The
command " Thou shalt love the Lord thj God
with all thy heart," is declared by Christ,
Matthew xxii. 38, to be the sum of the first
table of the law, or the first great command-
ment; and in the next v^rse, to love our
neighbor as ourself, is declared to be the sum
of the second table ; as it is, also, in Romans
xiii. 9, where the precepts of the second table
of the law are particularly specified : and it
is then added, " And if there be any other
commandment, it is briefly comprehend 3d in
this saying, namely. Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself." And so in Galatians
V. 14, " For all the law is fulfilled in one
word, even in this. Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bor as thyself." And the same seems to be
stated in James ii. 8, " If ye fulfil the royal
law, according to the Scripture, Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well."
Hence love appears to be the sum of all the
virtue and duty that God requires of us, and
therefore must undoubtedly be the most essen-
tial thing — the sum of all the virtue that is
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE. IS
essential and distinguishing in real Chris-
tianity. That which is the sum of all duty,
must be the sum of all real virtue.
3. The truth of the doctrine as shown hy
the Scriptures^ appears from this^ that the
apostle teax:hes us^ Galatians v. 6, that ''''faith
wo^'ks iy loveP A truly Christian faith is
that which produces good works ; but all the
good works which it produces, are by love.
By this, two things are evident to the present
purpose.
First^ That true love is an ingredient in
true and lining faith^ and is what is most
essential and distinguishing in it. Love is
QO ingredient in a merely speculative faith,
but it is the life and soul of a practical faith.
A truly practical or saving faith, is light and
heat together, or rather light and love, while
that which is only a speculative faith, is only
light without heat ; and in that it wants spir-
itual heat or divine love, is in vain and good
for nothing. A speculative faith consists only
in the assent of the understanding ; but in
a saving faith there is also the consent of the
heart ; and that faith which is only of the
former kind, is no better than the faith of
devils, for they have faith so far as it cau
20 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
exist without love, believing while they trem-
ble. Now the true spiritual consent of the
heart, cannot be distinguished from the love
of the heart. He whose heart consents to
Christ as a Saviour, has true love to him as
such. For the heart sincerely to consent to
the way of salvation by Christ, cannot be dis-
tinguished from loving that way of salvation,
and resting in it. There is an act of choice
or election in true saving faith, whereby the
soul chooses Christ for its Saviour and por-
tion, and accepts of and embraces him as
such ; but, as was observed before, an elec-
tion or choice whereby it so chooses God and
Christ, is an act of love — the love of a soul
embracing him as its dearest friend and por-
tion. Faith is a duty that God requires of
every one. We are commanded to believe,
and unbelief is a sin forbidden by God, Faith
is a duty required in the first table of the law,
and in the first command of that table ; and
therefore it will follow, that it is comprehend-
ed in the great commandment, " Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
&c.," — and so it will follow that love is the
most essential thing in a true faith. That
love is the very life and spirit of a true faith,
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE. 21
18 especially evident from a comparison of
this declaration of the apostle, that " faith
works by love," and the last verse of the second
chapter of the epistle of James, which de-
clares, that " as the body without the spirit ia
dead, so faith without works is dead also."
The working, active and acting nature of any-
thing, is the life of it ; and that which makes
us call a thing alive, is, that we observe an
active nature in it. This active, working
nature in man, is the spirit which he has
within him. And as his body without this
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also. And if we would know what the work-
ing active thing in true faith is, the apostle
tells us in Galatians v. 6, '' Faith works by
love." So that it is love which is the active
working spirit in all true faith. This is its
very soul, without which it is dead, as, in
another form, he tells in the text, saying that
faith without charitj' or love, is nothing,
thouo;h it be to such a dee-ree that it can re-
move mountains. And when he says, in the
seventh verse of the context, that charity
"believeth all things and hopeth all things,"
he probably refers to the great virtues of
believing and hoping in the truth and grace
22 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
of God, to which he compares charity in othei
parts of the chapter, and particularly in the
last verse, " Now abideth faith, hope, charity.
&c." For in the seventh verse he gives the
preference to charity or love before the other
virtues of faith and hope, because it includes
them ; for he says, " charity believeth all
things and hopeth all things ;" so that this
seems to be his meaning, and not merely as it
is vulgarly understood, that charity believeth
and hopeth the best with regard to our neigh-
bors. That a justifying faith, as a most dis-
tinguishing mark of Christianity, is compre-
hended in the great command of loving God,
appears also, very plainly, from what Christ
says to the Jews, John v. 40-43, &c.
Second^ It is further manifest from this
declaration of the apostle " that faith works
by love," that all Christian exercises of the
hearty and worTis of the life are from, love /
for we are abundantly taught in the I^ew Tes-
tament, that all Christian holiness begins with
faith in Jesus Christ, All christian obedi-
ence is in the Scriptures called the obedience
of faith ; as in Komans xvi. 26, the gospel is
said to be " made known to all nations for
the obedience of faith." The obedience here
LOVE TUE SUM OF AI.L VIKTCE.
spoken of, is doubtless the same with that
spoken of in the eighteenth verse of the pre-
ceding chapter, where Paul speaks of making
" the Gentiles obedient bj word and deed."
And in Galatians ii. 20 he tells us, " The life
which I now live in the flesh, I live by the
faith of the Son of God," &c. ; and we are
often told that Christians, so far as they are
Christians, "live by faith;" which is equiva-
lent to saying that all gracious and holy ex-
ercises and virtues of the spiritual life are by
faith. But how does faith work these things ?
Why, in this place in Galatians, it is express-
ly said, that it works whatsoever it does work
hy love. From wdiich the truth of the doctrine
follows, viz. : that all that is saving and dis-
tinguishing in Christianity does radically con-
sist, and is summarily comprehended in love.
In the application of this subject, we may
use it in the way of self-examination, instruc-
tion, and exhortation. And
1. In view of it let us examine ourselves^
and see if we have the spirit which it enjoins.
From love to God, springs love to man, as
says the apostle, 1 John v. 1, " Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of
God : and every one that loveth him that be-
24 r,OVE TJIE SUM OF AXL VIRTUE.
gat, loveth liim also that is begotten of him."
Have we this love to all wlio are the childieri
of God ? This love, also, leads those who
possess it, to rejoice in God, and to worship
and magnify him. Heaven is made up of
such. Revelations xv. 2, 3, 4, " And I saw
as it were a sea of glass mingled with iire ;
and them that had gotten the victory over
the beast, and over his image, and over his
mark, and over the number of his name, stand
on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
And they sing the song of Moses the servant
of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord
God Almighty ; just and true are thy ways,
thou King of saints. Who shall not fear
thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name ? for thou
only art holy : for all nations shall come and
worship before thee; for thy judgments are
made manifest." Do we thus delight in God,
and rejoice in his worship, and in magnifying
his holy name ? This love, also, leads those
who possess it, sincerely to desire, and ear-
nestly to endeavor to do good to their fellow-
men. 1 John iii. 16-19, " Hereby perceive
we the love of God, because he laid down his
life for us : and we ought to lay down our
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE, 25
lives for the biethren. But whoso hath this
world's good, and seeth his brother have
need, and shutteth up his bowels of compas-
sion from him, how dwelleth the love of God
in him ? My little children, let us not love
in word, neither in tongue ; but in deed and
in truth. And hereby we know that we are
of the truth, and shall assure our hearts be-
fore him." Is this spirit, which dwelt in Je-
sus Christ, the spirit that reigns in our hearts,
and is seen in our daily life ? The subject
may, also, be of use,
2. In the way of instruction. And
First. This doctrine shows us whcit is the
right Christian spirit. "When the disciples,
on their way to Jerusalem, desired Christ to
call down fire from heaven to consume the
Samaritans who would not receive him, he
told them, Luke ix. 55, by way of rebuke,
" Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are
of ;" by which we are to understand, not that
they did not know their own hearts, but that
they did not know and truly feel what kind
of spirit was proper and becoming to their
character and spirit as his professed disciples,
and becrming that evangelical dispensation
that he had come to establish, and under
26 LOVE THE SIM OE ALL VIRTUE.
which they were now living. It might in-
deed be, and doubtless was true, that in
many respects they did not know their own
hearts. But what Christ here referred to was,
not the want of self-knowledge in general,
but the particular spirit they had manifested
in desiring him to call dow^l fire &c., a desire
which showed not so much that they did not
know what their own hearts or dispositions
were, as that they did not seem to know what
kind of spirit and temper was proper to the
Christian dispensation that was henceforth to
be established, and to the Christian character
of which they were to be examples. They
showed their ignorance of the true nature of
Christ's kingdom ; that it w^as to be a king-
dom of love and peace ; and that they did
not know but that a revengeful spirit was a
proper spirit for them as his disciples : and
for this it is that he rebukes them.
And doubtless there are many, now-a-days,
greatly to be rebuked for this, that though
they have been so long in the school of Christ,
and under the teachings of the gospel, yet
they still remain under a great misapprehen-
sion as to what kind of a spirit a truly Chris-
dan spirit is, and what spirit is proper for the
LOVE THE SDM OF ALL VIKTUE. 27
followers of Christ and the dispensation under
which they live. But if we attend to the text
and its doctrine, they will teach us what this
spirit is, viz. : that in its very essence and
eavor it is the spirit of divine and Christian
love. This may, by way of eminence, be
called tlie Christian sj)irit ; for it is much
more insisted on in the New Testament, than
anything that concerns either our duty or our
moral state. The words of Christ whereby
he taught men their duty, and gave his coun-
sels and commands to his disciples and others,
were spent very much on the precepts of
love ; and as the words that proceeded out
of his mouth were so full of this sweet divine
virtue, he thus most manifestly commends it
to us. And after his ascension, the apostles
were full of the same spirit, in their epistles
abundantly recommending love, peace, gentle-
ness, goodness, bowels of compassion and
kindness, directing us by such things to ex-
press our love to God and to Christ, as well as
to om' fellow-men, and especially to all that
are his followers. This spirit, even a spirit
of love, is the sj)irit that God holds forth
greater motives in the gospel to induce us to,
than to any other thing whatever. The work
28 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
of redemption wliicli the gospel makes known^
above all things affords motives to love ; for
that work was the most glorious and wonder-
ful exhibition of love that ever was seen or
heard of. Love is the principal thing that
the gospel dwells on when speaking of God,
and of Chi-ist. It brings to light tlie love
eternally existing between the Father and
the Son, and declai'es how that same love has
been manifested in many things ; how that
Christ is God's well-beloved Son, in whom he
is ever well pleased ; how he so loved him,
that he has raised him to the throne of the
mediatorial kingdom, and appointed him to
be the judge of the world, and ordained that
all mankind should stand before him in judg-
ment. In the gospel, too, is revealed the love
that Christ has to the Father, and the wonder-
ful fruits of that love^ particularly in liis
doing such great things, and suffering such
great things in obedience to the Father's will,
and for the honor of his justice, and law, and
autliority, as the great moral governor. There
it is revealed how the Fatlier and Son are one
in iove, <"hat we might be induced, in the like
spirit, to be one with them, and with out)
another, agreeably to Christ's prayer in John
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE 29
xvii. 21-23, " That they all may be one ; as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in ns : that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me. And tlio
glory which thou gavest me I have given
them ; that they may be one, even as we are
one : I in them, and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one; and that tlie
world may know that thou hast sent me, and
hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
The gospel also declares to us that the love
of God was from everlasting, and reminds us
that he loved those that are redeemed by
Christ, before tlie foundation of the world ;
and that he gave them to the Son ; and that
the Son loved them as his own. It reveals,
too, the wonderful love of both the Father
and the Son to the saints now in glory — that
Christ not only loved them while in the world,
but that he loved them to the end. And all
this love is spoken of as bestowed on us while
we were wanderers, outcasts, worthless, guilty,
and even enemies. This is love, such as was
never elsewhere kno^\^l, or conceived. Jolm
XV. 13, "Greater love hath no man tlian this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Romans v. 7-10, "Scarcely for a righteoua
30 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
man will one die * * *. But God coinmen
deth his love towards iis, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us ; * * *
when we were enemies."
God and Christ appear in the gospel revela-
tion, as being clothed with love ; as sitting as
it were on a throne of mercy and grace, a seat
of love, encompassed about with the sweet
beams of love. Love is the light and glory
that is round about the throne on which God
is seated. This seems to be intended in the
vision the apostle John, that loving and loved
disciple, had of God in the isle of Patmos.
Rev. iv. 3, " And there was a rainbow round
about the throne, in sight like unto an emer-
ald ;" that is, round about the throne on
which God was sitting. So that God appeared
to him, as he sat on his throne, as encom-
passed with a circle of exceeding sweet and
pleasant light, like the beautiful colors of the
rainbow, and like an emerald, which is s.
precious stone of exceeding pleasant and bea^;-
tiful color — thus representing that the ligCu
and glory with which God appears surrounded
in the gospel, is especially the glory of his
love and covenant grace, for the rainbow was
given to ISToah as a token of both these.
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE. 31
Therefore it is plain, that this spirit, even a
spirit of love, is the spirit that the gospel
revelation does especially hold forth motiy-sf,
ai;d inducements to ; and this is especially
and eminently the Christian spirit — ^the right
sjjirit of the gospel.
Second. If it is indeed so, that all that is
saving and distinguishing in a true Cliristian,
is summarily comprehended in love, then
'professors of Christianity may in this he
taught as to their experiences^ whether they
are real Christian experienc-:s or not. If they
are so, then love is the sum and substance of
them. If persons have the true light ol
heaven let into their souls, it is not a light
without heat. Divine knowledge and Divine
love, go together. A spiritual view of divine
things, always excites love in the soul, and
draws forth the heart in love to every proj)er
object. True discoveries of the divine char-
acter, dispose us to love God as the supreme
good ; they unite the heart in love to Christ ;
they incline the soul to flow out in love to
God's people, and to all mankind. When
persons have a true discovery of the excel-
lency and sufficienc}^ of Christ, this is the ef-
fect. When they experience a right belief
83 I.OVE THE SCTM OF ALL VIRTUE.
of the truth of the gospel, such a belief is ac-
coiii[)anied bj love. They love him whom
tliej believe to be the Christ, the Son of the
living God. When the truth of the glori nis
doctrines and promises of the gospel is seen,
these doctrines and promises are like so man v
cords which take hold of the heart, and draw
it out in love to God and Christ. When per-
sons experience a true trust and reliance on
Christ, they rely on him with love, and so do
it with delight and sweet acquiescence of
soul. The spouse sat under Christ's shadow
with great delight, and rested sweetly under
his protection because she loved him, Cant,
ii. 2. When persons experience true comfort
and spiritual joy, their joy is the joy of faiti
and love. They do not rejoice in themselves,
but it is God who is tlieir exceeding joy.
Third. This doctrine shows the amicibleness
of a Christian spirit. A spirit of love is an
amiable spirit. It is the spirit of Jesus
Christ; it is the spirit of heaven.
Fourth. This doctrine shows the pleasant-
ness of a Christian Ife. A life of love, is a
pleasant life. Reason and the Scriptures
alike teach us, that " Happy is the man that
findeth wisdom," and that "Her ways are
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE. 33
ways of pleasantness, and all lier paths are
peace. — Prov. iii. 13 and 17.
Fifth. Hence we may learn the reason xohy
contention tends so much to the ruin of reli-
gion. The Scriptures tell us that it has this
tendency : " where envying and strife is,
there is confusion and every evil work." —
James iii. 16. And so we find it by expe-
rience. When contention comes into a place,
it seems to prevent all good. And if religion
has been flourishing before, it presently seems
to chill and deaden it ; and everything that
is bad begins to flourish. And in the light
of our doctrine, we may plainly see the reason
of all this. For contention is directly against
that which is the very sum of all that is es-
sential and distinii-uishino; in true Christian-
Hy, even a spirit of love and peace. ISTo
wonder, therefore, that Christianity cannot
flourish in a time of strife and contention
among its professors. Xo wonder that reli
2;ion and contention cannot live together.
Sixth. Hence, then, v^hat a watch and
guard should Christians keejj against envy^
and mnlice^ and every hind of hitterness of
spirit towards their neighhors. For these
things are the very reverse of the real essence
34 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
of Christiaiiitv. And it behooves Christians,
as the J would not, by their practice, directly
contradict their profession, to take heed to
themselves in this matter. They should sup-
press the tirst beginnings of ill-will, and bit-
terness, and envy ; watch strictly against all
occasions of such a spirit ; strive and fight to
the utmost against such a temper as tends
that way ; and avoid, as much as possible, all
temptations that may lead to it. A Christian
should at all times keep a strong guard
against everything that tends to overthrow,
or corrupt, or undermine a spirit of love.
That which hinders love to men, will hinder
the exercise of love to God ; for, as was ob-
served before, the principle of a truly Chris-
tian love, is one. If love is the sum of Cliris-
tianity, surely those things which overthrow
love, are exceedingly unbecoming Christians.
An envious Christian, a malicious Christian,
a cold and hard-hearted Christian, is the
greatest absurdity and contradiction. It is as
if one should'speak of dai-k brightness, or a
false truth !
Seventh. Hence it is no wonder that Chris-
tianity so strongly requires us to love oxtr
eneoiiief^ even the worst of enemies (as in Mat-
LOVE THE STTM OF ALT. VIRTUE. 35
tliew V 44) ; for love is the very temper and
spirit of a Christian : it is the sum of Chris-
tianity. And if we consider what incite-
ments thus to love our enemies we have set
before us in what the Gospel reveals of the
love of God and Christ to their enemies, we
cannot wonder that we are required to love
our enemies, and to bless them, and do good
to them, and pray for them, " that we may be
the children of our Father which is in heaven,
who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and
the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust." In the
3. Our subject exhorts us to seeh a spirit of
love / to grow in it more and more / ai%d very
rrvuch to abound in the works of love. If love
is so great a thing in Christianity, so essen-
tial and distinguishing, yea the very sum of
all Christian virtue, then surely those that
profess tliemselves Christians should live in
love, and abound in the works of love, for no
works are so becoming as those of love. If
you call yourself a Christian, where are your
works of love ? Have you abounded, and
do you abound in them ? If this divine and
holy principle is in you, and reigns in you, will
it not ap])ear in your life, in works of love ?
36 LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE.
Consider what deeds of love have you done ?
Do you love God ? What have you done for
him, for his glory, for the advancement of his
kingdom in the world ? And how much have
you denied yourself to promote the Redeem-
er's interest among men ? Do you love your
fellow-men ? "What have you done for them ?
Consider your former defects in these re-
spects, and how becoming it is in you as a
Christian, hereafter to alxmnd more in deeds
of love. Do not make excuse that you have
not opportunities to do anything for the glory
of God, for the interest of the Redeemer's
kingdom, and for the spiritual benefit of your
neighbors. If your heart is full of love, it will
find vent ; you will find or make ways enough
to express your love in deeds. When a foun-
tain abounds in water, it will send forth
screams. Consider that as a principle of love
is the main principle in the heart of a real
Christian, so the labor of love, is the maiu
business of the Christian life. Let e\^ery
Christian consider these things ; and may the
Lord give you understanding in all things,
and make you sensible what spirit it becomes
you to be of, and dispose you to such an ex-
LOVE THE SUM OF ALL VIRTUE. 37
cellent, amiable, and benevolent life, as is
answerable to such a spirit, that you may not
love only "in word and tongue, but in deed
and in truth."
LECTURE II.
CHARITY MORE EXCELLENT THAN THE EXTRA-
ORDINARY GIFTS OP THE SPIRIT.
" Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
tinkling cymbal. And though I liave the gift of prophecy,
and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge ; and
though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity, I am nothing." — 1 CoR. xiii. 1, 2.
Having in the last lecture shown, that all
the virtue in the saints which is distinguish-
ing and saving, may be summed up in Chris-
tian love, I would now consider what things
are compared with it in the text, and to which
of the two the preference is given.
The things compared together, in the text,
are of two kinds : on the one hand, the extra-
ordinary and miraculous gifts of the Spirit,
such as the gift of tongues, the gift of pro-
phecy, &c., which were frequent in that age,
and particularly in the church at Corinth,
38
CHARl'i I SHORE EXCELLENT, ETC. 39
and on the other hand, the effect of the ordi-
nary influences of the same Spirit, in true
Christians, viz. charity, or divine love.
That was an age of miracles. It was not
tlien, as it had been of old among the Jews,
when two or three, or at most a very few in
the whole nation had the gift of prophecy :
it rather seemed as if Moses' wish, recorded in
Num. xi. 29, had become in a great measure
fulfilled : " Would God that all the Lord's peo-
ple were prophets." Not only some certain per-
sons of great eminence were endowed with such
gifts, but they were common to all sorts, old and
young, men and women ; according to the proph-
ecy of the prophet Joel, who, speaking of those
days, foretold beforehand that great event:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days
(saith God), I will pour out of my Spirit upon
all flesh : and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams :
and on my servants, and on my hanrhnaidens
I will pour out, in those days, of my Spirit, and
Ihey shall prophesy." Especially the church
of Corinth was very eminent for such gifto.
All soi-ts of miraculous gifts were, as is appa-
rent from this Epistle, bestowed on that
4:0 CHARITY MORE EXCELLENT
cliurcL, and the number who enjoyed these
gifts was not small. " To one," sajs the
Apostle, " is given by the Spirit, the word of
wisdom : to another the word of knowledge by
the same Spirit : to another faith by the same
Spirit: to another the gifts of healing by the
same Spirit : to another the working of mira-
cles : to another prophecy, &c." " But all these
worketh that one, and the self-same Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as he will."
And so some had one gift, and some another.
" But," says the Apostle, " covet earnestly
the best gifts ; and yet show I unto you a more
excellent way," i. e., something more excellent
than all these gifts put together, yea, something
of so great imjDortance, tliat all these gifts
without it are nothing. For " though I speak
with the tongues of men," as they did on the
day of Pentecost, yea, " and of angels" too,
"and have not charity, I am become" an
empty worthless thing, " as sounding brass, or
ft tinkling cymbal. And though I have" not
only one, but all the extraordinary gifts of the
Spirit ; and can not only speak with tongues,
but " have the gift of all prophecy, and under-
stand all mysteries, and all knowlcdixe," to see
*nto a]i the deep things of Q-^d by immediate
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRFT. 41
inspiration ; " and though I have all faith,"
to work all sorts of miracles, jea, even " so
that I could remove mountains, and have not
charity, I am nothing." Charity, then, which
is the fruit of the ordinary sanctifying influ-
ence of the Holy Spirit, is preferred, as being
more excellent than any, yea, than all the
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, even Chris-
tian love, which, as has been shown, is the
sum of all saving grace. Yea, so very much
is it preferred, that all the extraordinary gifts
of the Spirit, without it, are nothing, and can
profit nothing. The doctrine taught, then, is:
That the okdinart influence of the Sperit of
God, WOEKING the grace of CH.\JtITT IN THE
heart, is a more excellent blessing THAN ANY
OF THE EXTRAORDINARY GIFTS OF THE SpIRIT.
Here I would endeavor to show, first, what is
meant by the ordinary and extraordinary gifts
of the Spirit ; secondly, that the extraordinary
gilts of the Spirit are indeed great privileges ;
and yet, thirdly, that the ordinary influence
of the Spirit working the grace of charity or
love in the heart is a more excellent blessing.
L / would hriefiy explain what is meamt hy
the ordinal^ and extraordinary gifts of the
Spirit; for the gifts and operations of tlie
4:2 CHARITY MORE EXCELLENT
\
Spirit of God are by divines distinguished intc
common and samng^ and into ordina/ry and
extraordinary.
1. The gifts and operations of the Spirit of
God are distinguished into those that are
. Gornmon^ and those that are saving. By com-
mon gifts of the Spirit are meant, such as are
common both to the godly and to the ungodly.
Tliere are certain ways in which the Spirit of
God influences the minds of natural men, as
well as the minds of the godly. Thus there
are common convictions of sin, i. e., such con-
victions as ungodly men may have as well as
godly. So there are common illuminations,
or enlightenings, i. «., such as are common to
both godly and ungodly. So there are com-
mon religious affections, — common gratitude,
—common sorrow, and the like. But there
are other gifts of the Spirit, which are pecu-
liar to the godly, such as saving faith and
love, and all the other saving graces of the
Spirit.
2. Ordinary and extraordinary. — The ex-
traordinary gifts of the Spirit, such as the gift
of tongues, of miracles, of prophecy, &c., are
called extraordinary, because they are such
as are not given in the ordinary course of
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 43
God's providence. They are not bestowed in
the way of God's ordinary providential deal-
ing with his children, but only on extraordi-
nary occasions, as they were bestowed on the
Prophets and Apostles to enable them to reveal
the mind and will of God before the canon of
Scripture was complete, and so on the primi-
tive church, in order to the founding and
establishing of it in the world. But since
the canon of Scripture has been completed,
and the Christian church fully founded and
established, these extraordinary gifts have
ceased. But the ordinary gifts of the Spirit,
are such as are continued to the church of
God throughout all ages ; such gifts as are
granted in conviction and conversion, and
such as appertain to the building up of the
saints in holiness and comfort.
It may be observed then that the distinction
of the gifts of the Spirit into ordinary and ex-
traordinary, is very different from the other
distinction into common and special ; for some
of the ordinary gifts, such as faith, hope,
charity, are not common gifts. They are
such gifts as God ordinarily bestows on his
church in all ages, but they are not common
to the godly and the ungodly ; they ai*e pecu-
44: CHAKITT MORE EXCELLENT
liar to the godlj. And the extraordinary gifta
of the Spirit are common gifts. The gifts of
tongues, of miracles, of prophecy, &c., al-
though they are not ordinarily bestowed on
the Christian church, but only on extraordi-
nary occasions, yet are not peculiar to the
godly, for many ungodly men have had
these gifts, Matt. vii. 22, 23: "Many will
say to me in that day. Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in thy name ? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done
many wonderful works? and then will I pro-
fess unto them, I never knew you : depart from
me, ye that work iniquity." Having explained
these terms, I proceed to show,
II. That the extraordinary gifts of the Spirii
of God are indeed great privileges. — When
God endows any one with a spirit of pro-
phecy, favors him with immediate inspiration,
or gives him power to work miracles, to heal
the sick, to cast out devils, and the like, the
privilege is great, yea, this is one of the high-
est kind of privileges that God ever bestows on
men, next to saving grace. It is a great privi-
lege to live in the enjoyment of the outward
means of grace, and to belong to the visible
church ; but to be a prophet and a worker of
THAK THE GIFTS OF TlfE SPIRIT. 45
miracles in the church, is a much greater
privilege still. It is a great privilege to hear
the word, which has been spoken by prophets
and inspired persons ; but a much greater to
be a prophet, to preach the word, to be in
spired by God to make known his mind and
will to others. It was a great privilege that
God bestowed on Moses, when he called him
to be a prophet, and improved him as an in-
strument to reveal the law to the children of
Israel, and to deliver to the church so great a
part of the written word of God, even the first
written revelation that ever was delivered to
it ; and when he used him as an instrument
of working so many wonders In Egypt, at the
Red Sea, and in the wilderness. Great was
the privilege that God bestowed on David, in
inspiring him, and making him the penman
of so great and excellent a part of his word,
for the use of the church in all ages. Great
was the privilege that God bestowed on those
two prophets, Elijah and Elisha, in enabling
them to perform such miraculous and wonde:*-
ful works. And the privilege was very great,
that God bestowed on the prophet Daniel, in
giving him so much of the extraordinary gifta
of the Spirit, particularly such understanding
4B CHARITY MOKE EXCELLENT
in the visions of God, This procured him
great honor among the heathen, and even in
the court of the King of Babylon. ]^ebuchad-
nezzar, that great and mighty and haughty
monarch, so admired Daniel for it, that he
was once about to worship him as a god. He
fell upon his face before him, and commanded
that an oblation and sweet odors should be
offered unto him, Dan. ii. 46. And Daniel
was advanced to greater honor than all the
wise men, the magicians, astrologers, and
soothsayers of Babylon, in consequence of
these extraordinary gifts which God bestowed
upon him. Hear how the Queen speaks of
him to Belshazzar, Dan. v. 11, 12 : " There
is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit
of the holy gods : and in the days of thy
father, light and understanding and wisdom,
like the wisdom of the Gods, was found in
him ; whom the King Nebuchadnezzar thy
father, the king, I say, thy father, made
master of the magicians, astrologers, Chal-
deans, and soothsayers ; for as much as an
excellent spirit, and knowledge, and under-
standing, interpreting dreams, and showing
of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts,
were found in the same Daniel." This jn-ivi-
tha:!^ the gifts of the spirit. 47
lege was alfeo the thing which gave Daniel
honor in the Persian court. (Dan. vi. 1, 2, 3.)
" It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom
an hundred and twenty princes, which should
te over the whole kingdom, and over these,
three presidents, of whom Daniel was first,
that the princes might give accounts mito
them, and the king should have no damage.
Then this Daniel was preferred above the
presidents and princes, because an excellent
spirit was in him; and the king thought to
set him over the whole realm." By this ex-
cellent spirit was doubtless among other
things meant the spirit of prophecy and
divine inspiration, fur which he had been so
honored by the princes of Babylon.
It was a great privilege that Christ be-
stowed on the Apostles, in so filling them
with the extraordinary gifts of the Holy
Spirit, inspiring them to teach all na-
tions, and making them as it were next
to himself, and to be the twelve precious
stones, that are considei'ed as the twelve
foundations of the church. Rev. xxi. 14 :
" And the wall of the city had twelve foun-
dations, and in them the names of the twelve
Apostles of the Lamb." Eph. ii. 20 : " Built
48 CHAKITT MOKE EXCELLENT
upon the foundation of the Apostles and
Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner-stone." And how highly was the
Apostle John favored, when he was " in the
Spirit on the Lord's day," and had such ex-
traordinary visions, representing the great
events of God's providence towards the
church in all ages of it to the end of the
world.
Such extraordinary gifts of the Spirit are
spoken of in Scriptures as very great privi-
leges. So was the privilege that God be-
stowed on Moses in speaking to him by way
of extraordinary mii-aculous revelation, as it
were, " face to face." And that outpouring
of the Spirit in his extraordinary gifts which
on the day of Pentecost was foretold and
spoken of by the prophet Joel, as a very
great privilege, in those forecited words in
Joel ii. 28, 29. And Christ speaks of the
gifts of miracles, and of tongues, as great
privileges that he would bestow on them that
should believe in him : Matt. xvi. 17, 18.
Such extraordinary gifts of the Spirit have
been looked upon as a great honor. Mosea
and Aaron were envied in the camp because
of the peculiar honor that God put upon thera.
THAN THE GIFTS OF THi; SPIRIT. 49
Psal. cvi. 16. And so Joshua was ready to
envy Eldad and Medad because they pro-
phesied in the camp : Num. xi. 27. And
when the angels themselves have been sent
to do the work of the prophets, to reveal
things to come, it has set them in a very
honorable point of light. Even the Apostle
John himself, in his great surprise, was once
and again ready to fall down and worship the
angel, that was sent by Christ to reveal to
him the future events of the church ; but the
angel forbids him, acknowledging that the
privilege of the spirit of pro^jhecy which he
had, was not of himself, but that he had re-
ceived it of Jesus Christ: Rev. xix. 10, and
xxii. 8, 9. The heathen of the city of Lystra
were so astonished at the power the Apostles
Barnabas and Paul had to work miracles,
that they were about to offer sacrifices to
them as gods : Acts xiv. 11, 12, 13. And
Simon the sorcerer had a great hankering
after that gift that the Apostles had of con-
ferring the Holy Ghost, by laying on their
hands, and offered them money for it.
These extraordinary gifts are a great privi-
lege, in that there is in them a conformity to
Christ in his prophetical oflSice. And the
50 CHARITY MOKE EXCELLENT
greatness of the privilege appears also in
this, that though sometimes they have been
bestowed on natural men, yet it has been
very rarely ; and commonly such as have had
them bestowed on them have been saints,
yea, and the most eminent saints. Thus it
was on the day of Pentecost ; and thus it
was in more early ages. II. Pet. i. 21: " Holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost." These gifts have commonly
been bestowed as tokens of God's extraordi-
nary favor and love, as it was with Daniel.
He was a man greatly heloved^ and therefore he
was admitted to such a great privilege, as that
of having these revelations made to him : Dan.
ix. 23, and x. 11, 19. And the Apostle John, as
he was the disciple whom Jesus loved, so he
was selected above all the other Apostles,
to be the man to whom those great eveiittj
were revealed that we have an account of in
the book of the Revelation. I come now,
III. To show, that though these are great
privileges, yet that the ordinary influence of
the 8j>iyrit of God, wm^Mng the grace of Gha/fity
in the hea/rt, is afa/r more excellent pri/vilege
than a/ny of them : a greater blessing than
the spirit of prophecy, or the gift of tongues,
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPmiT. 51
or of miracles, even to the removing of moun-
tains ; a greater blessing than all those miracu-
lous gifts that Moses, and Elijah, and David,
and the twelve Apostles were endowed with.
This will appear, if we consider,
1. This blessing of the saving grace of God
is a quality inherent in the nature of him that
is the subject of it. — This gift of the Spirit of
God, working a truly Christian temper in the
soul, and exciting gracious exercises there,
confers a blessing that has its seat in the heart,
a blessing that makes a man's heart or nature
excellent ; yea, the very excellency of the na-
ture does consist in it. Now it is not so with
respect to these extraordinary gifts of the
Spirit. They are excellent things, but not
properly the excellency of a man's natm-e, for
they are not things that are inherent in. the
nature. For instance, if a man is endowed
with a gift of working miracles, this power is
not anything inherent in his nature It is not
properly any quality of the heart and nature
of the man, as true grace and holiness are ;
and though most commonly, those that have
these extraordinary gifts of prophecy, speak-
ing with tongues and working miracles, have
been holy persons, yet their holiness did not
52 CHARITY MORE EXCELLENT
consist in their having these gifts. Theso
extraordinai-} gifts are nothing properly in-
herent in the man. They are something
adventitious. They are excellent things, but
not excellences in the nature of the subject.
They are like a beautiful garment, which does
not alter the nature of the man that wears it.
They are like precious jewels, with which the
body may be adorned ; but true grace is that
whereby the very soul itself becomes as it
were a precious jewel.
2. The Sjnrit of God cotnmunicates himself
much tnore in hestowing saving grace than in
lyestowing these extraordinary gifts. — In the ex
traordinary gifts of the Spirit, the Holy Ghost
does indeed produce effects, in men, or by
men ; but not so as properly to communicate
himself, in liis own proper nature, to men. A
man may have an extraordinary impulse in
his mind by the Spirit of God, whereby some
future thing may be revealed to him ; or he
may have an extraordinary vision given him
representing some future event ; and yet the
Spirit may not at all impart himself, in his
holy nature, by that. The Spirit of God may
produce effects in things in which he does not
communicate himself tr us. Thus the Spirit
IBAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 53
of God moved on the face of the waters,
but not so as to impart himself to the
water. But when the Spirit, by his ordinary
influences, bestows saving grace, he therein
imparts himself to the soul in his own holy
nature, — that nature of his, on the account of
which, he is so often called in ScrijDture, the
Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit. By his pro-
ducing tliis effect, the Spirit becomes an in-
dwelling vital principle in the soul, and the
subject becomes spiritual, being denominated
so from the Spirit of God that dwells in him,
and whose nature he is partaker of. Yea,
grace is, as it were, the holy nature of the
Spirit imparted to the soul. But the extraor-
dinary gifts of the Spirit, such as knowing
things to come, or having power to work mira-
cles, do not imply this holy nature. Not but
that God, when he gives the extraordinary
gifts of the Spirit, is commonly wont to give
tlie sanctifying influences of the Spirit with
tliem ; but one does not imj^ly the other. And
if God gives only extraordinary gifts, such as
tlie gift of prophecy, of miracles, &c., these
alone will never make their receiver a par-
taker of the Spirit, so as to become spiritual
in himself,*'.^., in his own nature.
64 CHAEITY MORE EXCELLENT
3. That grace or holiness^ which is the (tffcd
of the wdina/ry influence of the Spirit of God
in the hearts of the saints^ is that wherein the
sjpiritual image of God consists / and not in
these extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. — ^The
spiritual image of God does not consist in
having a power to work miracles, and foretell
future events, but it consists in being holj as
God is holy : in having a holj and divine
principle in the heart, influencing us to holj
and heavenly lives. Indeed, there is a kind
of assimilation to Christ in having a power to
work miracles, for Christ had such a power,
and wrought a multitude of miracles, John
xiv. 12 : " The works that I do, shall he do
also." But the moral image and likeness of
Christ does much more consist in having the
same mind in us which was in Christ : in
being of the same Si3irit that he was of ; in
being meek and lowly of heart ; in having a
Bpirit of Christian love, and walking as Christ
walked. This makes a man more like Christ
than if he could work ever so many miracles.
4. That grace which is the effect of the ordi-
nary influences of the Spirit of God., is a
'privilege which God hestoios only on his own
favoi'ites and children., hut the extraordinary
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. £5
gvfts of the Spirit are not so. — It has been ob-
served before, that though God most com-
monly has chosen saints and eminent saints
to bestow extraordinary gifts of the Spirit
upon, yet he has not always done so; but
these gifts are sometimes bestowed on others.
They have been common to both the godly and
the ungodly. Balaam is stigmatized in Scrip-
ture as a wicked man, 2 Pet. ii. 15 ; Jude 11 ;
Rev. ii. 11: ; and yet he had the extraordinary
gifts of the Spirit of God for awhile. Saul
was a wicked man, but we read, once and
again, of his being among the p7'oj)hets.
Judas was one of those whom Christ sent
forth to preach and work miracles : he was
one of those twelve disciples, of whom it is
said in Matt. x. 1 : " And when he had called
unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them
power against unclean spirits to cast them out,
and to heal all manner of sickness, and all
manner of disease." And in the next verses
we are told who they were, their names are
all rehearsed over, and " Judas Iscariot, who
also betrayed him," among the rest. And in
verse 8, Christ says to them, " Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out
de^-ils." The grace of God in the heart, is a
66 CHAEITy MOEE EXCELLENT
gift of the Holy Ghost peculiar to the saints.
It is a blessing that God reserves only foi
those who are the objects of his special and
peculiar love. But the extraordinary gifts of
the Spirit are what God sometimes bestows on
those whom he does not love, but hates ; which
is a sure sign that the one is infinitely more
precious and excellent than the other. That is
the most precious gift, which is most of an
evidence of God's love. But the extraordi-
nary gifts of the Spirit were, in the days of
inspiration and miracles, no sure sign of the
love of God. The prophets were not wont to
build their persuasion of the favor and love
of God on their being prophets, and having
revelations ; but on their being sincere saints.
Thus, it was with David. See Psal. xv. 1-5,
and xvii. 1-3, and cxix. throughout : and in-
deed, the whole Book of Psalms bears witness
to this. So the Apostle Paul, though he was
so greatly privileged with the extraordinary
gifts of the Spirit, was yet so far from making
these the evidences of his good estate, that he
expressly declares, that without charity they
are all nothing. And hence we may argue,
5. From the fruit and consequence of these
two different things^ that the one is infinitely
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIEIT. 57
more excellent than the other. — Eternal lifo
is, by the promises of the gospel, constantly
connected with the one, and never with the
other. Salvation is promised to those who
have the graces of the Sjoirit, but not to those
who have merely the extraordinary gifts
Many may have these last, and yet go to hell.
Judas Iscariot had them, and is gone to hell.
And Christ tells us, that many who have had
them, will, at the last day, be bid to depart,
as workers of iniquity. Matt. vii. 22, 23. And
therefore when he promised his disciples these
extraordinary gifts, he bade them rejoice, not
because the devils were subject to them, but
because their names were written in heaven,
intimating that the one might be, and yet not
the other, Luke x. 17, &c. And this shows that
the one is an infinitely greater blessing than
the other, as it carries eternal life in it. For
eternal life is a thing of infinite worth and
value, and that must be an excellent blessing
indeed that has this infallibly connected with
it, and of infinitely more worth than any privi-
lege whatsoever, which a man may possess,
and yet after all go to hell.
6. Happiness itself does much more Imme-
diately and essentially consist in Christia/n
68 CHAEITY MORE EXCELLENT
grace^ wrought hy the ordinary inflii&nces of
the Spirit^ than in these extraordinm'y gifts.
Man's highest happiness consists in holiness,
for it is by this that the reasonable creature is
united to God, the fountain of all good. Hap-
piness doth so essentially consist in knowing,
loving, and serving God, and having the holy
and divine temper of soul, and the lively
exercises of it, that these things will make a
man happy without anything else ; but no
other enjoyments or privileges whatsoever will
make a man happy without this.
T. This divine temper of soul^ which is the
fruit of the ordinary sanctifying influences of
the Spirit^ is the end of all the extraordinary
gifts of the Holy Ghost. — The gift of pro-
phecy, of miracles, of tongues, &c., God gave
for this very end, to promote the propagation
and establishment of the gospel in the world.
And the end of the gospel is, to turn men from
darkness to light, and from the power of sin
and Satan to serve the living God, i. «., to make
men holy. The end of all the extraordinary
gifts of the Spirit, is the conversion of sinners,
and the building up of saints in that holiness
which is the fruit of the ordinary influences
of the Holy Ghost. For this, the Holy Spirit
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIKIT. 59
was poiiicd out on the Aj^ostles after Christ's
ascension ; and they were enabled to speak
with tongues, work miracles, &c. ; and for this,
very many others, in that age, were endued
with the extraordinary gifts of the Holy
Ghost, Eph. iv. 11 : " And he gave some,
Apostles : and some, Proj^hets : and some,
Evangelists." Here the extraordinary gifts
of the Spirit are referred to ; and the end of
all is exj^ressed in the next words, viz. : "For
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministr}^, for the edifying of the body of
Christ." And what sort of edifying of the
body of Christ this is, we learn from verse 16 :
" Maketh increase of the body, unto the edi-
fying of itself in love." In lone^ that is, in
charity^ the same that is spoken of in our
text, for the word in the original is the same,
and the same thing is meant. And so it is the
same as in 1 Cor. viii. 1 : charity edifieth.
But the end is always more excellent than
the means : this is a maxim universally allow-
ed ; for means have no goodness in them any
otherwise than as they are subordinate to the
end. The end therefore must be considered as
suj^erior in excellency to the means.
8. The extraordinary gifts of the Sjmii
60 CHAEITY MORE EXCELLENT
will he SO far from profiting 'ioitftout that
grace which is the fruit of the ordinary infitu-
ences of the Spirit^ that they will hut aggror
vate the condemnation of those that have them,.
Doubtless Judas' condemnation was exceed-
ingly aggravated by his having been one
that had had such privileges. And some,
that have had such extraordinary gifts, have
committed the sin against the Holy Ghost,
and their privileges were a main thing that
rendered their sin, the unpardonable sin ; as
appears from Pleb. vi. 4, 5, 6 : " For it is im-
possible for those who were once enlightened,
and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have
tasted the good word of God, and the powers of
the world to come, if they shall fall away, to re-
new them again unto repentance : seeing they
crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh,
and put him to an open shame." Those who
fell away^ were such as apostatized from Chris-
tianity after having made a public profession
of it, and received the extraordinary gifts of
the Holy Ghost, as most Christians did in
those days. They were instructed in Chris-
tianity, and through the connnon iniluencea
of the Spirit they received the word with joy,
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 61
like those in Matt. xiii. 20 ; and witha. re-
ceived tlie extraordinary gifts of the Spirit :
" were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
tasted of the heavenly gift, and the powers of
the world to come ;" spake with tongues ;
prophesied in Christ's name ; and in his name
cast out devils ; and yet after all, openly re-
nounced Christianity ; joined to call Christ
an impostor, as his murderers did ; and so
" crucified to themselves the Son of God
afresh, and put him to an open shame." Of
these it is that the Apo: tie says : " It is impos-
sible to renew them again unto repentance."
Such apostates, in their renouncing Christian-
ity, must ascribe the miraculous powers which
themselves had possessed to i ^e devil. So
their case became hopeless; and their con-
demnation must be exceedingly aggravated.
And from this it appears that saving grace is of
infinitely more worth and excellence, than tha
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. And, lastly,
9. Another thing that shows the jpreferahl&-
ness of that saving grace^ %ohich is the fruit
of the ordinary influences of the Holy Spirit^
to the ext/)mordinary gifts^ is, that one will
fail, and the other will not. — ^Tliis argument
the Apostle makes use of, in the context, to
62 CHAEITT MORL EXCELLENT
show that divine love is preferable to the ex-
traorc iiiary gifts of the Spirit, verse 8 :
" Charity never faileth : hut whether thero
be j)rophecies, they shall fail ; whether there
be tongues, they shah cease ; whether there
be knowledge, it shall vanish away." Divine
love will remain throughout all eternity, but
the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit will fail in
time. They are only of the nature of means,
and when the end is obtained they shall
cease; but divine love will remain forever.
In the improvement of this subject, I remark :
1. If sawing grace is a greater hlessing than
the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit^ we may
doxtbtless hence argue^ that it is the greatest
privilege and Hessing that ever God hestows
on any person in this world. — For these extra-
ordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, such as the
gift of tongues, of miracles, of prophecy, &c.,
are the highest kind of privileges that Grod
ever bestows on natural men, and privileges
which have been very rarely bestowed on
such, in any age of the world, the apostolic
age excepted.
If what has been said be well considered, it
will appear evident beyond all doubt, that the
saving grace of God in the heart, working a
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 63
holy and divine temper in the soul, is the
greatest blessing that ever men receive in this
world : greater than any natural gifts, greater
than the greatest natural abilities, greater
than any acquired endowments of mind,
greater than the most universal learning,
greater than any outward wealth and honor,
greater than to be a king or an emperor, greater
than to be taken from the sheepcote, as David
was, and made king over all Israel ; and all
the riches and honor and magnificence of
Solomon in all his glory, are not to be com-
pared with it.
Great was the j)rivilege that God bestowed
on the blessed Yirgin Mary, in granting that
of her should be born the Son of God. That
a person, who was infinitely more honorable
than the angels, yea, who was the Creator and
King of heaven and earth, the great sovereign
of the world, that such an one should be con-
ceived in her womb, born of her, and nm*sed at
her breasts, was a greater privilege than for
her to be the mother of the child of the great-
est earthly prince that ever lived, yet even
that was not so great a privilege, as to have
the grace of God in the heart ; to have Christ,
as it were, born in the soul, as he himself doth
64 OHAEITY MOKE EXCELLENT
expressly teach lis, in Luke xi. 27, 28 : " Aud
it came to pass, as he spake these things, a
certain woman of the company lifted up her
voice, and said nntohim, Blessed is the womb
that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast
sucked." But he said, "Yea, ratlier blessed
are they that hear the word of God and keep
it." And once when some told him, that liis
mother and his brethren stood without, desir-
ing to speak with him, he thence took occasion
to let them know, that there was a more
blessed way of being related to him than that
which consisted in being his mother and
brethren according to the liesh, Matt, xii, 46,
47, 48, 49, 50 : " Who is my mother ?" said he,
" and who are my brethren ? and he stretched
forth his hand toward his disciples, and said,
Behold my mother and my brethren, For who-
soever shall do the will of my Father which is
in heaven, the same is my brother, aud sister,
and mother."
2. Hence these two kinds of privileges are
not to he confounded^ hy tahing things that
have some appearance of an exti^ao^^dinarr/
miraculous gift of the Spirit^ for sure signs
of grace. — ^If persons at any time have some
extraordinary impression made upon theii
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 65
minds, which they think is from God, reveal-
ing something to them that shall come to pass
hereafter, this, if it were real, would argue an
extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost, viz. the
gift of prophecy; but, from what has been
said, it is evident, that it would be no certain
sign of grace, or of anything saving : even if
it were I'eal, I say, for indeed we have no rea-
son to look on such things when pretended to,
in these days, as any other than delusion.
And the fact that such impressions are made
by texts of Scripture coming suddenly to the
mind, alters not the case ; for a text of Scrip-
ture coming to the mind, proves no more to
be true, than the reading of it proves. If
reading any text of Scripture, at any time,
and at all times, as it lies in the Bible, does not
prove such a thing, then its coming suddenly
to the mind does not prove it ; for the Scrip-
tui-e speaks just the same thing at one time,
as it does at another. The words have tbe
same meaning when they are read along in
course, as they have when they are suddenly
brought to the mind. And if any man there-
fore argues anything further from them, he
proceeds without warrant. For their coming
Buddenlv to the mind does not give them
66 CHARITY MOKE EXCELLENT
a new meaning, whicli they liacl not lefore.
So if a man thinks that he is in a good estate,
because such a text of Scripture comes sud-
denly to his mind, if the text does not prove
it, as it lies in the Bible, and if it would not
have proved it, had he only read it, as he was
reading along in course, then by such a text
coming to his mind, he has no evidence that
he is in a good estate. So if anything appears
to persons, as though they had a vision of some
visible form, and heard some voice, such
things are not to be taken as signs of grace,
for if they are real and from God, they are
not grace, for the extraordinary influence of
the Spirit, producing visions and dreams, such
as the prophets of old had, are no sure signs
of grace. All the fruits of the Spirit, which
we are to lay weight upon as evidential of
grace, are summed up in charity, or Christian
love ; becanse this is the sum of all grace.
And the only way, therefore, in which any can
know their good estate, is by discerning the
exercises of this divine charity in their hearts,
for without charity, let men have what gifts
you please, they are nothing.
3. If saving grace is nnore excellent than
the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit., then we
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIKIT. 67
cannot conclude from what theScrvpture say^
of the glory of the latter times of the churchy
that the extraordinary gifts of the Sjpirit will
he granted to men m those times. — Manj
have been ready to think that, in those glo-
rious times of the church, which shall be after
the calling of the Jews, and the destruction
of Antichrist, there will be many persons that
will be inspired, and endued with a power
of working miracles. But what the Scripture
says concerning the glory of those times does
not prove any such thing, or make it proba-
ble. For it has been shown, that the pouring
out of the Spirit of God, in his ordinary and
saving operations, to fill men's hearts with a
Christian and holy temper, and lead them to
the exercises of the divine life, is the most
glorious way of pouring out the Spirit, that
can be ; more glorious, far more glorious, than
a pouring out of the miraculous -gifts of the
Spirit. And therefore the glory of tiiose times
of the church does not require any such thing
as those extraordinary gifts. Those times
may be far the most glorious times of the
church, that ever have been, without them.
Their not liaving the gift of prophecy, of
tongues, of healing, &c., as they had in the
68 CHARITY MORE EXCELLENT
Apostolic age, will not hinder there being far
more glorious times than there were then, if
the Spirit be poured out in greater measure
in his sanctifying influences ; for this, as the
Apostle expressly asserts, is a more excellent
way, 1 Cor. xii. 31. This glory is the great-
est glory of the church of Christ ; and the
greatest glory which Christ's church will ever
enjoy in any period. This is what will make
the church more like the church in heaven,
where charity or love hath a more perfect
reign, than any number or degree of the ex-
traordinary gifts of the Spirit could do. So
that we have no reason on this account, and
perhaps not on any other, to expect that the
extraordinary gifts of tlie Spirit will be poured
out in those glorious times which are yet to
come. For in those times, there is no new
dispensation to be introduced, and no new
Bible to be given. JN^or have we any reason
to expect our present Scriptures are to be
added to and enlarged ; but rather in the end
of the sacred writings which we now have, it
seems to be intimated, that no addition is to
be made till Christ comes. See Rev. xxii.
18-21.
4. What cause have they to hless God,, and
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. 69
to Uve to his glory, who have received such a
j?rivileg!e, as is implied in tloe injiuence of the
Holy Sjjirit^worhing saving grace in the heart.
If we do but seriously consider the state of
the godly, of those who have been the sub-
jects of this inexpressible blessing, we cannot
but be astonished at the wonderful grace be-
stowed upon them. And the more we con-
sider it, the more wonderful and inexpressible
it will aj)pear. When we read in the Scrip-
tures of the great privileges conferred on the
Virgin Mary, and on the Apostle Paul, when
lie was caught uj) into the third heaven, we are
ready to admire such privileges as very great.
But after all, they are as nothing compared
with the privilege of being like Christ, and
having his love in the heart. Let those, then,
that hope they have this last blessing, con-
sider more than they ever yet have done, how
great a favor God has bestowed upon them,
and how great their obligations to glorify him
for the work he hath wrought in them, and to
glorify Christ who hath purchased this bless-
ing for them with his own blood, and to glo-
rify the II0I3- Spirit who hath sealed it to
their souls. What manner of persons ought
6ucl to be in all holv conversation and godli-
6
70 CHAJJITY MORE EXCELLENT
ness ! Consider, you that hope in God's
mercy, how highly he hath advanced and ex-
alted you ; and will you not be diligent to live
for him ? Will you dishonor Christ so as to
regard him but little, not giving him your
whole heart, but going after the world, neg-
lecting him, and his service, and his glory?
Will you not be watchful against yourselves,
against a corrupt, worldly, proud disposition,
til at might lead you away from God who has
been so kind to you, and from the Saviour
who has purchased such blessings for you, at
the cost of his own agonies and death ? Will
you not every day make this your earnest in-
quiry, " What shall I render unto the Lord
for all his benefits towards me ?" What could
God have done more for you than he has
done ? What privilege could he have be-
stowed, better in itself, or more worthy to
engage your heart in thankfulness? And
consider how you are living — how little you
have done for him — how much you do for self
— how little this divine love hath wrought in
your heart to incline you to live for God and
Christ, and for the extension of his kingdom?
O ! how should such as you, show your sense
of your high privileges, by the exercises of
THAN THE GIFTS OF THE SPEBIT. 71
love ; love that is manifest toward Grod in
obedience, submission, reverence, cheerful-
ness, joy and hope, and toward your neighbor,
in meekness, sympathy, humility, charitable-
ness, and doing good to all as you have oppor-
tunity. Finally,
5. The subject exhorts all unrenewed per-
sons^ those who are strangers to this grace^ w
seek this Tnost excellent hlessingfir ^hcnsclv- i'
Consider how miserable you now are while
wholly destitute of this love, far from r^'ght-
eousness, in love with the vanities of the
world, and full of enmity against God. How
will you endure when he shall deal with you
according to what you are, coming forth in
anger as your enemy, and executing his fierce
wrath against you. Consider, too, that you
are capable of this love ; and Christ is able
and willing to bestow it ; and multitudes have
obtained it, and been blessed in it. God is
seeking your love, and you are under unspeak-
able obligation to render it. The Spirit of
God has been poured out wonderfully here.
Multitudes have been converted. Scarcely a
family has been passed by. In almost every
household some have been made nobles, kings,
and priests anto God, sons and daughters ot
72 CHARITY MORE EXCELLENT, ETC.
the Lord Almighty ! What manner of per-
sons, then, ought all of us to be, how holy,
serious, just, humble, charitable, devoted in
God's service, and faithful to our fellow-men.
As individuals and as a people, God has most
richly blessed us, and as both individuals and
a people, it becomes us to be a royal priest-
hood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, show-
ing forth the praises of him that hath called us
all out of darkness into his marvellous light.
" Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest
I tear you in pieces and there be none to de-
liver. Whoso oifereth praise glorifieth me,
and to him that ordereth his conversation
aright, will I show the salvation of God !"
LECIUKE III.
THE GREATEST PEEFORMAJSTCES OR SUFFERLNGS HI
VAIN WITHOUT CHARITY.
" And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity,
Itprofiteth me nothing." — 1 Cor. xiii. 3.
In the previous verses of this chapter, tlie
necessity and excellence of charity are set
forth, as we have seen, by its preference to
the greatest privileges, and the utter vanity
and insignificance of these privileges without
it. The privileges particularly mentioned are
those that consist in the extraordinary gifts
of the Spirit of God. In this verse, things of
another kind are mentioned, viz. those that
are of a moral nature ; and it is declared that
none of these avail anything without charity.
And, particularly,
First. That our perfm^mances are in vain
without it. Here is one of the highest kinds
74 PEEFOEMANCES AND SUFFEEING8
of external performances mentioned, viz. giv-
ing all our goods to feed the poor. Giving to
the poor, is a duty very much insisted on
in the word of God, and particularly unde'-
the Christian dispensation. And in the primi
tive times of Christianity, the circumstances
of the church were such, that persons were
sometimes called to part with all they had,
and give it away to others. This was partly
because of the extreme necessities of those
who were j)ersecuted and in distress, and
partly because the difficulties that attended
being a follower of Christ and doing the
work of the gospel were such, as to call for the
disciples disentangling themselves from the
care and burden of their worldly possessions,
and going forth, as it were, without gold, or
silver, or scrip, or their purses, or even two
coats apiece. The Apostle Paul tells us, that
he had suifered the loss of all things for
Christ; and the primitive Christians, in the
church at Jerusalem, sold all that they had,
and gave it into a common fund, and " none
said that aught that he had was his own,
Acts iv. 32. The duty of giving to the poor,
was a duty that the Christian Corinthians at
this time had particular (jccusion to consider,
VAIN WITHOUl' CHARITY. 75
not only because of the many troubles of tbe
times, but by reason, also, of a great dearth
or famine that sorely distressed the brethren
in Judea ; in view of which, the Apostle had
already urged it on the Corinthians, as their
duty, to send relief to them, speaking of it
particularly in this Epistle, in the sixteenth
chapter, and also in his second Epistle to the
same church, in the eighth and ninth chapters.
And yet, though he says so much in both
these Epistles, to stir them up to the duty of
giving to the poor, still he is very careful to
inform them, that though they should go
ever so far in it, yea, though they should be-
stow all their goods to feed the poor, and have
not charity, it would profit them nothing.
Secondly/. The Apostle teaches, that not
only our performances, but also our sufferings
are of no avail without charity. Men are
ready to make much of what they do^ but
more of what they suffer. They are ready to
think it a great thing when they put them-
selves out of their way, or are at great ex-
pense or suifering for their religion. The
Apostle here mentions a suffering of the most
extreme kind, suifering even to death, and
that one of the most terrible forms of death,
76 PEEFOEMANCES AND SUFFEEINOS
and says that even this is nothing without
charity. When a man has given away all
his ffoods, he has nothinir else remainino; that
he can give, but himself. And the Apostle
teaches, that when a man has given all his
possessions, if he then goes on to give his own
body, and that to be utterly consumed in the
flames, it w^ill avail nothing if it is not done
from sincere love in the heart. The time when
the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians, was a
time when Christians were often called not
only to give their goods, but their bodies,
also, for Christ's sake ; for the church then was
generally under persecution, and multitudes
were then or soon after put to very cruel
deaths for the gospel's sake. But though they
suffered in life, or endured the most ao-onizing
death, it would be in vain without charity.
What is meant by this charity, has already
been explained in the former lectures on these
verses, in which it has been shown that charity
is the sum of all that is distinguishing in the
religion of the heart. And therefore the doc-
trine that I would derive from these words is
this.
That all that men can do, and all that
they can suffee, can never make tjp fob
VAIN WITHOUT CHARITY. 77
THE WANT OF 8INCERB CHRISTIAN LOVE IN THE
HEART.
I. There may he gi^eat performances^ and so
there may he great svfferirigs without sincere
Christian love in the heart. And,
1. There may be great performances with-
out it. The Apostle Paul, in the third chapter
of the Epistle to the Philippians, tells us what
things he did before his conversion, and while
he remained a Pharisee. In the fourth verse,
he says, " If any other man thinketh that he
hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I
more." Many of the Pharisees did great
things, and abounded in religious perform-
ances. The Pharisee mentioned in Luke
xviii. 11, 12, boasted of the great things he
had done, both towards God and men, and
thanked God, that he so exceeded other men
in his doings. And many of the heathen
have been eminent for their great j)erform-
ances ; some for their integrity, or for their
justice, and others for their great deeds done
for the public good. Many men witliout
any sincerity of love in their hearts, have been
exceeding mag?iificent in their gifts for pious
and charitable uses, and have thus gotten to
themselves great fame, and had their names
78 PEEFOEMANCES AND SUFFEEINGS
handed down in history to posterity with great
glory. Many have dono great things from
fear of hell, hoping thereby to appease the
Deity and make atonement for their sins, and
many have done great things from pride, and
from a desire for reputation and honor among
men. And though these motives are not wont
to influence men to a constant and universal
observance of God's commands, and to go on
with a course of Christian performances, and
with the practice of all duties towards God
and man through life, yet it is hard to say
how far such natural principles may carry
men in particular duties and performances.
And so,
2. There may be great sufferings for re-
ligion, and yet no sincerity of love in the
heart. Persons may undergo great sufferings
in life, just as some of the Pharisees used
themselves to great severities, and to penances
and voluntary inflictions. Many have under-
taken wearisome pilgrimages, and have shut
themselves out from the benefits and pleas-
ures of the society of mankind, or have spent
their lives in deserts and solitudes, and some
have suffered death, of whom we havt no rea-
son to think that they had any sincere love to
VAIN WITHOirr CHAEITY. 79
God in their hearts. Multitudes among the
Papists, have voluntarily gone and ventured
their lives in bloody wars, in hopes of merit-
ing heaven by it. In the wars carried on
with the Tui'ks and Saracens, called the Holy
Wars, or Crusades, thousands went volunta-
rily to all the dangers of the conflict, in the
hope of thus securing the pardon of their
sins, and the rewards of glory hereafter ; and
many thousands, yea, some millions, in this way
lost their lives, even to the depopulation, in a
considerable measure, of many parts of Europe.
And the Turks were many of them enraged by
this exceedingly, so as to venture their lives,
and rush, as it were, upon the very points of
the swords of their enemies, because Mahomet
has promised that all that die in war, in de-
fence of the Mahometan faith, shall go at once
to Paradise. And liistory tells us of some,
that have yielded themselves to voluntary
death, out of mere obstinacy and sturdiness
of spirit, rather than yield to the demand of
others, when they might, without dishonor,
have saved their lives. Many among the
heathen have died for their country; and
many, as martyrs for a false faith, though not
in any wise in such numbers, nor in such a man-
80 PEEFOKMANCES AND SUFI'ERIJSTGS
ner, as those that have died as martyrs for the
true religion. And in all these cases, many
doubtless have endured their suJEFerings, or
met death, without having any sincere divine
love in their hearts. But,
II. Whatever men tnay do or suffer^ they
cannot hy all their perfm^ma/nces and suffer-
ings^ make tip for the want of sincere love in
the heart. — If they lay themselves out ever
so much in the things of religion, and are
ever so much engaged in acts of justice and
kindness and devotion; and if their prayers
and fastings are ever so much multiplied ; or
if they should spend their time ever so much
in the forms of religious worship, giving days
and nights to it, and denying sleep to their
eyes and slumber to their eyelids, that they
might be the more laborious in religious exer-
cises ; and if the things that they should do
in religion were such as to get them a name
throughout the world, and make them famous
to all future generations, it would all be in
vain without sincere love to God in the heart.
And so if a man should give most bounteously
to religious or charitable uses ; and if possess-
ing the riches of a kingdom he should giYQ it
all, and from the splendor of an earthly prince
VAIN WITHOUT CHAEITr. 81
should reduce himself to the level ol beggars ;
and if he should not stop there, but when he
has done all this, should yield himself to
undergo the fiercest sufierings, giving up not
only all his possessions, but also giving his
body to be clothed in rags, or to be mangled
and burned and tormented as much as the wit
of man could conceive, all, even all this,
would not make up for the want of sincere
love to God in the heart. And it is plain that
it would not for the following reasons : — ■
1. It is not the external work done^ or the
suffering endivred^ that is, in itself, worth any-
thing in the sight of God. — The motions and
exercise of the body, or anything that may be
done by it, if considered separately from the
heart — the inward part of the man, is of no
more consequence or worth in the sight of
God, than the motions of anything without
life. If anything be offered or given, thougli
it be silver, or gold, or the cattle on a thou-
sand hills, though it be a thousand rams, or
ten thousands of rivers of oil, there is nothing
of value in it, as an external thing, in God's
sight. If God were in need of these things,
they might be of value to him in themselves
considered, independently of the motives of
82 PEEFOKMANCES AND SUEFERING8
the heart that led to their being offered. "We
often stand in need of external good things,
and therefore such things offered or given to
us, may and do have a value to us, in them-
selves considered. But God stands in need of
nothing. He is all-sufficient in himself. He
is not fed by the sacrifices of beasts, nor en-
riched by the gift of silver, or gold, or pearls,
" Every beast of the forest is mine, and the
cattle upon a thousand hills. If I were hun-
gry, I would not tell thee, for the world is
mine, and the fulness thereof," Psalm 1. 10,
12. "All things come of thee, and of thine
own, have we given thee. O, Lord, oiu* God,
all this store that we have prepared to build
thee an house for thine holy name, cometh of
thine hand, and is all thine own," 1 Chroni-
cles xxix. 14, 16. And as there is nothing
profitable to God in any of our services or per-
formances, so there can be nothing acceptable
in his sight in a mere external action without
sincere love in the heart, " for the Lord seeth
not as men seeth ; for man looketh on the out-
ward appearance, but God looketh on the
heart." The heart is just as naked and open
to him as the external actions. And therefore
he sees our actions, and all our conduct, not
VAm WITHOUT CnAEITY. 83
merely as the external motions of a machine,
but as the actions of rational, intelligent crea-
tures, and voluntary free agents, and therefore
there can be, in his estimation, no excellence
or amiableness in anything we can do, if the
lieart be not right with him.
And so God takes no pleasure in any suffer-
ings that we may endure, in themselves con-
sidered. He is not profited by the torments
men may undergo, nor does he delight to see
them j)utting themselves to suffering, unless it
be from some good motive, or to some good
purpose and end. We sometimes may need
that our fellow-men, our friends and neigh-
bors should suffer for us, and should help us
bear our burdens, and put themselves to in-
convenience for our sake. But God stands in
no such need of us, and therefore our suffer-
ings are not acceptable to him, considered
merely as sufferings endured by us ; and are
of no account apart from the motive that leads
us to endure them. No matter what may be
done or suffered, neither doings nor sufferings
will make up for the want of love to God in
the soul. They are not jDrofitable to God, or
lovely for their own sake in his sight ; nor
can they ever make up for the absence of that
84 PEEFOEMANCES AND SUFFEEINGS
love to God and love to men, which is the sum
of all that God requires of his moral crea-
tures.
2. Whatever is done or siifered, yet if the
heart is withheld froiin God^ there is nothing
really given to him. — ^The act of the individual,
in what he does or suffers, is in every case,
looked upon not as the act of a lifeless engine
or machine, but as the act of an intelligent,
voluntary, moral being. For surely a ma-
chine is not properly capable of giving any-
thing : and if any such machine, that is with-
out life, being moved by springs, or weights,
places anything before us, it cannot properly
be said to give it to us. Harps, and cymbals,
and other instruments of music, were of old
made use of in praising God in the temple
and elsewhere. But these lifeless instruments
could not be said to give praise to God, be-
cause they had no thought, nor understanding,
or will, or heart, to give value to their pleasant
sounds. And so though a man has a heart,
and an understanding, and a will, yet if when
he gives anything to God, he gives it without
his heart, there is no more truly given to God,
than is given by the instrument of music.
He that has no sincerity in his heart, has
VAIN WITHOTTT CHABITT. 85
no real respect to God in what he seems to
give, or in all his performances or sufferings ;
and therefore God is not his great end in what
he does or gives. What is given, is given to
that which the individual makes his great end
in giving. If his end be only himself, then
it is given onlj to himself, and not to God ; —
and if his aim he his own honor or ease, or
worldly profit, then the gift is but an offering
to these things. The gift is an oftering to
him to whom the giver's heart devotes, and for
whom he designs it. It is the aim of the
heart that makes tlie reality of the gift ; and
if the sincere aim of the heart be not to God,
then there is in reality nothing given to him,
no matter what is performed or suffered. So
that it would be a great absurdity to suppose,
that anything that can be ofiered or given to
God, can make up for the absence of love in
the heart to him ; for without this, nothing is
truly given, and the seeming gift is but mock-
ery of the Most High. This further appears,
3. From the fact ^ that this love or charity is
the sum of all that God requires of us. — And
it is absurd to suppose that anything can make
up for the want of that which is the sum of all
that God requires. Charity or love is some-
86 PERFORMANCES AND SUFFERINGS
thing that has its seat in the heart, and m
wliich, as we have seen, consists all that is
saving and distinguishing in Christian charac-
ter. This love it is, of which our Saviour
Bpeaks as the sum of all required in the two
tables of the law; and which the Apostle de-
clares is the fulfilling of the law ; and how
can we make uj) for the defect, when bj with-
holding it, we do, in effect, withhold the sum
total of all that God requires of us. It would
be absurd to suppose that we can make up for
one thing that is required, by offering another
that is required — that we can make up for one
debt by paying another. But it is still more
absurd to suppose, that we can make up for
the whole debt without paying anything, but
by continuing still to withhold all that is re-
quired. As to external things without the
heart, God speaks of them as not being the
things that he has required (Isaiah i. 12), and
demands that the heart be given to him, if we
would have the external offering accepted.
4. If we make a great shoio of respect and
love to God^ in the outward actions^ while there
is no sincerity in the hearty it is hut hypocrisy
cmd practical lying unto the Holy One. — To
pretend to such respect and love, when it is
VAIN WITHOUT CHARITY. 87
not felt in the heart, is to act as if we thought
we could deceive God. It is to do as Is-
rael did in the desert, after they had been
delivered from Egypt, when they are said to
have " flattered God with their mouth, and to
have lied unto him with their tongues," Ps.
Ixxviii. 36. But surely it is as absurd to sup-
pose that we can make up for the want of
sincere respect by flattery and guile, as to
suppose we can make up for the want of truth
by falsehood and lying.
5. Whatever may he done or suffered^ if
there he no sincerity in the hearty it is all hut
an offering to some idol. — As observed before,
there is nothing, in the case supposed, really
ofiered to God, and therefore it will follow,
that it is offered to some other being or object
or end ; and whatever that may be, it is what
the Scriptures call an idol. In all such offer-
ings, something is virtually worshipped, and
whatever it is, be it self, or our fellow-men, or
the world, that is allowed to usurp the place
that should be given to God, and to receive
the offerings that should be made to him.
And how absurd to suppose we can make up
for withholding from God that which is his
due, by off"ering something to our idol. It is
88 PEEFOEMANCES AND SUFFEEINGS
as absurd as it is to suppose that the wife can
make up for want of love to her husband, by
giving that aifection which is due to him, to
another man who is a stranger ; or that she
can malve up for her want of faithfulness to
him, by the guilt of adultery.
In the apj)lication of this subject, it becomes
us to use it,
1. In the way of self-examination. — If it
be indeed so, that all that we can do or suffer
is in vain, if we have not sincere love to God
in the heart, then it should put us upon search-
ing ourselves whether or no we have this love
in sincerity in our hearts. There are many
that make a profession and show of religion,
and some that do many of the outward things
which it requires ; and possibly they may think
that they have done and suffered much for
God and his service. But the great inquiry
is, has the heart been sincere in it all, and has
all been sufiered or done from a regard to the
divine glory. Doubtless if we examine our-
selves we may see much of hypocrisy. But
is there any sincerity ? God abominates the
g]"eatest things without sincerity, but he ac-
cei3ts of and delights in little things wlien
they spring from sincere love to himself. A
VA]N WITHOUT CHARITY. 89
cup of cold water given to a disciple in sincere
love, is worth more in God's sight, than all
one's goods given to feed the poor, yea, than
the wealth of a kingdom given away, or a
body offered up in the flames without love.
And God accepts of even a little sincere love.
Though there be a great deal of imperfection,
yet if there be any true sincerity in our love,
that little shall not be rejected because there
is some hypocrisy with it. And here it may
be profitable to observe, that there are these
four thino;s tliat belonai; to the nature of sin-
cerity, viz, truth, freedom, integrity and pu-
rity. And,
First, truth. — That is, that there be that truly
in the heart, of which there is the appearance
and show in the outward action. Where there
is, indeed, true respect to God, the love that
honors him will be felt in the heart, just as
extensively as there is a show made of it in
the words and actions. In this sense it is
said in the fifty-first psalm, "Behold thou
desirest truth in the inward parts." And in
this view, it is, that sincerity is spoken of in
the Scriptures as the opposite of hypocrisy,
and that a sincere Christian is said to be one
that is such indeed as he apjicars to be — one
90 PEEFOKMAJ^fCES AND SUFFEEINGS
" without guile," John i. 47. Examine your-
self, therefore, with respect to this matter.
If in your outward actions, there is an appear-
ance or show of respect to God, inquire if it
be only external, or if it be sincerely felt in
your heart ; for without real love or charity
you are nothing. The
Second thing, in the nature of sincerity, is
freedom. On this account, especially, the
obedience of Christians is called filial, or the
obedience of children, because it is an ingen-
uous, free obedience, and not legal, slavish,
and forced, but that which is performed from
love and with delight. God is chosen for his
own sake ; and holiness for its sake, and for
God's sake. Christ is chosen and followed
because he is loved, and religion because it is
loved, and the soul rejoices in it, finding in
its duties its highest happiness and delight.
Examine yourself faithfully on this point,
whether or no this spirit is yours. The
Third thing, belonging to the nature of this
sincerity, is integrity. The word signifies
wholeness.^ intimating that where this sincerity
exists, God is sought, and religion is chosen
and embraced with the whole heart, and ad-
hered to with the whole soul. Holiness is
VAIN WITHOUT CHAJtrrr. 91
choaen with the whole heart. The whole of
duty is embraced, and entered upon most
cordially, whether it have respect to God or
to man, whether it be easy or difficult, whether
it have reference to little things or great.
There is a proportion and fulness in the char-
acter. The whole man is renewed. The
whole body, and soul, and spirit are sanctified.
Every member is yielded to the obedience of
Christ. All the parts of the new creature are
brought into subjection to his will. The seeds
of all holy dispositions are implanted in the
soul, and they will more and more bear fruit
in the performance of duty and for the glory
of God. The
Fourth thing, that belongs to the nature of
sincerity, is purity. The word sincere often
signifies pure. So in 1 Peter ii. 2, " As new-
born babes, desire the sincere milk of the
word, that ye may grow thereby ;" i. e. pure,
unmixed, unadulterated. This appears in the
opposition of virtue to sin. The one is spoken
of as defilement, and impurity, and unclean-
ness : the other, as that which is free from
these things. The apostle compares sin to a
body of death, or a dead body, which of all
things is most polluting and defiling, while
92 PERFORMANCES AND SUFFERINGS
holiness is spoken of as purity, and holj
pleasures as pure pleasures, and the saints in
heaven as without spot before the throne of
God. Inquire then, whether this purity is
yours, and whether in its possession you find
the evidence that you sincerely love God.
This subject may, also,
2. Convince those who are still in an unrer-
generate state^ of their lost condition. — If it
be indeed so, that by all you can either do or
suffer, 3'Ou cannot make up for the want of a
holy, sincere principle of love in your heart,
then it will follow that you are in an undone
condition till you have obtained God's re-
generating grace to renew a right spirit within
you ; and that do what you will, or undergo
and suffer what you will, you cannot be de-
livered from your wickedness without the
converting grace of God. If you make ever
so many prayers, that will not make your
case less miserable, unless God, by his mighty
power, is ^jleased to give you a new heart. If
you take ever so much pains in religion, and
cross and deny yourself, and do or suffer
ever so much, all will not avail without this.
Therefore whatever you have done, though
you can look back upon a great many prayers
VATN WITHOUT CHAKITT. 93
offered, and mucli time spent in reading and
meditation, you have no reason to tliink that
these things have made any atonement for
jom* sins, or rendered your case any the lesa
deplorable, or left you any other than a
wretched, lost, miserable, guilty and ruined,
creature.
Natural, unrenewed men, would be glad to
have something to make up for the want of
sincere love and real grace in their hearts ;
and many do great things to make up for the
want of it, while others are willing to suffer
great things. But alas ! how little does it all
signify ! No matter what they may do or
suffer, it does not change their character ; and
if they build their hopes upon it, they do but
delude themselves, and feed upon the East
wind. If such be your case, consider how
miserable you will be while you live without
hope in the only true source of hope, and how
miserable when you come to die, when the
sight of the king of terrors will show the
nothingness and vanity of all your doings !
How miserable when you see Christ coming
to judgment in the clouds of heaven ! Then
you will be willing to do and suffer anything,
that you ma} be accejjted by him. But doings
94 PERFORMANCES AND SUFFERINGS
or sufferings will not avail. They will not
atone for your sins, or give you God's favor,
or save you from the overwhelming storms of
his wrath. Rest, then, on nothing that you
have done or suffered, or that you can do or
suffer ; but rest on Christ. Let your heart be
filled with sincere love to him ; and then, at
the last great day, he will own you as his
follower and as his friend. The subject,
3. Exhorts all^ earnestly to cherish sincere
Christian love in their hearts. — If it be so,
that this is of such great and absolute necessity,
then let it be the one great thing that you
seek. Seek it with diligence and prayer ;
and seek it of God, and not of yourself. He
only can bestow it. It is something far above
the unassisted power of nature ; for though
there may be great performances, and great
sufferings, too, yet without sincere love they
are all in vain. Such doings and sufferings
may, indeed, be required of us, as the followers
of Christ, and in the way of duty ; but we are
not to rest in them, or feel that they have any
merit or worthiness in themselves. At best
they are but the outward evidence and the
outflowing of a right spirit in the heart. Be
exhorted, then, as the great thing, to cherish
VAIN WITHOUT CHAKITT. 95
sincere love, or Christian charity in the heart.
It is that which you must have ; and there is
nothing that will help your case without it.
Without it, all will, in some respects, but tend
to deepen your condemnation, and to sink you
to but lower depvhs in the world of despair 1
LECTURE IV.
CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY TO BEAR THB
IJSTJUKIES RECEIVED FROM OTHERS.
' Charity suffereth long and is kind."— 1 Corinthians xiii. 4
The Apostle, in the previous verses, as we
have seen, sets forth how great and essential
a thing charity, or a spirit of Christian love, is,
in Christianity : that it is far more necessary
and excellent than any of the extraordinary
gifts of the Spirit ; that it far exceeds all ex-
ternal performances and sufferings ; and, in
short, that it is the sum of all that is distin-
guishing and saving in Christianity — the very
life and soul of all religion, without which,
though we give all our goods to feed the poor,
and our bodies to be burned, we are nothing.
And now he proceeds, as his subject naturally
leads him, to show the excellent nature of
charity, by describing its several amiable and
CHAKITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY. 97
excellent fruits. In the text two of these
fruits are mentioned : suffering long^ which
has respect to the evil or injury received from
others ; and heing Mnd^ which has respect to
the good to be done to others. Dwelling, for
the present, on the first of these points, I
would endeavor to show,
That charity, or a truly Christian spirit,
WILL dispose us MEEKLY TO BEAR THE EVIL THAT
IS RECEIVED FROM OTHERS, OR THE INJURIES THAT
OTHERS MAY DO TO US.
Meekness is a great part of the Christian
spirit. Christ, in that earnest and touching
call and invitation of his that we have in the
eleventh chajjter of Matthew, in which he in-
vites all that labor and are heavy-laden to
come to himself for rest, particularly men-
tions, that he would have them come, to learn
of him ; for he adds, " I am meek and lowly
.of heart." And meekness, as it respects in-
juries received from men, is called long-suf-
fering in the Scriptures, and is often men-
tioned as an exercise, or fruit of the Christian
spirit (Galatians, v. 22) : " But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-siiffering ;"
and (Ephesians iv. 1, 2) : "I, therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk
98 CHABITT DISPOSES US MEEKLF
worthy of the vocation wherewith je are
called, with all lowliness, and meekness, with
long-suffering, &c. ;" and Colosians iii. 12,
13 : " Put on therefore, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind , meekness, long-suffering ;
forbearing one another, and forgiving one an-
other, if any man have a quarrel against any ;
even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."
In dwelling more fully on this point, I
would, 1. Take notice of some of the various
kinds of injuries that we may receive from
others ; 2. Show what is meant by meekly
bearing such injuries ; and, 3. How that love
which is the sum of the Christian spirit, will
dispose us to do this. And,
I. I would hriefiy notice soT/ie of the various
kinds of injuries that we may or do receive from
others.- — 'Some injure others in their estates, by
unfairness and dishonesty in their dealings, by
being fraudulent and deceitful with them, or at
least by leading them to act in the dark, and
taking advantage of their ignorance; or by op-
pressing them, taking advantage of their neces-
sities ; or by unfaithfulness towards them, not
fulfilling their promises and engagements, and
being slack and slighting in any business they
TO BEAK INJUEIES FROM OTHERS. 99
are employed in by their neighbors, aiming at
nothing but just to meet the letter of their en-
gagements, and not being careful to improve
their tmie to the utmost in accomplishing that
which they are engaged to do ; or by asking
unreasonable prices for what they do ; or by
withholding what is due, from their neigh-
bors, unjustly, neglecting to pay their debts,
or unnecessarily putting their neighbors to
trouble and difficulty to get what is due from
them. And besides these, there are many
other methods in which men injure one an-
other in their dealings, by an abundance of
crooked and perverse ways in which they are
far from doing to others as they would have
them do to themselves, and by which they pro-
voke, and irritate, and injure one another.
Some injure others in their good name, by
reproaching or speaking evil of them behind
their backs. jS^o injury is more common, and
no iniquity more frequent or base than this.
Other ways of injury are abundant ; but the
amount of injury by evil-speaking of this kind,
is beyond account. Some injure others by
making or spreading false reports about them,
and so cruelly slandering them. Others,
without saying that which is directly false,
100 CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
greatly misrepresent things, picturing out
everything respecting their neighbors in the
worst colors, exaggerating their faults, and
setting them forth as far greater than they
really are, always speaking of them in an un-
fair and unjust manner. A great deal of
injury is done among neighbors by thus un-
charitably judging one another, and putting
injurious and evil constructions on one an-
other's words and actions.
Persons may greatly injure others in their
thoughts, by unjustly entertaining mean
thoughts, or a low esteem of them. Some are
deeply and continually injurious toothers, by
the contempt they habitually have of them in
their hearts, and by their willingness to think
the worst about them. And, as the outflowing
uf the thoughts, a great deal is done to the injury
of others by the words ; — for the tongue is but
too ready to be the wicked instrument of ex-
pressing the evil thoughts and feelings of the
soul, and hence in the Scriptures (Job v. 21),
it is called a scourge, and is compared (Ps.
cxl. 3) to the fangs of some very poisonous
kinds of serpents, whose bite is supposed to
cause death.
Sometimes men injure others in their treat-
TO BEAR INJURIES FROM OTHERS. 101
ttient and actions towards them, and in the
injurious deeds they do them. If clothed with
authority, they sometimes carry themselves
rery injuriously toward those over whom their
authority extends, by behaving very assum-
ingly, and magisterially, and tyrannically to-
ward them ; and sometimes those who are
under authority, carry themselves very inju-
riously toward those who are over them, by
denying them that respect and honor which
are due to their places, and thus to themselves
while they occupy them. Some carry them-
selves very injuriously toward others by the
exercise of a very selfish spirit, seeming to be
all for themselves, and apparently having no
regard to the good or benefit of their neigh-
bor, but all their contrivance is only to better
their own interests. Some carry themselves
injuriously in the manifestation of a very
haughty and proud spirit, as though they
thought they were more excellent than all
others, and that nobody was at all to be re-
garded except themselves alone ; and this
appears in their air, and talk, and actions, and
their greatly assuming behavior in general,
all of which are such, that those about thera
feel and justly feel, +hat they are injured by
102 CHAKITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
them. Some cany themselves very injn
riously by the exercise of a very wilful spirit,
being so desperately set on having their own
way, that they will, if possible, bend every-
thing to their own will, and never will alter
their career, or yield to the wishes of others :
they shut their eyes against the light or mo-
tives others may offer, and have no regard to
any one's inclination but their own, being
always perverse and wilful in having their
own way. Some carry themselves injurious-
ly in the course they take in public affairs,
acting not so much from a regard for the pub-
lic good, as from the spirit of opposition to
some party, or to some particular person ; so
that the party or person opposed is injured,
and oftentimes is greatly provoked and exas-
perated. Some injure others by the malicious
and wicked spirit they cherish against them,
whether with or without cause. It is not an
uncommon thing for neighbors to dislike and
even hate one another ; not cherishing any-
thing like love to each other in their hearts,
but whether they acknowledge it or not, in
reality hating one another, having no delight
in each other's honor and prosperity, but, on
tho contrary, be'ng pleased when they are cast
TO BEAR INJURIES FROM OTHERS. 10?
down and in adversity, foolishly and wickedly
thinking, perhaps, that another's fall is theii
own elevation, which it never is. Some in-
jui"e others by the spirit of envy they show
toward them, cherishing ill-will toward them
for no other reason than for the honor and
prosperity they enjoy. Many injure others
from a spirit of revenge, deliberately return-
ing evil for evil, for real or imaginary injuries
received from them ; and some, as long as
they live, will keep up a grudge in their
hearts against their neighbor, and whenever
an opportunity offers, will act it out in injury
to him in the spirit of malice. And in innu-
merable other particular ways which might
be mentioned, do men injure one another;
though these may suffice for our present pur-
pose. But,
II. I would go on to show what is meant ly
meeTdy hearing such injuries^ or haw they
ought meeTdy to he home. — And here I would
show, first, the nature of the duty enjoined ;
and then why it is called long-suffering, or
suffering long. And,
1. I would show the nature of the duty of
meehly hearing the injuries loe suffer from
others. And,
i04 UHAEITY DISPOSES US MEEKI<T
JFtist^ It implies that injuries offered should
he home ttithout doing anytldng to revenge
them. — ^Tliere are many ways in which men
do that which is revengeful ; not merely by
actually bringing some immediate suffering
on the one that may have injured them, but
by anything either in speech or behavioi-, wdiich
shows a bitterness of spirit against him for
what he has done. Thus, if after we are of-
fended or injured, we speak reproachfully to
our neighbor, or of him to others, w^ith a de-
sign to lower or injure him, and that we may
gratify the bitter s]3irit we feel in our hearts
for the injury that neighbor has done us, this
is revenge. He, therefore, that exercises a
Christian long-suffering toward his neighbor,
will bear the injuries received from him with-
out revenging or retaliating, either by inju.
rious deeds or bitter words. He will bear it
without doing anything against his neighbor
that shall manifest the spirit of resentment,
without speaking to him, or of him, with re-
vengeful words, and without allowing a re-
vengeful spirit in his heart, or manifesting it
in his behavior. He will receive all with a
calm, undisturbed countenance, and with a
Boul full of meekness, quietness and goodness ;
TO BEAE INJURIES FKOM OTHEES. lOh
and tliis he will manifest in all his behavioi
to the one that has injured him, whether to
his face or behind his back. Hence, it is
that this virtue is recommended in the Scrip
tures under the names of gentleness, or as
always connected with it, as may be seen in
James iii. IT, and Galatians v. 22. In him
that exercises the Christian spirit as he ought,
there will not be a passionate, rash, or hasty
expression, or a bitter, exasperated counte-
nance, or an air of violence in the talk or be-
havior ; but, on the contrary, the countenance
and words and demeanor, will all manifest
the savor of peaceableness and calmness and
gentleness. He may perhaps reprove his
neighbor. This may clearly be his duty. But
if he does, it will be without impoliteness, and
without that severity that can tend only to
exasperate ; and though it may be with
strength of reason and argument, and with
plain and decided expostulation, it will still
be without angry reflections, or contemptuous
language. He may show a disapprobation
of what has been done ; but it will be not
with an appearance of high resentment, but
as reproving the offender for a sin against
God, rather than as for the offence against
106 CHARITl' DISPOSES US MEEKLY
himself; as lamentuighis calamity, more than
resenting his injury; as seeking his good, not
his hurt ; and as one that more desires to de-
liver the offender out of the error into which
he has fallen, than to be even with him for the
injury done to himself. The duty enjoined
also implies,
Secondly^ That injuries be borne witli the
continuance of love in the hearty and without
those inward einotions and passions that tend
to interrujpt and destroy it. — Injuries should
be borne, where we are called to suffer them,
not only without manifesting an evil and re-
vengeful spirit in our words and actions, but
also without such a sj)irit in the heart. We
should not only control our passions when we
are injured, and refrain from giving vent to
outward revenge, but the injury should be
borne without the spirit of revenge in the
heart. Kot only a smooth external behavior
should be continued, but also a sincere love
with it. We should not cease to love our
neighbor because he has injured us. We may
pity, but not hate him for it. The duty en-
joined also implies.
Thirdly^ That injuries be hovwQ w^tho^t,t our
losing the quietness and repose of our own
TO BEAK INJURIES FROM OTHERS. 107
minds and hearts. — ^They should not only be
borne without a rough behavior, but with a
continuance of inward cahnness and repose
of spirit. When the injuries we suiFer are al-
lowed to disturb our calmness of mind, and
put us into an excitement and tumult, then we
cease to bear them in the true spirit of long-
suifering. If the injury is permitted to dis-
compose and disquiet us, and to break up our
inward rest, we cannot enjoy ourselves, and
are not in a state to engage properly in our
various duties ; and especially we are not in a
state for religious duties — for prayer and
meditation. And such a state of mind is the
contrary of the spirit of long- suffering and
meekly bearing of injuries that is spoken of
in the text. Christians ought still to keep the
calmness and serenity of their minds undis-
turbed, whatever injuries they may suffer.
Their souls should be serene, and not like the
unstable surface of the water, disturbed by
every wind that blows. No matter what evils
they may suffer, or what injuries may be in-
flicted on them, they should still act on the
principle of the words of the Saviour to his
disciples (Luke xxi. 19): "In your patience,
108 CHARITY DISI'OSES US MEEKLY
possess ye your souls." The duty we are
speaking of, also implies, once more,
Fourthly^ That in many cases M^hen we are
injured, we should he willing to suffer much
in our interests and feelings for the sake of
peace, rather than do what we have opportunity,
a/Thd perhaps the right to do in defending our-
selves. — When we suiFer injuries from others,
the case is often such that a Christian s^^irit,
if we did but exercise it as we ought, would
dispose us to forbear taking the advantage
we may have to vindicate and right ourselves.
For by doing otherwise, we may be the means
of bringing very great calamity on him that
has injured us ; and tenderness toward him
may and ought to dispose us to a great deal
of forbearance, and to suffer somewhat our-
selves, ratlier than bring so much suffering on
liim. And besides, such a course would
probably lead to a violation of peace, and to
an established hostility, whereas in this way,
there may be hope of gaining our neighbor,
and fi'om an enemy making him a friend.
These things are manifest from what the apos-
tle says to the Corinthians concerning going
to law one witli another, "l^ow, therefore,
there is utterly a fault among you, because
TO BEAR INJUnrES FROM OTHERS. 109
ye go to law one with another. Why do ye
not rather take wrong ? Why do ye not rather
Bufler yourselves to be defrauded?" 1 Corin-
thians vi. 7. Not that all endeavors in men to
defend and right themselves, when they are
injured by othei-s, are censurable, or that they
should suffer all the injuries that their ene-
mies please to bring upon them, rather than
improve an opportunity they have to defend
and vindicate themselves, even though it be
to the damage of him that injures them. But
in many and probably in most cases, men
ought to suffer long first, in the spirit of the
long-suffering charity of the text. And the
case may often be such, that they may be
called to suffer considerably, as charity and
prudence shall direct, for the sake of peace,
and from a sincere Christian love to the one
that injures them, rather than deliver them-
selves in tlie way they may have opportunity
for. Having thus shown what is implied in
this virtue, I would now show, briefly,
2. Why it is called loiuj-svffering^ or svffir-
ing long. — And it seems to be so called, espe-
cially on two accounts : —
First, Because we ought meekly to bear
not only a small injury, hut also a good deal
110 CHAEITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
of injurious treatment from others. We should
persevere, and continue in a quiet frame,
without ceasing still to love our neighbor, not
only when he injures us a little, but when he
injures us much, and the injuries he does us
are great. And we should not only thus bear
a few injuries, but a great many, and though
our neighbor continues his injurious treatment
to us for a long time. When it is said that
charity suffers long, we cannot infer from
this, that we are to bear injuries meekly for
a season, and that after that season we may
cease thus to bear them. The meaning; is not
that we must, indeed, bear injuries for a long
time, but may cease to bear them at last.
But it is that we should meekly continue to
bear them, though they are long continued,
even to the end. The spirit of long-suffering
should never cease. And it is called long-
suffering.
Secondly.^ Because in some cases we should
1)6 willing to suffer a great while in our in-
terests., lefore we improve opportunities of
righting ourselves. Though we may defend
ourselves at last, when we are driven, as it
were, by necessity to it, yet we are not to do
it out of revenge, or to injure him that has
TO BEAK INJURIES FROM OTHERS. Ill
injured us, but only for needful self-defence ;
and even this, in many cases, is to be given
up for peace, and out of a Christian spirit
toward him that has injured us, and lest we
Bhould do injury to him. Having thus shown
in what ways wo are often injured by others,
and what is implied in meekly bearing the
injuries thus inflicted, I come now to show,
III. How that love or charity which is the
sum of the Christian spirit^ will dispose us
meekly to hear such injuries. — And this may
be shown both in reference to love to God,
and love to our neighbors. And,
1. J^ove to God and the Lord Jesus Christy
has a tendency to dispose us to this. For,
First., Love to God disposes us to imitate
dim, and therefore disj)Oses us to such long-
suffering as he manifests. Long-suffering is
often spoken of as one of the attributes of God,
[n Exodus xxxiv. 6, it is said, " And the Lord
passed by before him, and proclaimed, the
Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, &c." And in Ronians ii. 4, the
apostle asks, " Desj^isest thou the riches of his
goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffer-
ing?' The long-suffering of God is very
wonderfully manifest in his bearing innumera-
112 CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
ble iiijnries from men, Jind injiines that are
very g-reat, and long continued. If we con-
sider the wickedness that tliere is in the
world, and then consider how God continnes
the w^orld in existence, and does not destroy
it, hnt showers upon it innnmerable mercies,
the bomities of liis daily providence and grace,
causing his sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sending rain alike upon the just and
the unjust, and offering his spiritual blessings
ceaselessly and to all, we shall perceive how
abundant is his long-suffering toward us.
And if we consider his long-suffering to some
of the great and populous cities of the world,
and think how citnstantly the gifts of his
goodness are bestowed on and consumed by
them, and then consider how gi-eat the wick--
edness of these very cities, it will show us
how amazingly great is his long-suffering.
And the same long-suffering has been mani-
fest to very many particular persons, in all
ages of the world. lie is long-suffering to
the sinners that he spares, and to whom he
offers his mercy, even while they are rebelling
against him. And he is long-suffering tt)ward
his own elect people, many of whom long lived
in sin, and despised alike his goodness and hia
TO BEAE INJURIES FEOM OTHERS. 113
wrath : and yet he bore long witli them, even
to tlie end, till tliev were brought to repent-
ance, and made, through his grace, vessels
of mercv and glorj. And this mercy he
showed to them even while they were enemies
and rebels, as the apostle tells us was the case
with himself. " And I thank Christ Jesus our
Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he count-
ed me faithful, putting me into the ministry ;
who was before a blasphemer, and a persecu-
tor, and injurious ; but I obtained mercy, be-
cause I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And
the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant
with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners ; of whom I am chief.
Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that
in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all
long-suffering, for a pattern to them which
should hereafter believe on him to life ever-
lasting '■ 1 Timothy i. 12-16. Now it is the
nature of love, at least in reference to a
superior, that it always inclines and disposes
to imitation of him. A child's love to his
father disposes him to imitate his father, and
especially does the love of God's children dis-
114 CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
pose them to imitate their heavenly Father
And as he is long-suttering, so they should
be. And,
Secondly^ Love to God will dispose ns thus
to express our gratitude for his long-suffering,
exercised toward us. Love not only disposes
to imitate, but it works by gratitude. And
they that love God, will be thankful to him
for the abundant long-suffering that he has
exercised toward them in particular. They
that love God as they ought, will have such a
sense of his wonderful long-suffering toward
them under the many injuries they have
offered to him, that it will seem to them but
a small thing to bear with the injuries that
have been offered to them by their fellow-men.
All the injuries they have ever received from
others, in comparison with those they have
offered to God, will appear less than a few
pence in comparison with ten thousand talents.
And as they thankfully accejDt of and admire
God's long-suffering toward themselves, so
they cannot but testify their approbation of
it, and their gratitude for it, by manifesting,
so far as they are able, the same long-suffer-
ing to others. For if they should refuse to
exercise long-suffering tovT'ard those that have
TO BEAK INJURIES FROM OTHERS. 11^
injured them, they would practically dis-
approve of God's long-suffering toward them-
selves ; for what we truly approve of and de-
light in, we shall not practically reject. And
then gratitude for God's long-suffering, will
also dispose us to obedience to God in this
particular, when he commands us to he long-
suffering toward others. And so, again.
Thirdly^ Love to God tend^s to humility .,
which is one main root of a meek and long-
suffering spirit. Love to God, as it exalts
him, tends to low thoughts and estimates of
ourselves, and leads to a deep sense of our
unworthiness and our desert of ill ; because
he that loves God is sensible of the hateful-
ness and vileness of sin committed against the
being that he loves. And discerning an
abundance of this in himself, he abhors him-
self in his own eyes, as unworthy of any good,
and deserving of all evil. Humility is always
found connected with long-suffering, as says
the apostle, Ephesians iv. 2 : " With all lowli-
ness and meekness, with long-suffering, for-
bearing one another in love." An humble
spirit disinclines us to indulge resentment of
injuries ; for he that is little and unworthy in
his own eves, will not think so much of an
116 CHAEITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
injury offered to him, as he that has high
thoughts of himself, for it is deemed a greater
and higher enormity to offend one that is great
and high, than one that is mean and vile. It
is pride or self-conceit, that is very much the
foundation of a high and bitter resentment,
and of an unforgiving and revengeful spirit.
Again,
Fourthly^ Love to God disposes men to
have regard to the Jiand of God in the injuries
they suffer^ and not only to the hand of man,
and meekly to submit to his will therein.
Love to God disposes men to see his hand in
everything ; to own him as the governor of
the world, and the director of providence ;
and to acknowledge his disposal in everything
that takes place. And the fact that the hand
of God is a great deal more concerned in all
that haj)pens to us than the treatment of men
is, should lead us, in a great measure, not to
think of things as from men, but to have
I'espect to them chiefly as from God — as
ordered by his love and wisd*jm, even when
their immediate source may be the malice or
heedlessness of a fellow-man. And if we
indeed consider and feel that they are from
the hand of God, then we shall be dispos<;d
TO EEAE mJTJREES FKOM OTHERS. 117
meekly to receive and quietly to subniit to
tt)em, and to own tliat the greatest injui'ies
received from men are justly and even kindly
ordered of God, and so be far from any ruffle
or tumult of mind on account of them. It
was with this view, that David so meekly and
quietly bore the cm-ses-of Shimei, when he
came forth and cursed and cast stones at him,
2 Samuel xvi. 5, 10 ; saying that the Lord
had bid him do it, and therefore forbidding
his followers to avenge it. And once more,
Fifthly^ Love to God disposes us meekly to
bear injuries ixovn others, because it sets us
vei'y much above the injuries of men. And
it does so in two respects. Li the first place
it sets us above the reach of injuries from
others, because nothing can ever really hurt
those that are tlie true friends of God. Their
life is hid with Christ in God ; and he as their
protector and friend, will carry them on high
as on the wings of eagles ; and all things shall
work together for their good ; Eomans viii. 2Sj
and none shall be permitted really to harm
them, while they are followers of that which
is good, 1 Peter iii. 13. And then, in the
next place, as love to God prevails, it tends
to set persons above human injuries, in thia
118 CHAKITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
eense, that the more they love God the mo'*e
they will place all their happiness in hiiu.
They will look to God as their all, and sees
their happiness and portion in his favor, and
thus not in the allotments of his providence
alone. The more they love God, the less they
set their hearts on their worldly interests,
which are all that their enemies can touch.
Men can injure God's people only with respect
to worldly good. But the more a man loves
God, the less is his heart set on the things of
the world, and the less he feels the injuries
that his enemies may inflict, because they
cannot reach beyond these things. And so it
often is the case, that the friends of God
hardly think the injuries they receive from
men are worthy of the name of injuries ; and
the calm and quietness of their minds are
scarcely disturbed by them. And as long as
they have the favor and friendship of God,
they are not much concerned about the evil
work and injuries of men. Love to God and
a sense of his favor, disposes them to say of
the injuries of men, when they would take
from them their worldly enjoyments, as Me-
pliibosheth did of Ziba's taking the land
(2 Samuel xix. 30): "Yea, let him take all,
TO BEAR mJURIES FROM OTHERS. 119
forasmuch as my lord the king is come again
in peace mito his own house." And as love
to God will, in these several respects, dispose
us to long-suffering mider injuries from
others, so,
2. Love to OUT neighhor will dispose us to
the same. — In this sense, charity suffers long, —
long-suftering and forbearance are always the
fruit of love. As the Apostle intimates
(Ephesians iv. 1, 2), it is a part of our walk-
ing worthily of the Christian vocation, that
we walk " with all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering, forbearing one another in
love." Love will bear with a multitude of
faults and offences, and will incline us (Pro-
verbs X. 12) to cover all sins. So we see by
abundant observation and experience. Those
that we have a great and strong affection for,
we always bear a great deal more from, than
from those that we dislike, or to whom we are
indifferent. A parent will bear many things
in his own child that he would greatly repro-
bate in the child of another, and a friend tol-
erates many things in the friend that he would
not in a stranger. But there is no need to
multiply words, or reasons, on this branch of
the subject, for it is exceedingly plain to all
120 CHAEITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
All know that love is of siicli a nature, that it
is directly contrary both to resentment and
revenge ; for these imply ill-will, which is the
very reverse of love, and cannot exist with it.
"Without dwelling, then, on this point, I pass,
in conclusion, to make some brief improve-
ment of the subject. And,
1. It exhorts us all to the duty of meeJdy
hearing the injuries that may he receivedfrom
others. — Let what has been said be improved
by us to suppress all wrath, revenge, and bit-
terness of spirit, toward those that have in-
jured, or that may at any time injure us :
whether they injure us in our estates, or good
names, or whether they abuse us with their
tongues or with their hands, and whether
those that injure us are our superiors, infe-
riors or equals. Let us not say in our heart,
I wnll do to him, as he hath done to me. Let
us not endeavor, as is sometimes said, "to be
even with him," by some kind of retaliation,
or so much as suffer any hatred or bitterness
or vindictiveness of spirit to rise in our
hearts. Let us endeavor, under all injui'ies, to
preserve the calmness and quiet of our spirits ;
and be ready rather to suffer considerably in
our just rights, than to do anything that may
TO BEAK INJUKIE8 FROM OTHERS. 121
occasion our stirring up, and living in strife
and contention. To this end I would ofler
for consideration the following motives.
First^ Consider the exa/mjple that Christ has
set us. He was of a meek and quiet sj^irit,
and of a most long-suffering behavior, lu
2 Corinthians x. 1, we are told by the Apostle,
of the meekness and gentleness of Christ. He
meekly bore innumerable and very great in-
juries from men. He was very much the ob-
ject of bitter contempt . and reproach, and
slighted and despised as of but little account.
Though he was the Lord of glory, yet he was
set at naught and rejected and disesteemed
of men. He was the object of the spite, and
malice, and bitter revilings of the very ones
he came to save. He endured the contradic-
tion of sinners against himself. He was called
a glutton, and a drunkard ; and though holy,
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin-
ners, yet he was charged with being a friend
of publicans and sinners. He was called a
deceiver of the people, and oftentimes (as in
John X. 20, and vii. 20) he was said to be
mad, and possessed with the devil. Some-
times they reproached him (John viii. 48)
with being a Samaritan and having a devil ;
123 CHAEITT DISPOSES US MEEKLY
the former being esteemed by the Jews as the
highest reproach, and the latter as implying
the most diabolical wickedness. He was some-
times charged (John x. 33) with being a wicked
blasphemer, and one that deserved death on
that account. Sometimes they charged him
with working miracles by the power and
aid of Beelzebub the prince of devils, and
even called him (Matthew x. 25) a devil him-
self. And such was their spite against him,
that they had agreed (John ix. 22) to excom-
municate or cast out of the synagogue anyone
that should say that he was the Christ. They
hated him with a mortal hatred, and wished
he was dead, and from time to time endeav-
ored to murder him, yea, were almost always
endeavoring to imbrue their hands in his
blood. His very life was an annoyance to
them, and they hated him so (Psalm xli. 5)
that they could not bear that he should live.
We very often read (as in John v. 16), of
their seeking to kill him. And what pains did
many of them take to watch him in his words,
that they might have something of which to
accuse him, and thus be able, with the show
of reason, to put him to death. And many
times they combined together to take his life
TO BEAR INJUKIES FROM OTHERS. 123
in this manner. They often actually took up
Btones to stone him, and once led him to the
brow of a hill that they might cast him down,
and thus dash him to pieces. And yet Christ
meekly bore all these injuries, without re-
sentment or one word of reproach ; and with
a heavenly quietness of spirit passed through
them all. And at last, when' he was most
ignominiously dealt with of all, when his
professed friend betrayed, and his enemies
seized him, and led him away to scourging
and the death of the cross, he went as a lamb
to the slaughter, opening not his mouth. Not
one word of bitterness escaped him. There
was no interruption of the calmness of his
mind under his heavy distress and sufierings ;
nor was there the least desire for revenge.
But on the contrary, he prayed for his mur-
derers that they might be forgiven, even when
they were about nailing him to the cross ; and
not only prayed for them, but pleaded in their
behalf with his Father, that they knew not
what they did. The sufferings of his life, and
the agonies of his death, did not interrupt his
long-suffering toward those that injured him.
Second^ If we are not disposed meekly to
bear inim'ies, we are notjlttcd to live in the
124 CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
vjorld^ for in it we must expect to meet with
many injuries from men. We do not dwell
in a world of purity and innocence and love,
but in one that is fallen and corrupt, and
miserable, and wicked, and that is very much
under the reign and dominion of sin. The
principle of divine love that was once in the
heart of man, as extinguished, and now reigns
in but few, and in them in a very imperfect
degree. And those principles that tend to
malice and injuriousness, are the principles
that the generality of the world are under the
power of. This world is a place, where the
devil, who is called the god of this world, has
influence and dominion, and where multitudes
are possessed of his spirit. All men, as the
Apostle says (2 Thessalonians iii. 2), have
not faith ; and indeed but few have that
spirit of faith in the heart which leads to the
life being governed by the rules of justice
and kindness toward others. The aspect of
the world is too much that of which our Sa-
viour spoke, when in sending out his disciples,
he said (Matthew x. 16) : "Behold I send you
forth as sheep in the midst of wolves." And
therefore those that have not a spirit with
meekness and calmness and long-suffering
TO BEAii INJURIES FROM OTHERS. 125
and composedness of soul to bear injuries in
8ucb a world, are miserable indeed, and are
like to be wretcbed at every step of tbeir waj
througb life. If every injury we must meet,
and every reproacb and malicious and unjust
deed is to put our minds and bearts into a
ruffle and tumult, and disturb tbe calm and
peace in wbicb we may enjoy ourselves, tben
we can bave no possession or enjoyment of
spirit, but sball be kept in a perpetual tur
moil and tumult, like tbe bark tbat is driven
to and fro continually on tbe stormy ocean.
Men tbat bave tbeir spirits beated and en-
raged, and rising in bitter resentment wben
tbey are injured, act as if tbey tbougbt some
strange tbing bad bappened to tbem, wbereas
tbey are very foolisb in so tbinking ; for it is
no strange tbing at all, but only wbat was to
be expected in a world like tbis. Tbey, tbere-
fore, do not act wisely tbat allow tbeir spirits
to be ruffled by tbe injuries tbey suffer ; for a
wise man dotb but expect more or less injury
in tbe world, and is prepared for it, and in
meekness of spirit is prepared to endure it.
Third., In tbis way loe shall he most above
injuries. He tbat bas establisbed sucli a
Bpirit and disp-^sition of mind tbat tbe inpi-
126 CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
Ties received from others do not exaspeiate
and provoke him, or disturb the calmness of
his mind, lives, as it were, above injuries and
out of their reach. He conquers them, and
rides over and above them as in triumph, ex-
alted above their power. He that has so much
of the exercise of a Christian spirit, as to be
able meekly to bear all injuries done him,
dwells on high where no enemy can reach
him. History tells us that when the Persians
besieged Babylon, the walls of the city were
so exceeding high, that the inhabitants used
to stand on the top of them, and laugh at
their enemies ; and so one whose soul is forti-
fied with a spirit of Christian meekness, and
a disposition calmly to bear all injuries, may
laugh at the enemy that would injure him.
If any that have an ill spirit against us, and
are therefore disposed to do us an injury by re-
proaching us or otherwise, see that by so doing
they can disturb and vex us, they are gratified
thereby ; but if they see that by all they can do
they cannot interrupt the calm of our minds, or
break up our serenity of soul, then they are
frustrated in their aim, and the shafts with
which they would wound us, fall back with-
out doing the execution they intended : while
TO BEAE m JURIES FKOM OTHERS. 127
on the other hand, just in proportion as we
allow our minds to be disturbed and embar-
rassed by the injuries offered by an adversary,
just in the same proportion do we fall under
his power.
Fourth.^ The spirit of Christian long-suffer-
ing and of meekness in bearing injuries, is a
mark of true greatness of soul. It shows a
true and noble nature, and real greatness of
spirit, thus to maintain the calmness of the
mind in the midst of injuries and evils. It is
an evidence of excellence of temper, and of
inward fortitude and strength. " He that is
dow to anger," says Solomon (Proverbs xvi.
82), " is better than the mighty, and he that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city;"
that is, he shows a more noble and excellent
nature, and more true greatness of spirit, than
the greatest conquerors of the earth. It is
from littleness of mind that the soul is easily
disturbed and put out of repose by the re-
proaches and ill-treatment of men; just as
little streams of water are much disturbed by
the small unevennesses and obstacles they meet
with in their course, and make a great deal of
noise as they pass over them, whereas great
and mighty streams pass over the same obsta-
128 CHAEITY DISPOSES TJS MEEKLY
cles calmly and quietly, without a ripple on
the surface to show they are disturbed. lie
that possesses his soul after such a manner
that when others harm and injure him, he
can, notwithstanding, remain in calmness and
hearty good-will toward them, pitying and for-
giving them from the heart, manifests therein
a godlike greatness of spirit. Such a meek and
quiet and long-suifering spirit, shows a true
greatness of soul, in that it shows great and
true wisdom, as says the Apostle (James iii.
13): ""Who is a wise man and endued with
knowledge among you ? Let him show, out
of a good conversation, his works with meek-
ness of wisdom." And the wise Solomon,
who well knew what belonged to wisdom,
often speaks of the wisdom of such a spirit:
declaring (Proverbs xiii. 10) that "only by
pride cometh contention ; but with the well
advised, is wisdom;" and again (xxix. 8), that
"wise men turn away wrath;" and still again
(xix. 11), that "the discretion of a man defer-
reth his anger." On the contrary, those that
are apt highly to resent injuries, and to be
greatly angered and vexed by them, are
spoken of in the Scriptm*es as of a little and
foolish spirit. "He that is slow to wrath,"
TO BEAR INJURIES FROM OTHERS. 129
says Solomon (Proverbs xiv, 29), "is of great
understanding ; but he that is hastj of spirit,
exalteth folly ;" and again (Ecclesiastes vii.
8, 9), " The patient in spirit, is better than
the proud in spirit. Be not hasty in thy
spirit to be angry ; for anger resteth in the
bosom of fools ;" and still again (Proverbs
xiv. 16, 17, 18), "The fool rageth, and is con-
fident. He that is soon angry, dealeth fool-
ishly ; and a man of wicked devices is hated.
The simple inherit folly." And on the other
hand, a meek spirit is expressly spoken of in
the Scripture, as an honorable spirit ; as in
Proverbs xx. 3 : "It is an honor to a man to
cease from strife."
Fifths The spirit of Christian long-suffering
and meekness is Commended to us hi/ the ex-
ample of the saints. The example of Christ
alone might be, and is sufficient ; since it is
the example of him who is our head and Lord
and master, whose followers we profess to be,
and whose example we believe to be perfect.
And yet some may be ready to say with re-
gard to the example of Christ, that he was
sinless, and had no corruption in his heart,
and that it cannot be expected of us that we
should do in all things as he did. Now though
£30 CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
this is no reasonable objection, yet the example
of saints who were men of like passions with
om'selves, is not without its special use, and
may in some respects have a peculiar injiuence.
Many of the saints have set bright examples
of this long-sutfering that has been recom-
mended. With what meekness, for instance,
did David bear the injurious treatment that
he received from Saul, when he was hunted
by him as a partridge on the mountains, and
pursued with the most unreasonable envy and
malice, and with murderous designs, though
he had ever behaved himself dutifully toward
him. And when he had the opportunity put
into his hands of cutting him off, and at once
delivering himself from his power, and others
around him were ready to think it very law-
ful and commendable to do so, yet as Saul
was the Lord's anointed, he chose ratlier to
commit himself and all his interests to God,
and venture his life in his hands, and suffer
his enemy still to live. And when, after this,
he saw that his forbearance and goodness did
not overcome Saul, but that he still pursued
him, and when again he had the opj^ortunity
of destroying him, he chose rather to go out
TO BEAK INJUKIES FROM OTHERS. 131
as a wanderer and an outcast, than to injura
tlie one that would have destroyed him.
Another instance is that of Stephen, ol
whom we are told (Acts vii. 59, 60) that when
his persecutors were venting their rage upon
him by stoning him to death, "he kneeled
down, and cried with a loud voice. Lord, lay
not this sin to their charge." This prayer is
mentioned as that which he made with his
expiring breath, and as the last words that he
uttered after praying the Lord Jesus to receive
his spirit; and immediately after making this
prayer for his persecutors, we are told that
he fell asleep, thus forgiving them and com-
mending them to God's blessing as the last
act of his life on earth. Another example, is
that of the Apostle Paul, who was the subject
of numberless injuries from wicked and un-
reasonable men. Of these injuries and his
manner of behavior under them, he gives us
some account in 1 Corinthians iv. 11, 12, 13 :
"Even unto this present hour we both hun-
ger^ and thirst, and are naked, and are buffet-
ed, and have no certain dwelling-place ; and
labor, working with our own hands. Being
reviled, we bless ; being persecuted, we suffer
it ; being defamed, we entreat ; we are made
132 CHAltITT DISPOSES US MEEKLY
as the filth, of the world, and are the off-scour-
ing of all things unto this day." Thus he
manifested a meek and long-suffering spirit,
undter all the injuries that were heaped upon
him. And not onlj^ do we have these records
respecting inspired men ; but we have ac-
counts in uninsj^ired and mere human histo-
ries, of the remarkable heroism and long-suf-
fering of martyrs and other Christians, under
the most unreasonable and wicked treatment
and injuries received from men : all of which
should lead us to the same meek and long-
Buffering sj)irit.
Sixth^ This is the way to he rewarded with
the exercise of the divine long-suffering toward
vs. We are often informed in the Scriptures,
that men are to be dealt with by God hereafter
according to their way of dealing with others.
Thus we are told (Psalm xviii. 25, 26) "that
with the merciful God will show himself mer-
ciful, and with an uj^right man, upright; that
with the pure, he will show himself j)ure, and
with the froward, he will show himself fro-
ward." And again (Matthew vii. 2), " with
vvliat judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged :
and with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you again ;" and still again
TO BEAR INJURIES FROM OTHERS. 133
(vi. 14, 15), "that if we forgive men their
trespasses, our heavenly Father will also
forgive us, but if we forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will our Father forgive
our trespasses." By trespasses, here, is
meant the same as injuries done to us; so
that if we do not bear w^ith men's injuries
against us, neither will our heavenly Father
bear with our injuries against him ; and if we
do not exercise long-suffering toward men, we
cannot expect that God will exercise long-
suffering toward us. But let us consider how
greatly we stand in need of God's loug-suffering
with regard to our injuries toward him. How
often and how greatly are we injuriously be
having ourselves toward God, and how ill is
our treatment of him every day ! And if God
did not bear with us, and exercise wonderful
long-suffering toward us, how miserable should
we be, and what would become of us ! Let
this consideration, therefore, influence all of
us to seek such an excellent spirit as that
which has been spoken of, and to disallow and
suppress anything of the contrary spirit or
practice. It would have a most happy influ-
ence on us as individuals, and on our fami-
lies, and so on all our public associations and
10
134 CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY
affairs, if such a spirit as this prevailed. It
would prevent contention and strife, and dif-
fuse gentleness and kindness, and harmony
and love. It would do away with bitterness
and confusion, and every evil work. Our
affairs would all be carried on, both in public
and private, without fierceness, or edge, or
bitterness of spirit ; without harsh and oppro-
brious expressions to others ; and without any
of the malignant backbiting and contemp-
tuous speech, that so often are heard among
men, and which at the same time do great
injury in society, and are making fearful
work for the judgment.
But some, in their hearts, may be ready to
object against such a meek and quiet bearing
of injm-ies as has been spoken of; and some
of these objections it may be profitable briefly
to mention and answer : —
Objection 1. Some may be ready to say,
that the injuries they receive from men are in-
tolerable ,' that the one who has injured them
has been so unreasonable in what he has said
or done, and it is so unjust and injurious and
unjustifiable, and the like, that it is more than
flesh and blood can bear ; that they are treated
with so much injustice that it is enough to pro
TO BEAK INJTJEIES FEOM OTHERS. 135
voke a stone : or that they are treated with such
contempt, that they are actually trampled on,
and they cannot but resent it. But in answer
to this objection, I would ask a few questions.
And,
First^ Do you think the injuries you have
received from your fellow-man, are more than
you have offered to God ? Has your enemy
been more base, more unreasonable, more un
grateful, than you have to the High and Holy
One ? Have his offences been more heinous
or aggravated, or more in number, than yours
have been against your creatoi*, benefactor,
and redeemer ? Have they been more pro-
voking, and exasperating, tnan your sinful
conduct has been to Him who is the author of
all our mercies, and to whom you are under the
highest obligations ?
Second, Do you not hope that as God hith-
erto has, so he will still bear with you in all
this, and that notwithstanding all, he will ex-
ercise toward you his infinite love and favor?
Do you not hope that God will have mercy
upon you, and that Christ wiil embrace you
in his dying love, though you have been such
an injurious enemy ; and that through his
grace, he will blot out your traiisgressions and
136 CHAHITT DISPOSES TJS MEEKLY
all your offences against hiin, and make you
eternally his child, and an heir of his kingdom ?
Thirds When you think of such long-suffer-
ing on God's part, do you not apj^rove of it,
and think well of it, and that it is not only
worthy and excellent, but exceeding glo-
rious ? And do you not approve of it, that
Christ should have died for you, and that
God, through him, should offer you pardon
and salvation ? Or do you disapprove of this ?
And would you have liked God better, if he
had not borne with you, but had long since
cut 3^ou off in his wrath ?
Fourth^ If such a course be excellent and
worthy to be approved of in God, why is it
not in yourself? Why should you not imi-
tate it? Is God too kind in forgiving inju-
ries ? Is it less heinous to offeni the Lord of
heaven and earth, than for a man to offend
you ? Is it well for you to be tor-given, and
that you should pray to God for jjardon, and
yet that you should not extend it to your fel-
low-men that have injured you ?
FiftJi^ Would you be willing, for all the
future, that God should no longer bear with
the injuries you may offer him, and the
offences you commit against him ? Are yoi-
TO BEAT INJURIES FROM OTHERS. 137
wrillmg to go, and ask God to deal with your-
self for the future, as in holding this objection,
you think of dealing with your fellow-men ?
Sixth, Did Christ turn again upon those
who injured, and insulted, and trod on him,
when he was here below ; and was he not
injured far more grievously than ever you
have been ? And have not you more truly
trodden under foot the Son of God, than you
were ever trodden on by others ? And is it a
jaore provoking thing for men to tread on and
/njure you, than for you to tread on and
injure Christ ? These questions may suffi-
ciently answer your objection.
Objection 2. But you may still further say,
that those who have injured you, persist in it,
and do not at all repent, hut go on doing it
sttll. But what opportunity could there be
for long-suffering, if injury were not persisted
in long ? If injuries are continued, it may be
for the very purpose, in providence, of trying
whether you will exercise long-suffering and
meekness, and that forbearance that has been
spoken of. And did not God bear with you,
when you persisted in offending him ? When
you have been obstinate, and self-wiPed, and
persevering in your injuries against iiim, has
138 CHARITY DISPOSES US MEEKLY.
he ceased to exercise his long-suffering toward
you ?
Objection 3. But you may object, again,
that your enemies will he encouraged to go
on with their injuries / excusing yourself by
saying, that if you bear injury, you will only
be injured the more. But you do not know
this, for you have not an insight into the
future, or into the hearts of men. And, be-
side, God will undertake for you, if you obey
his commands ; and he is more able to put a
stop to the wrath of man than you are. He
hath said (Romans xii. 19), " Yengeance is
mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." He
interposed wonderfully for David, as he has
for very many of his saints ; and if you do
but obey him, he will take part with you
against all that rise up against you. And in
the observation and experience of men, it is
generally found, that a meek and long-suffer-
ing spirit puts an end to injuries, while a re-
vengeful spirit does but provoke them. Cher-
ish, then, the spirit of long-suffering meek-
ness, and forbearance, and you shall possess
your soul in patience and haj)piness, and none
shall be permitted to harm you more than
God in wisdom and kindness may permit.
^ LECTUIIE V.
CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
■ Charity suffereth long and is kind." — 1 Corinthians xiii. 4
In the last lecture from these words, it was
shown, that charity or Christian love is long-
suffering, or that it disposes us meekly to bear
the injuries received from others. And now
it is proposed to show that it is kind, or m
other words.
That charity, ok a truly Christian spirit,
will dispose us freely to do good to others.
In dwelling on this point, I would, 1, briefly
open the nature of the duty of doing good ta
others, and 2, show that a Christian spirit wiL
dispose us to it.
I. / would hriefly open the nature of the
duty of doing good to others. — An<J here, three
things are to be considered, viz. : the act^
doing good ; ti e objects ^ or those to whoui we
140 CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
should do good ; and the manner in which it
should be done, freely. And,
1. The act which is the matter of the duty^
which is, doing good to others. — There are
many ways in which persons may do good to
others, and in which they are obliged so to do,
as they have opportunity. And,
First, Persons may do good to the souls of
others, which is the most excellent way of
doing good. Men may be, and oftentimes
are the instruments of spiritual and eternal
good to others ; and wherein any are so, they
are the instruments of greater good to them
than if they had given them the riches of the
universe. And we may do good to the souls
of others, by taking pains to instruct the
ignorant, and to lead tliem to the knowledge
of the great things of religion ; and by coun-
selling and warning others, and stirring them
up to their duty, and to a seasonable and thor-
ough care for their soul's welfare ; and so
again, by Christian reproof of those that may
be out of the way of duty; and by setting
them good examples, which is a thing the
most needful of all, and commonly the most
effectual of all for the promotion of the good
3f their souls. Such an example must accom-
CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD. 141
pauy the other means of clomg good to the
souls of men, such as instructing, counselling,
warning and reproving, and is needful to give
) force to such means, and to make them tako
effect ; and it is more likely to render them
effectual, than anything else whatsoever;
and without it, they will be likely to be in
vain.
Men may do good to the souls of vicious
persons, by being the means of reclaiming
them from their vicious courses ; or to the
souls of neglecters of the sanctuary, by per-
suading them to go to the house of God ; or
to the souls of secure and careless sinners, by
putting them in mind of their misery and dan-
ger ; and so may be the instruments of awak-
ening them, and the means of their conversion,
and of bringing them home to Christ. Thus
they may be of the number of those, of whom
we read (Daniel xii. 3), "that turn many to
righteousness," and who "shall shine as stars
forever and ever." Saints, too, may be the
instruments of comforting and establishing
one another, and of strengthening one an-
/Dther in faith and obedience ; of quickening,
and animating, and edifying one another ;
of raising one another out of dull and d<^»id
142 CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
frames, a ad helping one another out of temp-
tations, and onward in the divine life ; of di-
recting one another in doubtful and difficult
cases ; of encouraging one another under
darkness or in trial ; and generally, of pro-
moting each other's spiritual joy and strength,
and thus being mutually fellow-helpers on
their way to glory.
Second^ Persons may do good to others in
outward things^ and for this world. They
may help others in their external difficulties
and calamities ; for there are innumerable
kinds of temporal calamities to which man-
kind are liable, and in which they stand
much in need of the help of their neighbors
and friends. Many are hungry, or thirsty,
or strangers, or naked, or sick, or in prison
(Matthew xxv. 35, 36), or in suffering of some
other kind ; and to all such we may minister.
We may do good to others, by furthering
their outward estate or substance ; or in aid-
ing their good name, and thus promoting
their esteem and acceptance among men ; or
by anything that may truly add to their com-
fort and happiness in the world, whether it be
in the kind word, or the considerate and
benevolent deed. And by endeavoring thus
CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD. 143
iXJ do good to them externally, we are under
the greater advantage to do good to their
Bouls ; for when oiu* instructions, counsels,
warnings, and good examples are accompa-
nied with such outward kindness, the latter
tends to open the way for the better effect of
the former, and to give them their full force,
and to lead such persons to appreciate o&"
efforts when we seek their sj)iritual good
And we may thus contribute to the good of
others, in three ways : by giving to them, of
those things that they need and we possess
by doing for the?7i, and taking jDains to help
them and promote their welfare ; and by suf-
fering for them, and aiding them to bea^
their burdens, and doing all in our power to
make those burdens light. In each of theso
ways, Christianity requires us to do good to
others. It requires us to give to others, Luke
VI. 38, "Give and it shall be given unto you."
It requires us to do for others, and to labor for
them, 1 Thess. ii. 9 : "For ye remember, breth-
ren, our laboi and travail ; for laboring night
and day, because we would not be chargeable
unto any of you, we preached unto you the gos-
pel of God ;" and Heurews vi. 10 : " For God is
liot unrighteous to forget your work and laboi
144 CHAKIT? DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
of love, &c." And it requires us, if need be,
to suffer for others, Galatians vi. 2 : " Bear ye
one another's l)urdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ ;" and 1 John iii. 16 : " Hereby per-
ceive we the love of God, because he laid
down his life for us ; and we ought to lay
down our lives for the brethren." So that
in all these ways the Scriptures require us to
do good to all. I pass, then, to speak,
2. Of the objects of this act^ or' of those to
whom we should do good. These are often
spoken of in the Scriptures, by the expression,
"our neighbor;" for the duty before us, is
im^Dlied in the command, that we love our
neighbor as ourselves. But here, perhaps, we
may be ready with the young lawyer that
came to Christ (Luke x, 29, &c.), to ask,
"who is our neighbor ?"^ — And as Christ's an-
swer taught him that tlie Samaritan was
neighbor to -he Jew, though the Samaritans
and Jews were each esteemed by the other
vile, and accursed, and as bitter enemies, so
we may be taught who those are to whom we
are to do good, in three respects : —
First^ We are to do good both to the good
and to the had. This we are to do, as we
would imitate our heavenly Father, for " he
C&ARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD. 145
(Matthew v. 45) maketh his sun to rise on the
evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and on the unjust," The world is fulJ
of various kind of persons ; some good, and
some evil ; and we should do good to all. We
should, indeed, especially, " do good to them
that are of the household of faith," or that we
have reason, in the exercise of charity, to re-
gard as saints. But though we should most
abound in beneficence to them, yet our doing
good should not be confined to them, but we
should do good to all men as we have oppor-
tunity. While we live in the world, we must
expect to meet with some men of very evil
properties, and hateful dispositions and prac-
tices. Some are proud, some immoral, some
covetous, some profane, some unjust or severe,
and some despisers of God. But any or all
these bad qualities should not hinder our be-
neficence, or prevent our doing them good as
we have opportunity. On this very account
we should the rather be diligent to benefit
them, that we may win them to Christ; and
especially should we be diligent to benefit them
in spiritual things.
Second, We should do good both to friends
and enemies. We are obliged to do good to
146 CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
our friends, not only from the obligation we
are under to do good to them as our fellow-
creatures, and those that are made in the
image of God, but from the obligations of
friendship, and gratitude, and the affection
we bear them. And we are also obliged to do
good to our enemies; for our Saviour says
(Matthew v. 44) : " But I say unto you, love
your enemies ; bless them that curse you ;
do good to them that hate you ; and pray for
them that despitefully use you, and persecute
you." To do good to those that do ill to us,
is the only retaliation that becomes us as
Christians ; for we are taught (Romans xii.
17, 21) to "recompense to no man evil for
evil," but on the contrary to "overcome eviJ
with good;" and again it is written (1 Thes-
salonians v. 15): "See that none render evil
for evil unto any man, but ever follow that
which is good, both among yourselves and to
all men;" and still again (1 Peter iii. 9) : "Not
rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing,
but contrariwise, blessing; knowing that ye
are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a
blessing." And,
Third, We sh()u]d do good both to the
thankful and the unthankful. This we are
CHAEITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD. 1 47
obliged to do by the example of our heavenly
Father, for he (Luke vi. 35) " is kind unto the
unthankful and to the evil ;" and the command
is, that we " be merciful as he also is merci-
ful." Many make an objection against doing
good to others, saying, " If I do, they will
nevei thank me for it; and for my kindness,
they will return abuse and injury :" and thus
they are ready to excuse themselves from the
exercise of kindness, especially to those who
may have shown themselves ungrateful. But
such persons do not sufficiently look at Christ ;
and they either show their want of acquaint-
ance with the rules of Christianity, or their
unwillingness to cherish its spirit. Having
thus spoken of the duty of doing good, and
the persons to whom we are to do it, I pass,
as proposed, to speak,
3. Of the manner in which we should
do good to others. — This is expressed in the
single word "freeli/." This seems implied in
the words of the text ; for to be kind, is to have
a disposition freely to do good. Whatever
good is done, there is no proper kindness in
the doer of it, unless it be done freely. And
this doing good freely, implies three things : —
Fi7'st, That our doing good be not in a ricf
148 CHAKITT DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
denary sjpirlt. "We are not to do it for the
Bake of any reward received or expected from
the one to whom we do the good. The com-
mand is (Luke vi. 35): "Do good, and lend,
hoping for nothing again." Oftentimes men
will do good to others, expecting to receive as
much again ; but we should do good to the
poor and needy from whom we can expect
nothing in return. The command of Christ,
is (Luke xiv. 12, 13, 14.) : "When thou mak-
est a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends,
nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor
thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee
again, and a recompense be made thee. But
when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the
maimed, the lame, the blind ; and thou shalt
be blessed ; for they cannot recomnense thee •
^or thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrec-
tion of the just." That our doing good be
free, and not mercenary, it is necessary that
what we do, be done, not for the sake of any
temporal good, or to promote our temporal
interest, or honor, or profit, but from the spirit
of love.
Second^ That our doing good be free, it is
requisite that we do it cheerfully or heartily^
and with real good will to the one we would
CHABirr DISPOSES us TO DO GOOD. 14:9
benefit. "What is done heartily, is don« from
love ; and what is done from love, is done with
delight, and not grudgingly or with back-
wardness and reluctance of spirit. " Use
hospitality," says the Apostle (1 Peter iv. 9):
" one to another, without grudging ;" and says
Paul (2 Corinthians ix. 7): "Every man,
according as he purposeth in his heart, so let
him give ; not grudgingly, or of necessity : for
God loveth a cheerful giver." This requisite
or qualification for our doing good, is much
insisted on in the Scriptures. " He that giv-
eth," says the Apostle (Romans xii. 8) "let
him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth,
with diligence ; he that showeth merey, with
cheerfulness." And Grod gives a strict charge
(Deuteronomy xv. 10) : tliat we shall not be
grieved in our heart when we give to our
neighbor. And in a word, the very idea of
giving acceptably, is presented throughout
the Bible, as implying that we give with a cor-
dial and cheerful spirit. Doing good freely
also implies,
Thirds That we do it liberally and hounti-
fully. We are not to be scant and sparing
in our gifts or eftbrts, but to be open-hearted
and open-handed. We are to "abound •
n
150 CIIAEITT DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
every good work" (2 Corinthians ix. 8, tl),
" being enriched in everything, to all bounti-
fulness." Thus God requires that when we give
to the poor, we should " 0]:>en our hand wide
unto him" (Deuteronomy xv. 8) ; and we are
told (Proverbs xi. 25), that "the liberal soul
shall be made fat ;" and the Apostle would
have the Corinthians be bountiful in their con-
tributions for the poor saints in Judea, assur-
ing them (2 Corinthians ix. 6) that " he that
soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly,
and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap
also bountifully." Having thus explained
the nature of this duty of freely doing good
to others, I now proceed, to show,
11. That a Christian spirit will dispose us
thus to do good to others. — And this appears
from two considerations : —
1. The main thing in that love which is the
sum of the Christian spirit., is henevolence or
good-will to others. — We have already seen
what Christian love is, and how it is variously
denominated according to its various objects
and exercises ; and particularly how as it re-
spects the good enjoyed, or to be enjoyed hy i\\Q
lieloved object, it is called the love of henevo-
lence^ and as it respects the good to be enjoyed
CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD. 151
m the beloved object, it is called the love of
complacence. Love of benevolence is that dis-
position which leads us to have a desire for, or
delight in the good of another ; and that is the
main thing in Christian love, yea the most
essential thing in it, and that whereby our
love is most of an imitation of the eternal love
and grace of God, and of the dying love of
Christ which consists in benevolence or good-
will to men, as was sung by the angels at his
birth, Luke ii. 14. So that the main thing in
Christian love, is good-will, or a spirit to de-
light in, and seek the good of those who are
the objects of that love.
2. The most proper and conclusive evidence
that such a principle is real and sincere^ is,
its being effectual. — ^The proper and conclusive
evidence of our wishing or willing to do good
to another, is, to do it. In every case, nothing
can be plainer, than that the proj^er and con-
clusive evidence of the will, is the act ; and
the act always follows the will, where there is
power to act. The proper and conclusive evi-
dence of a man's sincerely desiring the good
of another, is his seeking it in his practice : —
for whatever we truly desire, we do thus seek.
The Scriptures, therefore, speak of doing good,
152 CHARITY DISPOSES ITS TO DO GOOD.
as the proper and full evidence of love ; and
they often speak of loving in the deed or
practice, as being the same thing as loving in
truth and reality : — 1 John iii. 18, 19 : "My
little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth :" "here-
by we know that we are of the truth ;" i. a.
know that we are sincere. And again (James
ii. 15, 16): "If a brother or sister be naked,
and destitute of daily food, and one of you
say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give
them not those things which are needful to
the body, what doth it profit ?" There is no
profit to them ; and so there is no evidence of
sincerity on your part, and that you really
desire that they should be clothed and fed.
Sincerity of desire would lead not merely to
words ^ but to the deeds of benevolence. In
the application of this subject, in conclusion,
we may use it,
1 . In the way of reproof . — If a truly Chris-
tian spirit disposes persons freely to do good
to others, then all those that are of a contrary
ppirit and practice, may by it be reproved. A
•aalignant and malicious spirit is the very
contrary of the former, for it disposes men to
CHAKITY DISPOSES US lO DO GOOD. 153
do evil to others, and not good ; and so, also,
is a close and selfish spirit, whereby men are
wholly bent on their own interests, and un-
willing in anything to forego their own ends
for the sake of others. And they, also, are of
a spirit and practice the very opposite of a
spirit of love, who show an exorbitantly grasp-
ing and avaricious spirit, and who take every
opportunity to get all they possibly can from
their neighbors in their dealings with them ;
asking them more for what they do for, or
sell to them, than it is truly worth, and ex-
torting to the utmost from them by unreasona-
ble demands ; having no regard to value of the
thing to their neighbor, but, as it were, for-
cing out of him all they can get for it. And
they who do these things, are generally very
selfish, also, in buying from their neighbors,
grinding and pinching them down to the low-
est prices, and being very backward to give
what the thing purchased is really worth.
Such a sp)irit and practice, are the very oppo-
site of a Christian spirit, and are severely re-
proved by the great law of love, viz. : that we
do to others, as we would have them do to us.
The subject we have been considering, also,
2. Exhorts all to the duf^ of freely doin^
154- CHAEITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
good to others. — Seeing that this is a Christian
duty, and a virtue becoming the gospel, and
to which, a Christian spirit, if we possess it,
will dispose us, let us seek, as we have oppor-
tunity, to do good to the souls and bodies of
others, endeavoring to be a blessing to them for
time and eternity. Let us, to this end, be will-
ing to do, or give, or suifer, that we may do good
alike to friends and enemies, to the evil and
the good, to the thankful and the unthankful.
Let our benevolence and beneficence be uni-
versal, constant, free, habitual, and according
to our opportunities and ability ; for this is
essential to true piety, and required by the
commands of God ! And here several things
are to be considered : —
First, What a g^^eat honor it is, to be made
an instrument of good in the world. When
we fill up our lives with doing good, God puts
tlie high honor upon us, of making us a bless-
ing to the world ; an honor like that which he
put upon Abraham, when he said (Genesis xii,
2), "I will bless thee, and make thy name
great, and thou shalt be a blessing." The
very light of nature teaches, that this is a
great honor ; and therefore the Eastern kings
and governoi-s used to assume to tliemselvea
CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD. 155
the title of benefactors, that is " doers of
good," as the most honorable they could think
of (Luke xxii. 25) ; and it was a common thing
in heathen lands, when those that had done a
great deal of good in their life-time were dead,
for the people, among whom they dwelt, to
reckon them as gods, and build temples to
their honor and for their worship. So far as
God makes men the instruments of doing good
to others, he makes them like the heavenly
bodies, the sun and moon and stars, that
bless the world by shedding down their light:
he makes them like the angels, who are min-
istering spirits to others for their good : yea,
he makes them like himself, the great foun-
tain of all good, who is forever j)ouring down
his blessings on mankind.
Second, Thus freely to do good to others, is
but to do to them as we would ha/ve them do to
us. If others have a hearty good- will to us,
and show us a great deal of kindness, and are
ready to help us when we stand in need, and
for that end are free to do, or give, or suffer
for us, and to bear our burdens, and feel for
us in our calamities, and are warm-hearted
and liberal in all this, we most highly approve
of their sjMrit and conduct. And we not only
156 CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO (JOOD.
approve, but we highly commend, and per-
haps make occasions to speak well of such
persons; never thinking, however, that they
exceed their duty, but that they act as it be-
comes them to do. Let us, then, remember,
that if this is so noble and so much to be com-
mended in others when we are its objects, then
we ought to do the same to them, and to all
about us. What we thus approve, we should
exemplify in our own conduct.
Tliird., Let us consider how hind God and
Christ have heen to us, and how much good we
have received from them. Their kindness in
things pertaining to this world has been very
great. The divine mercies are new to us every
morning, and fresh every evening : they are
as ceaseless as our being. And still greater
good things has God bestowed for our spirit-
ual and eternal good. He has given us what
is of more value than all the kingdoms of the
earth. He has given his only-begotten and
well-beloved son, the greatest gift he could
bestow. And Christ has not only done, but
he has suifered great things, and given him-
self to die for us ; and all freely, and without
grudging, or hope of reward. " Though he
was rich," with all the riches of the universe^
CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD. 157
"yet for our sakes he became poor, that we
through his poverty might be rich" (2 Corin-
thians viii. 9). And what great things hath
CtocI done for those of us who are converted,
and have been brought home to Christ ; de-
livering us from sin, justifying and sanctify-
ing us, making us kings and priests unto God,
and giving us a title " to an inheritance that
is incorruptible, and undeliled, and that fad-
eth not away" (1 Peter i. 4). And all this,
when we were not good, but evil, and un-
thankful, and in ourselves deserving only of
wrath. And,
Fourth^ Let us consider what great rewards
a/re joromised to those that freely do good to
others. God hath promised that to "the mer-
ciful he will show himself merciful" (Psalm
xviii. 25) ; and there is scarcely any duty
spoken of throughout the Bible, that has so
many promises of reward as this, whether for
this world, or the world to come. For this
world, as our Saviour declares (Acts xx. 35),
"It is more blessed to give than to receive."
He that gives bountifully, is more blessed in
-the bountiful gifts that he parts with, than he
that receives the bounty. What is bestowed
in doing good to others, is not lost, as if it were
158 CHAEITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
thrown into the ocean. It is rather, as Solo-
mon tells ns (Ecclesiastes xi. 1), like the seed
which the Orientals plant by scattering it on
the waters when the floods are np, and which
sinking to the bottom, there takes root, and
springing up, is found again in the abundant
harvest after many days. What is so given,
is loaned to the Lord (Proverbs xix. 17) ; and
what we have thus lent him, he will pay us
again. And he will not only repay it, but
will greatly increase its amount ; for if we
give, it is declared (Luke vi. 38), that it shall
be " given to us again, good measure, pressed
down, shaken together, and running over."
Indeed this is the very way to increase ; for
it is said (Proverbs xi. 21), "There is that
scattereth, and yet increaseth, and there is
that withholdeth more than is meet, and it
tendeth to poverty ;" and again (Isaiah xxxii.
8), " The liberal deviseth liberal things, and
by liberal things shall he stand." What even
unregenerate men do give in this waj^, God
often seems to reward with great temporal
blessings. His own declaration is (Proverbs
xxviii. 27) that " he that giveth to the poor
shall not lack ," and the promise is not re-
Btrictcd to the saints : and our observation of
CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD. 159
providence shows, that men's gifts to the
poor are almost as surely prospered of God to
themselves, as the seed which they sow in
the field. It is easy for God to make uj), and
more than make up to us all that we thus give
for the good of others. It is of this very kind
of giving, that the Apostle tells the Corinthians
(2 Corinthians ix. 6-8) that " he that sow^eth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully ;" add-
ing that " God loveth the cheerful giver," and
that he " is able to make all grace abound to-
ward them ;" that is, to make all their gifts
abound to themselves. Many persons do but
little consider how much their prosperity
depends on Providence. And yet, even for
this world, " it is the blessing of God that
that maketh rich" (Proverbs x. 22) ; and of
him that considereth the poor, it is written
(Psalm xli. 1) that " the Lord will deliver him
in time of trouble." And if we give in the
way and with the spirit of Christian charity,
we shall thus lay up treasure in heaven, and
receive at last the rewards of eternity. This
is that laying up of treasures that fail not, of
which Christ speaks (Luke xii. 33), and as to
which he declares (Luke xiv. 13, 14, 15), tliat
though the poor whom we benefit cannot rec-
160 CHARITY DISPOSES US TO DO GOOD.
ompense us, " we shall be recompensed at
the resurrection of the just." This, then, is
the best way of laying up for time or for eter-
nity. It is the best way of laying up for our-
selves, and the best way of laying up for our
posterity ; for of the good man, who showeth
favor and lendeth, it is written (Psalm cxii.)
that " his horn shall be exalted with honor,"
and that "his seed shall be mighty upon
earth, and wealth and riches shall be in his
house, and his righteousness endureth for-
ever." And when Christ shall come to judg-
ment, and all people shall be gathered before
him, then to those who were kind and benevo-
lent, in the true spirit of Christian love, to the
suffering and the poor, he shall say (Matthew
XXV. 34, 35, 36, 40), " Come ye blessed of my
father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world : for I was
an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a
stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye
clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ;
1 was in prison, and ye came unto me."
" Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of thnse, my
brethren, ye ha/ve done it unto me /"
LECTURE Vi.
OHAJBllT INCONSISTENT WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIBIT.
" Charity envieth not." — 1 Cor. xiii. 4.
Hating already seen the nature and tendeii>
cy of Christian charity, or divine love, with re-
spect to the evil received from others, that it
^''suffers ?6>7i^," and also with respect to doing
good to others, that it '■'■ is Icind^'' we now
come to the feelings and conduct to which the
same charity will lead us in respect to the
good possessed by others, and that possessed
by ourselves. And in reference to the good
possessed by others, the Apostle declares it to
be the nature and tendency of charity, or true
Christian love, not to envy them the posses-
sion of any good whatever which is theirs,
" Charity envieth not!''' The teaching of these
words plainly is.
That charity or a truly Christian spirit,
18 the very opposite of an ENfioua spirit
l62 charity inconsistent
In dwelling on this thought, I would show,
1, What is the nature of an envious spu'it ; 2,
Wherein a Christian spirit is the opposite of
such a spirit ; 3, The reason and evidence of
the doctrine. Af.d,
I. The nature of envy. — Envy may be de-
fined to be a spirit of dissatisfaction with ajid
opposition to the prosperity and happiness of
others as compared with our own. The thing
that the envious person is opposed to and dis-
likes, is, the comparative superiority of the
state of honor, or prosperity or happiness, that
another may enjoy, over that which he pos-
sesses. And this spirit is especially called
envy, when we dislike and are opposed to
another's honor or prosperity, because, in gen-
eral, it is greater than our own, or because, in
particular, they have some honor or enjoy-
ment that we have not. It is a disposition
natural in men, that they love to be upper-
most ; and this disposition is directly crossed,
when they see others above them. And it is
from this spirit, that men dislike and are op-
posed to the prosperity of others, because they
think it makes those who possess it, superior,
in some respect, to themselves. And from
this same disposition, a person may dislike an-
WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIKIT. 163
other's being equal to himself in honor or hap-
piness, or in having the same sources of enjoy-
ments that he has ; for as men very commonly
are, they cannot bear a rival, much, if any
better than a superior, for they love to be sin-
gular and alone in their eminence and ad-
vancement. Such a spirit is called envy in
the Scriptures. Thus Moses speaks of Joshua's
envying for his sake^ when Eldad and Medad
were admitted to the same privilege with him-
self in having the spirit of prophecy given
them, saying (Numbers xi. 29), " Enviest thou
for my sake ? Would God that all the Lord's
people were prophets, and that the Lord would
put his spirit upon them." And Joseph's
brethren, we are told (Genesis xxvii, 11), en-
vied him when they had heard his dream,
which implied that his parents and brethren
were yet to bow down before him, and that he
was to have power over them. From such a
spirit, persons are not only unwilling that
others should be above them or equal to them,
but that they should be near them ; for the
desire to be distinguished in prosperity and
honor, is the more gratified just in proportion
as they are elevated and others are below
them, so that their comparative eminence may
16 i. CHARITY INCONSISTENT
be marked and visible to all. And this dis-
position may be exercised, either in reference
to the prosperity that others may obtain and
of which they are capable, or in reference to
that which they actually have obtained. In
the latter form, which is the most common,
the feeling of envy will be manifest in two
respects, first, in respect to their prosperity,
and next in respect to themselves. And,
1, It will be manifest in an uneasiness and
dissatisfaction with the prosperity of others.
Instead of rejoicing in the prosperity of
others, the envious man will be troubled with
it. It will be a grievance to his spirit to see
them rise so high, and come to such honors
and advancement. It is no comfortable feel-
ing to him to hear of their having obtained
Buch and such advantages and honors and pre-
ferments, but on the contrary very uncom-
fortable. He is very much of the spirit of
Haman, who in view of all " the glory of his
riches, and the multitude of his children, and
all the things wherein the king had promoted
him," still could say (Esther v. 13), "yet all
this availeth me nothing, so long as I see
Mordecai the Jew sitting in the king's gate."
From such a sj>ir:t, the envious person stands
■WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 165
ready to rejoice at anything that happens to
diminish the honor and comfort of others.
He is glad to see them brought down, and
will even study how to lower their estate, as
Haman did how to humble and bring down
Mordecai. And often, like Haman, he \vill
show his uneasiness, not only by planning
and scheming, but by actual endeavors of one
kind or another, to bring them down ; and
the very first opportunity of pulling them down
that offers, he will gladly embrace. And it
is from this disposition, that the sight, even, of
others' prosperity, often sets the envious on
talking against them and speaking evil of
them, even when perhaps they do not know
them. Envying them the prominence they
have obtained, they hope, by speaking evil
of them, in some measure to diminish their
honors, and lower them in the esteem of men.
This suggests, again,
2. That the opposition of the envious to the
prosperity of others will be manifest in a dis-
like of their persons for it. Seeing how others
prosper, and what lionors they attain, the en-
vious dislike, and even hate them, on account
of their honor and prosperity. They enter-
tain and cherish an evil spirit toward them,
]2
166 CHAJRITT INCONSISTENT
for no other reason but that they are pros-
pered. They are embittered against them in
spirit, only because they are eminent in namo
or fortune. Thus Haman, it is said (Esther
V. 9), "Was full of indignation against Mor-
decai," because he saw him " in the king's
gate," and because "he stood not up, nor
moved for him ;" and Joseph's brethren
(Genesis xxxvii. 4, 5) " hated him and could
not speak peaceably unto him," because his
father loved him ; and when he had dreamed
a dream implying their inferiority, " they
hated him yet the more." And so the envious
generally resent the prosperity of others and
their coming to honor, as if in it they were
guilty of some injury to themselves. Some-
times there is a settled hatred toward others
upon this account, leading as in the case of
Joseph's brethren (Genesis xxxvii. 19-28), to
acts of the greatest cruelty and wickedness.
But tliis may suffice for the nature of this
envy ; and I proceed to show,
II. Wherein a Ghristian spirit is the oppo-
site of such a spirit of envy. And,
1. A Christian spirit disallows of the exer.
cise and expressions of such a spirit. He that
is influenced in the course of his life And ac-
WITH AN ENVIOUS 8PIEIT. 16?
tions bj Christian principles, though he n.ay
nave envy as well as other corrupt feelings in
nis heart, jet abhors its spirit as unbecoming
in himself as a Christian, and contrary to the
nature and will and spirit of Grod. He sees
it to be a most odious and hateful spirit, and
he sees its odiousness not only in others, but
also and equally in himself. And therefore
whenever he perceives its emotions rising
within him on any occasion, or toward any
person, so far as he is influenced by a Chris-
tian spirit he will be alarmed at it, and will
fight against, and will not allow its exercise
for a moment. He will not suffer it to break
forth and show itself in words or actions ; and
he will be grieved at whatever he sees of its
movements in his heart, and will crucify
within him the hateful disposition, and do all
in his power to go contrary to it in his out-
ward actions.
2. A Christian spirit not only opposes the
exercise and outward expressions of an en-
vious spirit, hut it tends to rnortify its princi-
ple and disposition in the heart. So far as a
Christian spirit prevails, it not only checks
the outward actings of envy, but it tends to
■uortify and subdue the very principle itself
itj!i CHARITY INCONSISTENT
ill the heart ; so tliat just in proportion to the
power of the former, the individual will cease
to feel any inclination to be grieved at the
prosperity of others, and still more will cease
to dislike them, or entertain any ill-will to-
ward them on account of it. A Christian
Bpirit disposes us to feel contentment with our
own condition, and with the state which God
has given us among men, and to a quietness
and satisfaction of spirit with regard to the
allotments and distributions of stations and
possessions which God in his wise and kind
providence has made to ourselves and others.
Whether our rank be as high as that of the an-
gels, or as low as that of the beggar at the rich
man's gate (Luke xvi. 20), we shall equally be
satisfied with it as the post in which God hath
placed us, and shall equally respect ourselves
if we are endeavoring faithfully to serve him
in it. Like the Apostle (Philippians iv. 11),
we shall learn, if we do but have a Christian
spirit, " in whatsoever state we are, therewith
to be content." But,
3. A Christian spirit not only disallows the
exercise and expression of envy, and tends to
mortify its principle and disposition m tfie
heart, but it disposes ns to vrjoiee in the lyros
WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 169
perlty of others. It disposes ns to a cheerful
and habitual compliance with that rule given
bj the Apostle (Romans xii. 10) that we "re-
joice with them that do rejoice, and weep with
them that weep ;" — i. e. that we sympathize
with their estate and condition, in the spirit we
should feel if it were our own. Such a spirit
of benevolence and good-will, will cast out the
evil spirit of envy, and enable us to find hap-
piness in seeing our neighbor prospered. I
now proceed as proposed, to show,
III. The reason and evidence of the doctrine
stated I or to shoio that it is so, and why it is
so, that a Christian spirit is thus the opposite
of a spirit of envy. — And this will appear if
we consider three \\\\\\^9,\ first, how much a
spirit and practice contrary to an envious
spirit, is insisted on in the precepts that Christ
has given ; second, how much the history and
doctrines of the gospel hold forth to enforce
these precepts; and, third, how much a spirit
of Christian love will dispose us to yield to
the authority of these precepts, and the influ-
ence of the motives enforcing them. And,
1. A spirit and practice entirely contrary
to an envious spirit, is much insisted on in the
precepts of Christ ■ -The New Testament is
170 CHARITY INCOySISTENT
full of precepts of good-will to others, aud of
precepts enjoining the principles of meek-
ness, hnmility, and beneficence, all of wliich
are opposed to a spirit of envy ; and in addi-
tion to these, we have many particular warn-
ings against envy itself. The Apostle exhorts
(Romans xiii. 13) that we " walk honestly, as
in the day, not in strife and envying ;'''' and
again (1 Corinthians iii. 3), he blames the Co-
rinthians as being yet carnal, because there
was envyi7ig among them ; and still again
(2 Corinthians xii. 20), he mentions his fears
concerning them, lest he should find among
them envyings^ and that too coupled, as envy-
ings too often are, with " wraths, strifes, back-
bitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults ;" and
again (Galatians v. 21), envy is ranked among
the abominable works of the flesh, such as
"murders, drunkenness, revellings, &c. ;" and
again (1 Timothy vi. 4), it is condemned as
implying great wickedness ; and again (Titus
iii. 3), it is mentioned as one of the hateful
sins that Christians had lived in before their
conversion, but which they are now redeemed
from, and therefore should confess and for-
sake. And in the same spirit, the Apostle
James (iii. 14, 16), speaks of envy as eAceeu
WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 171
lug contrary to Christianity, and as connected
with every evil work, being earthly, sensual,
devilish; and he warns us against it (v. 9)
saying, " Grudge not one against another,
brethren, lest ye be condemned : behold the
judge standeth before the door;" and to quote
but one more instance, the Apostle Peter
(1 Peter ii. 1 and 2) warns us against all en-
vies^ as connected with various other evils,
and as preventing our growth in divine
things. Thus we see that the New Testa-
ment is full of precepts which Christ has left
us, which enjoin the very opposite of the spirit
of envy. And these precepts,
2. A7'e strongly enforee<J ly the doctrines and
history of the gospel. — If we consider the
Christian scheme of doctrine^ we shall find
that it tends strongly to enforce the precepts
we have considered ; for all of it, from begin-
ning to end, strongly tends to the contrary
of an envious spirit. In all its bearings
and teachings, the Christian form of doctrine,
militates against a spirit of envy. The things
it teaches as to God are exceeding contrary
to it ; for there we are told how far God was
from begrudging us the most exceeding honor
and blessedness, and how he has withheld
l'«2 CHARITY INCONSISTENT
nothing as too much to be done for us, ->r as
too great or good to be given us. He has not
begrudged us his only-begotten and well be-
loved son, who was dearer to him than every-
thing beside ; nor hath he begrudged us the
highest honor and blessedness in and through
him. The doctrines of the gosj)el also teach
us, how far Christ was from begrudging U3
anything that he could do for, or give us. He
did not begrudge us a life spent in labor and
suffering, or his own precious blood which he
shed for us on the cross; nor will he begrudge
us a throne of glory with him in the heavens,
where we shall live and reign with him for
ever. The Christian scheme of doctrine
teaches us how Christ came into the world to
deliver us from the power of Satan's envy to-
ward us; for the devil, with miserable base-
ness, envied mankind the happiness that they
at first had, and could not bear to see them in
their happy state in Eden, and therefore ex-
erted himself to the utmost for their ruin,
which he accomplished. And the gospel
also teaches, how Christ came into the world
to destroy the works of the devil, and deliver
as from that misery into which his envy liath
Hrought us, and to purify our natures from
WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 17t
every trace of the same spirit, that we may be
fitted for heaven.
And if in addition to the doctrine of the
gospel, we consider its histm'i/, we shall find
that it also tends greatly to enforce those pre-
cepts that forbid envy. And particularly is
this true of the history of the life of Christ,
and the example he has set us. How far was
he from a spirit of envy ! How contented in
the low and afi[lictive circumstances in which
he voluntarily placed himself for our sakes !
And how far was he from envying those that
were of worldly wealth and honor, or covet-
ing their condition ! He rather chose to con-
tinue in his own low estate ; and when the
multitude, filled with admiration of his teach-
ing and his miracles, on one occasion stood
ready to make him a king, he refused the
high honor they intended to put upon him,
and withdrew himself to be out of their way
(John vi. 15), and went away into a mountain
alone. And when John the Baptist was so
greatly honored by the people as a distin-
guished prophet, and all Judea and Jerusalem
went out to hear him and to be baptized of
b\nu Christ envied him not, but himself went
out t(? be baptized of him in Jordan, though ha
174 CHARITY INCONSISTENT
was John's lord and master ; and John, as ho
himself testified, had need to be baptized of
him. And so far was he from begrudging to
his disciples any honors or privileges as too
great for them, that he told and promised
them (John xiv. 12), that after his death and
ascension, they should do greater works than
be had done while he remained with them.
And, as we find in the Acts of the Apostles,
all that he foretold, in a little while came true.
And,
3. TJie true spirit of Christian love will dis-
pose us to yield to the authority of these pre-
cepts^ and to the influence of the motives enfor-
cing them. — And the spirit of love will dis-
pose us to this, directly, or by its immediate
tendency ; and indirectly, as it teaches and
leads us to humility.
First^ Christian love disposes us to hearken
to the precepts that forbid envy, and to the
gospel motives against it, Tjy its own imme-
diate tendency. The nature of charity or
Christian love to men is directly contrary to
envy ; for love does not grudge, but re-
joices at the good of tliose who are lovec.
And surely love to our neighbor does not dis-
pose us to hate him for his prosperity, or oe
WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 115
nnliappy at his good. And love to God, also,
has a direct tendency to influence us to obey
his commands. The natural, genuine, mii-
form fruit of love to God, is, obedience ; and
therefore it will tend to obedience to those
commands wherein he forbids envy, as much
as others, yea, to them more especially, be-
cause love delights to obey no commands so
much as those that require love. And so love
to God will dispose us to follow his example,
in that he has not begrudged us our manifold
blessings, but has lejoiced in our enjoyment;
and it will dispose us to imitate the example
of Christ in not begrudging his life for our
sakes, and to imitate the example he set us in
the whole course of his life on earth. And,
Second^ A spirit of Christian love disposes
to the same, also, indirectly, hyinGlini7ig us to
humility. It is pride that is the great root
and source of envy. It is because of the
pride of men's hearts, that they have such a
burning desire to be distinguished, and to be
superior to all others in honor and prosperity,
and which makes them so uneasy and dissat-
isfied in seeing others above them. But a
Bpirit of love tends to mortify pride, and to
work humility in the heart. Love to God
176 CHARITY INCONSxSTENT
tends to this, as it implies a sense of God's
iniinite excellence, and therefore tends to a
sense of onr comparative notliingness and un-
worthiness. And love to men tends to an
hnmble behavior among men, as it disposes
us to acknowledge the excellencies of others,
and that the honors bestowed on them are
their due, and to esteem them better than
ourselves, and thus more deserving of dis-
tinction than we are. But I will not now
dwell more particularly on this point, as in a
future lecture I shall have occasion more
fully to show how Christian love tends to
humility. Passing then, in conclusion, to the
application of the subject, I remark,
1. It should lead us to examine ourselves^
whether we are in any degree under the inflic-
ence of an envious spirit. — Let us examine
ourselves as to time past and look over our
past behavior among men. Many of us have
long been members of human society, having
lived by others, and having had to do with
them in very many ways, and being connect-
ed with them on many occasions both in pub-
lic and private affairs. And we have seen
others in prosperity, and it may be prosper-
ing in their affairs more than ourselves
WITH A-N ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 177
Tiiey have had more of the world, and have
been possessed of greater riches, and have
lived in greater ease, and in much more hon-
oi'ahle circumstances than we have enjoyed.
And perhaps some that heretofore we used to
look upon as our equals, or even as inferiors,
we may have seen growing in wealth, or ad-
vancing in honor and prosperity while we have
been left behind, until now^they have reached a
station far superior to our own. It may be that
we have seen such changes, and been called
to bear such trials through a great part of the
course of our life ; and certainly we have
often seen others abounding in all that the
w^orld esteems of value, while we have been
comparatively destitute of these things. And
now let us inquire how these things have
affected us, and how have our hearts stood,
and w hat has been our behavior in these cir-
cumstances ? Has there not been a great
deal of uneasiness, dissatisfaction, and un-
comfortable feeling, and of a desire to see
those who were prosperous brought down ?
Have w^e not been glad to hear of arivthing
to their disadvantage ; and in the forebodings
we have expressed about them, have we not
in reality spoken out our wishes ; and in wi,>rd
178 CHAEITY INCONSISTENT
or deed, have we not been ready to do that
which might in some respect lessen their pros-
perity or honor? Have we ever cherished a
bitter or unkind spirit toward another becanso
of his prosperity, or been ready on account
of it to look upon him with an evil eye, or to
oppose him in public affairs, or from an en-
vious spirit to act with the party that might
be against him ? As we look back on the
past, do we not see that in these and many
other kindred things we have often exercised
and allowed an envious spirit, and many times
have not our hearts burned with it toward
others ?
And turning from the past to the present,
what spirit do you now find as you sear<Ji your
heart? Do you carry any old grudge lu your
heart against this or that man tliat yvu see
sitting with you from Sabbath to Sabb»ith in
the house of God, and from time to tip'-e sit-
ting with you at the Lord's table ? Is n -t the
prosperity of one and another, an eye-s ^re to
you ; and does it not make your life u>^'.om-
fortable that they are higher than you ■ and
would it not be truly a comfort to you 1 -< see
them brought down, so that their losses- \nd
depression would be a source of inwarc '^y
WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 17U
and gladness to your heart? And dees not
this same spirit lead you often to think evil,
or to speak with contempt, or unkindness, or
severity of such to those about you ? And let
those w^ho are above others in prosperity, in-
quire, whether they do not allow and exercise
a spirit of opposition to the comparative hap-
piness of those below them? Is there not a
disposition in you to pride yourself on being
above them, and a desire that they should not
rise higher, lest they come to be equal or
sujierior to you : and from this are you not
willing to see them down, and even to help
them down to the utmost, lest at some time
they may get above you ? And does not all
this show, that you are very much under the
influence of an envious spirit? But it may be
that in all this you may justify yourself, not
giving it the name of envy, but some other
name, and having various excuses for your
envious spirit by which you account yourself
justified in its exercise. Some are ready to
say of others that they are not worthy of the
honor and prosperity, they have; that they
have not half the fitness or worthiness of the
honor and advancement they have, that many
of their neighbors have who are below them.
180 CHARITY INCONSISTENT
And where, I ask, is the man in the world who
envies another for his honor or prosperity, bnt
h ready to think or say, that that other is not
worthy of his prosperity and honors ? Did Jo-
seph's brethren esteem him worthy of the
pecnliai' love of his father? Did Haman
think Mordecai worthy of the honor the king
conferred on him ? Or did the Jews think the
Gentiles worthy of the privileges extended to
them under the gospel, when they were so
filled with envy on this account, as is related
in the Acts of the Apostles, xiii. 45, and xvii.
5 ? It is generally the case, that when others
are promoted to honor, or in any respect come
to remarkable prosperity, some are always
ready to improve the occasion to tell of their
faults, and set forth their unworthiness, and
rake up all possible evil about them. Where-
as it is not so much that they have faults, for
these would often be unnoticed if they were
in obscurity, as it is that they are prospered,
and those who talk about their faults are en-
vious of their prosperity, and therefore speak
against them. And I would desire such per-
sons as think that they are to be justified in
their opposition to others because they are not
worthy of their prosperity, diligently to in-
WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 181
quire which it is that pains and troubles them
most, their neighbor's faults, or his prosperity.
If it be their faults, then you would be grieved
on account of them whether the persons were
prospered or not; and if truly grieved with
their faults, then you would be very slow to
speak of them except to themselves, and then
in the true spirit of Christian compassion and
friendship. But you may say, they make a
bad use of their prosperity and honor; that
they are lifted up by it, and cannot bear, or do
not know how to manage it ; that they are in-
sufferable, and scornful, and there is no doing
anything with them in their prosperity ; and
it is best they should be brought down ; that
this will tend to humble them, and that the
best thing for their own good, is, to bring
them down to the place where they belong,
and which is fittest for them. But here let
me urge you strictly to inquire whether you
do in truth lament the injury their prosperity
does them, and whether you mourn it for
their sakes, and because you love them ? Dc
your lamentations spring from pity, or from
envy? If you dislike their prosperity because
it is not best for them, but does them hurt, then
you will grieve for their calamity, and not at
13
182 CHARirY IMC'ONSloTENT
their prosperity. You will sincerely love them ;
and out of this love, will be heartily sorry for
their calamity, and feel a true compassion of
heart for them that the disadvantages of their
prosperous state are so much greater than its
advantages. But is this in truth your real
feeling? Do not deceive yourself. Is it their
calamity that you are grieved at, or is it
merely that they are prospered ? Is it that
you are grieved for them, that their prosperity
injures them, or for yourself, that their pros-
perity is not yours ? And here also let every
one inquire, whether they do not sometimes
envy others for their spiritual prosperity?
You remember what was the spirit of Cain
toward Abel, of the seed of the serpent toward
the seed of the woman, of Ishmael toward
Isaac, of the Jews toward Christ, of the elder
brother toward the prodigal. Beware that
you cherish not their spirit ; but rather re-
joice in the good estate of others, as much as
if it were your own.
2. The subject also exhorts us to disallow
and put away everything approacliing to an
envious spirit. — So contrary is the spirit of
envy to a Christian spirit, so evil in itself, and
so injurious to others, that it should be disal-
WITH AN ENVIOUS SPIRIT. 183
lowed and put away by all, and especially by
those who profess to be Christians. Great
numbers cherish the hope that this is their
character, and that they have been endued
with a new spirit, even the spirit of Christ.
Let it then be evident to all that such is your
spirit by the exercise of that charity that en-
vieth not. In the language of the Apostle
(James iii. 13, 14, 15, 16), "Who is a wise
man, and endued with knowledge among
you ? Let him show, out of a good conversa-
tion, his works with meekness of wisdom. But
If ye have bitter envying and strife in your
hearts, glory not, and lie not against the
truth. This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish ; for
where envying and strife is, there is confusion
and every evil work." The spirit of envy is
the very contrary of the spirit of heaven,
where all rejoice in the happiness of others ;
and it is the very spirit of hell itsf'lf, which is
a most hateful spirit, and one that feeds
itself on the ruin of the prosperity and happi-
ness of others, on which account some have
compared envious persons to interpillars,
which delight most in devouring the mosc
flourishing trees and plants. And as an cu-
184 CHAEITY INCONSISTENT, ETC.
vious disposition is most hateful in itself, sc
it is most uncomfortable and uneasy to its
possessor. As it is the disposition of the
devil, and partakes of his likeness, so it is the
disposition of hell, and partakes of its misery.
In the strong language of Solomon (Proverbs
xiv. 30): "A sound heart is the life of the
flesh, but envy the rottenness of the bones."
It is like a powerful eating cancer, preying
on the vitals, offensive and full of corruption.
And it is the most foolish kind of self-injury;
for the envious make themselves trouble
most needlessly, being uncomfortable only be-
cause of others' prosperity, when that pros-
perity does not injure themselves, or diminish
their enjoyments and blessings. But they are
not willing to enjoy what they have, because
others are enjoying also. Let, then, the con-
sideration of the foolishness, the baseness, the
infamy of so wicked a spirit, cause us to ab-
hor it, and to shun its excuses, and earnestly
to seek the spirit of Christian love, that excel-
lent spirit of divine charity which will lead us
always to rejoice in the welfare of others, and
which will fill our own hearts with happiness.
This love " is of God" (1 John iv. 7) ; and he
that dwelleth in it, " dwelleth in God, and
God in him," 1 John iv. 16.
LECTURE VII
tht: spikit of charity is an humble spmrr.
" Charity vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up; doth not
behave itself unseemly." — 1 Corinthians xiii. 4, 5.
Having shown the nature and tendency of
charity or Christian love, in respect to our re-
ceiving injury, and doing good to others, that
it " s'uffers long and is Mnd ;'''' and also with
respect to the good possessed by others as
compared with that possessed by ourselves,
that charity " envieth not /" the Apostle now
proceeds to show, that in reference to what
we ourselves may be or have, charity is not
proud ^ that "it vaunteth not itself, is n^t
pnifed up, doth not behave itself unseemly.'
As, on the one hand, it prevents us from
envying others what they possess, so on tl e
other, it keeps us from glorying in what we
possess ourselves. Paul had just declared
186 THE SPIKIT OF CHARITY
that charity was contrary to a spirit of envy,
and now he declares that it is equally contrary
to that spirit which specially provokes men to
envy others, and which they often make a
pretence or apology for envying them, viz. :
that they are puft'ed up with their honors and
prosperity, and vaunt themselves on their pos-
session of these things. When men have ob-
tained prosperity or are advanced, and others
observe that they are puffed up and vaunt
themselves in it, this tends to provoke envy
and make others uneasy at the sight of their
prosperity. But if a man has prosperity or
advancement and yet does not vaunt himself
or behave in an unseemly manner on account
of it, this tends to reconcile others to his high
circumstances, and make them satisfied that
he should enjoy his elevation. As already
observed, when men envy another, they are
prone to excuse and justify themselves in so
doing, by the pretence that he does not make
a good improvement of his prosperity, but is
proud of it and puffed up on account of it.
But the Apostle shows how Christian love, or
charity, tends to make all behave suitably to
their condition, whatever it may be ; if below
others, not to envy t;hem, and if above others,
IS AN HUMBLE Sl'lHlT. 187
not to be proud or puffed up with the pros-
perity.
In the words of the text, we may observe,
that a spirit of Christian love is spoken of as
the opposite of a proud behavior^ and that
two degrees of such a behavior are mentioned.
The higher degree is expressed by a man's
"vaunting himself," that is, by his so carry-
ing himself as to show plainly that he glories
in what he has, or is ; and the lower degree is
expressed b}-^ his " behaving himself unseem-
ly," that is, by his not conducting himself in
a becoming and decent manner in the enjoy-
ment of his prosperity, but so acting as to
show that he thinks the mere fact of his being
prosperous exalts him above others. And the
spirit of charity or love is spoken of as opposed
not only to a proud behavior, but to a proud
spirit, or pride in the heart, for charity " is
not puffed up." The doctrine we are taught,
then, in these words, is this : —
That the spirit of charity, or Christian
LOVE, IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. — In Speaking to this
doctrine, I would show, 1, What humility is;
and 2, How a Christian spirit, or the spirit of
charity, is an humble spirit. And,
I. r would show what humility is. — Humil-
I8b THE SPIRIT OF CHARITr
ity may be defined to be, a liabit of mind and
heart corresponding to our comparative un-
woithiness and vileness before God, or a sense
of om" own comparative meanness in his sight,
with the disposition to a behavior answerable
thei'eto. It consists partly in the understand-
ing, or in the thought and knowledge we have
of ourselves ; j)artly in the will ; partly in the
sense or estimate we have of ourselves ; and
partly in the disposition we have to a beha-
vior answerable to this sense or estimate.
And the first thing in humility, is,
1. A sense of our own comparative mean-
ness. — I say com^parative meanness, because
humility is a grace proper for beings that are
glorious and excellent in very many respects.
Thus the saints and angels in heaven excel in
humility; and humility is proper and suitable
in them, though they are pure, spotless, and
glorious beings, perfect in holiness, and excel-
ling in mind and strength. But though they
are thus glorious^yet they have a comparative
meanness before God, of which they are sen-
sible; for he is said (Psalm cxiii. 6), "to hum-
ble himself to behold the things that are in
heaven." So the man Christ Jesus, who is
the most excellent and glorious of all crea-
IS AN HUMBLE SPIEIT. 189
tiu'es, is yet meek and lowly of heart, and
excels all other beings in humility. Humility
is one of the excellences of Christ, because ho
is not only God but man, and as a man he was
humble : for humility is not, and cannot be an
attribute of the divine nature. God's nature
is indeed infinitely opposite to pride, and yet
humility cannot properly be predicated of
him ; for if it could, this would argue imper-
fection, which is impossible in God. God who
is infinite in excellence and glory, and infi-
nitely above all things, cannot have any com-
parative meanness, and of course cannot have
any such comparative meanness to be sensi-
ble of, and therefore cannot be humble. But
humility is an excellence proper to all created
intelligent beings, for they are all infinitely
little and mean before God, and most of them
are in some way mean and low in comparison
with some of their fellow-creatures. Humility
implies a compliance with that rule of the
Apostle (Romans xii. 3), that we think not of
ourselves more highly than we ought to think,
but that we think soberly, according as God
hath dealt to every one of us the measure not
only of faith, but of other things. And this
humility, as a virtue in men, implies a sense
190 THE SPIEIT OF CHARITY
of their own comparative meanness, both as
compared with God, and as compared with
their fellow-creatm'es. And,
First^ Humility doth primarily and chiefly
consist in a sense of our meanness as comjpared
with God^ or a sense of the infinite distance
there is between God and onrselves. We are
little, despicable creatm-es, even worms of the
dust, and we should feel that we are as
nothing and less than nothing in comparison
with the majesty of heaven and earth. Such
a sense of his nothingness Abraham expressed,
when he said (Genesis xviii. 27), " Behold
now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the
Lord, which am but dust and ashes." There
is no true humility without somewhat of this
spirit ; for however sensible we may be of our
meanness as compared with some of our fel-
low-creatures, we are not truly humble, unless
we have a sense of our nothingness <as com-
pared with God. Some have a low thought
of themselves as compared with other men,
from the meanness of their circumstances, or
from a melancholy and despondent tempera-
ment which is natural to them, or from some
other cause, while still they know nothing of
the infii ite distance there is between them
IS AJS^ HUMBLE SPIRIT. 191
ana God ; and though thej may be ready to
look upon themselves as humble-spirited, yet
they have no true humility. That which
above all other things it concerns us to know
of ourselves, is, what we are in comparison
with God, who is our creator, and the one in
whom we live, and move, and have our being,
and who is infinitely perfect in all things.
And if we are ignorant of our meanness as
compared with him, then the most essential
thing, and that which is indispensable in true
humility, is w^anting. But where this is truly
felt, there arises from it.
Secondly^ A sense of our own meanness as
compared with many of our fellow-creatures.
For man is not only a mean creature in com-
parison with God, but he is very mean as com-
pared with multitudes of creatures of a supe-
rior rank in the universe ; and most men are
mean in comparison with many of their fellow-
men. And when a sense of this comparative
meanness arises from a just sense of our
meanness as God sees it, then it is of the na-
ture of true humility. He that has a right
sense and estimate of himself in comparison
"with God, will be likely to have his eyes open
to see himself aright in all respects. Seeing
192 THE SPIKIT OF CIIARITT
truJ) how he stands witli respect to the first
and liighest of all beings, will tend greatly to
Lelp him to a just apprehension of the 2>lace
he stands in among creatures. And he that
does not rightly know the first and greatest
of beings, who is the fountain and source of
all other beings, cannot truly know anything
aright ; but so far as he has come to a knowl-
edge of the former, so far is he prepared for
and led unto the knowledge of other things,
and so of himself as related to others, and as
standing among them.
All this would apply to men considered as
unfallen beings, and would have been true of
our race if our first parents had not fallen,
and thus involved their posterity in sin. But
humility in. fallen men, implies a sense of a
ten-fold meanness, both before God and men.
Man's natural meanness consists in his being
infinitely below God in natural perfection, and
in God's being infinitely above him in great-
ness, power, wisdom, majesty, &c. And a
truly humble man is sensible of the small ex-
tent of his own knowledge, and the great ex-
tent of liis ignorance, and of the small extent
of his understanding as compared with the
understanding of God. He is sensible of hia
IS AN HUMiiLE SPIRIT. 193
weakness ; how little his strength is, and how
little he is able to do. He is sensible of his
natural distance from Grod ; of his depend-
ence on him ; of the insufficiency of his own
power and wisdom, and that it is by God's pow-
er that he is upheld and provided for, and that
he needs God's wisdom to lead and guide him,
and his might to enable him to do what he
ought to do for him. He is sensible of his
subjection to God, and that God's greatness
does properly consist in his authorit}^, where-
by he is the sovereign Lord and king over
all; and he is willing to be subject tct that
authority, as feeling that it becomes liim to
submit to the divine will, and yield in all
things to God's authority. Man had this sort
of comparative littleness before the fall. He
was then infinitely little and mean in compar-
ison with God ; but his natural meanness is
become much greater since the fall, for the
moral ruin of his nature has greatly impaired
his natural faculties, though it has not extin-
guished them.
The truly humble man, since the fall, is
also sensible of his moral meanness and vile-
ness. This consists in his sinfulness. His
tiuiural meanness, is his littleness as a creor
194 THE SPIKIT OF CHARITY
tare / his wajtoL meanness is his vilb less and
fdthiness as a sinner. Unfallen man was in-
finitely distant from God in his natural quali-
ties or attributes : fallen man is infinitely dis-
tant from him, also, as sinful and thus filthy,
i\nd a trnly humble person is in some meas-
ure sensible of his comparative meanness in
this respect, that he sees how exceedingly
polluted he is before an infinitely holy God,
in whose sight the heavens are not clean. He
sees how pure God is, and how filthy and
abominable he is before liim. Such a sense
of his comparative meanness Isaiah had, when
he saw God's glory, and cried out (Isaiah vi.
5) : " "Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine
eyes have seen the king, the Lord of Hosts !"
An humble sense of our meanness in this re-
spect, implies self-abhorrence, such as led Job
to exclaim (Job xlii. 5, 6) : "I have heard of
thee by the hearing of the ear ; but now mine
eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes." It implies, also,
such contrition and brokenness of heart, as
David speaks of when he says (Psalm li. 17),
" The sacrifices of God. are a broken spirit ; a
IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 195
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt
not despise ;" and such, too, as Isaiah contem-
plated when he declared (Isaiah Ivii. 15),
"Thus saith the high and loftj One that in-
babiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell
in the high and holy place ; with him, also,
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to re-
vive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the
heart of the contrite ones." And both the
sense of our own littleness, and the sense of
our moral vileness before God, are implied
in that poverty of spirit, which the Saviour
speaks of when he says (Matthew v. 3),
" Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven."
And in order to this sense of our own mean-
ness and unworthiness that is iinplied in
humility, it is not only necessary that we
should know God, and have a sense of his
greatness, without which we cannot know our-
selves, but we must have a right sense, also,
of his excellence and loveliness. The devils
and damned spirits see a great deal of God's
greatness, of his wisdom, omnipotence, &c.
God makes them sensible of it by what they
Bee in his dealings, and feel in their own suf-
ferings. However unwilling they are to know
196 THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITY
it, God makes them know how much lie ia
above them now, and they sliall know and
feel it still more, at and after the judgment.
But thej have no humility, nor will they
ever have, because though they see and feel
God's greatness, yet they see and feel nothing
of his loveliness. And without this there can
be no true humility, fur that cannot exist un-
less the creature feels his distance from God,
not only with respect to his greatness, but
also his loveliness. The angels and ransomed
spirits in heaven see botli these things ; not
only how much greater God is than they arc,
but how much more lovely he is also ; so that
though they have no absolute defilement and
filthiness as fallen men have, yet as compared
with God, it is said (Job xv. 15, and iv. 18),
" The heavens are not clean in his sight," and
" his angels he charged with folly." From
such a sense of their comparative meanness,
persons are made sensible how unworthy they
are of God's mercy, or gracious notice. Such
a sense Jacob expressed, when he said (Gene-
sis xxxii. 10), " I am not worthy of the least
of all the mercies, and of all the truth which
thou hast showed unto thy servant ;" and
David, when he exclaimed (2 Samuel vii. 18),
IS AN htjMble spirit. 197
"Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my
house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ?"
And such a sense have all who are truly hum-
ble before God. But as humility consists in
a sense of our comparative meanness, so it
implies,
2. A disjposition to a corres2X)nding hehavior
and conduct. — "Without this there is no true
humility. If it could be so that our under-
standing could be enlightened to see our own
meanness, and at the same time the will and
disposition of the soul did not comply with,
and conform to that which is answerable to
our sense of it, but opposed it, then there
would be no humility. As was just now said,
the devils and damned spirits see much of
their comparative littleness before God in
some respects. They know that God is infi-
nitely above them in power, and knowledge,
and majesty. And yet not knowing and feel-
ing his loveliness and excellence, their wills
and dispositions by no means comply M-ith,
and conform to what is becoming their mean-
ness ; and so they have no humility, but are
full of pride. Without pretending to mention
everything in our behavior answeral)le to a
proper sense of our meanness and vileness to
14
198 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
which humility would dispose u&, for that
would include the whole of our duty toward
God and man, I would specify some things
that are worthy of notice, both in reference to
God, and in reference to man. And,
First^ Some things in our heha/oior toward
God^ to which humility will dispose us. As
the first of these, humility disposes a person
heartily and freely to acknowledge his Tnean-
ness or littleness hefore God. He sees how fit
and suitable it is that he should do this ; and
he does it willingly, and even with delight.
He freely confesses his own nothingness and
vileness, and owns himself unworthy of any
mercy, and deserving of all misery. It is the
disposition of the humble soul, to lie low be-
fore God, and to humble himself in the dust
in his presence. Humility, also, disposes one
to he distnistful of himself., and to depend only
on God. The proud man, that has a high
opinion of his own wisdom, or strength, or
righteousness, is self-confident. But the hum-
ble are not disposed to trust in themselves,
but are difiident of their own sufficiency ; and
it is their disposition to rely on God, and with
delight to cast themselves wholly on him as
their refuge, and righteousness, and strength.
IS AN HtnsrBLE SPIRIT. 199
The humble man is fm"ther disposed to re
nounce all the glory of the good he has or does,
and to give it all to God. If there be any-
thing that is good in him, or any good done
by him, it is not his disposition to glory or
vaunt himself in it before God, but to ascribe
all to God, and in the language of the Psalm-
ist (Psalm cxv. 1) to say, "Not unto us, O
Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give
glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake."
It is the disposition, again, of the humble
person, wholly to subject himself to God. His
heart is not opposed to a full and absolute
subjection to the divine will, but inclined to
it. He is disposed to be subject to the com-
mands and laws of God, for he sees it to be
right and best that he who is so infinitely in-
ferior to God, should be thus subject; and
that it is an honor that belongs to God, to
reign over, and give laws to him. And he is
equally disposed to be subject to the provi-
dence, and daily disposal of God, and to sub-
mit cheerfully to his will as manifested in
what he orders for hini ; and though God
orders affliction, and low and depressed cir
cumstances as his lot in the world, he does not
murmur, but feeling his meanness and un-
200 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
worthiness, he is sensible that afflictive and
trying dispensations are what he deserves,
and that his circumstances are better than he
merits. And however dark the divine deal-
ings, with the faith which we so often see
manifested in those who are eminent in grace,
he is ready to say with Job (Job xiii. 15),
" Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."
And as humility implies a disposition to such
a behavior toward God, so.
Secondly^ It disposes io a hehavior toward
men answerable to oar comparative mean-
ness. And this I sba.ll show by pointing out
what Ir.nd of behavioi- humility tends to pre-
vent. And it tends in the first place, to pre-
vent oil aspiring and aonhltiotis behavior
amoii;/f,t men. The man that is under the
inflnr;T^ce of ar. humble spirit, is content with
sucJi r< situation amongst men as God is pleased
to allot to Lira, and is not greedy of honor,
and does not alfect to appear uppermost and
exalted above his neighbors. He acts on the
principle of that saying of the prophet (Jere-
miah xlv. 5), " Seekest thou great things for
thyself? Seek them not ;" and also of that
injunction of the Apostle (Romans xii. 16),
"Mind not high things." Humility tenda
IS AN HUMBLE SPIKIT. 201
also to pi'evcnt an ostentatious hehamor. If
the truly humble niau has any advantage or
benefit of any kind, either temporal or spirit-
ual, above his neighbors, he will not affect to
make a show of it. If he has greater natural
abilities than others, he will not be forward to
parade and display them, or be careful that
others shall know his superiority in this
respect. If he has a remarkable spiritual
experience, he will not be solicitous that men
should know it for the sake of the honor he may
obtain by it; nor does he affect to be esteem-
ed of men as an eminent saint and a faithful
servant of heaven ; for it is a small thing with
him what men may think of him. If he does
an^^thing well, or does his duty in any respect
with difficulty and self-denial, he does not
affect that men should take notice of it, nor ia
he careful lest they should not observe it.
He is not of the behavior of the Pharisees,
who, it is said (Matthew xxiii. 5), did " all
their works to be seen of men ;" but if he has
done anything in sincerity, he is content thai
the great Being who sees in secret beholds and
will approve it.
Humility tends, also, to prevent cm, arrogant
mid assuming hehavior. lie that is under the
202 THE SPIKIT OF CHAEIfT
influence of an humble spirit, is not forward
to take too mnch upon him ; and when he is
amongst others, he does not carry it towaid
them as if he expected and insisted that a
great deal of regard should be shown to him-
self. His behavior does not carry with it the
idea that he is the best amongst those about
him, and that he is the one to whom the chief
regard should be shown, and whose judgment
is most to be sought and followed. He does
not carry it as if he expected that everybody
should bow and truckle to him, and give place
to him as if no one was of as much conse-
quence as himself. He does not put on as-
suming airs in his common conversation, nor
in the management of his business, nor in the
duties of religion. He is not forward to take
upon himself tliat which does not belong to
him, as though he had power where indeed
he has not, as if the earth ought to be subject
to his bidding, and must comply with his in-
clination and purposes. On the contrary, he
gives all due deference to the judgment and
inclinations of others, and hi? behavior carries
with it the impression, that he sincerely re-
ceives and acts on that teaching of the Apos-
tle (Philippians ii. 8), " Let nothing be done
IS AN IIUMBLB SPIRIT, 203
through strife, or vain glory, but in lowliness
of mind, let each esteem other better than
themselves." In talking of the things of re-
ligion, he has not the air, either in his speech
or behavior, of one that esteems himself one of
the best saints in the whole company, but he
rather carries himself as if he thought, in the
exj)ression of the Apostle (Ephesians iii. 8),
that he was " less than the least of all saints."
Humility tends, also, to iwevent a scornful
heha/vio7\ Treating others with scorn and con-
tempt, is one of the worst and most offensive
manifestations of pride toward them. But
they that are under the influence of an hum-
ble spirit, are far from such a behavior. They
do not despise, or look down on those that are
below them, with a haughty supercilious air,
as though they were scarce worthy to come
nigh them, or to have any regard from them.
They are sensible that there is no such vast
difference between themselves and their fel-
low-men as warrants such a behavior. They
are not found treating with scorn and con-
tempt what others say, or speaking of what
they do with ridicule and sneering reflections,
or sitting and relating what others may have
spoken or done, only to make sport of it. On
204 THE SPIRIT OF JHAKITr
tLe contrary, humility disposes a person to a
condescending behav^ior to the meekest and
lowest, and to treat inferiors with courtesy and
affability, as being sensible of his own weak-
ness and despicableness before God, and that
it is God alone that makes him in any respect
todiifer from others, or gives him the advan-
tage over them. The truly humble will (Ro-
mans xii. 16) always have the spirit to "con-
descend to men of low estate." Even if they
are great men, and in places of public trust
and honor, liumility will dispose them to treat
their inferiors in such a manner as has been
spoken of, and not in a hauglity and scornful
manner, as vaunting themselves on their
greatness.
Humility tends, also, to prevent a wilful
and stubborn hehavior. They that are under
the influence of an humble spirit, will not set
up their own will either in public or private
afi*airs. They will not be stiff and inflexible,
and insist that everything must go according
to what they happen first to propose, and
manifest a disposition by no means to be easy,
but to make all the difficulty they can, and to
make others uneasy as well as themselves, and
to prevent anything being done with any
IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 205
quietness, if it be not according to their own
mind and will. They are not as some that
the Apostle Peter describes (2 Peter ii. 10),
" presumptuous and self-willed," always bent
on carrying their own points, and if this can-
not be done, then bent on opposing and an-
noying others. On the contrary, humility dis-
poses men to be of a yielding spirit to others,
ready, for the sake of peace, and to gratify
others, to comply in many things with their
inclinations, and to yield to their judgments
wherein they are not inconsistent with truth
and holiness. A truly humble man, is inflex-
ible in nothing but in the cause of his Lord
and master, which is the cause of truth and
virtue. In this he is inflexible because God
and conscience require it ; but in things of
lesser moment, and which do not involve his
principles as a follower of Christ, and in
things that only concern his own private in-
terests, he is apt to yield to others. And if
he sees that others are stubborn and unreason-
able in their wilfulness, he does not allow
that to provoke him to be stubborn and wilful
in his opposition to them ; but he rather acts
on the principles taught in such passages as
Komans xii. 19; 1 Corinthians vi. 7; and
206 THE SPIRIT OF CIIAillTY
Matthew V. 40, 41 : " Dearly beloved, avenge
not yourselves, but ratlier give place unto
wrath ;" " Why do ye not rather take wrong ?
Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be
defrauded ?" " If any man will sue thee at the
law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy
cloak also ; and whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him twain."
Humility will further tend to premnt a lev-
elling behavior. Some persons are always
ready to level those above them down to them-
selves, while they are never willing to level
those below them up to their own position.
But he that is under the influence of humility
will avoid both these extremes. On the one
hand, he will be willing that all should rise
just so far as their diligence and worth of
character entitle them to ; and on the other
hand, he will be willing that his superiors
should be known and acknowledged in their
place, and have rendered to them all the
honors that are their due. He will not desire
that all should stand upon the same level, for
lie knows it is best that there should be gra-
dations in society ; that some should be above
others, and should be honored and submitted
to as such. And therefore he is wi^Mng to be
IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 207
content with this divine arrangement, and
agreeably to it, to conform both his spirit and
behavior to such precepts as the following :
" Render therefore to all their dues ; tribute,
to whom tribute is due ; custom, to whom cus-
tom ; fear, to whom fear ; honor, to whom
honor" (Komans xiii. Y) ; "Put them in mind
to be subject to principalities and powers, to
obey magistrates, to be ready to every good
work" (Titus iii. 1). Humility also tends,
once more, to prevent a self -justifying heha
vior. He that is under the influence of an
humble spirit, if he has fallen into a fault, as
all are liable at some time to fall, or if in any-
thing he has injured another, or dishonored
the Christian name and character, will be
willing to acknowledge his fault, and take the
shame of it to himself. He will not be hard
to be brought to a sense of his fault, nor to
testify that sense by a suitable acknowledg-
ment of his error. He will be inwardly
humbled fur it, and ready to show his humil-
ity in the manner which the Apostle points
out, when he says (James v. 16), " Confess
your faults one to another." It is pride that
makes men so exceedingly backward to con-
fess thcu" fault when they have fallen into one,
208 THE SPIRIT OF CHAKITT
and that makes them think that to be theii
shame, which is in truth their highest honor.
Bu: humility in the behavior, makes men
prompt to their duty in this respect, and if it
prevails as it should, will lead them to do it
with alacrity and even delight. And when
any one shall give such a person a Christian
admonition or reproof for any fault, humility
will dispose him to take it kindly, and even
thankfully. It is pride that makes men to be
80 uneasy when they arc reproved by any of
their neighbors, so that oftentimes they will
not bear it, but become angry, and manifest
great bitterness of spirit. Humility, on the
contrary, will dispose them not only to tolerate
such reproofs, but to esteem and prize them
as marks of kindness and friendship. " Let
the righteous smite me ;" says the Psalmist
(Psalm clxi. 5), " it shall be a kindness ; and
let him reprove me ; it shall be an excellent
oil which shall not break my head." Having
thus shown what humility is in its nature, and
to what it will lead us both in spirit and be-
havior, in respect both to God and to our fel-
low-men, I proceed, as proposed, to show,
II. That the spirit of charity is an h/wnhle
spirit. — And this I would do in two particu-
IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 209
lars : first, by showing how the spirit of char-
ity or divine love, implies and tends to humii-
itj, and then by showing how such exercises
of this charity as the gospel tends to draw
forth, do especially imply and tend to it.
And,
1. A spirit of charity or divine love implies
and tends to humility.
First.) It implies humility. The spirit of
charity or divine love, as has already been
shown, is the sum of the Christian spirit, and
of course implies humility in it, as an essen-
tial qualification. True divine love, is an
humble love ; and that love which is not hum-
ble, is not truly divine. And this appears
plain from two considerations : because a
sense of the loveliness of God is peculiarly
that discovery ot God that works humility,
and because when God is truly loved, he is
loved as an infinite superior. In the first
place.
Because a sense of the loveliness of God, is
peculiarly that discovery of God that works
humility. A sense or discovery of God's
greatness, without the sight of his loveliness,
will not do it, but it is the discovery of his
loveliness tha* effects it, and that makes the
210 THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITT
soul truly humble. All grace is wrought in
the heart through the knowledge of God, oi
by the clear discovery of his perfections ; and
the knowledge of these perfections is the foun-
dation of all grace. And it is the discovery
or sense of God as lovely, and not only as
lovely, but as infinitely above us in loveliness,
that works humility in the heart. Merely
having a sense of the fact that God is infinitely
above us, and that there is an infinite distance
between him and us in greatness, will not
work humility. It will effect nothing toward
making the heart humble, unless we are also
sensible that there is an infinite distance be-
tween him and us in his loveliness. And this
is evident from the work of the law on the
heart of the sinner, and from the experience
of devils and damned spirits. Under the
work of the law on the heart, persons may
have a sense of the awful greatness of God,
and yet have no humility because they have
no sense of his loveliness. All the work of
the spirit, and of the law and gospel in the
heart, is wrought by conviction ; and there is
a kind of conviction that natural men have as
to God, that awakens them, and makes them
feel their danger ; and this is a conviction of
IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 211
the terrible greatness of God, revealing him-
self in the requirements and denunciations of
his law. But this they may and often dc
have, and yet have no humility ; and the rea-
son is, that they have no sense of how much
God is above them in loveliness. This is the
only thing wanting ; and without this, they
will not be humble.
And the same is manifest from the expe-
rience of devils and damned spirits. They
have a clear sense of God's being infinitely
above them in greatness, but they have no
humility, because they do not feel how much
he is above them in loveliness. As was ob-
served, God makes the devils and lost spirits
know and feel that he is above them in great-
ness and power, and that they are as nothing
in his hands ; and yet they are proud, and
have no humility. And at and after the day
of judgment, they will see still more of his
greatness. When Christ shall come in tho
clouds of heaven, surrounded by his angels,
and with the glory of his Father, then shall
the wicked, even the kings, and great rulers,
and the rich captains, and the mighty men of
the world, see that he is infinitely above them
in greatness ; and as they see his terrible ma-
212 THE SPIRIT OF CHAKITY
jesty, tbey shall hide themselves from his
face. And the devils, too, will see it, and will
tremble at that time, a great deal more than
they tremble now at the thoughts of it. And
the devils and wicked men shall be made
to know that he is the Lord. They shall know
it with a witness. They shall know by what
they see, and by what they feel when the sen-
tence comes to be executed on them, that God
is indeed above them, and they are as nothing
before him, as is said by the prophet (Ezekiel
vii. 27): "According to their deserts will I
judge them, and they shall know that I am
the Lord." But though they shall so clearly,
and so terribly see that God is infinitely above
them in greatness, yet they will have no hu-
mility. They will see themselves at an infi-
nite distance from God, but their hearts will
not comply with that distance and feel as is an-
swerable to it. Because they will not see God's
loveliness, they will not know their infinite dis-
tance from him in this respect, and therefore
will not be led to humilitj''. And this their
experience shows, that it is a sense of the infi-
nite distance of the creature from the Creator
in loveliness, that causes true humility. This
it is that causes humility in the angels in
IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 213
heaven, and in the saints on earth. And since
it is a sense of God's loveliness that works
humility, we may hence learn that divine love
implies humility, for love is but the disposition
of the heart toward God as lovely. If the knowl-
edge of God as lovely, causes humility, then
a respect to God as lovely, implies humility.
And from this love to God, arises a Christian
love to man ; and therefore it follows, that
both love to God, and love to man, the union
of which is the very thing the Apostle calls
charity, alike imply humility.
And it further appears that divine love im-
plies humility, because when God is truly
loved, he is loved as an infinite superior. True
love to God, is not love to him as an equal ;
for every one that truly loves God, honors him
as God, that is, as a being infinitely superior
to all others in greatness and excellence. It
is love to a being who is infinitely perfect in
all his attributes, the supreme Lord, and ab-
solute sovereign of the universe. But if wo
love God as infinitely superior to ourselves,
then love is exercised in us as infinite infe-
I'iors, and therefore it is an humble love. In
exercising it, we look upon ourselves as infi-
nitely mean and low before God, and love
]5
214 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
proceeds from us as such. But to love God
in this manner, is to love him in humility,
and with an humble love. Thus divine lovo
implies humility. But,
Secondly^ It also teoids to humility. ITU'
mility is not only a quality in divine love,
but it is also an effect of it. Divine love does
not only imply humility in its nature, but also
tends to cherish and produce it, and to call
forth its exercises as consequences and fruits
of love. And humility is not only implied in,
and is as it were a part of love, but it is a fruit
and uniform production of love. And that,
especially, in two ways. In tlie first place,
love inclines the heart to that spirit and he-
havior that arc hemming the distance from
the heloved. It is enmity against God that
makes men's hearts so opposed to love to him,
and to such a behavior as carries in it a full
and proper acknowledgment of the distance
between themselves and him. Those that
men have a great love to, they are willing to
honor, and willing to acknowledge their supe-
riority to themselves, and that they themselves
are far below them ; and they are willing to
give them the honor of such an acknowledg-
ment, especially if they are very much theii
IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 215
Biiperiors. The devils know the'.r distance
from God, but they are not reconciled to it ;
and the chief of devils affected to be equal
with God, and even above him, because he
had no love to him. And so in a measure
it is with men, while they are without divine
love. But when love enters the heart, then
the inclination of the soul is to all that hum-
ble respect that becomes the distance between
God and us. And so love to man, arisinir
from love to God, disposes to a humble beha-
vior toward them, inclining us to give them
all the honor and respect that are their due.
And so in the next place, love to God tends to
an abhorrence of sin against God^ and so to
our being humbled before him for it. So
much as anything is loved, so much will its
contrary be hated. And therefore just in pro-
portion as we love God, in the same propor-
tion shall we have an abhorrence of sin
against him. And having an abhorrence of
sin against God, this will lead us to abhor
ourselves for it, and so to humble ourselves
for it before God. Having thus shown how
divine love, which is the sum of the Christian
temper, implies and tends to humility, I come
DOW to show,
216 THE SPmiT OF CHARITY
2. How the gospel tends to draw forth such
exercises of love as do especially imply and
tend to it. — A Christian spirit and a gospel
spirit are the same. That is a Christian spirit,
which the Christian revelation tends to lead
to ; but tlie Christian revelation is the same
as the gospel. iN^ow such a kind of exercises
of love as the gospel tends to draw forth, do, in
a special manner, tend to, and imply humility;
and that on several accounts. And,
First^ Because the gospel leads us to love
God as an infinitely condescending God. The
gospel above all things in the world, holds
forth the exceeding condescension of God.
No other manifestation that ever God made
of himself, exhibits such wonderful conde-
scension as the Christian revelation does.
The gospel teaches how God, who humbles
himself to behold things that are in heaven
and earth, stooped so low as to take an infi-
nitely gracious notice of poor vile worms of
the dust, and to concern himself for their sal-
vation, and so as to send his only-begotten
Son to die for them, that they might be for-
given, and elevated, and honored, and brought
into eternal fellowship with him, and to the
perfect enjoyment of himself in heaven for-
18 AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 217
ever. So that the love the Christian revela-
tion leads ns to, is love to God as such a con-
descending God, and to sncli exercises of love
as it becomes ns to have toward a God uf such
infinite condescension ; and such acts of love
are, of necessity, huml)le acts of love, for there
is no disposition in the creature, that is more
adapted to condescension in the creator, than
humility is. The condescension of God, is
not properly humility, because, for the rea-
sons already given, humility is a virtue only
of those beings that have comparative mean-
ness. And yet God, by his infinite conde-
scension, shows his nature to be infinitely far
from, and hostile to pride, and therefore his
condescension is sometimes spoken of as hu-
mility ; and humility on our part is the most
proper conformity to God's condescension
that there can be in a creature. His conde-
scension tends to draws forth humility on our
part.
Secondly^ The gospel leads us to love Christ
as an humhle person. Christ is the God-man,
includino; both the divine and the human na-
ture ; and so has not only condescension which
is a divine perfection, but also humility which
ifl a creature excellency. Now the gospel
218 THE SPIRIT OF CHAKITY
holds forth Christ to us as one that is meek
and lowly of heart ; as the most perfect and
excellent instance of humility that ever exist-
ed ; as one in whom the greatest performances
and expressions of humility were manifest in
his abasement of himself. Though he was
"in the form of God," he "made himself of
no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross" (Philippians ii. 6, 7, 8). Now the gos-
pel leads us to love Christ as such an humble
person ; and therefore to love him with such
a love as is proper to be exercised toward
such an one, is to exercise an humble love.
And this is the more true, because the gospel
leads us to love Christ not only as an humble
person, but as an humble Saviour and Lord,
and head. If our Lord and master is humble,
and we love him' as such, certainly it becomes
us who are his disciples, and servants, to be so
too ; for surely it does not become the servant
to be prouder, or less abased than his master.
As Christ himself tells us (Matthew x. 24,
25), "The disciple is not above his master,
nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough
for the disciple that he be as his master, and
IS AN HL'MBLK SPIKIT. 219
the servant as his Lord." And again, he
tells us (John xiii, 13-16), that his own exam-
ple of humility was intended for our imita-
tion ; and still again declares to his disciples
(Matthew xx. 25-28), "Ye know that the
princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over
them, and they that are great, exercise author-
ity upon them ; but it shall not be so among
you. But whosoever will be great among
you, let him be your minister ; and whosoever
will be chief among you, let him be your ser-
vant : even as the Son of Man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give
tis life a ransom for many."
Thirdly^ The gospel leads us to love Christ
as a crucified Saviour. As our Saviour and
Lord, he suffered the greatest ignominy, and
was put to the most ignominious death, though
Ae was the Lord of glory. This may well kin-
dle the humility of his followers, and lead
them to an humble love to him. For by God
sending his Son into the world to suffer such
an ignominious death, he did, as it were, pour
contempt on all the earthly glory that men
are wont to be proud of, in that he gave him,
as the Saviour and head of all his elect peo-
ple, to appear i.i circumstances so far from
220 THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITY
earthly glory, and in circumstances of the
greatest earthly ignominy and shame. And
Christ, by being willing thus to be abased,
and thus to suffer, not only cast contempt on
all worldly glory and greatness, but he showed
his humility in the clearest manner. If we,
then, consider ourselves as the followers of the
meek, and lowly, and crucified Jesus, we
shall walk humbly before God and man, all
the days of our life on earth.
Fourthly^ The gospel still further tends to
lead us to humble exei'cises of love, because
it leads us to love Christ as one that was cru-
cified for our sakes. The mere fact that Christ
was crucified, is a great argument for the hu-
mility of us who are his followers. But his
being crucified /b;* our sakes, is a much great-
er argument for it. For Christ's being cruci-
fied for our sakes, is the greatest testimony of
God against our sins that ever was given. It
shows more of God's abhorrence of our sins,
than any other act or event that God has ever
directed or permitted. The measure of God's
abhorrence of our sins, is shown by his having
them so terribly punished, and his wrath so
executed against them, even when imputed to
his own Son, So th at thi? is the greatest induce-
IS AX HUMBLE SPIRtT. 221
raent to our humility that can be presented, and
this on two accounts ; because it is the great-
est manifestation of the vileness of that fcr
which we should be humble, and also tlio
greatest argument for our loving the humble
spirit, which the gospel holds forth. The ex-
cellency of Christ, and the love of Christ, more
appear in his yielding himself to be crucified
for us, than in any other of his acts, so that
these things, considered together, above all
things tend to draw forth on our part, the
exercises of humble love. In the application
of this subject we may see,
1. The exceUenmj of a Christian spirit. —
" The righteous," it is said (Proverbs xii. 26),
" is more excellent than his neighbor." And
much of this excellence in the true Christian,
consists in his meek and lowly spirit which
makes him so like his Saviour. This spirit
the Apostle speaks of (1 Peter iii. 4) as the
richest of all ornaments, " even the ornament
of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the
sight of God of great price." The subject
should lead us,
2. To examine ourselves^ and see if we are
indeed of an humUe spirit. — " His soul," says
the prophet (Habakkuk ii. 4), " which is lifted
222 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
up, is not upright in liim ;" and the fact tha't
" God resisteth the proud" (James iv. 6), or,
as in the original, "sets himself in battle array
against him," shows how he abhors a proud
spirit. And it is not every show and appear-
ance of humility that will stand the test of
the gospel. There are various imitations of it
that fall short of the reality. Some put on an
affected humility ; others have a natural low-
spiritedness, and are wanting in manliness of
character ; others are melanclKjly or despond-
ent ; others under the convictions of con-
science by which, for the time, they are de-
pressed, seem broken in spirit; others seem
greatly abased while in adversity and afflic-
tion, or have a natural melting of the heart
under the common illuminations of the truth ;
to others there is a counterfeit kind of humil-
ity, wrought by the delusions of Satan : and
all of these may be mistaken for true humil-
ity. Examine yourself, then, and see what is
the nature of your humility, whether it be of
these superficial kinds, or whether it be indeed
wrought by the Holy Spirit in your hearts ;
and do not rest satisfied, till you find that the
spirit and behavior of those whom the gospel
accoujits humble, are yours.
IS AN HUMBLE SPIKfl. 223
3. The subject exhorts those who are strati,
gers to the grace of God^ to seek that grace^ that
they may thus attain to this spirit of humility.
— If such be your character, you are now
destitute of a Christian spirit, which is a spirit
of grace ; and so, wholly destitute of humility.
Your spirit is a proud spirit ; and though you
may not seem to carry yourself very proudly
amongst men, yet you are lifting yourself up
against God, in refusing to submit your heart
and life to him. And in doing this, you are
disregarding or defying God's sovereignty, and
daring to contend with your maker, though
he dreadfully threatens those who do this.
You are proudly casting contempt on God's
authority, in refusing to obey it, and continu-
ing to live in disobedience ; in refusing to be
conformed to his will, and to comply with the
humbling conditions and way of salvation by
Christ, and in trusting to your own strength
and righteousness, instead of that which
Christ so freely offers. Now as to such a
spirit, consider that this is, in an especial
sense, the sin of devils. "Not a novice,'-
says the Apostle (1 Timothy iii. 6), "lest
being lifted up with pridq he fall into the con-
demnation of the devil." And consider, too,
224 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
how odious and abominable such a s])irit is t >
God, and how terriblj he has threatened it;
declaring (Proverbs xvi. 5) that "every one
that is proud in heart is an abomination to the
Lord ; though hand join in hand, he shall not
go impnnished ;" and again (Proverbs vi It]),
" These things doth the Lord hate, a proud
look, &c. :" and again (Proverbs xxix. 23),
that "a man's pi-ide shall bring liini low,"
and (2 Samuel xxii. 28) that the eyes of the
Lord are upon the haughty that he may bring
them down ; and still again (Isaiah xxiii. 0),
tliat " the Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to
stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into
contempt all the honorable of the earth."
Consider, too, how Pharaoh and Korah, and
Haman, and Belshazzar, and Herod, were
awfully ])unished for their pride of heart and
conduct; and be admonished, by their exam-
ple, to cherish an humble spirit, and to walk
liumbly with God, and toward men. Fi-
nally,
4. Let all he exhorted earnestly to seeh much
of an hurable spirit^ and to endeavor to he hAini-
hle in all their hehavior toward God and mtn.
— Seek for a deep and abiding sense of your
comparative meanness before God and man.
IS AN HUMBLE SPIRIT. 225
Know God. Confess your notliingness and
ill-desert before him. Distrust yourself. Rely
only on God. Renounce all glory except from
him. Yield yourself heartily to his will and
eervice. Avoid an aspiring, ambitious, osten-
tatious, assuming, arrogant, scornful, stub-
born, wilful, levelling, self-justifying beha-
vior; and strive for more and more of the
humble spirit that Christ manifested while he
was on earth. Consider the many motives to
such a spirit. Humility is a most essential
and distinguishing trait in all ti'ue piety. It
is the attendant of every grace, and in a pecu-
liar manner tends to the purity of Christian
feeling. It is the ornament of the spirit ; the
source of some of the sweetest exercises of
Christian experience; the most acceptable
sacrifice we can offer to God ; the subject of
the richest of his promises ; the spirit with
which he will dwell on earth, and which he
will crown with glory in heaven hereafter.
Earnestly seek then, and diligently, and
prayerfully cherish an humble spirit, and God
shall walk with you here below, and when a
few more days shall have passed, he will re-
ceive you to the honors bestowed on his people
at Christ's right hand.
LECTURE VIII.
THE SPIRIT OF CIIAKITY THE OPPOSITE OF A
SELFISH SPIKIT.
" Seeketh not her own." — 1 Cor. xiii. 5.
Having shown the nature of charit}'" in
respect to the good of others, in the two par-
ticulars that it is kind to them, and envies not
their enjoyments and blessings ; and also in
respect to our own good, that it is not proud,
either in spirit or behavior, I pass to the next
point presented by the Apostle, viz. : that
charity " seeketh not her ownP The doctrine
of these words plainly is,
That the spikit of charity, or Christian
LOVE, is the OPPOSITE of A SELFISH SPIRIT. The
ruin that the fall brought upon the soul of
man, consists very much in his losing the
nobler and more benevolent principles of his
nature, and falling wholly under the power
THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITV, 227
and government of self-love. Before, and as
God created him, he was exalted and noble,
and generous ; but now he is debased, and
ignoble, and selfish. Immediately upon the
fall, the mind of man shrank from its primi-
tive greatness and expandedness, to an ex-
ceeding smallness and contractedness ; and
as in other respects, so especially in this. Be-
fore his soul was under the government of that
noble principle of divine love, whereby it was
enlarged to the comprehension of all his fel-
low-creatures and their welfare. And not
only so, but it was not confined within such
narrow limits as the bounds of the creation, but
went forth in the exercise of holy love to the
Creator, and abroad upon the infinite ocean
of good, and was, as it were, swallowed up by
it, and became one with it. But so soon as he
had transgressed against God, these noble
principles were immediately lost, and all this
excellent enlargedness of man's soul was
gone ; and thenceforward, he himself shrank,
as it were, into a little space, circumscribed and
closely shut up within itself to the exclusion
of all things else. Sin, like some powerful
astringent, contracted his soul to the very
small dimensions of selfishness ; and God was
228 THE SPIEIT OF CHAEITY
forsaken, and fellow-creatures forsaken, and
man retired within himself, and became to-
tally governed by narrow and selfish princi-
ples and feelings. Self-love became absolute
master of his soul, and the more noble and spir-
itual piinciples of his being, took wings and flew
away. But God, in mercy to miserable man
entered on the work of redemption, and by
the glorious gospel of his Son, began the work
of bringing the soul of man out of .its confine-
ment and contractedness, and back again to
those noble and divine principles, by which it
was animated and governed at first. And it
is through the cross of Christ that he is doing
this ; for our union with Christ gives us par-
ticipation in his nature. And so Christianity
restores an excellent enlargement, and exten-
siveness, and liberality to the soul, and again
possesses it with that divine love or charity
that we read of in the text, whereby it again
embraces its fellow-creatures, and is devoted
to and swallowed up in the Creator. And
thus charity, which is the sum of the Chris-
tian spirit, so partakes of the glorious fulness
of the divine nature, that she "seeketh not her
own ," or is contrary to a selfish spirit. In dwell-
ing on this thought, I would first, show the
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH gPIRIT. 229
nature of that selfishness of which charity is
tlie opposite; then how charity is opposed to
it ; and then some of the evidence in support
of the doctrine stated.
I. I would show the nature of that selfish-
ness of which charity is the opposite. — And
here I would observe,
1. Negatively : That charity., or the spirit of
Christian love., isnotcontrai'yto all self love. —
It is not a thing contrary to Christianity that
a man should love himself, or which is the
same thing, should love his own happiness.
If Christianity did indeed tend to destroy a
man's love to himself, and to his own happi-
ness, it would therein tend to destroy the very
spirit of humanity ; but the very announce-
ment of the gospel, as a system of " peace on
earth and good -will toward men" i^Luke ii. 14),
shows that it is not only not destructive of hu-
manity, but in the highest degree promotive
of its spirit. That a man should love his own
happiness, is as necessary to his nature as the
faculty of the will is ; and it is impossible that
such a love should be destroyed in any other
way than by destroying his being. The saints
love their own happiness. Yea, those that
are perfect in haj^piness, the saints and an-
16
230 THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITY
gels in heaven, love their own happiness;
otherwise that happiness which God hath
given them, would be no happiness to them ;
for that which any one does not love, he can-
not enjoy any happiness in.
That to love ourselves is not unlawful, is
evident, also, from the fact, that the law of
God makes self-love a rule and measure by
which our love to others should be regulated.
Thus Christ commands (Matthew xix. 19),
" Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,"
which certainly supposes that we may, and
must love ourselves. It is not said more than
thyself, but as thyself. But we are com-
manded to love our neighbor next to God ;
and therefore we are to love ourselves with a
love, next to that w^hich we should exercise
toward God himself. And the same appears,
also, from the fact that the Scriptures, from
one end of the Bible to the other, are full of
motives that are set forth for the very pur-
pose of working on the principle of self-love
Such are all the promises and threatenings of
tlie word of God, its calls and invitations, its
counsels to seek our own good, and its warn-
ings to beware of misery. These things can
have no influence on us in any other ivay,
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 231
than as they tend to work upon our hopes or
^ fears. For to what purpose would it be to
make any promise of happiness, or hold forth
any threatening of misery, to him that has no
love for the former or dread of the latter ? Or
what reason can there be in counselling him
to seek the one, or warning him to avoid the
other ? Thus it is plain, negatively, that
charity, or the spirit of Christian love, is not
contrary to all self-love. But I remark still
further,
2, Affirmatively: That the selfishness whieh
charity^ or a Christian spirit^ is contrai'y to,
is only an inordinate self-love. — Here, how-
ever, the question arises, in what does this in-
ordinateness consist ? This is a point that
needs to be well stated, and clearly settled ;
for the refutation of many scruples and
doubts that persons often have, depends upon
it. And therefore, I answer,
First^ That the inordinateness of self-love,
does not consist in our love of owe own happi-
ness heing^ absolutely considered^ too great in
degree. I do not suppose it can be said (»f
any, that their love to their own happiness,
if we consider that love absolutely and not
comparatively, can be in too high a degree,
232 THE SPIRIT 01? CHAKITY
or that it is a thing that is liable either to in-
crease or diminution. For I apprehend that
self-love, in this sense, is not a result of the
fall, but is necessary, and what belongs to the
nature of all intelligent beings, and that God
has made it alike in all ; and that saints, and
sinners, and all alike, love happiness, and
have the same unalterable and instinctive in-
clination to desire and seek it. The change
that takes place in a man when he is converted
and sanctified, is not that his love for happi-
ness is diminished, but only that it is regu-
lated with respect to its exercises and influ-
ence, and the courses and objects it leads to.
Who will say that the happy souls in heaven
do not love hapjjiness, as truly as the misera-
ble spirits in hell ? If their lo've of happiness
is diminished by their being made holy, then
that will diminish their happiness itself, for
the less any one loves happiness, the less he
relishes it, and consequently is the less hajDpy.
When God brings a soul out of a miserable
state and condition, into a happy state, by
conversion, he gives him happiness that be-
fore he had not, but he does not at the same
time take away some of his love of happiness.
And so when a saint increases in gra(;e, he is
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 233
made still more happy than he was before ;
but his love of haj^piness and his relish of it,
do not grow less, as his happiness itself in-
creases, for that would be to increase his hap-
piness one way, and to diminish it another.
But in every case in which God makes a mis-
erable soul happy, or a happy soul still more
happy, he continues the same love of hapf)i-
ness that existed before. And so, doubtless,
the saints ought to have as much of a princi-
ple of love to their own happiness, or love to
themselves, which is the same thing, as the
wicked have. So that if we consider men's
love of themselves, or of their own happiness
absolutely, it is plain that tlie inordinateness
of self-love does not consist in its being in too
great a degree, because it is alike in all. But
I remark.
Secondly^ That the inordinateness of self-
love wherein a corrupt selfishness does con-
sist, lies in two things ; in its being too great
comparatively^ and in placing our happiness
iti that which is confined to self. In the first
place, the degree of self-love may be too great
comparatively.^ and so the degree of its influ-
ence be inordinate. Thoucfh the decree of
men's love of their own hapr'"css, taken ah.
234 THE SPIRIT OF CHABITT
solutely, may in all be the same, jet the pro-
portion that their love of self bears to their
love for others, may not be the same. If we
compare a man's love of himself with his love
for others, it may be said that he loves him-
self too much ; that is, in proportion too much.
And though this may be owing to a defect of
love to others, rather than to an excess of love
to himself, yet self-love, by this excess in its
proportion, itself becomes inordinate in this
respect, viz. : that it becomes inordinate in its
influence and government of the man. For
though the principle of self-love, in itself con-
sidered, is not at all greater than if there was
a due proportion of love to God and to fellow-
creatures with it, yet the proportion being
greater, its influence and government of the
man becomes greater; and so its influence
becomes inordinate by reason of the weakness
or absence of other love that should restrain
or regulate that influence.
To illustrate this, we may suppose the case
of a servant in a family, who was formerly
kept in the place of a servant, and whose in-
fluence in family afl'airs was not inordinate
while his master's strength was greater than
his ; and yet iJ afterward the master grows
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 235
Weaker and loses his strength, and the rest
of the family lose their former power, though
the servant's strength be not at all increased,
yet tiie proportion of his strength being in-
creased, his influence may become inordinate;
and from being in subjection and a servant,
he may become master in that house. And so
self-love become* inordinate. Before the fall,
man loved himself, or his own happiness, as
much as after the fall ; but then a superior
principle of divine love had the throne, and
was of such strength that it wholly regulated
and directed self-love. But since the fall, the
principle of divine love has lost its strength,
or rather is dead, so that self-love continuing
in its former strength, and having no superior
principle to regulate it, becomes inordinate in
its influence, and governs where it should be
subject, and only a servant. Self-love, then,
may become inordinate in its influence by
being comparatively too great ; either by love
to God and to fellow-creatures being too
small, as it is in the saints, who in this world
have great remaining corruption ; or by its
beino; none at all, as is the case with those
who have no divine love in their hearts. Thus
the iuordi 'lateness of self-love, with respect to
236 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
the degree of it, is not as it is considered ab-
solutely, but comparatively or with respect to
the degree of its influence. In some respects
wicked men do not love themselves enough — •
not so much as the godly do ; for they do not
love the way of their own welfare and happi-
ness, and in this sense it is sometimes said
of the wicked, that they hate themselves,
though in another sense, they love self too
much.
It is further true, in the second place, that
self-love, or a man's love to his own happi-
ness may be inordinate, injplacing that happi-
ness in things that are confined to himself.
In this case, the error is not so much in the
degree of his love to himself, as it is in the
channel in which it flows. It is not in the
degree in which he loves his own happiness,
but in his placing his happiness where he
ought not, and in limiting and confining his
love. Some, although they love their own
happiness, do not place that happiness in
their own confined good, or in that good which
is limited to themselves, but more in the com^
mon good ; in that which is the good of others,
or in the good to be enjoyed in and by others.
A man's love of his own happiness, when it
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 237
runs in this last channel, is not what is called
sellishness, but is the very opposite of it. But
there are others, who in their love to their
^own happiness, place that happiness in good
things that are confined or limited to them-
selves to the exclusion of others. And this is
selfishness. This is the thing most clearly
and directly intended by that self-love which
the Scripture condemns. And when it is said,
that charity seeketh not her own, we are to
understand it of her own private good — good
limited to herself. The expression "her
own," is a phrase of appropriation, and prop-
erly carries in its signification the idea of
limitation to self. And so the like phrase
in Philippians ii. 21, that "all seek their
own," carries the idea of confined and self-
appropriated good, or the good that a man
has singly and to himself, and in which ho
has no communion or partnership with an-
other, but which he has so circumscribed and
limited to himself as to exclude others. And
so the expression is to be understood, in 2 Timo-
thy iii. 2, •■•For men shall be lo>'ers of tlioir
^own selves;" for the phrase is of the most
confined signification, limited to self alono.
aud excluding all others.
238 THE SPIKIT OF CHAEITT
A man may love himself as much as one
can, and may be in the exercise of a high
degroe of love to his own happiness, cease-
lessly longing for it, and yet he may so place
that happiness, that in the very act of seeking
it he may be in the high exercise of love to
God ; as for example, when the happiness
that he longs for, is, to enjoy God, or to be-
hold his glory, or to hold communion with
him. Or a man may place his happiness in
glorifying God. It may seem to him the
greatest happiness that he can conceive of, to
give God glory as he may do, and he may long
for this happiness. And in longing for it, he
loves that which he looks on as his happiness ;
for if he did not love what in this case he es-
teemed his happiness, he would not long for
it, and to love his happiness, is to love him-
self. And yet, in the same act, he loves God,
because lie places his happiness in God ; for
nothing can more properly be called love to
any being or thing, than to place our happi-
ness in it. And so persons may place their
happiness considerably in the good of others,
their neighbors for instance; and desiring the
happiness that consists in seeking their good,
they may in seeking it, love themselves, uuJ
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIKIT. 239
their own happiness. And yet this is not sel-
fishness, because it is not a confined self-love,
but the individual's self-love flows out in such
a channel as to take in others with himself.
The self that he loves, is, as it were, enlarged
and multiplied, so that in the very acts in
which he loves himself, he loves others also.
And this is the Christian spirit, the excellent
and noble spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is the nature of that divine love, or Chris-
tian charity, that is spoken of in the text.
And a Christian spirit is contrary to that self-
ish spirit which consists in the self-love that
goes out after such objects as are confined and
limited — such as a man's worldly wealth, or
the honor that consists in a man's being set
up higher in the world than his neighbors, or
his own worldly ease and convenience, or his
pleasing and gratifying his own bodily appe-
tites and lusts. Having thus stated what
that selfishness is that a Christian spirit ia
contrary to, I pass, as proposed, to show,
II. How the spirit of charity^ or Christian
love^ is contrary to such a spirit. — And this
may be shown in these two particulars, that
the spirit of charity, or Christian love, leads us
to seek no* onlj our own things, but those of
240 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
others ; and that it disposes us, in many cases,
to forego, or part with our own things for the
sake of others. And,
1. The spirit of charity or love leads those
who possess it^ to seek not only their own things^
hut the things of other's.
First, Such a spirit seeks to please and glo-
rify God. The things that are well pleasing
to God and Christ, and that tend to the divine
glory, are called the things of Christ, in oppo-
sition to our own things, as, where it is said
(Philippians ii. 21), " All seek their own, not
the things which are Jesus Christ's," Chris-
tianity requires that we should make God and
Christ our main end ; and all Christians, so
far as they live like Christians, live so, that
"for them to live is Christ." Christians are
required to live so as to please God, and so as
to " prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God" (Romans xii. 2). We
should be such servants of Christ as do, in all
things, seek to please our master, as says the
Apostle (Ephesians vi. G), " Xot with eye-
service, as men-pleasers ; but as the servants
of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart." And so we are required in all
things (1 Corinthians x. 31), "Whether we
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPmiT. 241
e&i, or drink, or whatsoever we do, to do all to
the glory of God." And this, surely, is a
spirit', which is the opposite of self-seeking.
Secondly, They that have the spirit of char-
ity, or Christian love, have a spirit to seek the
good of their fellow-creatures. Thus the Apos-
tle commands (Philippians ii. 4), " Look not
every man on his own things, but every man,
also, on the things of others." AVe ought to
seek the spiritual good of others, and if we
have a Christian spirit, we shall desire and
seek their spiritual welfare and happiness,
their salvation from hell, and that they may
glorify and enjoy God forever. And the same
spirit will dispose us to desire and seek the
temporal prosperity of others, as says the
Apostle (1 Corinthians x. 24), " Let no man
seek his own, but every man another's
wealth." And we should so seek their plea-
sure, that therein we can, at the same time,
seek their profit, as again it is said by the
Apostle (1 Corinthians x. 33), " Even as I
please all men in all things, not seeking mine
own profit, but the profit of many, that they
may be saved ;" and again (Romans xv. 2),
" Let every one of us please his neighbor, for
his good, to edification." But more particu-
242 THE SPIRIT OF CHAKI'IY
larlj under this head, I would remark, that a
spirit of charity, or Christian love, as exer-
cised toward our fellow-creatures, is opposite
to a selfish spirit, as it is a sympathizing and
•merciful sjpirit. It disposes persons to con-
sider not only their own difficulties, but also
the burdens and afliictions of others, and the
difiiculties of their circumstances, and to es-
teem the case of those who are in straits and
necessities, as their own. A person of selfish
spirit, is ready to make much of the afilic-
tions that he himself is under, as if his priva-
tions or sufferings were greater than those of
anybody else ; and if he is not in suffering,
he is ready to think he is not called to
spare what he has in possession, for the sake
of helping others. A selfish man is not apt
to discern the wants of others, but rather to
overlook them, and can hardly be persuaded
to see or feel them. But a man of charitable
spirit, is apt to see the afilictions of others,
and to take notice of their aggravation, and
to be filled with concern for them, as he would
be for himself if under difficulties. And he is
ready, also, to help them, and take delight in
supplying their necessities, and relieving
their difficulties. He rejoices to obey that
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 243
injunction of the Apostle (Colossians iii. 2),
" Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holj
and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness ;"
and to cherish the spirit of "wisdom (James
iii. 17) that is from above," which is "full
of mercy ;" and like the good man spoken of
by the Psalmist (Psalm xxxvii. 26), to be
" merciful," that is, full of mercy.
And as it is a sympathizing and merciful
spirit, so the spirit of charity as exercised to-
ward our fellow-creatures, is the opposite of a
selfish, inasmuch as it is a liberal sjpirit. It
not only seeks the good of others that are in
affliction, but it is ready to communicate to
all, and forward to promote their good, as
there may be opportunity. " To do good, and
to communicate, it forgets not" (Hebrews xiii.
16) ; but obeys the exhortation (Galatians vi.
10), " As we have opportunity, let us do good
unto all men." But on this point, I need not
enlarge, having already dwelt upon it at
length, in the Lecture on " Charity is Kind."
And as the spirit of charity, or Christian
love, is opposed to a selfish spirit, in that it
is merciful and liberal, so it is in this, also,
that it disposes a person to he public- spirited.
A man of a right spirit, is not a man of nar-
244 THE SPIRIT OF OHARIIT
row and private views, but is greatly interest-
ed and concerned for the good of the commu-
nity to which he belongs, and particularly of
the city or village in which he resides, and
for the true welfare of the society of which he
is a member. God commanded the Jews that
were carried away captive to Babylon, to seek
the good of that city, though it was not their
native place, but only the city of their captiv-
ity. His injunction was (Jeremiah xxix. 7),
"Seek the peace of the city whither I have
caused you to be carried away captives, and
pray unto the Lord for it." And a man of
truly Christian spirit, will be earnest for the
good of his country, and of the place of his
residence, and will be disposed to lay him-
self out for its improvement. A man was rec-
ommended to Christ by the Jews (Luke vii.
o), as one that loved their nation and had
built them a synagogue ; and it is spoken of
as a very provoking thing to God, with respect
to some in Israel (Amos vi. 6), that they " were
not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." And
it is recorded, to the everlasting honor of Es-
ther (Esther xiv. 16), that she herself fasted
and prayed, and stirred up others to fast and
pray for the welfare of her people. And the
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 245
Apostle Paul (Romans ix. 1, 2, 3), expresses
the deepest concern for the welfare of his
countrymen. And those that are possessed
of the spirit of Christian charity, are of a
more enlarged spirit still, for they are con
cerned, not only for the thrift of the commu-
nity, but for the welfare of the church of
God, and of all the people of God individu-
ally. Of such a spirit was Moses, the man
of God, and therefore he earnestly interceded
for God's visible people, and declared himself
ready to die that they might be spared (Exo-
dus xxxii. 11, and 32). And of such a spirit
was Paul, who was so concerned for the wel-
fare of all, both Jews and Gentiles, that he
v/as willing to become as they were (1 Corin-
thians ix. 19-23) if possibly he might save
jome of them.
Especially will the spirit of Christian love
dispose those that stand in a public capacity,
such as that of ministers, and magistrates, and
all public officers, to seek the public good. It
will dispose magistrates to act as the fathers
of tlie commonwealth, with that care and con-
cern for the public good, which the father of a
family has for his household. It will make
them watchful against public dangers, and
17
246
THE SPIKIT OF CHAKITY
forward to use their powers for the promotion
of the public benefit ; not being governed by
selfish motives in their administration; not
seeking only, or mainly, to enrich themselves,
or to become great, and to advance them-
selves on the spoils of others, as wicked rulers
very often do, but striving to act for the true
welfare of all to whom their authority extends.
And the same spirit will disj)0se ministers not
to seek their own, and endeavor to get all they
can out of their people to enrich themselves
and their families, but to seek the good of the
flock over which the great Shepherd has placed
them ; to feed, and watch over them, and lead
them to good pastures, and defend them from
wolves and wild beasts that would devour
them. And so whatever the post of honor
or influence, we may be placed in, we should
show that, in it, we are solicitous for the good
of the public, so that the world may be better
for our living in it, and that when we are
gone, it may be said of us, as it was so
nobly said of David (Acts xiii. 36), that we
"served our generation by the will of God."
But,
2. Tlie spirit of charity or love^ also dis-
poses Its, in many cases, to forego, ind part
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIKIT. 247
v)lth ovA^ own things^ for the sake of others. —
It disposes us to part with our own private
temporal interest, and totally and freely to
renounce it, for the sake of the honor of God,
and the advancement of the kingdom of
Christ. Such was the spirit of the Apostle
Paul, w^hen he exclaimed (Acts xxi. 13), "I
am ready not to be bound only, but also to
die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord
Jesus." And the same spirit will dispose us
often to forego or part with our own private
interest for the good of our neighbors. It
will make us ready on every occasion to aid
or help them, leading us willingly to part
with a lesser good of our own, for the sake of
a greater good to them. And the case may
even be such (1 John iii. 16), that " w^e ought
to lay down our lives for the brethren." But
I will not dwell longer on this point now, as I
shall probably have occasion to speak more to
it under some other part of the context, I
pass then, as projDosed,
III. To notice some of the evidence sustain-
ing the doctrine which has heen stated. — And
the truth of the doctrine, that the spirit of
charity of Christian love is the opposite of a
selfish spirit, will appear, if we consider the
M8 THE SPIKIT OF CHAEITT
nature of love in genenil, the peculiar natuie
of Christian or divine love, and the nature of
Christian love to God and to man in particu-
lar. And,
1. The nature of love in general. — This, so
far as it is real and truly sincere, is of a diffu-
sive nature, and espouses the interest of others.
It is so with the love of natural affection, and
earthly friendship. So far as there is any
real affection or friendship, the parties be-
tween which it subsists do not seek only their
own particular interests, but do espouse and
seek the interests of each other. They seek
not only their own things, but the things of
their friends. Selfishness is a principle that
contracts the heart, and confines it to self,
■while love enlarges it and extends it toothers.
l^j love, a man's self is so extended and en-
larged, that others, so far as they are beloved,
do, as it were, become parts of himself, so
that wherein their interest is promoted, he be-
lieves his own is promoted, and wherein theirs
is injured, his also is injured. And still fur-
ther will this api^ear, if we consider,
2. The peculiar nature of Christian or di-
vine love. — Of charity, or Christian love, it is
peculiarly true, that it is above the selfish
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 249
principle. Though all real love to othera
seeks the good, and espouses the interests of
those who are beloved, yet all other love, ex-
cepting this, has its foundation, in one sense-,
in the selfish principle. So it is with the natu-
ral affection which parents feel for their chil-
dren, and with the love which relatives have
one to another. If we except the impulses of
instinct, self-love is the main spring of it. It
is because men love themselves, that they love
those persons and things that are their own, or
that they are nearly related to, and which they
look upon as belonging to themselves, and
which, by the constitution of society, have
their interest and honor linked with their own.
And so it is in the closest friendships that
exist among men. Self-love is the spring
whence they proceed. Sometimes natural
gratitude, for good turns that have been done
them by others, or for benefits received from
them, disposes men, through self-love, to a
eimilar respect to those that have shown them
kindness, or by whom their self-interest has
been promoted. And sometimes natural men
are led into a friendship to others, from quali-
fications that the} see or find in them, whence
they hope for the promotion of their own tern-
250 THE SPIKIT OF CHARITY
poral good. Il they see that others are dis-
posed to be respectful to them, and to give
them honor, then love to their own honor will
lead them to friendship with such ; or if thej
see them generously disposed to them, then
love to their owti profit will dispose them to
friendship to them on this account ; or if they
find in them a great agreement with them-
selves in disposition and manners, self-love
may dispose them to amity with them on ac-
count of the enjoyment they hope in their
society, or because this agreement w^ith them
in their temper and ways, carries with it the
approbation of their own temj^er and ways.
And so there are many other ways, in which
self-love is the source of that love and friend-
ship that often arises between natural men.
Most of the love that there is in the world,
arises from this principle, and therefore it does
not go beyond nature. And nature cannot go
beyond self-love, but all that men do, is, some
way 01 other, from this root.
But divine love, or the charity that i?
spoken of in the text, is something above self-
love, as it is something supernatural, or above
and beyond all that is natural. It is not a
branch that springs out of the root of self-love.
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRH 251
as natural affection, and worldly friendships,
and the love that men may have to one an
other, as such, do. But as self-love is the off-
spring of natural principles, so divine love is
the offspring of supernatural principles. The
latter is something of a higher and nobler
kind, than any plant that grows naturally in
such a soil as the heart of man. It is a plant
transplanted into the soul out of the garden of
heaven, by the holy and blessed spirit of God ;
and so has its life in God, and not in self. And
therefore there is no other love so much above
the selfish principle, as Christian love is ; no
love that is so free and disinterested, and in
the exercise of which God is so loved for him
self and his own sake, and men are loved not
because of their relation to self, but because
of their relation to God as his children, and as
those who are the creatures of his power, or
under the influence of his spirit. And there-
fore divine love, or charity, above all love in
the world, is contrary to a selfish spirit.
Other, or natural love may, in some respects,
be contrary to selfishness, inasmuch as it may,
and often does, move men to much liberality
and generosity to those they love ; and yet, in
other respects, it agrees with a selfish spirit,
252 THE SPIRIT OF CIIAKITr
because if we follow it up to its original, it
arises from the same root, viz. : a principle of
self-love. But divine love has its spring,
where its root is, in Jesus Christ ; and so it is
not of this world, but of a higher ; and it tends
thither whence it came. And as it does not
spring out of self, so neither does it tend to
self. It delights in the honor and glory of
God, for his own sake, and not merely for the
sake of self; and it seeks and delights in the
good of men, for their sake, and for God's
sake. And that divine love is, indeed, a princi-
ple far above and contrary to a selfish spirit, ap-
pears further from this, viz. : that it goes out
even to enemies ; and that it is its nature and
tendency, to go out to the unthankful and
evil, and to those that injure and hate us,
which is directly contraiy to the tendency of
a selfish principle, and entirely above nature
— ^less man-like than God-like. That Chris-
tian love, or cliarity, is contrary to a selfish
spirit, is further plain,
3. From the nature of this love to God <Mid
to man in particular. And,
First .^ From the nature of this love to God.
If we consider what the Scriptures tell us of
the "mature of love to God, we find that they
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 253
teach that those who truly love God, love him
so as wholly to devote themselves to hhn and
his service. This we are taught is the sum of
the ten commandments, "Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and witli
all thy strength" (Mark xii. 30). In these
words is contained a description of a right
love to God ; and they teach us, that those
who love him aright, do devote themselves
wholly to him. They devote all to him : all
their heart, and all their soul, and all their
mind, and. all their strength, or all their
powers and faculties. Surely a man who
gives all this wholly to God, keeps nothing
back, but devotes himself wholly and entirely
to him, making no reserve ; and all who have
true love to God, have a spirit to do this.
This shows liow much a principle of true
love to God, is above the selfish principle.
For if self be devoted wholly to God, then
there is something, above self, that overcomes
it ; something superior to self, that takes self,
and makes an offering of it to God. A sellish
principle never devotes itself to another. The
nature of it is, to devote all others to self.
They that have true love to God, love him as
254 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
God, and as the Supreme Good, whereas it ia
the nature of selfishness to set up self in the
place of God, and to make an idol of self.
That being whom men regard supremely, they
devote all to. They that idolize self, devote
all to self; but they that love God as God,
devote all to him.
That Christian love, or charity, is contrary
to a selfish spirit, will further appear, if we
consider what the Scriptures teach,
Secondly^ Of the nature of this love to man.
And there are two chief and most remarkable
descriptions that the Bible gives us of a truly
gracious love to our neighbors, each of which
should be noticed.
^\\Q first of these, is the requirement that
we love our neighbor as ourselves. This we
have in the Old Testament (Leviticus xix. 18) ;
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;"
and this Christ cites (Matthew xxii. 39), as the
sum of all the duties of the second table of the
law. Now this is contrary to selfishness, for
love is not of such a nature as confines the
heart to self, but leads it forth to others as wel I
as self, and in like manner as to self. It dis-
poses us to look upon our neighbors, as
being as it were, one with ourselves ; and
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 255
not only to consider our own circnmstan"ces
and interests, but to consider the wants of
our neighbors, as we do our own ; not only to
have regard to our own desires, but to tlie de-
eires of others, and to do to them as we would
have them do to us.
And the second remarkable description
which the Scriptures give us of Christian cliar-
ity, which shows how contrary it is to selfish-
ness, is, that of loving others, as Christ hath
loved us. " A new commandment," says
Christ (John xiii. 34), " I give unto you, that
ye love one another : as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another." It is called a
new commandment, as contradistinguished
from that old one (Leviticus xix. 18), "Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Not
that the duty of love to others, which is the
matter of the commandment, was new, for the
same kind of love was required of old, under
the Old Testament, which is required now.
But it is called a new commandment, in this re.
spect, that the rule aud motive annexed which
we are now more especially to have an eye to,
in these days of the gospel, are new. The
rule and motive more especially set in view
■»f old, was our lo"e to ourselves, that we
256 THE SPIKIT OF criAEITY
should love our neighbor as ourselves. But the
motive and rule more especially set in view
now, in these days of the gospel, and since
the love of Christ has been so wonderfully
manifested, is, the love of Christ to us, that
we should love our neighbor as Christ hath
loved us. It is here called a new command-
ment; and so, in John xv, 12, Christ calls
it his commandment, saying emphatically,
"This is my commandment, that ye love one
another as I have loved you," That we
should love one another as we love ourselves,
is Moses' commandment ; but that we should
love one another as Christ hath loved us, is
the commandment of God our Saviour. It
is the same commandment, as to the sub-
stance of it, that was given of old, but with
new light shining upon it from the love of
Jesus Christ, and a new enforcement annexed
to it, by him, beyond what Moses annexed.
So that this rule of loving others as Christ has
loved us, does more clearly, and in a further
degree, show us our duty and obligation with
respect to loving our neighbors, than as Moses
stated it.
But to return from this digression, let us
consider hoM this description that Christ gives
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 257
of Christian love to others, shows it to be the
contrary of selfishness, by considering in what
manner Clirist has expressed love to us, and
h..)W ninch there is in the example of his love,
to enforce the contrary of a selfish spirit.
ii.nd this we may see mfour things: — ■
.First^ Christ has set his love on tJiose that
were his enemies. There was not only no
love to himself in those on whom he set his
love, but they were full of enmity, and of a
principle of actual hatred to him, " God
commendeth his love toward us, in that, while
we were yet sinners," or as in the next verse
but one, "enemies," "Christ died for ns"
(Romans v. 8, 10).
Second., Such was Christ's love to ns, that
he was pleased, in som,e respects., to look on us
as himself. By his love to us, if we will but
accept his love, he has so espoused ns, and
nnited his heart to ns, that he is pleased to
speak of us, and regard ns as himself. Ilis
elect were, from all etei-nity, dear to liim as
the apple of his eye. He looked upon them
80 much as himself, that he regarded tlieir
concerns as his, and their interests as his
own ; and he has even niade their guilt as liis,
by a gracious assumption of it to himself, that
258 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
it Hiight be looked upon as his own, tlirougli
that divine imputation, in virtue of which they
are treated as innocent, wliile he sutlers for
them. And his love has sought to unite them
to himself, so as to make them, as it were,
members of his body, so that they are his
flesh and his bones, as he himself seems to
say in Matt. xxv. 40, when he declares, " In-
asmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me."
Third^ Such was the love of Christ to us,
that he did, as it were, spend hhnseJffo?' our
sahes. His love did not rest in mere feeling,
or in light elibrts and small sacriflces, but
though we were enemies, yet lie so loved us,
that he had a heart to deny himself, and un-
dertake the greatest efforts, and undergo the
greatest sufferings for our sakes. He gave up
his own ease, and comfort, and interest, and
honor, and wealth, and became poor, and out-
cast, and despised, and had not where to lay
his head, and all for us! And not only so,
but he shed his own blood tor us, and offered
himself a sacrifice to God's justice, that we
might be forgiven, and accepted, and saved!
And,
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 259
Fourth^ Christ thus loved us, without miy ex-
pectation of ever being requited hy losforhis love.
He did not stand in need of anything we couhl
do for him, and well knew that we shouia
never be able to requite him for his kindness
to us, or even to do anything toward it. He
knew that we were poor, miserable, and emp-
ty-handed outcasts, who might receive from
him, but could render nothing to him in re-
turn. He knew that we had no money or
price with which to purchase anything, and
that he must freely give us all things that we
needed, or else we should be eternally with-
out them. And shall not we be far from a
selfish spirit and utterly contrary to it, if we
love oue another after such a manner as this,
or if we have the same spirit of love toward
others that was in Christ toward ourselves?
If this is our spirit, our love to others will not
depend on their love to us, but we shall do as
Christ did to us, love them even though they
are enemies. We shall not only seek our own
things, but we shall in our hearts be so united
to others, that we shall look on their things as
our own. We shall endeavor to be interested
in their good, as Christ was in ours ; and shall
be ready to forego and part with our own
260 THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITT
things, in many cases, for the things of others,
as Christ did toward us. And these things
we shall be willing and ready to do for others,
without any expectation of being repaid by
them, as Christ did such great things for us
without any expectation of requital or return.
If such be our spirit, we shall not be under
the influence of a selfish spirit, but shall be
unselfish in principle, and heart, and life.
In the application of this subject, the great
use I would make of it, is, to dissuade all from
a selfish sjpirit and practice^ and to exhort all
to seek that sjpirit^ and line that life^ which
shall he contrary to it. Seek, that by divine
love, your heart may be devoted to God and
to his glory, and to loving your neighbor as
yourself, or rather as Christ has loved you.
Do not seek, every one your own things, but
every one, also, the tilings of others. And
tiiat you may be stirred up to this, in addition
to the motives already presented, consider
three things,
First., That you are not your own. — As you
have not made yourself, so you were not made
for yourself. You are neither the author., nor
the end of your own being. Nor is it you
that uphold yourself in being ; or that provide
tht: opposite of a selfish spirit. 261
for yourself ; or that are dependent on your-
self. There is another that hath made you,
and preserves you, and provides for you, and
on whom you are dependent : and He hath
made you for himself, and for the good of
your fellow-creatures, and not only for your-
self. He has placed before you higher and
nobler ends than self, even the welfare of
your fellow-men, and of society, and the in-
terests of his kingdom ; and for these you
ought to labor and live, not only in time, but
for eternity.
And il you are Christians, as many of you
profess to be, then, in a peculiar sense, "ye
are not your own, for ye are bought with a
price," even " with the precious blood of
Christ," 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20 ; and 1 Peter i. 19.
And this is urged as an argument why Chris-
tians should not seek themselves, but the glory
of God ; for the apostle adds, " Therefoi-e
glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God's." By nature you were in a
miserable, lost condition, a captive in tlie
hands of divine justice, and a miserable slave
in the bondage of sin and Satan. And Christ
has redeemed you, and so you are his by pur-
chase. Ey a most just title you belong to
18
262 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
him, and not to yourself. And, therefore, you
must not, henceforth, treat yourself as your
own, by seeking your own interests or pleasure,
only, or even chiefly ; for if you do so, you
will be guilty of robbing Christ. And as you
are not your own, so nothing that you have ia
your own. Your abilities of body and mind,
your outward possessions, your time, talents,
influence, comforts, none of them are your
own ; nor have you any right to use them as
if you had an absolute property in them, as
you will be likely to do if you imagine them
only for your own private benefit, and not for
the honor of Christ, and for the good of your
fellow-men. Consider,
Second^ How you^ hy your very prof ession as
a Christian^ are xinited to Christ, and to your
fellow- Christians. — Christ, and all Christians,
are so united together, that they all make but
one body ; and of this body, Christ is the
head, and Christians are the members. " We
being many," says the apostle, " are one body
in Christ, and every one members, one of
another," Rom. xii. 5 ; and again, " By one
spirit, are we all baptized into one body,
whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we
be bond or free," 1 Cor. xii. 13. How uu-
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 263
becoming, then, is it in Christians to be sel-
f fish, and concerned only for their own private
interests. In the natural body, the hand is
ready to serve the head, and all the members
are ready to serve one another. Is what the
hands do, done only for their own advantage ?
Are they not continually employed as much
for the other parts of the body, as for them-
selves ? Is not the work they are doing from
day to day, for the common good of the wh6le
body? And so it may be said as to the eye,
the teeth, the feet, that they are all employed,
not for themselves, or for their own limited
and partial welfare, but for the common com-
fort and good of the whole body. And if the
head be dishonored, are not all the members
of the body at once employed and active to
remove the dishonor, and to put honor upon
the head ? And if any members of the body
are wounded, and languishing, and in pain,
are not all the members of the body ar once
engaged to screen that weak or suiFering mem-
ber ? Are not the eyes employed in looking
about for it, and the ears in attending to the
directions of physicians, and the feet in going
where relief is to be sought, and the hands in
applying the remedies provided ? So it should
264 THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITY
be with the Christian body. All its members
should be helpers, and comforts to each other,
and thus promote their mutual welfare and
happiness, and the glory of Christ, the head.
Once more, consider.
Thirds That in seeking the glory of God
and the good of your fellow-creatures^ you
tahe the surest way to have God seek your in-
terests^ and promote your welfare. — If you
will devote yourself to Grod, as making a
sacrifice of all your own interests to him, you
will not throw yourself away. Though you
seem to neglect yourself, and to deny yourself,
and to overlook self in imitating the divine
benevolence, God will take care of you ; and
he will see to it that your interest is provided
for, and your welfare made sure I You shall
be no loser by all the sacrifices you have made
for him. To his glory be it said, he will not
be your debtor, but will requite you an hun-
dred-fold even in this life, beside the eternal
rewards that he will bestow upon you here-
after. His own declaration is, " Every one
that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sis-
ters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands for my name's sake, shall receive
an hundred-fold" (the other evangelist adds,
THE OPrOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 265
" in this present, time"), " and shall inherit
everlasting life," Matt. xix. 29; and the spirit
of this declaration applies to all sacrifices
made for Christ, or for our fellow-men for his
Bake. The greatness of the reward for this
life, Christ expresses bv a definite number ;
but he does not make use of numbers, how-
ever great, to set forth the reward promised
them hereafter. He only says, they shall
receive everlasting life, because the reward is
so great, and so much exceeds all the expense
and self-denial persons can be at for Christ's
sake, that no numbers are sufficient to de-
scribe it.
If you are selfish, and make yourself and
your own private interests your idol, God will
leave you to yourself, and let you promote
your own interests as well as you can. But
if you do not selfishly seek your own, but do
seek the things that are Jesus Christ's, and
the things of your fellow-beings, then God will
make your interest and happiness his own
charge, and he is infinitely more able to pro-
vide for, and promote it, than you are. The
resources of the universe move at his bidding,
and he can easily command them all to sub-
serve your welfaro. So that not to seek your
266 THE SPIKIT OF CHAEITY
own, in the selfish sense, is the best way of
seeking yonr own in a better sense. It is the
directest course you can take to secure your
highest happiness. When you are required
not to be selfish, you are not required, as has
been observed, not to love and seek your own
happiness, but only not to seek mainly your
own private and confined interests. But if
you place your happiness in God, in glorifying
him, and in serving him by doing good, in
this way, above all others, will you promote
your w^ealth, and honor, and pleasure here
below, and obtain hereafter a crown of un-
fading glory, and pleasures for evermore at
God's right hand. If you seek, in the spirit
of selfishness, to grasp all as your own, you
shall lose all, and be driven out of the world,
at last, naked and forlorn, to everlasting pov-
erty and contempt. But if you seek not your
3wn, but the things of Christ, and the good
of your fellow-men, God himself will be yours,
and Christ yours, and the Holy Spirit yours,
and all things yours. Yes, " all things" shall
be yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas,
or the world, or life, . r death, or things present,
or things to come ; all are yours ; and ye are
THE OPPOSITE OF A SELFISH SPIRIT. 267
Christ's ; and Christ is God's, 1 Cor. iii.
21, 22.
Let these things, then, incline us all to be
less selfish than we are, and to seek more of
the contrary most excellent spirit. Selfishness
is a principle native to us, and, indeed, all the
corruption of our nature does radically consist
in it ; but considering the knowledge that we
have of Christianity, and how numerous and
powerful the motives it presents, we ought to
be far less selfish than we are, and less ready
to seek our own interests and these only.
How much is there of this evil spirit, and how
little of that excellent, noble, diffusive spirit
which has now been set before us. But what-
ever the cause of this, whether it arise from
our having too narrow notions of Christianity,
and from our not having learned Christ as we
ought to have done, or from the habits c^f
selfishness handed down to us from our fathers,
whatever the cause be, let us strive to over-
come it, that we may grow in the grace of au
unselfish spirit, and thus glorify God, and do
good to men.
LECTURE IX.
THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY THE OPPOSITE CF AM
ANGRY OR WRATHFUL SPIRIT.
"Is not easily provoked." — 1 Cokinthians xiii. 5.
Having declared that charity is contrary to
the two great cardinal vices of pride and sel-
fishness, those deep and ever-flowing fountains
of sin and wickedness in the heart, the Apos-
tle next proceeds to show, that it is also con-
trary to two things that are commonly the
fruits of this pride and selfishness, viz. : an
angry spirit, and a censorious spirit. To the
first of these points, I would now turn your
attention, viz. : that charity " ^6* not easily
provoked^ The doctrine here set before
us, is.
That the spirit of charity, or Christian"
LOVE, CS the opposite OF IN ANGRY OR WRATH-
FPj. ariRiT OR DISPOSITION. — In speaking to th is
THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITT. 269
doctrine, I would inquire, first, in what con-
sists that angry sjirit or temper to which a
Christian spirit is contrary ; and next, give the
reason why a Christian spirit is contrary to it.
I. What is that angry or torathful sj)irit, to
which charity, or a Christian spirit, is con-
trary. — It is not all manner of anger that
Christianity is opposite and contrary to. It
is said in Ephesians iv. 26, " Be ye angry,
and sin not," which seems to suppose that
there is such a thing as anger without sin, or
that it is possible to be angry in some cases,
and yet not offend God. And therefore it
may be answered, in a single word, that a
Christian sj)irit, or the spirit of charity, is oj^-
posite to all undue and unsuitable anger.
But anger may be undue or unsuitable in four
respects ; in its nature, its occasion, its end,
and its measure. And,
1. Anger may he undue and unsuitable m re-
sjpect to its nature. — Anger may be defined to
be, an earnest, and more or less violent opposi-
tion of spirit against any real or supposed evil,
or in view of any fault or offence of another.
All anger is oiDposition of the mind against
real or supposed evil ; but it is not all op])osi-
tion of the mind against evil, that is properly
270 THE SPIRIT OF CHAErii"
called anger. There is an opposition of the
judgment, that is not anger ; for anger is the
opposition, not of the cool judgment, but of
the spirit of the man, that is, of his disposition
or heart. But here, again, it is not all oppo-
sition of the spirit against evil, that can be
called anger. There is an opposition of the
spirit against natural evil that we suffer, as in
grief and sorrow for instance, which is a very
different thing from anger ; and in distinction
from this, anger is opposition to rnoral evil, or
evil real or supposed in voluntary agents, or
at least in agents that are conceived to be
voluntary, or acting by their own will, and
against such evil as is supposed to be their
fault. But yet again, it is not all oj3position
of spirit against evil or faultiness in voluntary
agents, that is anger ; for there may be a dis-
like, without the spirit being excited and an-
gry ; and such dislike is an opposition of the
will and judgment, and not always of the
feelings, and in order to anger, the latter
nmst be moved. In all anger there must be
earnestness and opposition of feeling, and the
spirit must be moved and stirred within us.
Anger is one of the passions or affections of
the soul, though when called an affection, it
THE OPPOSITE OF AN ANGRY SPIRIT. 271
18, for the most part, to be regarded as an evii
aifection.
Such being the nature of anger in general,
it may now be shown wherein anger is undue
or unsuitable in its nature. And this is the
case with all anger that contains ill-will, or a
desire of revenge. Some have defined anger
to be a desire of revenge. But this cannot be
considered a just definition of anger in gene-
ral ; for if so, there would be no anger that
would not imply ill-will, and the desire that
some other might be injured. But doubtless
there is such a thing as anger that is consist-
ent with good-will ; for a father may be angry
with his child, that is, he may find in himself
an earnestness and opposition of spirit to the
bad conduct of his child, and his spirit may
be engaged and stirred in opposition to that
conduct, and to his child while continuing in
it ; and yet, at the same time, he will not have
any proper ill-will to the child, but on the
contrary, a real good-will ; and so far from
desiring its injury, he may have the very
highest desire for its true welfare, and his
very anger be but his opposition to that
which he thinks will be of injury to it. And
this shows, that anger, in its general nature,
272 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
rather consists in the opposition of the spirit
to evil, than in a desire of revenge.
If the nature of anger in general consisted
in ill-will and a desire of revenge, no anger
would 1)0 lawful in any case whatever ; for we
are not -allowed to entertain ill-will toward
others in any case, hut are to have good-will
to all. We are re([uired by Christ to wish
well to, and pray for the })ros])erity of all,
even our enemies, and those that despitefully
use us and persecute us. Matt. v. 44 ; and the
rule given by the Apostle is, "• Bless them
which persecute you: bless and curse not,"
Rom. xii, 14; that is, we are only to wish
good, and pray for good to others, and in no
case to wish evil. And so all revenge is for-
bidden, if we except the vengeance which
public justice takes on the transgressor, in in-
flicting which men act not for tlieniselves, but
for God, The rule is, " Thou shalt not avenge,
nor bear any grudge against tlie cluldren of
thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. I am the Lord," Leviticus xix.
18; and says the Apostle, "Dearly beloved,
avenge not yourselves, but rather give place
unto wrath ; for it is written. Vengeance is
mine, I will repay, saith the Lord," Romans
THE OPPOSITE OF AN ANGKT SPIRIT. 273
xii. 19. So that all the anger that contains
ill-will or a desire of revenge, is what Chris-
tianity is contrary to, and by the most fearful
sanctions forbids. Sometimes anger, as it is
spoken of in the Scripture, is meant only in
the worst sense, or in that sense of it which im-
plies ill-will, and the desire of revenge ; and
in this sense, all anger is forbidden, as in
Ephcsians iv. 31, "Let all bitterness, and
wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speak-
ing, be put away from you, with all malice ;"
and again in Colossians iii. 8, " But now ye,
also, put oif all these ; anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
moutt." Thus anger may be irregular and
sinful with respect to its nature. And so,
2. Anger may be unsuitahle and unchristian
in respect to its occasion. — And such unsuita-
bleness consists in its being without any just
cause. Of this Christ speaks when he says,
" Whosoever is angry with his brother, with •
out a cause, shall be in danger of the judg-
ment," Matt. v. 22, And this may be the
ca&e in three ways : —
First.^ When the occasion of anger is that,
which is no fault at all in the person that is its
object. This is not unfreQuently the case.
274 THE SPIRIT OF CHAKITT
Many persons are of such a proud and peevish
disposition, that thej will be angry at anj-
tliing that is in any respect against them, or
troublesome to them, or contrary to their
"wishes, whether anybody be to blame for it
or not. And so, sometimes, men are angry
with others for those things that are not from
their fault, but which happen merely through
their involuntary ignorance, or through their
impotence. They are angry that they have
not done better, when the only cause was,
that the circumstances were such that they
could not do otherwise than they did. And
oftentimes persons are angry with others, not
only for that which is no fault in them, but
for that which is really good, and for which
they ought to be praised. So it always is
when men are angry at God, and fret at his
providence and its dispensations toward them.
Tlius to be fretful, and impatient, and to mur-
mur against God's dealings, is a most horri-
bly wicked kind of anger. And yet this very
often is the case in this wicked world. This
is what the wicked Israelites were so often
guilty of, and for which so many of them
were overthrown in the wilderness ; and this
was what Jonah, though a good man, was
THE OPPOSITE OF AN AJ^GET SPIETT. 275
guilty of when he was angry with God with-
out a cause — angry for that for which he
should have praised God, viz, : his great mercy
to the ISTinevites. Oftentimes, also, persons'
spirits are kept very much in a fret, by reason
of things going contrary to them, and their
meeting with crosses, and disappointments,
and entanglements in their business, when
they will not own that it is God they fret at
and are angry with, and do not even seem to
be convinced of it themselves. But, indeed,
such fretfulness can be interpreted no other
way ; and wliatever they may pretend, it is
ultimately aimed against the author of provi-
dence — against the God who orders these
cross events, so that it is a murmuring and
fretting against Him.
And it is a common thing, again, for per-
sons to be angry with others, for their doing
well, and that which is only their duty. There
never was so much bitterness and fierceness
of anger among men, one to another, and so
much hostility and malice, for any one thing,
as there has been for well-doing. History
gives no accounts of any such cruelties aa
those practised toward God's people on ac-
count of their profession and practice of re-
276 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
]igion. And liow annoyed were the scribes
ana Pharisees with Christ, for doing the will
of his Father in what he did and said while
on earth ! When men are angry with others,
or with civil or ecclesiastical authorities, for
proceeding regularly against them for their
errors or sins, they are angry with them for
well-doing. And this is the case when they
are angry witli their neighbors or brethren in
the church for bearing a due testimony
against them, and endeavoring to bring them
to justice when the case re<^uires it. Often
men are angry with otliers not only for well-
doing, but for doing those things that are
acts of friendship to them, as when we are
angry with others for administering Christian
reproof for anything they observe in us that
is wrono;. This the Psalmist said he should
accept as a kindness, " Let the righteous smite
me, it shall be a kindness ;" but such as are
angry with it, foolishly and sinfully take it
as an injury. In all these things, our anger
is undue and unreasonable with regard to its
occasion, when that occasion is no fault of the
one with whom we are angry. And so,
Second^ Anger is unsuitable and unchris-
tian as to its occasion, wkeii jpersons are angi'y
THE OPPOSITE OF AIJ ANGRY SPLBIT. 277
wpon s^nall and trivial occasions^ and when
though there be something of blame, yet the
fault is very small, and such as is not worth
our being stirred and engaged about. God
does not call us to have our spirits ceaselessly
engaged in opposition, and stirred up in an-
ger, unless it be on some important occasions.
He that is angry at every little fault he may
see in others, is certainly one with whom it is
otherwise than is expressed in the text. Of
him that is provoked at every little, trifling
thing, it surely cannot be said, that he is "not
easily provoked." Some are of such an an-
gry, fretful spirit, that they are put out of
humor by every little thing, and by things in
otliers, in the family, or in society, or in busi-
ness, tliat are no greater faults than they
themselves are guilty of every day. Those
tliat will tlius be angry at every fault they see
in others, will be sure to be always kept in a
fret, and their minds will never be composed;
for it cannot be expected in this world but
that we shall continually be seeing faults in
others, as there are continually faults in our-
selves. And therefore it is, that Christiana
are directed to be " slow to speak and slow
to wrath," James i. 19 ; and that it is said,
19
278 THE SPIRIT OF CH.yKITY
that " He that is soon angry, dealeth foolish
ly." He that diligently guards his own spirit,
will not be very frequently or easily angry.
He wisely keeps his mind in a calm, clear
frame, and does not suffer it to be stirred
with anger, except on extraordinary occasions,
and those that do especially call for it. And
again,
Thirds Anger may be unsuitable and un-
christian in its occasion, when our spirits are
stirred at thefaxdts of others chiejhy as they
affect ourselves^ and not as they are against
God. "We should never be angry but at sin,
and this should always be that which we op-
pose in our anger. And when our spirits are
stirred to oppose this evil, it should be as sin,
or chiefly as it is against God. If there be no
sin and no fault, then we have no cause to be
angry ; and if there be a fault or sin, then it
is infinitely worse as against God, than it is as
against us, and therefore it requires the most
opposition on that account. Persons sin in
their anger, when they are selfish in it, for wo
are not to act as if we were our own, or for our-
selves simply, since we belong to God, and
not to ourselves. When a fault is commit-
ted wherein God is sinned against, ani per-
THE OPPOSITE OF AN ANGtvT SPIEIT. 279
sons are injured by it, they should be chiefly
concerned, and their spirits chiefly moved
against it because it is against God ; for
they should be more solicitous for God's
honor, than for their own temporal inter-
ests. All anger, as to occasion, is either a
virtue or a vice, for there is no middle sort
that is neither good nor bad ; but there is no
virtue or goodness in opposing sin, unless it
be opposed as sin. The anger that is virtuous,
is the same thing which, in one form, is called
zeal. Our anger shoidd be like Christ's an-
ger. He was like a lamb under the greatest
personal injuries, and we never read of his
being angrj^ but in the cause of God against
sin as sin. And this sliould be the case with
us. And as anger may, in these three ways,
be unsuitable and unchristian with respect to
the occasion or cause of it, so,
3. It may he undue and.shiful with respect
to its end. — And this in two particulars : —
Firsts When we are angry without con-
siderately proposing any end to be gained by
it. In this way it is, tliat anger is rash and
inconsiderate, and that it is suffered to rise,
and be continued, without any consideration
or moti^•e. "Reason has no hand in the matter ;
280 THE SPIEir OF CHAitITT
but the passions go before the reason, and
anger is suffered to rise before even a thought
has been given to the question, " of what ad-
vantage or benefit will it be, either to me or
others ?" Such anger is not the anger of men,
but the blind passion of beasts : it is a kind
of beastly fury, rather than the affection of a
rational creature. All things in the soid of
man should be under the government of reason,
which is the highest faculty of our being ; and
every other faculty and principle in the soul
should be governed and directed by that to
its proper end. And, therefore, when our
anger is of this kind, it is unchristian and sin-
ful. And so it is.
Second^ When we allow ourselves to be
angry for any wrong end. Though reason
would tell us with regard to our anger, that it
cannot be for the glory of God, or of any real
benefit to ourselves, but on the other hand,
much to the mischief of ourselves or others,
yet because we have in view the gi'atification
of our own pride, or the extension of our in-
fluence, or getting in some way superiority tc
others, we allow anger as aiding to gain these
or other ends, and thus indulge a sinful spirit.
And lastly,
THE OPPOSITE OF AN ANGRY SPIRIT. 281
4. Anger may he unsuitable and unchristian.
with respect to its measure. — And this, again,
in two particulars, as to the measure of its
decree, and the measure of its continuance.
And,
Firsts When it is immoderate in degree.
Anger may be far beyond what the case re-
quires. And often it is so great as to put
persons beyond the control of themselves, their
passions being so violent that, for the time,
they know not what they do, and seem to be
unable to direct and regulate either their feel-
ings or conduct. Sometimes men's passions
rise so high that they are, as it were, drunk
with them, so that their reason is gone, and
they act as if beside themselves. But the
degree of anger ought always to be regulated
by the end of it, and it should never be suffered
to rise any higher than so far as tends to the
obtaining of the good ends which reason has
proposed. And anger is, also, beyond meas-
ure, and thus sinful,
Second^ When it is immoderate in its corh
tinuance. It is a very sinful thing for persons
to be long angry. The wise man not only
gives us the injunction, " Be not hasty in thy
spirit to be angry," but he adds, that " Anger
282 THE SPIEIT OF CHABITY
restetli in tlie bosom of fools,'' Ecc. vii. 9 ;
and says the Apostle, " Be ye angry, and sin
not ; let not the sun go down npon your
wrath," Eph. iv. 26. If anger be long con-
tinued, it soon degenerates into malice, for
the leaven of evil spreads faster than the
leaven of good. If a person allows himself
long to hold anger towards another, he will
quickly come to hate him. And so we find
that it actually is among those that retain a
grudge in their hearts against others for week
after week, and month after month, and year
after year. They do, in the end, truly hate
the persons against whom they thus lay up
anger, whether they own it or not. And this
is a most dreadful sin in the sight of God.
All, therefore, should be exceedingly careful
how they suifer anger long to continue in their
hearts.
Having thus shown what is that angry or
wrathful spirit, to which charity or a Christian
spirit is contrary, I pass, as proposed, to show,
II. How charity^ or a Christian spirit^ is
contrary to it. And this I would do by show-
ing, first, that charity or love, which is the
sum of the Christian spirit, is directly, and in
itself, contrary to the anger that is sinful ■
THE OPPOSITE OF AN ANGRY SPIRIT. 283
and secondly, that the fruits of charity which
are mentioned in the context, are all contrary
to it. And,
1. Christian cha/rity or love^ is directly^ and
in itself^ contrary to all undue anger. — -Chris-
tian love is contrary to anger which is undue
in its nature, and that tends to revenge, and
80 implies ill-will, for tlie nature of love is
good-will. It tends to prevent j)ersons from
being angry without just cause, and will be
far from disposing any one to be angry for but
little faults. Love is backward to anger, and
will not yield to it on trivial occasions, much
less where there is no cause for being angry.
It is a malignant and evil, and not a loving
spirit, that disposes persons to be angry with-
out cause. Love to God is opposite to a dis-
position in men to be angry at other's faults,
chiefly as they themselves are offended and
injured by them : it rather disposes them to
look at them chiefly as committed against
God. If love be in exercise, it will tend to
keep down the irascible passions, and hold
them in subjection, so that reason and the
spirit of love may regulate them and keep
them from being immoderate in degree or of
long c )ntinuance. And not only is charity,
284 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
or Christian love, directly, and in itself, con-
trary to all undue anger, but,
2. All the fruits of this charity which are
rneiitioned in the context^ are also contrary to
it. — 'And I shall mention only two of th(;se
fruits, as they may stand for all, viz. : those
virtues that are contrary to pride and selfish-
ness. And,
First, Love or charity is contrary to all
undue and sinful anger, as, in its fruits, it is
contrary to pride. Pride is one chief cause
of undue anger. It is because men are proud,
and exalt themselves in their own hearts, that
they are revengeful, and are apt to be excited,
and to make great things out of little ones
that may be against themselves. Yea, they
even treat as vices things that are in them-
selves virtues, when they think their honor is
touched, or when their will is crossed. And
it is pride that makes men so unreasonable
and rash in their anger, and raises it to such
a high degree, and continues it so long, and
often keeps it up in the form of habitual
malice. But, as we have already seen, love
or Christian charity is utterly opposed to
pride. And so.
Secondly Lo^ e or charity is contrary to all
THE OPPOSITE OF AH ANGRY SPIRIT. 285
sinful anger, as, in its fruits, it is contrary to
selfishness. It is because men are selfish and
seek their own, that they are malicious and
revengeful against all that oppose or interfere
with their own interests. If men sought not
chiefly their own private and selfish interests,
but the glory of God and the common good,
then their spirit wonld be a great deal more
stirred up in God's cause, than in their own ;
and they would not be prone to hasty, rash,
inconsiderate, immoderate, and long- continued
wrath, with any who might have injured or
provoked them, but they would, in a great
measure, forget themselves for God's sake,
and from their zeal for the honor of Christ.
The end they would aim at, would be, not
making themselves great, or getting their own
will, but the glory of God, and the good of
their fellow-beings. But love, as we have
seen, is opposed to all selfishness.
In the application of this subject, let us use
it,
1. Zn the way of self-examination. — Our
own consciences, if faithfully searched and im-
peratively inquired of, can best tell us whether
we are, or have been persons ofsuch an angry
spirit and wrathful disposition as has been
286 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
described ; whether we are frequently angry,
or indulge in ill-will, or allow the continuance
of anger. Have we not often been angry ?
And if so, is there not reason to think that that
anger has been undue, and without just cause,
and thus sinful? God does not call Chris-
tians into his kingdom, that they may indulge
greatly in fretfulness, and to have their minds
commonly stirred up and ruffled with anger.
And has not most of the anger you have
cherished been chiefly, if not entirely on your
own account ? Men are often wont to plead
zeal for religion, and for duty, and for the
honor of God, as the cause of their indignation,
when it is only their own private interest that is
concerned and affected. It is remarkable how
forward men are to appear as if they were
zealous for God and righteousness, in cases
wherein their honor, or will, or interest has
been touched, and to make pretence of this in
injuring others or complaining of them ; and
what a great difference there is in their con-
duct in other cases, wherein God's honor is as
much, or a great deal more hurt, and their
own interest is not specially concerned. In
the latter ca-oe, there is no such appearance
of zeal and engagedness of spirit and no
THE OPPOSITE OF AN AJSTGET SPIRIT. 287
forwardness to reprove, and complain, and be
angry, but often a readiness to excuse, and
leave reproof to otbers, and to be cold and
backward in anything like opj^osition to the
sin.
And ask, still further, what good has been
obtained by your anger, and what have you
aimed at in it ; or have you even thought of
these things ? There has been a great deal
of anger and bitterness in things passing in
this town on public occasions, and many of
you have been present on such occasions ;
and such anger has been manifest in your
conduct ; and I fear rested in your bosoms.
Examine yourselves as to this matter, and ask
what has been the nature of your anger. Has
not most, if not all of it, been of that undue
and unchristian kind that has been spoken
of ? Has it not been of the nature of ill-will,
and malice, and bitterness of heart ; an anger
arising from proud and selfish principles,
because your interest, or your opinion, or
your party was touched ? Has not your anger
been far from that Christian zeal that does not
disturb charity, or embitter the feelings, or
lead to unkindness or revenge in the con-
duct? And how has it been with respect tc
288 THE SPIKIT OF CHARITY
your holding anger ? Has not the sun n.ore
than once gone down upon your wrath, while
God and your neighbor knew it? Nay more,
has it not gone down again and again, through
month after month, and year after year, while
winter's cold hath not chilled the heat of your
wrath, and the summer's sun hath not melted
you to kindness ? And are there not some
here present, that are sitting before God with
anger laid up in their hearts, and burning
there ? Or if their anger is for a time con-
cealed from human eyes, is it not like an old
sore not thoroughly healed, but so that the least
touch renews the smart ; or like a smothered
fire in the heaps of autumn leaves, which the
least breeze will kindle into a flame ? And
how is it in your families ? Families are so-
cieties the most closely united of all ; and
their members are in the nearest relation, and
under the greatest obligations to peace and
harmony and love. And yet what has been
your spirit in the family ? Many a time have
you not been fretful, and angry, and impa-
tient, and peevish, and unkind to those Avhora
God has made in so great a measure depen-
dent on you, and who are so easily made
happy or unhappy by what you do or say — .
THE OPPOSITE OF AN M^GRY SPIRIT. 289
by your kindness or unkindness ? And what
kind of anger have you indulged in the
family ? Has it not often been unreasonable
and sinful, not only in its nature, but in its
occasions, where those with whom you were
angry were not in fault, or when the fault was
trilling or unintended, or where, perhaps, yoi.
were yourself in part to blame for it ; and
even where there might have been just cause,
has not your wrath been continued, and led
you to be sullen, or severe, to an extent that
your own conscience disapproved ? And have
you not been angry with your neighbors who
live by you, and with whom you have to do
daily ; iand on trifling occasions, and for little
things, have you not allowed yourself in anger
toward them ? In all these points it becomes
us to examine ourselves, and know what
manner of spirit we are of, and wherein we
come short of the spirit of Christ.
2. The subject dissuades frov%^ and warns
against^ all xmdue and sinful anger. — 'The
heart of man is exceeding prone to undue and
sinful anger, being naturally full of pride and
selfishness ; and we live in a world that is full
of occasions that tend to stir up this corrup-
tion that is within us, so that we cannot
290 THE SPIKIT OF CHARITV
expect to live in any tolerable measure as
Christians should do, in this respect, without
constant watchfulness and prayer. And we
should not only watch against the exercises,
but fight against the principle of anger, and
seek earnestly to have that mortified in our
hearts, by the establishment and increase ot
the spirit of divine love and humility in our
souls. And to this end, several things may
be considered. And,
First^ Consider frequently your own fail-
ings^ hy which you have given hoth God and
man occasion to he displeased vnth you. All
your life-time you have come short of God's
requirements, and thus justly incurred his
dreadful wrath ; and constantly you have
occasion to pray God that he will not be angry
with you, but will show you mercy. And
your failings have also been numerous toward
your fellow-men, and have often given them
occasion to be angry with you. Your faults
are as great perhaps as theirs ; and this thought
should lead you not to spend so much of your
time in fretting at the motes in their eyes, but
rather to occupy it in pulling the beams out
of your own. Very often those that arc most
ready to be angry with others, and to carry
THE OPPOSITE OF AN A2fGRY SPIRIT. 291
their resentments highest for their faults, are
equally, or still more guilty of the same faults.
And so those that are most apt to be angry
with others for speaking evil of thein, are
often most frequent in sjjeaking evil of others,
and even in their anger to vilify and abuse
them. If others then provoke us, instead of
being angry with them, let our first thoughts
be turned to ourselves, and let it put us on
self-reflection, and lead us to inquire whether
we have not been guilty of the very same
things that excite our anger, or even of worse.
Thus thinking of our own failings and errors,
would tend to keep us from undue anger with
others. And consider, also,
Second^ How such undue anger destroys the
comfort of him that indulges it. ■ It troubles
the soul in which it is, as a storm troubles the
ocean. Such anger is inconsistent with a
man's enjoying himself, or having any true
peace, or self-respect in his own spirit. Men
of an angry and wrathful temper, whose minds
are always in a fret, are the most miserable
sort of men, and live a most miserable life ;
so that a regard to our own happiness should
lead us to shun all undue and sinful anger.
Consider, again,
292 THE spmrr of chakitt
Thirds How much such a spirit unfits per-
sons for the duties of religion. All undue
anger indisposes us for the pious exercises,
and the active duties of religion. It puts the
soul far from that sweet and excellent frame
of spirit, in which we most enjoy communion
with God, and which makes truth and ordi-
nances most profitable to us. And hence it
is, that God commands us not to approach
his altars while we are at enmity with others,
but " first to be reconciled to our brother, and
then come and offer our gift," Matt. v. 24;
and that by the Apostle it is said, "I will,
therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting
up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;"
1 Timothy ii. 8. And, once more, consider,
Foiii'th^ That angry men are spoTcen of i/n
the Bible^ as ui\fit for human society. The
express direction of God is, " Make no friend-
ship with an angry man, and with a furious
man thou shalt not go, lest thou learn his
ways, and get a snare to thy soul," Proverbs
xxii.24, 25. Such a man is accursed as a pest
of society, who disturbs and disquiets it, and
puts everything into confusion, "An angry
man stirreth up strife, and a furious man
aboundeth in transgression," Proverbs xxix.
THE OPPOSITE OF AN ANGRY SPIRIT. 293
22. Every one is uncomfortable about him ;
his example is evil; and his conduct dis-
approved alike by God and men. Let tnese
considerations, then, prevail with all, and lead
them to avoid an angry spirit and temper, and
to cultivate the spirit of gentleness, and kind-
ness, and love, which is the spirit of heaven.
2<J
LECTURE X.
THE SPIRIT OF CHABITY THE OPPOSITE OF A
CENSORIOUS SPIRIT.
" Thinketh no evii." — 1 Cor. xiii. 5.
Having remarked how charity, or Christian
love, is opposed not only to pi'ide and selfish-
ness, but to the ordinary fruits of these evil
dispositions, viz. : an angry spirit, and a cen-
sorious spirit, and having already spoken as
to the former, I come now to the latter. And
in respect to this, the Aj)ostle declares, that
charity " thinketh no eviiy The doctrine set
forth in these words, is clearly this : —
That the spirit of charity, or Christian
LOVE, is the opposite OF A CENSORIOUS SPIRIT.
Or in other words, it is contrary to a disposi-
tion to think or judge uncharitably of others.
Charity, in one of the common uses of the ex-
pression, signifies a disposition to think the
best of others that the case will allow. This,
THE SPIRIT OF CHAKITT. 295
however, as I have shown before, is not the
scriptural meaning of the word charity, but
only one way of its exercise, or one of its
many and rich fruits. Charity is of vastly
larger extent than this. It signifies, as we
have already seen, the same as Christian or
divine love, and so is the same as the Chris-
tian spirit. And in accordance with this
view, we here find the spirit of charitable
judging mentioned among many other good
fruits of charity, and here expressed, as the
other fruits of charity are in the context,
negatively^ or by denying the contrary fruit,
viz. : censoriousness, or a disposition unchar-
itably to judge or censure others. And in
speaking to this point, I would, first, show the
natm-e of censoriousness, or wherein it con-
sists ; and then mention some things wherein
it appears to be contrary to a Christian spirit.
I would show,
I. The nature of oensoHoxisness^ or wherein
a censorious sjpirit^ or a disjposition unchari-
tably to judge others^ consists. — It consists in a
disposition to think evil of others, or to judge
evil of them, with respect to three things ;
their state ; their qualities ; their actions.
And,
296 THE SPIRIT jF charity
1. A censorious spirit appears m ^yLrz^ar^^
ness to judge evil of the state of others. It
often shows itself in a disposition to think the
worst of those about us, whether they are men
of the world, or professing Christians. In re-
spect to the latter class, it often leads persons
to pass censure on those who are professors
of religion, and to condemn them as being
hypocrites. Here, however, extremes are to
be avoided. Some persons are very apt to be
positive, from little things that they observe
in others, in determining that they are godly
men ; and others are forward, from just as lit-
tle things, to be positive in condemning others
as not having the least degree of grace in their
hearts, and as being strangers to vital and ex-
perimental religion. But all positiveness in
an afi'air of this nature, seems to be without
warrant from the word of God. God seems
there to have reserved the positive determi-
nation of men's state to himself, as a thing to
be kept in his own hands, as the great and
only searcher of the hearts of the children of
men.
Persons are guilty of censoriousness in con-
demning the state of others, when they will
do it from things that are no evidence of their
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSORIOUS SPIBn. 297
being in a bad estate ; or when they will con-
demn others as hypocrites because of God's
providential dealings with them, as Job's
three friends condemned him as a hypocrite
on acco" nt of his uncommon and severe afflic-
tions. And the same is true, when they con
demn them for the failings they may see in
them, and which are no greater than are often
incident to God's children, and it may be no
greater, or not so great as their own, though
notwithstanding just such things they think
well of tliemselves as Christians. And so
persons are censorious, when they condemn
others as being unconverted and carnal men,
because they differ from them in opinion on
some points that are not fundamental ; or
when they judge ill of their state from what
they observe in them, fur want of making due
allowances for their natural temperament, or
for their manner or want of education, or
other peculiar disadvantages under which
they labor, — or when they are ready to reject
all as irreligious and unconverted men, be-
cause their experiences do not, in everything,
quadrate with their own ; setting up them-
selves, and their own experience, as a stand-
ard and rule ti all others ; not being sensible
298 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
of that vast variety and liberty wLich the
Spirit of God permits and nses in his saving
work on the hearts of men, and how mysteri-
ous and inscrutable his ways often are, and
especially in this great work of making men
new creatures in Christ Jesus. In all these
ways, men often act, not only censoriously,
but as unreasonably, in not allowing any to
be Christians who have not their own experi-
ences, as if they would not allow any to be
men, who had not just their own stature, and
the same strength, or temperament of body,
and the very same features of countenance
with themselves. In the next place,
2. A censorious spirit appears in a for-
wardness to judge evil of the qualities of others.
It appears in a disposition to overlook their
good qualities, or to think them destitute of
such qualities when they are not, or to make
very little of them ; or to magnify their ill
qualities, and make more of them than is
just; or to charge them with those ill quali-
ties that they have not. Some are very apt to
charge others with ignorance and folly, and
other contemptible qualities, when they in no
sense deserve to be esteemed thus by them.
Some seem very apt to entertain a very low
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSORIOUS SPIRIT. 299
and despicable opinion of others, and so to
represent them to their associates and friends,
when a charitable disposition would discern
many good things in them, to balance or more
than balance the evil, and would frankly own
them to be persons not to be despised. And
some are ready to charge others with those
morally evil qualities that they are free from,
or to charge them with such qualities in a
much higher degree than they at all deserve.
Thus some have such a prejudice against
some of their neighbors, that they regard them
as a great deal more proud sort of persons,
more selfish, or spiteful, or malicious, than
they really are. Through some deep preju-
dice they have imbibed against them, they are
ready to conceive that they have all manner
of bad qualities, and no good ones. They
seem to them to be an exceeding proud, or
covetous, or selfish, or, in some way, bad sort
of men, when it may be that to others they
appear well. Others see their many good
qualities, and see perhaps many palliations of
the qualities that are not good ; but the cen-
sorious see only that which is evil, and speak
only that which is unjust and disparaging as
to tlie qualities of others. And,
300 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
3. A censorious spirit appears in a forward-
ness to judge evil of the actions of others. By
actions, here, I would be understood to mean,
all the external voluntary acts of men, whether
consisting in words or deeds. And a censori-
ous spirit in judging evil of others' actions,
discovers itself in two things : —
First ^ In judging them to be guilty of evil
actions, without any evidence that co7istrains
therrito such a judgment. A suspicious spirit,
which leads persons to be jealous of others,
and ready to suspect them of being guilty of
evil things when they have no evidence of it
whatever, is an uncharitable spirit, and con-
trary to Christianity. Some persons are very
free in passing their censures on others with
respect to those things that they suppose they
do out of their sight. They are ready to be-
lieve that they commit this, and that, and tho
other evil deed, in secret, and away from the
eyes of men, or that they have done or said
thus and so among their associates, and in the
circle of their friends, and that, from some de-
sign or motive, they keep these things hid
from others that are not in the same inter-
est with themselves. These are the persons
chargeable wit) the "evil surmisings," spoken
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSOEIOUS SPIRIT. 301
of and condemned by the Apostle, 1 Timothy
vi. 4, and which are connected with " envy,
strife and railings." Yery often, again, per-
sons phow an uncharitable and censorious
spirit with respect to the actions of others, by
being forward to take up, and circulate evil
reports about them. Merely hearing a flying
and evil rumor about an individual, in such a
thoughtless and lying world as this is, is far
from being sufiicient evidence against any
one, to make us believe he has been guilty of
that which is reported ; for the devil, who is
called "the god of this world," is said to be
" a liar, and the father of it," and too many,
alas! of his children are like him in their
speaking of falsehoods. And yet it is a very
common thing for persons to pass a judgment
on others, on no better ground or foundation,
than that they have heard that somebody has
said this, or that, or the other thing, though
they have no evidence that what is said is
true. When they hear that another has done
or said so and so, they seem at once to con-
clude that it is so, without making any further
inquiry, though nothing is more uncertain, or
more likely to prove false, than the mutterings
or whispers of common fame. And some are
302 THE SPIRIT CF CHAEITT
always so ready to catch up all ill-report, that
it seems to be pleasing to them to hear evil
of others. Their spirit seems greedy of it ;
and it is, as it were, food to the hunger of
their depraved hearts, and they feed on it, as
carrion birds do on the worst of flesh. They
easily and greedily take it in as true, without
examination, thus showing how contrary they
are in character and conduct to him of whom
the Psalmist speaks. Psalm xv. 1-3, as dwell-
ing in God's tabernacle and abiding in his
holy hill, and of whom he declares, that " he
taketh not up a reproach against his neigh-
bor ;" and showing, also, that they are rather
like " the wicked doer," that "giveth heed to
false lips," and as the " liar," who " giveth
ear to a naughty tongue," Proverbs xvii. 4.
A censorious spirit in judging evil of the ac-
tions of others, also, discovers itself.
Second^ In a disposition to put the worst
constructions on their actions. The censorious
are not only apt to judge others guilty of evil
actions without sufficient evidence, but they
are also prone to put a bad construction on
their actions, when they will just us well, and
perhaps better admit of a good construction.
Tery often tie moving design and end in the
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSORIOUS SPIRIT. 303
action, is secret, confined to the recesses of the
actor's own bosom ; and yet persons are com-
monly very forward to pass their censure
upon the act, without reference to these : and
this is a kind of censoriousness and unchar-
itable judging, as common, or more common
than any other. Thus it is very common with
men, when they are prejudiced against others,
to put bad constructions on their actions or
words that are seemingly good, as though
they were performed in hypocrisy ; and this
is especially true in reference to public ofiices
and afiairs. If anything be said or done by
persons, wherein there is a show of concern
for the public good, or the good of a neighbor,
or the honor of God, or the interest of reli-
gion, some will always be ready to say, that
all this is in hypocrisy, and that the design
really is, only to promote their own interest,
and to advance themselves ; and that they
are only flattering and deluding others, hav-
ing all the time some evil design in their
hearts.
But here it may be inquired, "Wherein lies
the evil of judging ill of others, since it is not
ti"ue that all judging ill of others is unlawful?
304 THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITY
And where are the lines to be drawn ?" To
this, I reply,
Firsts There are some persons that a/re ap-
pointed on ])UTjpo8e to he judges^ in civil socie-
ties, and in churches, who are impartially to
judge of others that properly fall under their
cognizance, whether good or bad, and to pass
sentence according to what they are ; to ap-
prove the good, and condemn the bad, ac-
cording to the evidence, and the nature of the
act done, and its agreement or disagreement
with the law which is the judges' rule.
Second^ Particular persons in their private
judgments of others, are not obliged to divest
themselves of reason^ that they may thus judge
well of all. This would be plainly against
reason; for Christian charity is not a thing
founded on the ruins of reason, but there is
the most sweet harmony between reason and
charity. And therefore we are not forbidden
to judge all persons when there is plain and
clear evidence that they are justly chargeable
with evil. We are not to blame, when we
judge those to be wicked men, and poor
Christless wretches, who give flagrant proof
that they are so by a course of wicked action.
" Some men's sins." says the Apostle, " ar©
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSORIOUS SPIRIT. 305
open beiorehand, going before to judgment,
and some men they follow after." That is,
some men's sins are such plain testimony
against them, that they are sufficient to con-
demn them as wicked men in full sight of the
world, even before the coming of that final
day of judgment that shall disclose the secrets
of the heart to all. And so some men's ac-
tions give such clear evidence of the evil of
their intentions, that it is no judging the se-
crets of the heart, to judge that their designs
and ends are wicked. And therefore it is
plain, that all judging as to others' state, or
qualifications, or actions, is not an unchari-
table censoriousness. But the evil of that
judging wherein censoriousness consists, lies
in two things : —
It lies, Jirst, in judging evil of others when
evidence does not oblige to it, or in thinking
ill of them when the case very well allows of
thinking well of them ; when those things
that seem to be in their favor are overlooked,
and only those that are against them are re-
garded, and when the latter are magnified,
and too great stress laid on them. And the
same is the case, when persons are hasty
and rash in judging and condemning others.
306 THE SPIEIT OF CHAKIIT
though both prudence and charity oblige
them to suspend their judgment till they
know more of the matter, and all the cir-
cumstances are plain before them. Persons
may often show a great deal of uncharitable-
ness and rashness, in freely censuring others
before they have heard what they have to say
in their defence. And hence it is said, " He
that answereth a matter before he heareth it,
it is folly and shame unto him," Proverbs
xviii. 13.
And the evil of that judging which is cen-
sorious, lies, in the second place, in a well-
pleasedness in judging ill of others. Persons
may judge ill of others, from clear and plain
evidence that compels them to it, and yet it
may be to their grief that they are obliged to
judge as they do ; just as when a tender parent
hears of some great crime of a child with such
evidence that he cannot but think it true.
But very often judgment is passed against
others, in such a manner as shows that the
individual is well pleased in passing it. He
is so forward in judging evil, and judges on
such slight evidence, and carries his judg-
ment to such extremes, as shows that his in-
clination is in it, and that he loves to think
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSORIOUS SPERir. 307
the worst of others. Such a well-pleasedness
in judging ill of others, is also manifested in
our being forward to declare our judgment,
and to speak, as well as think evil of others.
It may be in speaking of them with ridicule,
or an air of contempt, or in bitterness, or
maliciousness of spirit, or with manifest pleas-
ure in their deficiencies or errors. When to
judge ill of others, is against the inclination
of persons, they will be very cautious in doing
it, and will go no further in it than evidence
obliges them, and will think the best that the
nature of the case will admit, and will put the
best possible construction on the words and
actions of others. And when they are obliged,
against their inclination, to think evil of
another, it will be no pleasure to declare it,
but they will be backward to speak of it to
any, and will only do so when a sense of duty
leads them to it. Having thus shown the
nature of censoriousness, I pass, as proposed,
II. To show how a censorious spirit is conr
tra/ry to the spirit of cha/rity or Christian love.
And,
1. It is cont/rary to love to our neighhor.
And this appears by three things.
Itrst, We see that persons are very back-
808 THE SPIRIT OF OHAEITT
ward to judge evil of themselves. Tliey are very
ready to think well of their own qualifications.
And so they are forward to think the best of
their own state. If there be anything in them
that resembles grace, they are exceeding apt
to think that their state is good. And so they
are ready to think well of their own woi ds and
deeds, and very backward to think evil of
themselves in any of these respects. And the
reason is, that they have a great love to them-
Belves. And, therefore, if they loved their
neighbor as themselves, love would have the
Bame tendency with respect to him.
Second^ We see that persons are very hack-
ward to judge evil of those they love. Thus
we see it is in men toward those that are their
personal friends, and thus- it is in parents
toward their children. Tl ey aie very ready
to think well of them, and to think the best
of their qualifications, whether natural or
moral. They are much more backward than
others, to take up evil reports of them, and
Blow to believe what is said against them,
They are forward to put the most favorable
con structi ons on th eir actions . And the reason
is, because they love them.
Third, We see, also, that it is universally
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSOEIOUS SPIKIT. 309
the case, that where hatred and til- will toward
ithers most prevail., there a censorious spirit
ioe^ most prevail also. When persons fall
:)ut, and there is a difficulty between them,
ind anger and prejudice arise, and ill-will is
contracted, there is always a forwardness to
judge the worst of each other; an aptness to
think meanly of each other's qualifications,
and to imagine they discover in each other a
great many evil qualities, and some that are
very evil indeed. And each is apt to enter-
tain jealousies of what the other may do when
absent and out of sight; and is forward to listen
to evil reports respecting him, and to believe
every word of them, and apt to put the worst
construction on all that he may say or do.
A.nd very commonly there is a forwardness to
think ill of the condition he is in, and to
censure him as a graceless person. And as it
is in cases like this, of difficulty between par-
ticular persons, so it is apt to be the like in
cases of difference between two parties. And
these things show plainl}^, that it is want of
Christian love to our neighbor, and the indul-
gence of a contrary spii'it, from which cen-
Boriousness arises. I will only add,
2. That a censori(ms spirit tnanifests a
21
310 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
pioud spirit. —And this, the context declares,
is contrary to the spirit of charity, or Chris-
tian love. A forwardness to judge and cen-
sure others, shows a proud disposition, as
though the censorious person thought himself
free from such faults and blemishes, and there-
fore felt justified in being busy and bitter in
charging others with them, and censuring and
condemning them for them. This is implied
in the language of the Saviour, in the seventh
chapter of Matthew, " Judge not that ye be
not judged," and " why beholdest thou the
mote that is in thy brother's eye, but con-
siderest not the beam that is in thine own
eye ? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and
behold a beam is in thine own eye? Thou
hypocrite f'' And the same is implied in
the declaration of the apostle, "Therefore thou
art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art
thatjudgest: for wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself ; for thou thatjudgest,
doest the same things," Rom. ii. 1. If mer
were humbly sensible of their own failings,
they would not be very forward or pleased in
judging others, for the censure passed upcn
others would but rest on themselves. There
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSORIOUS SPIRIT. 311
are tlie same kinds of corruption in one man's
heart, as in another's ; and if those persons
that are most busy in censuring others would
])ut look within, and seriously examine their
ow^n hearts and lives, they might generally
see the same dispositions and behavior in
themselves, at one time or another, which they
see and judge in others, or at least something
as much deserving of censure. And a disposi-
tion to judge and condemn, shows a conceited
and arrogant disposition. It has the appear-
ance of a person's setting himself up above
others, as though he was fit to be the lord and
judge of his fellow-servants, and he supposed
they were to stand or fall according to his
sentence. This seems imj)lied in the language
of the Apostle, " He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh
evil of the law, and judgeth the law ; but if
thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the
law, but a judge," James iv. 11. That is, you
do not act as a fellow-servant to him that you
judge, or as one that is under the same law
with him, but as the giver of the law, and the
judge whose province it is to pass sentence
under it. And therefore it is added, in the
next verse, "There is one lawgiver, who is
312 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
able fo save and to destroy. Who art thou
that judgest auotherT' And so, in Romans
xiv. 4, " Who art thou that judgest another
man's servant ? To his own niasterhe standeth
or falleth." God is the only rightful judge, and
the thought of his sovereignty and dominion
should hold us back from daring to judge oi
censure our fellow-beings.
In the application of this subject, I remark,
1. It sternly reproves those who commonly
take to themselves the liberty of speaking evil
of others. — If to think evil be so much to be
condemned, surely they are still more to be
condemned who not only allow themselves in
thinking, but also in speaking evil of others,
and backbiting them with their tongues. The
evil-speaking that is against neighbors behind
their backs, does very much consist in censur-
ing them, or in the expression of uncharitable
thoughts and judgments of their persons and
behavior. And, therefore, speaking evil of
others, and judging others, are sometimes j)ut
for the same thing in the Bible, as in the
2)assage just quoted from the A^^ostle James.
How often does the Scripture condemn back-
biting and evil speaking ! The Psalmist de-
clares of tb<? wicked, "Thou givest thy mouth
THE Ol^POSITK OF A CENSOKIOUS Sl'IKIT. 313
to evil, and thy toni^iie tVametli deceit. Thou
gittest and speakest against tliy brother; thou
elanderest thine own mother's son," Psalm
1.19,20. And, says the Apostle, to Titus, "Put
them in mind to speak evil of no man, to be
no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness
unto all men," Titus iii. 1, 2 ; and again it is
written, " Wherefore laying aside all malice,
and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and
all evil-speakings," 1 Peter ii. 1. And it is
mentioned, as part of the character of every-
one that is a citizen of Zion, and that shall
stand on God's holy hill, " that he backbiteth
not with his tongue," Psalm xv. 3. Inquire,
therefore, whether you have not been often
guilty of this ; whetlier you have not frequently
censured others, and expressed your hard
thoughts of them, especially of those with
whom you may have had some difficulty, or
that have been of a different party from your
self? And is it not a practice in which you
more or less allow yom'self now, from day to
day ? And if so, consider how contrary it is
to the spirit of Christianity, and to the solemn
profession which, it may be, you have made
as Christians ; and be admonished entirely
and at once to forsake it. The subject,
314 THE SPIRIT OF CHAEITY
2. Warns all against censoriousness either/
lyy tJmihing or speaking evil of others^ as they
would he worthy of the name of Christians. —
And here in addition to the thoughts already
suggested, let two or three things be con-
sidered. And,
First., How often, when the truth comes
fully out., do things appear far better con-
cerning others., than at first we were ready to
judge. There are many instances in the Scrip-
tures to this point. "When the children of
Reuben, and of Gad, and the half tribe of
Manasseh had built an altar by Jordan, the
rest of Israel heard of it, and presently con-
cluded that they had turned away from the
Lord, and rashly resolved to go to war against
them. But when the truth came to light, it
appeared, on the contrary, that they had
erected their altar for a good end, even for
the worship of God, as may be seen in the
twenty-second chapter of Joshua. Eli thought
Hannah was drunk, when she came up to the
temple ; but when the truth came to light, he
was satisfied that she was full of grief, and
was praying and pouring out her soul before
God, 1 Samuel i, 12-16. David concluded,
from what Ziba told him, that Mephiboslieth
THE Ol'POSITE OF A CENSORIOUS SPIRIT. 315
had manifested a rebellious and treasonable
spirit against his cro\ra, and so acted on his
censorious judgment, greatly to the injury of
the latter; but when the truth came to appear,
he saw it was quite otherwise. Elijah judg-ed
ill of the state of Israel, that none were true
worshippers of God but himself; but when
God told him the truth, it appeared that there
were seven thousand who had not bowed the
knee to Baal. And how commonly are things
very much the same now-a-days ! How often,
on thorough examination, have we found things
better of others than we have heard, and than
at first we were ready to judge I There are
always two sides to every story, and it is
generally wise, and safe, and charitable to
take the best ; and yet there is probably no
one wa}' in which persons are so liable to be
wrong, as in presuming the worst is true, and
in forming and expressing their judgment of
others, and of their actions, without waiting
till all the truth is knowm.
Second, How little occasion is there foi^ \ls to
pass our sentence on others with respect to
their stiite, qualifications, or actions that do
not concern us. Our great concern is with
ourselves. It is of infinite consequence to us,
316 THE SPIRIT OF CHARITY
that we have a good estate before God ; that
we are possessed of good qualities and prin-
ciples ; and that we behave ourselves well,
and act with right aims, and for right ends.
But it is a minor matter to us how it is with
others. And there is little need of our cen-
Bure being passed, even if it were deserved,
which we cannot be sure of ; for the business
is in the hands of God, who is infinitely more
fit to see to it than we can be. And there is
a day appointed for his decision. So that if
we assume to judge others, we shall not only
take upon ourselves a work that does not belong
to us, but we shall be doing it before the time.
"Therefore," says the Apostle, "judge nothing
before the time, until 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 Lave
praise of God," 1 Corinthians iv. 5.
Third^ God has threatened, that if we are
found censoriously judging and condemn-
ing others^ we shall he condemned ourselves.
'* Judge not," he says, " that ye be not judged ;
for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged." And, again, the Apostle asks, " And
thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them
THE OPPOSITE OF A CENSOmOUS SPIRIT. 317
which do such things, and doest the same, that
thou shalt escape the just judgment of God?"
Romans ii. 3. These are awful threatenings,
from the lips of that great being who is to he
our judge at the final day, by whom it in-
finitely concerns us to be acquitted, and from
whom a sentence of condemnation will be un-
speakably dreadful to us, if at last we sink
lorever under it. Therefore as we would not
ourselves receive condemnation from him, let
08 not mete out such measure to others.
LECTUKE XL
ILL TRUE GRACE IN THE HEART TENDS TO HOLT
PRACTICE IN THE LIFE,.
" Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth."—
I Corinthians xiii. 6.
Having mentioned in the two preceding
verses, many of the good fruits of charity,
and shown how it tends to an excellent beha-
vior in many particulars, the Apostle now
sums up these, and all other good tendencies
of charity in respect to active conduct, by say-
ing, " It rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth
in the truth." As if he had said, " 1 have
mentioned many excellent things that charitj
has a tendency to, and shown how it is con-
trary to many evil things. But I need not go
on to multiply particulars, for, in a word,
charity is contrary to everything in the life
and practice that is evil, and tends to every-
TKUE GKACE IN THE HEART. 319
thing that is good. It rejoiceth not in in-
iquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.*'
B}^ "iniquity," seems to be intended here,
everything that is sinful in the life and prac-
tice ; and by "the truth," everything that is
good in the life, or all that is included in
Christian and holy practice. The word truth
is, indeed, variously used in the Bible. Some-
times it means the true doctrines of religion ;
sometimes the knowledge of these doctrines ;
sometimes, veracity or faithfulness ; and some-
times, it signifies all virtue and holiness, in-
cluding both the knowledge and reception of
all the great truths of the Scriptures, and con-
formity to these in the life and conduct. In
this last sense the word is used by the Apos-
tle John, when he says, "I rejoiced greatly
when the brethren came and testified of the
truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in
the truth," 3 John 3. Taking the word in
this sense, and generalizing the proposition,
we have, as suggested by the text, the doc-
trine.
That all true Christian grace in the
HEART, tends TO HOLY PRACTICE IN THE LIFE. —
Negatwely^ the Apostle declares that charity
ig opposed to all wickedness, or evil practice ;
320 TRUE GRACE IN THE HEART
and positively^ tliat it tends to all righteous-
ness, or liolj practice. And as the principle
may be generalized, and also as charity has
heen shown to be the sum of all true and sav-
ing grace, the doctrine that, has been stated
seems clearly contained in the words of the
text, viz. : the doctrine, that all true Chris-
tian grace tends to holy iwactice. If any have
the notion of grace, that it is something put
into the heart, there to be confined and dor-
mant, and that its influence does not govern
the man, throughout, as an active heing • or
if they suj)pose that the change made by
grace, though it indeed betters the heart
itself, yet has no tendency to a corresjjonding
improvement of the outward life, they have a
very wrong notion. And that this is so, I
would endeavor to make plain, first, by some
arguments in favor of the doctrine that has
been stated ; and, second, by showing its
truth with respect to particular graces. And,
I. I would state some arguments in support
of the doctrine^ that all true grace in the hearty
tends to holy practice in the life. And,
1. Holy practice is the aim of that eternal
election.^ which is the first ground of the hestow-
ment of all true grace — Holy practice is not
TENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LIFE. 321
tlie groand and reason of election, as is sup-
posed by the Afminians, who imagine that
God elects men to everlasting life upon a fore-
sight of their good works ; but it is the aim
and end of election. God does net elect
men because he foresees they will be holy,
but that he may make them, and that they
may be holy. Thus, in election, God ordained
that men should walk in good works, as says
the Apostle, " For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them," Ephesians ii. 10. And
again it is said, that the elect are chosen to
this very end, "lie hath chosen us, in him,
before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy, and without blame before him
in love," Ephesians i. 4. And so Christ tells
his disciples, "I have chosen you, and or-
dained you, that ye should go, and bring forth
fruit, and that your fruit should remain,"
John XV. 16. Now God's eternal election is
the first ground of the bestowment of saving
gi'ace. And some have such saving grace,
aiul others do not have it, because some arc
fi'om eternity chosen of God, and others are
not chosen. And seeing that holy practice is
322 TKUE GRACE IN 'HIE IIEAKT
the scope and aim of that which is the first
ground of the bestownient of grace, this same
holj practice is doubtless the tendency of
grace itself. Otherwise it would follow,
that God makes use of a certain means to
attain an end which is not fitted to attain
that end, and has no tendency to it. It is
further true,
2. That redemption^ hy which grace is pur-
chased, is to the same end. — ^The redemption
made by Christ is the next ground of the be-
stowment of grace on all who possess it.
Christ, by his merits, in the great things that
he did and sufifered in the world, has purchased
grace and holiness for his own people. " For
their sakes," he says, " I sanctify myself, that
they also might be sanctified through the
truth," John xvii. 19. And Christ thus re-
deemed the elect, and purchased grace for
them, to the end that they might walk in holy
practice. He has reconciled them to God by
his death, to save them from wicked works,
that they might be holy and unblamable in
their lives, says the Apostle, " And you, that
were sometime alienated, and enemies in
your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he
reconcded, in the bod}^ of his fltsh, through
TENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LIFE. 328
death, to present you holy, and nnblamable,
and unreprovable in his sight," Colossians
i. 21, 22. When the angel appeared to Jo-
seph, he told him that the child that should
be born of Mary should be called Jesus, that
is, Saviour, because he should save his people
from their sins. Matt. i. 21. And holiness of
life is declared to be the end of redemption,
when it is said of Christ, that " he gave him-
self for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
peoj)le, zealous of good works," Titus ii. 14.
And so we are told that Christ " died for all,
that they which live should not henceforth
live unto themselves, but unto him which died
for them and rose again," 1 Corinthians v.
15. And for this end, he is said to have of-
fered himself, through the eternal Spirit, with-
out spot to God, that his blood might purge
our conscience from dead works to serve the
living God, Hebrews ix. 15.
The most remarkable type of the work of re-
demption by divine love in all the Old Testa-
ment history, was the redemption of the chil-
dicn of Israel out of Egypt. But the holy
living of his people, was the end God had in
view in that redemption, as he often signified
324 TRUE GEACE IN THE HEAET
to Pharaoh, when from time to time he said
fco him by Moses and Aaron, " Let ray people
go that they may serve me." And we have
a like expression concerning Christ's redemp-
tion in the New Testament, where it is said,
" Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he
hath visited and redeemed his people, to per-
form the mercy promised to our fathers, and
to remember his holy covenant, the oath
which he sware to our father Abraham, that
he would grant unto us, that we, being deliv-
ered out of tlie hand of our enemies, might
serve him without fear, in holiness and right-
eousness before him, all the days of our life,"
Luke i. 68-75. All these things make it very
plain that the end of redemj)tion is, that we
might be holy. Still further it is true,
3. That effectual calliny, or that saving
conversion in which grace is commenced in the
soul^ is to the same end. — God, by his Spirit,
and through his truth, calls, awakens, convicts,
converts and leads to the exercise of grace, all
those who are made willing in the day of his
power, to the end that they might exercise
themselves in holy practice, " We are his
workmanship," says the Apostle, " created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
l"EjqT)S TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LIFE. 325
liath before ordained that we should live in
them," Ephesians ii. 10. And the Apostle
tells the Christian Thessalonians, that God
had not called them unto uncleanness, but
unto holiness, 1 Thes. iv. 7; and again it is
wiitten, "As he which hath called jou is
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conver-
eatiou," 1 Peter i. 15. It is also true,
4. That spiritual hnowledge and under-
standing^ which are the inward attendants of
all true grace in the hearty tend to holy prac-
tice. — A true knowledge of God and divine
things, is a practical knowledge. As to a
mere speculative knowledge of the things of
religion, many wicked men have attained to
great measures of it. Men may possess vast
learning, and their learning may consist very
much of their knowledge in divinity, and of the
Bible, and of the things pertaining to religion,
and they may be able to reason very strongly
about the attributes of God, and the doctrines
of Christianity, and yet herein their knowledge
fails of being a saving knowledge, that it is
only speculative and not practical. He that
has a right and saving acqnaintance with
divine things, sees the excellency of holiness,
and of all the ways of holiness, for he sees the
09
326 TKTJE GKACE IN THE HEAKT
beauty and excellency of God, which consist
in his holiness ; and for the same reason he
sees the hatefulness of sin, and of all the ways
of sin. And if a man knows the hatefulness
of the ways of sin, certainly this tends to his
avoiding these ways ; and if he sees the love-
liness of the waj8 of holiness, this tends to
Incline him to walk in them.
He that knows God, sees that he is worthy
to be obeyed. Pharaoh did not see why he
should obey God, because he did not know
who he was, and therefore he says, " Who is
the Lord, that I should obey his voice ? I know
not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go," Ex-
odus V. 2. This is signified to be the reason
why wicked men work or jiractise iniquity,
and carry themselves so wickedly, that they
have no spiritual knowledge, as says the
Psalmist, " Have all the workers of iniquity
no knowledge ? who eat up my people as they
eat bread, and call not upon the Lord," Psalm
xiv. 4. And when God would describe the
true knowledge of himself to the people of Is-
rael, he does it by this fruit of it, that it led
to holy practice, " He judged the cause of
the poor and needy ; then it was well with
him. "Was not this to know me ? saith the
TENDS TO HOLT PRACTICE IN LIFE. 327
Lord," Jeremiah xxii. 16. And so the Apos-
tle John informs us, that the keeping of
Christ's commands is an infallible fruit of our
knowing him ; and he stio-matizes him as a
gross hypocrite and liar, who pretends that
he knows Christ, and does not keep his com-
mandments, 1 John ii. 3 and 4. If a man has
spiritual knowledge and understanding, it
tends to make him to be of an excellent spirit.
" A man of understanding is of an excellent
spirit," Prov. xvii. 27. And such an excel-
lent spirit, will lead to a corresponding beha-
vior. And the same appears, also,
5. From, the more immediate consideration
of the principle of grace itself from which it
will he seen^ that the tendency of all Christian
grace is to practice. And hei'e,
First., It appears that all true Christian
grace tends to practice, because the faculty
which is the i'mmediate seat of it., is the faculty
of the will., which is the faculty that commands
all a mail's actions and practice. The imme-
diate seat of grace, is in the will or disposition.
And this shows that all true grace tends to
practice ; for there is not one of man's acts
that can properly be said to belong to, or to
be any part of his practice, in any respect but
828 TRUE GRACE IN THE HEART
that it is at the command of the will. When
we s^^eak of a man's practice, we have respect
to those things that he does as a free and vol-
untary agent, or which is the same thing, to
those things that he does bj an act of his
will ; so that the whole of a man's practice is
directed bj the faculty of the will. All the
executive powers of the man, whether of body
or mind, are subject to the faculty of the will
by the constitution of him who hath made
mau, and who is the great author of our being.
The will is the fountain of the practice, as
truly as the head of a spring is the fountain
of the stream that flows from it. And there-
fore if a principle of true grace be seated in
this faculty it must necessarily tend to prac-
tice ; as much as the flowing of water in the
fountain, tends to its flowing in the stream.
Second^ It is the definition of grace^ that it
is a principle of holy action. — What is grace
but a principle of holiness, or a holy principle
in the heart? But the word ^'"principle''' is
relative to something, of which it is a princi-
ple. And if grace be a principle, what is it
a principle of, but of action ? Principles ano
actions are correlates, that necessarily have
respect one to the other. Thus the very idea
TENDS TO HOLT PKACTICE IN LIFE. 329
of a principle of life, is, a principle that acts
in the life. And so when we speak of a prin-
ciple of understanding, we mean a principle
whence flow acts of understanding. And so
by a principle of sin, is meant a principle
whence flow acts of sin. And in the same
manner when we speak of a principle of
grace, we mean a principle whence flow acts
of grace, or gracious actions. A principle of
grace has as much a relation to practice, as a
root has to the plant that it is the root of. If
there be a root, it is a root of something;
either the root of something that actually
grows from it, or that tends to bring forth
some plant. It is absurd to speak of a root,
that is the root of nothing ; and so it is absurd
to speak of a principle of grace, that does not
tend to grace in the practice.
Thirds One more thing, by which that
which is real and substantial, is distinguished
from that which is only a shadow or appear-
ance, is, that it is effectual. A shadow or
picture of a man, though it be ever so distinct
or well drawn, or give ever so lively a repre-
Bentation, and though it be the picture of a
very strong man. or even of a mighty giant,
can do nothing There is nothing accom
330 TRUE GRACE IN THE HEART
plished and brought to jDass by it, because it
is not real, but only a shadow or image. The
substance or reality, however, is something
that is effectual. And so it is with what is in
the heart of man. That which is only an ap-
pearance or image of grace, though it looks
like grace, is not effectual, because it wants
reality and substance. But that which is real
and substantial is effectual, and does indeed
bring something to pass in the life. In other
words, it acts itself out in practice. And so,
again.
Fourth^ The nature of a principle of graca^
is to 1)6 a jprinciple of Ufe^ or a vital principle.
This we are everywhere taught in the Scrip-
tures. There, natural men who have no prin-
ciple of grace in the heart, are represented as
dead men, while those that have grace are
represented as being alive, or having the prin-
ciple of life in them. But it is the nature of
a principle of life, to be a principle of action
and operation. A dead man does not act, or
move, or bring anything to pass ; but in liv-
ing persons, the life appears by a continued
course of action from day to day. They move,
and walk, and work, and fill up their time
with actions that are the fruits of life.
TENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LIFE. 33 1
Fifth. True Christian grace, is not only a
principle of life, hut an exceedingly powerful
jprincijjle. Hence we read of "the power of
godliness," as in 2 Timothy iii. 5 ; and are
taught that there is in it a divine power, such
as wrought in Christ when he was raised from
the dead. But the more powerful any prin-
ciple is, the more effectual it is to produce
those operations, and that practice, to which
it tends. Having thus shown, in general,
that all true grace in the heart tends to holy
practice in the life, I proceed, as was pro-
posed,
n. To show the same with respect to the
particular Christian graces. — And here, I re-
mark that this is the case,
1. With respect to a true and saving faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. — This is one thing
that very much distinguishes that faith which
is saving, from that which is only common.
A true faith, is a faith that works ; whereas
a false faith, is a barren and inoperative faith.
And therefore the Apostle deso'ibes a saving
faith, as a " faith that worketh by love," Ga-
latians v. 6. And the Apostle James tells us,
" A man may say. Thou hast faith, and I
have works: sliow me thy faith without thy
332 TRUE GRACE IN THE HEAET
works, and I will show thee my faith by my
works," James ii. 18. But more particu-
larly^
First^ The conviction of the under standttig
and judgment^ which is implied in saving
faith, tends to holy j)ractice. He that has true
faith, is convinced of the reality and certainty
of the great things of religion ; and he that is
convinced of the reality of these things, will
be influenced by them, and tliey will govern
his actions and behavior. If men are told of
great things, which if true, do most intimately
concern them, and do not believe what they
are told, they will not be much moved by
them, nor will they alter their conduct for
what they hear. But if they do really believe
what they are told, and regard it as certain,
they will be influenced by it in their actions,
and in view of it will alter their conduct, and
will do very differently from what they would
if they had heard nothing. We see that this
is so in all things of great concern that appear
real to men. If a man hears important news
that concerns himself, and we do not see that
he alters at all for it in his practice, we at
once conclude that he does not give heed to
;t as true ; for we know the nature of man is
TENDS TO HOLY PEACTICE IN LITE. 333
Buch^ that he will govern his actions by what
he believes, and is convinced of. And so if
men are really convinced of the truth of the
things they are told in the gospel, about an
eternal world, and the everlasting salvation
that Christ has purchased for all that will ac-
cept it, it will influence their practice. Tliey
will regulate their behavior according to such
a belief, and will act in such a manner as will
tend to their obtaining tliis eternal salvation.
If men are convinced of the certain truth of
the promises of the gospel, which promise
eternal riches, and honors, and pleasures, and
if they really believe that those are immense-
ly more valuable than all the riches, and
honors, and pleasures of the world, they will,
for these, forsake the things of the world, and
if need be, sell all and follow Christ. If they
are fully convinced of the truth of the prom-
ise, that Christ will indeed bestow all these
things upon his people, and if all this appears
real to them, it will have influence on their
practice, and it will induce them to live ac-
cordingly. Their j)ractice will be according
to their convictions. The very nature of man
forbids that it should be otherwise. If a man
be premised by another, that if he will part
334 TRUE GEACE IN THE HEAKT
vnih one pound, lie will give him a thousand,
and if he is fully convinced of the truth of
this promise, he will readily part with the for-
mer in the assurance of obtaining the latter.
And so he that is convinced of the sufficiency
of Christ tO' deliver him from all evil, and to
bring him to the possession of all good that
he needs, will be influenced in his practice by
the promise which ofifers him all this. Such
a man, while he actually has such a convic-
tion, will not be afraid to believe Christ in
things wherein he otherwise would seem
greatly to expose himself to calamity, for he
is convinced that Christ is able to deliver him.
And so he will not be afraid to forego other
ways of securing earthly happiness, because
he is convinced that Christ alone is sufficient
to bestow all needed happiness upon him.
And so,
/Second, That act of the will, which there is in
saving faith, tends to holy jpractice. He that
by the act of his will, does truly accept of
Christ as a Saviour, accej^ts of him as a Sa-
viour from sin, and not merely as a Saviour
from \hQ. punishment of sin. But it is impos-
Bible that any one should heartily receive
Christ as a Saviour from sin, and from the
TENDS TO HOLY PKACTICE IN LIFE. 335
ways of sin, if lie has not willed and does not
aim, sincerely, in heart and life, to turn from
all the ways of sin ; for he that has not willed
that sin and he should part, cannot have
willed to receive Christ as his Saviour to part
them. And so he, again, that receives Christ
by a living faith, closes with him as a Lord
and King to rule over and reign in him, and
not merely as a priest to make atonement for
him. But to choose Christ, and close with
him as a King, is the same as to yield in sub-
mission to his law and in obedience to his
authority and commands ; and he that does
this, lives a life of holy pi^actice.
Thirds All the true trust in God^ that is
implied in saving faith, tends to holy practice.
And herein a true trust differs from all false
trust. A trust in God in the way of negli-
gence, is what in Scripture is called tempting
God ; and a trust in him in the way of sin, is
what is called presumption, which is a thing
terribly threatened in his word. But he that
truly and rightly trusts in God, trusts in him
in the way of diligence and holiness ; or,
which is the same thing, in the way of holy
practice. The very idea of our trusting in
another, is, resting or living in acquiescence
336 TRUE GRACE IK THE HEART
of mind and heart in the full persuasion of hia
sufficiency and faithfulness, so as to be ready
fully to venture on him in our actions. But
they that do not practise and act upon the
persuasion of another's sufficiency and faith-
fulness, do not thus venture. They do not
enter on any action or course of action in such
a confidence, and so venture nothing, and
therefore cannot be said truly to trust. He
that really trusts in another, ventures on his
confidence. And so it is with those that truly
trust in God. They rest in the full persuasion
that God is sufficient and faithful, so as to
proceed in this confidence to follow God, and
if need be, to undergo difficulties and hard-
ships for him, because he has promised that
they shall be no losers by such a course ; and
they have such a confidence of this, that they
can, and do venture upon his promise, while
those who are not willing thus to venture,
show that they do not trust in him. They
that have the full trust in God which is im-
plied in a living faith, will not be afraid to
trust God with their estates. It is so with re-
spect to trust in men, that if those we have
full confidence in, desire to borrow anything
9f us, ard promise to pay us again, and to pay
TENDS TO HOLY PEACTICE IN LIFE. 337
US an hundred fold, we are not afraid to ven-
ture, and do actually venture it. And so
those that feel full confidence in God, are not
afraid to lend to the Lord. And so if we
trust in God, we shall not be afraid to venture
labor, and fighting, and watching, and suffer-
ing, and all things for him, since he has so
abundantly promised to reward these things
with that which will infinitely more than make
up for all the losses or difiiculties or sorrows
we may experience in the way of duty. If
our faith be saving, it will lead us thus ac-
tually to venture on God, in the fullest trust
in his character and promises. And as faith
in itself, and in all that is implied in it, tends
to holy practice, so the same is the case,
2. With respect to all true love to God. —
Love is an active principle ; a principle that
we always find is active in things of this world.
Love to our fellow-creatures, always influ-
ences us in our actions and practice. The
whole world of mankind are chiefly kept in
action from day to day, and from year to
year, by love of some kind or another. He
that loves money, is influenced in his practice
by that love, and kept by it in the continual
pursuit of wealth. He that loves honor, is
338 TKUE GKACE EST THE HEaKT
governed in his practice by that love, and his
actions through the whole of life are regulated
by his desire for it. And how diligently do
they that love carnal pleasures, pursue after
them in their practice ! And so he that truly
loves God, is also influenced by that love in
his practice. He constantly seeks after God,
in the course of his life : seeks his grace, and
acceptance, and glory.
Reason teaches, that a man's actions are the
most proper test and evidence of his love.
Thus if a man professes a great deal of love
and friendship to another, reason, in such a
case, teaches all mankind that the most proper
evidence of his being a real and hearty friend,
as he professes to be, is his appearing a friend
in his deeds, and not only in his words ; and
that he shall be willing, if need be, to deny
himself for his friend, and to suffer in his omii
private interest for the sake of doing him a
kindness. If a man professes ever so much
kindness, or friendsliip, a wise man will not
trust the profession, except as he sees the tria^
and proof of it in the behavior ; unless in his
actions he has found him a faithful and con-
stant friend, ready to do and suffer fbr him.
He will trust to such evidence of his love,
l-ENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LIFE. 339
more than he will to the greatest professions,
or even the most solemn oaths without it.
And so if we see a man, who by his constant
behavior, shows himself ready to take pains
and lay himself out for God, reason teaches,
that in this he gives an evidence of love to
God, more to be depended on, than if he only
professes that he feels great love to God in
his heart. And so if we see a man, who by
what we behold of the course of his life,
seems to follow and imitate Christ, and
greatly lay himself out for Christ's honor,
and the advancement of his kingdom in the
world, reason teaches that he gives greater
evidence of the sincerity and strength of his
love to the Saviour, than if he only declares
that he loves him, and tells how his heart at
such and such a time was drawn out in love
to him, while at the same time he is back-
ward to do any great matter for Christ, or to
put himself out of the way for the promotion
of his kino dom, and is ready to excuse him-
self when called to active eflbrt or self-denial
for his Saviour's sake.
There are various ways for tl le eiercise of
sincere love to God, and they all tend to holy
practice. One is in having a high efiU^^»^ for
84:0 TRTJE GRACE IJf THE HEART
God, for that which we love we liave the high
est esteem for, and naturally show this esteem
in our behavior. Another way of showing our
love to God, is, in making choice of him above
all other things ; and if we do sincerely choose
him above all other things, then we shall ac-
tually leave other things for him when it
comes to the trial in our practice : and when
in the course of our life it comes to pass, that
God and our honor, or God and our money, or
God and our ease, are at the same time set
before us, so that we must cleave to the one
and forsake the other, then if we really choose
God above these other things, we shall in our
practice cleave to God and let these things go.
Another way of the exercise of love to God
is, in our desires after him ; and these, also,
tend to practice. He that really has earnest
desires after God, with be stirred up actively
to seek after him. He will apply himself to
it as a business, just as men do for this world,
when they have earnest desires for a good
which they believe is attainable. And still
another way of the exercise of love to God,
is, in delighting in him, and finding satisfac-
tion and happiness in him ; and this also tends
to practice. He that really and sincerely de-
TENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LUE. 341
lights more in God than in other things, &.T'P.
finds his satisfaction in God, will not forsake
God for other things ; and thus, by his con-
duct, he shows that he indeed is satisfied in
him as his portion. And so it is in all cases.
If we have had enjoyment in any possession
whatever, and then afterward forsake it for
something else, this is an evidence that we
were not fully satisfied with it, and that we
did not delight in it above all other things.
In all these cases, the feelings and choices will
be seen in the practice.
3. All true and saving repentance tends to
holy practice. — In the original of the New
Testament, the word commonly rendered " re-
pentance," signifies a cJiancje of the mindj
and men are said to repent of sin, when
they change their minds with respect to it, so
that though formerly they esteemed and ap-
proved of it, they now utterly disapprove and
dislike it. But such a change of the mind,
must and does tend to a corresponding change
of the practice. We see it to be so universally
in other things. If a man has heretofore been
engaged in any pursuit or business wiiatever,
and then changes his mind upon it, he will
cljange his practice also, and will cease from
23
342 TKUE GRACE IN THE HEAKT
that business, or pursuit, or way of life, and
turn his hand to some other. Sorrow for sin
is one thing belonging to saving repentance.
But sorrow for sin, if it be thorough and sin-
cere, will tend, in practice, to the forsaking
of sin. And so it is in everything. If a man
has long gone on in any one way or manner
of behavior, and afterwards is convinced of
the foolishness and sinfidness of it, and is
heartily sorry and grieved for it, the natural
and necessary effect of this will be, that he
will avoid it for the future. And if he o-oes
on in it just as he did before, no one will be-
lieve that he is heartily sorry for h-aving gone
on in time past. Again,
4. All true huonility tends to holyjpractice. —
This is a grace abundantly recommended and
insisted on in the Bible, and which is often
spoken of as distinguishing a true Christian
experience from that which is counterfeit.
But this grace in the heart, has a direct ten-
dency to holy practice in the life. A humble
heart tends to a humble behavior. He that is
sensibleof his own littleness, and nothingness,
and exceeding unworthiness, will be disposed,
by a sense of it, to carry himself accordingly
both before God and man. He that once was
TENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LIFE. 343
of a proud heart, and under the dominion of
pride in his conduct, if afterward he has his
heart changed to a humble heart, will neces-
sarilj have a corresponding change in his
behavior. He wull no longer appear in his
demeanor as proud, and scornful, and ambi-
tious as once he was, aftecting, as much as
ever, to appear above others, and striving as
much after it, and as apt to condemn others,
and to be dissatisfied or even enraged with
those that seem to stand in the way of his
earthlj glory. For that which such a beha-
vior in him rose from, befoi'e he was changed,
was pride of heart ; and therefore if now there
be a great alteration with respect to this pride
of heart, and it be mortified and banished
from the soul, and humility implanted in its
place, surely there will be an alteration, also,
in the demeanor and practice ; for humility
of heart is a principle that has as strong a
tendency to practice as pride of heart has, and
therefore if the latter be mortified, and the
former take its place, then the proud practice
that proceeded from the former will propor-
tionably cease, and the humble practice which
is the natural fruit of the latter, will be mani-
fest.
344 TEtlE GRACE IN THE HEART
True Christian humility of heart tends, also,
to make persons resigned to the will of God,
and to lead tliem to be j^atientand submissive
to his holy hand under the afflictions he may
send, and to be filled with deep reverence
toward the Deity, and to treat divine things
with the highest respect. It leads, also, to a
meek behavior toward men, making us con-
descending to inferiors, resi^ectful to superiors,
and toward all gentle, peaceful, easy to be
entreated, not self-willed, not envious of others
but contented with our own condition, of a
calm and quiet spirit, not disposed to resent
injuries, but apt to forgive. And surely these
are traits that belong to holy j)ractice. And
80 again,
5. All true fear of God tends to holy prao-
tice. — The principal thing meant in the Scrip-
tures by the fear of God, is a holy solicitude
or dread lest we should oifend God by sinning
against him. JSTow if a man do truly fear to
oifend God, and if he habitually dreads the
thought of sinning against him, this will surely
tend to his avoiding sin against him. That
which men are afraid of they will shun. If a
man professes that he is afraid and has a
dread of a poisonous sei-pent, for example, but
TENDS TO HOLY PKA.CTICE IN LIFE. 345
at the same time is seen to take no care to
shun him, but is very bold to keep near to
him, who will believe his profession '{ Fear-
ing God and observing to do all his command-
ments, are joined together as necessarily aris-
ing the one from the other, as in Deuteronomy
xxviii. 58. " If thou wilt not observe to do
all the words of this law, that are written in
this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious
and fearful name, the Lord, thy God." And
Joseph gives as a reason of his righteous and
merciful conduct towards his brethren, that
he feared God, as may be seen in Genesis
xlii. 18. And in Proverbs viii. 13, it is said
that " the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.'
Job gives it as a reason why he avoided sin,
that " destruction from God was a terror to
him," Job xxxi. 23. And God himself, when
he speaks of Job as " eschewing evil," men-
tions his fear of God as the ground and reason
of it. Job i. 8. And in any person whatever,
just so far as the fear of God reigns, just so
far will it lead its possessor to avoid sin, and
to aim to be holy. Again,
6. The sjjirit of thankfulness and jpraise
tends to holy practice. — Sincere thankfulness
to God leads us to render again according to
346 TKUE GKACE IN THE HEART
the benefits received. This we look upon as
a sure evidence of true gratitude or thankful-
ness toward our fellow-men. If any one does
his neighbor any remarkable kindness, and he
is really thankful for it, he will be ready, when
an occasion offers, to do him a good in return.
And though we cannot requite God's kindness
to us by doing anything that shall be profita-
ble to him, yet a spirit of thankfulness will
dispose us to do wliat we can which is well-
pleasing or acceptable to him, or which may
tend to his declarative glory. If one man
should take pity on another who was in some
great distress, or in danger of some terrible
death, and moved by this pity should greatly
lay himself out for his defence and deliver-
ance, and should undergo great hardships and
sufferings in order to it, and by these means
should actually deliver him, and if the latter
should express great thankfulness toward his
deliverer, and yet in his actions and course
of conduct should oppose and dishonor and
cast contempt upon him, and do him great
injury, no one would give much heed to all
his professions of thankfulness. If he is truly
thankful, lie will never act thus wickedly
toward h s benefactor. And so no man can
TENDS TO HOLY PBACTICE IN LIFE. oil
be truly thankful to God for the dying love
of Christ, and for tlie infinite mercy and love
of God toward himself, and yet lead a wicked
life. His gratitude, if sincere, will lead him
to he holv. The same is true, asrain,
7. Of a ChriMlan loeanedness from the
toorld.f and of heavenly-mindedness^ that they
tend to holy practiee. — And I speak of the two
together, for they are veiy much the same
thing expressed negatively and positively.
Kot to be weaned from the world, is the same
thing as to be worldly-mhided ; and on the
other hand, to have a truly Christian weaned-
ness from the world, is to be not worldly, but
heavenly-minded. And this grace, like all
the others mentioned, tends to holy practice.
If the heart be taken oft' from the world, it
will tend to take off the pursuits from the
world ; and if the heart be set on heavenly
things, which are things not of the world, it
will tend to lead us to pursue the things that
are heavenly. He that has his heart loose
from the world, will not practically keep the
world close in his grasp, as being exceeding
loth to part with any of it. If a man speak-
ing of his experience, tells how at some given
time he felt his heart weaned from the world,
348 TKUE GRACE IN THE HEART
SO tliat the world seemed as nothing and
vanity to him, and yet if in practice he seems
as violent after the world as ever, and a great
deal more earnest after it than he is after
heavenly things, such as growth in grace, and
in the knowledge of God, and in duty, then
his profession will have but little weight in
comparison with his practice. And so if his
conduct shows that he thinks more of treasure
on earth than of treasure in heaven, and if
when he has got the world, or some part of it,
he hugs it close,, and appears exceedingly re-
luctant to let even a little of it go for pious
and charitable uses, though God promises him
a thousand-fold more in heaven for it, he
gives not the least evidence of his being
weaned from the world, or that he prefers
heavenly things to the things of the world.
Judging by his practice, there is sad reason
to believe that his profession is in vain. The
same is true, also,
8. Of the spirit of Christian love to men^
that this also tends to holy jpractice. — If the
spirit of love to man be sincere, it will tend
to the practice and deeds of love. That is a
hypocritical, and not a sincere love, that ap-
pears rnly in word and tongue, and not in
TENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LIFE. 349
deed ; but that love which is sincere, and
really a true love, will be manifest in the
deeds, as says the Apostle, " My little chil-
dren, let us not love in word, neither in tongue,
but in deed and in truth. And hereby we
know that we are of the truth, and shall assure
our liearts before him," 1 John iii. 18, 19.
No other love to brethren, except that which
shows itself in deeds of love, will profit anj
man. " If a brother or sister be naked, and
destitute of daily food, and one of you say
unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed
and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not
those things which are needful to the body,
what doth it profit?" James ii. 15, 16.
Experience shows, that those who cherish a
sincere love toward others, are ready both to
do and suffer for them. We are very ready
to believe that parents love their own children,
because this is natural ; and such a lovo
generally prevails throughout the world. But
incredible as it is that a man should not lo\e
his own children, yet if there was a father that
beheld his child in suffering circumstances,
and would not put himself out of the way to
relieve him, or that did not ordinarily treat
his children with consideration and kindness,
350 TRUE GRACE IN THE HEART
but acted from day to day as though he were
utterly careless of their comfort, or as to what
became of them, we should scarcely believe
that he had anything of a father's love in his
heart. Love to our children, will dispose us
to loving deeds to our children. And so love
to our neighbor, will dispose us to all manner
of good practice toward our neighbor. So the
Apostle declares, when after summing up the
several commandments of the second table of
the law, he says, "And if there be any other
commandment, it is briefly comprehended in
this saying, namely. Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bor as thyself," and then adds, " Love worketh
no ill to his neighbor : therefore love is the
fulfilling of the law," Romans xiii. 9, 10.
Once more, and lastly, the same remark ap-
plies,
9. To a true and gracious hojpe^ that this
also tends to holy practice. — A false hope has
a tendency just the reverse of this. It tends
to licentiousness ; to encourage men in their
sinful desires and lusts, and to flatter and em-
bolden them even when they are in the way of
evil. But a true hope, so far from hardening
men in sin, and making them careless of their
duty, tends tv stir them up to holiness of life,
TENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE EST LIEE. 351
to awaken them to diitj, and to make them
more careful to avoid sin, and more diligent
in serving God. "Everj man that hath tliis
hope in him, purifieth himself even as he is
pm-e," 1 John iii. 3. A gracious hope has
this tendency from the nature of the haj)pi-
ness hoped for, which is a holy happiness ; a
happiness that the more a man seeks and
hopes for, the more he is quickened and en-
livened in tlie disposition to be holy. And it
also has this tendency from the respect it has
to the author of the happiness hoped for ; for
it hopes for it from God, as the fruit of his
undeserved and infinite mercy, and therefore
by every motive of gratitude the heart is en-
gaged and stirred up to seek that which is
well-pleasing to him. And it has the same
tendency from a regard to the means by
which it hopes to obtain this happiness ; for
a true hope looks forward to the obtaining of
happiness in no other way but the way of the
gospel, which is by a holy Saviour, and in a
way of cleaving to and following him. And
it has, lastl}^, the same tendency by the infiu-
ence of that which is the immediate source of
all gracious hope, which is faith in Clirist, and
Buch faith always works, and works by love,
352 TRUE GRACE IN THE HEART
and purifies the heart, and brings fortli holj
fruits in the life.
Thus it has been shown, first by general
arguments, and then by an induction of par
ticulars wherein all the principal Christian
graces have been mentioned, that all true
grace in the heart tends to holy practice in
the life, just as truly as the root of the plant
tends to growth in the plant itself, or as light
has a tendency to shine, or the principle of
life to manifest itself in the actions of the
living person. In the application of the sub-
ject,
1. We may see one main reason why Chris-
tian 'practice and good worhs, are so dburv-
dantly insisted 07i in the Scriptures as an
evidence of sincerity in grace. Christ has
given it as a rule to us, tliat we are to judge
men by their fruits, Matthew vii. 16-20 ; and
ho insists on it, in a very emj^hatic manner,
that the one that keeps his commandments, is
the one that truly loves him, John xiv. 21 ;
and declares that the man that loves him, will
keep them, and the man that does not love
him, will not keep them, John xiv. 23, 24.
Hence we may see the reason why the Apos-
tle Paul so much insisted on this point, declar-
TENDS TO HOLY PRACTICE IN LIFE. 353
ing \ those to whom he wrote, that if any
preteii led to belong to the kingdom of God,
and y< ; did not keep God's commandments,
they W3re either hypocrites or self-deceivers.
His language is, " For this ye know, that no
whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no
man deceive you with vain words ; for because
of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience," Ephesians v.
0, 6. " Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be
not deceived ; neither fornicators, nor idola-
ters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers
of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor ex-
tortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God,"
1 Corinthians vi. 9, 10. "They that are
Christ's, have crucified the flesh, with the affec-
tions and lusts," Galatians v. 2-i. "If ye live
after the flesh, ye shall die," Romans viii. 13.
And all this teaches us the reason, why the
same thing is so much insisted on by the
Apostle James, in various places with which
you are familiar, and by the Apostle John,
more than almost any other subject. It is
354 TEUE GRACE IN THE IIEAKT
because God would have it deeply impressed
on all, that good works are the only satisfying
evidence that we ai'e truly possessed of grace
in the soul. It is by our j)ractice that God
judges us here on earth, and it is by our prac-
tice that he will judge us all at the great and
final day
2. In mew of this subject let all exmnine
themselves, whether their grace is real and sin-
cere. — Let every one diligently and j^rayer-
fully ask, whether their graces all tend to
practice, and are seen from day to day in the
life and conduct. But here even some truly
godly persons may be ready to say, that if
they judge themselves by their practice, they
must condemn themselves, for they fail so
nmch and so frequently, and are so often
wandering out of the way, that at times it
scarcely seems that they can be the children
of God. But to such I answer, that persons
who try themselves by their practice, may find
that they greatly fail every day, and are often
wandering out of the way, and yet they may
really see no just cause in their practice to
condemn themselves. For when we speak
of a life of Christian practice, and when
the Scriptures speak of the course of life as
TENDS TO HOLY PKAriTICE IN LfFE. 355
Christian, the meaning is not, that the life is
a perfect and sinless life. On the contrary, a
Christian's life may be attended with many
and exceeding great imperfections, and yet
be a holy life, or a truly Christian life. It
may be such a life as to clearly, and even
necessarily show, that the grace which the
individual has, is of the kind which has a
tendency to holy practice. His fruits may
be such as to be good evidence of the good
nature of the tree, and his works such as to
show his faith. And if you ask for still fur-
ther light, then I would say, whatever your
imperfections and failings may be, examine
yourself whether you find the following evi-
dences of your grace being of that kind which
tends to holy practice.
First^ Has your supposed grace such influ-
ence, as to render those things in which you
have failed of holy practice^ loathsome^ griev-
ous and humUing to you f Has it such influ-
ence in your mind as to render your past
sinful practices hateful in your eyes, and has
it led you to mourn before God for them?
And does it render those things in your con-
duct that since your supposed conversion have
been contrary to Christian practice, odious in
366 TEUE GBACE IN THE HEART
your eyes? And is it the great burden of
your life, that your practice is no better ? Is
it really grievous to you, that you have fallen,
or do fall into sin ; and are you ready, after
the example of holy Job, to abhor yourself for
it, and repent in dust and ashes, and like
Paul to lament your wretchedness, and pray
to be delivered from sin, as you would from
a body of death ?
Second^ Do you carry about with you^ ha-
bitually^ a dread of sin f Do you not only
mourn, and humble yourself for sins that are
past, but have you a dread of sin for the
future ? And do you dread it because in it-
self it is evil, and so hurtful to your own soul,
and oifensive to God ? Do you dread it as a
terrible enemy that you have often suffered
by, and feel that it has been a grievous thing
to you heretofore ? And do you dread it as
something that has hurt, and wounded, and
stung you, so that you would see it no more ?
Do you stand on your watch against it, as a
man would keep watch against something that
he dreads, with such a dread as led Joseph to
Ba}^, " How can I do this great wickedness,
and sin against God?" Genesis xxxix. 9.
Thirds Are you sensible of the beauty and
TENDS TO HOLY PKACTICE IN LIFE. 357
pleasantness of the ivays of holy jpracticel
Do you see the beauty of holiness, and the
loveliness of the ways of God and Christ ? It
is said in the text that " charity rejoieeth in
the truth;" and it is given as the character
of the truly godly, that " he rejoieeth and
worketh righteousness," which is the same as
saying that "lie rejoices to work righteous-
ness." And how often does the Psalmist
speak of the law of God as being his delight,
and of his love to the divine commandments !
Fourth^ Do you find that you do jparticularly
esteem and delight in tjiose jpn^aetices that may^
hy way of eminence^ he called Christian prac-
tices^ in distinction from mere worldly moral-
ity f And by Christian practices are meant
such as are implied in a meek, humble, pray-
erful, self-denying, self-renouncing, heavenly
walk and behavior. Some of the heathen
have been eminent for many of the moral
virtues, and wrote excellently about them, as
for example, of justice, and generosity, and
fortitude, &c. ; but they were far from a
Christian poverty of spirit and lowliness of
luind. They sought their own glory, and
gloried exceedingly in their outward virtues,
and seemed to know nothino; of such a walk
24
358 TRUE GKACE IN THE IIEAET
as the gospel commands, a walk of self-empti-
ness, and poverty of spirit, and self-distrust,
and self-renunciation, and prayerful reliance
on God. They were strangers to meekness,
and did not allow, or even dream that the for
giveness and love of enemies was a virtue
Such virtues as these, are peculiarly Christian
virtues, and Christian by way of distinction
and eminence, and of these it is, that I ask,
if you hold them in special esteem, for your
Saviour's sake, and because they are fraught
with his spirit? If you are essentially dis-
tinguished and different in your spirit from
the mere moralist, or the heathen sage or
philosopher, you will have a spirit of special
esteem for and delight in these virtues that
do especially belong to the gospel.
Fifth^ Do you hunger and thirst after a
holy practice? Do you long to live a holy
life, to be conformed to God, to have your
conduct, day by day, better regulated, and
more spiritual, more to God's glory, and more
such as becometh a Christian ? Is this what
you love, and pray for, and long for, and live
for? This is mentioned by Christ, as belong-
ing to the character of true Christians, that
TENDS TO HOLT PRACTICE IN LIFE. 359
they " hunger and thirst after righte jusness.'
5 Does this trait belong to yon ?
Sixth^ Do you make a business of endeavor-
ing to live holily^ and as God would have you^
in all respects f Not only can you be said to
endeavor after holiness, but do you make a
iicsiness of endeavoring after it ? Is it a mat-
ter that lies with weight upon your mind. A
true and faithful Christian does not make holy
living a mere incidental thing, but it is his
great concern. As the buisness of the soldier
is to fight, so the business of the Christian is
to be like Christ, to be holy as he is holy.
Christian practice is the great work that he is
engaged in, just as the race was the great
work of the racers. Is this so with you ? And
is it your great aim and love to keep all God's
commandments, and so far as known to neglect
none? "Then," says the Psalmist, "I shall
not be ashamed when I have respect unto all
thy commandments." Is this your serious,
constant, and j)rayerful aim, that you may be
faithful in every known duty ? And once
more.
Seventh^ Do you greatly desire that you may
know all that is yov/r duty? And do you
desire to know it that you may do it ? With
360 TEUE GKACE IN THE HEART.
the patriarch Job, can you, and do you pray
to the Ahnighty, " That which I see not, teach
thou me," adding, as he added, to the great
searcher of hearts, "If I have done iniquity, I
will do no more?"
If you can honestly meet these tests, then
you have the evidence that your grace is of
the kind that tends to holy practice, and to
growth in it. And though you may fall,
through God's mercy you shall rise again.
He tliat hath begun a good work in you, will
carry it on until the day of Jesus Christ.
Though you may be, at times, faint, yet if
pursuing, you shall be borne on from strength
to strength, and kept by the power of God,
through faith, unto salvation.
LECTURE Xn.
CHARITY OR A CHRISTIAN SPIRIT WILLING 1X5
UNDERGO ALL SUFFKRINGS IN THE "WAY OF
DUTY.
" P 3areth all things." — 1 Cor. xiii. 7.
Having in the previous verses declared
those fruits of charity that consist in doing ^
the Apostle now proceeds to speak of those
that have reference to suffering • and here he
declares that charity, or the spirit of Chris-
tian love, tends to dispose men, and make
them willing to undergo all sufferings for
Christ's sake, and in the way of duty. This
I suppose to be the meaning of the expression,
" Beareth all things!''' Some, I know, would
understand these words as referring only to
the meek bearing of injuries from our fellow-
men. But it seems to me thalNtliey are rather
to be understood in the sense here given, of
362 CHARITT WILLING TO UNDERGO
suffering in the cause of Christ and religion ,
and that, for the following reasons : —
First^ As to bearing injuries from men,
that the Apostle had mentioned before, in
Baying that " charity suifereth long," and
again, fn declaring that it " is not easily pro-
vol^ed," or that it tends to the resisting of the
passion of anger ; and therefore there is no
need to suj^pose that he would use such tau-
tology as again to mention the same thing a
third time.
Second^ The Apostle seems evidently to
have done with the fruits of charity of a more
active nature, and to have summed them all
up in the expression of the previous verse,
"rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in
the truth." He had been rehearsing over the
various points of good conduct toward our
ueighbor which charity tends to, and having
summed up these in the above expression, he
now seems to proceed to traits of another na-
ture, and not to be re])eating the same things
over in other words.
Third., It is a frequent thing for the Apos-
tle Paul, to mention suffei-ing in the cause of
Christ as a fruit <5f Christian love ; and there-
fore it is not probable that he would omit so
AI.T. SUFFERINGS IN THE WAY OF DLTT. 363
great a fruit of love in this place, where he is
]n-ofessedly reckoning up all the important
fruits of love or charity. It is common for
the Apostle elsewhere to mention suffering in
the cause of religion as a fruit of love or
charity. So he does in 2 Cor. v, 14, where,
after speaking of what he had undergone in
the cause of Christ, on account of which others
were ready to say he was beside himself, he
gives as the reason of it, that the love of
Christ constrained him. And so, again, in
Rom. V. 3, 5, he gives it as a reason why he was
willing to glory in tribulations, that " the love
of God was shed abroad in his heart by the
Holy Ghost." And still again, he declares,
that neither tribulation, nor distress, nor per-
secution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril,
Qor sword, should be able to separate him
from the love of Christ, Rom. viii. 35. Now
since suffering in the cause of Christ is so
great a fruit of charity, and so often spoken
of elsewhere by the Apostle, it is not likely
that he would omit it here, where he is pro-
fessedly sjjeaking of the various fruits of
charity.
Fourth, The following words, "believeth
all things, hopeth all things, cjidureth a^I
364 CHAKITT WILLING TO IINDERGO
things," all show that the Apostle has done
with those fruits of chai'itj that have chief
reference to our fellow-men, as may be mani-
fest hereafter when these expressions may be
more fully considered. The doctrine, then,
that I would draw from the text, is,
That charity, or a truly Christian spirit,
WILL MAKE us WILLING, FOR ChRISt's SAKE, TO
UNDERGO ALL SUFFERINGS TO WHICH WE MAY BE
EXPOSED IN THE WAY OF DUTY. — And in clearing
this doctrine, I would first, briefly explain it,
and then give some reason or jjroof of its
truth.
I. Ivjould explain the doctrine. — And in so
doing, I remark,
1. That it implies that those that have the true
spirit of charity^ or Christian love., are willing
not only to do., hut also to suffer for Christ. —
Hypocrites may, and oftentimes do make a
great show of religion in profession, and in
words that cost nothing, and in actions that
involve no great diflSculty or suffering. But
they have not a suffering spirit., or a spirit
that inclines them willingly to suffer for
Christ's sake. When they undertook in re-
ligion, it was not with any view to suffering,
or with any design or expectation of being in-
ALL SUFFERINGS IN THE WAY OF DUTY. 365
jured by it in their temporal interests. They
closed with Ciirist, so far as they did, only to
serve a turn for themselves. All that they do
in religious things, is from a selfish spirit, and
ct-mmonly very much for their interest, as it
was with the Pharisees of old ; and therefore
they are far from the spirit that is willing to
meet suifering, either in their persons or their
interests. But those that are truly Christians,
have a spirit to suffer for Christ ; and they are
willing to follow him on that condition which
he himself has given : " Whosoever doth not
bear his cross and come after me, cannot be
my disciple," Luke xiv. 27. And not only
are they willing to suffer for Christ, but,
2. It is also implied in our doctrine^ that
they have the spirit to undergo all the suffer-
ings to which their duty to Christ may expose
them. And here.
First., They are willing to undergo all suf'
ferings, of all kinds., that are in the way of
duty. They have the spirit of willingness to
Buffer in their good name: for Christ's sake
to suffer reproach and contempt, rnd to pre-
fer the honor of Christ before their own.
With the Apostle they can say, ''Therefore I
take })!• asure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
366 CHARITY WILLING TO UNDKRGO
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for
Christ's sake," 2 Cor. xii. 10. They have a
spirit to suffer the hatred and ill-will of men,
as was foretold by Christ when he said, " Ye
shall be hated of all men for my name's sake,"
Matthew X. 22. They have a spirit to suffer
losses in their outward possessions ; as says
the Apostle, " Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowl-
edge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I
have suffered the loss of all things," Philip-
pians iii. 8. They have the spirit to suffer in
their ease and comfort, and to endure hard-
ships and fatigues ; like Paul, to approve
themselves faithful, " in much patience, in
afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in
stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in la-
bors, in watchings, in fastings," 2 Cor. vi. 4, 5.
rhey have the spirit to suffer pain of body,
like those "who were tortured, not accepting
deliverance, and those who had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, and of bonds and
imprisonment," Hebrews xi. 35, 36. They
have a spirit to suffer even death itself. " He
that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that
loseth his life for my sake shall find it," Matt.
X. 39. These, and all other conceivable suf-
M.L SUFFEKINGS IN THE WAY OF DUTY. 367
ferings in kind thej are willing to undergo
for Christ's sake, and in the way of duty.
And so,
Second, They are willing to undergo all suf-
ferings, of all degrees, that are in the way of
duty. They are like pure gold, that will bear
the trial of the hottest furnace. They have
the heart to forsake all and follow Christ, and
comparatively to "hate" even "father, and
mother, and wife, and children, and brethren,
and sisters, yea, and their own life, also," for
Christ's sake, Luke xiv. 26. They have the
spirit to suffer the greatest degrees of reproach
and contempt ; and to have trial not only of
mockings, but of cruel mockings ; and to bear
aot only loss, but the loss of all things. They
have the spirit to suffer death, and not only
BO, but the most cruel and tormenting forms
of death, such as " to be stoned, to be sawn
asunder, and to be slain with the sword, and
to wander about in sheep-skins and goat-skins,
being destitute, afflicted, tormented," He-
brews xi. 37. The fiercest and most cruel
sufferings in degree, they are willing to un-
dergo for Christ. I proceed,
II. To give some reason or proof of the doc-
trine. — And that it is so, that they who have
368 CHARITY WILLING TO UNDERGO
a truly gracious spirit are willing to undergo
all sufferings that they may be exposed to in
the way of their duty, will appear from the
following considerations: —
1. If ive have not such a spirit^ it is an evi-
dence that we have never given ourselves unre-
servedly to Christ. — It is necessary to our being
Christians, or followers of Christ, that we
should give ourselves to him unreservedly, to
be his wholly, and his only, and his forever.
And therefore the believer's closing with
Christ, is, often, in the Scriptures, compared
to the act of a bride in giving herself in mar-
riage to her husband ; as when God says to
his people, " I will betroth thee unto me for-
ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-
kindness, and in mercies," Hosea ii. 19. But
a woman, in marriage, gives herself to her
husband to be his, and his only. True be-
lievers are not their own, for they are bought
with a price ; and they consent to the full right
that Christ has in them, and recognize it by
their own act, giving themselves to him as a
voluntary and living sacrifice, wholly devoted
to him. But they that have not a spirit to
gjflfer all things for Christ, show that they do
ALL SUFFEKINGS IN 1 dE WAY OF DrTY. 369
not give themselves wholly to him, because
they make a reserve of such cases of suffering
as they are not willing to bear for his sake.
In those cases they desire to be excused from
being for Christ and his glory, and choose
rather that his cause should be set aside for
their own ease or interest, and indeed should
entirely give way for it. But making such
reserves of cases of suffering, is certainly in-
consistent with truly devoting themselves to
God. It is rather being like Ananias and
Sapj)hira, who gave but part, and kept back
part of that which they professed to give to the
Lord. To give ourselves wholly to Christ, im-
plies the sacrificing of our own temj^oral in-
terest wholly to him. But he that wholly
sacrifices his temporal interest to Christ, is
ready to suffer all things in his worldly inter-
ests for him. If God be truly loved, he is
loved as God ; and to love him as God, is to
love him as the sujjreme good. But he that
loves God as the supreme good, is ready to
make all other good give place to that ; or,
which is the same thing, he is willing to suffer
all for the sake of this good.
2. They that are truly Christians^ so fear
God^ that his displeasure is far more tennhU
370 CHARITY WILLING TO UNDERGO
than all earthly afflictions and sufferings. — ■
Wlien Christ is telling his disciples what suf-
ferings they should be exposed to for his sake,
he says to them, " Be not afraid of them that
kill the body, and after that have no more
that they can do; but I will forewarn you
whom ye shall fear ; fear him, which after he
hath killed, hath power to cast into hell ; yea,
I say unto you, fear him," Luke xii. 4, 5. And
80, again, it is said by the prophet, " Sanctify
the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your
fear, and let him be your dread," Isaiah viii.
13. Now they that are truly Christians, see
and know him who is so great and dreadful a
God, and they know that his displeasure and
wrath are far more dreadful than all the tem-
poral sufferings that can be in the way of their
duty, and more dreadful than the wrath and
cruelty of men, or the worst torments that
they can inflict. And therefore they have a
spirit to suffer all that can be inflicted, rather
than forsake God, and sin against him who
can inflict upon them eternal wrath.
3, They that are truly Christians^ have that
faith whereby they see that which is mare
than sufficient to make %(/pfor the greatest suf-
ferings they can endure in the cause of Christ,
ALL SUFFERINGS IN THE WAT OF DUTY. 371
- -They see that excellency in God and Christ,
whom they have chosen for their portion,
which far outweighs all possible sufferings.
And they see, too, that glory which Grod has
promised to tliem that suffer for his sake — that
far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory, which their sufferings for Christ's sake
work out for them, and in comparison with
which, the heaviest sorrows and most endur-
ing trials, are but " light afflictions, enduring
but for a moment," 2 Cor. iv. 17. Moses'
faith is given as a reason why he was willing
to suffer affliction with the people of God, and
to endure reproach for Christ's sake, because,
in the exercise of that faith, he saw something
better than the throne and riches of Egypt
laid up for him in heaven, Heb. xi. 24-26.
4. If we are not willing to close with reli-
gion^ notwithstanding all the dijflculties at-
tending it^ we shall he ovei^whelnied with shame
at last. — So Christ expressly teaches us. His
language is, " For which of you intending to
build a tower, sitteth not down first and
counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient
to finish it ; lest, haply, after he hath laid the
foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that
behold it begin to mock him, saying, this man
872 CHAHITT WILLING TO UNDERGO
began to build and was not able to finish ; or
what king, going to make war against another
king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth
whether he be able, with ten thousand, to
meet him that cometh against him with twen-
ty thousand ? Or else, while the other is yet
a great way off, he sendeth an embassage,
and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise
whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all
that he hath, he cannot be my disciple,"
Luke xiv. 28-33. The sufferings that are in
the way of our duty, are among the difficul-
ties that attend religion. They are part of
the cost of being religious. He, therefore,
that is not willing to meet this cost, never
complies with the terms of religion. He is
like the man that wishes his house was built,
but is not willing to meet the cost of building
it; and so, in effect, refuses to build it. He
that does not receive the gospel with all its
difficulties ; does not receive it as it is proposed
to him. He that does not receive Christ with
his cross as well as his crown, does not truly
receive him at all. It is true that Christ in-
vites us to come to him to find rest, and to buy
wine and milk, but then he also invites us to
come and take up the cross, and that daily
A.LL SUFFERINGS IN THE WAY OF DUTY, 373
that we may follow him ; and if we come only
to accept the former, we do not in truth ac-
cept the offer of the gospel, for both go to-
gether, the rest and the yoke, the cross and
the crown : and it will signify nothing that in
accepting only the one, we accept w^hat God
never offered to ns. They that receive only
the easy part of Christianity, and not the dif-
ficult, at best are but almost Christians ;
while they that are wholly Christians, receive
the whole of Christianity, and thus shall be
accepted and honored, and not cast out with
shame at the last day,
5. Without tills spirit which, the text im-
plies^ we cannot he said to forsahe all for
Christ. — If there be any one kind or degree
of temporal suffering that we have not a spirit
to undergo for Christ, then there is something
that we do not forsake for him. For examjile,
if we are not willing to suffer reproach for
Christ, then we are not willing to forsake
honor for him. And so if we are not willing
to suffer povertj", pain, and death for his sake,
then we are not willing to forsake wealtii,
ease, and life fur him, But Christ is abun-
dant in teaching us, tliat we must be willing
to forsake all that we have for him, if duty
25
374 CHAKiTY ^^'^LLING to undekgo
requires it. or we cannot be his disciples,
Luke xiv. 26, &c.
6. Without this spirit, we cannot he said to
deny ourselves in the sense in which the Scrip-
tures require us to do it. — ^The Scriptures teach
us, that it is absolutely necessary to deny
ourselves in order to our being the disciples
of Christ. " Then said Jesus unto his disci-
ples. If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me ; for whosoever will save his life shall
lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my
sake, shall find it," Matt. xvi. 24, 25. Thes-e
expressions, as here used, signify as much as
a man's renouncing liimself. And the one
who acts according to them in his practice,
lives as though he disowned himself for Christ.
He puts himself to difficulty or suffering, as
thouffh he did not own himself. As the chil-
dren of Levi were said not to know or acknowl-
edge their own relatives and friends, when
they put them to the sword for their sin in
making the golden calf, so Christians are said
not to acknowledge, but to deny themselves,
when they crucify the flesh, and undergo
great sufferings for Christ as though tliey bad
no mercy on themselves. Those that will do
ALL SUFFERINGS I^ THE WAY OF DUTY. 376
contrary to the will of Christ and his giO'j,
for the sake of avoiding suffering, deny Chiist
instead of denying themselves. Those that
dare not confess Christ before persecutors, do
in fact deny him before men, and are of the
number of whom Christ says, that " he will
deny them before his father in heaven," Matt.
X. 33 ; and as to whom the Apostle says, " If
we suffer, we shall also reign with him ; if
we deny him, he also will deny us," 2 Timothy
ii. 12.
7. It is the character of all the true followers
of Christy that they follow him in all things.
" These are they," says the beloved disciple,
alluding to those about the throne of God,
" these are they which follow the Lamb whither-
soever he goeth," Rev. xiv. 4. Those that
are willing to follow Christ only in prosperity
and not in adversity, or only in some suffer-
ings and not in all, cannot be said to follow
him whithersoever he goeth. We read of one
who said to Christ, while he was on earth,
" Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest;" and that Christ said to him, "The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of man hath not where to
lay his head." Matt. viii. 19, 20. And by this
876 ClfAElTY WILLING TO UNDERGO
he signified to him, that if he -would follow
him wherever he went, he must fullow him
through great difficulties and sufferings. They
that are true followers of Christ, are of the
same spirit toward Christ, that Ittai the Gittite
manifested toward David, in not only clinging
to him in prosperity, but also in his adversity,
even when David would have excused him
from going witli him. He said, " As the
Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth,
surely in what place my lord the king shall
be, whether in death or life, even there also
will thy servant be," 2 Samuel xv. 21. Of
such a spirit are true Christians tow^ard Christ,
the spiritual David.
8. It is the character of true Christians^
that they overcome the world. — "Whatsoever
is born of God, overcometh the world," 1 John
V. 4. But to overcome the world, implies that
we overcome alike its flatteries and frowns,
its sufferings and difficulties. These are the
weapons of the world, by which it seeks to
conquer us ; and if there be any of these that
we have not a sj^irit to encounter for Christ's
sake, then by such weapons the world will
have us in subjection, and gain the vi ''X^ji:'^
over us. But Christ gives his servants the
ALL SUFFERINGS IN THE WAY OF DUTY. 377
victory over the world in all its forms, Tiiey
are conquerors, and more than conquerors,
through hiin that hath loved them. Once
more,
9. The sufferings in the way of duty ^ are
qften^ in the Bible, called temptations or trialst
iecause hy them God tries the sincerity of our
character as Christians. — By placing such
Kufterings in our way, God tries whether we
have a spirit to undergo suiFering, and so tries
our sincerity by suffering, as gold is tried by
the fire, to know whether it is pure gold or
not. And as by the fire the pure gold maybe
known from all baser metals, and from all
imitations of it ; so by observing wdiether we
are willing to undergo trials and suiFerings
for Christ's sake, God sees whether we are
indeed his people, or whether we are ready to
forsake him and his service when any difii-
culty or danger is in the way. It seems to be
with this view that the Apostle Peter says to
those to whom he wrote, " Though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifcld temptations, that the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than of gold
that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise, and honor, and
378 CHAEiTY wi:ling to undi,rgo
gloiy, at the appearing of Jesus Christ," 1
Peter i. 6, 7. And again, " Behaved, think it
not strange concerning the fierj trial which
is to trj you, as though some strange thing
happened unto you ; but rejoice, inasmuch as
ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that
when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be
glad also with exceeding joy," 1 Pet, iv. 12, ItS.
And so God by his prophet declares, " I will
bring the third part through the fire, and will
refine them as silver is refined, and will try
them as gold is tried : they shall call on my
name, and I will hear them ; I will say. It is
my people ; and they shall say, the Lord is
my God," Zechariah xiii. 9.
In the application of this subject, let it
1. Lead those who think themselves Chris-
tians^ to examine themselves, whether or no
they have the sjdrit to unde7'go all sufferings for
Christ. — It becomes all persons very strictly
to examine themselves, whether they are of a
suffering spirit or not, seeing such great im-
portance is attached to such a spirit in the
Scriptures. Though you never have had the
trial of having such great and extreme sufi'er-
ings laid in the way of your duty as many
others have had, yet you have had enough, in
ALL SUFFEEINGS IN THE WAY OF 1 UTY. 379
the course of God's providence, to show what
jour spirit is, and whether you are of a dis-
position to sutler, and to renounce your own
comfort, and ease, and interest, rather than
forsake Christ. It is God's manner in his
providence, commonly, to exercise all pro-
fessors of religion, and especially those that
may live in times of trial, with trials of this
sort, by laying such difficulties in their way
as shall make manifest wliat their spirit is,
and whether it he a spirit of self-renunciation
or not. It is often the case with Christians
who are exjjosed to persecutions, that if they
will cleave to Christ, and be faithful to him,
they must sutler in their good name, and in
losing the good-will of others, or in their out-
ward ease and convenience, being exposed to
many troubles ; or in their estates, being
brought into difficulty as to their business ; or
must do many things that they are exceeding
averse to, and that are even dreadful to them.
Have you, when you have had such trials,
found in yourself a spirit to bear all things
that come upon you, rather than in anything
be unfaithful to your great Lord and Re-
deemer? And you have the more need to
examine yourselves with respect to this point,
380 CHARITY WILLING TO UNDERGO
for jou know not but that before you die you
may have such trial of persecutions as other
Christians have had. Every true Christian
has tlie spirit of a martyr. And if you have
not the suffering spirit in the lesser trials or
sufferings that God may have sent upon you,
how will it be if he should expose you to bitter
persecutions, such as the saints of old some-
times were called to endure ? If you cannot
bear trials in little things, how can you possess
that charity which beareth all things? As
the prophet says in another case, "If thou hast
run with the footmen and they have wearied
thee, then how canst tliou contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace, wherein thou
trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt
thou do in the swelling of Jordan ?" Jeremiali
xii. 5, Our subject,
2. Exliorts all professors of religion^ to
cherish a ready sjnrit^ for Chrisfs sahe^ to
undergo all suffe7"ing8 that rnay l)o In the way
of duty. And here consider,
First.^ How happy those persons are repre-
sented in the Scriptures to he.^ who have a spirit
to svf^er, and do actually suffer for Christ. — ■
'' Jjlessed," says Christ, "are they which arc
persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is
ALL PUFFEKINGS IN THE WAY OF DU'lT. .381
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when
men shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you,
falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceed-
ing glad, for great is your reward in heaven,"
Matt. V. 10, 12. And again, "Blessed are
ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled.
Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall
laugh. Blessed are ye when men shall hate
you, and shall separate you from their com-
pany, and shall reproach you, and cast out
your name as evil for the Son of man's sake.
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy, for
great is your reward in heaven," Luke vi.
21-23. And again, "' Unto you it is given, in
the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on
him, but also to suffer for his sake," Philippians
i. 29. And again, " Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he
shall receive the crown of life, which the
Lord hath promised to them that love him,"
James i. 12. And again, " But and if ye
Buffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye,"
1 Pet. iii. 14. And the New Testament is
full of similar exj)ressions, all of which may
encourage us in the way of suffering for
Christ. And consider, also.
382 OHAEITT WILLING TO UNDERGO
Second^ What glorious rewards God ha^
promised hereafter to hestow on those that do
willingly suffer for Christ. — It is said that
they shall receive a " crown of life ;" and
Christ promises, that those that forsake houses,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or
wife, or children, or lands, for his name's sake,
shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall in-
herit everlasting life, Matt. xix. 29. And
again we are told, of those who suffer for
Christ's sake, that they shall be counted wor-
thy of the kingdom of God, 2 Thes. i. 5 ; and
again, that it is a faithful saying, that if we
suffer with Christ, we shall also reign with
him, 2 Timothy ii, 11, 12; and still again,
that if we suffer with him, we shall also be
glorified together with him, Romans viii, 17.
And we have, also, the most glorious promises
made to those that overcome, and gain the
victory over the world. '• To him that over-
cometh," says Christ, "will I give to eat of
the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God," and " he shall not be hurt
of the second death ;" and " to him will I
give to eat of the hidden manna;" and "to
him will I give power over the nations;" and
" I will give him the morning star ;" and "he
ALL SUFFERINGS IN THE WAT OF DUTY. 883
shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will
not blot ont his name out of the book of life,
but I will confess his name before my Father,
and before his angels ;" and " him will I make
a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall
go no more out, and I will write wpon him my
new name;" and "to him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even
as I also overcame, and am set down with my
Father in his throne," Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17, 26, 27,
'^S, and iii. 5, 12, 21. Surely promises so rich
and abundant as these, should make us will-
ing to undergo all sufferings for the sake of
Christ, who will so gloriously reward us for
them all. Once more, consider,
Third, How the Scriptures abound with
blessed examjyles of those that have suffered for
Chrisfs sake. — The Psalmist, speaking of the
reproach and blasphemy he had suffered from
the enemy and avenger, says, " All this is
come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee,
neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant,"
Psalm xliv. 17, 18; and again, "The proud
have had me greatly in derision, yet have 1
not declined from thy law ; manj'- are my
persecutors and mine enemies, yet do I not
decline from th}^ testimonies; princes liave
384 CHARITY WILLING TO UNDERGO
persecuted me without a cause, but my "iieart
standeth in awe of thy word," Psalm cxix. 51,
157, 161. And the prophet Jeremiah spake
boldly for God, though he was threatened
with death for so doing, Jer. xxvi. 11, 15.
And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego re-
fused to bow down and worship the golden
image that the king of Babylon had set up,
though they knew they would be cast into
the fiery furnace, Daniel iii. ; and Daniel him-
self would still faithfully pray to his God,
though he expected for it to be shut up in the
den of lions, Daniel vi. But the time would
fail me to tell of Apostles, and prophets, and
martyrs, and saints, and of Christ himself,
who were faithful alike through good report
and evil report, and in suft'erings and trials,
and who counted not their lives dear, so that
they might be faithful to the end. " Where-
fore seeing we, also, are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which doth
80 easily beset us, and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him, endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down
ALL SUI FEEINGS IN THE WAY OF DCIY. 385
at the right liand of the throne of God," Hel).
xii. 1, 2. "Fear none of those things wliich
thou shalt suffer. Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crowu of life."
LECTURE XIII.
ALL THE GRACES OF CHRISTIANITY CONNECFED.
" Believeth all things, hopeth all things." — 1 Cok. xiii. 7.
In these words, the Apostle is commonly
understood to mean, that charit}^ disposes us
to believe the best, and hope the best con-
f'orning our neighbors, in all cases. But it
appears to me that tnis is not his meaning in
this place; but rather that he intends to say,
that charity is a grace which cherishes and
promotes the exercise of all other graces, as
particularly of the graces of faith and hope.
Mentioning the graces of believing and hop-
ing, or of faitli and hope, the Apostle here
shows how the exercise of these is promoted
by charity. My reasons for understanding
the Apostle in this sense, are the follow-
ing:—
J^irst, He had just before mentioned that
fruit of charity whereb} it leads us to think
GRACES OF CnRISTIANITT CONNECTED. 387
the best of our neighbors, in saying that it
" thinketh no evil ;" and we have no reason to
tliink he would repeat the same thing over
again in these words.
Second^ It seems plain that the Apostle had
finished speaking of the fruits of charity to-
ward our neighbors, when he summed them
all up, as we have seen, in saying, that it
'"'' Tejoiceth not in iniquity^ hut rejoiceth in the
truth;'''' that is, that it tends to prevent all
evil behavior, and to promote all good beha-
vior. So that in this verse we might expect
him to proceed to mention some fruits of
charity of another kind, such for example, as
its tendency to promote the graces of faith and
hope, which are such great graces of the gospel.
Third,, We find that the Apostle does, in
this chapter, more than once mention the
three graces of faith, hope, and charity, to-
gether. ^ nd it is but reasonable to suppose,
that each time he does so, he means the same
three graces. In the last verse of the chap-
ter, we find these three mentioned and com-
pared together; and there, by "faith" and
" hope," the Apostle plainly does not mean
believing or hoping the best respecting our
noigljbors, but he does intend those great
388 ALL THE GRACES OF
graces of the gospel that have God and Christ
for their main and immediate object. And so
when, in this place, lie mentions the same
three graces as in the last verse of the chap-
ter, why slionld we not believe that he means
the same three things in the former place as
in the latter, since it is in the same chapter,
and the same disconrse, and in the course of
the same argument. And, again.
Fourth^ This view is agreeable to the drift
and aim of the Apostle throughout the chap-
ter, which is to show the relation of charity
to the other graces, and particularly to faith
and hope. This is what the Apostle is aiming
at in all that he says ; and therefore when he
comes to the conclusion of the matter in the
last verse, and says that of faith, hope, and
charity, the last is the greatest, he seems to
have reference to what he had said in the
words of the text, viz. : that charity " belier-
eth all things, and hopeth all things," mean-
ing that charity is greater than the other two,
as it has the most effectual influence in produ-
cing them, and is that by which they are
cherished and promoted in the soul. For
these reasons, the doctrine I would draw fi'om
the text, is this : —
CUKISTIiNITY CONNECTED. 389
That the gkaces of Christianity are all
connected together and mutually depend-
ENT ON EACH OTHER. — ^That IS, they are all
linked together, and nnited one to another
and within another, as the links of a chain
are ; and one does, as it were, hang on an-
other, from one end of the chain to the othei-,
so that if one link be broken, all fall to the
ground, and the whole ceases to be of any
effect. And in nnfolding this thought, I
would, first, briefly explain how the graces of
Christianity are all connected, and then give
some reasons why they are so. And I would,
I. Briefly explain the manner in which the
graces of Christianity are connected. And
this may be shown in three things : — •
1. All the graces of Christianity always go
together. — ^They so go together, that where
there is one, there are all, and where one is
wanting, all are wanting. Where there is
faith, there are love, and hope, and humility ;
and where there is love, there is also trust ;
and where there is a holy trust in God, there
is love to (lod ; and where there is a gracious
hope, there also is a holy fear of God. "Tne
Lord taketli pleasure in them that fear him ;
in those that hojie in his mercv," Psalm cxlvii
2G
390 ALL THE GRACES OF
11. "Where there is love to God, there is a
gracious love to man ; and where there is a
Christian love to man, there is lo re to God.
Hence we find that the Apostle John, at one
time gives love to the brethren as a sign of
love to God, saying, "If a man say, I love
God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar,"
1 John iv. 20 ; and then, again, speaks of love
to God, as a sign of love to the brethren, say-
ing, " By this we know that we love the chil-
dren of God, when we love God and keep his
commandments," 1 John v. 2. It is, also,
true,
2. That the graces of Christianity dejpend
upon one another. — There is not only a con-
nection, whereby they are always joined to-
gether, but there is also a mutual dependence
between them, so that one cannot be without
the others. To deny one, would in effect be,
to deny another, and so all ; just as to deny
the cause, would be to deny the effect, or to
deny the effect, would be to deny the cause.
Faith promotes love, and love is the most
effectual ingredient in a living faith. Love
is dependent on faith ; for a being cannot be
truly loved, and especially loved above all
other beings, who is not looked upon as a j-eal
CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED. 391
t'emg. And then love, again, enlarges ard
promotes faith, because we are more apt to be-
heve and give credit to, and more disposed to
trust in those we love, than in those we do
not. So faith begets hope, for faitli sees and
trusts in God's sufficiency to bestow bless'ngs,
and in his faithfulness to his promises, that
he will do what he has said. All gracious
hope, is hope resting on faith ; and hope en-
courages, and draws forth acts of faith. And
so love tends to hope, for the spirit of love is
the spirit of a child, and the more any one
feels in himself this spirit toward God, the
more natural it will be to him to look to God,
and go to God as his father. This childlike
sj^irit casts out the spirit of bondage and fear,
and gives the spirit of adoption, which is the
spirit of confidence and hope. " Ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again, to fear ;
but ye have received the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father," Rom. viii.
15 ; and the Apostle John tells us, "There is
no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out
fear," 1 John iv. 18. And so, again, a true
and genuine hope tends greatly to promote
love. When a Christian has most of a right
hope of his interest in God's ^favor, and in
392 ALL THE GRACES OF
those eternal blessings that are its fruits, thia
tends to draw forth the exercise of love, and
oftentimes does draw it forth ; as says the
Apostle Paul, " Tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope,
and hope maketh not ashamed, because the
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts,"
Jlora. V. 3-5.
Faith, too, promotes humility ; for the more
entirely any one depends on God's sufficiency,
the more will it tend to a low sense of his own
sufficiency. And so humility tends to pro-
mote faith; for the more any one has an
humble sense of his own insufficiency, the
more will his heart be disposed to trust onh^
on God, and to depend entirely on Christ.
So love promotes humility ; for the more the
heart is ravished with God's loveliness, the
more will it abhor itself, and abase and hum-
ble itself for its own unloveliness and vileness.
Humility promotes love ; for the more any
one has an humble sense of his own unworthi-
ness, the more will he admire God's goodness
to him, and the more will his heart be drawn
out in love to him for his glorious grace.
Li^ve tends to repentance; for he that timy
repents of s^'n,° repents of it because it is com-
CHKISTIAIflTY CONNECTED. 393
mitted against a being that he loves. And
repentance tends to humility; for no one can
be truly sorry for sin, and self-condemned in
view of it, without being humbled in heart
for it. So repentance, faith, and love, all
tend to thankfulness. He that, by faith,
trusts to Christ for salvation, will be thankful
to him for salvation. He that loves God,
will be disposed thankfully to acknowledge
his kindness. And he that repents of his
sins, will be disposed heartily to thank God
for the grace that is sufficient to deliver him
from their guilt and power. A true love to
God, tends to love to men, who bear the
image of God; and a spirit of love and peace
toward men, cherishes a spirit of love to God,
as love to the image cherishes love to the ori-
ginal. And so it might be shown how all the
graces depend one upon another, by mention-
ing many other particidars. Humility cher-
ishes all other graces, and all other graces
promote humility ; and so faith j^romotes all
other graces, and all other graces cherish and
promote faith. And the like is true of every
one of the graces of the gospel.
3. The different graces of Christianity ^ are^
i'n fionie respects^ implied^ one in another. —
394 ALL THE GRACES OF
Thej are not only mutually connected and
dependent, and each promotive of the others,
but are in some respects implied in the na-
ture of each other. In respect to several of
them it is true, that one is essential to an-
other, or belongs to its very essence. Thus,
for example, humility is implied in the nature
of a true faith, so as to be of the essence of it.
It is essential to a true faith, that it be an
humble faith ; and essential to a true trust,
that it be an humble trust. And so humility
belongs to the nature and essence of many
other true graces. It is essential to Christian
love, that it be an humble love ; to submis-
sion, that it be an humble submission ; to re-
pentance, that it be an humble repentance;
to thankfulness, that it be an humble thank-
fulness ; and to reverence, that it be an hum-
ble reverence.
And so love is implied in a gracious faith.
It is an ingredient in it, and belongs to its
essence, and is, as it were, the very soul of
it, or its working, operative nature. As the
working, operative nature of man is his soul,
eo the working and operative nature of faith
is love ; for the Ajjostle Paul tells us, that
"faith worketh by love,'' Galatians v. 6;
CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED. 395
and the Apostle James tells us, that faith
without its working nature is dead, as the
body is without the spirit, James ii. 26. And
60 faith is, in some respects, implied in love ;
for it is essential to a true Christian love, that
it be a believing love. So saving repentance
and faith are implied in each other. They
are both one and the same conversion of the
soul from sin to God, through Christ. The
act of the soul in turning from sin to God
through Christ, as it respects the thing from
which the turning is, viz.: sin, is called re-
pentance ; and as it respects the thing to
which, and the mediation by which it turns,
is called faith. But it is the same motion of
the soul; just as when a man turns, or flees
from darkness to the light, it is the same act
and motion, though it may be called by dif-
ferent names, according as it respects the
darkness fled from, or the light fled to ; in the
one case, being called avoiding, or turning
from, and in the other, receiving or embracing.
And so there is love implied in thankful-
ness. True thankfulness is no other than the
exercise of love to God on occasion of his
goodness to us. So there is love in a true and
ch'ldlike fear uf Gud ; for u childlike fear
396 ALL THE GEACES OF
differs from a slavish, for a slavish fear has no
love in it. And all these three graces of love,
humility and repentance, are implied in gra-
cious childlike submission to the will of God.
And soweanedness from the world, and lieav-
enly mindedness do consist mainljin the three
graces of faith, hope, and love. And so a Chris-
tian love to man, is a kind of mediate or indirect
love to Christ ; and that justice and truth to-
wards men that are truly Christian graces, have
love in them, and essential to them. Love
and humility, again, are the graces wherein
consists meekness toward men. And so it is
love to God, and faith, and humility, that are
the ingredients of Christian patience and con-
tentment with our condition, and with the al-
lotments of providence toward us. Thus it
appears, that all the graces of Christianity are
concatenated and linked together, so as to be
mutually connected and mutually dependent.
I proceed, then, as proposed,
Jl. To give some reasons of their heing thus
connected and dependent. And,
1, They are all from the same source. — ^All
the graces of Christianity are from the same
spirit; as says the Apostle, "There are diver-
sities of gifts, but the same Spirit ; diversities
CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED. 397
of operations, but it is the same God which
worketh all in all," 1 Cor. xii. 4, 6. The
graces of Christianity are all from the same
spirit of Christ sent forth into the heart and
dwelling there as a holy, and powerful, and
divine nature; and therefoi-e all graces are
only the different ways of acting on the part
of the same divine nature ; as there may be
different reflections of the light of the sun,
and yet all in origin the same kind of light,
because it all comes from the same source or
body of light. Grace in the soul, is the Holy
Spirit acting in the soul, and thus communicat-
ing his own holy nature. As it is with water in
the fountain, so here it is all one and the same
holy nature, only diversified by the variety
of streams sent forth from it. These streams
must all be of the same nature, seeing they
all thus come from the same source ; and the
difference of many of them, where bj' they
have different names, is chiefly relative, and
more from reference to their various objects
and modes of exercise, than from a real differ-
ence in their abstract nature. So also,
2. Tliey are all communicated in the scm^
work of the Spir'H, namely in conversion. —
There is n<>t one conversion of the soul to
398 ALL THE GRACES OF
faith, and another conversion to love to God,
and another to humility, and another to re-
pentance, and still another to love to man :
but all are produced by one and the same
work of the Spirit, and are the result of one
and the same conversion, or change of the
heart. And this proves that all the graces are
united and linked together, as being contained
in that one and the same new nature that is
given us in regeneration. It is here, as it is
in the first generation, that of the body, in
which the several faculties are communicated
in one and the same generation, the senses of
seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling,
and so the powers of moving, breathing, &c.,
all being given at the same time, and all
being but one human nature, and one human
life, though diversified in its modes and forms.
It is further true of the Christian graces,
3. That they all have the same root and
foundation^ namely^ the hnowledge of God's
cxcellcnGe. — ^The same sight or sense of God's
excellency begets faith, and love, a-nd repent-
ance, and all the other graces. One sight of
this excellence will beget all these graces,
because it shows the ground and reason of all
holy dispositions, and of all holy behavior
CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED. 399
toward God. They that truly know God's
nature will love him, and trust in him, and
have a spirit to submit to him, and serve, and
obey him. " They that know thy name, will
put their trust in thee," Psalm ix. 10. " Who-
soever sinneth, hath not seen him, neither
known him," 1 John iii. 6. " Every one that
loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God,"
1 John iv. 7. It is also true of the Christian
graces,
4. That they all have the same rule^ namely
the laio of God. — And therefore they must be
linked together ; for seeing they all have
respect to this rule, they all tend to confirm
the whole of the rule, and to conform the
heart and life to it. He that has a true respect
to one of God's connnands, will have a true
respect to all ; for the}' are all established by
the same authority, and are all jointly an ex-
pi'ession of the same holy nature of God.
" Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all ;
for he that said. Do not commit adultery, said
also, Do not kill. Now if "^hou commit no
adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a
transgressor of the law," James ii. 10, 11.
5 All the Christian graces have the same
400 ALL THE GRACES OF
end^ namely God. — He is their end, for they
all tend to him. As they are all from the
same source, rising from the same fomitaiu;
and all stand on the same foundation, growing
from the same root; and are all directed by
the same rule, the law of God ; so th(^y are all
directed to the same end, namely God, and
his glory, and our happiness in him. And
this shows that they must be nearly related,
and very much linked together. And once
more, it is true,
6. That all the Christian graces are alike
related to one and the same grace^ namely
charity.^ or divine love^ as the sum of them
all. — As we have before seen, charity or love
is the sum of all true Christian graces, how-
ever many names we ma}" give them. And.
however different the modes of their exercise,
or the ways of their manifestation, if we do
but carefully examine them, we shall find
they are all resolved into one. Love, or char-
ity, is the fulfilling of them all, and they arc
but so many diversifications, and different
branches, and relations, and modes of exer-
cise of the same thing. One grace does, in
effect, contain them all, just as the one prin-
(jiple of life comprehends all its manifestations.
CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED. 401
And hence it is no wonder that they are
always together, and are dependent on and
implied in one another. In the application
of this subject,
1. It may aid us to understand in what
sense old things are said to he done away^ and
all things hecome new in conversion. — ^This is
what the Apostle teaches ns is the fact, " If
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ;
old things are passed away ; behold all things
are become new," 2 Cor. v. 17. !Now the
doctrine of the text and what has been said
under it, may in some measure show us how
this is ; for by this we learn, that all the
graces of Christianity are at once imparted in
conversion, inasmuch as they are all linked
together, so that when one is bestowed, all
are bestowed, and not a single one merely.
A true convert, the moment he is converted,
is possessed not of one or two, but of all holy
principles, and all gracious dispositions. They
may be feeble indeed, like the faculties and
powers of an infant child, but they are all
truly there, and will be seen flowing out pro-
gressively in every kind of holy feeling and
behavior toward both God and man. In every
real convert, there are as many graces as
402 ALL THE GRACES OF
tliere were in Jesus Christ himself, which is
what the evangelist John means, when he says,
" The word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth; and of his fulness have all we re-
ceived, and grace for grace," John i. 14, 16.
And, indeed, it cannot be otherwise, for all
true converts are renewed in Christ's image
as says the Apostle, " And have put on the
new man, which is renewed in knowledge,
after the image of him that created him,"
Colos. iii. 10. But that is no true image or
picture of another, which has some parts or
features wanting. An exact image has a part
answerable to each part in that of which it is
an image. The copy answers to the original,
throughout, in all its parts and features, though
it may be obscure in some respects, and not
represent any part perfectly, as grace answers
to grace. Grace in the soul, is a reflection of
Christ's glory, as appears by 2 Cor. iii. 18.
It is a reflection of his glory, as the image of
a man is reflected from a glass that exhibits
part for part.
It is in the new birth, as it is in the birth c»f
the infant child. He has all the parts of a
CHBISTIANITY CONNECTED. 403
man, though they are as yet in a very imper
feet state. Not a part is wanting, but there are
as many members as to a man of full stature
and strength. And therefore what is wrought
in regeneration, is called "the new man;"
not only new eyes, or new ears, or new hands,
but a new man, possessing all the human
faculties and members. But all the graces
of the Christian are new. All of them are
members of the individual after conversion,
and none of them were members before con-
version. And because there is, as it were, a
new man, with all these members, begotten
in conversion, therefore Christians are said to
be sanctified wholly, in soul, body and spirit,
as in 1 Thes. v. 23. And so old things pass
away, and all things become new, because as
the new man is put on, tlie old man is jmtoff,
so that the man in a sense becomes new all
over.
And if there be all graces alive in this new
man, it will follow that all corruptions are
mortilied; for there is no one corruption but
what has a grace opposite to, or to answer it:
and the bestowraent of the grace, mortifies the
opposing corruption. Thus faith tends to mor-
tify unbelief; love, to mortify ecmity; hu-
404 ALL THE GKACE8 OF
niility,to mortify pride ; meekness, to mortify
revenge ; thankfulness, to mortify a thankless
spirit, &c. And as one of these takes its place
in the heart, the opposite gives way, just as
darkness in a room vanishes when a light is
brought in. Thus old things pass away. All
old things, in a measure, pass away, though
none perfectly on earth ; and so all things be-
come new, though also imperfectly. This
shows that conversion, whenever and wherever
it is wrought, is a great work and a great
change. Though grace may be very imper-
fect, he must needs have a great change
wrought in him, who, before, had no corrup-
tion mortified, and now has all mortified ; and
who, before, had not one grace, and now has
all graces. He may well be called a new
creature, or, as in the original, a new creation
in Christ Jesus.
2. Hence^ also^ they that hope they have
grace in their hearts^ may try one grace hy
another^ for all graces go together. — ^If persons
thijik they have faith, and therefore think
they have come to Christ, they should inquire
whether their faith was accompanied with
repentance ; whether they came to Christ in
a broken-hearted manner, sensible of their
CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED. 405
own utter iinwortbiness and vileness by sin ;
or whether thej did not come in a presumptu-
ous, Pharisaical spirit, taking encouragement
from their own supposed goodness. They
should try their faith, by inquiring whether
it was accompanied with humility; whether
or no they trusted in Christ in a lowly and
humble manner, delighting to renounce them-
selves, and to give all the glory of their salva-
tion to Him. So they should try their faith,
by their love ; and if their faith has in it only
light, but no warmth, it has not the true light ;
neither is it genuine faith, if it does not work
by love.
And so persons should examine their love,
by their faith. If they seem to have an affec-
tionate love towards God and Christ, they
should inquire whether or no this be accom-
panied with a real conviction of soul of the
reality of Christ, and of the truth of the gos-
pel that reveals him, and with the full convic
tion that he is the Son of God, the only, and
glorious, and all-sufficient Saviour. Henun
is one great difference between false affections
and true ones, tliat the former are not accom-
panied with this conviction, and they do not
withal see the truth and reality ofdivine things.
27
406 ALL THE GRACES OF
And therefore such affections are very little
to be depended on. They are very much like
the affection which we may have towards a
person we are reading of in a romance, and
whom we at the same time suppose to be no
other than a feigned person. Such affections
as are not accompanied with conviction, will
never carry men very far in duty, or influence
them, to any great extent, either in doing or
suffering.
So, again, persons should examine them-
selves as to that in them which seems to
be the grace of hope. They should inquire
whether their hope is accompanied with faith,
and arises from faith in Jesus Christ, and from
a trust in his worthiness, and in his only ? Is
their hope built on this rock, or is it rather
founded on a high opinion of something they
think good in themselves ? And so they should
examine in what way their hope works, and
what influence it has upon them, and whether
or no it be accompanied with humility? A
true hope leads its possessor to see his own
unworthiness, and in view of his sins to re-
flect on himself with shame and brokenness
of heart. It lies in the dust before God, and
the comfort that arises from it, is a lowly
CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED. 407
humble joy and peace. On the contrary, a
false hope is wont to lift its possessor up with
a high conceit of himself, and of his own ex-
perience and doings. We should also inquire
whether our hope be accompanied with a
spirit of obedience, and self-denial, and wean-
edness from the world? A true hope is ac-
companied with these other graces, linked to,
and dependent upon it, whereas a false hope
is without them. It does not engage the heart
in obedience, but flatters and hardens it in
disobedience. It does not mortify carnal ap-
petites, and wean from the world, but indulges
the appetites and passions that are sinful, and
chooses them, and makes men easy while
living in them.
So, again, persons should examine their
weanedness from the world, by inquiring
whether it be accompanied with such a prin-
ciple of love as draws their hearts off from the
things of the world to those spiritual and
heavenly objects which a true divine love
carries the soul out to, more than to the things
of the world. They should not only ask if
they have something that appears like a true
love, but they should hear Christ asking of
them, as he did of Peter, " Simon, son of
408 ALL THE GRACES OF
Jonas, lovest thou me more than these f''
Herein a true weanedness from the world,
differs from a false weanediiess. The hitter
is not from love to God and heavenly things,
but connnonlj^ either from fear and distress
of conscience, or perhaps from some outward
affliction, whereby persons have their minds
drawn oif for a time from the world to some-
thing that they are constrained to feel is
better, though it is not really sweeter to them ;
and they are only drawn, or beaten, or torn
off from the world, while their hearts would
still cleave to it just as much as ever, if they
could but enjoy it, free from these terrors and
afflictions. But they, on the other hand, that
have a true weanedness from the world, are
not wedded to worldly things even in their
best and most inviting forms, because their
hearts are drawn oif by the love of something
better. They are so in love with God, and
with spiritual things, that their affections
cannot fasten on the things of the world.
In the same way, persons should try their
love to God, by their love to the people of
God ; and also, tiieir love to their fellow Chris-
tians, by their love to God. False grace is
like a defective or monstrous ])icture or image,
CHRISTIANITY CONNECTED. 409
wherein some essential part is wanting. There
is, it may be, an appearance of some good dis-
position toward God, while at the same time
there is a destitution of Christian dispositions
toward men. Or if there appears to be a kind,
just, generous, good-hearted disjjosition toward
man, there is a want of ricrht feelino; toward
God. On this account, we find God complains
of Ephraim, that " he is a cake not turned,"
Ilosea vii. 8 ; that is, that his goodness is par-
tial and not consistent ; that he is good in one
thing, and bad in another, like a cake not
turned, which is generally burnt on one side,
and raw on the other, and good for nothing
on either. Such a character we should studi-
ously avoid, and endeavor that each grace
that we have may testify to the genuineness of
all our other graces, so that we may be pro-
portioned Christians, growing in the unity of
the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto perfect men, unto the measm*e of
the stature of the fulness of Christ.
LECTUKE XIV.
CHARITY, OR TRUE GRA.CE, NOT TO BE OVER-
THROWN BY OPPOSITION.
" Enduretli all things." — 1 Cor. xiii. 7.
In these words, and in saying previously
that " charity suffereth h:)ng," and again, that
it "beareth all things," the Apostle is com-
monly understood as making statements of
substantially the same signification, as though
the three expressions were synonymous, and
all of them only said the same things in dif-
ferent words.
But this idea is doubtless from a misunder-
standing of his meaning. For if we closely
consider these various expressions, and the
manner in which they are used, we shall find
that every one of them signifies or points to a
different fruit of charity. Two of these ex-
pressions have already been considered, viz.:
that " charity sufiereth long," and tliat it
CHARrrY NOT TO BE OVERTHROWN, ETC. 411
" bearelli all things ;" and the former was
shown to have reference to the bearing of in-
juries received from men, and the latter, to
the spirit that would lead us to undergo all
sufierings to wdiich we might be called for
Christ's sake, and rather than to forsake him
or our duty. And this expression of the text,
that charity " endureth all things," signifies
something different from either of the other
statements. It expresses the lasting and abid-
ing nature of the lyrinci/ple of charity^ or true
grace in the soul^ and declares that it will not
fail, but will continue and endure, notwith-
standing all the opposition it may meet with,
or that may be brought against it. The two
expressions, " beareth all things," and " en-
dm-eth all things," as in our English transla-
tion, and as commonly used, are indeed very
much of the same import. But the expression
of the original, if literally translated, would
be, " charity remains under all things ;" that
is, it still remains, or still remains constant,
and persevering, under all opposition that
may come against it. Whatever assaults may
be made upon it, yet it still remains, and en-
dures, and does not cease, but bears up, and
bears onward with constancy, and persever-
412 CHARITY NOT TO BE
ance, and patience, notwithstanding tlium
all.
According to the explanation that has been
given of the four expressions of this verse
"beareth," "believeth," "hopeth,"and " en-
dureth all things," the meaning of tlie Apostle
appears easy, natural, and agreeable to the
context. He is endeavoring to set forth the
universal benefit of charity, or a spirit of
Christian love. And to show how it is the
sum of all good in the heart, he first shows
how it disposes to all good behavior towards
men, and sums up that matter by saying that
charity rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth
in the truth. And then he proceeds, and de-
clares that charity not only disposes to doing
and suffering in the cause of Christ, but that
it includes a suffering spirit, so that it bear-
eth all things ; and that it does this by promot-
ing the two graces of faith and hope, which
are mainly occupied in sufferings in the cause
of Christ ; for such sufferings are the trials of
our faith, and what upholds the Christian
under them is the hope of a far more exceed-
ing and eternal weight of glory to l)e given
to the faithful in the end ; and charity cher-
ishes this faith and hope ; and as the fruit of
OVERTHROWN BY OPPOSITION. 413
this faith and hope, it endures all things, and
perseveres, and holds out, and cannot be con-
(|uered by all the opposition made against it,
for faith overcomes the world, and hope in
God enables the Christian always to triumph
in Christ Jesus. The doctrine, then, that 1
would derive from the text, is. That charity,
OR TRUE Christian grace, cannot be over-
thrown BY ANYTHING THAT OPPOSES IT. ^In
speaking to this doctrine, I wou.\d,Jirst, notice
the fact that many things do oppose grace in
the heart of the Christian; second.^ advert to
the great truth, that it cannot be overthrown ;
and thirds state some reasons why it cannot be
shaken, but remains firm under all opposition.
And,
I. There are m.any things that do greatly
oppose the grace which is in the heart of th6
Christian. — This holy principle has innumera-
ble enemies constantly watching and warrint^
against it. The child of God is encompassed.
with enemies on every side. He is a pilgrim
and stranger ]3assing through an enemy'n
country, and exposed to attack at any and
every moment. There are thousands of devils,
artful, intelligent, active, mighty, and impla-
cable, that are bitter enemies to the grace that
414
CHAEITY NOT TO BE
is in tiie heai-t of the Christian, and do all that
lies in their power against it. And the world
is an enemy to this grace, because it abounds
with persons and things that make oppo-
sition to it, and with various forms of allure-
ment and temjjtation, to win or drive us
from the path of duty. And the Christian
has not only many enemies without, but mul-
titudes within his own breast, that he carries
about with him, and from which he cannot
get free. Evil thoughts and sinful inclina-
tions cling to him ; and many corruptions that
still hold their footing in his heart are the
worst enemies that grace has, and have the
greatest advantage of any in their warfare
against it. And these enemies are not only
many, but exceeding strong and powerful,
and very bitter in their animosity, implaca-
ble, ii-reconcilable, mortal enemies, seeking
nothing short of the utter ruin and overthrow
of grace. And they are unwearied in their
opposition, so that the Christian, while he re-
mains in this world, is represented as being in
a state of warfare, and his business is that of
the soldier, insomuch that he is often spoken
of as a soldier of the cross, and as one wliose
OVERTHROWN BY OPPOSITION. 4:15
great cliitj it is to fight manfully tlie good
fio-ht 3f faith.
Many are the powerful and violent assaults
that the enemies of grace make upon it.
They are not only constantly besieging it, but
often they assault it, as a city that they would
take by storm. They are always lurking and
watching for opportunity against it, and some-
times they rise up, in dreadful wrath, and
endeavor to carry it by urgent assault. Some-
times one enemy, and sometimes another, and
sometimes all together, with one consent, buf-
feting it on every side, and coming in like a
flood, are ready to overwhelm it, and to swal-
low it up at once. Sometimes grace, in the
midst of the most violent opposition of its ene-
mies fighting against it with their united sub-
tilty and strength, is like a spark of fire en-
compassed with swelling billows and raging
waves, that appear as if they would swallow it
up and extinguish it in a moment. Or it is
like a flake of snow falling into the burning
volcano ; or rather like a rich jewel of gold in
the midst of a fiery furnace, the raging heat
of which is enough to consume anything ex-
cept the pure gold, which is of such a nature
that it cannot be consumed by the tire.
416 CIIAEITY NOT TO BE
It is with grace in the heai't of a Chris-
tian, very much as it is with the church of
God in the world. It is God's post ; and it is
but small, and great opposition is made against
it by innumerable enemies. The powers of
earth and hell are engaged against it, if pos-
sible to destroy it ; and oftentimes they rise
with such violence, and come with such great
strength against it, that if we were to judge
only by what appears, we should thinic it
would be taken and destroyed immediately.
It is with it as it was with tlie children of Is-
rael in Egypt, against w4iom Pharaoh and
the Egyptians united all their craft and
power, and set themselves to endeavor to
extirpate them as a people. It is with it as it
was with David in the wilderness, when he
was hunted as a partridge on the mountains,
and driven about by those that sought his life
from one desert or cave to another, and seve-
ral times was chased out into a strange land.
And it is with it as it has been with the Chris-
tian church under the heathen and antichris-
tian persecutions, when all the world, as it
were, united their strength and wit to exter-
minate it from the earth, destroying thousands
ai:d millions with the utmost cruelty, and by
OVERTHEOWN BY OPPOSI/ION. 417
tnc most bloody persecutions without respect
to sex or age. But,
11. All the opposition that is, or can he
made against true grace in the heart, cannot
overthrow it. — ^Tlie enemies of grace may, in
many respects, gain great advantages against
it. They may exceedingly oppress and re-
duce it, and bring it into such circumstances
that it may seem to be brought to the very
brink of utter ruin. But yet it will live. The
ruin that seemed impending shall be averted.
Though the roaring lion sometimes comes with
open mouth, and no visible refuge appears,
yet the lamb shall escape and be safe. Yea,
though it be in the very paw of the lion
or the bear, yet it shall be rescued and not
devoured. And though it even seems actually
swallow^ed dow^i, as Jonah was by the whale,
yet it shall be brought up again and live. It
is with grace in the heart in tliis respect, as it
was with the ark upon the waters, however
terrible the storm may be, yea, tliough it be
Buch a deluge as overwhelms all things else,
"yet it shall not overw^helra that. Though the
Hoods rise ever so high, yet it shall be kept
above the waters; and though the mighty
waves may rise above the tops of the highest
418 CIIAEITY NOT lO BE
mouQtains, yet they shall not be able to get
above this ark, but it shall still float in safety.
Or it is with this grace, as it was with the ship
in which Christ was when there arose a great
Btorm, and the waves ran high, inasmuch that
it seemed as if the ship would instantly sink ;
and yet it did not sink, though it was actually
covered with waters, for Christ was in it.
And so, again, grace in the heart, is like
the childreu of Israel in Egypt, and at the
Red Sea, and in the wilderness. Though
Pharaoh strove ever so much to destroy them,
they yet grew and prospered. And when,
at last, he pursued them with all his army,
and with chariots and horsemen, and they
were pent up by the Red Sea, and saw no
way of escape, but seemed to themselves to
be on the very brink of ruin, yet they did es-
cape, and were not delivered a prey to their
foes. Yea, they were preserved in passing
through the very sea itself, for the waters
opened before them, and when they had
safely passed over, rolled back and over-
whelmed their foes. And they were preserved
for a long time in the desolate wilderness, in
the midst of pits, and drought, and fiery fly-
ing-serpents. Thus as the gates of hell can
OVERTHROWN BY OPPOSITION. 419
never prevail against the churcli of Cl/rist, sc
neither can they prevail against grace in the
heart of the Christian. The seed remainetn,
and none can root it out. The fire is kept
alive even in the midst of the floods of water;
and though it often appears dim, or as if it
were just going out, so that there is no flame,
but only a little smoke, yet the smoking flax
shall not be quenched.
And grace shall not only remain, but at
last shall have the victory. Though it may
pass through a long time of sore conflicts, and
may sufler many disadvantages and depres-
sions, yet it shall live ; and not only live, but it
will finally prosper, and prevail, and triumph,
and all its enemies shall be subdued under
its feet. As David in the wilderness, though
he was long kept in very low and distressed
circumstances, pursued by his potent enemies,
and many times apparently on the brink of
ruin where there seemed but a step between
him and death, was yet through all preserved,
and at last exalted to the throne of Israel, and
to wear the royal crown in great prosperity
and with glory, so we see it is with grace, that
it can never be overthrown, and its depres-
sions do but prepare the way for its exalta-
420 CHARITY NOT TO BE
lion. "Where it does truly exist in the heart,
all its enemies cannot destroy it, and all the
opposition made against it cannot crush it. It
endures all things, and stands all shocks, and
remains notwithstanding all opposers. And
the reason of this may he seen in these two
things :
1. That there is so much more in the na-
ture of true grace that tends to 'perseverance^
than in false gi'ace. — False grace is a super-
ficial thing, consisting in mere outward show
or in superficial aftections, and not in any
change of nature. But true grace reaches to
the very bottom of the heart. It consists in a
new nature, and therefore it is lasting and en-
during. Where there is nothing but counter-
feit grace, corruption is unmortified, and what-
ever wounds may seem to be given it, they
are but slight wounds, that do not at all reach
its life or diminish the strength of its princi-
ple, but leave sin in its full strength in the
Boul, so that it is no wonder that it ultimately
prevails, and bears down all before it. But
true grace really mortifies sin in the heart.
It strikes at its vitals, and gives it a wound
that is mortal, sending its stroke to the very
heart. When it first enters the soul, it begins
OVERTHKOWN BY OPPOSITION. 421
a never-ceasing ccnflict with sin, and therefore
it is no wonder that it keeps possession, and
finally prevails over its enemy. Counterfeit
grace never dispossesses sin of the dominion
of the soul, or destroys its reigning power
there, and therefore it is no wonder that it
does not itself remain. But trne grace is of
such a nature that it is inconsistent with the
reigning power of sin, and dispossesses the
heart of it as it enters, and takes the throne
from it, and therefore is the more likely to
keep its seat there, and finally to prevail en-
tirely against it. Counterfeit grace, though
it may atfect the heart, yet is not founded on
any real conviction of the soul. But true
grace begins in real and thorough conviction,
and having such a foundation, has so much
the greater tendency to perseverance. Coun-
terfeit grace is not diligent in prayer ; but
true grace is prayerful, and thus lays hold on
the divine sti-ength to support it, and indeed
becomes divine itself, so that the life of C-od
is, as it were, imparted to it. Counterieit
grace is careless whether it perseveres to the
end, or not ; but true grace naturally causes
earnest desires fur perseverance, and leads to
hungerings and thirstings for it It also makes
28'
422 CHARITY NOT TO BE
men sensible of the dangers they are encom-
passed with, and has a tendency to excite
them to watchfulness, and to care and dili-
gence that they may persevere, and to look to
God for help, and trust in him for preserva-
tion from the many enemies that oppose it.
And,
2, God will uphold true grace^ when he has
once iTThplanted it in the hearty against all op-
position. — 'He will never suffer it to be over-
thrown by all the force that may be brought
against it. Though there be much more in
true grace that tends to perseverance than
there is in counterfeit grace, yet nothing that
is in the nature of grace, considered by itself
and apart from God's purpose to uphold it,
would be sufficient to make sure its continu-
ance, or effectually to keep it from final over-
throw. We are kept from falling, not by the
inherent power of grace itself, but as the
Apostle Peter tells us (1 Pet. i. 5), "by the
power of God through faith." The principle
of holiness in the hearts of our first parents,
where it had no corruption to contend with,
was overthrown ; and much more might we
expect the seed of grace in the hearts of fallen
men. in the midst of so much corr.ij)tion, and
OVEETKROWN BY OPPOSITION. 423
exposed to such active and constant opposi-
, tion, would be overthrown did not God up-
hold it. He has undertaken to defend it
from all its enemies, and to give it the victory
at last, and therefore it shall never be over-
thrown. And here I would briefly show how
it is evident that God will uphold true grace,
and not suffer it to be overthrown, and then
show some reasons why he will not suffer it.
Firsts I would show how it is evident that
God will uphold true grace in the heart. And
in one word it is evident from his promise.
God has explicitly and often promised that
true grace shall never be overthrown. It is
promised in that declaration concerning the
good man (Psalm xxxvii. 24), that "though
he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down ; for
the Lord upholdeth him with his hand ;" and
again in the words (Jer. xxxii. 40), "I will
make an everlasting covenant with them, that
I will not turn away from them to do them
good ; but 1 will put my fear in their hearts,
that they shall not depart from me;" and
again, in those words of Christ (Matt, xviii.
14), that " it is not the will of your Father
which is in heaven, that one of these little
ones should perish." And in accordance with
4:24 CHARITY NOT TO BE
these various declarations, Christ has promised
concerning grace (John xiv. 14), that it shall
be in the soul, " as a well of water, springing
up into everlasting life." And again he sajs
(John vi. 39), " This is the Father's will which
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day." And in other places
it is said, that Christ's sheep " shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them ont of
his hand," John x. 27 ; that whom God " did
foreknow, them he also called ; and whom he
called, them he also justified ; and whom he
justified, them he also glorified," and that
nothing "shall separate" Christians " from the
love of Christ," Eom. viii. 29, 30, 35 ; and
again, " that he which hath begun a good
work" in us, "will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ," Phil. i. 6 ; and again, that
Christ " shall confirm" his people " unto the
end that" they " may be blameless in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. i. 8 ; and
still again, that "he is able to keep" them
"from falling, and to present" them "fault-
less before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy," Jude 24. And many other
eimilar promises might be mentioned, all of
OVERTHROWN BY OPPOSITION. 425
which dedare that God will uj)hold grace in
the heart in wliich he has once iniphinted it,
and that he will keep to the end those who
put their trust in him. But,
Second, I would briefly show some reasons
why God will uphold the ijrinciple of grace^
and heep it from heing O'oerthrown. And in
\kiQ, first place, unless the redemption provided
bj Christ secured our perseverance through
all opposition, it would not be a complete re-
demption. Christ died to redeem us from the
evil we were subject to under the law, and to
bring us to glory. But if he brought us no
further than the state we were in at first, and
left us as liable to fall as before, then all his
redemption might be made v^oid, and come to
nothing. Man, bef(.)re the fall, being left to
the freedom of his own will, fell from his
Bteadfastness, and lost his grace when he was
comparatively strong and not exj^osed to the
enemies that now beset him. What then
could he do in his present fallen state, and
with such imperfect grace, in the midst of his
powerful and manifold enemies, if his perse-
verance depended on himself alone? He
would utterly fall and perish ; and the redemp-
tion provided by Christ, if it did not secure
426 CHARITY NOT TO BE
him from thus falling, would be a veiy imper-
fect redemption.
In the second place, the covenant of grace
was introduced to supply what was wanting
in the first covenant, and a sure ground of
perseverance was the main thing that was
wanting in it. The first covenant had no
defect on the part of God who constructed it ;
in that respect it was most holy and just, and
wise and perfect. But the result proved that
on our part it was wanting, and needed some-
thing more in order to its being effectual for
our happiness ; and the thing needed was
something that should be a snre ground of our
perseverance. All the ground we had under
the first covenant was the freedom of our own
will ; and this was found not to be depended
on: and therefore God has made another
covenant. The first M^as liable to fail, and
therefore another was ordained more enduring
than the first, and that could not fail, and
which therefore is called " an everlasting cove-
nant." The things that could be shaken are
removed, to make way for those thai; cannot
be shaken. The first covenant had a head and
surety that was liable to fail, even the father
of our race ; and therefore God has provided
OVERTHROWN BY JPPOSITION. 427
as the head and surety of the new covenant,
one that cannot fail, even Christ, with whom,
as the head and representative of all his
people, the new covenant is made, and ordered
in all things and sure.
In the third place, it is not fit that in a
covenant of mercj and saving grace, the
reward of life should be suspended on man's
perseverance as depending on the strength
and steadfastness of his own will. It is a cove-
nant of works, and not a covenant of grace
that suspends eternal life on that which is the
fruit of a man's own strength to keep him from
falling. If all is of free and sovereign grace,
then free grace has undertaken the matter to
complete and finish it, and has not left it to
men themselves, and to the power of their own
wills, as it was under the first covenant. As
divine grace has commenced the work, it will
finish it ; and therefore we shall be kept to the
end.
In the fourth place, our second surety has
already persevered and dune what our first
surety failed of doing ; and therefore we shall
surely persevere. Adam, our first surety, did
not persevere ; and so all fell with him. But
if he had persevered, all wuiild have stood
428 CHARITY NOT TO BE
with liim, and never would have fallen But
our second surety has already persevered, and
therefore all that have him for their surety
will persevere with him. When Adam fell,
he was condemned, and all his posterity was
condemned with him, and fell with him. But
if he had stood, he would have been justified,
and so would have partaken of the tree of life,
and been confirmed in a state of life, and all
his posterity would have been confirmed. And
by parity of reason, now that Christ, the
second Adam, has stood, and persevered, and
is justified, and confirmed in life, all who are
in Christ and represented by him, are also
accepted, and justified, and confirmed in him.
The fact that he, as the covenant head of his
people, has fulfilled the terms of that cove-
nant, makes it sure that they shall persevere.
In the fifth place, the believer is already
actually justified, and thus entitled, through
the promise of mercy, to eternal life, and
therefore God will not sufier him to fail and
come short of it. Justification is the actual
acquittal of the sinner. It is a full acquittance
from guilt, and freedom from condemnation,
and deliverance from hell, and acceptance to
a full title to eternal life. And all this is
OVERTHKOWN BY OPPOSITION. 42}^
plainly inconsistent wdtli the idea that deliver-
ance from hell, and the attainment of eternal
life, are yet suspended on an uncertain perse-
verance.
In the sixth place, the Scriptures teach us,
that the believer's grace and spiritual life, are
a partaking of the life of Christ in his resurrec-
tion, which is an immortal and unfading life.
This is plainly taught by the Apostle, when he
says (Col. ii. 13), "You hath lie quickened
together with him," that is, with Christ ; and
again (Eph. ii. 4, G), "But God, who is rich
in merc}^, for his great love wherewith he
loved us, even wheu we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ, and
hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ;"
and still again (Gal. ii. 20), " I live ; yet
not I, but Christ livetli in me " These ex-
pressions show that the believer's spiritual life
cannot fail ; for Christ says (Rev. i. 18), " I
am he that liveth, and was dead ; and behold
I am alive for evermore ;" and the Apostle
says (Rom. vi. 9), " Knowing tliat Christ,
being raised from tlie dead, dieth no more ;
dbath hath no more dominion over him."
Our spiritual life being his life, as truly as the
430 CHARITY NOT TO BE
life of the branch is the life of the tree, cannot
but continue.
In the seventh place, grace is that which
God hath implanted in the heart against the
great opposition of enemies, and therefore he
will doubtless maintain it there against their
continued and combined eiforts to root it out.
The enemies of God and the soul used their
utmost endeavors to prevent grace being im-
planted in the heart that possesses it. But
God manifested his all-conquering and glorious
power in introducing it there in spite of them
all. And therefore he will not at last sufi'er
himself to be conquered by their expelling
that which he by his mighty power has so
triumphantly brought in. From all which it
is plain, that God will uphold the principle of
grace in the heart of the Christian, so that it
shall never be overthrown or fail. In the
application of this subject,
1. We may learn one reason why the devil
so exceedingly opposes the cojiversion of sin-
ners. — It is because if they are once converted,
they are forever converted, and thus fore'^er
put beyond his reach, so that he can never
overthrew and ruin them. If there was such
a thing as falling from grace, doubtless the
OVEETHEOWN BY OPPOSITION. 431
devil would even then oppose our having
grace ; but more especially does he oppose it
since he knows that if once we have it, he can
never expect to overthrow it, but that we, by
its very possession, are finally lost to him and
forever out of the reach of his destroying
power. This may show us something of the
reason of that violent opposition that persons
who are under awakenings and convictions,
and who are seeking, con version, meet with
through the many and great temptations they
are assailed with by the adversary. He is
always active and greatly bestirs himself for
the overthrow of such, and heaps mountains
in their way, if possible, to hinder the saving
work of the Holy Spirit, and prevent their
conversion. He labors to the utmost to quench
convictions of sin, and if possible to lead per-
sons that are under them to return to the ways
of heedlessness and sloth in transgression.
Sometimes he endeavors to flatter, and at
other times to discourage them, laboring to
entangle and perplex their minds, and to his
utmost stirring up exercises of corruption,
suggesting blasphemous thoughts, and leading
them to quarreling with God. By many sub
tie temptations he endeavors to make them
432 CHABITY NOT TO BE
think that it is in vain to seek salvation. He
tempts them from the doctrine of God's de-
crees ; or by their own impotence and helpless-
ness ; or bj telling them that all they do is
sin ; or by trying to persuade them that their
day of grace is past ; or by terrifying them
with the idea that they have committed the
unpardonable sin. Or it may be he tells them
that their pains and trouble are needless, and
that there is time enough hereafter ; or if
possible he will deceive them with false hopes,
and flatter them that they are in a safe estate
wliile they are still out of Christ. In these,
and innumerable other ways, Satan endeavors
to hinder the conversion of men, for he knows
the truth of the doctrine we have insisted on,
that if ever grace be implanted in the soul, he
can never overthrow it, and that the gates of
hell cannot prevail against it. Again,
2. We may see from this subject^ that thosd
whose seeTning grace fails^ and is overthrown^
may conclude that they never had any true
gracs. — That is not true grace which is like
the morning cloud, and the early dew, which
passeth away. When persons seem for a
while to be awakened and terrified, and have
more or less of a sense of their sinfulness and
OVERTHEOWN BY OPPOSITION. 433
vileness, and then afterwards seem much affect-
ed with the mercy of God, and appear to find
comfort in him, and yet after all, when the
novelty is over, their impressions decline and
pass away, so that there is no abiding change
in the heart and life, then it is a sign that they
have no true grace. There is nothing in the
case of such that answers to the declaration
of the Apostle (2 Cor. v. 17), that " if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature." If
the individual, after seeming conversion, turns
back from God and Christ and spiritual things,
and the heart again goes after vanity and the
world, and the known duties of religion are
neglected, and the person again i-eturns to the
ways of sin, and goes on gratifying the selfish
or sensual appetites, and leading a carnal and
careless life, then all the promise of his ap-
parent conversion is deceptive. It is but like
the promise of the blossoms on the trees in the
time of spring or early summer, so many of
which fall off, and never bring forth fruit.
The result proves that all these seeming ap-
pearances of grace are only appearances, and
that those who trust to them are awfidly
deluded. The grace that does not hold out
and persevere, is not real grace. Once more,
434 CHAKITT NOT TO BE
3. The subject affords matter of great joy
and comfort to all who have good evidence that
they indeed have trut grace in their hearts. — •
Those with whom it is thus, are possessed of
an inestimable jewel, which is worth more
than all the jewels and precious stones, and
all the crowns and costly treasures in the uni-
verse. And this may be a matter of great
comfort to them, that they never shall lose
this jewel, but that he that gave it will keep
it for them ; and that as he has brought them
into a most happy state, so he will uphold
them in it, and that his mighty power by
which he is able to subdue all things to him-
self, is on their side, and pledged for their
protection, so that none of their enemies shall
be able to destroy them. They may rejoice
that they have a strong city unto which God
has appointed salvation for walls and bul-
warks. And whatever bitterness their enemies
manifest against them, and however subtle and
violent they may be in their attacks upon
them, they may still stand on high on their
munitions of rocks on which God has set them,
and laugh their foes to scorn, and glory in the
Most High as their sure refuge and defence.
The everlasting arms are underneath them.
OVERTHROWN BT OPPOSITION. 435
Jehovah, who rides upon the heavens, is their
help. And all their foes he will subdue under
his feet ; so that they may well rejoice in the
Lord, and joy in the rock of their salvation.
Finally,
4. The subject also affords matter of great
encouragement to the saints in carrying on the
warfare against the enemies of their souls. — ■
It is the greatest of all disadvantages to a
soldier to have to go forth to battle without
the hope of being able to conquer, but with
the prevailing expectation of being overcome.
As hope in the one case might be half the
victory, so despondency in the other would be
likely to ensure defeat. The latter would
debilitate and weaken, while the former would
co-opemte with and increase strength. You
that have good evidence that you have grace
in your hearts, have, then, all that you can
need to encourage you. The captain of your
salvation will assuredly conduct you to victory
in the end. He who is able to uphold you
has promised that you shall overcome, and
his promise shall nev^er fail. Resting on that
promise, be faithful to your part, and ere long
the song of victory shall be yours, and the
crown of victory he will place, with his ovm
hands, upon your head.
LECTURE XV.
THE HOLY SPIRIT FOKEVER TO BE COMMirNICATED
TO THE SAINTS, IN THE GRACE OP CHARITY, OB
DIVINE LOVE.
" Charity never faileth. But whether- there be prophe-
cies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall
cease ; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."
— 1 CoR. xiii. 8.
In the entire context, the drift of the Apos-
tle is, to show the superiority of charity over
all the other graces of the Spirit. And in this
chapter he sets forth its excellence by three
things : Jlrst^ by showing that it is the most
essential thing, and that all other gifts are
nothing without it ; second^ by showing that
from it all good dispositions and behavior do
arise ; and thirds by showing that it is the
most durable of all gifts, and shall remain
when the church of God shall be in its most
perfect state, and wlien the other gifts ol the
THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVER, ETC. 437
Spirit sliall have vanished away. And in the
text may be oljserved two things : —
Firsts That one property of charity by
which its excellence is set forth, is, that it is
unfailing and everlasting. " Charity never fail-
eth." This naturally follows the last words
of the preceding verse, that " Charity endur-
eth all things." There the Apostle declai-es
the durableness of charity as it aj^pears in its
withstanding the shock of all the opposition
that can be made against it in the world.
And now he proceeds further, and declares
that charity not only endures to the end of
t'lme^ but also throughout eternity. " Charity
viewer fail eth." "When all temporal things shall
have failed, this shall still abide, and abide
forever. We may also observe in the text,
Second., That herein charity is distinguished
from all the other gifts of the Spirit, such as
prophecies, and the gift of tongues, and the gift
of knowledge, &c. " Whether there be prophe-
cies, they shall fail ; whether there be tongues,
they shall cease; whether there be knowledge,
it shall vanish away;" but "charity never
faileth." By the knowledge here spoken of,
is not meant spiritual and divine knowledge in
general ; for snrely tiiere will be such knowl-
29
4:38 THE HOLY Sl'llilT FOREVER
edge hereafter in heaven, as well as now on
earth, and vastly more than there is on earth,
US the Apostle expressly declares in the fol-
lowing verses. The knowledge that Christians
have of Grod, and Christ, and spiritual things,
and in fact all their hnowledye^ as that word
is commonly understood, shall not vanish
away, but shall be gloriously increased and
perfected in heaven which is a world of light
as well as love. But by the knowledge which
the Apostle says shall vanish away, is meant
a particular miraculous gift that was in the
church of God in those days. For the Apos-
tle, as we have seen, is here comparing char-
ity with the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, those
extraordinary gifts which were common in the
church in those days, one of which was the
gift of prophecy, and another the gi ft of tongues,
or the power of speaking in languages that
had never been learned. Both these gifts are
mentioned in the text, and the Apostle says
they shall fail and cease. And another gift
was the gift of knowledge, or the loord of
knowledge, as it is called in the eighth verse
of the previous chapter, where it is so spoken
of as to show that it was a different thing both
from that speculative knowledge which is ob-
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE. 439
tained from reason and stndy, and also from
that spiritual or divine knowledge that cornea
from the saving influence of the Holy Spirit
in the soul. It was a particular gift of the
Spirit with which some persons were endowed,
whereby they were enabled by immediate in-
spiration to understand mysteries, or the mys-
terious pro2-)hecies and types of the Scriptures,
which the Apostle speaks of in the second
verse of this chapter, saying, "Though I have
the gift of prophecy, and understand all mys-
teries and all knowledge, &c." It is this mi-
raculous gift which the Apostle here says shall
vanish aw^ay, together with the other miracu-
lous gifts of which he speaks, such as prophe-
cy, and the gift of tongues, &c. All these
were extraordinary gifts, bestowed for a sea-
son for the introduction and establishment
of Christianity in the world, and when this
their end was gained, they were all to fail and
cease. But charity was never to cease. Thus
the Apostle plainly teaches, as the doctrine
of the text.
That that great fruit of the Spirit, in
WHICH the Holy Ghost shall, not only fob a
SEASON, BUT EVERLASTINGLY BE COMMUNICATED
440 T'lE HOLY SPIRIT FoREVEH
TO THE CHURCH OF ChRIST, IS CHARITY, OR DI-
VINE LOVE.
That the Hieauing and truth of this doctrine
may be better understood, I would speak to it
in the four foHowing propositions : first^ The
spirit of Christ will be everlastingly given to
his church and people, to in.Huence and dwell
in them ; second^ There are other fruits of the
Spirit besides divine love, wherein the Sj)irit
of God is communicated to his church ; thirds
These other fruits are but for a season, and
either have already, or will at some time cease ;
fourth^ That charity, or divine love, is that
great and unfailing fruit of the Spij'it, in which
his everlasting influence and indwelling in the
saints, or in his church, shall appear.
I. The Spirit of Christ Is given to his church
and people, everlastingly to iiijluence and dwell
in them. — ^The Holy Spirit is the great pur-
chase, or purchased gift of Christ. The chief
and sum of all the good things in this life and
in the life to come, that are purchased for the
church, is the Holy Spirit. And as he is the
great purchase, so he is the great promise,
or the great thing promised by God and Christ
to the church, as said the Apostle Peter on
the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 32, 33), "This
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE. 4-il
Jesus, being bj the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of the Father the prom-
ise of the Holy Ghost, he hath slied forth this
which ye now see and hear." And this great
purchase and promise of Christ is forever to be
given to his church. He has promised that
his church shall continue, and expressly de-
clared that the gates of hell shall not prev^ail
against it. And tliat it may be preserved, he
has given his Holy Spirit to every true mem-
ber of it, and prouiised the continuance of
that Spirit forever. His OM-n language is
(John xiv. 16, 17), "And I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another com-
forter, that he may abide with you forever ;
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world can-
not receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him ; but ye know him, for he dwell-
eth with you, and shall be in you."
Man, in his first estate in Eden, had the
Holy Spirit ; but he lost it by his disobe-
dience. But a wa}^ has been prov'ded by
which it may be restored, and now it is given
a second time, never more to depart from the
saints. The Spirit of God is so given to his
own people as to become truly theirs. It was,
indeed, given to our first parents in their starto
142 THE HOLY SPIRIT FCKEVER
of innocence, and dwelt with them, but not in
the same sense in which it is given and dwells
in believers in Christ. They had no proper
right or sure title to the Spirit, and it was not
finally and forever given to them, as it is to
believers in Christ; for if it had been, they
never would have lost it. But the Spirit of
Christ is not only communicated to those that
are converted, but he is made over to them by
a sure covenant, so that he is become their
own. Christ is become theirs, and therefore
his fulness is theirs, and therefore his Spirit is
theirs — their purchased, and promised, and
sure possession. But,
II. There are other fruits of the Spirit he-
sides that which sumrrharily consists in char-
ity^ or divine love^ wherein the Spirit of God
is communicated to his church. For ex-
ample,
1. The Spirit of God has heen communi-
cated to his church in extraordinary gifts^
such as the gift of miracles., the gift of inspi-
ration., dbc. — 'The Spirit of God seems to have
been communicated to the church in such
gifts, formerly to the prophets under the Old
Testament, and to the Apostles, and evange-
lists, and prophets, and to the generality of the
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE. 443
earl}' ministers of the gospel, and also to mul-
titudes of common Christians under the New
Testament. To them were given such gifts
as the gift of prophecy, and the gift of tongues,
and the gift called the gift of knowledge, and
others mentioned in the context, and in the
foregoing chapter. And besides these,
2. There are the cmmnon and ordina/ry gifts
of the Spirit of God. — These, in all ages, have
more or less been bestowed on many natural,
unconverted men, in common convictions of
sin, and common illuminations, and common
religious affections, which, though they have
nothing in them of the nature of divine love,
or of true and saving grace, are yet the fruits
of the Spirit in the sense that they are the
effect of his influences on the hearts of men.
And as to faith and hope, if there be nothing
of divine love with them, there can be no
more of the Spirit of God in them than is
common to natural, unregenerate men. This
is clearly implied b}^ the Apostle, when he
says, in this cha23ter, "Though I have all
faith, so that I could remove mountains, and
have not charity, I am nothing." All saving
faith and hope have love in them as ingre-
dients, and as their essence ; and if this ingro-
444 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVER
dient be taken out, there is notljing '.eft but
the body without the spirit. It is nothing
saving; but at best, only a common fruit of
the Spirit. But,
III. All these other fruits of the Spirit are
hut for a season, and either have already
ceased, or at some time will cease. — As to the
miraculous gifts of prophecy and tongues, &c.,
they are but of a temporary use, and cannot
be continued in heaven. They were given
only as an extraordinary means of grace tliat
God was once pleased to grant to his church
in the world. But when the saints that once
enjoyed the use of these means went to heav-
en, such means of grace ceased, for they were
no longer needful. There is no occasion for
any means of grace in heaven, whether ordi-
nary, such as the stated and common means
of God's house, or extraordinary, such as the
gifts of tongues, and of knowledge, and of
prophecy. I say there is no occasion for any
of these means of grace to be continued in
heaven, because there t)ie end of all means
of grace is already fully obtained in the per-
fect sanctiiication and happiness of God's
people. The Apostle, speaking in the fouilh
chapter of Ephesians, of the various means of
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN TDVE. 445
grace, says that they are given " for the per-
fecting of the saints, for the work of the min-
istry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
till we all come, in the unity of the faith and
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man." But when this lias come to
pass, and the saints are perfected, and are al-
ready come to the measure of the stature of
the fulness of Christ, then there will be no
further occasion for any of these means,
whether ordinary or extraordinary. It is in
this respect, very much as it is with the fruits
of the field, which stand in need of tillage,
and rain, and sunshine, till they are ripe and
gathered in, and then they need them no
more.
And as these miraculous gifts of the Spirit
were but temporary with regard to those par-
ticular persons that enjoyed them, so they are
but for a season with regard to the church of
God taken as a collective body. These gifts
are not fruits of the Spirit that were given to
be continued to the church throughout all
ages. They were continued in the church, or
at least were o-ranted from time to time, thouo-h
not without some considerable intermissions,
from the beginning of the world till the canon
446 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOBEVER
of the Scriptures was completed. They were
bestowed on the church before the beginning
of the sacred canon, that is before the book of
Job and the five books of Moses were written.
People had the word of God then in another
way, viz. : by immediate revelation from time
to time given to eminent persons who were, as
it were, fathers in the church of God, and this
revelation handed down from them to others
by oral tradition. It was a very common
thing then for the Spirit of God to communi-
cate himself in dreams and visions, as appears
by several j^assages in the book of Job. They
liad extraordinary gifts of the Spirit before
the flood. God immediately and miraculously
revealed himself to Adam and Eve, and so to
Abel, and to Enoch, who we are informed
(Jude 14) had the gift of prophecy. And so
Noah had immediate revelations made to him,
and he warned the old world from God ; and
Christ, by his Spirit speaking through him,
went and preached to the spirits that are now
in prison, who were sometime disobedient
when once the long-suffering of God waited
while the ark was preparing, 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20.
And so Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob were
favored with immediate revelations ; and Jo-
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE. 447
sepli had extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, and
SO had Job and his friends. From this time,
there seems to have been an intermission of
the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit until the
time of Moses ; and from his time they were
continued in a succession of prophets that was
kept up, though not again without some inter-
ruptions, till the time of Malachi. After that,
there seems to have been a long intermission
of several hundred years, till the da^vn of the
gospel day, when the Spirit began again to
be given in his extraordinary gifts, as to Anna,
and Simeon, and Zacharias, and Elizabeth, and
Mary, and Joseph, and John the Baptist.
These communications of the Spirit were
given to make way for him who hath the
Spirit without measure, the great prophet of
God, by whom the Spirit is communicated to
all other prophets. And in the days of his
flesh, his disciples had a measure of the mi-
raculous gifts of the Spirit, being enabled
thus to teach and to work miracles. Bat after
the resurrection and ascension, was the most
full and remarkable effusion of the Spirit in
his miraculous gifts that ever took phice, be-
ginning with the day of Pentecost, after Christ
had risen and ascended to heaven. And in
448 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOIiEVEE
consequence of this, ziot only here and thertr
an extraordinary person was endowed with
these extraordinary gifts, but tbey were com
nion in the church, and so continued during
the lifetime of the Apostles, or till the death
of the last of them, even the Apostle John,
which took place about an hundred years from
the birth of Christ ; so that the first hundred
years of the Christian era, or the first centujy,
was the era of miracles. But soon after that,
the canon of Scripture being completed when
the Apostle John had written the book of
Revelation, which he wrote not long before his
death, these miraculous gifts were no longer
continued in the chui'ch. For there was now
completed an established written revelation
of the mind and will of God, wherein God
had fully recorded a standing and all-sufi
cient rule for his church in all ages. And the
Jewish church and nation being overthrown,
and the Christian church and the last dispen-
sation of the church of God being established,
the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were no
longer needed, and therefore they ceased ; for
though they had been continued in the church
for so many ages, yet then they failed, and
God caused them to fa'l because there was no
Tl) BE COMMUNICATED IK LOVE. M9
furtbei* occasion for them. And so \\as ful-
filled the saying of the text, " AVhether there
be prophecies, they shall fail : whether there
be tongues, they shall cease ; whether there
be knowledge, it sliall vanish away." And
now there seems to be an end to all such
fruits of the Spirit as these, and we have no
reason to expect them any more. And as to
those fruits of the Spirit that are common,
such as the conviction, illumination, belief,
&c., wdiich are common both to the godly and
ungodly, these are given in all ages of the
church in the world ; and yet with respect to
the persons that have these common gifts,
they will cease when they come to die ; and
with respect to the church of God considered
collectively, they w^ill cease, and there will be
no more of them after the day of judgment.
I pass, then, to show, as proposed,
TV. That cha/'iti/., or divhie love, is that
great fruit of the Spirit that never fails, and
in which his continued and everlasting influ-
ence and indwelling in his church, shall ap-
pear and he manifest. — ^We have seen that
the Spirit of Christ is forever given to the
church of Christ, and given that it may dwell
in his saints foreii er in influences that shall
iSO THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVER
never fail. And therefore however many
fruits of the Spirit may be but temporary, and
have their limits where they fail, yet it must
be that there is some way of the Spirit's iiiflu-
ence, and some fruit of that influence, which
is unfailing and eternal. And charity, or di-
vine love is that fruit, in connnunicating, and
nourishing, and exercising which, his unfailing
and eternal influences appear. This is a fruit
of the Spirit that never fails or ceases in the
church of Christ, whether we consider it with
respect to its particular members, or regard
it as a collective body. And,
1. We may consider the church of Christ
with respect to the particular menribers of
which it consists. — And here it \vill appear
that charity, or Christian love, is an unfailing
fruit of the spirit. Every one of the true
members of Christ's invisible church, is pos-
sessed of this fruit of the spirit in the heart.
Divine or Christian love, is implanted, and
dwells, and reigns there, as an everlasting
fruit of the spirit, and one that never fails. It
never fails in this world, but remains through
all trials and oppositions, for the Apostle tells
us (Romans viii. 38, 39), that nothing " shall
be able to separate us from the love of God,
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOTE. 451
which is in Christ Jesus our Loid." And it
cease? not when the saints come to die. When
the Apostles and othei-s of their day died and
went to heaven, they left all their miraculous
gifts behind them with their bodies. But they
did not leave the love that was in their hearts
behind them, but carried that with them to
heaven, where it was gloriously perfected.
Though when wicked men die, who have had
the common influences of the Spiut, their gifts
shall eternally cease, yet death never over-
throws Christian love, that great fruit of the
Spirit, in any that have it. They that have
it, may and shall leave behind them many
other fruits of the Spirit which the;)! had in
common with wicked men. And though they
shall leave all that was common in their faith,
and hope, and all that did not pertain to this
divine and holy love, yet this love they shall
not leave behind, but it shall go with them to
eternity, and shall be perfected there, and
shall live and reign with perfect and glorious
dominion in their souls forever and ever. And
so, again,
2. We may cotisider the church of Christ
collectively, or as a hody.—A.x\^ here, again,
it will appear that charity, or Chi'istian k>ve,
4b2 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVEK
shall never fail. Though other fruits of the
Spirit fail in it, this shall never fail. Of old,
when there were interruptions of the miracu-
lous gifts of the Spirit in the church, and when
there were seasons in which no prophet or in-
spired person appeared that was possessed of
such gifts, still there never was any total in-
terruption of this excellent fruit or influence
of the Spirit. Miraculous gifts were inter-
mitted through the lono- time extendino; from
Malachi to near the birth of Christ ; but iu
all this time, the influence of the Spirit in
keeping up divine love in the church, was
never suspended. As God always had a
church of saints in the world, from the first
creation of the church after the fall, so this
influence and fruit of his spirit never failed in
it. And when after the completion of the
canon of the Scriptures, the miraculous gifts
of the Spirit seemed finally to have ceased and
failed in the church, this influence of the
Spirit in causing divine love in the hearts of
his saints did not cease, but has been kept up
through all ages from that time to tin's, and
so will be to the end of the world. And at
the end of the world, when the church of
Christ shall be settled in its last, and most
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE, 453
coniplete, and its eternal state, and all common
i^if'ts, such as convictions and illuminations,
and all miraculous gifts shall be eternally at
an end, yet then divine love shall not fail, but
shall be brought to its most glorious perfection
in every individual member of the ransomed
church above. Then, in every heart, that love
which now seems as bu*; a spark, shall be
kindled to a bright and glowing flame, and
every ransomed soul shall be as it were in a
blaze of divine and holy love, and shall re-
main and grow in this glorious perfection and
blessedness through all eternity !
I shall give but a single reason for the truth
of the doctrine which has thus been presented.
And the great reason why it is so, that other
fruits of the Spirit fail, and the great fruit of
love remains, is, that love is the great end of
all the other fruits and gifts of the Spirit.
The principle and the exercises of divine love
in the heart, and the fruits of it in the con-
duct, and the happiness that consists in and
flows from it, these things are the great end
of all the fruits of tiie Spirit that fail. Charity
or divine love is the end, to which all the in-
spiration, and all the miraculous gifts that
<sver were in the world, are but the means.
SO
4:54 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVER
They were only means of grace, but charity
^r divine love is grace itself ; and not only so,
but the sum of all grace. Revelation and
miracles were never given for any other end,
bat only to promote holiness, and build up
the kingdom of Christ in men's hearts ; but
Christian love is the sura of all holiness, and
its growth is but the growth of Clirist's king-
dom in the soul. The extraordinary fruits of
the Spirit were given for revealing and con-
firming the word and will of God, that men
by believing might be conformed to that v/ill ;
and they were valuable and good, only so far
as they tended to this end. And hence when
that end was obtained, and when the canon
of the Scriptures, the great and powerful
means of grace was completed, and the ordi-
nances of the New Testament and of the last
dispensation were fully established, the ex-
traordinary gifts ceased and came to an end
as being no further useful. Miraculous gifts
being a means to a further end, they are good
no further than as they tend to that end.
But divine love is that end itself, and there-
fore remains when the means to it cease. The
end is not only a good, but the highest kind
of good in itself, and therefore remains for
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE. 455
ever So it is with respect to the common
gifts of the Spirit that are given in all ages,
such as illumination, conviction, &c. They
have no good in themselves, and are no fur-
ther good than as they tend to promote that
grace and holiness which radically and sum-
marily consist in divine love, and therefore
when this end is once fully answered, there
shall be an end forever of these common gifts,
while divine love, which is the end of them
all, shall eternally remain.
In the aj)plication of this subject, I would
remark,
1. That there seems to he no reason to think,
as some have thought, that the extraordinary
gifts of- the /Spirit are to he restored to the
church in the future and glorious times of her
latter day prosperity and blessedness. — Many
divines have been of the oj)inion, that when
the latter day glory of the church which is
spoken of in the word of God shall come,
there will again be prophets, and men en-
dowed with the gifts of tongues and of work-
ing r.iiracles, as was the case in the times of
the Apostles ; and some now living seem to
be of the same mind.
But from what the Apostle says in the text
456 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVER
and context, it seems as tliougli we had no
leason to imagine any such thing from what
the Scriptm*es say of the gloriousness of those
times, or because it speaks of the state of the
church then as being more glorious than ever
before, and as tliough the Spirit of God would
then be poured out in more abundant measure
than ever in times past. All these things
may be, and yet there be no such extraordinary
gifts bestowed on the church. When the
Spirit of God is poured out for the purpose of
producing and promoting divine love, he is
poured out in a more excellent way than when
he is manifested in miraculous gifts. This
the Apostle expressly teaches in the latter
part of the foregoing chapter, where after
enumerating many miraculous gifts, he advises
Christians to covet or desire the best of them,
but then adds, " But yet I show unto you a
more excellent way," namely, to seek the
influence of the Spirit of God, working charity
or divine love in the heart. Surely the Scrip-
tures, when speaking of the future glorious
state of the church as being such an excellent
state, give us no reason to conclude that the
Spirit of God will be poured our; then in any
other way than in the most excellent way,
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE. 457
And doubtless the most excellent way of the
Spirit, is for the most excellent state of the
clnirch.
The future state of the church being so
much more perfect than in previous times,
does not tend to prove that then there shall
be miraculous gifts, but rather the contraiy.
For the Apostle himself, in the text and con-
text, speaks of these extraordinary gifts ceas-
ing and vanishing away to give place for a
kind of fruits or influences of the Spirit that
are more perfect. If you do but read the
text in connection with the two followino;
verses, you will see that the reason implied
why prophecy and tongues fail, and charity
remains, is this, that the imperfect gives way
to the perfect, and the less excellent to the
more excellent ; and the more excellent, he
declares, is charity or love. Prophecy and
miracles argue the imperfection of the state
of the church, rather than its perfection. For
they are means designed by God as a stay or
support, or as a leading-string, if I may so
say, to the cluirch in its infancy, rather than
as means adapted to it in its full growth ; and
as such the Apostle seems to speak of them.
When the Christian church first began, after
458 THE HOLT SPIRIT FOKEVER
the ascension of Christ, it was in its infancy,
and then it needed miracles, &c., to establish
it ; but being once established, and the canon
of the Scriptures being completed, they ceased,
which, according to the Apostle's arguing,
shows their imperfection, and how much in-
ferior they are to that fruit or influence of the
Holy Spirit which is seen in divine love.
Why, then, sh(uild we expect that they should
be restored again, when the church is in its
most perfect state ? All these miraculous gifts
the Apostle seems to call " childish things,"
in comj)arison with the nobler fruit of Chris-
tian love. They are adapted to the childish
state of the church, while holy love is more to
be expected in its full grown and manly state;
and in themselves they are childish, in com
parison with that holy love which will so
abound in the church when it comes to its
perfect stature in Christ Jesus.
Nor is the gloriousness of the future times
of the church any argument for the continu-
ance, in those times, of the miraculous gifts
of the Spirit. For surely the state of the
church then will not be more glorious than the
heavenly state ; and yet the Apostle teaches
that in the heavenly state all t lese gifts shall
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE. 459
be at an end, and the influence of the Spirit
in producing divine love only shall remain.
Nor does it apj)ear that there shall be any
need of miraculous gifts in order to th'e bring-
ing about of the future glorious times of the
church ; for God is able to bring them about
without the instrumentality of these gifts.
If the Spirit of God be poured out in only his
gracious influences in converting souls, and in
kindling divine love in them in such measure
as he may and will, this will be enough, with-
out new revelations or miracles, to produce
all the effects that need to be produced in
order to the bringing in of the glorious times
of which we are speaking ; as we may all be
convinced by the little we have seen in the
late outpouring of the Spirit in this and the
neighboring towns. If we needed any new
rule to go by, and the common influences of
the Spirit together with the word of God were
insufficient, then there might be some necessity
for restoring miracles. But there is no need
whatever of new Scriptures being given, or of
any additions being made to those we have,
for they are in themselves a perfect rule for
our faith and practice ; and as there is no need
of a new canon )f Scripture, so there is no
460 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOREVER
need of those miraculous gifts, the great object
of which was, either to confirm the Scriptures,
or to make up for tlie want of them when as
yet the}^ had not been given by the inspiring
Spirit.
2. The subject we have been considering
should make persons exceedingly cautious how
they give heed to anything that may look like
a new revelation^ or that mny claim to be any
extraordinary gift of the Spirit. — Sometimes a
person may have an impression in his mind
as to something that he thinks immediately
revealed to him that is to come to pass con-
cerning himself or some of his relatives or
friends ; or as to something that is to come to
pass that before was hid from him, and if it
had not been revealed, would remain still a
secret ; or perhaps he thinks it has been re-
vealed to him what is the spiritual state of
some other person, or of his own soul, in some
other way than by the Scriptural marks and
evidences of grace in the heart. Sometimes
persons imagine that they have an immediate
direction from heaven to go and do this, or
that, or the other thing, by impressions im-
mediately made on their minds, or in some
other way than by learning from Scripture or
TO BE COMMUNICATED IN LOVE. 461
reason that it is their duty. And sometimes
they fancy that God immediately reveals to
them by a dream what the future shall be.
But all these things, if they were from God's
Spirit, would be of the nature of those extraor-
dinary gifts of the Spirit which the Apostle
says do cease and are done away, and which
havino; long since failed there is no reason to
suppose that God will restore again. And if
they are not from God's Spirit, they are but
gross delusions. And once more,
3. The subject teaches how greatly we should
value those infiuences and fruits of the Sjnrit
which are evidences of true grace in the soid,
and which are all sum,m.arily included in
charity^ or divine love. — ^This is the end and
design of the Apostle in the text and context,
to te-ach us to value this charity or love, by
showing that it never fails, though all the
miraculous gifts of the Spirit do fail and come
to an end. This grace is the most excellent
fruit of the Spirit, without which the most ex-
traordinary and miraculous gifts are nothing.
This is the great end to which they are but the
means j and which is, of course, more excellent
than all these means. Let us all therefore
earnestly seek this blessed fruit of the Spirit,
4(52 THE HOLY SPIRIT FOEEVICK, ETC.
and let us seek that it may abound in our
souls; that the love of God may more and
more be shed abroad in our hearts ; and that
we may love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity,
and love one another as Christ hath loved us.
Thus we shall possess the richest of all treasures,
and the highest and most excellent of all
graces. Having within us that love which is
Immortal in its nature, we shall have the
surest evidence that our immortality will be
blessed, and that our hope of eternal life is
that good hope which shall never disappoint
us. Love cherished in the soul on earth, will
be to us the foretaste of, and the preparation
for that world which is a world of love, and
where the Spirit of love reigns and blesses
forever.
LECTURE XVI.
HEAVEN, A WORLD OF CHARITY, OR LOVE.
'Chancy ne/er faileth. But whether there be prophe-
cies, they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall
cease ; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when
that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall
bt done away." — 1 Cor, xiii. 8, 9, 10.
From the first of these verses, I have already
drawn the doctrine, that that great fruit of the
Spirit in which the Holy Ghost shall not only
for a season, but everlastingly be communica-
ted to the church of Christ, is charity or divine
love. And now I would consider the same
verse in connection with the two that follow
it, and upon the three verses would make two
observations.
First^ That it is mentioned as one great
excellence of charity, that it shall remain
when all other fruits of the Spirit have failed.
And,
4:64 HEAVEN, A "WORLD OF
Second^ That this will come to pass in the
perfect state of the church, when that which
is in part shall be done away, and that which
is perfect is come.
There is a two-fold hnperfect^ and so a two-
fold perfect state of tlie Christian church. The
church in its beginning, or in its first age,
before it was strongly established in the world,
and settled in its I^ew Testament state, and
before the canon of Scripture was completed,
was in an imperfect state — a state, as it were,
of childhood, in comparison with what it was
to be in its elder and later ages when it should
have reached its state of manhood, or of com-
parative earthly perfection. And so, again,
this comparatively perfect church of Christ,
so long as it remains in its militant state, that
is, down to tlie end of time, will still be in an
imperfect, and as it were in a childish state in
comparison with what it will be in its heavenly
state, in which latter it is comparatively in ita
state of manhood or perfection.
And so there is a two-fold failing of these
miraculous gifts of the Spirit here mentioned.
One was at the end of the first or infant age
of the church, when the canon of Scripture
K^as completed, and so there was to be no need
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 465
of such gifts for the church in its latter ages,
when it should have put away childish things,
and come to a state of manhood before the end
of the world, and when the Spirit of God
should most gloriously be poured out and
manifested in that love or charity, which is its
greatest and everlasting fruit. And the other
will be, when all the common fruits of the
Spirit cease with respect to particular persons
at death, and with respect to the whole church
at the end of the world, while charity shall
still remain in heaven, and there the Spirit of
God shall be poured forth and manifested in
perfect love in every heart to all eternity.
The Apostle, in the context, seems to have
respect to both these states of the church, but
especially to the latter. For though the glori-
ous state of the church in its latter age on
earth, will be perfect in comparison with its
former state, yet its state in heaven is that
state of the church to which the expressions
of the Apostle seem most agreeable, when he
says, " when that which is perfect is come,
&c.," and " now we see through a glass darkly,
but then face to face ; now I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am
i66 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
known." The doctrine, then, tha: I woulA
draw from the text, is, that
Heaven is a world of charity, or love.
The Apostle speaks, in the text, of a state
of the church when it is perfect in heaven,
and therefore a state in which the Holy Spirit
shall be more perfectly and abundantly given
to the church than it is now on earth. But
the way in which it shall be given when it is
so abundantly poured forth, will be in that
great fniit of the Spirit, holy and divine love
in the hearts of all the blessed inhabitants of
that world. So that the heavenly state of the
church, is a state that is distinguished from
its earthly state, as it is that state which God
has designed especially for such a communica-
tion of his Holy Spirit, and in which it shall
be given perfectly, whereas in the present
state of the church it is given with great im-
perfection. And it is also a state in which
this holy love or charity shall be, as it were,
the only gift or fruit of the Spirit, as being the
most perfect and glorious of all, and which
being brought to perfection renders all other
gifts that God was wont to bestow on his
church on earth, needless. And that we may
the better see how heaven is thus a world of
CHAEITY, OR LOVE. 467
holy love, I would consider jirst^ the great
cause and fountain of love that is in heaven ;
second^ the objects of love that it contains ;
thirds the subjects of that love ; fourth^ its
principle, or the love itself ; fifths the excellent
circumstances in which it is there exercised
and expressed and enjoyed ; and sixth, the
happy eiFects and fruits of all this. And,
I. The CAUSE and fountain of love in heav-
en. Here I remark that the God of love him-
self dwells in heaven. Heaven is the palace
or presence-chamber of the high and holy One,
whose name is love, and who is both the cause
and source of all holy love. God, considered
with respect to his essence, is everywhere : he
fills both heaven and earth. But yet he is
said, in some respects, to be more especially
in some places than in others. He was said
of old to dwell in the land of Israel, above all
other lands ; and in Jerusalem, above all
other cities of that land ; and in the temple,
above all other buildings in the city ; and in
the holy of holies, above all other apartments
of the temple ; and on the mercy-seat over
the ark of the covenant, above all other places
in the holy of holies. But heaven is his dwell-
ing-place above all other places in the uni-
468 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
verse; and all those places in wbich he was
said to dwell of old, were but types of this.
Heaven is a part of creation that God has
built for this end, to be the place of his glori-
ous presence, and it is his abode forever ; and
here will he dwell, and gloriously manifest
himself to all eternity.
And this renders heaven a world of love ;
for God is the fountain of love, as the sun is
the fountain of light. And therefore the glo-
rious presence of God in heaven, fills heaven
with love, as the sim placed in the midst of
the visible heavens in a clear day, fills the
world with light. The Apostle tells us that
" God is love ;" and therefore, seeing he is an
infinite being:, it follows that he is an infinite
fountain of love. Seeing he is an all-sufficient
being, it follows that he is a full, and over-
flowing, and inexhaustible fountain of love.
And in that he is an unchangeable and eternal
being, he is an unchangeable and eternal foun-
tain of love.
There, even in heaven, dwells the God from
whom every stream of holy love, yea, every
drop that is, or ever was, proceeds. There
dwells God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Spirit, united as one, in infinitely dear,
CHABITY, OR LOVE. 469
and incomjrehensible, and mutual, and eternal
love. There dwells God the Father, who is
the father of mercies, and so the father of love,
who so loved the world as to give his onlv-be-
gotten Son to die for it. There dwells Christ,
the Lamb of God, the prince of peace and of
love, who so lov^ed the world that he shed his
blood, and poured out his soul unto death for
men. There dwells the great Mediator, through
whom all the divine love is expressed toward
men, and by whom the fruits of that love have
been purchased, and through whom thej are
communicated, and through whom love is
imparted to the hearts of all God's people.
There dwells Christ in both his natures, the
human and the divine, sitting on the same
throne with the Father. And there dwells the
Holy Spirit, the spirit of divine love, in whom
the very essence of God, as it were, flows out
and is breathed forth in love, and by whose
immediate influence all holy love is shed
abroad in the hearts of all the saints on earth
and in heaven. There, in heaven, this infinite
fountain of love — this eternal three in one — is
set open without any obstacle tu hinder access
to it, as it flows forever. There this glorious
God is manifested and shines forth, in full
ol
470 HEAVEN, A WOULD OF
glory, in beams of love. And there this glori-
ous fountain forever flows forth in streams,
yea, in rivers of love and delight, and these
rivers swell, as it were, to an ocean of love, in
which the souls of the ransomed may bathe
with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts,
as it were, be deluged with love ! Again, I
would consider heaven, with regard,
II. To the OBJECTS cf love that it contains.
And here I would observe three things.
1. There are none hut lovely objects in heav-
en. — No odious, or unlovely, or polluted per-
son or thing is to be seen there. There is
nothing there that is wicked or unholy. "There
shall in no wise enter into it anything that
defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomina-
tion," Hev. xxi. 27. And there is nothing that
is deformed with any natural or moral defor-
mity ; but everything is beauteous to behold,
and amiable, and excellent in itself. The
God that dwells and gloriously manifests him-
self there, is infinitely lovely ; gloriously lovely
as a heavenly Father, as a divine Redeemer
and as a holy sanctifier.
All the persons that belong to the blessed
society of heaven are lovely. The Father of
the family is lovely, and so are all his chil
CHARITY, OK LOVE. 471
dren ; the head of the body lovely, and so are
all the members. Among the angels there
are none that are unlovely ; for they are all
holy ; and no evil angels are suffered to infest
heaven as they do this world, but they are
kept forever at a distance by that great gulf
which is between them and the glorious world
of love. And among all the company of the
saints there are no unlovely persons. There
are no false professors or hypocrites there ;
none that pretend to be saints, and yet are of
an unchristian and hateful spirit or behavior,
as is often the case in this world ; none whose
gold has not been purified from its dross ; none
who are notlovel,y in themselves and to others.
There is no one object there to give offence, or
at any time to give occasion for any passion
or emotion of hatred or dislike, but every
object there shall forever draw forth love.
And not only shall all objects in heaven be
lovely, but
2. They shall he perfectly lovely. — There are
many things in this world that In the general
are lovely, but yet are not perfectly free from
that which is the contrary. There are spots
on the sun ; and so tliere are many men that
are most amiable and worthy to be loved, who
472 HEAViiN, A WORLD OF
vet are not witliout some things chat are dv^-
airreeable and unlovely. Often there is in
good men some defect of temper, or character,
or conduct, that mars the excellence of wha<;
otherwise would seem most amiable; and even
the very best of men are, on earth, imperfect.
But it is not so in heaven. There shall be no
pollution, or deformity, or unamiable defect
of any kind, seen in any person or thing ; but
every one shall be perfectly pui-e, and per-
fectly lovely in heaven. That blessed world
shall be jjerfectly bright, without any dark-
ness ; perfectly fair, without any spot ; per
fectly clear, without any cloud. !N^o moral
or natural defect shall ever enter there ; and
there nothing be seen that is sinful, or weak,
or foolish ; nothing, the nature or aspect of
which is coarse or displeasing, or that can
offend the most refined taste, or the most deli-
cate eye. No string shall there vibrate out of
tune, to cause any jar in the harmony of the mu-
sic of heaven ; and no note be such as to make
discord in the anthems of saints and angels.
The great God who so fully manifests him-
self there, is perfect with an absolute and
infinite perfection. The Son of God, who is
the brightness of the Father's glory, appears
CHAKITY, OK LOVE. 473
tliere in iliv, fulness of his glorj, witliout that
garb of outward meanness in which he appeared
in this workl. The II0I3- Ghost shall there be
l)oured forth with perfect richness and sweet-
ness, as a pure river of the water of life, clear
as crystal, proceeding out of the tlirone of God
and the Lamb. And every member of that
holy and blessed society, shall be without any
stain of sin, or imperfection, or weakness, or
imprudence, or blemish of any kind. The
whole church, ransomed and puriiied, shall
there be presented to Christ, as a bride, clothed
in fine linen, clean and white, w^ithout spot or
wrinkle, or any such thing. Wherever the
inhabitants of that blessed world shall turn
their eyes, they shall see nothing but dignity,
and beauty, and glory. The most stately cities
on earth, however magnificent their buildings,
yet have their foundations in the dust, and
their streets dirty and defiled, and made to bo
trodden under foot; but the very streets of
this heavenly city are of pure gold, like unto
transparent glass, and its foundations are of
precious stones, and its gates are pearls. And
all these are but faint emblems of the purity
and perfectness of those that dAvell therein.
And in heaven,
474: HEAVEN, A WOKLD OF
3. Shall he all those objects that the saints
have set their hearts ttpon, and which they
have loved above all things while in this
world. — ^There they will find those things that
appeared most lo^ ely to them while they
dwelt on earth; the things that met the ap-
jjrobation of their judgments, and captivated
their affections, and drew away their souls
from the most dear and pleasant of earthly
objects. There they will find those things
that were their delight here below, and on
which they rejoiced to meditate, and with the
sweet contemplation of which their minds
were often entertained ; and there, too, the
things which they chose for their portion, and
which were so dear to them that they were
ready for the sake of them to undergo the
severest sufferings, and to forsake even father,
and mother, and kindred, and friends, and
wife, and children, and life itself. All the
truly great and good, all the pure and holy
and excellent from this world, and it may be
from every part of the universe, are constantly
tending toward heaven. As the streams tend
to the ocean, so all these are tending to the
great ocean of infinite purity and bliss. The
progriss of time does but bear them on to its
CHARITY, OR LC VK. 475
blessedness ; and us, if we are holy, to be
united to them there. Every gem which death
rudely tears away from us here, is a glorious
jewel forevei" shining there ; every Christian
friend that goes before us from tliis world, is
a ransomed spirit waiting to welcome us in
heaven. There will be the infant of days that
we have lost below, through grace to be found
above ; there the Christian father, and mother,
and wife, and child, and friend, with whom
we shall renew the holy fellowship of the
saints, which was interrupted by death here,
but shall be commenced again in the upper
sanctuary, and then shall never end. There
we shall have company with the patriarchs
and fathez's and saints of the Old and New
Testaments, and those of whom the world was
not worthy, with whom on earth we were only
conversant by faith. And there, above all,
we shall enjoy and dwell with God the Father,
whom we have loved with all our hearts on
earth, and with Jesus Christ our beloved
Saviour, who has always been to us the chief
among ten thousands and altogether lovely,
and wiUi the Holy Gh( et our Sanctifier, and
guide, and comforter ; i^nd shall be filled with
all the fulness of the Godhead forever!
476 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
And such being the objects of 1 )ve in
heaven, I pass,
III. To its subjects. And these are the
hearts in which it dwells. In every heart in
heaven, love dwells and reigns. The heart of
God is the original seat or subject of love.
Divine love is in him, not as in a subject that
receives it from another, but as in its original
seat, where it is of itself. Love is in God, as
light is in the sun, which does not shine by a
reflected light as the moon and planets do,
but by its own light, and as the great fountain
of light. And from God, love flows out toward
all the inhabitants of heaven. It flows out, in
the first place, necessarily and infinitely, to-
ward his only begotten Son, being poured forth,
without mixture, as to an object that is infinite,
and so fully adequate to all the fulness of a
love that is infinite. And this infinite love is
infinitely exercised toward him. ]S^ot only
does the fountain send forth streams to this
object, but the very fountain itself wholly and
altogether goes out toward him. And the Son
of God is not only the infinite object of love,
but he is also an infinite subject of it. He is
not only the beloved of the Father, but he
infinitely loves him. The infinite essential
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 477
love of Qcd, is, as it were, an infinite and
eternal mutual holy energy between the Father
and the Son : a pure and holy act, whereby
the Deity becomes, as it were, one infinite
and unchangeable emotion of love proceeding
from both the Father and the Son. This
divine love has its seat in the Deity, as it is
exercised within the Deity, or in God toward
himself.
But this love is not confined to such exer-
cises as these. It flows out in innumerable
streams toward all the created inhabitants of
heaven, to all the saints and angels there.
The love of God the Father flows out toward
Christ the head, and to all the members,
through him in whom they were beloved before
the foundation of the world, and in whom the
Father's love was expressed toward them in
time by his death and sufferings, as it now is
fully manifested in heaven. And the saints
and angels are secondarily the subjects of
holy love, not as those in whom it is as in an
original seat, as light is in the sun, but as it is
n the planets that shine only by reflected
light. And the light of their love is reflected
in the first place, and chiefl}", back to its great
source. As God has given the saints and
478 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
angels, love, so their love is chiefly exercised
towards God, its fountain, as is most raasona-
ble. They all love God with a supreme love.
There is no enemy of God in heaven ; but all,
as his children, love him as their father. They
are all united, with one mind, to breathe forth
their whole souls in love to God their eternal
Father, and to Jesus Christ their common
Redeemer, and head, and friend.
Christ loves all his saints in heaven. His
love flows out to his whole church there, and
to every individual member of it. And they
all, with one heart and one soul, unite in love
to their common Redeemer. Every heart is
wedded to this holy and spiritual husband,
and all rejoice in him, while the angels join
them in their love. And the angels and saints
all love each other. All the members of the
glorious society of heaven are sincerely united.
There is not a single secret or open enemy
among them all. Not a heart is there that is
not full of love, and not a solitary inhabitant
that is not beloved by all the others. And as
all are lovely, so all see each other's loveli-
ness with full complacence and delight. Every
soul goes out in love to every other ; and
an'ong all the blessed inhabitants, love is
CHARITY, OR LOVE, 479
mutual, and full, and eternal. I pass next, to
speak, as proposed,
lY. Of the principle of love in heaven.
And by this I mean the love itself that iilla
and blesses the heavenly world, and which
may be noticed both as to its nature and
degree. And,
1. As to its nature. — In its nature, this love
is altogether holy and divine. Most of the
love that there is in this world, is of an un-
hallowed nature. But the love that has place
in heaven, is not carnal but spiritual. It does
not proceed from corrupt principles or selfish
motives, nor is it directed to mean and vile
purposes and ends. As opposed to all this, it
is a pure flame, directed by holy motives, and
aimino; at no ends inconsistent with God's
glory and the happiness of the universe. The
saints in heaven love God for his own sake,
and each other for God's sake, and for the
sake of the relation that tliey have to him, and
the image of God that is upon them. All
their love is pure and holy. AYe may notice
tliis love, also,
2. As to its degree.— Aud in degree it is
perfect. The love that dwells in the heart of
God is perfect, with an absolutely infinite and
i80 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
divine perfection. The love of angels and
saints to God and Christ, is perfect in its kind,
or with such a perfection as is proper to their
nature. It is perfect with a siidess perfection,
and perfect in that it is commensurate to the
capacities of their nature. So it is said in the
text, that when that wliich is perfect is come,
that which is in part shall be done away.
Their love shall be without any remains of
any contrary principle, having no pride or
selfishness to interrupt it or hinder its exer-
cises. Their hearts shall be full of love.
That which was in the heart on earth as but a
grain of mustard seed, shall be as a great tree
in heaven. The soul that in this world had
only a little spark of divine love in it, in
heaven shall be as it were turned into a bright
and ardent flame, like the sun in its fullest
brightness when it has no spot upon it.
In heaven there shall be no remaining en-
mity, or distaste, or coldness, or deadness of
heart towards God and Christ. Not the least
remainder of any principle of envy shall exist
to be exercised toward angels or other beings
who are superior in glory ; nor shall there be
aught like contempt or slighting of those who
are inferiors. Those that have a lower station
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 481
in glory than others, suffer no dimiimtion of
their own happiness by seeing others abovx»
til em in glory. On the contrary, all the mem-
bers of that blessed society rejoice in each
other's happiness, for the love of benevolence
is perfect in them all. Every one has not
only a sincere, but a perfect good-will to every
other. Sincere and strong love is greatly
gratified and delighted in the prosperity of
the beloved object; and if the love be perfect,
Ihe greater the prosperity of the beloved is,
the more is the lover pleased and delighted :
for the prosperity of the beloved, is, as it were,
the food of love, and therefore the greater that
prosperity, the more richly is love feasted.
The love of benevolence is delighted in behold-
ing the prosperity of another, as the love of
complacence is, in beholding the beauty or
perfection of another. So that the superior
prosperity of those that are higher in glory, is
so far from being a hindrance to the degree
of love felt toward them, that it is an addition
to it, or a part of it.
There is undoubtedly an inconceivably [ure,
sweet, and fervent love between the saints iu
glory ; and that love is in proportion to the
perfection and amiableness of the objects
482 HEAVEN, A WOKLD OF
beloved, and therefore it must ntcetsaiily
cause delight in tJiem when they see that the
happiness and glorj of others are in proportion
to their auiiableness, and so in proportion to
their love to tliem. Those that are highest in
glory, are those tliat are highest in holiness,
and therefore are those that are most beloved
by all the saints ; for they most love those that
are most holy, and so they will all rejoice in
their being the most happy. And it will not
be a grief to any of the saints to see those that
are higher than themselves in holiness and
likeness to God, more loved also than them-
selves, for all shall have as much love as tliey
desire, and as great manifestations of love as
they can bear ; and so all shall be fully satis-
fied ; and when there is j)erfect satisfaction,
there can be no reason for envy. And there
will be no temptation for any to envy those
that are above them in glory on account of
the latter being lifted up with pride, for there
will be no pride in heaven. We are not to
conceive that those who are more holy and
happy than others in heaven, will be elated
and lifted up in their spirit above others, for
those who are above others in holiness, will be
superior to them in humility. The saints that
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 483
are highest m gloiy, will be the lowest iv.
humbleness of mind, for their superior humility
is part of their superior holiness. Though uU
are perfectly free from pride, yet as some will
have greater degrees of divine knowledge than
others, and larger capacities to see more of
the divine perfections, so they will see more
of their own comparative littleness and nothing-
ness, and therefore will be lowest and most
abased in humility.
And besides, the inferior in glory will have
no temptation to envy those that are higher
than themselves, for those that are highest
will not only be more loved by the lower for
their higher holiness, but they will also have
more of the spirit of love to others, and so will
love those that are below them more than if
their own capacity and elevation were less.
They that are highest in degree in glory, will
be of the highest capacity ; and so having the
greatest knowledge, will see most of God's
loveliness, and consequently will have love to
God and love to the saints most abounding in
their hearts. And on this account those that
are lower in glory will not envy those that are
above them, because they will be most beloved
by those that are highest in glory. And the
484 HEAVEN, A WOELD OF
superior in glory will be so far from slighting
those that are inferior, that they will have
most abundant love to them — greater degrees
of love in proportion to their superior knowl-
edge and happiness. The higher any are in
glory, the more they are like Christ in this
respect, so that the love of the higher to the
lower will be greater than the love of the
equals of the latter to them. And what puts
it beyond all doubt that seeing the superior
happiness of others will not be a damp to the
happiness of the inferior, is this, that their
superior happiness consists in their greater
humility, and in their greater love to thera,
and to God, and to Christ, than the inferior,
will have in themselves. Such will be the
sweet and perfect harmony among the heavenly
saints, and such the perfect love reigning in
every heart toward every other, without limit,
or alloy, or interruption ; and no envy, or
malice, or revenge, or contempt, or selfishness
shall ever enter there, but all such feelings
shall be kept as far away, as sin is from holi-
ness, and as hell is from heaven ! Let us next
consider,
Y. The excellent clrcwmstances in wJdch
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 485
love shall he exer&ised and expressed, and en-
joyed in heaven. And
1. Love in heaven is always mutual. — It is
always met with answerable returns of love ;
with returns that are pi*oportioned to its exer-
cise. Such returns, love always seeks ; and
just in proportion as any person is beloved, in
the same proportion is his love desired and
prized. And in heaven this desire of love, or
this fondness for being loved, will never fail
of being satisfied. No inhabitants of that
blessed world will ever be grieved with the
thought that they are slighted by those that
they love, or that tlieir love is not fully and
fondly returned.
As the saints will love God with an incon-
ceivable ardency of heart, and to the utmost
of tlieir capacity, so they will know that he
lias loved them from all eternity, and still
loves them, and will continue to love them
forever. And God will then gloriously mani-
fest himself to them, and they shall know that
all that happiness and glory which they are
possessed uf, are the fruits of his love. And
wath the same ardor and fervency will the
saints love the Lord Jesus Christ ; and their
love will be accepted ; and they si tail know
32
486 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
that he has loved them with a faithful, yea,
even with a dying love. They shall then be
more sensible than now they are, what great
love it manifested in Christ that he shonld lay
down his life for them ; and then will Christ
open to their view the great fountain of love
in his heart for them, beyond all that they
ever saw before. Hereby the love of the
saints to God and Christ, is seen to be re-
ciprocated, and that declaration fulfilled, " I
love them that love me ;" and tlionghthe love
of God to them cannot properly be called the
return of love, because he loved them first, yet
the sight of his love, will, (tn that very account,
the more fill them with joy, and admiration,
and love to him.
The love of the saints, one to another, will
always be mutual and reciprocated, though
we cannot suppose that every one will, in all
respects, be equally beloved. Some of the
saints are more beloved of God than others,
even on earth. The angel told Daniel that he
was " a man greatly beloved" (Dan. ix. 23) ;
and Luke is called "the beloved physician"
(Col, iv. 14) ; and John, •• the disciple whom
Jesus loved" (John xix, 26), And so, doubt-
less, those that have been most eminent in
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 487
fidelity and holiness, and that are highest in
gloiy, are most beloved by Christ in heaven :
and doubtless those saints that are most be-
loved of Christ, and that are nearest to him in
glory, are most beloved by all the other saints.
Thus we may conclude that such saints as the
Apostle Paul, and the Apostle John, are more
beloved by the saints in heaven than other
saints of lower rank. They are more beloved
by lower saints than those of equal rank with
themselves. But then there are answerable
returns of love in these cases ; for as such are
more beloved by all other saints, so they are
fuller of love to other saints. The heart of
Christ, the great head of all the saints, is more
full of love than the heart of any saint can be
He loves all the saints, far more than any of
them love each other. But the more any
saint is loved of him, the more is that saint
like him, in this respect, that the fuller his
heart is of love.
2. The joy of heavenly love shall never he
interrupted or damped hy jealousy. — Heavenly
lovers will have no doubt of the love of each
other. They shall have no fear that the declara-
tions and professions of love are hypocritical ;
but shall be perfectly satisfied of the sincerity
488 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
and strength of each other's affection, as much
as if there were a window in every breast, so
that everything in the heart could be seen.
There shall be no such thing as flattery or dis-
simulation in heaven, but there perfect sin-
cerity shall reign through all, and in all.
Every one will be just w^hat he seems to be,
and will really have all the love that he seems
to have. It will not be as in this world, v;here
comparatively few things are what they seem
to be, and where professions are often made
lightly, and without meaning ; but there every
expression of love shall come from the bottom
of the heart, and all that is professed shall be
really and truly felt.
The saints shall know that God loves them,
and the}'- shall never doubt the greatness of
his love, and they shall have no doubt of the
love of all their fellow-inhabitants in heaven.
And they shall not be jealous of tlie constancy
of each other's love. They shall have no sus-
picion that the love which others have felt
toward them is abated, or in any degree with-
drawn from themselves for the sake of some
rival, or by reason of anything in themselves
which they suspect is disagreeable to others,
or through any inconstancy in their own hearts
CHAKITY, OK LOVE. 489
or the hearts of others. Kor will they be in
the least afraid that the love of any will ever
be abated toward them. There shall be no
such thing as inconstancy and unfaithfulness
in heaven, to molest and disturb the friendship
of that blessed society. The saints shall have
no fear that the love of God will ever abate
towards them, or that Christ will not continue
always to love tlieni with unabated tenderness
and atfection. And they shall have no jealousy
one of another, but sliall know that by divine
grace the mutual love that exists between
them, shall never deca}^ or change.
3. There shall he nothing within themselves^
to clog or hinder the saints i?i heaven^ in the
exercises mid expressions of love. — In this
world ths saints hud much to hinder them in
this respect. They have a great deal of dul-
ness and heaviness. They carry about with
them a heavy-moulded body — a clod of earth — •
a mass of flesh and blood that is not fitted to
be the organ for a soul inflamed with higli
exercises of divine love ; but which is found a
great clog and hindrance to the spirit, so that
they cannot express their love to God as they
would, and cannot be so active and lively iu
it as they desire. Often they fain would fly,
490 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
but they are held down as with a dead weight
upon their wings. Fain would they be active,
and mount up as a flame of fire, but they find
themselves, as it were, hampered and chained
down, so that they cannot do as their love in-
clines them to do. Love disposes them to
burst forth in praise, but their tongues are not
obedient ; tliey want words to express the
ardency of their souls, and cannot order their
speech by reason of darkness, Job xxxvii. 19 ;
and often for want of expressions, they are
forced to content themselves with groanings
that cannot be uttered, Rom. viii. 26.
But in heaven they shall have no such
hindrance. There they will have no dulness
and unwieldiness, and no corruption of heart
to war against divine love, and hinder its ex-
pressions ; and there no earthly body shall
clog with its heaviness the heavenly flame.
The saints in heaven shall have no difiiculty
in expressing all their love. Their souls being
on fire with holy love, shall not be like a fire
pent up, but like a flame uncovered and at
liberty. Their spirits being winged with love,
shall have no weight upon them to hinder
their flight. There shall be no want of strength
or acti' Ity, nor any want of words wherewith
CHABITT, OR LOVE. 491
to ])raise the object of tlieir affection. Nothing
Bhall hinder them from communing with God,
and praising and serving him just as their
love inclines them to do. Love naturally
desires to express itself, and in heaven the
love of the saints shall be at full liberty to ex-
press itself as it desires, whether it be towards
God, or to created beings.
4. In, heaven, love will he expressed with
perfect decency and wisdoin. — Many in this
world that are sincere in their hearts, and
have indeed a principle of true love to God
and their neighbor, yet have not discretion to
guide them in the manner and circumstances
of expressing it. Their intentions, and so their
speeches, are good, but often not suitably
timed, or discreetly ordered as to circum-
stances, but are attended with an indiscreet-
ness that greatly obscures the loveliness of
grace in the eyes of others. But in heaven,
the amiableness and excellence of their love
shall not be obscured by any such means.
There shall be no indecent, or unwise, or
dissonant speeches or actions — no foolish and
sentimental fondness — no needless officious-
ness — no low or sinful propensities of passion —
and no si'ch thino- af) affections clouding or
i92 HEAVEN, A WORLD .F
deluding reason, or going before or against it.
But wisdom and discretion shall be as perfect
in the saints as love is, and every expression
of their love shall be attended with the most
amiable and perfect decency, and discretion,
and wisdom.
5. There shall he nothing external in heaven^
to heep its inhabitants at a distance from each
other, or to hinder their most perfect enjoy-
ment of each other'' s love. — ^There shall be no
wall of separation in heaven to keep the saints
asunder, nor shall they be hindered from the
full and complete enjoyment of each other's
love by distance of habitation ; for they shall
all be together, as one family, in their heavenly
Father's house. Nor shall there be any want
of full acquaintance to hinder the greatest
possible intimacy ; and much less shall there
be any misunderstanding between them, or
misinterpreting things that are said or done
by each other. There shall be no disunion
through difference of temper, or manners, or
circumstances, or from various opinions, or
interests, or feelings, or alliances, but all shall
be united in the same interests, and all alike
allied to the same l?.iviour, and all employed
CHARITY, OR LOTE. 493
in the sane bn&iness, serving and glorifying
the same God.
6. In heaven all shall he united together in
very near and dear relations. — Love always
seel^s a near relation to the one who is beloved ;
and in heaven they shall all be nearly allied
and related to each other. All shall be nearlj'-
related to God the supreme object of their
love, for they shall all be his children. And
all shall be nearly related to Christ, for he
shall be the head of the wiiole society, and
the husband of the whole church of saints, all
of whom together shall constitute his spouse.
And they shall all be related to each other as
brethren, for all will be but one society, or
rather but one family, and all members of the
household of God. And more than this,
7. In heaven all shall have property and
ownership in each other. — Love seeks to ha\'e
the beloved its own ; and divine love rejoices
in saying, "My beloved is mine, and I am
his." And in heaven all shall not only be re-
lated one to another, but they shall be each
other's, and belong to each other. The saints
shall be God's. He brings them home to liim-
self in glory, as that part of the creation that
he has chosen for his peculiar treasure. And
494r HEAVEN, A WORLD ^F
on the other hand, Grod shall be theirs, made
over to them in an everlasting covenant in
this world, and now they shall be forever in
full possession of him as their portion. And
so the saints shall be Christ's, for he has
bought them with a price ; and he shall be
theirs, for he that gave himself for them, will
have given himself to them ; and in the bonds
of mutual and everlasting love, Christ and the
saints will have given themselves to each other.
And as God and Christ shall be the saints', so
the angels shall be their angels, as is intimated
in Matt, xviii, 10 ; and the saints shall be one
another's, for the Apostle speaks (2. Cor, viii.
5) of the saints in his days, as first giving
themselves to the Lord, and then to one another
by the will of God ; and if this is done on
earth, it will be more perfectly done in heaven.
8. In heaven they shall enjoy each other'' s
love in jperfect and uninterrupted prospe7'ity. —
What often on earth alloys the pleasure and
sweetness of worldly friendship, is, that though
persons live in love, yet they live in poverty,
or meet with great difficulties and sore afflic-
tions, whereby they are grieved for themselves
and f>r one another. For though in such
cases, love and friendship in some respects
CHAKITY, OR L(_ VE.
495
tighten the burden to be borne, yet in other
respects they rather add to its weight, be-
cause those that love each other become, by
their very love, sharers in each other's afflic-
tions, so that each has not only his own trials
to bear, but those also of his afflicted friends.
But there shall be no adversity in heaven, to
give occasion for a pitiful grief of spirit, or to
molest or disturb those who are heavenly
friends, in the enjoyment of each other's
friendship. But they shall enjoy one another's
love in the greatest prosperity, and in glorious
riches and comfort, and in the highest honor
and dignity, reigning together in the heav-
enly kingdom — inheriting all things, sitting on
thrones, all wearing crowns of life, and being
made kings and priests unto God forever.
Christ and his disciples while on earth were
often together in affliction and trial, and they
kept up and nuinifested the stnjngest love and
friendship to each other under great and sore
sufferings. And now in heaven they enjoy
each other's love in immortal glory, all sorro^v
and sighing having forever fled away. Both
Christ and his saints were acquainted with
much sorrow and grief in this world, tho..^b
Christ had tlie greatest share, being peculiar] jr
4:96 HEAVEN, A. WORLD OF
a " man of sorrows." But in heaven ti.ej
shall sit together in heavenly places, where
sorrow and grief shall never more be knov/n.
And so all the saints will enjoy each other's
love in heaven, in a glory and prosperity in
comparison with which the wealth and thrones
of the greatest earthly princes, are but as sordid
poverty and destitution. So that as they love
one another, they have not only their own but
each other's prosperity to rejoice in, and are
by love made partakers of each others' bless-
edness and glory. Such is the love of every
saint to every other saint, that it makes the
glory which he sees other saints enjoy, as it
were, his own. He so rejoices that they enjoy
such glory, that it is in some respects to him as
if he himself enjoyed it in his own personal
experience.
9. In heaven all things shall consjpirt to
'promote their love^ and give advantage for
mutual enjoyment. — There shall be none there
to tempt any to dislike or hatred ; no bv§y-
bodies, or malicious adversaries, to make mis-
representations, or create misunderstandings,
or spread abroad any evil reports, but ever} be-
ing and everything shall conspire to pron'ote
love, and the full enjoyment of love. He? "^n
CHAKITY, OK LOVE. 497
itself, the place of habitation, is a garden of
pleasures, a heavenly paradise, fitted in all
respects for an abode of heavenly love ; a
place where they may have sweet society and
perfect enjoyment of each other's love. ISTone
are unsocial or distant from each other. The
petty distinctions of this world do not draw
lines in the society of heaven, but all meet in
the equality of holiness and of holy love.
All things in heaven do, also, remarkably
show forth the beauty and loveliness of God
and Christ, and haye tlie brightness and sweet-
ness of divine love upon them. The very light
that shines in and fills that world, is the light
of love, for it is the shining of the glory of the
Lamb of God, that most wonderful influence
of lamb-like meekness and love that fills the
heavenly Jerusalem with light. " The city
had no need of the sun, neither of the moon
to shine in it ; for the glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof," Rev.
xxi. 23. The glory that is about him that
reiffns in heaven, is so radiant and sweet that
it is compared (Rev. iv. 3) to "a rainbow
round about the throne, in sight like unto an
emerald;" and it is the rainbow that is so
often used in the Old Testament, as the fit
498 HEAVEN, A WOELD OF
token of God's love and grace manifested in
his covenant. The light of the New Jeru-
salem, which is the light of God's glorj, is
said to be like a jasper stone, clear as crystal
(Rev. xxi. 11), thus signifying the greatest
preciousness and beauty ; and as to its con-
tinuance, it is said there is no night there, but
only an endless and glorious day. This sug-
gests, once more, that,
10. The inhabitants of heaven shall hnow
that they shallforever he continued in the per-
fect enjoyment of each other's love. — They
shall know that God and Christ shall be for-
ever with them as their God and portion, and
that his love shall be continued and fully
manifested forever, and that all their beloved
fellow-saints shall forever live with them in
glory, and shall forever keep up the same love
in their hearts which they now have. And
they shall know that they themselves shall ever
live to love God, and love the saints, and to
enjoy their love in all its fulness and sweet-
ness forever. They shall be in no fear of any
end to this happiness, or of any abatement
from its fulness and blessedness, or that they
shall ever be weary of its exercises and ex-
pressions, or cloyed with its enjoy men ts, or
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 499
that the beloved objects shall ever grow old,
or disagreeable, so that their love shall at last
die away. All in heaven shall flourish in im-
mortal youth and freshness. Age will not
there diminish any one's beauty or vigor ; and
there love shall abide in every one's heart, as
a living spring perpetually springing up in
the soul, or as a flame that never dies away.
And the holy pleasure of this love shall be as
a river that is forever flowing, clear and full,
and increasing continually. The heavenly
paradise of love shall always be kept as in a
perpetual spring, without autumn or winter,
where no frosts shall blight, or leaves decay
and fall, but where every plant shall be in
perpetual freshness and bloom, and fragrance,
and beauty, always springing forth, and al-
ways blossoming, and always bearing fruit.
The leaf of the righteous shall not wither,
Ps. i. 3. And in the midst of the streets of
heaven, and on either side of the river, grows
the tree of life, which bears twelve manner
of fruits, and yields her fruit every month,
Rev. xxii. 2. Everything in the heavenly
world shall contribute to the joy of the saints,
and e7ery jo^f of heaven shall be eternal. No
500 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
night shall settle down with its darkness upon
the brightness of their everlasting day.
Having thus noticed many of the blessed
circumstances with which love in heaven is
exercised, and expressed, and enjoyed, I pro-
ceed as proposed to speak, lastly,
YI. Of the Messed effects and fruits of this
love^ as exercised and enjoyed in these circum-
stances. — And of the many blessed fruits of it,
I would at this time mention but two.
1. The most excellent and perfect hehavior
of all the inhabitants of heaven toward God
and each other. — Cliarity or divine love is the
sum of all good principles, and therefore the
fountain whence proceed all amiable and ex-
cellent actions. And as in heaven this love
will be perfect, to the perfect exclusion of all
sin consisting in enmity against God and fel-
low-creatures, so the fruit of it will be a most
perfecl behavior toward all. Hence life in
heaver will be without the least sinful failure
or eri-or. None shall ever come short, or turn
aside from the way of holiness in the least de-
gree, but every feeling and action shall be
perfect in itself and in all its circumstances.
Every part of their behavior shall be holy and
CHAKITT, OR LOVE. 501
divine in matter, and form, and spirit, and
end.
We know not particularly bow the saints iu
heaven shall be employed ; but in general we
know that they are employed in praising and
serving God ; and this they will do perfectly,
being influenced by such a love as we have
been considering. And we have reason to
think that they are so employed as in some
way to be subservient under God, to each
other's happiness, for they are represented in
the Scriptures as united together in one society
which, it would seem, can be for no other pur-
pose but mutual subserviency and happiness.
And they are thus mutually subservient by a
most excellent and perfectly amiable beha-
vior one towards another, as a fruit of their
perfect love one to another. And even if they
are not confined to this society, but if any or
all of them are at times sent on errands of
duty or mercy to distant worlds, or employed,
as some suppose them to be, as ministering
spirits to friends in this world, they are still
led by the influence of love to conduct, in all
their behavior, in such a manner as is well
pleasing to God, and thus conducive to their
own and others' happiness. The other fruit
33
502 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
of love as exercised in such circumstances,
is,
2. Perfect tranquillity and joy in heaven. — ■
Charity, or holy and humble Christian love, is
a principle of wonderful power to give ineffa-
ble quietness and tranquillity to the soul. It
banishes all disturbance, and sweetly com-
poses and brings rest to the spirit, and makes
all divinely calm and sweet and happy. In
that soul where divine love reigns and is in
lively exercise, nothing can cause a storm, or
even gather threatening clouds.
There are many principles contrary to love,
that make this world like a tempestuous sea.
Selfishness, and envy, and revenge, and jeal-
ousy, and kindred passions keep life on earth
in a constant tumult, and make it a scene of
confusion and uproar, where no quiet rest is
to be enjoyed except in renouncing this world
and looking to another. But O ! what rest is
there in that world which the God of peace
and love fills with his own gracious presence,
and in w-hich the Lamb of God lives and
reigns, filling it with the brightest and sweet-
est beams of his love ; where there is nothing
to disturb or offend, and no being or object to
be seen that is not surrounded with perfect
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 503
amiableness and sweetness ; where the saints
shall find and enjoy al! tnat they love, and so
be perfectly satisfied ■, where there Is no ene-
my and no enmity but perfect love hi every
heart and to every hbins ; where there is per-
fect harmony among ai^ the inhabitants, no
one envying another, but every one rejoicing
in the happmess of every other ; where all
their love is humble, and holy, and perfectly
Christian, without the least carnality or im-
purit}'" ; where love is always mutual and
reciprocated to the full ; where there is no
hypocrisy or dissembling, but perfect simplici-
ty and sincerity ; where there is no treachery,
or unfaithfulness, or inconstancy, or jealousy
in any form; where there is no clog or hin-
drance to the exercises or expressions of love,
no imprudence or indecency in expressing it,
and no influence of folly or indiscretion in
any word or deed ; where there is no separa-
tion wall, and no misunderstanding or strange-
ness, but full acquaintance and perfect inti-
macy in all ; where there is no division through
different opinions or interests, but where all in
that glorious and loving society shall be most
nearly and divinely related, and each sliall
belong to every other, and all shall enjoy each
504 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
other in perfect prosperity and riches, and
honor, without any sickness, or grief, or per-
secution, or sorrow, or any enemy to molest
them, or any busybody to create jealousy or
misunderstanding, or mar the perfect, and
lioly, and blessed peace that reigns in heaven !
And all this in the garden of God — in the
paradise of love, where everything is filled
with love, and everything conspires to pro-
mote and kindle it, and keep up its flame, and
nothing ever interrupts it, but everything has
been fitted by an all-wise Grod for its full en-
joyment under the greatest advantages for-
ever ! And all, too, where the beauty of the
beloved objects shall never fade, and love
shall never grow weary or decay, but the soul
shall more and more rejoice in love forever !
O ! what tranquillity will there be in such a
world as this ! And who can express the fulness
and blessedness of this peace ! What a calm
is this ! How sweet, and holy, and joyous !
"What a haven of rest to enter, after having
passed through the storms and tempests of this
world, in which pride, and selfishness, and
envy, and malice, and scorn, and contempt,
and contention, and vice are as waves of a
restless ocean, always rolling, and often dashed
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 505
about iu violence and fury ! What a Canaan
of rest to come to, after going through this
waste and howling wilderness full of snares,
and pitfalls, and poisonons serpents, where no
rest could be found !
And O ! what jov will there be, springing
up in the hearts of the saints, after they have
passed through their wearisome pilgrimage,
to be brought to such a paradise as this !
Here is joy unspeakable indeed, and full of
glory — joy that is humble, holy, enrapturing,
and divine in its perfection ! Love is always
a sweet principle ; and especially divine love.
This, even on earth, is a spring of sweetness ;
but in heaven, it shall become a stream, a
river, an ocean ! All shall stand about the
God of glory, who is the great fountain of
love, opening, as it were, their very souls to
be filled with those effusions of love that are
poured forth from his fulness, just as the
flowers on the earth, in the bright and joyoua
days of spring, open their bosoms to the sun
to be filled with his light and warmth, and to
flourish in beauty and fragrancy under hia
cheering rays.
Every saint in heaven is as a flower in that
garden of God, and hofy love is the fragrance
506 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
and sweet odor that thej^ all send forth, and
with which they fill the bowers of that para-
dise above. Every soul, there, is as a note in
some concert of delightful music, that sweetly
harmonizes with every other note, and all to-
gether blend in the most rapturous strains in
praising God and the Lamb forever. And so
all help each other, to their utmost, to ex-
press the love of the whole society to its glo-
rious father and head, and to pour back love
into the great fountain of love whence they
are supplied and filled with love, and blessed-
ness, and glory. And thus they will love, and
reign in love, and in that godlike joy that is
its blessed fruit, such as eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, nor hath ever entered into the
heart of man in this world to conceive ; and
thus in the full sunlight of the throne, enrap-
tured with joys that are forever increasing
and yet forever full, they shall live and reign
with God and Christ forever and ever !
In the application of this subject, I remark,
1. If heaven he such a world as has heen
described, then we may see a reason why con-
tention and strife tend to darken our evi-
dence of fitness for its j)ossession. — Experience
teaches that this is the efi'ect of contention.
CHAHITY, OR LOVE. 507
Wli(m principles of malignity and ill-will pre-
vail among God's people, as they sometimes
do through the remaining corruption of their
hearts, and they get into a contentious spirit
or are engaged in any strife whether public
or private, and their spirits are filled with
opposition to their neighbors in any matter
whatever, their former evidences for heaven
seem to become dim, or die away, and they
are in darkness about their spiritual state, and
do not find that comfortable and satisfying
hope that they used to enjoy.
And so when converted persons get into ill
frames in their families, the consequence com-
monly if not universally, is, that they live
without much of a comfortable sense of heav-
enly things, or any lively hope of heaven.
They do not enjoy much of that spiritual calm
and sweetness that those do who live in love
and peace. They have not that help from
God, and that communion with him, and that
near intercourse with heaven in prayer, that
others have. The Apostle seems to speak of
contention in families as having this influence.
His language is (1 Pet. iii. 7), " Likewise ye
husbands dwell with them" (your wives), "ac-
cording to knowledge, giving honor unto the
508 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being
heirs together of the grace of life, that jour
prayers be not hindered." Here he intimates
that discord in families tends to hinder Chris-
tians in their prayers. And what Christian,
that has made the sad experiment, has not
done it to his sorrow, and in his own experi-
ence does not bear witness to the truth of the
Apostle's intimation.
Why it is so, that contention has this effect
of hindering spiritual exercises and comforts
and hopes, and of destroying the sweet hope
of that which is heavenly, we may learn from
the doctrine we have considered. For heaven
being a world of love, it follows that when we
have the least exercise of love, and the most
of a contrary spirit, then we have the least of
heaven, and are farthest from it in the frame
of our mind. Then we hav^e the least of the
exercise of that wherein consists a conformity
to heaven, and a preparation for it, and what
tends to it ; and so, necessarily, we must have
least evidence of our title to heaven, and be
farthest from the comfort which such evidence
affords. We may see, again, from this sub-
ject.
2 How happy those are who are entitled to
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 509
heaven. — ^There are some persons living on
earth, to whom the happiness of the heavenly
world belongs as much, yea much more than
any man's earthly estate belongs to himself
They have a part and interest in this world
of love, and have a proper right and title to
it, for they are of the number of those of whom
it is written (Rev. xxii. 14), " Blessed are they
that do his commandments, that they may
have right to the tree of life, and may enter
in through the gates into the city." And
doubtless there are such persons here, amongst
us. And O ! how happy are all such, entitled
as they are to an interest in such a world as
heaven ! Surely they are the blessed of the
earth, and the fulness of their blessedness, no
language can describe, no words express.
But here some may be ready to say, " With-
out doubt they are happy persons that have a
title to such a blessed world, and are soon to
enter on the eternal possession of its joys.
But who are these persons ? How shall they
be known, and by what marks may they be
distinguished ?" In answer to such an in
quiry, I woidd mention three things tli.it he-
long to their character: —
First., They a'-e those that have had the
510 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
princi]jl6 or seed of the same love that reigns
in heaven^ implanted in their hearts^ in this
worlds in the work of regeneration. — Thej are
not those who have no other principles in
their hearts than natural principles, or such
as they have by their first birth, for " that
which is born of the flesh is flesh." But they
are those who have been the subjects of the
new birth, or who have been born of the
Spirit. A glorious work of the Spirit of God
has been wrought in their hearts, renewing
them by bringing down from heaven, as it
were, some of the light and some of the holy,
pure flame that is in that world of love, and
giving it place in them. Their hearts are a
soil in which this heavenly seed has been
sown, and in which it abides and grows. And
so they are changed ; and from being earthly,
have become heavenly in their dispositions.
The love of the world is mortified and the
love of God implanted. Their hearts are
drawn to God and Christ, and for their sakes
flow out to the saints in humble and spiritual
love. " Being born, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible," 1 Pet. i. 23, " Which
were bora not of blood, nor of the will of the
CHAKITY, OR LOVE. 611
liesb, nor of the will of man, but of God,"
John i. 13.
Second, They are those who have freely
chosen the happiness that flows from the exer-
cise and enjoyment of such love as is in heav-
en, above all other conceivable happiness. — •
They see and understand so much of this
as to know that it is the best good. They
do not merely yield that it is so from ration-
al arguments that may be oifered for it,
and by which they are convinced that it is so,
but they know it is so from what little they
have tasted of it. It is the happiness of love,
and the beginning of a life of such love, holy,
humble, divine and heav^enly love. Love to
God, and love to Christ, and love to saints for
God and Christ's sake, and the enjoyment of
the fruits of God's love in holy communion
with God, and Christ, and with holy persons,
this is what they liave a relish for ; and such
is their renewed nature that such happiness
suits their disposition and appetite and wishes
above all other things ; and not only above all
things that they have, but above all that they
can conceive it possible that they could have.
The world does not afford anything like it.
Tliey have chosen this before all things else,
512 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
and chosen it freely. Their souls go out after
it more than after everything else, and their
hearts are more eager in pursuit of it. They
have chosen it not merely because they liave
met with sorrow, and are in such low and
afflicted circumstances that they do not expect
much from the world, but because their hearts
were so captivated by this good that they
chose it for its own sake before all worldly
good, even if they could have ever so much
of the latter, and enjoy it ever so long.
Third^ They are those who from the lov6
that is in them^ are in heart and Ufe^ inprin
ciple and jpraotice^ struggling after holiness. —
Holy love makes them long for holiness. It
is a principle that thirsts after growth. It
is in imperfection, and in a state of infancy
in this world, and it desires growth. It has
much to struggle with. In the heart in this
world, there are many opposite principles and
influences ; and it struggles after greater one-
ness, and more liberty, and more free exer-
cise, and better fruit. The great strife and
struggle of the new man, is after holiness. His
heart struggles after it, for he has an interest
hi heaven, and therefore he struggles with that
Bill that would keep him from it. He ia
CHAEITY, OR LOVE. 513
full of ardent desires, and breathings, and
longings, and strivings to be bolj. And his
hands struggle as well as his heart. He
strives in his practice. His life is a life of sin-
cere and earnest endeavor to be universally
and increasingly holj. He feels that he is not
holy enough, but far from it; and he desires
to be nearer perfection, and more like those
who are in heaven. And this is one reason
why he longs to be in heaven, that he may be
perfectly holy. And the great principle which
leads him thus to struggle, is love. It is not
only fear ; but it is love to God, and love to
Christ, and love to holiness. Love is a holy
fire within him, and like any other flame
which is in a degree pent up, it will and does
struggle for liberty ; and this its struggling,
is the struoro;le for holiness.
3. What has been said on this subject may
well awaken and alarm the imjjenitent. — And,
First^ By putting them in mind of their
misery^ in that they have no portion or right
in this world of love. — ^You have heard what
has been said of heaven, wliat kind of glory
and blessedness is there, and how happy the
saints and angels are in that world of perfect
love. But consider that none of this belojigs
514 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
to you. "When you hear of such things, you
hear of that in which you have no interest.
No such person as you, a wicked hater of God
and Christ, and one that is under the power
of a spirit of enmity against all that is good,
shall ever enter there. Such as you are, never
belong to the faithful Israel of God, and shall
never enter their heavenly rest. It may be
said to you, as Peter said to Simon (Acts viii.
21), "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this
matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight
of God ;" and as Nehemiah said to Sanballat
and his associates (Neh. ii. 20), " You have no
portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusa-
lem." If such a soul as yours should be ad-
mitted into heaven, that world of love, how
nauseous would it be to those blest spirits
whose souls are as a flame of love ; and how
would it discompose that loving and blessed
society, and put everything in confusion ! It
would make heaven no longer heaven, if such
souls should be admitted there. It would
change it from a world of love to a world of
hatred, and pride, and envy, and malice, and
revenge, as this world is ! But this shall never
be ; and the only alternative is, that such as
you shall be shut out with " dogs, and sorcer-
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 515
ers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and
idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a
lie," Rev. xxii. 15; that is, with all that is vile,
and unclean, and unholy. And this subject
may well awaken and alarm the impenitent.
Secondly^ By showing them that they are in
dcmger of hell^ which is a world of hatred. — ■
There are three worlds. One is this, which is
an intermediate world — a world in which good
and evil are so mixed together as to be a sure
sign that this world is not to continue forever.
Another is heaven, a world of love, without
any hatred. And the other is hell, a world
of hatred, where there is no love, which is the
world to which all of you who are in a Christ-
less state properly belong. This last is the
world where God manifests his displeasure
and wrath, as in heaven he manifests his
love. Everything in hell is hateful. There
is not one solitary object there, that is not
odious and detestable, horrid and hateful.
There is no person or thing to be seen there,
that is amiable or lovely ; nothing that is j)ure,
or holy, or pleasant, but everything abomina-
ble and odious. There are no beings there
but devils, and damned spirits that are like
devils. Hell is, as it were, a vast don of poi
516 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
eonous, hissing serpents; the old serpent, who
is the devil and Satan, and with him all his
hateful brood.
In that dark world there are none but those
whom God hates with a perfect and everlast-
ing hatred. He exercises no love, and ex-
tends no mercy to any one object there, but
pours out upon them horrors without mixture.
All things in the wide universe that are hate-
ful shall be gathered together in hell, as in a
vast receptacle provided on purpose that the
universe which God has made may be cleansed
of its filthiness by casting it all into this great
sink of wickedness and woe. It is a world pre-
pared on purpose for the expression of God's
wrath. He has made hell for this ; and he
has no other use for it but there to testify
forever his hatred of sin and sinners, where
there is no token of love or mercy. There is
nothing there but what shows forth the divine
indignation and wrath. Every object shows
forth wrath. It is a world all overflowed with
a deluge of wrath, as it were, with a deluge
of liquid fire, so as to be called a lake of fire
and brimstone, and the second death.
There are none in hell but what have been
haters of God, and so have procured his wrath
CHAEITY, OR LOVE. 511
and hatred on themselves ; and there they
shall continue to hate him forever. No Jove
to God will ever be felt in hell; but everyone
there perfectly hates him, and so will con-
tinue to hate him ; and without any restraint
will express their hatred to him, blaspheming
and raging against him, while they gnaw
their tongues for pain. And though they all
join together in their enmity and opposition
to God, yet there is no union c- friendliness
among themselves : they agree in nothing but
hatred, and the expression of hatred. They
hate God, and Christ, and angels, and saints
in heaven, and not only so, but they hate one
another, like a company of serpents or vipers,
not only sj^itting out venom against God, but
at one another, biting and stinging and tor-
menting each other.
The devils in liell will hate damned souls.
They hated them wliile in this world, and
therefore it was, that with such subtilty and
indefatigable temptations they sought their
ruin. They thirsted for the blood of their
souls, because they hated them ; they longed
to get them in their power to torment them ;
they watched them as a I'oaring lion does hisj
prey ; because thev hated them, therefore they
84
.IS HEAVEN, A WOliLD OF
flew upon their souls, like hell-hounds, as soon
as ever they were j^arted from their bodies,
full of eagerness to torment them. And now
they have them in their power, they will spend
eternity in tormenting them with the utmost
strength and cruelty that devils are capable
of. They are, as it were, continually and
eternally tearing these poor damned souls
that are in their hands. And these latter will
not only be hated and tormented by devils,
but they will have no love or pity one to-
wards another, but will be like devils one to
another, and will to their utmost torment each
other, being like brands in the fire, each
of which helps to burn the others.
In hell all those principles will reign and
rage that are contrary to love, without any
restraining grace to keep them within bounds.
Here will be unrestrained pride, and malice,
and envy, and revenge, and contention in all
its fury and without end, never knowing peace.
The miserable inhabitants will bite and devour
one another, as well as be enemies to God and
Christ and holy beings. Those who in their
wickedness on earth were companions to-
gether, and had a sort of carnal friendship
one for another, will here have no appearance
CHARITY, OK I,OVE. 519
of fellowship ; but perfect and continual and
undisguised hatred will exist between them.
As on earth they j)romoted each other's sin,
so now in hell they will promote each other's
punishment. On earth they were the instru-
ments of undoing each other's souls: there
they were occupied in blowing up the fires of
each other's lusts, and now they will blow for-
ever the fires of each other's torments. They
ruined one another in sinning, setting bad ex-
amples to each other, poisoning each other by
wicked talk, and now they will be as much
engaged in tormenting, as once they were in
tempting and corrupting each other.
And there their hatred, and envy, and all
evil passions will be a torment to themselves.
God and Christ whom they will hate most, and
toward whom their souls will be as full of ha-
tred as an oven is ever full of fire, will be in-
finitely above their reach, dwelling in infinite
blessedness and glory which they cannot
diminish. And they will but torment them-
selves by their fruitless envy ot the saints and
angels in heaven, whom they cannot como
nigh to or injure. And they shall have no
pity from them or from any one, for hell is
looked on only with hatred, and with no pity
520 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
or compassion. And thus tliey will be left to
spend their eternity together.
Now consider, all ye that are out of Christ,
and that were never born again, and that
never had any blessed renovation of your
hearts by the Holy Spirit implanting divine
love in them, and leading you to choose the
happiness that consists in holy love as your
best and sweetest good, and to spend your life
in struggling after holiness, — consider your
danger, and what is before you. For this is
the world to which ye are condemned ; and so
the world to which you belong through the
sentence of the law ; and the world that every
day and hour you are in danger of having
your abode everlastingly fixed in ; and the
world to which, if you repent not, you will
soon go, instead of going to that blessed world
of love of which you have now heard. Con-
sider, O ! consider, that it is indeed thus with
you. These things are not cunningly-devised
fables, but the great and dreadful realities of
God's word, and things that, in alittle while, you
will know with everlasting certainty are true.
How then can you rest in such a state as you
are in, and go about so carelessly from day to
day, and so heedless and negligent of y(>ur
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 521
pref.ioiis, immortal souls ? Consider seriously
these things, and be wise for yourself, befoi e
it is too late ; before your feet stumble on the
dark mountains, and you fall into the world
of wrath and hatred, where there is weeping,
and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, with spite-
ful malice and rage against God, and Christ,
and one another, and with horror and anguish
of spirit forever. Flee to the stronghold
while ye are prisoners of hope, before the
door of hope is closed, and the agonies of the
second death shall begin their work, and your
eternal doom is sealed !
4. Let the consideration of what has 'been
said of heaven^ sti7' up all earnestly to seek
after it. — If heaven be such a blessed world,
then let it be our chosen country, and the in-
heritance that we look for and seek. Let us
turn our course this way, and press on to itg
possession. It is not impossible but that this
glorious world may be obtained by us. It is
offered to us. Though it be so excellent and
blessed a country, yet God stands ready to
give us an inheritance there, if it be but the
country that we desire, and will choose, and
diligently seek. God gives us our choice.
We may have our inheritance wherever we
522 HEAVEN, A WOKLD OF
choose it, and may obtain heaven if we will
but seek it by patient continnance in well-
doing. We are all of us, as it were, set here
in this world as in a vast wilderness, with di-
verse countries about it, and with several ways
or paths leading to these different countries,
and we are left to our choice what course we
will take. If we heartily choose heaven, and
set our hearts entirely on that blessed Canaan
— that land of love, and if we choose and love
the path that leads to it, we may walk in that
path, and if we continue to walk in it, it will
.ead us to heaven at least.
Let what we have heard of the land of love,
stir us all up to turn our faces toward it, and
bend our course thitherward. Is not what we
have heard of the happy state of that country,
and the many delights that are in it, enough
to make us thirst after it, and to cause us with
the greatest earnestness and steadfastness of
resolution, to press towards it, and spend our
whole lives in travelling in the way that leads
thither ? What joyful news might it well be
to us when we hear of such a world of perfect
peace and holy love, and to hear that it is pos-
sible, yea, that there is full opportunity for us
to come to it, and spend an eternity in its
CHARITY, OR LOVE. 523
joys! Is not what we have heard of that
blessed world, enough to make us wearj of
this world of pride, and malice, and conten-
tion, and perpetual jarring and jangling, a
world of confusion, a wilderness of hissing
serpents, a tempestuous ocean where there is
no quiet rest, where all are for themselves,
and selfishness reigns and governs, and all are
striving to exalt themselves regardless of what
becomes of others, and all are eager after
worldly good which is the great object of de-
sire and contention, and where men are con-
tinually annoying, and calumniating, and re-
proaching, and otherwise injuring and abus-
ing one another — a world full of injustice, and
oppression, and cruelty, — a world where there
is so much treachery, and falsehood, and fic-
kleness, and hypocrisy, and suffering, and
death — where there is so little confidence in
mankind, and every good man has so many
failings, and has so much to render him un-
lovely and uncomfortable, and where there is
60 much of sorrow, and guilt, and sin in every
form?
Truly this is an evil world, and so it is like
to be. It is in vain for us to expect that it
will be any other than a world of sin, a world of
624 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
pride, and enmitj^, and strife, and so a restless
world. And though the times may hereafter be
mended, yet these things will always be more
or less found in the world so long as it stands.
Who, then, would content himself with a por-
tion in such a w^orld ? What man acting
w^isely and considerately, would concern him-
self much about laying up in store in such a
world as this, and would not rather neglect
the world, and let it go to them that would
take it, and apply all his heart and strength
to lay up treasure in heaven, and to press on to
that world of love ? What will it signify for
us to hoard up great possessions in this world,
and how can the thought of having our por-
tion here be pleasing to us, when there is an
interest offered us in such a glorious world as
heaven is, and especially when if we have our
portion here, we must, wlien the world has pass-
ed away, have our eternal portion in hell, that
world of hatred, and of the endless wrath of
God, where only devils and danmed spirits
dwell.
We all naturally desire rest and quietness,
and if we would obtain it, let us seek that
worl i of peace and love of which we have
now heard, where a sweet and blessed rest
CHAKITY, OK LOVE. 525
remaineth for God's people. If we get an in-
terest, in that world, then when we have done
with this, we shall leave all our cares, and
troubles, and fatigues, and perplexities, and
disturbances forever. We shall rest from
these storms that are raging here, and from
every toil and labor, in the paradise of God.
You that are poor, and think yourselves de-
spised by your neighbors and little cared for
among men, do not much concern yourselves
for this. Do not care much for the friendship
of the world ; but seek heaven, where there is
no such thing as contempt, and where none are
despised, but all are highly esteemed and hon-
ored, and dearly beloved by all. You that think
you have met with many abuses, and much
ill-treatment from others, care not for it. Do
not hate them for it, but set your heart on
heaven, that world of love, and press toward
that better country where all is kindness and
holy aifection. And here for direction how to
seek heaven.
Fvrst^ Let not your heart go after the things
of this world, as your chief good. Indulge
not yourself in the possession of earthly
things, as though they were to satisfy your
&oul. Ttis is the reverse of seeking heaven ;
526 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
it is to go in a way contrary to that which
leads to the world of love. If you would
seek heaven, your affections must be taken
off from the pleasures of the world. You
must not allow yourself in sensuality, or
worldliness, or the pursuit of the enjoyments
or honors of the world, or occupy your
thoughts or time in heaping up the dust of
the earth. You must mortify the desires of
vain glory, and become poor in spirit and
lowly in heart.
Second^ You must, in your meditations and
holy exercises, be much engaged in conversing
with heavenly persons, and objects, and en-
joyments. You cannot constantly be seeking
heaven, without having your thoughts much
there. Turn, then, the stream of your thoughts
and affections towards that world of love, and
towards the God of love that dwells there,
and toward the saints and angels that are at
Christ's right hand. Let your thoughts, also,
be much on the objects and enjoyments of the
world of love. Commune much with God and
Christ in prayer, and think often of all that
is in heaven, of the friends who are there,
and the praises and worship there, and of all
that will make up the blessedness of that
CHAKITY, OR LOVE. 627
world of love. "Let jour conversation be in
heaven."
Third, Be content to pass through all diffi
culties in the way to heaven. Though the
path is before you, and you may walk in it if
you desire, yet it is a way that is ascending,
and filled with many difficulties and obsta-
cles. That glorious city of light and love is,
as it were, on the top of a high hill or moun-
tain, and there is no way to it but by upward
and arduous steps. But though the ascent be
difficult, and the way full of trials, still it is
worth your while to meet them all for the sake
of coming and dwelling in such a glorious city
at last. Be willing, then, to undergo the la-
bor, and meet the toil, and overcome the dif-
ficulty. What is it all in comparison with
the sweet rest that is at your journey's end?
Be willing to cross the natural inclination of
flesh and blood, which is downward, and
press onward and upward to the prize. At
every step it will be easier and easier to as-
cend ; and the higher your ascent, the more
will you be cheered by the glorious prospect
before you, and by a nearer view of that
heavenly city where in a little while you shall
forever be at rest.
528 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF
Fourth^ In all your way let your eye be
fixed on Jesus, who has gone to heaven as
vour forerunner. Look to him. Behold hia
glory m heaven, that a sight of it may stir
you up the more earnestly to desire to be
there. Look to him in his example. Con-
sider how by patient continuance in well-do-
ing, and by patient endurance of great suffer-
ing, he went before you to heaven. Look to
him as your mediator, and trust in the atone-
ment which he has made, entering into the
holiest of all in the upper temple. Look to
him as your intercessor, who forever pleads
for you before the thi'one of Grod. Look to
him as your strength, that by his Spirit he
may enable you to press on, and overcome
every difficulty of the way. Trust in his
promises of heaven to those that love and fol-
low him, which he has confirmed by entering
into heaven as the head, and representative,
and Saviour of his people. And,
FiftJi^ If you would be in tlie way to the
world of love, see that you live a life of love ;
of love to God, and love to men. All of us
Hope to have part in the world of love here-
after, and tlierefore we should cherish the
spirit of love, and live a life of holy love here
CHARITY, OE LOVE. 529
on earth. This is the wav to be like the in-
habitants of heaven, who are now confirmed
in love forever. Only in this way can you
be like them in excellence and loveliness,
and like them, too, in happiness, and rest, and
joy. By living in love in this world you may
be like them, too, in sweet and holy peace,
and thus have, on earth, the foretastes of heav-
enly pleasures and delights. Thus, also, you
may have a sense of the glory of heavenly
things, as of God, and Christ, and holiness;
and your heart be disposed and opened by
holy love to God, and by the spirit of peace
and love to men, to a seose of the excellence
and sweetness of all that is to be found in
heaven. Thus shall the windows of heaven be,
as it were, opened, so that its glorious light
shall shine in upon your soul. Thus you may
have the evidence of your fitness for that
blessed world, and that you are actually on the
way to its possession. And being thus made
meet, through grace, for the inheritance of
the saints in light, when a few more days
shall have passed away, you shall be with
them in their blessedness forever. Happy,
thrice happy those, who shall thus be found
faithful to the end, and then shall be wel-
530 HEAVEN, A WORLD OF CIIARITT.
corned to the joy of their Lord ! There they
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ;
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat, for the Lamb which is in the midst of
the throne, shall feed them, and lead them to
fountains of living waters, and God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes!
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