deserv'd not to see the Light yet the killing of them was a most Evil Example An Example that in latter Ages hath been scandalously followed by the Church of Rome and 't is the more to be Lamented because some furious Protestants followed it too The Burning of Servetus at Geneva was a Fact which the best Men of the Reformation would never go about to Justifie And the Author of the History of the Council of Trent tell us It was to the Admiration of many that the First Reformers did shed Blood in the Cause of Religion The Truth is such is the Spirit and Genius of Right Christianity that it savours of nothing but what is Pure and Desireable such as Meekness Patience Humility Goodness And with these most amiable Virtues Love Charity Peaceableness Moderation Gentleness Mercy and great Tenderness of Temper Though Charity it self may sometimes hold out a Rod to terrifie People from those Scandalous Disorders which Kindness alone cannot many times put a stop to yet to Vindicate even the true Faith with the cutting Arguments of Steel or by the Torments of the Stake is a Sign rather of a Barbarous than a Religious and Christian Mind Such Burning and Flaming Zeal as this the gentle Spirit of Christ doth not kindle I have now ended the Consideration of those things which I proposed at my Entrance upon this Discourse concerning Charity and in the most Useful because the most Practical Part of it I have as near as I could trod in the Steps of St. Paul himself who left us no less than Fifteen several Characters of Charity as a particular Direction for us how to express this most Necessary Christian and Comprehensive Virtue It is one great Argument of the Truth of Christianity that as its Doctrines are Reconcileable unto so the Duties of it are Founded upon the best Reason and are for the most part adapted to the Necessities and Interests of Humane Societies This particular Duty of Charity is one without which Societies cannot possibly subsist not in that happy Condition to be sure which Christianity hath an Eye upon in the Duties it lays before us if we were so wise as to consider and see where our Real Good lieth even in this World The Motions whether or Virtue or Vice carry a great Stroke with them and affect not our selves only but those also that are round about us And when the Apostle delineated this Virtue Charity it was upon great Consideration both of the Good Effects which attend it and of those very Evil Consequences which follow the several Vices to which Charity stands in opposition and they to it Hence it was that in shewing you the several ways of expressing your Charity I was concerned of course and necessity to take some Notice of those Operations and Consequences which Argue the great Reasonableness of your Practice as to this particular And hence too it was that in speaking of those Operations I have used all possible Plainness for every ones Conviction and this in pursuance of St. Paul's great Design to bring all our Hearts to a right Christian and Charitable Temper the Thing that is above all Things the Thing that we must mind very diligently if we expect ever to be saved We must not think to prescribe to our selves the Way to Salvation but we must take the Conditions of it at the Hand of God who alone hath a Right and Power to propose them and who alone knoweth which is the best way for us And Charity is the Way that he hath laid out before us in the Holy Scripture The same Jesus Christ that hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel hath also revealed this as a Means of bringing us to that Life Immortal So that we must take the whole Revelation as it is and as well make the one part of it the Measure of our Practice as we make the other the Ground of our Faith and Hopes because the very same Revelation which gives us Authority to believe a future Blessed State shews us likewise the Necessity of a Charitable Temper in order to it There is one and the same Warrant for both and for that reason we must believe both or neither Indeed 't is very Suspicious that Uncharitable People believe very little of God and a future State whatever they pretend at least that they think not of these Things with that Seriousness and Intention of Mind which is necessary to prepare them for the Practice of Charity For such Divine Thoughts could not but affect them and work powerfully upon them did they really believe what is most certainly true that by wanting Charity they must needs come short of Heaven Charity is as indispensably necessary as Faith or as any other Act of Religion And that we may apply our Hearts in good earnest to the Study and Exercise of it let us at the close of this Subject consider briefly this one Thing only besides those Motives which have been considered already Namely What an Vncomfortable Condition People of Uncharitable Spirits involve themselves in continually How great soever their Health or Strength or Fortunes or their other outward Enjoyments may be they are the most miserable People in the World because all this while they are in an Unpardon'd State They go about with all their Sins bound and in danger of Eternal Damnation every moment for God is their Enemy and they his The Words of our Saviour are plain Matth. 6. 15. If ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses And to the same purpose saith the Disciple of his Bosom 1 John 3. 14. He that loveth not his Brother abideth in Death Hence it follows that the Ordinances of God though they be the standing Means of Grace and Salvation do such Uncharitable People no manner of Good but Hurt rather which is a great addition to their Misery The Hearing of God's Word doth but increase their Guilt The Sacraments of Christ's Body and Blood are like Poison to their Souls and their very Prayers which of all People they have most need to send up unto Heaven day and night are so far from availing them that they are turned into Abomination Prov. 28. 9. And what if Death should surprise such People unawares such Accidents do commonly happen nor is any Man secure but his Turn shall be the next to drop into the Grave on a sudden And what a desperate Condition doth he drop into who falls thus unawares with his Conscience burdened with such a heavy Sin and in a State of Enmity against the Laws of God and against the Saviour of the World It had been good for that Man had he not been born Mat. 26. 23. But 't is more than probable that Uncharitable Wretches seldom think of Dying much less of dying a sudden Death though Apoplexies and unexpected Accidents happen every where and are Daily Monitors to us all Let them presume then that some Lingering
Construction In a word it is a Generosity of Temper that is apt to suit it self to the condition of others according to the moving Nature of their present Circumstances The Rule of Righteousness is To render every Man his own But this may be without Charity and therefore this alone is beneath the Generous and Noble Disposition of a Christian it doth not come up to the perfect Law of Christ Charity though it hath a mixture of Justice in it yet it is a great deal more and that it may be compleat as it should be these two Qualifications are very necessary First That it be of the same Nature with that Affection which we have for our selves Secondly That it resemble that great Love which the Lord Jesus express'd for us all First Our Charity to others must be of the same Nature with the Affection we have for our selves This is the true Rule of Charity especially as it is heightned and improved by the Christian Religion Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self that is with the same good natur'd and kind Affection though it may be not in the same Measure and Degree There is indeed a sort of Self-love that is sinful an Affection that begins and ends at home too when a Man is for pleasing himself only when he seeks his own only when he makes himself the sole end of all his Actions and would fain engross to himself all that is good and desirable in this World begrudging his Neighbour any considerable Share or Proportion of it Now this is so far from being a Rule of Charity that there is nothing of Charity in it nothing more opposite to the true Spirit of Charity than such a selfish Temper But there is too an innocent kind of Self-love which necessarily riseth out of a Natural Principle of Self-preservation when a Man notwithstanding the greatness and largeness of his Mind doth consult the Good of others so as not to neglect his own but takes a due Care of himself in the first place This Natural Affection every one hath for himself and it is attended inseparably with these two Properties First Every one loves himself Vnfeignedly and Sincerely To be sure there is no Flattery no Pretence no Compliment in this case Our Affections may be believ'd and trusted when they speak favourably on our own side for no Man ever yet hated his own flesh We cannot but wish our selves well and those Wishes always come from our very Hearts And according to this Rule the Christian Law obligeth us to measure out our Charity to others It must be Love without dissimulation Rom. 12. 9. Love unfeigned 2 Cor. 6. 6. Love not in word or in tongue only but in deed and in truth Jam. 3. 18. Under colour of Affection to contrive or help one anothers Misfortunes is like the Charity of him who betrayed the Lord Jesus with a Kiss People are not wont to be Traytors to themselves after such a manner Though in the Consequence and Event they many times prove their own Enemies and the worst Enemies they have yet no Man betrays himself with Judas his Purpose the Intention on which we all act is still levelled at that which we believe or suppose to be good for us And this is properly to love our Neighbour as ones self to be as really solicitous for his Welfare in all respects as for ones own to have the same reality and sincerity of Purpose to be influenced and animated with the same quality and truth of Affection though the Case may admit of a difference as to proportion Secondly Another Property that attends all innocent Love of our self is that it is firm and constant Because it flows from an innate Principle of Self-preservation it must of necessity hold and continue as long as Nature it self lasteth nor can any Circumstances Events or Disappointments alter any Man's Temper so as to render him fickle and unsteady to himself much less dissolve the strict Band which ties his own Heart to him faster than that which was between the Souls of Jonathan and David Why thus too must Brotherly Love continue Hebr. 13. 1. because the Reasons of Charity are ever the same viz. The Obedience we owe to the Law of God and the common Wants among Mankind which always call for our mutual Pity and Assistance there is a constant necessity for our Minds to be always benevolently and tenderly disposed And though Resentments may and oftentimes do unavoidably happen by reason of the Ignorances of some the Passions of others and the Hereditary Infirmities of us all yet no Provocations or Injuries must affect Men so as to harden their Spirits or fill their Bowels with Gall and Wormwood Since the fix'd Rule is that we must Love our Neighbours as our selves we are no more permitted to be weary of our Charity to other Men than we permit our selves to be weary of doing good to our own Souls But there is a higher and nobler Rule of Charity yet and that is to Love one another as the Lord Jesus himself hath loved us Because the Love even of ones self may be defective imperfect and mixed with some Alloy therefore the great Lover of all our Souls hath made his own Charity to be the Standard and Measure of ours Upon which account he calls it A new Commandment A New Commandment give I unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye love one another John 13. 34. In respect of the Matter of it the Law of Mutual Charity is an old one for it hath been written in the Hearts of Men from the beginning and it was expresly given to the Jews Lev. 19. 18. It is a New Commandment in respect of that High and Eminent Degree to which our Blessed Saviour hath raised it Men's Charity now must bear a Resemblance of his Love one another as I have loved you This is the thing which makes it a New Commandment indeed The Scripture speaks of three Things especially which were peculiarly remarkable in the Love of Christ 1. That he extended his Love to open and declared Enemies The Old Commandment which required the Jews to Love their Neighbour as themselves permitted them to Hate an Enemy nay in some cases bound them to express all manner of Hostility against such as were Aliens to the Faith and to the Commonwealth of Israel But saith the Apostle God commended his Love towards us in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us and when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son Rom. 5. 8 10. And again when we were alienated and Enemies in our Minds by wicked Works Col. 1. 21. That is this was a stupendous a most amazing Expression of Christ's Love that he undertook the great Work of Redeeming a profligate World wretched Creatures that had bid God defiance that were Haters of all that is Good and Holy and thereby had brought themselves into a
Disease will seize them at the last and allow them some Time to prepare for another Life But what if they have not an Heart to Prepare themselves duly then though they may have Time 'T is possible for Men to Sin away the Grace of God and the Day of Salvation 'T is possible to harden the Heart so as to render it Uncapable of Good Impressions 'T is possible also to provoke the Holy and Just God to such an high degree as that he will refuse to Soften and Intender it and to listen to their Cries that would not call upon him while he was near They are dreadful Threatnings Prov. 1. from Vers 24. to Vers 30. Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my Hand and no Man regarded it But ye have set at nought all my Counsel and would none of my Reproof I also will laugh at your Calamity and will mock when your Fear cometh When your Fear cometh as Desolation and your Destruction cometh as a Whirlwind when Distress and Anguish cometh upon you Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me For that they hated Knowledge and did not choose the Fear of the Lord. This I fear is the usual Result of Habitual Wickedness and especially of Men's living in a course and habit of Uncharitableness because it is a Sin or rather a Complication of Sins so Diametrically opposite to the Laws of Jesus Christ and to the Spirit of his Religion that of all others now it seemeth to come the nearest to the very Sin against the Holy Ghost But suppose such People should at last express some Grief and Sorrow for their Wicked Temper and for those manifold Injuries and Mischiefs which are the usual Effects of Uncharitableness yet who can tell whether this Sorrow proceedeth from the Love of God and from a true Sense and Hatred of the Sin or whether it doth not come merely from an Apprehension of those Torments whereof their Consciences are now afraid If it be only the Fear of Punishment which extorteth those Expressions this is very consistent with an Evil Mind that would act over the same Sins again could they but renew their Lives And therefore this Sorrow is no better than Nothing in God's Account because it is not such a Godly Sorrow as worketh Repentance unto Salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7. 10. Let it be granted Lastly That the Sorrow is Genuine and Sincere yet little Comfort can come by it to the Dying Person because he hath no Time now to try whether his Mind be changed indeed and whether he be become a New Man and a New Creature So that at the best his Case is very bad because though he be a True Penitent yet it is more than he knows and consequently neither can his Comfort be solid nor can his Hopes of Pardon be built upon a sure Foundation In such a Labyrinth of Misery doth an Uncharitable Temper plunge every inconsiderate Wretch that the Pleasure he takes and the Profit he gets by Acts of Malice and Revenge doth not countervail the Thousandth Part of those Calamities and Dangers he exposeth himself to unavoidably Therefore it deeply concerns us all to be Wise in time to mend in time to Subdue and Rectifie our Dispositions in time and to new-mould our Hearts into a Resemblance of that Holy and Excellent Being who is a God of Compassion the Father of Mercies the Author of Peace and the Lover of Concord Men may fancy what they please but I take it for a certain Truth that according as our Tempers are either Good or Evil so God loves or hates us and so our Portion will be at the last If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ that is the Disposition and Temper of Christ he is none of his faith St. Paul Rom. 8. 9. And what was Christ's Spirit but a Spirit of Love His Doctrines tended to Peace and Charity His Miracles were Charitable he shewed his Power as God doth in doing Works of Pity and Compassion He went about doing Good And when his Hands and Feet were now Nailed to the Cross and hindred from doing any more he employed his Tongue and Heart in a Work of the greatest Charity of all in sending up a Charitable Prayer for the Pardon of his Enemies Here then is the Pattern that we must follow if we expect any Benefit by his Crucifixion As often as we look on him whom they pierced we must have an Eye upon his Temper as well as upon his Blood and we must make the one our Example as well as lay hold on the other for our Peace In stead of seeking the Hurt or intending the Hurt or wishing the Hurt of any we must apply and set our Hearts as the Lord Jesus did to do every one all the Good we can and then are we his indeed To sum up all then in the Words of St. Paul Let all Bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour and Evil-speaking be put away from you with all Malice Be ye Kind one to another and Tender-hearted Put on as the Elect of God Holy and Beloved Bowels of Mercy Goodness Humbleness of Mind Meekness Long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiveing one another If any Man have a Quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye And above all these Things put on Charity which is the Bond of Perfectness And let the Peace of God Rule in your Hearts to the which also ye are called in one Body Amen O Lord who hast taught us That all our Doings without Charity are nothing worth send thy Holy Ghost and pour into our Hearts that most excellent Gift of Charity the very Bond of Peace and of all Virtues without which whosoever Liveth is counted Dead before thee Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake Amen ALmighty and Everlasting God give unto us the Increase of Faith Hope and Charity and that we may obtain that which thou dost Promise make us to Love that which thou dost Command through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty Father who hast Given thine only Son to Die for our Sins and to Rise again for our Justification Grant us so to put away the Leaven of Malice and Wickedness that we may alway serve Thee in Pureness of Living and Truth through the Merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Almighty God who hast knit together thine Elect in one Communion and Fellowship in the Mystical Body of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord Grant us Grace so to follow thy Blessed Saints in all Virtuous and Godly Living that we may come to those Vnspeakable Joys which thou hast Prepared for them that Vnfeignedly love Thee through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen FINIS