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
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
swim in the saltest Waters but Humane Nature is apt to participate of the Temper of the People and of the Condition of the Climate where we live and our Dispositions alter accordingly just as Waters which pass through the Channels of the Earth vary their Savour with the Veins of the Soyls through which they slide In a corrupt Place 't is an easie thing to be corrupted and one great Reason is because the Knowledge of a Neighbour's Vices is apt to breed in another an Inclination to the same Evils it worketh in another presently and insensibly if not a full Approbation yet a less Dislike of those Corruptions which their Eyes and Ears are used to the Sense of So that when one comes to be familiarly acquainted with the Irreligious Courses of bad Neighbours he is in a great Hazard and 't is great odds if he doth not in time make those Courses his own Choice because this is a great Encouragement to Vice that it wants not a Precedent Therefore to express our Charity in this case let us carefully observe that Advice of the Son of Sirach Ecclus. 19. 7 8. Rehearse not unto another what is told unto thee and thou shalt fare never the worse Whether it be friend or foe talk not of other Men's Lives and if thou canst without Offence reveal them not For Charity-sake every Story is not to be told for though it be true it may be hurtful though it be not hurtful in the first Report it may be so in the consequence because Fame is like the Cloud which the Prophet's Servant saw 1 King 18. 44. the further it spreads the greater it grows till there be no more comparison between its Original and its Increase than there is between the breadth of a Man's Hand and the Dimensions of the Firmament and who can tell how Mischievous and Terrible the End will be The Tongue is a world of Iniquity saith St. James ch 3. v. 6. And for the preventing of a great deal let me recommend these few Things in short to your Charitable Practice With all possible Art and speed stop the Mouths of those who like the old Athenians spend their Time in nothing else for the most part but either to tell or to hear some new Thing Act. 17. 21. In spight of good Neighbourhood and Religion too some will wander about from House to House Tatlers Busie-bodies speaking Things that they ought not 1 Tim. 5. 13. The only Business of such idle People is to lay open the Lives of others to stain their good Name and to spoil the Savour of that which is better than precious Ointment by casting in such dead Flies as turn the Perfume into a Stink And what Injuries come by this Evil Practice not only to particular Persons but to whole Societies is too too manifest The least is that which Salomon mentions though that is too great and sometimes irreparable a Whisperer separateth chief Friends Prov. 16. 28. A good Remedy in this case is to turn the Ear aside and not suffer it to receive any hurtful Informations Such Stories are not wont to be told People that are deaf because there the Ends of the Whisperer cannot be answered 'T would be an Effectual and Charitable Means of destroying those Works of Darkness to discourage the Authors of them by letting them see how Unprofitable their Works are in the first Practise If another's Sin chance to fall under thine Eye express your Charity by laying a Mantle over it with a quick Hand that it may not indanger the rest by being exposed to publick View It is thy Brother's Nakedness that is seen and where there is such a shameful Spectacle Love should imitate the Piety of Noah's two Sons Shem and Japhet who that they might not cast the least glance upon their Father's Nakedness went backward with a Garment upon their Shoulders venturing rather their stumbling at his Feet than they would behold his Shame Cursed was Cham that not content to have been an Eye-witness of the Indecent Sight Scoff'd at it too and became the Proclaimer of it If the Sin be so manifest that it cannot or so foul that it must not be hid express your Charity by speaking of it and that with Prudence and Kindness also to the Criminal himself who is the Party concerned to Repent and to mend his Life for the future The way to cure a Flaw is not to run to such as are whole but to dress the Side where the Wound lieth Though it be Oyl and Wine too which you pour in there the Smart is tolerable because the Operation is proper and the Hand that works is Charitable and Friendly Other Methods are to be avoided because they always Fret and very rarely Heal. After all in stead of discovering other Men's Faults it is necessary for every one to look into his own And if People would but turn their Eyes homeward they would find so much Employment for them there that they would have neither Need nor Leisure to look abroad There is in every Breast so much Nature whatever there be of Grace that our continual Care is necessary to Cleanse our selves from the one and to Increase the other Nor is this possible to be done but by searching narrowly into ones own State which if all Inquisitive People would do they could not but discover presently this one great Fault of their own that by prying curiously after others they have all along overlook'd themselves XIV 14. So far is Charity from delighting to reveal the Failings and Miscarriages of others that St. Paul gives this further Character of a Charitable Person that he believeth all Things that is all Things that are Good and all Things that are Reasonable for a Good Man to believe Credulity at large is no Virtue or if it be 't is no safe one because 't is so easie a matter to be deceiv'd especially in Men which upon the Weights are the most deceitful and because it is sometimes such a woeful and calamitous Thing to be deceived indeed There are many Dangers which Religion doth not require us to run into by Trusting without Reserve and the Question may be Undeterminable which of the two is most to be blamed He that believes every Thing or he that believes Nothing that is told him On each hand it is not Charity but Folly that is the Ascendant The Apostle's meaning therefore is That in Cases which are not plain and clear beyond just Reason of Doubtfulness true Christian Charity inclines one to believe favourably and to Err rather on the right Hand by entertaining a kind Opinion even when it is not apparently deserved St. Paul who so well understood the Operations of Virtue was sensible what good Effects this is apt to produce and how naturally it tendeth to make the Minds and Lives of People easie and on the contrary how hurtful it is to the Peace and Comfort of particular Men and whole Societies to take