and wishing well to our very Enemies and by expressing our sincere Affections to all Mankind 3. These Things do naturally carry a great deal of Force with them So that if no Obligations were upon us from any Laws to this purpose the Divine Excellence of these Actions would Recommend them to our Practice because they are God-like Actions and therefore must needs be of the highest Excellence in their own Nature But besides this we are to consider yet in the third place how helpful a Spirit of Charity is to us in answering the great Ends of the New Covenant The grace of God or the Gospel that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all Men teaching us that denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Tit. 2. 11 12. Which shews that the design of the Evangelical Covenant is to reclaim Mankind to the Love and Practice of all manner of Virtue Because God is a most perfect Being himself of infinite Goodness and Rectitude in his Nature his blessed Purpose is to imprint upon our Souls his own Image according to the Capacity of our finite Faculties And in order hereunto he hath given us by his own Son the brightness of his own Glory not only the most excellent Promises all confirm'd and seal'd with his Blood upon the Cross but moreover the most perfect Example and the most perfective Duties Now of these Duties this of Universal Charity and Love is the Chief For Love being such a Divine Affection the Fruits of it must needs be Divine too if it be sincere and zealous As for Instance If our Love to God be pure and hearty it cannot but move us to a solicitous Care of doing nothing that is repugnant to God's Will and Holiness because this Affection is naturally attended with an earnest desire to please and imitate its Object or the Party we intirely love So also if a Man's Love to himself be Rational and Regular it must needs put him upon doing himself all the Good especially all the Spiritual Good he can because his Spiritual Part the Soul is to live for ever and therefore requires his tenderest Care that it may be everlastingly Happy The same Inclination doth true Charity work in us towards all other Men to be beneficial to them likewise for it always operates according to the nature of the Thing and according to the condition of the Object It cannot possibly be of any advantage to our Maker because he is out of the reach of our Charity and too high for it Can a Man be profitable unto God as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous Or is it gain to him that thou makest thy Ways perfect Job 22. 2 3. And again If thou be righteous what givest thou him Or what receiveth he of thy hand Job 35. 7. No all our Goodness extendeth not to him Ps 16. 2. He neither needs it nor is he capable of being benefited by it because he is infinitely perfect and happy in himself But our Love to God hath this Effect it makes us admire and adore him serve and worship and endeavour to please him and to be like unto him and so it is an Instrument of Godliness as well as of Sobriety and Righteousness In this respect it may be said to be a Fulfilling of the whole Law even the first Table of it though indeed it serves most directly to Fulfil the Second And thus the Apostle argues Rom. 13. 8 9 10. He that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law For this Thou shalt not commit Adultery thou shalt not Kill thou shalt not Steal thou shalt not bear false Witness thou shalt not Covet and if there be any other Commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying viz. Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self Love worketh no ill to his Neighbour therefore Love is the fulfilling of the Law We cannot be Injurious to our own Souls or to the rest of Mankind or to God himself but it must proceed from the want of those enlarged Hearts and those fervent and tender Affections which the Gospel requires of us all Here then we should employ our greatest Pains and use our utmost Endeavours to kindle in us a true Spirit of Charity For it is the end of the Commandment 1 Tim. 1. 5. And because it is the most Perfective Grace the Scripture sets it above all Things even above Faith and Hope 1 Cor. 13. 13. Now abideth Faith Hope Charity these three but the greatest of these is Charity The greatest not only because it is most profitable to others which the other two Virtues are not for Faith and Hope keep at home a Man believeth for himself and hopeth for himself nor is ones Neighbour the better for them 'T is this that is the active the dispensing Grace that walks about doing good and every one fares the better for it But 't is the greatest Virtue too because of the three it is the most beneficial to ones self also It gives him solid Reasons for his Hope which otherwise would be groundless and Perfection to his Faith which otherwise would be fruitless and consequently unprofitable even at home The Hypocrite's Hope shall perish And his Trust shall be as a Spider's Web Job 8. 13 14. A sorry weak Thing to bear ones Heart up especially on a Death-bed For Hope if it be right must be built upon some Promise nor can it go further than the Promise it self goes for if God hath not promised me his Mercy how can I reasonably hope for it Now it is plain that there is no Promise of that Nature but on condition of Charity on our part The Texts are so clear that they need no Comment 1 John 3. 10. In this the Children of God are manifested and the Children of the Devil whosoever doth not Righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his Brother And again V. 14. He that loveth not his Brother abideth in Death or is in a deadly State And again V. 15. Whosoever hateth his Brother is a Murderer and ye know that no Murderer hath Eternal Life abiding in him Nay to shew how extensive our Charity must be for our hopes of Mercy at God's hands our Saviour himself hath passed this Decretory Sentence That there is no Mercy for us unless we shew it our selves and that even to our Enemies Mat. 6. 15. If ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Father forgive your Trespasses As for Faith great Things indeed are spoken of it in the Scripture but withal we are told that without Works it is dead such a spiritless empty Thing without a Life of Virtue that it no more deserves the Character of a saving Faith than a dead Carkass deserves the Name of a Man Faith as it is distinguished from Works signifies here an Act of the Understanding whereby a Man owns the
A Practical Discourse UPON CHARITY In its several Branches And of the Reasonableness and Vseful Nature of this Great CHRISTIAN VIRTUE By EDWARD PELLING D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties and Rector of Petworth in Sussex LONDON Printed by E. I. for W. Crooke at the Green-Dragon without Temple-Bar 1693. THE CONTENTS THE Introduction Page 1. The Nature of Christian Charity what it is and how it differs from Justice 6 The Benefit that comes to ones Mind by a Charitable Temper 25 The Resemblance it bears to the Nature of God 34 How it serves to answer the Great Ends of the New Covenant 47 How it fits and prepares us for an Happy State hereafter 61 How we are to express our Charity 75 Several ways of expressing it according to the Characters given of Charity by St. Paul 76 Charity must be express'd by not being Angry on a sudden 79 Charity must be express'd by moderating Anger 82 Directions for the Government of this Passion 92 We must express our Charity by all manner of Kindness p. 104. To another's Soul p. 111. To his outward Wants p. 112. And to his Credit also p. 116 Charity forbids us to be Envious and why 119 Charity forbids us to be Precipitant and Rash 128 Directions to keep us from being Rash 131 We must express our Charity by our Humility and why Page 134 'T is inconsistent with Charity to do any Thing that is Foul or Indecent 145 We must express our Charity by seeking the Publick Good p. 157. Especially Peace p. 162 Charity forbids us to be Suspicious and Jealous-headed 178 Charity forbids us to Rejoyce at other Men's Sins p. 188. And at other Men's Calamities p. 194. Directions as to this p. 195 We must express our Charity by our Zeal for the Prosperity of true Religion p. 200. Directions as to this p. 203 We must expsess our Charity by concealing other People's Faults p. 209. And why p. 212. Directions p. 219 We must express our Charity by Believing the best of others in all Doubtful Cases p. 224. Directions as to this p. 228 Charity requires us to Hope well of others especially as to their future State 234 Christian Charity must be express'd by Patience in all Cases p. 247. By Patience in a Suffering Condition p. 250. And in case of Difference in Matters of Opinion p. 261 The Conclusion 275 A Practical Discourse UPON CHARITY THAT infinitely Wise and Beneficent Being that made the World to communicate himself to his Creatures and to make them Partakers of his Goodness hath given such Laws of Virtue to Mankind as serve not only to prepare us for the endless Felicities of another Life but also to make us in a great measure happy in this For those Virtues are Copies of God himself Transcripts of his own most Blessed Nature and therefore they must necessarily tend to make us happy because God himself is happy in them God's Happiness consisteth in the admirable Perfections of his Nature and the higher we rise in these Perfections the greater degrees of Happiness we must needs attain to because we approach the nearer unto God in the resemblance of whom the true and solid Happiness of Mankind doth consist though the corrupt part of the World doth evermore place it in other Things Those Virtues I now speak of are the Divine Perfections which are the Rule of God's Actions towards Mankind As the Purity and Holiness of his Nature by means whereof he hateth all manner of Iniquity his Essential Veracity by reason whereof he cannot lye his Faithfulness in the performance of all his Promises upon which account he is emphatically called The faithful God Deut. 7. 9. His Patience and Long-suffering towards the greatest Criminals not willing that any should perish the exact Rectitude of his Will by means whereof he offers not the least Injury to any part of the Creation but is Righteous and Just in all his Proceedings But above all his infinite Compassion a God full of Compassion he is called Psal 86. 15. by virtue whereof he is Gracious Merciful slow to Anger and plenteous in Goodness These Perfections the ever-blessed God communicates to Mankind according to their Capacities and in the exercise of these Virtues doth our true Happiness consist It is not Riches or Greatness or any Worldly Enjoyments that make our Minds or our Lives happy Then are we happy indeed when we are holy as God is Holy when we are Sincere and Upright Constant Patient and Just as God is and above all when our Mercy rejoyceth over Justice as God's doth when we put on Bowels of Mercy when we are Kind and Good and Tender-hearted towards one another when we forbear one another and forgive one another in short when we love one another as God himself loves us all This is our greatest Perfection a Perfection recommended to us in the Scripture under singular Characters above Faith or Hope or any other Grace And in the practice of this Virtue our truest Happiness must needs consist because it carrieth the greatest Resemblance of the Divine Nature God is Love saith the Apostle 1 John 4. 8. that is the Perfection of Love Goodness and Charity is in him In discoursing upon this Subject Charity as it relates to Mankind it will be necessary 1. First To explain the true Nature of it 2. To consider the Motives which serve to make it Practical 3. To shew the Way and Manner after which it is to be express'd I. 1. As to the Nature of Charity It is such a Principle of Kindness and Benevolence as doth dispose us to do others all the good we can over and above that which is their due by the Laws of Common Justice This is to be noted carefully that we may understand the difference between Justice properly so called and true Christian Charity The Office of Justice is to do those Things which a Man hath a Civil Right unto Things which he can claim and challenge Things which cannot be denied him without manifest Wrong and Injury Now this even Irreligious and Hard-hearted People are capable of doing nor is this always a Virtue because it proceedeth many times not from Choice but Necessity Charity is a Tenderness and Goodness of Mind which constrains us to do more than what Humane Laws oblige us to 'T is a Virtue that stirs the Bowels that moves and works upon the Affections that extends our Compassion and enlarges our Hearts beyond the common Limits A Virtue that inclines us to be Benevolent unto all Men to wish them all the Good their condition calls for to be Supplicants for it on their behalf at the Throne of Grace to aid and assist them towards the obtaining of it and for the Love of God and for Religion-sake to help them not only to those Things which are really due from Vs but to those Things also which are necessary fitting and proper for Them tho' they be not Debts in a strict Sense and
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
Authority of Jesus Christ and assents to his Doctrines Now this Assent of the Mind is required in order to the Practice of Christ's Religion because it is not imaginable how People can be brought to obey his Laws sincerely and universally unless they be first perswaded in their Hearts that he was the Son of God the very Christ sent by his Father from Heaven to help Mankind thither This puts a Divine Stamp upon the whole Christian Religion it gives it an unquestionable Credit and renders every the most difficult Article of it worthy of all Acceptation because it came from God and was revealed by the Son of God and therefore must needs be infallibly true Upon this account the belief of Christ's Authority and of the Truth and certainty of his Religion is the first thing necessary And for this Reason it was that his first Disciples took such pains every where to prove him to be the very Christ and inculcated the necessity of Faith in him For this was the ready way to bring the World in Obedience to him and nothing but this could prevail with Men to observe Christ's Institution with such strictness as the Primitive Christian did and for the sake of it to venture and undergo upon all Occasions the utter loss of all Faith then being required to produce Obedience as the proper Means in order to this noble End cannot possibly stand us in stead if it be only a Notion in our Heads if it be a liveless and unfruitful Perswasion if it be naked and alone if it hath not that effect and power upon our Souls as to bring on the Love and Practice of those other Virtues and Graces for the Production whereof it hath been all along intended Now of those Virtues and Graces Charity is the very chiefest this must accompany our Faith to make it as it should be such a Faith as we may safely rely on and therefore St. Paul describing that Assent of the Mind which availeth indeed calls it Faith which worketh by love Gal. 5. 6. Or as some Learned Criticks would rather render it Faith which is consummate and perfected by Charity The truth is all our Notions are very imperfect Things without this and though these Notions be never so right and Orthodox yet are they vastly short of our true Duty till they reach our Hearts and make us to open our Bowels towards other Men and to exercise our Hands in Offices of Love And therefore since without a Spirit of Charity nothing will avail us nor answer the great Ends of Christ's Religion no not our very Faith according to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 13. Though I have all Knowledge and all Faith and give away Goods Body Life and all and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing Since I say it is thus it is of infinite Concernment to us all so to subdue our Minds and Passions as to approve our selves in this respect the hearty Disciples of a meek and charitable Jesus Many Voluminous Disputations have been written which might have been better spared about Faith and Works and Justification whether we are justified by the one or the other or by both and great Endeavours have been used to Reconcile St. Paul and St. James upon this Point Rather I might say to set them at Variance for their Sense is the same touching the necessity of Works Evangelical as Piety Humility Meekness Patience and the like and very plainly and particulary upon the Point of Charity Here the most vulgar Eye may see their clear Agreement In Jesus Christ neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but Faith which worketh by Love saith St. Paul Gal. 5. 6. And He shall have Judgment without Mercy that hath shewed no Mercy saith St. James Jam. 2. 13. Therefore in a Case that is so positively and fully decided we should leave Controversie and fall to Practice and study how to be fruitful in good Works rather than how to make our Brains Prolifick This is the right way of performing the Conditions of the Evangelical Covenant and of bringing Peace and Comfort to our own Minds I am sure when we come to die it will turn to far better account for our poor Souls than all the Disputes which we shall leave behind us and which we shall leave too with this great Question which perhaps will never be determin'd Whether Men have managed them with as much Truth as Uncharitableness 4. Fourthly A Charitable Temper serves to prepare and fit us for the Everlasting Happiness of another Life Many Virtues are required to dispose us for the Enjoyment of that Happiness to make us capable of it to render us meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Col. 1. 12. Neither will the Decrees nor the Power nor the Mercy of God bring us to that Fruition without due Qualifications on our part because there can be no true Happiness but where there is a Correspondence and Suitableness between the Mind and the Thing if a Man be not pleased with what he Enjoys nor finds any delightful Relish in it it is impossible for him to be happy by enjoying it nor can Heaven it self be a place of Pleasure to those whose Minds have as little Taste of those Divine Satisfactions as a vitiated Palate hath of the most pleasant Meats and Drinks To prepare our selves for those Delights it is necessary to transform our Souls into the love of them now and to accustom our selves now to the familiar and delightful Practice of those Virtues wherein the Felicity of another Life doth really consist Of which Virtues a charitable Disposition is one and a very great one because we shall be sure to carry that Disposition with us out of this World to continue with us everlastingly and to make us happy indeed in the enjoyment of a suitable Society of Blessed Spirits which are all made up of Love Charity never faileth saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 13. 8. Whether there be Prophecies they shall fail whether there be Tongues they shall cease whether there be Knowledge it shall vanish away But Charity endureth for ever it is an inseparable Glory of the Souls of just Men made perfect And this is another Reason why Charity is set above Faith and Hope because it is of infinite Duration As it is the most beneficial so it is the most lasting Virtue Faith is the Evidence or firm Perswasion of Things not yet seen Heb. 11. 1. And when we come to behold God Face to Face it will be no longer Faith but Vision And so Hope is the expectation of Things that are future and when we come to the actual Possession of them it will be no longer Hope but Fruition or Enjoyment But Love is of an unchangeable Nature nor will it ever cease because it is a Ray of the Immutable and Everlasting God This is the Happiness of Heaven that though there be different Ranks and Orders of Angels different States of
Beautified Spirits different Degrees of Glory And though God himself be infinitely exalted above all yet Love is the Universal Principle and Perfection which unites God and all his Glorious Creatures with him into one inviolable Communion This being the State of the other World how can we be prepared for the Enjoyment of it or be fit to take pleasure in it unless we be Connaturaliz'd to it by a correspondence and agreeableness of Temper Some thoughtful and wise Philosophers among the old Heathens went upon this Principle that all Happiness consisteth in the Perfection of Nature And they did not only believe That the Soul is Immortal and shall find the Rewards of Simptic in Epicteâ— Virtue after its departure from the Body But believed too That its Felicity after Death lieth in such a perfection of its Faculties and Powers as is most suitable to a Rational Being That is in perfectly knowing every Thing which it is capable of knowing and in perfectly loving and doing Things that are most Excellent These are great Notions from Men that had not the benefit of Divine Revelation Nor do we find any thing in them but what is highly consistent with the Christian Philosophy for when that which is perfect is come we shall be like God himself in the Rectitude and Perfection of our Nature according to the Capacities of Created Beings And Charity being the greatest and most God-like Virtue every perfected Soul must needs be conformable to the Divine Nature by it which yet is not possible for any Soul to be but by exercising in this Life all those good Acts which serve to form it unto a Charitable Temper For this Temper is acquired as other Habits are by the constant Repetition of Actions which are therefore to be our Care and Business in this World because Heaven is a place not for the beginning but for the consummating of a Life of Virtue Nor can Death so alter and change a Man's whole State as to furnish his Soul with Inclinations and Qualities quite contrary to those it contracted in the Flesh so that if we be not charitably affected now we do but flatter our selves with vain and lying Hopes of a Blessed Eternity Though I have 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 no Charity I am nothing And though I bestow all my Goods to feed the Poor and though I give my Body to be burned and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing saith the Apostle 1. Cor. 13. 2 3. For as it is God's Will and Purpose that Uncharitable Souls shall not by any means come into his Presence so the very Nature of the Thing renders their Access impossible because they are not fit to be Partakers of those Pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore Hatred and Malice Rancour and Revenge Spightfulness and Envy are the Works of Hell and the Dispositions of those who are going apace thither nor are they fit to be in any Society but that of Devils and damned Spirits to whom they are already a-kin by Vice and into whose Company they are prepared to be gathered by an assimilation and likeness of Nature Upon this account it concerns us as much as our Everlasting Happiness is worth by all possible Acts of Charity to bring our Minds to such a loving Frame and Genius as when we die may be suitable to the State and Condition of Heaven 'T is true some particular Branches of Charity will cease there because there will be no need of them among the Blessed There will be no need of Alms-giving because in Heaven there are no manner of Wants There will be no need of Mutual Forgiveness because in Heaven there are no Injuries and Affronts Nor will there be any need of bearing with one another's Infirmities because in Heaven there is neither Sin nor Error However these and the like Acts of Charity must be performed and repeated by us here on Earth because in their kind they all serve as Means in order to the main End to cleanse the Mind from all Leaven of Malice and Naughtiness to raise and improve the Soul by degrees to perfect it insensibly by an Universal Love and to produce in it a true Heavenly Temper though they be of no further use to us when once we come to the actual Possession of an Heavenly State To illustrate this a little by a familiar Similitude In the training up of a Youth in the ordinary course of Learning many lesser Rules are necessary in the beginning a long Method great Readings many Observations and various sorts of Exercises are necessary in the Progress and all these help in their kind to improve ones Parts insensibly and to make at last a compleat Scholar though in the course of his Studies some of these Things are apt to drop out of his Memory And when he comes to be a Man and a Man of great Knowledge and Judgment many of them are quite forgotten and lost because they cease from being of any further use the Practice of them is no longer necessary but yet the Noble Effect which by the former Practice of them was produced doth remain to the last namely an Understanding now polished and perfected to a very high pitch by an Universal Knowledge The subservient Rules and Method are laid aside and gone many of them but the Perfection of the main Faculties and the Improvement of his Parts holds as long as his Life continues It is much after this manner that a Man is trained up and disciplined into a perfect Saint Several sorts of Charity are required of us now which are proper to a Militant State to a needy suffering Condition and therefore they must cease of course when we come to a State of Bliss and Glory Nevertheless they are at present wonderfully Advantageous to us because they do more or less all contribute towards Perfection they all serve in their kind and in some measure to bring the Soul to an habit of Universal Love and so to fit it for that blessed Place above into which nothing that is Uncharitable can enter By the Co-operation of every Charitable Act the Soul is better'd by degrees though we may not perceive its gradual Proficiency every moment It is the more and more improved and heightned towards Heaven and the more and more accomplished for it still so that when it departs out of the Body a State of perfect Peace and perfect Harmony and perfect Love is the most proper for it nay if I may so speak the only Natural State for it to be in And then the Soul finds the Noble Effects of every Work of Love the Divine Habits which every Work helped to produce and the Unspeakable Perfection every Work did prepare it for though in its flight to Heaven it droppeth some Works and leaves them behind it as the Prophet did his Mantle Men
the Apostle saith Charity rejoyceth not in Iniquity or in Men's Sufferings by Iniquity there is much more intended than what is Literally express'd Charitable Men must shew their Grief for those Sufferings by Relieving and Aiding the Sufferers Prosperity hath Friends enough if we may call them Friends who Congratulate and Caress us while we are able to Reward them or to do them Service But if Job be cast upon the Dunghil or Christ be brought near the Cross the one is forsaken of his Acquaintance and the other of his very Disciples 'T is Adversity that shews the real the fast Friend and then is our Time to express our Charity when another wants it whether Friend or Enemy by endeavouring to Relieve him that Suffers by Iniquity For if we use not our Endeavours for his Deliverance it is to be supposed that we are well enough pleased with his Condition well enough satisfied though he continue in it And is this Charity That Active Generous Restless Virtue that knows no Bounds but Impossibilities That Christian Grace which is ready to offer up Life it self That God-like Spirit which is made up of Goodness Mercy and Love No no Charity Befriendeth all doeth Good to all extendeth Relief and Compassion to all to him that Suffers and even to those that do the Wrong to those that seek Counsel against the Just and gnash upon him with their Teeth Psal 37. 12. Their Case is to be Pitied indeed because their Day is coming the Day when God will render to every Man according to his VVorks To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality God will give Eternal Life But to those who are Contentious and do not obey the Truth but obey Vnrighteousness he will render Indignation and VVrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doeth Evil Rom. 2. 6 7 8 9. XII 12. But I must hasten to the next Character St. Paul gives of Charity which is That it Rejoyceth in the Truth The best Divines take the Word here not in a strict limited Sense as it signifies Truth in Speech only in opposition to Lying but in a very large Notion as it signifies Probity of Heart Sincerity in all Things Universal Uprightness and Rectitude of Life in opposition to all Iniquity Charity is of no narrow Spirit but as diffusive as the Ocean as wide and spreading as the Universe and therefore it is not fit to bound it up here within a narrow Sense In short it signifies the Entire and True Practice of Religion and so the Apostle's meaning is That Charitable People are overjoy'd when Religion prospereth and encreaseth when Truth and Righteousness take Place and gain Ground when the Power of Godliness appeareth in Christians Lives when they perform their respective Duties truly uprightly and sincerely as it becometh their Profession and is suitable to their high Calling This is peculiarly Applicable to those of St. Paul's Function who cannot but be passionately affected with Joy unspeakable when they find their Labours successful when the Work and Pleasure of God prospers in their Hands when they see of the Travel of their Souls and behold the Fruit of it to their Satisfaction Nor can there be any such great Encouragement to Men of that Sacred Office as to be able to call their several Charges as St. Paul did the Thessalonians their Joy and Crown of Rejoycing 1 Thess 2. 19. Or to say as St. John did in the like case 3 John 4. I have no greater Joy than to hear that my Children walk in the Truth That is as becometh the Truth in Holiness and Sobriety in Humility and Meekness in Peace and Love and in all those Virtues which Adorn the Doctrine of God their Saviour But this Matter doth not only concern Ministers of the Gospel All People should be their Assistants in their respective Stations and Degrees to forward the true Interest and Advancement of Religion This is the most Zealous Expression of our hearty Love towards God the most significant Argument of Charity towards our Brethren the truest Testimony of an Enlarged and Noble Mind To take Pleasure in seeing Virtue and Holiness thrive and the Kingdom of Christ advanced in the World In order thereunto every one should be Zealous in his Place and Capacity in Encouraging the Growth of true Piety and in helping to Promote the Ends of the Gospel So that Vice and Irreligion may be not only out of Fashion but out of Countenance too This is the greatest Charity in the World because on this depends the Salvation of Souls which every particular Member of the Church is obliged to help on and set forward as much as in him lieth Begin at Home and Encourage your Families to be truly Religious in the first place The holy Psalmist sets you a great Example Psal 101. from Vers 2. to Vers 8. I will walk in my House with a perfect Heart I will take no wicked Thing in hand I hate the Sins of Vnfaithfulness there shall no such cleave unto me A froward Heart shall depart from me I will not know or countenance a wicked Person VVhoso privily slandereth his Neighbour him will I destroy VVhoso hath also a proud Look and high Stomach I will not suffer him Mine Eyes look upon such as are faithful in the Land that they may dwell with me VVhoso leadeth a Godly Life he shall be my Servant There shall no deceitful Person dwell in my House he that telleth Lies shall not tarry in my sight Our great Business in this Life is not to raise our selves Fortunes but to do God Service and to do the greatest Good we can to those about us And the true way of doing both is by our Examples Councels and Authority to Encourage all under our Care to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World And next to our Private Families the Neighbourhood we belong to must have a due share of our Zeal also As we go about we should sow Righteousness especially where we find the Soyl good Weed out the Cockle and Thistles Suppress every Thing that is Scandalous and Hurtful Mend Breaches Reform Manners Reprove Immorality Cherish Honesty Countenance the Meek and Gentle Teach Men to be Humble and Peaceable to be Orderly and Pious to be Just and Charitable to go to their Prayers to live in Unity to submit to those who have the Rule over them in the Lord we should teach Men how to Love and how to be Beloved In a word we should make it our business to Direct and Assist one another so that in this World we may all lead Quiet and Peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty This is the way to serve the Truth to promote the Truth to advance its Interest and Honour to make it spread flourish and prosper so that we may have cause of Rejoycing indeed what Joy had St. Paul to see Religion propagated though it was sometimes by the