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
of that Provident and Supreme Governour of all Things who causeth his Sun to shine upon the evil and upon the good and sendeth Rain on the just and the unjust Mat. 5. 45. This great Goodness of God towards us all our Saviour himself makes use of as a powerful Argument and Motive for our Charity and Tenderness towards one another And truly if we consider the infinite Perfections of God by reason whereof he standeth not in the least need of any nor of all his Creatures the infinite Greatness of his Majesty above us and its Distance from us By reason whereof he might look down upon us with Scorn and Contempt His infinite Power over us by reason whereof he might easily cast us down into the bottomless Lake upon any Provocation His infinite Holiness and Excellency by reason whereof every Provocation comes to be of infinite Demerit and together with all this if we consider the infinite disproportion that is between the Sins acted against him and the Faults we commit against one another who stand all of us upon the same Level and need all of us each others Assistance nor have we any Power over one another but what is given and precarious Nor provoke one another but with Offences that are Reciprocal And after all our mutual Follies are beholding to one another too as well for asking as for accepting each others Pardon If I say we consider all this we must needs discover a great deal of Force in this Argumentation that since God so loveth us so pitieth us so forbeareth us so expresseth his Mercy and Compassion to us certainly we ought also and the rather by much to Love and Pity and forbear and shew Compassion and Kindness unto one another Love and bless and do good even to them that hate you that you may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven saith the great Exemplar of Charity Matth. 5. 45. By the Children of God are meant according to the usual Scripture Sense of the Phrase such People as partake of the Divine Nature such as resemble God and are like-minded such as express a Similitude of those imitable Perfections which are most eminently in Him For as our Dispositions and Tempers are so is our Alliance Thus our Saviour told those wicked Jews in John 8. 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil And the Reason was because they did the Deeds and the Lusts of the Devil were of Devilish Spirits and Inclinations resembled the Devil himself by their Wickedness Some Sins as I told you before are ascribed unto the Devil after a more peculiar manner as Pride the Sin that cast him out of Heaven And Lying for which reason he is called a Lyer and the Father of it Joh. 8. 44. And so Slandering for which reason he is called the Accuser of the Brethren Rev. 12. 10. So also are Envy and Malice the Devil's Sins for which reason he is called a Murderer from the beginning John 8. 44. And is compared to a Lion that walketh up and down seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5. 8. Now though People that are of such wicked Spirits may flatter themselves with a Perswasion that they belong to God yet in God's own account you see they are of the Devil's Family the Devil's Children and consequently Heirs of the Devil's Damnation because their Minds are of the same Venomous Temper and of the same ugly Hue and Complexion as if they had been Cast in the same Mould For the same Reason they whose Souls are pure and upright full of Grace and Goodness are called the Sons of God because they communicate of his Divine and Perfect Nature and resemble him in the Qualities and Dispositions of their Minds as Children are wont to resemble their Parents in the Features and Lineaments of their Bodies Nor can any Man resemble him better than by a kind and benevolent Disposition Because the Scripture doth up and down represent this as one of God's chief and most glorious Perfections a Perfection wherein he himself seems most of all delighted And therefore our Saviour discoursing of Mercy Charity and an Universal Love Matth. 5. singles out this as the strongest Argument to inforce the Practice of it that we may be the Children of our Father in Heaven and that we may be perfect even as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect 'T is not any formal Professions that bring us near unto God 't is not any dry Superstitions or empty Performances much less is it a furious Zeal for Notions and Opinions alas all this may be consistent with a Devilish Temper and Mind No it is a God-like Temper a Divine frame of Heart and chiefly a kind charitable and beneficent Disposition It is this this that ties us into a strict Relation to God into such a close Fellowship and Communion with him as maketh us his indeed As that Disciple observes whom the Lord Jesus particularly loved and who breathed nothing but Love himself 1 Joh. 4. 7. Love is of God and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God And again V. 12. If we love one another God dwelleth in us and his Love is perfected in us And again V. 13. Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit meaning that Temper and Affection which is so eminent in him And again V. 16. God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him Here then Men should lay their Hands upon their Hearts and examine how they beat what they are full of and how they are affected If Wrath and Bitterness Malice and Rancour Spightfulness and Uncharitableness dwelin them If self-Self-love Unmercifulness and Cruelty hardens them if the Wants and Miseries of others make no or very little Impressions upon them these are very bad Symptoms plain Signs that there is very little if any thing at all of God in such Hearts nothing but what savours of a narrow Spirit of a mean sordid and bruitish Nature Humane Rational Souls should have more exalted Faculties Souls that are of a Noble and Heavenly Extraction Souls that are so many Rays of the Divinity What can so become such Beings as Thoughts that are beneficial like the Sun-beams Affections that are as large as the Universe Motions and Operations like his who was the Redeemer of Souls whose whole Life was to go about doing Good His Miracles as well as his Sermons and Laws were Charity And by those Charitable Works he shewed himself to be the Son of God Nor may we think we can give the World or our own selves any satisfactory Evidence of our Relation to his Father or him but by Works of Charity as his were by doing Good to every Man as it lies in our power without Discrimination by Intreating them gently by bearing Wrongs and Indignities with meekness of Spirit by putting our Cause into God's hands without Self-revenge by blessing
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
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
talk at random when they speak of going to Heaven without a Charitable Temper they may as well speak of seeing the Lord without Holiness for Charity is one great part of Holiness And therefore our great Care must be to mould our Hearts into such a Frame and Condition that we may be fit and agreeable Company for the Glorious Family of Love And this is not to be done but by using and accustoming our selves to the constant Practice of Universal Charity now For Habits are gotten by many Repeated Acts and to perform the several Offices of Charity is both the effectual Means of gaining a Spirit of Charity and a plain Argument and Token too that there is such a Spirit in us especially when those Performances and Acts are more and more abundant III. 3. Which brings me to the third Thing that in the beginning of this Discourse I proposed to shew namely the Way and Manner after which our Christian Charity is to be expressed For those Expressions are manifold and various and those People are mightily deceived who restrain and limit all Charity to Alms-giving That indeed is one Expression of Charity when our Alms come from a Charitable Heart for if that be wanting all our Alms loseth the Name of Charity Though I give all my Goods to feed the Poor and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing 1 Cor. 13. 3. You see that in the Apostle's account Alms-Deeds may be without Charity that is when Vanity or Ostentation is the Principle from whence they flow But though they come from a right Principle from a kind and compassionate Heart yet are they but a little part of Charity as we find by St. Paul's Description of its several Branches in the place above-mentioned Now because we cannot follow a better Guide than St. Paul I shall proceed upon this Subject according to those Noble Characters which he himself gives there of Charity intending as I go along to discourse of those Things after a particular and distinct manner which the holy Apostle hath laid together within the compass of a few but very significant and comprehensive Expressions 1. And there are two Characters given of Charity in reference to Anger The first teacheth us to be very Slow to Anger-Charity saith St. Paul suffereth long Meaning that a Charitable Man is not presently moved out of a calm and composed State 2. The second teacheth us to moderate our Passion that it may not swell beyond a due measure when there is any just and sufficient cause of Resentment Vers 5. Charity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not easily provoked so indeed it is render'd in our Common Translation but rather it should be render'd Is not highly provoked or exasperated Meaning that for Charity-sake no Man must suffer no not any just Anger to turn into Fury so as to make him either to meditate Revenge or to fall into indecent Rages Now though these be two distinct Subjects the one touching the Rise the other touching the Progress of this Passion yet because both may easily fall under one Consideration I shall speak of both at this time and in this place as far as they relate to the Subject Matter of Christian Charity leaving some other Things more particularly to be consider'd when I shall have opportunity and leisure to form some Practical Discourses more upon other Christian Virtues and upon that of Meekness among the rest Anger is not Universally Evil for the Apostle's Direction is Eph. 4. 26. Be ye angry and sin not Which shews that all manner of Anger is not sinful But there are three sorts which are inconsistent with the Law of Charity and very displeasing unto God First Rash Anger when a Man is apt to be soon offended and to let his Passions take fire presently not fairly examining the Nature and Circumstances of the supposed Provocation nor considering throughly as he ought whether there be just and reasonable cause for Displeasure This is a wicked Disposition that proceeds from Pride Capriciousness and ill Nature and it looks as if the froward Creature watched for his Neighbours Haltings and wanted only an opportunity of Quarrelling and took Delight and Pleasure in a Life of Contention and in rendring himself uneasie and vexatious to others This is far from favouring of the true Spirit of Charity especially as it is raised by the Law and Example of Jesus Christ whose Love to us ought to be the Standard and Measure of our Charity to one another But besides this the Effects which follow our unreasonable Passions are very hurtful and injurious when Things are taken amiss rashly and with such a quick hand For we are all apt to be mistaken and then most likely when Men's Actions are not permitted to fall under our due Consideration But we run away headlong and in great hast upon indeliberate Apprehensions In this case Innocence it self too often suffers by reason that the Merits of the Cause are not calmly inquired into at the first and Men are hardly perswaded to examine them afterwards because few care to be thought guilty of an Error By means hereof a long Train of Mischief followeth Passion still growing higher and hotter than at the first kindling And therefore when our Passions begin to be warm we should have an Eye to the Fewel consider the Cause which blows the Spark give our selves time to think and to think as candidly and favourably as we can lest we go on to punish Men quite contrary to the Laws of Charity and Justice too not so much for their Crimes as for our own false Presumptions and if we would do this very carefully that is give room for Thought and favourable Consideration before we lift up the hand it would both lessen the Passion and either stop or moderate the Effects of it Secondly Though Anger be Just in respect of its Cause yet if it lasteth a longer time than it should it is Sinful The sooner our Resentments go out the better it is for our selves and others And best of all when they die presently after they are conceiv'd when a Man's Anger is like the Fool 's Mirth which Salomon compares to the crackling of Thorns on a Flame that vanisheth in a few moments for glowing Coals are very dangerous the longer ones Displeasure continues the more averse he is to Purposes and Expressions of Charity the stiffer in his Resentments the more inflexible and the harder to be Reconciled That which should have been but a transient Fit precipitates in time and setleth into a fixt Habit and that ranckles and frets inwardly and eateth so deep and so venomously into the Bowels that it proves a deadly Ulcer and then it ends as in the case of the Spleen which was once a natural and innocent Infirmity but at last becomes a very painful and mischievous Disease The Apostle therefore gives us all this Noble Rule of Charity Let not the Sun go down upon your Wrath Ephes 4. 26. This looks
in stead of viewing the Face and consider throughly first whether it be Just then whether it be Charitable also consistent with that Goodness and Kindness of Mind which becomes a Christian If the Thing be contrary to the Law of Love and such as we would not have another to do to our own selves we must with a very quick Hand lay the Bridle upon our Passions lest the Beast should prove Heady and by running away with us at all adventures rush us headlong into a great many Sins We should sit down a while and consider how short our Life is at the best and what little time in comparison we have to do Good in the World and how suddenly many drop into the Grave before they have done any at all We should consider what base Vices Hatred and Malice are what Dishonourable and Wicked Purposes they tend to what Mean and Hellish Arts Men are driven to for the putting of them in execution what Disorders they make in the World how Prejudicial they are to the Interest of Mankind to the Peace and Comfort of Humane Life and what Irreparable Mischiefs arise from them naturally not only to Single Persons but to Bodies to Families to Publick Societies nay to the whole Church and State when once they come to break out as very often they do into Epidemical Outrage We should consider too what Rewards they bring to the Actors themselves after all these Dreadful Consequences Vexation and Anguish of Spirit a Polluted Conscience a lost Credit an abbreviated Life and in stead of any solid Satisfaction in the Course or at the End of it Eternal Damnation at last both of Soul and Body What Fruit will Men have then of those Things whereof they ought even now to be Ashamed I am perswaded if People would but Deliberate thus before-hand and suffer their Minds kindly to entertain these or some of these Considerations it would be impossible for half so much Folly and Storm to be in the World Such an excellent way this is not only to express but to encrease Men's Charity to one another and to keep them from tumbling precipitously into a vast Complication of Wickednesses and Misfortunes which one day Uncharitable Wretches will repent of tho' perhaps not till it be too late till they have Sinned the time of their Peace away VII 7. The next Character of Charity is that it is not Puffed up alloweth not People to be Proud and Arrogant to be Haughty and Supercilious to have an immodest lofty and over-high Conceit of a Man 's own self or to behave himself with Contempt and Scorn towards those whom he looks down upon at a distance as his Inferiors There is hardly another Vice that is more Foolish more Hateful than Pride is none that is so like to the Devil's Temper I am sure none that stands in more direct opposition to all the Laws of Charity An humble Mind stoops to all though the meanest and lowest Offices nor is there any Act of Love which it is not willing to reach out a kind Hand unto though it be to the washing of Feet And the Reason is because a truly humble Man hath so modest an Opinion of himself and so high an Esteem of others that he is apt to reckon all good Offices to be a kind of Debt to them and a very necessary though a poor Tribute of Honour to the Meek and Lowly Jesus But Pride sets Men so remote from their Neighbours that to desire their Friendship looks like Incroachment and for themselves to offer it seems to them a Transgressing the Rules of Greatness and so in that distance and interval between State and Meanness many Acts of True Charity are wanting many Blessed Opportunities of doing Good drop to the Ground and are quite lost and perhaps too when the Necessities of Poor Wretches are most pressing Seldom do Proud Men think of God himself They care not for God neither is God in all their Thoughts saith David Psal 10. 4. They think not of him as their Maker and Benefactor by whom they live or as their Law-giver and Judge by whom they must be Sentenced to Eternity at least they think not with that Gratitude Reverence and depth of Thought which should swallow up all their vain Imaginations And if God be not in their Minds it is no wonder if Men be not there and if they be full of nothing but Themselves But this is not all The Case would be better though they did no Good if they did no Hurt neither But Pride is such an Injurious and Imperious Vice that where it Ruleth it admits of no bound but those of its own setting and those are as uncertain as precarious Priviledges under an Arbitrary Power Pride commonly hath Covetousness for its Factor to Toil and Drudge for its Maintenance and when those Vices go hand in hand nothing is safe that is within reach though it be Naboth's Vineyard Ahab was sick at Heart for it and to recover his Content the Poor Man's Blood was sought for too as the speediest Remedy Men of such Tempers are so bloated with an Opinion of their own Deserts that they fancy themselves to have a kind of Right to every Thing especially if it be judged necessary and convenient and how then can we hope for Charity when there is no room for Justice Fraud Rapine and Oppression are the usual designs of an elated Mind and 't is the harder to stop them because Proud People are ever apt to over-look their Actions think it a Diminution to obey such a Thing as Conscience are too Big to be taken to account too High to ask themselves is there not Iniquity in my Right Hand Indeed People who are thus puffed up have not always power to hurt others much in their Fortunes but then they seldom fail to oppress them in their Fame which is another Thing utterly inconsistent with that Candor and Goodness which evermore attends a Charitable Temper Pride is always very Censorious though many times there is no other Reason for the hard Character it gives but this only That it may have a Foil to set off it self The greatest Innocence is often Reproached because Proud People care not what others deserve but would have you know how Singular their own Merits are by exposing a Neighbour they hope you will think the better and the more highly of them By throwing Dirt upon others Faces they think their own will appear the more Beautiful like the haughty Pharisee in the Gospel who thought to Recommend himself to God by making Reflections I am not as other Men are Extortioners Vnjust Adulterers nor even as this Publican Luke 18. 11. By this Injurious and Uncharitable Practice many Mischiefs befal Mankind as Strife Railings Animosities Violence and all manner of Outrage So that Salomon saith Prov. 13. 10. Only by Pride cometh Contention 'T is the only Natural Mother of Contention There are Accidental Causes of it as Drunkenness
help of those who were spurred on chiefly by Emulation that they might outshine him and lessen the Glory of his Zeal and Success Phil. 1. Some indeed preach Christ even of Envy and Strife and some also of Good Will The one preach Christ of Contention the other of Love What then Why notwithstanding every way whether in Pretence or in Truth Christ is preached and therein saith he I do rejoyce yea and I will rejoyce Some Portion of this Joy shall every one have that helpeth to serve and advance Truth in his Place and Vocation and according to his Abilities Christ is thereby served in some measure and the Comfort of it will return into the Charitable and Good Man's Bosom though he doeth no more than what a good Example cometh to I am sure that when we come to lie upon our Death-beds where Conscience useth to speak plain and home a greater Joy and Comfort there cannot be than to reflect upon the good Examples we have given our Brethren and the many good Offices we have done them and to consider that in doing to the very least of these we have done them unto Christ and served Christ Then there will be room for that Prayer of Hezekiah Isa 38. 3. Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in Truth and with a perfect Heart and have done that which is good in thy sight What Joy and Comfort those will then have who hinder the Progress of Religion by disseminating Evil Principles by somenting Dissentions and Animosities and by other Antichristian Practises that Day at farthest will shew when every one's Conscience if he hath any left how drowsie soever it may be now will be sure to awake and tell him his own XIII 13. The Character of Charity which followeth is That it beareth all Things 'T were more agreeable to render this place thus Charity covereth or concealeth all Things which are done amiss for this seems here to be the most natural Sense of the Greek Word the other Notion of it which concerneth the bearing or suffering all Things belonging rather to the last Character of Charity To lay Things to ones Charge which he is not Guilty of is very Unjust to blame him upon meer Suspicion is very Rash and to divulge every Fault though we certainly know it is very Uncharitable In order to our due Practice as to this point we are to note by way of Caution That the Laws of Charity do not oblige us to conceal the Crimes of another in these five Cases 1. Where the Criminal himself hath made the Fact Notorious 2. Where the Interest of an whole Society is nearly concern'd 3. Where Publick Justice ought to be done 4. Where Charity to the Offender requires the taking notice of it 5. Where the discovering of a Sin is absolutely necessary for ones own Vindication In all Cases the greatest Charity must take place But where the End of making anothers Faults known is not Good Necessary Just or Charitable but Mean and Hurtful rather we should be as tender of a Neighbour's Fame as of our own and no more speak of his Crimes than we durst discover Secrets which in Conscience and Honour we are bound to keep in the dark There are two great Reasons for which Charity requires us to to be very careful of this 1. That the divulging of another's Offences is so far from doing him any Good that it is a probable way to harden him in a course of Wickedness Shame is sometimes the strongest Bridle to restrain People from Things that are of bad Report If you take off that Check there is no staying them but they turn to their Course as the Horse rusheth into the Battel Jer. 8. 6. Nor is there a more ready means to make them Shameless than to expose those Miscarriages to open view which they cannot but like the less because they are afraid of a Discovery Private Admonitions if kindly and discreetly tendred to them themselves often prove a successful Method of Reclaiming those who have as yet a Brow because those Admonitions are an Argument of Friendship which makes the softest and deepest Impression For which reason saith our Saviour Matth. 18. 15. If thy Brother trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone This is the most likely way to gain or Reform him whereas to proclaim or whisper out his Faults especially to Persons unconcerned and that too with Pleasure and as a sort of Entertainment is the ready means of rendring his Heart obdurate and of making all Councels recoyl as from a Flint Because in this case it is not Charity that speaks but ill Nature and a designing Mind Many times it happens that while a Man's Sins lie close under Covert he is brought to a Sense and Reformation of them by the private Convictions of Conscience and by God's Blessing from the Pulpit There is the greater Encouragement to amend because he feareth not Reproach But if he be brought upon the open Stage and exposed to the Scoffings of the Multitude like a Deer hunted with a publick Cry and brought at last to the Bay 't is odds but he will adventure upon any Dangers the Clamors of the World will make him desperate so that in stead of Reforming he will pursue his Sins the more greedily presuming that the future Pleasures or Gainfulness of them will pay something for the loss of his former Reputation 2. Besides the Mischief done to the Actor by Uncharitable Detections no little Hurt is done to those to whom the Sin is told which still confirms that of the Wise Man Prov. 10. 12. Love covereth all Sins By hearing of ill Things People learn insensibly to do them because there is a Contagion in all Wickedness whereby the Minds of those to whom it is discovered are infected by degrees if there be not a very strong Antidote to keep out the Pestilence which is rarely provided in those cases For 't is not usual with us to lend an Ear but to Things we are very willing to hear of and by this means an Evil Report doth naturally cast the stronger Influence and doth naturally make the deeper Impression the Mind being disposed for it before-hand Upon which account 't is necessary for every good Man with all possible care to preserve his Ear from Infection lest it pass through that to the Heart For a Relation many times becomes an Example so that by being made acquainted with the Faults of others People are much the worse themselves The Sin is proposed for imitation which the Tale-bearer seemeth to reprehend it is like the opening of a Plague-Sore which a Charitable Hand will be tender of doing for fear of propagating the Disease Our Minds are apt to be strangely wrought upon by every Thing about us because there is not in our Nature that strong defensive Faculty which is in some other Creatures Fish indeed retain their fresh Taste although they
up hard Conceits without sufficient and plain Grounds to run away with them and to act upon them Hatreds and Mischief follow in the end witness those Outrages which he himself committed upon his own groundless Apprehensions He believed once that Jesus Christ was a Deceiver and that his Disciples were a very Dangerous and Heretical Sect. Upon which false and groundless Principle he verily thought with himself that he ought to do many Things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth Act. 26. 9. And how fatal and mischievous was that one Thought to the Church of Christ What a world of Vexation and Misery did it not put them to And yet all the while the People he Persecuted were Innocent and the Persecution was bottom'd upon nothing but his own unreasonable and wild Presumptions Thus it is when Men believe without Judgment and Candor believe Evil Things upon Evil Surmises and side with Sinister Notions as their first Imaginations and Passions sway them Havock and Outrage are the usual Consequents Peace and a good Conscience and Charity and whatsoever else is desirable all goes to wrack in the Storm which sometimes cannot be allayed without a Sacrifice of Blood too Now for the increasing in us a Spirit of Charity and for the due expressing it as to this Point this General Rule must be carefully observed To take Things always in the best Sense and never to give way to Hard Thoughts where there is room for kind or favourable Constructions Many times indeed Men's Guilt appeareth so foul and open that the Evidence is too strong for those that are willing to be Scepticks in that particular In which case Charity no more requires you to believe contrary to your Experience than it binds you to discredit the Testimony of all your Senses As where People act maliciously every Day in spight of all the Charity in the World you cannot but look upon them as very ill Men. But where the Matter is doubtful and uncertain Charity should always set it in the fairest Light or rather I should say in the darkest Corner to blind the Guilt as much as is possible and to hide it even from our own Eyes Remember the Charity of the Lord Jesus upon the Cross when his Blood-thirsty Enemies had now done their very worst against Him One would have thought their Malice was open enough For Pilate himself was satisfied of his Innocence He knew saith the Evangelist that for Envy they had delivered him Mat. 27. 18. And yet to cover their Sin in some measure He himself pleaded their Ignorance in that Charitable Prayer for them Father forgive them for they know not what they do Luke 23. 34. Had it been possible he could have found in his Heart to have concealed their Guilt from his Father's view But God seeth the very Secrets of the Heart all Things are naked and open to him with whom we have to do But this is one of God's incommunicable Attributes We see at best but through a Glass a dark and dim View and our Sight is much the dimmer when we would look into Men's Breasts where we have no Glass at all to look through Therefore where we are left to Conjecture our Opinion should be on the Charitable side because our Eye can have a direct Stroke upon the Principle of another's Action Perhaps it was Inadvertency perhaps it proceeded from Ignorance perhaps from common Humane Frailties Many Excuses Charity will help us to find out before we need charge it upon the Heart This General Rule of putting the best Sense upon Men's Actions being laid before you I shall add these few Particulars for the better Practice of it Not to be easie in believing the first Representations By our daily Experience we may find that the first Account of Things is commonly the Falsest because it is usually attended with Partiality to possess the Minds of People with a Prejudice before-hand it is so in Men's relating Things of others especially of their Superiors in Church or State Partiality is never wanting there Some have a sort of Itch both in their Minds and Tongues to speak Evil of those they care not for Upon which account when an ill Thing is offered to our Belief before Credit be given to a foul Story we should consider Whether the Suggestion may not proceed from Hearts which are touch'd with a Disease somewhat resembling the Botch of Egypt Many are apt to take up hard Opinions upon Trust which is not only Uncharitable but Unrighteous too Because the Party is thereby rifled of his Reputation at all adventures If the Story be false the Injustice is manifest if it be but probable there is Probability against it too if it be altogether uncertain it is not Judgment but Partiality that Governs the Belief of it And after all if Accusations be enough every Man must lie at Mercy for his Innocence though his own Conscience acquit him 'T is necessary therefore in all ill Reports to suspend ones Perswasion till the Truth appears and rather to be for the Charitable Sense because to be sure no Wrong is done in that case whereas Judgment is Iniquity when it passeth upon Surmise and he that Suffers by the Sentence Suffers not for his own but for another's Fault that is for another's too quick and rash Judgment In short That Charity may make us believe all the Good we hear and hardly any thing but what is Good let it teach our Hearts to be in Love with Peace Reports whether they be true or false are disquieting and whatever the first Design of them be the End is Quarrel a Mischief that is attended with such a Train of ill Consequences that we cannot be too careful in using our utmost Endeavours to choak the Original Cause Study to be quiet and to do your own business saith St. Paul 1 Thess 4. 11. If Men's Hearts and Hands were thus honestly and wisely employed it would be a concise but a very effectual way of setting their Ears and Tongues much more at rest XV. 15. The Fifteenth Character of Charity is That it hopeth all Things As by the former Description St. Paul shews how we are to think as to Things present or past so by this he directs us what Thoughts we are to entertain as to the future However Men be represented or may appear we must not despair of them or give them utterly for gone as Reprobates and Castaways undone and lost to all Eternity The Reasons of this are taken from the Office of Charity which is to do all the Good we can in every respect 1. Now first to account a Man past all Recovery is the ready way to supersede the use of those Means which in ordinary Cases are thought fit and proper to bring People to Repentance Charity is a most Active and Zealous Grace especially when it is concern'd about a Soul No good Methods are wanting there as long as there are Hopes True Charity is apt to
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