SERMON and therefore is in no wife peculiar to the,

14.

VII.

Christian Difpenfation, tho' capable of receiving all Improvements from it: Nor yet do I mean thofe Engagements of Friendship which we fee in the World, arifing from Similitude of natural Temper, or Manners, Combination of Interest, or Sameness of Purfuits; for fuch Union often binds together the Carnal and Unconverted: But, by Charity of Affection here, I understand that Gospel Difpofition which St. John lays down as one Evidence of our renewed 1 John iii., State, where he says, We know that we have paffed from Death unto Life, because we love the Brethren: Now fuch are all they who bear the Impress of the Divine Image on their Souls, and are led by the Spirit of God to set their Affections on Things above, and to order their Lives and Converfation as becometh the Gofpel of Chrift: And this is a powerful and conftraining Love, nay, ftronger than Death itself; for fuch are willing, if need be, to lay down their Lives for the Brethren: Such was the Love of the Primitive Chriftians even to a Proverb, and the fame will be the Love of all true Chriftians to the End of the World; for however they are divided or difperfed through

VII.

throughout the whole Earth among the fe- SERMON veral outward Churches, yet they are all of one Heart and one Mind in the Effence of Faith and Things pertaining to God; and they are of one Communion, for they have been all made to drink into one Spirit: They are myftical Members under one Head, Fellow-Heirs of the fame Promises, Fellow-Travellers to the fame HeavenlyCity, and will in the End form one glorious Church Triumphant in the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In a word, this Evangelical Temper is nothing less than a Divine Principle in the Soul communicating with the fame in our Brethren, and fo uniting all, that are Partakers of it, in a holy Fellowship of fuch Love, Joy, and Peace, as paffeth the Underftanding of all other Men.

But as we are to love the Brotherhood, Christ's faithful Servants, with a distinguished and peculiar Affection; fo,

Secondly, We are to honour ALL Men with the Love of a benevolent Refpect; for the fame Charity, that connects in close Union those who are Fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the Houfhold of God,

extends

VII.

SERMON extends its Benignity to all fuch as, tho Members of the vifible Church, are yet Aliens from the spiritual Commonwealth of Ifrael, and Strangers from the Covenants of Promise; nay, it enlarges itself to all Mankind without Exception; for one Property belonging to it is, that it hopeth all Things, and therefore it waiteth patiently, looking for the Time when it may please God to bring them nigh by the Blood of Christ, who are now afar off: Accordingly, the charitable Chriftian labours for the Conversion of his Brethren in the Flesh; prays for those that pray not for themselves; studies to convince the Unbelieving, and to reclaim the Erroneous; and thinks nothing too much to do for thofe Souls for which Chrift died, if fo be that by any Means he may become an Inftrument of gaining some: Nay, tho' his Good be undeservedly evilfpoken of, and when he fpeaketh to them of Peace, their Souls everlasting Peace, they make themselves ready for Battle, and requite him Evil for his Good-will; yet even fo, that Charity, which fuffereth long and is kind, endureth all Things, even Reproach and Perfecution, with Patience and Forgiveness, not rendring Evil for Evil,

nor

VII.

n

nor Railing for Railing, but contrariwife SERMON Bleffing. Thus is Charity kind to those that hate and perfecute us, and so stands differenced from that Species of Philanthropy which rifes no higher than a bare Exchange of Good-Will and good Offices, and ought, therefore, to be confidered rather as a virtuous Kind of Traffick than a Luke vi.. Gospel Grace.

I come, thirdly, to fpeak of Charity under View of Beneficence to the Poor; and in this Light we behold it in its Fruits, as the Principle called forth into Act, and which may, therefore, properly be styled the Expreffion or Evidence of our Charity, as it refpects the temporal Wants of our needy Brethren.

And here let it be observed, that as true Charity always produces this Effect to the Extent of our Power, fo it is this inward. Difpofition that dignifies and confecrates the outward Act: For as there may be a miftaken Zeal for Religion, even to the giving our Bodies to be burnt for what we may call fuch, and yet without any true Love for God in our Hearts; fo likewise the fame Apoftle tells us, that we may bestow all our Goods to feed the Poor, and yet notwithstanding

22.

VII.

SERMON withstanding fuch a Diftribution, be void of the Spirit of real Charity. But I am now fpeaking of and recommending that Kind of Beneficence, which is the Fruit of Chriftian Benevolence; And among the various Occafions which offer for the Exercise of it, the Relief of the fick and lame Poor of our County, under the Provifions of a Publick INFIRMARY, is that which lays Claim to our present Attention.

And here it may be remarked in Behalf of these Institutions, which I think holds true of few others, even the most excellent, that the Invention of Man has not yet been able to furnish us with any Objections to them; which Argument concludes no less ftrongly for their confeffed publick Utility, than for their being founded on the most allowed Principles of Humanity. Many Confiderations offer, which powerfully recommend Foundations of this Kind to our Encouragement and Support, and fome which challenge a Preference of Regard to them above most others:

As, firft, if we confider the Greatness of the Distress. Poverty joined to Sickness, or to an ulcerated, broken or dislocated Frame of Body, bears doubly hard upon