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SERMON XI.

ON TENDER-HEARTEDNESS.

Ephes. iv. 32. Be ye

tender-hearted.

CHRISTIANITY, in its origin, in its tendency, and in its results, is the law of kindness, the doctrine of love. To tame the fiercer passions of nature; to cherish and refine the gentler affections; to graft the social on the selfish feelings, and to strengthen the former till they become the active and impelling springs of human conduct;-this is the glorious aim of him, who spoke as never man spoke. If we would render this aim efficient in our own case, the first step of the process must be selfdenial. We must learn to forego those gratifications, which would interfere with the happiness of our neighbour; and this can be done only by curbing the desires, that centre solely in ourselves, and by acquiring

the

the habit of making a present appetite yield readily to the dictates of duty, connected with the prospect of a future good. Here the lessons of christian morality begin; and the principle upon which they are founded, is love to the common Father of the human race, uniting with, and giving effect to, that goodwill which all men owe to one another, as the rational and immortal offspring of one God. The whole of our Lord's discourses are directed to the production and the confirmation of this principle in the heart. Besides the numerous incidental observations and counsels, which are scattered throughout the gospels, tending to kindle and foster the spirit of charity, this purpose is directly consulted in some of the most beautiful parables that ever were produced by inspiration itself. That of the prodigal son, of the good Samaritan, of the hard-hearted servant, who refused to his companion the forbearance which his master had shown towards him, are all expressly designed and admirably contrived, to inculcate the necessity and evince the excellence of that law of love, which would be in the room of

all

all other laws, if it held its

in the human breast.

proper ascendency

To enforce this law in its various branches, is the end of those practical advices and exhortations, with which the writings of the apostle Paul abound. In the chapter from which the text is taken, he recommends the observance of it by the consideration, that the Ephesians, to whom he wrote, had, in common with other Christians, one body of which all were members; one spirit of which all partook; one Lord whom all acknowledged as their master; one faith in this Lord, one baptism as an outward sign that they had embraced the faith, and one Father of all, who is in all, and over all, God.

He shows next that the various ministra

tions of the Spirit by the instrumentality of prophets, apostles, and evangelists, were ordained with a view to perfect the saints in the knowledge of Christ, (meaning the knowledge of his doctrine, and the acquisition of his divine temper,) that thus they might be able "to speak the truth in love, and to grow up in all things to him, who is the head from

whom

whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that, which every joint supplieth, maketh increase of the body," multiplies its members, and gives them vigour and comeliness" to the edifying of itself in love."

He then proceeds to hint at the state of intellectual darkness and moral debasement, from which the preaching of the gospel had just delivered them. He points out the necessity of renouncing their former practices, and of showing themselves new men in righteousness and true holiness; and after exhorting them to put away lying, anger, and polluting conversation, with all bitterness, and evil speaking, and malice, he enjoins them, as professing the law of love, to be kind to one another, tender-hearted, and forgiving.

The part of this exhortation to which I shall confine my present observations is, "Be ye tender-hearted:" and my intention is

I. To consider what qualities the apostle means to recommend in exhorting his converts to be tender-hearted; and

II. To show how essential these qualities are to the character of a Christian.

Let us first inquire what is implied in being tender-hearted. This is the more requisite, because the notions too generally entertained on the subject are extremely vague, and often lead to practical mischief by occasioning false estimates, both in judging of the character of others, and in fixing the comparative value of our own. Hence it is, that the epithets good-hearted, generous-hearted, tender-hearted, are every day so grossly misapplied, and that too in a way, which has a manifest tendency to lessen our abhorrence of sin, by connecting it, in the disposition of him who commits it, with some quality or action which in itself is good, but the excellence of which is tarnished by the admixture of baseness and crime. Thus, the ear of a parent is often shocked by hearing the title of a good-hearted man bestowed on one, who is laying a deliberate plan for seducing his daughter from the paths of virtue. Thus a family, reduced to indigence by desperate speculations and extravagant

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