"was not of the world," but aspire at being detail of all the noble faculties with which he made perfect in one, together with our fore-is endowed; but shall confine myself to that runner, and now exalted Lord.

This inestimable privilege belongs only to Christians; it is the gospel alone which thus unites us to God here, by the mediation of a Saviour. This is confirmed by the discourse of our Lord with his disciples, in the eleventh of Matthew, where he says, "verily I say unto you, that among them that are born of a woman, there hath not risen a greater (prophet) than John the Baptist; notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven (in my church) is greater than he." Let us therefore rejoice in the grandeur of our vocation, as members of the Church of Christ; let us not rest contented with those external marks of union, which can only draw upon our heads accumulated mischief, if they do not produce a spiritual and vital union with God; which being began here, will go on increasing to perfection for ever and ever.

Let us now examine the sixth consequence, which flows from the infinite goodness of God, which is a disposition to love our neighbour as ourselves; in furnishing us with the most powerful motives to this sincere and universal charity.

capacity of knowing, loving, and resembling his Creator, which constitutes at once his excellence, his dignity, and his felicity. For though we often see this capacity for holiness and perfection, giving way to criminal and odious sentiments, and a being amiable by his nature, become the perpetrator of atrocious crimes; nevertheless we cannot help perceiving that this depravity is contrary to nature; consequently accidental and transitory; and must sooner or later he destroyed by the complete development of his excellent faculties.

But I have said in the second place, that man is by his nature good, and formed for social love. Many are the evidences I could bring forward in support of this truth, but from amongst them I shall select only the most simple and apparent.

If man is made after the Divine image; his nature must be good, and formed to love his neighbour as himself, for God is love; therefore without goodness he can never resemble a Being perfectly good. He may by his intellectual powers, bear some resemblance to his Maker, but these are only given to render him capable of distinguishing and of loving whatever is by its nature amiable and excellent: he must therefore resemble his heavenly Father, in his sincere and universal love of his brethren.

Though every sincere Christian finds reason to lament, that the gospel does not produce as much good in the world as might naturally follow from its excellent institutes; nevertheless it has so far enlarged the minds of men, since it has been disengaged from the It is true however, that in this love an esdreadful errors and superstitions that disfigured sential and necessary difference must remain it before the reformation; and none I believe between God and man. An indigent and dewill need now to be told who is their neigh-pendent creature, cannot love with the disbour; they acknowledge, however their ac- interestedness of a perfect and self-sufficient tions may deny, that their fellow creatures, Creator. But though a sense of his wants, beings of the same common nature, are their and a necessity of supplying them may somebrethren: and this is true without distinction times deprive him of leisure, or of means to of good or bad; friends or enemies; believers shew his benevolence, by actual benefits; or unbelievers; countrymen or strangers; all yet unless blinded and led astray by some are our neighbours. disorderly passion, it will not prevent his resembling his Maker, by sentiments of universal good-will; and so far will his own wants be from stifling his benevolence, that they will excite in him a more lively and active compassion for the relief of his fellow creatures. I conclude then that man is naturally inclined to goodness and benevolence, because he is the child of God, whose image he bears.

What then is implied in loving all men as we do ourselves? It is to be interested in their happiness, as sincerely as we are in our own, and for this perfect charity the love of God furnishes us with the most powerful motives. It is worthy of being remarked that this perfect, this universal charity, from which not even our enemies are excluded; was never equally insisted upon, till the goodness and infinite love of God to all men, was manifested in the gospel; where it is given as a new commandment.

I do not say however of charity, as I did of joy, and of love to God, that his infinite goodness is their only foundation; because it is in the nature of man, to love his fellow beings; whence it is evident on the one hand that man is by his nature amiable; and on the other, that he is by his nature good, and formed for social love: these important truths I shall endeavour to set in the clearest light.

In the first place I assert, that the nature of man is amiable, and worthy of being loved. I need not, in order to prove this, enter into a

The nature of happiness, furnishes us with a second proof of this truth. If man is formed for happiness, he is formed for charity. Happiness consists in the full exercise and development of our faculties. Now among those the most active, the most lively, and the most delightful in its exercise, is the faculty of loving. The heart, is the seat of this faculty and formed for love, as the eye is for sight, and the ear for hearing. Those cold, insensible, and unnatural hearts, whose love is centred in themselves, must be wretched; happiness will fly before them, and elude their eager grasp. This is the situation of all such as seek their happiness in the world, and not in God. Wealth, honours, and power, though

they excite such ardent desires, have a mark | are formed, and which we shall one day enjoy.

of falsity stamped upon them, which proves the good they confer to be counterfeit, not real; for they can only yield exclusive happiness, which belongs to some, only in consequence of the privation of it to others; thence an opposition which divides mankind, gives rise to continual wars in public, and to discords and animosities in private life, which stifle the natural sentiments of charity and brother-standing any inherent good in man, he may ly love; and in their stead place insensibility, disdain, and a barbarous and inflexible cruelty, properly called inhumanity; and give their possessors a stronger resemblance to savage beasts, than to human creatures.

It was necessary thus particularly to demonstrate the natural inclination of man to goodness and charity; in order to establish that celestial virtue on its true foundation. But it must be observed also that I assert this, as it relates to human nature in its principle, and not in that animal and degraded state to which carnal and worldly passions lead. For notwith

Far different is that happiness for which we were designed; it is composed of true, of spiritual blessings; such as the pure and lively rays of truth will afford to the mind, and virtuous sentiments to the heart. It is a communicative happiness which expands and becomes greater the more it is diffused. Our Saviour who was well acquainted with our nature, and with the felicity suited to it, has declared that it is more blessed to give, than to receive; as St. Paul records in the twentieth chapter of the Acts.

Besides, in order to confirm this by representing it under another, and perhaps more striking point of view; man is formed for society, and must therefore be of a kind and benevolent nature, and inclined to love his neighbour as himself. That he is a social being is evident from the declaration of his Maker, who said, "it is not good for man to be alone," which is true both in a physical, and moral

sense.

be, and alas! continually is, drawn aside by the jarrings and contentions of his own temporal interest, with those of his neighbour; and when this selfishness is become habitual and predominant, he is in danger of degenerating into the most cruel and ferocious animal in the universe. It is therefore necessary for man in order to his following his natural bent to charity, that he should be freed from the slavery of his passions, for St. Paul observes, that "charity proceeds out of a pure heart;" to obtain this emancipation he has need of continual and powerful motives, capable of exciting him to virtue, and of suppressing every emotion of covetousness, of anger, and hatred, the instant they arise in his soul. If therefore we are convinced of the infinite goodness of the Supreme Being, we shall find therein every possible motive of charity.

They may be reduced to three, as they relate to our own interest, to that of our neighbour, and to charity considered in itself.

With respect to the first of these, Divine Goodness has strictly connected our particular interest with that of our neighbour; because in requiring our supreme love, it produces on the one hand an indifference to worldly objects, and on the other makes us see in our neighbour a second self, instead of a rival and competitor.

The love of God, by detaching us from the world, and purifying us from carnal passions, destroys every obstacle to charity, and leaves it to flow in an uninterrupted course. The happiness of others becomes necessary in order to our own, and we desire it with equal sincerity. Thus our interests become so strictly united, that in labouring to promote those of our neighbour, we are inevitably advancing our own.

With respect to the former of these, solitude is not good for man; because destitute of the assistance of others, he could not procure a supply of his wants, but must either perish, or drag on a miserable existence. He is therefore formed for society. But can it promote his happiness if he is not a sociable being, that is, if his heart is not naturally disposed sincerely to love his fellow-beings. Suppose for a moment a community among which no one was any way concerned for the welfare of the rest; this society without any bond of union, far from procuring happiness to any one of its members, would be a horrible Placing the supreme affection of our souls theatre of odious crimes, and shocking misery. on a being whose adorable goodness renders That it is not good for man to be alone, is him the object of our love, we cannot fail of not less true, considered in a moral view; for seeing in our neighbour a second self, solitude would cause him to feel a dreadful" for he who loveth God, loveth his brother void; by leaving unsatisfied the greatest, the most imperious wants, a necessity of loving. He could neither soften his troubles by pouring them in the heart of a being like himself; nor increase his enjoyments, by sharing them; in a word, he could not fail of being miserable. But draw him from this solitude, place him in a society of beings like himself, ration- The second motive for charity relates to our al, enlightened, pious and good, cemented by neighbour, whom the infinite goodness of the that charity which St. Paul calls the bond of Deity makes us behold as an object worthy of perfectness, and he will be as completely hap- love. Are we not endowed with similar napy as his nature will admit. The picture 1tures, partakers of the same celestial vocahave just drawn, is not the effect of fancy or tion, objects of the same love, and sharers in imagination; it is a faithful, but humble the same redemption? We need therefore Eketch of the celestial society for which we only consider our neighbour as an equal

also." Can we love God for the multitude of his tender mercies, and take no interest in, or concern for, the creatures who are the objects of them? This is impossible. We may therefore conclude that we do not love God aright, if we do not love our neighbour as ourselves.

would be destitute, forlorn, and miserable; and in society he would be an unwelcome, and unhappy intruder.

But when on the contrary our heart is enlarged by charity, which makes us sincerely desire, and zealously pursue every opportunity of promoting the happiness of our fellow creatures; then it is that we resemble the best of beings, that we bear his image, and that in our measure and degree, we are "merciful, as our Father in heaven is merciful," or as St. Matthew expresses the words of our Saviour, that we are "perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect."

partner with us in the love and favour of God, whose delight is to shower down on all hapand as a brother and companion in future fe- piness and joy; doing good even "to the licity; in order to experience fervent charity. evil and unthankful?" Where, amidst the But should our neighbour be our enemy, immense universe, could such a being be should his hatred incline him to seek our in-placed to find happiness? In solitude he jury; must we then forget our own interests to advance those of an implacable and cruel foe? The knowledge we have of God resolves this question, by shewing us, what is indeed our true interest; it teaches us to view our bitterest enemy, as an instrument in his hand, incapable of proceeding farther than he shall permit. We may, by every lawful means, preserve ourselves from the effects of his malice, as we would avoid sickness, or any other calamity; but by keeping our eye fixed on the adorable goodness of the First Cause, we shall never give way to the bitterness of resentment, but shall behold the blindness and wickedness of our enemy, with the compassion it deserves; for of all the unhappy beings that cover the earth, none ought more to excite pity, than the wicked. Poor, wretched creatures! slaves to the worst of masters, their own horrid passions, and engaged, as the wise man observes, in a deceitful work; shall not we, beings of the same nature, and liable to the same errors, feel our hearts melt with compassion for creatures who know not what they do? No other sentiment can possibly become ns.

The wickedness and cruelty of our enemy, by exciting our compassion, enables us to see him, as God himself beholds him. Odious and detestable as his present state of vice renders him; yet when the means Divine Wisdom shall employ for his correction and amendment, shall have produced their effect; when he is washed and purified, he will become our companion in eternal felicity. At present he persecutes and injures us; but a time will certainly come, when he will do us justice, and make us ample amends. Far then from being ever" overcome of evil," let us resolve to "overcome evil with good;" and in the true spirit of Christianity; if our enemy hunger "let us feed him, if he thirst let us give him drink;" thus shall our charitable treatment melt down his resentment, as coals heaped on the head of a crucible, dissolve the metal it contains: we must, therefore, according to the command of our Saviour, return blessing for cursing, and pray for our enemies. Such are the powerful motives, with which the infinite goodness of God furnishes us, for the love of our fellow creatures; even for the wicked, and our implacable enemies.

It will be obvious to all who are conversant with scripture, that as among the Divine perfections, goodness and mercy, are the most frequently and strongly mentioned; so no virtue is so largely commended, or so strongly enforced as charity: I request my reader to peruse the thirteenth chapter of the first of Corinthians, which contains a description of charity, and gives it the pre-eminence over every other virtue.

Let us also collect some of the most remarkable texts on that subject. The first of which is taken from the above mentioned chapter, we cannot carry our submission to the divine will farther, than to give our body to be burned; and nevertheless this act will profit us nothing if we are destitute of charity: disqualified for a society of spirits who dwell in perfect love, we shall be excluded, and have our portion with the reprobate. How positively does this decision shew, that we cannot be acceptable to God, without charity.

The end and design of the gospel dispensation is our purification from all iniquity. But wherein consists this important change? St. Paul informs us, "that the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart: this is the end of the gospel; and if love prevail in our hearts, we shall be workers together with God in his great plan of universal salvation; for we shall desire happiness to be extended, and labour to promote it. But while our minds are strangers to these benevolent desires, while they are cold and indifferent to the interests of others; we may be assured that this happy change, this renovation of mind, is not yet wrought in us; and that whatever may be the virtues to which we make pretence, we are tares in the field, I come now to consider, thirdly, charity in whose portion is to be burned. But when itself, as the most excellent and glorious virtue the gospel, which sets forth the infinite goodthat can possibly adorn our nature. Senti-ness of God, has inflamed our hearts with ments of kindness, of brotherly love, and charity, are such as can alone constitute any resemblance between the human, and Divine nature. Destitute of them, can we hope to hear any likeness to a being who is love? Were we even possessed of every other virtue, what analogy could be found in a creature, whose sole care, attention and pursuits were confined to his own interests; and a being

charity to our neighbour; then are we such as he would have us to be, and prepared for a communion with the God of charity; in a word, we are the wheat which will be gathered into his garner.

The last example I mean to cite in favour of this divine virtue, we meet with in the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew from the thirty-first verse to the end.

Descend, O divine charity! animate our And if religion is thus founded, it must folhearts with thy celestial flame; form our per- low of necessity, that every doctrine incompatifection, constitute our delight, and render us ble with goodness is false, absurd, and even peracceptable to the God of charity; before nicious and fatal to the last degree. I have whom destitute of thee, we are nothing. Come therefore in the whole of this treatise, in esand unite us forever to the greatest and best tablishing the doctrine of perfect goodness, of beings, and to his living image, our be- and following it in its consequences; connevolent Redeemer. Render us merciful, that stantly combated such erroneous opinions, as we may obtain mercy; teach us sincerely to represent the Creator of the human race, as a forgive, even until seventy times seven, that being whose power will be employed in inwe may receive the pardon of our innumera- flicting never ending torments on a considerable offences. Sublime delightful virtue, thou ble portion of his creatures, and have esshalt never fail, but shalt form the blessed-tablished the non-eternity of future torments. ness of the blessed, and be a river of pleasure of which they shall drink for ever in the glorious abodes of heaven.

I quit with regret this delightful subject, which has furnished matter for my sixth and last consequence, drawn from the infinite goodness of God; and I flatter myself, I have made it appear that the knowledge of the perfect goodness of the Divine Nature, contains every possible motive that can lead us to love our neigh-nitely cruel. But lest sinners should abuse bour as ourselves. I have shewn the union of interest that subsists among mankind; the amiableness and excellence of human na ture; and lastly the attractive beauty and dignity of charity in itself, as the most glorious virtue that can adorn an intellectual being, and without which, it is impossible to be happy in any state.

THE END.

THE

TWENTY-FOURTH AND TWENTY-FIFTH CHAPTERS

OF

SAINT MATTHEW'S GOSPEL,

ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES, &c.

BY HOSEA BALLOU, 2d.

PHILADELPHIA:
GIHON, FAIRCHILD & CO.

1843.