heart, unites it to God in himself by love, which is indeed all, that loving of God supremely and entirely, with all the mind and soul, all the combined strength of the heart! And then that same love, first wholly carried to him, is not divided or impaired by the love of our brethren, but is dilated as derived from the other. God allows, yea, commands, yea, causes, that it stream forth, and act itself toward them, remaining still in him, as in its source and centre; beginning at him and returning to him, as the beams that diffuse themselves from the sun, and the light and heat, yet are not divided or cut off from it, but remain in it, and, by emanation, issue from it. In loving our brethren in God and for him-not only because he commands us to love them, and so the law of love to him ties us to it as his will, but because that love of God doth naturally extend itself thus and act thus-in loving our brethren after a spiritual Christian manner, we do, even in that, love our God. Much communion with God sweetens and calms the mind, cures the distempers of passion and pride, which are the avowed enemies of love. Prayer and love suit well. Prayer disposes to this love. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, saith the beloved apostle, for God is love. He that is most conversant with love in the spring of it, where it is purest and fullest, cannot but have the fullest measure of it, flowing in from thence into his heart and flowing forth from thence unto his brethren. This love disposes to prayer. To pray together, hearts must be consorted and tuned together; otherwise how can they sound the same suits harmoniously? How unpleasant, in the exquisite ear of God, who made the ear, are the jarring disunited hearts that often seem to join in the same prayer, and yet are not set together in love! And when thou prayest alone, while thy heart is imbittered and disaffected to thy brother, although upon an offence done to thee, it is as a mistuned instrument; the strings are not accorded, are not in tune amongst themselves, and so the sound is harsh and offensive. Try it well thyself, and thou wilt perceive it; how much more he to whom thou prayest! When thou art stirred and in passion against thy brother, or not lovingly affected towards him, what broken, dis

ordered, unfastened stuff are thy requests! Therefore the Lord will have this done first, the heart tuned: Go thy way, says he, leave thy gift, and be reconciled to thy brother; then come and offer thy gift.

We

Why is this which is so much recommended by Christ, so little regarded by Christians? It is given by him as the characteristic and badge of his followers; yet of those who pretend to be so, how few wear it! O a little real Christianity were more worth than all that empty profession and discourse, that we think so much of. Hearts receiving the mould and stamp of this rule, these were living copies of the gospel. We come together, and hear, and speak, sometimes of one grace and sometimes of another, while yet the most never seek to have their hearts enriched with the possession of any one of them. search not to the bottom the perverseness of our nature, and the guiltiness that is upon us in these things; or we shift off the conviction, and find a way to forget it when the hour is done. That accursed root, self-love, which inakes man an enemy to God and men enemies and devourers one of another, who sets to the discovery and the displanting of it? Who bends the force of holy endeavours and prayer, supplicating the hand of God for the plucking of it up? Some natures are quieter and make less noise, but till the heart be possessed with the love of God, it will never truly love either men in the way due to all, or the children of God in their peculiar relation.

II. Consider the eminent degree of this love, the high measure of it required, Fervent love, a high bent or strain of it; that which acts strongly and carries far. It is not a cold indifferency that is required, a negative love, as I may call it, or a not willing of evil; nor is it a lukewarm wishing of good, but fervent and active love; for, if fervent, it will be active, a fire that will not be smothered, but will find a way to extend itself.

III. The fruits of this love follow-covering of evil in this verse, and doing of good, ver. 9.

Charity shall cover the multitude of sins. This expression is taken from Prov. x, 12; and as covering sins is represented as a main act of love, so love is commended by it, this being a most useful and laudable act of it,

that it covers sins and a multitude of sins. Solomon saith, Hatred stirreth up strife, aggravates and makes the worst of all, but love covereth all sins: it delights not in the undue disclosing of brethren's failings, doth not eye them rigidly, nor expose them willingly to the eyes of others.

Now, this recommends charity, its continual usefulness and necessity this way. There can be no society nor Christian converse without it, without giving, as we say, allowance; reckoning to meet with defects and weaknesses on all hands, and covering the failings of one another, seeing it is mutually needful. And as the necessity of this commends it, so there is that laudable ingenuous. ness in it, that should draw us to the liking of it. It is the bent of the basest and most worthless spirits, to be busy in the search and discovery of others' failings, passing by all that is commendable and imitable; as base flies readily sit on any little sore they can find, rather than upon the sound parts. But the more excellent mind of a real Christian loves not unnecessarily to touch, no, nor to look upon them, but rather turns away. Such never uncover their brother's sores, but to cure them; and no more than is necessary for that end: they would willing. ly have them hid, that neither they nor others might see them.

This bars not the judicial trial of scandalous offences, nor the giving information of them, and bringing them under due censure. The forbearing of this, is not cha rity, but both iniquity and cruelty; and this cleaves too much to many of us. They that cannot pass over the least touch of a wrong done to themselves, can digest twenty high injuries done to God by profane persons about them, and resent it not. Such may be assured, that they are as yet destitute of love to God, and of Christian love to their brethren, which springs from it.

The uncovering of sin, necessary to the curing of it, is not only no breach of charity, but is indeed a main point of it, and the neglect of it the highest kind of cruelty. But still love is skilful in finding out the fairest construction of things doubtful: what is not undeniably evil it will turn in all the ways of viewing it, till it find the best and most favourable. And where the thing is so

plainly a sin, that this way of covering it can have no place, yet then will love consider what may lessen it most; whether a surprise, or strength of temptation, or ignorance, or natural disposition, or, at least, will still take in human frailty, to turn all the bitterness of passion into sweet compassion.

All private reproofs, and where conscience requires public accusation and censure, even these will be sweetened by that compassion which flows from love. If it be such a sore as must not be let lie covered up, lest it prove deadly, so that it must be uncovered, to be lanced and cut, that it may be cured, still, this is to be done as loving the soul of the brother. This, I say, is to be done with the tenderest bowels of pity, feeling the cuts thou art forced to give in that necessary incision, and using mildness and patience. Thus the apostle instructs Timothy, Reprove, rebuke, exhort, but do it with long-suffering, with all long-suffering. And even them that oppose, instruct, says he, with meekness, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledg ing of the truth.

If thou be interested in the offence, by unfeigned free forgiveness, so far as thy concern goes, let it be as if it had not been. And though thou meet with many of these, charity will gain and grow by such occasions, and the more it hath covered, the more it can cover: Covereth a multitude, says our apostle; Covers all sins, says Solomon. Yea, though thou be often put to it by the same party, what made thee forgive once, well improved, will stretch our Saviour's rule to seventy times seven times in one day.

And truly in this men mistake grossly, who think it is greatness of spirit to resent wrongs, and baseness to forgive them; on the contrary, it is the only excellent spirit scarcely to feel a wrong, or, feeling, straightly to forgive it. It is the greatest and best of spirits that enables to this, the Spirit of God, that dove-like Spirit which rested on our Lord Jesus, and which from him is derived to all that are in him. I pray you think, is it not a token of a tender sickly body, to be altered with every touch from every blast it meets with? And

thus is it a sign of a poor, weak, sickly spirit, to endure nothing, to be distempered at the least air of an injury, yea, with the very fancy of it, where there is really

none.

Learn then to beware of those evils that are contrary to this Charity. Do not dispute with yourselves in rigid remarks and censures, when the matter will bear any better sense. Do not delight in tearing a wound wider, and stretching a real failing to the utmost.-In handling of it, study gentleness, pity, and meekness. These will advance the cure, whereas thy flying out into passion against thy fallen brother, will prove nothing but as the putting of thy nail into the sore, that will readily rankle it and make it worse. Even sin may be sinfully reproved; and how thinkest thou that sin shall redress sin, and restore the sinner?

There is a great deal of spiritual art and skill in dealing with another's sin; it requires much spirituality of mind, and much prudence, and much love, a mind clear from passion; for that blinds the eye and makes the hand rough, so that a man neither rightly sees nor rightly handles the sore he goes about to cure; and many are lost through the ignorance and neglect of that due temper which is to be brought to this work. Men think otherwise, that their rigors are much spirituality; but they mistake it. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Now, the other fruit of love, doing good, is first expressed in one particular, ver. 9, and then dilated to a general rule, ver. 20.

Ver. 9. Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

HOSPITALITY, or kindness to strangers, is mentioned here as an important fruit of love, it being, in those times and places, in much use in travel, and particularly needful among Christians one to another by reason of hot and general persecutions. But under this name, I conceive