we may follow a thousand different paths; but when the question is, whether JESUS CHRIST shall reign,whether the kingdom of JESUS CHRIST shall be extended,—we are ready to forget all our distinctions, we are all united,- we are all one man. Not that the stability of His kingdom depends merely on human exertions: God has staked his character and all his perfections upon its establishment; He has pledged his word and oath for its success :-"The jealousy of the Lord of Hosts will do this, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

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Nothing but the extension of this empire is necessary to change the wilderness into a paradise, and exalt the condition of earth into a resemblance of heaven. And we have reason to hope the destined period is not remote: our children's children may live to witness the cessation of wars under the sceptre of the Prince of Peace;-to witness the expectation of eternity and heaven diffused among all the partakers of our nature. Lend your helping hand to the promotion of such an object. Convert base riches," the mammon of unrighteousness," into the means of imparting spiritual treasure, the instrument of conveying "an exceeding and eternal weight of glory,"-into a link, an important link, in the chain that connects earth with heaven. You are not called out to endure the burden and heat of the day; you are permitted, while sitting under your vine and fig-tree, to assist, in a way at once easy and effectual, the diffusion of the privileges and immunities of this heavenly kingdom over the whole world; the recovery of a vast neglected

portion of our race to the happy condition of those who are the subjects of Jesus Christ.

XV.

THE ENLARGEMENT OF CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE.*

[PREACHED FOR THE BAPTIST MISSION, AT BROADMEAD, bristol, AUGUST 6, 1824.]

2 Cor. vi. 13.-Now for a recompense in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.

THE Corinthian church was early infested by false teachers, who opposed themselves to the apostle Paul, and, forming their own sects and factions, endeavoured to substitute their corruptions of the faith for his pure and divine doctrine. To the cure of this disease he had addressed himself in a former, and he pursued the same design in this epistle. In doing this, he found himself compelled, though the humblest of men, to remind the Corinthians of the extraordinary evidences he had given of the most devoted zeal in the cause of Christ, while he adverted to his manifold sacrifices and exertions. In the context he speaks in the affectionate language of a parent appealing to his children: "O ye Corinthians, our mouth is

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* Printed from the Notes of the Rev. Thomas Grinfield.

open to you, our heart is enlarged: ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompense in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged." Endeavour (as if he said) to meet me upon the same ground of affectionate attachment, on which I desire to embrace you in Christ. In discoursing on these words, I propose, for our mutual advantage, first, to illustrate in what this enlargement consists, and, secondly, to enforce it.

I. With respect to the first point,-in what the enlargement mentioned in the text consists,-let it be remarked, first, that it is not to be understood as consisting in expansion of intellect, in that kind of mental enlargement which arises from the discoveries of science and philosophy: for this, however ornamental, or however useful it may be, is by no means necessarily connected with a divine influence on the heart. Nothing can be more familiar to our knowledge or observation, than the melancholy instances of those in whose character extreme deficiencies and blemishes of a moral kind form a striking contrast to brilliancy of intellect. It is sufficient, in illustration, to remind you of the examples which have been so abundantly furnished by a neighbouring kingdom. Probably, there may exist some remote tendency in intellectual enlargement, to expand the heart in benevolent sensibility; but the connexion is not so close, nor the effect so certain, as to justify any great dependence; and those who infer from the improvement of reason proportionate

advancement in virtue, will find their expectation too often frustrated.

There are others who flatter themselves that they possess superior enlargement of soul to most around them, because they entertain an equal indifference to all the vanities of human opinion in religious subjects, and feel no regard for any sect or creed. This would, no doubt, be a very cheap and easy doctrine to embrace: by those who are indifferent, concessions are easily made to almost any extent; and there can be no great liberality in sacrificing truth, where no real attachment to truth is felt. In the apostle Paul we find the reverse of such a character: exactly in proportion as he became attached and devoted to "the truth as it is in Jesus," he exhibited the increase of his real benevolence and self-denying exertions. Genuine enlargement of charity consists in seeking the salvation of men,-not in complimenting them with a pretended candour. Nothing can be really more cruel, however varnished with a gloss of liberality, than the attempt to explain away the most clear and awful sanctions of divine truth, when we are expressly assured, "he that believeth, shall be saved; he that believeth not, shall be damned!” True spiritual wisdom is shewn,-not in such a promiscuous confusion of all parts of truth, but in proportioning our regard for every part to its own importance and magnitude.

On the positive side of the subject: the christian enlargement recommended consists in a real

benevolence to the whole church of Christ, as opposed to any selfish views of our own salvation, or of our own church, as exclusively concerned. The nearer we approximate to universal love, the higher we ascend in the scale of christian excellence. There are some, though we would hope the number is small, who live solely to themselves; who are so perfectly absorbed in selfishness as to neglect all around them; who regard whatever does not conduce to their own immediate gain or pleasure as so much loss :-the proper sentiment we should entertain toward the spirit these exemplify, is that of supreme contempt.

Others limit their benevolence to the circle of their own family, or of their acquaintance: these rise above the former in proportion as they possess more of the enlargement we would illustrate; they mingle their affections with others, and identify their happiness with that of those who are most nearly connected with themselves.

Others advance far beyond this: they extend their benevolent interest over a much wider circle; they feel for every case of distress, and rejoice in every opportunity of benefit that falls within their view. Their emotions are of the same kind with the former, but, taking an ampler range, they proportionably raise the moral character.

But suppose the whole nation to be embraced by an individual; suppose him, forgetful of all merely personal or private interests, to devote himself entirely to the public benefit of his country: he holds the scales of justice, he allays discord,