SERMON XIV. Preached November 22, 1676. 1 JOHN IV. 20. He that loveth not his Brother, whom he bath feen; bow can he love GOD, whom be bath not feen? W E are endeavouring to fhew you, that their pretence to the love of GOD is both untrue and abfurd, who love not their brother. proposed to fhew in the And as to this we I. PLACE how we are to understand the duty of loving our brother; that is, in what extent and latitude, and also with what restriction and limitation. II. WHENCE it is that perfons pretend to the love of God, who never loved their brother. We now proceed, III. To fhew the falfhood and abfurdity of that pretence; or to evince to you, that the pretence of love to GOD, where there is no love to our brother, is both falfe and abfurd. That it is falfe is exprefly enough faid in this very verse, and we need go no further for the proof of it. If I. VOL. a man fay he loveth GOD, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. What need we more to prove this pretence falfe? That it is alfo abfurd, is to be evinced to you from the confiderations we shall give you for that purpose, which are especially two: namely, the neceffary connexion that there is between the love of GoD, and the love of our brother, in the nature of things; and the greater difficulty of loving GOD whom we have not seen, than our brother whom we have feen. So that it is abfurd for a man to pretend, that he has mastered the greater difficulty, who has not overcome the lefs. 1. THE abfurdity of this pretence may be evinced from the neceffary strict connexion there is between the love of GoD, and the love of our brother, even in the nature of the things themfelves. And here we fhall fhew you that there is a fourfold connexion between them. (1.) THEY are connected in respect of their object. (2.) IN refpect of their root and principle. (4.) OF their End. (1.) THE Y are connected in respect of their object. Love to Go D and love to our brother, will be found to have in fome fort the fame object. I would not go about to prove any great affinity between the things themselves, but it is plain, I fay, they have in fome fort the fame formal object. That is, our love to our brother if it is right and true, falls in with our love of Go D; SER M. fo as that our love of GoD must be the very XIV. formal reafon of our loving our Brother, whom we can never truly love, if we do not love him for GOD's 'fake and because we primarily love GOD. It THE truth is, whatever fpecimens of beauty or excellence we find any where in the creature, we are then only faid to love them duly, when our love is pitched upon them as so many rays and beams from the first and fupreme good. And fo it is the original primary goodness which we rightfully love, even in this or that creature. is true indeed, goodness in its original, and in its defcent and derivation are not univocally the fame. Nothing can be univocally common to GOD and the creature. But they are analogically the fame. Goodness is primarily in God, and fo defcends, and is imparted to this or that creature. But it is only there by dependance upon him, from whom and in whom it originally is. And our love to our brother, in the ftrictest sense of that expreffion, is exerted, with that goodness, which is the and vivid image of God's own. when it meets most express We there love the representation of GOD in that subject wherein he has propofed himself to us as our pattern, even the excellency and glory of his holiness. THEY that are in the stricteft fense our brethren, as you have heard, are GOD's own regenerate fons; and because we are to love him that begat, we are to love them that are begotten of VOL. of him. And it is therefore to be obferved, that I. elsewhere in this Epiftle, our states Godward are to be measured by this one thing, namely, our love to the brethren. We know that we have paffed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. So that if we compare place with place, it is very plain that the measure here is but menfura menfurata; that is, it is it felf to be measured by a fupreme measure, namely, our love to God. It is a mark or character, which itself is tried by a higher mark. By this, fays the Apoftle, we know that we love the Children of GOD, when we love GOD and keep his commandments. So that no man may depend further upon this as a mark and trial of his ftate with refpect to GOD, that he loves fuch and fuch his children, than as he is able to evince the love of them to be for GoD's own fake, and as they bear his image and likeness. And so the trial finally and ultimately refolves in this, "Am I a "lóver of Gop, yea or no?" It is very true, that I may first and more senfibly have the perception perhaps of my love to this or that particular man. But I must run the matter higher, and particularly inquire, what is the reafon I love this man? Is it because he is a good man? taking goodness in the ftricteft and most noble sense. Is it because he hath participated of the divine goodnefs? and is a follower, imitator, reprefenter of God's moral goodness, which is his holinefs? We must be capable of concluding our felves lovers I John v. 1. 1 John 111. 14. c ch. v. 2. lovers of our brethren, as they are holy ones, as they SER M. THUS they ftand connected in their object. You fee they cannot be 'fevered; and that a man cannot poffibly love his brother aright, if he loveth not Go D: therefore the love of GoD muft needs draw in the love of our brother, as a thing infeparably connected with it. (2.) THEY are connected alfo in the root and principle, which in both is one and the fame; namely, that very fpirit of love, which is mentioned by Paul to Timothy, and which GOD has given us, as well as that of power, and of a found mind. We must know that love to our brother is a fruit of the fpirit as well as love to God. We have an enumeration of the feveral fruits of the fpirit in the Epiftle to the Galatians, and, love is fet in the front of them all. Now if you confider what fruits of the flesh those of the fpirit do ftand in oppofition to, you will find your • 2 Tim. 1. 7. Gal. vi. 25: |
