THOUGH I bestow all my Goods to feed the Poor, and tho' I give my Body to be burned, and have not Charity, it pro fiteth me nothing, 1 Cor. xiii. 3. All Things are nothing without the Heart. Our Goods, our Liberty, our Life, and whatever elfe can be taken from us against our Will, are no worthy of Gon. Our Heart only is properly our own; and it is that on which he requires. Our Salvation is not fecur'd by the external Acts Charity, but by Charity (the Love of God) itself, which ought to be the Root from whence all thofe Acts proceed. Lovercan fupply all Defects of Works, but nothing can fupply the Defect of that. Without it we can do no good Thing profitable to our own Souls. This Love of God shed a. broad in the Heart, alone rectifies, regulates, animates, fanctifies, exalts, and perfects every Thing. JESUS, if Thou thy Servant guard, I fhall obey thy Laws, O may I caft the World behind, 201 AN ND now abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, thefe 'three; but the greatest of these is Charity, 1 Cor. xiii. 13. Faith, Hope and Charity are the only inward Gifts which are neceffary for the Church in general, and for every Christian in particular. Faith and Hope are Graces proper to Travellers, which guide and conduct us to Heaven, without entering thereinto Charity, or Love, alone enters in, to fee what fhe has believed by Faith, and to enjoy what he has defired by Hope. Without Charity all Faith is imperfect, all Hope is vain. - Faith is the Foundation of the Chriftian Life, and of good Works; Hope rears the Structure thereof; but Love, or Charity, finishes,.. compleats, and crowns it in a bleffed Eternity. Faith the Foundation fure remains, Faith,Hope, and Love, thou doft bestow, AND ND as Jefus paffed forth from thence, he faw a Man named Matthew, fitting at the Receipt of Cuftom: And he faith unto him, follow me. And he arofe, and followed him, Matt. ix. 9. L The whole Happinefs of a Soul frequently depends on its being immediately obedient to the Voice of God, and following his first Call. What cannot the Word of Chrift, joined with Grace, work on the Heart? God in calling all Sorts of Perfons to Faith and Piety, makes it evident, that he is the Mafter of the Work, and of the Workmen. A Profeffion which is very gainful excites and nourishes Covetoufnefs, and the Management of the publick Money increases the Affection towards earthly Riches; but what Bonds doft thou not break, O my God, when thou defigneft to fhew Mercy? JESUS, we thus obey, Here, in thine own appointed Way, The Way thou hast enjoin'd, Thou wilt therein appear, FOR as much as ye are manifeftly declared to be the Epiftle of Chrift, miniftred by us, written not with Ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in Tables of Stone, but in the fleshly Tables of the Heart, 2 Cor. iii. 3. The Heart of Man is the Paper of God; his Love is that which he writes ; his Spirit is his Finger; and his Grace his Ink. Let us take Care, that our Hearts do not grow hard under the Finger of God, that Fear do not blot out Love, and that the Devil do not engrave therein the Love of Riches, of Pleasure, and of the Pomps and Vanities of the World. Thefe are the only Things which we have of our ownselves; and it is only by Jefus Chrift that we can receive the Impreffions of the Spirit of God, and the Love of His Law in our Hearts. May God write all His Laws deeply in all our Hearts. Referves of unexhausted Grace Are treafur'd up in Thee; For Myriads of the fallen Race, For all Mankind, and me : The flowing Stream continues full, I Take Pleasure in Infirmities, in Reproaches, in Neceffities, in Perfecutions, in Diftreffes for Chrift's fake: for when I am weak, then am I ftrong, 2 Cor. xii. 10. Is he a mere Man, who fpeaks a Language fo unknown to Men? He speaks it on Earth, but he learnt it from Heaven. God knows how to make a Remedy for us, even of our Difeases, to cure the greateft of them all, which is Pride. Nothing but Grace, Prayer, and Humility, can caufe a Man to find Strength in Weakness, and Joy and Pleasure in the Infirmities of the Flesh, and the Infults of the Devil, in the Neceffities of Nature, in the Perfecutions of Men, and in the Diftresses and Affictions which come from God. Lord, grant that the fame Mind, that was in this Great Apoftle of Jefus Chrift, may be in me. Lefs than the leaft, in his own Eyes, Not of his Gifts fo large given, Not of his Flight to Paradife, Or Rapture to the highest Heaven, Doth Paul, the faint, the aged, boaft, Or witness his own perfect Grace, But when he feels his Weakness moft, He glories in his Helplessness. |