SERMON XXVIII.
Christian Morality, viz. a Lovely Carriage, &c.
Philip. iv. 8.—Whatsoever things are lovely——think on these things.
Οσα προσφιλη, &c.
Man was a lovely creature in his first formation and innocence, however he has been debased and dishonoured by the fall. Now there is nothing in all the religion of Christ but what tends to restore man to the excellencies of his original state, or to exalt him above them, and to render him all over amiable. To this end truth and sincerity are recommended to him in the gospel, with a venerable decency in all his conduct. To this end he is required to practise justice to his neighbour, and to keep himself pure and chaste from all the vices of sensuality. Thus far we have proceeded in improving the text. And the man who has attained thus far, has many lovely qualities belonging to him, such as lay a foundation for a good report, and deserve our praises.
Yet there are many things in human conversation, which do not directly fall under the commands of truth and gravity, justice and purity: These the apostle recommends to the Philippians, under the following characters, viz. things that are lovely, that are of good report, deeds of virtue, and worthy of praise.
The things that are lovely, are such as look well among men, and have a good appearance in the eyes of the world: Those things that gain the love of our fellow-creatures: Not merely such religious practices, as make us beloved by fellow-christians, but such a temper and conduct as commands the esteem and respect even of the ungodly, and those that profess not strict religion. This ought to be the carriage of the saints of the Most High, they should practise those things that are grateful and pleasing to human nature, so far as innocence allows: those things that may recommend our conversation to our neighbours, and procure the love of all men. Is it not a very desirable thing to have it said of any particular christian, all that know him love him; he hath no enemies but those that are unacquainted with him, unless it be such as hate him upon the same ground as the devil doth, and that is because of his piety and goodness? But to explain this more fully, and impress it with more power upon every one of our consciences, I will descend to particular instances of a lovely carriage. And here I shall mention but these few, viz. prudence, moderation, humility, meekness, patience, and love.
I. Prudence is a lovely quality. This teaches us to speak every word, and perform every action of life at a proper time, in the proper place, and toward the proper person. It is prudence that distinguishes our various behaviour toward our fellow-creatures, according to their different ranks and degrees among mankind, or the different relations in which we stand to them. It is a very desirable excellency to know when it is proper to speak, and when it is best to keep silence; at what seasons, and in what company we should awaken our zeal, and exert our active powers; or when we should hide ourselves, or put a bridle upon our lips, and sit still, and hear.
Prudence is of infinite use in all the affairs of life and religion: Nor is there any hour of the day, nor any place wherein we spend that hour, whether alone or in public, but gives occasion for some exercise of this virtue. It does not belong to human nature to possess this in perfection: Perfect prudence dwells with God alone, God the most lovely of beings: He that comes nearest to it, is the wisest of men, and he gains the love and high esteem of all that are near him; for his conduct in life is of singular advantage to those that converse with him, as well as to himself. This man is consulted by his friends as an earthly oracle, and by his advice he saves many from ruin. Thus he wins and wears their honour and their love.
There are many good qualities both of the natural and moral kind that must meet together, to make up a prudent man. He must be furnished with a memory of things past, and with just and proper observations made upon them, that he may know how to improve every opportunity and occurrence of life to the best purposes when the same occasions return. There is no prudence without some degrees of experience. But experience alone is not sufficient; he should have also a wide extent of soul, and be able to take a large and comprehensive survey of the concurrent circumstances of things present: And he must be blessed with a solid judgment, that by putting many things at once into the balance, he may find which outweighs the rest, and determine his present conduct thereby. He must have a degree of sagacity, to foresee future events, according to the usual consequences of things in this mortal state. The prudent man foresees the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished; Prov. xxii. 3. that is, They suffer for their want of prudence and foresight. And besides all these, he should be a man of firm and steady resolution to go through difficulties, and to put in practice what his judgment has determined.
Rash and ungoverned passions are great enemies of this virtue. Both these push a man onward to a hasty and irregular conduct. His lips multiply folly, and his hands practise it through the impatience of his spirit. His unguarded talk, and precipitant actions plunge himself into snares, and sometimes involve his acquaintance in the same mischief.
There are other characters also inconsistent with prudence, such as an unthinking and an unsteady temper. The thoughtless person lives at a venture, walks always at random, and seems to aim at nothing. He enjoys the present hour indeed, talking and acting according to the mere appearances of things. He is content with a slight sudden view of any thing without recollection or forethought; and in a most literal sense takes no thought for the morrow. The fickle and inconstant man, he may aim at something indeed, and have honest designs in his head, but is ever changing the means to attain them, and pursues nothing with that steadiness that prudence requires, or that the necessity of human affairs demands of every man that would be wise and happy. Such men may be pitied as weak and silly, but they are seldom esteemed, or much beloved in the world, while prudence is so much wanting.
There is no necessity that I should cite special parts of the word of God, to encourage us to seek this most amiable quality, since the recommendations of true wisdom, both human and divine, are scattered up and down through all the sacred writings: And the Spirit of God has given us one or two books on purpose to teach us prudence; these are Ecclesiastes and the Proverbs of Solomon. Nor can I propose any better direction to gain universal wisdom, that to read the book of Proverbs often with diligence and humble prayer.
II. Moderation is another lovely quality. It teaches us to maintain a medium between those wild extremes, into which human nature is ready to run upon every occasion.
When a warm and imprudent talker adorns some common character with excessive praises, and carries it up to the stars; the moderate man puts in a cautious word, and thinks it is sufficient to raise it half so high. Or when he hears a vast and unreasonable load of accusation and infamy thrown upon some lesser mistakes in life, the moderate man puts in a soft word of excuse, lightens the burden of reproach, and relieves the good name of the sufferer from being pressed to death. When he sees oppression and violence practised among his neighbours, the justice of his soul directs him to take the part of the injured person, and his own moderation and goodness inclines him to do it in such a manner, as may calm and suppress the resentment of the oppressed, and soften and melt the oppressor into compliance with the rules of justice. Thus he reconciles them both, without giving offence to either.
When any sects of christians seem to be carried away with the furious torrent of some prevailing notions, or some unnecessary practices, some special superstition, or a contentious spirit, the moderate man tries to shew how much of truth and goodness may be found amongst each party, where all agree to hold Christ Jesus the head; though he dares not renounce a grain of truth or necessary duty, for the sake of peace, and he would contend earnestly, where providence calls him, for the essential articles of faith which were once delivered to the saints; for he knows the wisdom that is from above is first pure, and then peaceable; James iii. 17. Yet he takes this occasion to prove that some truths or some practices, are articles of less importance to the christian life; that they are not worthy of such unchristian quarrels; and thus he attempts, as far as possible, to reconcile the angry disputers. Sometimes he has the happiness to shew them both that they fight in the dark; he explains their opinions and their contests, and puts the best sense upon both of them: And when he hath brought them into the light, he makes it appear that they are friends and brethren; and that religion and the gospel are safe on both sides, if they would dwell together without fighting, but that it is sorely endangered by their battles. So St. Paul dealt with the Jewish and gentile christians, and assured them that they both belonged to the kingdom of God, and the church of Christ, though they quarrelled about flesh, and herbs, and holy-days. How lovely, how glorious, how desirable is such a character as this!
I confess when a party-spirit runs high among the different sects of religion, or the different divisions of mankind, this most amiable virtue is called by the scandalous names of indifferency, and lukewarmness, and trimming; and it sustains a world of reproaches from both the quarrelling parties. Moderation, though it is the blessed principle, which awakens and assists men to become peace-makers, yet at the same time when it enters into the battle to divide the contenders, it receives an unkind stroke from either side. This the reconciler expects, and he bears it for the sake of union and love.
The moderate man in cases of private property or interest, does not insist upon the utmost of his own right with a stiff and unyielding obstinacy, but abates of his just pretensions for the sake of peace; and what he practises himself, he persuades others to practise in the like contests. This is that moderation and gentleness, which the great apostle recommends a few verses before my text. Phil. iv. 5. Let your moderation be known unto all men. And our blessed Lord himself gives the moderate man this illustrious encomium, blessed are the meek, who submit rather than quarrel, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God; Mat. v. 5-9. Happy souls whom the God of truth, and the God of peace, acknowledges for his children, and to whom he promises a large inheritance!
And let it be observed also, that whatsoever hard usage the sons of peace may meet with, while the ferment of parties is hottest, and the storm is high, yet when the clamour and rage are sunk and calm, when the party-fury hath spent itself, and is grown cool enough to suffer men to bethink themselves, and to see all things in their true colours, then the man of moderation stands approved of men as well as of God; the divine virtue appears in its own lovely form, and receives a becoming share of honour.
III. Humility is a lovely virtue. It is beautiful and becoming for a man to divest himself of all affected grandeur, and not to exalt his head above his neighbour. O that we were all clothed with humility! It is an ornament that becomes sinners well. Let us put it on with our daily raiment, and strive to vie with each other which shall practise this grace in the greatest perfection.
How unlovely a carriage is it to boast ourselves of any superior quality we possess, or to assume lofty airs, because we have more money than our neighbours! To aggrandize ourselves in our own esteem, in our own language, in our behaviour, because we fancy ourselves to be better dressed, or better fed than our fellow-creatures! And if we have a little honour put upon us by the providence of God, it is a criminal vanity for us to grow haughty and insolent upon that account. I am in pain whensoever I hear a man treat his servant as he does his dog: as though a poor man were not made of the same clay, nor born of the same ancient race as his master: As though Adam, whose name is dust, was not our common father, or a lord had not the same original as other men.
Nay, the nobler possessions of the mind, ingenuity and learning, and even grace itself, are no sufficient ground for pride. It is a comely thing to see a man exalted by many divine gifts, and yet abasing himself. It is a lovely sight to behold a person well adorned with virtue and merit, and glorified in the mouths of all men, and yet concealing himself: To see a man of shining worth drawing, as it were, a curtain before himself, that the world might not see him, while the world do what they can to do him justice, and draw aside the veil to make his merit visible. Not that a man of worth is always bound to practise concealment; this would be to rob mankind of the blessing God has designed for them, and to wrap up his talents, in the unprofitable napkin. But there are occasions wherein a worthy and illustrious person may be equally useful to the world, and yet withdraw himself from public applause. This is the hour to make his humility appear.
How graceful and engaging is it in persons of title and quality to stoop to those that are of a mean degree, to converse freely at proper seasons with those that are poor and despicable in the world, to give them leave to offer their humble requests, or sometimes to debate a point of importance with them: Not all the dignity of their raiment can render them half so honourable as this condescension does; for nothing makes them so much like God. The High and Holy One, who inhabits eternity, stoops down from heaven to visit the afflicted, and to dwell with the poor. And surely, when we set ourselves before the divine Majesty, we are meaner and more contemptible in his eyes, than it is possible for any fellow-creature to be in ours; he humbles himself to behold princes.
It must be allowed indeed, that where God and the world have placed any person in a superior station, and given him a sensible advancement above his fellow-creatures, he is not bound to renounce the honours that are his due, nor to act beneath the dignity of his character and state. This would be to confound all the beautiful order of things in the natural, civil, and religious life. But there are cases and seasons that often occur, when great degrees of humility may be practised without danger of sinking one’s own character, or doing a dishonour to our station in the world. There is an art of maintaining state with an air of modesty, nor is there any need to put on haughty and scornful airs, in order to secure the honours of a tribunal, or the highest offices of magistracy. I have known a man who acted in an exalted station with so much condescension and candour, that all men agreed to love and honour him so far, that it was hard to say, whether he was most honoured, or most beloved.
How amiable a behaviour is it in younger persons, when respect is paid to age, and the honour is given to the hoary head that nature and scripture join to require; Lev. xix. 32. “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man: and fear thy God: I am the Lord. Though the character of the aged person, in respect of riches, quality, and learning, may be much inferior, yet the wisdom that is naturally supposed to be derived from long experience, lays a foundation for this superior honour. And I look upon it as a part of the shame and just reproach of our day, that there is such a licentious insolence assumed by youth to treat their elders with contempt. But so much the more lovely is the carriage of those who, in spite of evil custom, treat old age with reverence, and abhor the pert and petulant indignities that some of their companions cast upon the writings and counsels of their ancestors.”
And here I beg leave also humbly to admonish my fathers, that they practise the lovely grace of condescension, when they converse with those that are young. I entreat them to permit a youth of an inquisitive genius, to propose an argument for some farther improvement of knowledge, or to raise an objection against an established doctrine, and not to answer him with an imperious frown, or with the reproaches of heresy or impertinence. I beseech them to indulge the rising generation in some degrees of freedom of sentiment, and to offer some demonstration for their own opinions, besides their authority, and the multitude of their years. The apostle Peter’s advice may be addressed to persons of all ages and characters; 1 Pet. v. 5. Ye younger, submit yourselves to the elder: Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. If we have more knowledge than others, how lovely is our conduct, when we teach and instruct them, not like sovereigns of their faith, and dictators to their understanding, but in a way of friendly conversation, and mutual improvement? If any thing occurs to be debated, it is a sign of modesty to yield to the force of argument, and not to resolve before-hand to be infallible and obstinate, as though we were exempted from the common frailty of human nature, and free from all possibility of mistake. While we are arguing with others, in order to convince them, how graceful a thing it is, when we have the power of the argument on our own side, to keep ourselves from insult and triumph! how engaging a behaviour toward our opponent, when we seem to part as though we were equal in the debate, while it is evident to all the company, that the truth lies wholly on our side!
Yet I will own there are seasons, when the obstinate and the assuming disputant should be made to feel the force of an argument, by displaying it in its victorious and triumphant colours: But this is seldom to be practised, so as to insult the opposite party, except in cases where they have shewn a haughty and insufferable insolence. Some persons perhaps can hardly be taught humility without being severely humbled; and yet where there is need of this chastisement, I had rather any other hand should be employed in it than mine.
IV. Meekness is another of the lovely graces. This is contrary to wrath and malice, and all the angry passions, as humility stands in opposition to pride. As there are generally some secret workings of pride in the heart, when a man gives indulgence to his wrathful passions; so where a person has thoroughly learned the practice of humility, the grace of meekness is easily attained, and indeed it seems to be a necessary consequent of it.
How lovely is the character of a man, who can hear himself censured and reviled, without reviling again! Who can sustain repeated affronts, without kindling into flame and fury. Who has learned to bear injuries from his fellow-creatures, and yet withhold himself from meditating revenge! He can sit and hear a strong opposition made to his sentiments, without conceiving an affront: He can bear to be contradicted without resenting: And as he never loves to give offence to any man, so neither is he presently offended. It is only the more peevish and feeble pieces of human nature, that are ready to take offence at trifles, and many times they make their own foolish jealousies a sufficient ground for their indignation.
We cannot expect to pass through the world, and find every thing peaceful and pleasant in it. All men will not be of our mind, nor agree to promote our interest. There are savages in this wilderness, which lies in our way to the heavenly Canaan; and we must sometimes hear them roar against us. Divine courage will enable us to walk onward without fear, and meekness will teach us to pass by without resenting. We should learn to feel many a spark of angry fire falling upon us, from the tongues of others, and yet our hearts should not be like tinder ready to catch the flame, and to return the blaze. The meek christian, at such a season, possesses his soul in patience, as good David did, when Shimei sent his malice and his curses after him: The saint at that time was in an humble temper, and said, Let Shimei curse. We should not render evil for evil, but according to the sacred direction of scripture, endeavour to overcome evil with good; Rom. xii. 21.
Anger is not utterly forbidden to the christian; yet happy is he that has the least occasion for it. In Eph. iv. 26. the apostle gives this rule: Be ye angry, and sin not. As if he would have said, when the affairs of life seem to require a just resentment and anger, look upon it as a dangerous moment, and watch against a sinful excess. Let us never give a wild loose to our wrath, but always hold the reins of government with a strong hand, lest it break out into forbidden mischief. When we give ourselves leave to be offended, let the anger appear to be directed against the sin of the offender, if possible, more than against his person.
Let our anger be well-timed, both as to the season and the length of it. The seasons of it should be very uncommon; a christian should seldom awaken his anger, and the continuance of it must be very short. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, nor give place to the devil; Eph. iv. 26, 27. The long sullen resentment which is practised by some persons, carried on from day to day with a gloomy silence, and now and then venting itself in a spiteful word, or a sly reproach, is by no means becoming the name and spirit of a christian. This is giving place to the devil, and making room for him to lodge in our hearts. This is as much contrary to meekness, as a short and sudden fury is, and perhaps carries in it a guilt more aggravated in the sight of God.
Yet neither should our anger indulge itself in loud and noisy practises, nor fill the house with a brawling sound. It is better to dwell in a corner of the house-top, than to cohabit in a palace with such a brawling companion of life; Prov. xxi. 9. And the wise man has repeated it again in the xxv. chapter, as a matter worthy of a double notice. St. Paul forbids this practice to the Ephesians: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; Eph. iv. 31.
Nor should our resentments carry us to any cruel practices. The word of God spends its curses upon such sort of anger; Gen. xlix. 7. Cursed be the wrath of Simeon, for it was fierce, and the anger of Levi, for it was cruel. You know what mischiefs it hurried them into, even to foul treachery and murder, and the destruction of a whole country. The grace of meekness is an enemy to all these practices, and a happy preservative from them.
V. Patience is a lovely virtue. I am not now speaking of that religious exercise of it, which consists in a humble submission to the providences of God, without repining at his hand, or sending up our murmurs against heaven; but a patient conduct to our fellow-creatures, is the thing which I chiefly design here to recommend.
When some persons stand in need of any of the necessaries or conveniences of life, they must be supplied first, they can brook no delay; let all the world stand by waiting till they are served; and their anger is quickly kindled if their affairs are not dispatched in a moment. They make no allowances for the necessities or conveniences of others; nor for the various accidents that attend human life, which may stop the speed of the most diligent servant, and constrain him unwillingly to delay his message or his work. But the patient christian considers all things; desires but his share of the attendance of his fellow-creatures, and waits without clamour till the proper season. He makes wise and kind allowances for every incident of life that may give just occasion to a delay; and gains the love of all that are about him by his most engaging carriage.
How lovely is it to see a teacher waiting upon those that are slow of understanding, and taking due time and pains to make the learner conceive what he means, without upbraiding him with his weakness, or reproaching him with the names of stupid and senseless? This is to imitate God, the God of long suffering and patience, Who giveth wisdom to all that ask, and upbraideth not; James i. 5. The patient man attends and waits upon those that are slow of speech, and hears an argument fully proposed before he makes his reply. This is an honourable and lovely character; But he that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him; Prov. xviii. 13. Perhaps he is utterly mistaken in the objection which his friend was going to make, then he is justly put to the blush for his folly and impatience.
The virtue of patience teaches us to be calm and easy toward our fellow-creatures, while we sustain sharp and continued afflictions from the hand of God. It is the unhappy conduct of some christians, that when the great God puts them under any sore trial or chastisement, they are angry with all their friends around them, and scatter abroad their discontents in the family, and many times make them fall heaviest upon their most intimate friends. If one were to search this matter to the bottom, we should find the spring of it is an impatience at the sovereign hand of God; but because their christianity forbids them to vent their uneasiness at heaven, they divert the stream of their resentment, and make their fellow-creatures feel it: So a piece of unripe fruit pressed with a heavy weight from above, scatters its sour juice on every thing that stands near it, and gives a just emblem of the impatient christian.
But what a lovely sight is it to behold a person burdened with many sorrows, and perhaps his flesh upon him has pain and anguish, while his soul mourns within him; yet his passions are calm; he possesses his spirit in patience, he takes kindly all the relief that his friends attempt to afford him, nor does he give them any grief or uneasiness but what they feel through the force of mere sympathy and compassion? Thus, even in the midst of calamities, he knits the hearts of his friends faster to himself, and lays greater obligations upon their love by so lovely and divine a conduct under the weight of his heavy sorrows.
VI. Love to mankind in the various branches of it, is a most lovely quality, and well becomes a christian.
Should I speak of love in the heart, which ever thinks the best concerning others, and wishes and seeks their welfare and happiness: Should I speak of it as it works on the tongue, and appears in all friendly language, whether the object be present or afar off: Should I describe it as it discovers itself in the hand of assistance and bounty, to relieve the poor and helpless: Each of these would yield sufficient matter for a whole discourse; and this grace would appear lovely in all its forms. It is a pain to my thoughts to omit it here: Methinks I can hardly tell how to let it go without large encomiums: Nor could I prevail with myself to pass it over now with so brief a mention, if I did not design to employ an hour or two on this subject hereafter.
[The Second Part of this Sermon.]
I proceed to shew how the very light of nature recommends every agreeable and obliging character; every lovely quality that is found among mankind; and reason exhorts us to the acquirement and practice of it.
I. Our own interest directs us to it. It is a natural good quality, and a most useful thing to desire the love of others, to seek the favour of our fellow-creatures. It is a very lawful ambition to covet the good-will of those with whom we converse; and to pursue such practices as may procure us a place in their good opinion and friendship. We who are born for society, must naturally desire to stand well with mankind; and that our neighbours should wish our welfare, should treat us with decency, and civility, and love; should assist our interest, and do us good when we stand in need of them: And if so, then the rule of justice obliges us to practise the same towards them, which we desire they should practise towards us. The more we exercise of humility, meekness, patience, charity, and good-will towards our neighbours, the more reason have we to expect the same returns of a lovely carriage from them. And it is no small advantage in life, for a person to be much beloved. When he falls under sudden distresses, every man is ready to relieve him, when he meets with perplexing difficulties he has the ready assistance of multitudes at his command, because he hath many lovers.
II. It is a most generous character, and the sign of a great and good soul, to delight to please those with whom we converse. It is a lovely sight to behold a person solicitous to make all around about him easy and happy. Such amiable souls as these it is a frequent practice, and a pleasure to them, to contradict, their own natural inclinations, in order to serve the desires, or the interest of their friends. Happy temper! that finds so much satisfaction in this self-denial, that the very virtue loses its name, and it becomes but another sort of self-pleasing. Such persons are in pain, when they find their friends hard to be pleased, and they suffer sometimes too much uneasiness in themselves, because of the perverse humours of those they converse with. This uneasiness indeed may arise to a criminal excess, but the spring of it has something amiable. I could wish every soul of us would learn a lovely carriage. For,
III. It makes us resemble God himself. And yet there are some that will be selfish and churlish, that will practise the furious or the peevish passions, through some reigning principle of pride, or covetousness, impatience, or envy. There are some that delight in vexing their fellow-creatures, and in giving them torment and pain. Part of these qualities make us a-kin to brutes of the worser kind, when we take care of none but self, and are regardless of neighbour’s welfare. “If self be healthy and rich, easy and honoured, it is no matter though the rest of the world sustain sickness, and poverty, and scandal.” Others of these unlovely characters approach nearer to the spirit of the devil, who takes delight in torturing his fellow-creatures, and doing what mischief he can amongst men.
But it is a God-like temper to take a sweet satisfaction in diffusing our goodness, and in pleasing and in serving all that are near us. Let us then be followers of God as dear children; Eph. v. i. He is the original beauty, he is the loveliest and the best of beings. To be good, and to do good, is a divine perfection, and let us remember it is a perfection that may be imitated too. He causes his sun to rise, and his rain to fall on the just and on the unjust, and fills the hearts even of the evil as well as the good with food and gladness, when he gives them fruitful seasons; Acts xiv. 17. Let us not dare then to be rough and quarrelsome, and sullen, and ill-natured, while we profess to be his offspring. Let there be something lovely in our whole temper and conduct, while we pretend to be imitators of the God of love. And does the light of nature furnish us with all these motives for a lovely carriage? then surely the light of scripture enforces them all. The gospel obliges christians to this practice by much stronger arguments, and it lays on us more substantial obligations.
I. The blessed and ever glorious Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, give us in the gospel a divine example of this practice. Has God, the great and glorious God, manifested a lovely conduct in his works of creation, and his ways of providence; how much more glorious a pattern has he set us in the transactions of his redeeming love! What condescension hath he here shewn! What gentleness! what patience and forbearance! what forgiveness! what infinite and endless discoveries of grace has he made in his gospel! God the Father reconciling the world to himself by Jesus Christ, has a peculiar sweetness of aspect and most amiable appearance. Here every christian beholds him such as he revealed himself to Moses, when he caused his glory to pass before him; Ex. xxxiv. 6. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, &c. The Son of God stooping down to take flesh and blood upon him, made the most amiable figure in the universe. Even in his glorious and triumphant state in heaven, he is represented by a lamb that was slain, an emblem of meekness and innocence. And if ever the blessed Spirit appeared in the shape of any living creature, it was in the form of a dove, a lovely and gentle animal. Thus the blessed Trinity conspire to teach us this amiable and divine carriage.
II. The Son of God incarnate has brought a lovely pattern of this practice nearer to us in his whole deportment on earth. I cannot part with the most graceful example of our Lord Jesus Christ with a slight notice. He came into this world partly with a design to become our pattern in every virtue, and in every grace. Let us turn our eyes towards him in all the circumstances and behaviours of life, and he will ever appear, as he is in himself, the chiefest of ten thousands, and altogether lovely. Let us take a survey of him under those several particulars, in which an amiable carriage has been described.
Is prudence a lovely virtue? How perfectly wise was the conduct of our Lord! How carefully did he attend to the circumstances of time and place, while he dwelt among mankind! How happily did he suit his conversation to his company! How wisely did he derive his divine discourses from the daily occurrences of life! How admirably did he distribute his benefits according to the various necessities of men! So that the unprejudiced world pronounced concerning him, He has done all things well. Shall we be rash and foolish, fickle and imprudent, and live at random in our words and our works, when we have so divine a pattern of prudence before us in the history of the gospel?
Is moderation another lovely character, and a peace-maker an amiable title? Such was our blessed Lord, and such should his followers be. How glorious a sight is it to behold the Son of God coming down from heaven to be a mediator betwixt his offended Father and his offending creatures! to reconcile heaven and earth together, and rather than fail in this attempt, he gladly exposed himself to shame and death, and made a cement of everlasting friendship betwixt God and man with his own blood. Shall we, who are reconciled by such amazing transactions, quarrel with each other for trifles, and form ourselves into parties for rage, and strife, and hatred, and yet profess the name of the great reconciler! Are we not commanded to follow peace with all men, as far as possible, with the security of our holiness and peace with God? And how can we otherwise hope to be the subjects and favourites of the Prince of peace?
Is humility another part of an amiable character? Who was ever humble as the Son of God? The brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person, who emptied himself, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and humbled himself yet lower, even to the death of the cross, and to the dust of the grave; Phil. ii. 6-9. Therefore the Father loved him, and the Father exalted him. This is the man, the God-man, who calls us to the practice of this virtue; Learn of me, says he, for I am meek and lowly, and ye shall find rest for your souls; Mat. xi. 29. What folly and madness is it for dust and ashes to be proud, when God’s own Son was humble? And he gives us a noble instance to assure us that humility is a lovely quality: When the rich young man in the gospel came and kneeled before him to ask his advice, Jesus looked upon him and loved him; and would have left it upon record in his word, that there was something lovely in a modest and humble carriage, even where the saving grace of God was wanting: Mark x. 21.
Meekness and patience are the next things I mentioned, that go to make up the character of a lovely person. But who was meek as the Son of God is? What affronts did he endure even while he was inviting sinners in the most affecting language to their own eternal happiness? What shameful mockery did he sustain? What loads of malicious and infamous blasphemy? But when he was reviled, he reviled not again; 1 Pet. ii. 23. as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so opened he not his mouth; Is. liii. 7. O when shall we learn to imitate our blessed Lord, and forbear and forgive as he did.
How was his patience tried to the utmost? And that not only in the fruitless and thankless labours of his life among a cruel and insolent race of men, but in the approaches of his bloody death. When the blessed Redeemer lay agonizing in the garden, or hung bleeding on the cross, to see him oppressed with the weight of the wrath of God due to our sins, conflicting with the rage of devils, forsaken by his friends, and surrounded with the profane insults of barbarous men: What a mournful and moving spectacle! And yet there is something divinely amiable in it, to behold him all over calm and patient, and meditating immortal and forgiving love. What unworthy followers are we of the blessed Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, when upon every occasion we take fire, and break out into an impatient fury?
But if I should enter upon the last instance of a lovely character, and begin the mention of love, how far beyond all example, and beyond all description, is the love of our Lord Jesus! How tender were the compassions of his heart! How extensive the benevolence of his soul! What melting language of love dropped from his lips hourly! And how were his mortal and immortal powers employed in procuring infinite blessings for sinful men, in distributing them amongst the rebellious! O that we could learn to think, and speak, and act like our blessed Saviour whose life and whose death was a rich and various scene of divine and human love!
III. I might draw further arguments from the examples, and from the writings of the apostles and holy men in the primitive days of christianity; when they were all of one heart and one soul, and did every thing to please and serve their fellow-christians. I would mention the epistles of St. John; what a divine spirit of love breathes in them! But next to our Lord Jesus, I should rather turn your eyes and thoughts to the temper and conduct of St. Paul, the greatest of the apostles, and the nearest to Christ. How did he please all men, not seeking his own profit, but their salvation, even as Christ pleased not himself? And he leaves us his own example in subordination to his Lord, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ; Rom. xv. 1-3. and give none offence, neither to Jew nor Gentile; 1 Cor. x. 32. Who is there sorrowful among you, and I sympathize not? Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I do not share in the pain? 2 Cor. xi. 29. I bear and endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may be saved; 2 Tim. ii. 10. How lovely was his behaviour in all respects? His epistles are full of it, it shines through every page: His character demands a volume to describe it, all worthy of our imitation and our wonder.
But I must hasten to the last motive derived from christianity, and that is the nature and design of the gospel itself. It is the most lovely of all religions. Wisdom, humility, peace, patience, meekness, moderation, and love, run through every part of the covenant of grace, like so many bright and beautiful colours joined together in the rainbow, that stretches its glory round the lower sky, and seals an ancient and everlasting peace between earth and heaven.
There is therefore the most sovereign and constraining obligation laid upon us christians, to do all things that are lovely, that we may make our holy religion appear like itself, and cause christianity to be beloved of men. Every christian is in some degree entrusted with the honour of Christ, and with the credit and renown of his gospel. Let us be watchful then to take all opportunities, and use all pious methods to make our hope appear glorious, and set the name of Christ in its own amiable light, and to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.
How dishonourable and shameful a thing is it for a christian to have an unlovely carriage, or to shew any thing in his conduct that is rough and forbidding! What a blemish does it cast upon the gospel which he professes! Let us talk what we will of the sublimer glories of christianity, and profess an acquaintance with the deepest mysteries, yet with all our flaming zeal for the faith, we may become scandals to the gospel, if we abandon the practices of love. The world will judge of our religion by our temper and carriage. We give occasion therefore to the world to upbraid us, What do you more than others? If we, who pretend to be christians, who have professed the most lovely of all religions, are guilty of practices unworthy of the sacred name: When they see our carriage as bad as others, they will be ready to cry out, “What is your beloved more than another beloved?” What are your doctrines better than others, if your practice differs not from others! And are you willing it should be said of you, that you are the occasions of shame and scandal to the name and religion of Christ?
We should do all things that are amiable in the sight of men, that the gospel may have the glory of it: Shall I say, the gospel of Christ deserves it at our hands? If the gospel brings so rich a salvation to us, it is fitting we should bring a great deal of honour to it. How honourable is it to the gospel of Christ, when persons of a rough, crabbed, sour temper, are converted by this gospel, are become christians indeed, and are made all over amiable, and soft, and obliging in their deportments; when they carry it like new creatures, like persons that are changed indeed, that have much of the spirit of love in them, the temper of the gospel, and the temper of heaven! It is this gospel, as I have said before, that turns lions into lambs, and ravens into doves, the most savage creatures into mild and gentle.
While we are thus engaged in the practice of love, we have no need to abandon our zeal for the truth; but we should separate our divine zeal from all our own guilty passions, lest instead of honouring God, we should destroy his children. The servant of the Lord may be bold and stedfast in the defence of the gospel, but he must be gentle towards all men, ready to teach, and patient under injuries. He must not strive like a hero for victory, but when any oppose themselves to the truth, he must instruct them in meekness; 2 Tim. ii. 24. While we are peaceful and harmless, we may be at the same time prudent and wise; our Lord Jesus has joined these two characters; Mat. x. 16. And it is a very lovely inscription for a disciple of Christ to wear in all his public and private conversation, wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Thus we may guard ourselves from the malice of the world, while we attempt to win them by all the sacred methods of humanity and divine goodness.