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ther, as holding forth the image of God, according to the dictates of a nature received from God, a divine nature put into them; but for the particular eviction of this, it will appear by considering the proper, natural, genuine workings of such love, being itself once inwrought. Consider to that purpose,what it would exclude, and-what it would beget. First, What it would exclude.

It would, first, exclude all hard thoughts amongst men concerning one another. Love thinketh no evil; as one of the characters of it is in 1 Cor. 13. 5. Farther than necessity and irrefragable evidence doth impose, it would not take up so much as an ill thought of any one. It is full of candour and ingenuity, and apt to make the best construction of every word and action, and takes every thing in the best sense that is capable of being put upon it. And what a spring of mischief and misery in the world would be shut up, dried up, if that proneness to hard, harsh, and frequently unjust thoughts, were by the workings of such a Spirit of love erased out of the minds and hearts of men!

It would, secondly, exclude every thing of pride and insolence towards others, vying with them, envying of them, which proceeds from pride. Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 1 Cor. 13. 4.

It would, thirdly, exclude selfish designs; and with what tragedies and desolations do they fill the world? Love seeketh not her own things 1 Cor. 13. 5. The exhortation is, Phil. 2. 4. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Indeed it comes from that pride mentioned before, that men think all belongs to them, and if they can grasp ever so much, it is no more than their due: and therefore we have these things so conjoined in the place just mentioned, ver. 3. 4. Each esteeming other better than themselves, and, not seeking his own things, but also the things of others.

Men are so much intent upon seeking their own things, are all for themselves; because every man is apt to esteem himself before all other men; but when we come to esteem others better than ourselves, (I am worthy of nothing, any mean thing is good enough for me ;) then pride and selfihness are both excluded together by love.

It will, fourthly, exclude all aptness to injure another. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, Rom. 13. 10. Love so measured, whereby I love my neighbour even as myself, and whence therefore it comes to pass that I would no more hurt him than I would myself, and would no more cheat him than I would myself, no more oppress and crush him than I would myself;

would not this make a happy world, do we think? the fruit of the Spirit is in all righteousness, Eph. 5. 9.

As it would by these means exclude all aptness to offend others; so it would, fifthly, exclude a proneness to receive offence; and so make greatly to the quiet of the world. A good man, one himself full of love and goodness, is very little prone to take offence. As a heathen philosopher said concerning such a one; "A good man neither doth injure, nor is apt to resent an injury." So another discourses largely to shew, that in sapientem non cadit injuria: injury doth not fall, doth not enter and sink (he means) into the mind and soul of a good, a wise and virtuous man. This love excludes a captious disposition, apt to take offence at every thing, and to pick quarrels upon any or upon no occasion. What happy families would there be, what happy neighbours, when such a disposition should be excluded and banished by the over-ruling power of a Spirit of love? there wouldbe no fractions in families, no parties, no maligning of one another; which commonly have their rise from an aptness to snarl at any thing that goes cross. Secondly, What it would beget.

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It would, first, beget mutual trust and confidence among men and christians in one another; which makes not a little unto the common welfare. How sad is the case, when a man still continually converses with them whom he cannot trust, and they cannot trust him! A mutual confidence and trust in one another is fundamental to all society, to the good and prosperity of it. The apostle desires to be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, that have no faith, 2 Thes. 3. 2. probable he means, that have not trustiness, faith in the passive sense; that are unconversable men, such in whom we can place no faith. It is a dreadful thing to live in such a world or age, when a man must perpetually stand upon his guard, be so very cautious in all his converses and words and actions: "I do not know whom to trust, whom to deal with." When this Spirit of love shall have to do more in the world, as men are generally made more sincere and good; so they shall generally be more trusted: jealousy and suspicion and mistrust and misgiving thoughts concerning one another are gone, and they are secure concerning one another; as no more suspecting, that such a man hath an ill design upon me, than I have upon myself.

It would, secondly, produce mutual pity. That would be a good world, when every man resents another's condition even as his own, and weeps with them that weep, as well as rejoices with them that do rejoice, Rom. 12. 15.

It would, thirdly, produce a promptitude to do one another

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good upon all occasions. Such a love, by the Spirit poured forth coming commonly to obtain, will make men dispossed to do good, as opportunity occurs, Gal. 6. 10. As we have opportunity let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the house hold of faith.

It will, fourthly, beget a delight in one another's welfare, a well-pleasedness in the prosperity of others, that all things ge well with them.

It will, fifthly, introduce mutual converse, solace and delight in one another's society. When a man shall see the face of his friend or neighbour as the face of an angel of God; he full of love, and the other full of love; nothing but goodness flowing and reflowing; this will surely make a good time, when the Spirit of God poured forth shall generally influence the spirits of men unto such a temper.

This must needs make a very happy state of things, make the church on earth the very emblem of the church in heaven; as the truth and sincerity of religion and godliness is not another thing from the felicity and blessedness of heaven, in the nature and kind. It is the same church, that hath the primordials of blessedness here, and the perfection of it hereafter. This is one great part of that blessedness, when all are inclined by the operation of that Spirit, whose fruit is in all goodness, to seek and desire and rejoice in the good of one another, as they would do for their own.

We can now easily frame to ourselves the idea of a very happy time; and we ought to believe, that the Spirit of God can work all that we can think, and a great deal more, when his own time and pleasure is. What hath been suggested, must produce tranquillity in every man's own spirit; which will infer common tranquillity. They, that have themselves unquiet, disturbed spirits, are the great troublers of the world. Therefore the devil works all that mischief to mankind, because he is himself a restless creature, going up and down, seeking a rest, but finding none. Men will be at rest in their own spirits, when they come to be under the possession and dominion of such a spirit as we have spoken of.

SERMON XI.*

WE have been evincing the efficacy and sufficiency of an effusion of the blessed Spirit, such as we hope for in the latter times, to produce not only a prosperous state of religion, but also an external peaceful state of the church, in consequence of the other: and this last, not only by removing the causes of general calamities; but by working likewise whatever hath a positive tendency to public good. Upon this head it was proposed to consider, The principles, which the Spirit poured forth is supposed to implant. These have been distinctly considered. And we now proceed to consider,

ii. The effects, which the Spirit works by those implanted principles, tending to the common prosperity of the whole church. They may be reduced to these two, Union, and Order: which will, both of them, promote very happy times for the church of God.

(i.) Union amongst christians is one of those great effects, which are to be wrought by the Spirit poured forth, as a thing wherein such a good state of things, doth very much consist. Here I shall shew,

[i.] That such a union amongst christians will contribute very much to a happy state in the church of God, whenever

• Preached September 18th. 1678. † See page 302.

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it is brought about. It would, first, secure it very much from external violence. Hereby it would be terrible "as an army with banners," would dismay enemies, and such as might design to trouble it. Such union would make way for undisturbed communion. And, secondly, within the church itself there would be free and pleasant commerce. Christians would not be at a loss and difficulty, what way they were to take in order to the stated discharge of incumbent Christian duties. And what in both these respects such a union will contribute unto the common felicity of the Christian church, we are too well taught to apprehend, by our experience and observation of what we have felt or heard of the mischiefs and miseries of the church in both these kinds. How miserably hath Christendom been worried by the Turkish power, upon account of its own divisions? and within the Christian church itself, never hath it suffered more turmoils and trouble and vexation than from intestine division. It hath been a common observation in the former days, that the arian persecution was as cruel and wasting to the sincere christians as ever the paganish persecutions were; and some have reckoned, a great deal more. And we do not need to tell you, what the popish persecutions have been upon the protestants, and what persecutions have been even among protestants of one another. The church hath first been broken into parties, then these several divided parties have fallen to contending, and those contentions have grown to that height, that nothing less than the ruin of each several party hath been designed by another. And you cannot but observe or have known, that differences upon the slightest and most trivial matters have been managed with that heat and animosity, that nothing less could content and satisfy than even to crush unto utter ruin those that have dissented. But where were all that contention, if the contending parties were become all one? and where were all that hatred and enmity and malice, that hath managed these contentions? For what! doth any united thing, entire within itself, hate itself, and seek to ruin itself? I proceed therefore to shew,

[ii.] That it is the work of God's own Spirit to effect such a union; and consequently, that when it shall be generally pour ed forth, such a union must needs generally obtain. the matter will be very clear from sundry Scripture-considerations: as first,

And

We find in Scripture this matter mystically and allegorically represented; that is, that by the anointing of this Spirit, that precious ointment plentifully poured forth upon the head of our great High-priest, and diffusing itself unto all that appertain and belong to his body, that good and pleasant thing

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