Of Brotherly Kindn f and Charity. '23 things confeffedly of very little moment, ap- SERM. propriáting the tokens of chriflian commu- IX. pion and marks of efleem to thofe who agree in them. Any one may fee how difagreeable this is to the apoftolical rules which injoin Chriftians to receive thofe who are weak in the faith not to doubtful dfputations; and to that fpirit of ineeknefs and gentlènefs, of bro- therly kindnefs and charity, which the rule of our religion fo warmly recommends. But, befides thefe offices of charity, there are others injoin'd by the natural law of be- nevolence, and which the gofpe! fo far from overlooking, peculiarly enforces; thofe, I mean, which relate to the prefent condition of mankind. The wife and fovereign pro- vidence of God has fo ordered that there is a diverfity in the Rate of men ; fome are in- digent, others in a capacity of relieving ; the rich and the poor meet together, the difcon- folate and the comforter, the diftrefied and him who is able to help him. In all thefe and other cafes of a like nature, reafon and a compaffionate heart will readily fuggeft to a man how he ought to fhow his charity; that it is by .feeding the hungry, . cloathing the naked, v fting the lick, and the prifoner, anal. taking in the flranger. To thefe good works 4 the
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