t62 Reverence, efpecially the Charge of dying Friends. The Brethren of Jofeph, fearing left he thould remember the Injuries done to him, in feeking his Life, felling him into Egypt, they ufe this Plea ; Gen. so. le, 1 7. Thy Father commanded us before he died, faying, So Pall ye fay unto Jofeph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the Trefpafr of thy Bre- thren, and their Sin ; for they did thee Evil : And now we pray thee, forgive the Trefpaf of the Servants of the God of thy Father. We count it apiece of Natural Honefty to fulfil the Will of the Dead. When Chrift took his leave of the Difciples, this was the Charge that he left upon them. Therefore when thy Heart beginneth to be exul- cerated, confider, What Love do I bear Chrift, fince I do not refpe& his laft Com- mandment ? Again, as it was Chrift's la fl Commandment, fo it was his new Command- ment. John 13.34. A new Commandment I give unto you, That you love ove another ; as I have loved you, that ye alfo love one another. It was his folemn Charge, A New Com- mandment ! How New ? fince it was a; old as the Moral Law, or Law of Nature ? New, becaufe Excellent, as a New Song ; or new, becaufe folemnly and exprefly re- newed by him, and commended to their Care ; as new Things, and new Laws, are much efteemed and prized; Chrift would have this Commandment always new and frefh : or new, becaufe enforced by a New Argument ; Al I have loved you, fo Amid ye love one another. When we fee how much Chrift bath loved us, even to the Death of the Crofs, we may learn to love with a new kind of Love ; Experti amorem mount tam novum b inauditum : This was a new kind of Love indeed, to enkindle Love in our Souls. Chrift gave us fuck a new kind of Love, as was never leen nor heard of Chrift came from Heaven, to propound us a Patern of Charity : as to repair and pre- ferve the Notions of the Godhead by the greatnefs of his Sufferings; fo to fhew us a Patern of Charity, and to elevate Duty between Man and Man. Ephef. 5.2. Walk in Love, as Chrift alfo bath loved us, and path given himfeif for us, an Of ring and a Sa- crifice to God of a fweet fneelling favour. In Chrifi's Example, we fee the higheft Pa- tern of Love ; John is. 9. As the Father bath loved me, fo have I loved you. His Fa- ther loved him with an Infinite Love, yet parted with him for the Salvation of Men; and Chrift parted with himfelf, and all, to raife pur Love to God and Men the higher. But I digrefs. 3. In his Prayers, that which he reinforced again and again, is Unity and Love. When he was about to die, he forefaw the Divifions of the Church ; and that Satan would, by all means, endeavour to Cow Strife : corrupt Nature putteth us on Dif- cords. He left forge Apoftles, others Believers, but all Men ; wherefore he prays for the Apoftles, Let them be One ; for Believers, Let them be One. Chrift, that left Uni- ty as a Charge in his laft Sermons, he would leave it as a Legacy in his laft Prayers. But why was Chrift fo earneft in his Prayers ? (r.) Becaufe it is fuch an Excellent Bleffing. Chrift would not have been fo ear- neft for it, if it had not been fo excellent. I would not digrefs into a commendation of Concord and Love; Pax ab omnibus laudatur, à paucis fervatur; all commend ir, tho few obferve it ; yet a little will not be unneceffary. This is the Strength and Safety of the Church: Col. 3. 54. .And above all things put on Charity, which is .0drr7@sµe, zits zmTuóvsL -', the Bond of Perfebinefs, or a perte& Bond, the Cement of the Church. TheChurch is but one Temple, where Stonesfquared by Grace, are cemen- ted with Love, and inhabited by the fame Spirit; this keepeth them fait in the Building. This is the Beauty and Safety of the Church, the joining that cunneth through all the Equated Stones. As the Health of the outward Body, dependeth on the Symetry and Proportion of the Members, and the Harmony and DiCpofition of all the Parts; fo doth the Welfare of the Church upon the Bond of Love. Next to Truth, there is not a greater Bleflrng ; and Chrift prayeth for the Apoftles, that they might be kept in the Truth for this End, that they might be one in Love. And as nothing is more profitable to the Church, fo nothing is more acceptable to God ; it pleafeth God exceedingly; to fee all that call him Father, to love as Brethren. Certainly there is not a greater Grief to his Spirit, than to fee us divided in Opinion and Affeaion, in our Prayers and Supplications. Certainly, there is much in Concord in praying, when all God's Children do befiege Heaven with uniform and joint Supplications. Things flick in the Birth, becaufe we are not agreed what to ask. As Reformation fticketh towards Men, becaufe we are not agreed what to hold forth to the World ; fo it fticketh as to God, becaufe we are not agreed what to ask. When the Ifraelites would have God's Help, it is faid, They came all as one Man to ask his Counfel. Judges 20. I. Then all the Children of Ifrael went out, and the Congregation was gathered together SERMONS upon Serm.19;
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