' No unregenerate person hath a love to all the saints, for though he seems to love some, yet he loathes others ; he is guilty of sinful partiality, having the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ in respect of persons. They seem to love the rich, and despise the poor, James ii.
376 A CABINET OF JEWEI.S. [ChAP. IL
demn that partial love that was generally among the Jews in his days : James ii. 1-4, ' My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons ; for if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts t Not that the apostle doth simply or abso- lutely prohibit a civil differencing of men in place from others ; for it cannot be denied but that there is a holy and warrantable respect of persons in respect of their age, callings, gifts, graces, and greatness in the world ; but when the rich man's wealth is more regarded than the poor man's godliness, and when men carry it so to the rich as to cast scorn, contempt, disgrace, and discouragement upon the godly poor ; they that respect a rich man that has but a little grace, before a poor man that is rich in grace, are worthy of blame. All true-bom sons love to see the image and picture of their father, though hung in never so poor a frame, and in never so mean a cottage ; so the true-born sons of God, they love to see the image of God, the picture of God, vipon the poorest saints. It is sad to prefer a worldly lustre before heavenly grace, a gold ring before a rich faith, a chain of gold before a chain of grace. Ver. 5, ' Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom f It is a vile thing, saith one of the ancients, to have the faith of Christ in respect of persons. We do not judge of faith by persons, but of per- sons by faith.^ It is the great wisdom of a Christian not to judge of men by their outwards, but by their inwards ; not by their externals, but by their internals ; not by what they are worth for this world, but by what they are worth for that other world. The poorest saints are God's portion, Deut. xxxii. 9 ; they are his pleasant portion, Jer. xii. 10; they are his peculiar treasure, Exod. xix. 5; they axe his jewels, Mai. iii. 17 ; they are the apple of his eye, Zech. ii. 8; they are his glory, Isa. iv. 5 ; they are the crown of his glory and royal diadem, Isa. Ixii. 3 ; and therefore it is a dangerous thing to slight them, to disown them, to look frowningly upon them, or to carry it unworthily towards them. Pompey told his Cornelia, It is no praise to thee to have loved Poraiieiuni Magnwm, Pompey the Great, but if thou lovest Pompeiuin miserum, Pompey the miserable, thou shalt be a pattern for imitation to all posterity. So I say. It is no great matter to love those that are rich and pious, great and gracious, high and holy; but to love the poor saints of God in their lowest and most miserable condition, when they have not a rag to cover them, nor a crust to refresh them, nor a fire to warm them, nor a friend to stand by them, nor a penny to help them, this is praiseworthy, this speaks out much of God, of Christ, of grace within. Romanus the martyr, who was bom of noble parentage, entreated his persecutors that they would not favour him for his nobi- lity ; for it is not, said he, the blood of my ancestors, but my Christian faith, that makes me noble. It is not race nor place, but grace, that makes a man truly noble. Without a peradventure, he that loves one * i\'y» ex j/etwnit fidem, ted ex fide personas. — Tertullian.
Chap. II.] a cabinet of jewels. 377
saint for the image of God that is upon him, he cannot but fall in love with every saint that bears the lovely image of the Father upon him ; he cannot but love a saint in rags as well as a saint in robes ; a saint upon the dunghill as well as a saint upon the throne. Usually, those Christians that have least of the world have most of Christ. Commonly, those Christians that have least of the world have most of heaven in their hearts, houses, and lives. But,
(4.) Fourthly, True love to the saints will extend to those that are most remote in respect of place, as well as to those that are near. They of Macedonia and Achaia made a contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem, Kom. v. 26. The saints of Macedonia and Achaia did freely and cheerfully contribute to the poor saints at Jerusalem, whose faces probably they had never seen. And Gains is commended for his love to strangers, 3 John 5. A gracious man that has an estate, a treasury, an inheritance, he is like a common fountain, that freely gives out to strangers as well as to near neighbours. A great fire will warm those that sit far from it, as well as those that sit near unto it. So sincere love will extend and stretch out itself to those saints that are most re- mote. Gracious souls do dearly love and highly value those saints whose faces they have never seen, nor are like to see in this world, and from whose hands they have not received the least civility ; and all upon the serious reports that they have had of the grace of God that has been sparkling and shining in them, whose habitations are at a great distance from them. A sincere love, an unfeigned love, a hearty love, will be running out towards those that live most remote from us, if we do but understand that God is in them and with them of truth, Rom. xii. 9, 1 Peter, i. 22, 1 John iii. 18. But,