2. Love them notwithstanding some personal injuries done to our- selves. When God forgiveth us talents, shall not we forgive pence to our brother ? Mat. xviii. 24, ' And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents ; ' ver. 28, ' But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants which owed him an hundred pence, and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what thou owest.' A talent was a hundred and eiglity-seven pounds, and sevenpence halfpenny the Roman penny ; ten thousand pounds for a hundred. They cannot deal so disingenuously with us as we do with God. If God will forgive us a thousand injuries, shall not we forgive one ? We are poor dust and ashes ; shall we stand upon our anger, as if it might be justified against our brother, rather than God's anger against us ?
3. Love them notwithstanding particular differences of judgment between us and them ; though they are not of our society, if they will not carry themselves brotherly, we should love them as brethren as long as they have anything of Christ in them. The perverse and harsh deal- ings of others do not dissolve our obligation to them, as to superiors, parents, and masters ; we are to be obedient, not only to the gentle, but to the froward. So to equals, though they disclaim all fellowship with us, yet we should carry it towards them as christians ; a difference of opinion should not breed an alienation of mind. The apostle's rule is, Phil. iii. 16, 17, ' Nevertheless, whereto we have attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing ; ' Rom. xiv. 5-7, ' One man esteemeth onedayabove another ; another man esteemeth every day alike : let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that re- gardeth a day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it : he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for hegiveth God thanks ; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.' We should never differ from any without con- straining evidence.
4. Love them notwithstanding the dissrraces and troubles that befall
VeR. 15.] SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN III. 123
tliem; the primitive christians owned one another going to the fires, though thereby they incurred present danger to themselves, and were made companions of them that were so used, Heb. x. 33.
SERMON XXL
Whosoever Jiateth his hrofher is a murderer ; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. — 1 John ill. 15.
The apostle had said, ' He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.' Now he goeth on to another degree, ' He that hateth his brother is a murderer.' It is less not to love than to hate ; he that loveth not wisheth neither good nor evil to his brother; he that hateth intendeth mischief. Selfishness and want of love will in time produce great mischiefs, as it tendeth to ambition and covetousness, and thence to cruelty against all that stand in the way of their desires ; but hatred doth soon commence mischief. Therefore surely if he that loveth not his brother ' abideth in death,' then he that hateth his brother ' hath not eternal life abiding in him ; ' the subject more, the predicate less. Again, this clause is added lest any should say, I do not slay my brothei*, as Cain did, yet he may be a murderer before God ; he hath killed his brother in his heart, though not with his hand ; he desireth his death, or doth not take it very grievously if he die : ' Whosoever hateth his brother,' &c.
In the words there are three things — (1.) A sin, 'Hating our brother;' (2.) The heinousness of that sin, 'Is a murderer ; ' (3.) The perniciousness and danger of it, ' Hath not eternal life abiding in him.'
Doct. 1. That hatred of our brother is in Gods account murder.
I shall show you —
1. What is hatred of our brother.
2. How it is murder, and so how he that hateth his brother is a murderer.
I. What is the hatred of our brother? This needeth to be stated. That we may find out the sin so branded, let us except what is to be excepted.
1. There is an absolute hatred and a comparative. The absolute liatred is when I wish evil to another ; the comparative hatred is when I neglect or show less love to another for some greater good. So Jacob is said to hate Leah, Gen. xxix. 30, 31. Hatred there imports a lesser degree of love. So in the law of the hated wife : Dent. xxi. 15, 16, ' If a man hath two wives, one beloved, and another hated.' It is not meant of one that was not loved at all, but of one that was not loved so much as the other. So in the case in hand : Luke xiv, 26, ' If any man hate not father and mother, brothers and sisters, he can- not be my disciple ;' that is, doth not prefer Christ before them. Surely this hatred of our brother is not here meant, for this is piety, and ncit