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he doth see in that relation wherein Christ hath appointed him to exercise love, loves not the brethren whom he doth not see, and that he hath not that peculiar relation to and acquaintance withal. The great Lord and Guide of his church binds it upon all our spirits arid consciences ; it is our life, our being. I declare unto this congrega- tion this day, I witness and testify unto you, that unless this evan- gelical love be found acted, not loosely and in general, but among ourselves mutually towards each other, we shall never give up our account with joy unto Jesus Christ, nor shall we ever carry on the great work of edification among ourselves. And if God be pleased but to give this spirit among you, I have nothing to fear but the mere weakness and pravity of my own heart and spirit. This is the great way Christ hath given us to exemplify our obedience unto that great and holy command of love to his disciples ; and great weight is laid upon this duty.
IT. The next thing I am to speak to is, to show you the grounds why this love is so necessary : " Before all these things have love. 1 show you a more excellent way; and that is love." There would be no end, if I should insist long upon the grounds and reasons of this duty. I will give you some of them that are of weight and import- ance unto me. Do but carry this along with you, that what I speak about love is to be exercised, first among ourselves, and then to have emanations, upon all opportunities and occasions, to the whole mysti- cal body of Christ throughout the world : —
1. It is necessary, because it is the great way whereby we can give testimony to the power of the gospel, and our witness to the Messiah, the Christ that was sent of God. The great thing we have to do in the world is, to bear witness unto God's sending Christ into the world for the work for which he came. How shall we do this ? He him- self shows us. John xvii. 21, "That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." And again, verse 28, " I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; that the world may know that thou hast sent me." Jesus Christ lays the weight upon this,- — that the world may be convinced that God hath sent him. How shall this be evidenced ? Saith he, " If all believers are one it will be evidenced." There is, I acknowledge, another principle of the oneness of them that believe, — by a participa- tion of that one Spirit of the Father and the Son, whereby we come to be one in the Father and the Son. But that is not the whole oneness; nay, I do not think it is at all the oneness here intended. And my reason is this, because it is perfectly invisible, and impercep- tible unto the world; and he prays for such a oneness as may convince the world, — that the world may see that they are one, and so believe
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that God had sent him. It is no oneness but that whereof love is the bond of perfection, the life, and soul, and spirit of it, that will give conviction unto the world that God hath sent Christ. And if this be not eminent in us, we do what lies in us to harden the world in their unbelief. Persons that profess the gospel, some way or other, have framed unity and uniformity to themselves ; and neglecting this oneness of love under them hath been the greatest means of harden- ing the world in unbelief. " What great matter is there in this?" saith the world ; " I can make such a union when I list ; it is but making such and such laws about outward observations, and tie men to the ob- servance of them." But the union of love, no man can give but Jesus Christ. And why will this convince the world that God hath sent Christ, when the disciples do so love one another? where lies the argument ? From what topic do you argue to prove God hath sent Christ, because his disciples do so love one another ? It lies in this, as I told you before: — when sin entered, the bond of all union and perfection among the creatures was quite broken, by the loss of love ; the whole world was irrecoverably cast under envy, wrath, — " hateful, and hating one another." Nothing under heaven, no means in us, could retrieve men unto love again, to pure spiritual love. God sends Christ to retrieve this loss, to bring in a new creation, to bring things into order, — -to renew the world and the face of things. That glorious part of the work wrought in the heart of man is invisible ; that which is visible is love. The world sees here a new union brought forth among Christ's disciples, such as is not in the world, nor of the world, — such as the world doth not partake of. By this they know that God hath sent Christ to do this great work. The care, kindness, conde- scension, love, delight, and concernment we have in one another, as members of the mystical body of Christ, exemplified in our peculiar church relation, is the great testimony we give to the world that God hath sent Christ ; and they will be forced to see, and say, at last, " A glorious work is done upon these persons, that ' were foolish and disobedient, living in divers lusts and pleasures, hateful, and hating one another;' a glorious work hath been done by the Son upon them : and we profess it is from Christ, from God's sending him for this end and purpose."