I answer, it is granted, that the love of God and man, arising from _faith unfeigned_, is all in all, the fulfilling of the law, the end of every commandment of God. It is true, that without this whatever we do, whatever we suffer profits us nothing. But it does not follow, that love is all in such a sense, as to supersede either faith or good works. It is _the fulfilling of the law_, not by releasing us from, but by constraining us to obey it. It is _the end of the commandment_, as every commandment leads to and centers in it. It is allowed, that whatever we do or suffer, without love, profits us nothing. But withal whatever we do or suffer in love, though it were only the suffering reproach for _Christ_, or the giving a cup of cold water in his name, it shall in no wise lose its reward.
3. “But does not the apostle direct us, to _follow after charity_? And does he not term it, _a more excellent way_?”――He does direct us to _follow after charity_. But not after that alone. His words are, [88]_Follow after charity; and desire spiritual gifts_. Yea, _follow after charity_; and desire to spend and to be spent for your brethren. _Follow after charity_; and as you have opportunity, do good to all men.
In the same verse also, wherein he terms this, the way of love, _a more excellent way_, he directs the _Corinthians_ to desire other gifts besides it: Yea to desire them earnestly. [89]_Covet earnestly_, saith he, _the best gifts: and yet I shew unto you a more excellent way_. More excellent than what? Than the gifts of _healing_, of _speaking with tongues_, and of _interpreting_, mentioned in the preceding verse. But not more excellent than the way of obedience. Of this the apostle is not speaking. Neither is he speaking of outward religion at all. So that this text is quite wide of the present question.
But suppose the apostle had been speaking of outward as well as inward religion, and comparing them together: suppose in the comparison he had given the preference ever so much to the latter: suppose he had preferred (as he justly might) a loving heart, before all outward works whatever: Yet it would not follow, that we were to reject, either one or the other. No; God hath joined them together from the beginning of the world. And let not man put them asunder.
4. “But God _is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in truth_. And is not this enough? Nay, ought we not to employ the whole strength of our mind herein? Does not attending to outward things, clog the soul, that it cannot soar aloft in holy contemplation? Does it not damp the vigour of our thought? Has it not a natural tendency, to incumber and distract the mind? Whereas St. _Paul_ would have us _to be without carefulness_, and to _wait upon the_ Lord _without distraction_.”
*I answer, God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in truth. Yea, and this is enough: we ought to employ the whole strength of our mind therein. But then I would ask, What is it to worship God, a Spirit, in spirit and in truth? Why, it is to worship him with our spirit; to worship him in that manner, which none but spirits are capable of. It is, to believe in him, as a wise, just, holy being, of purer eyes than to behold iniquity: and yet merciful, gracious and long-suffering; forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin: casting all our sins behind his back, and accepting us in the beloved. It is, to love him, to delight in him, to desire him, with all our heart and mind and soul and strength: to imitate him we love, by purifying ourselves, even as he is pure; and to obey him whom we love and in whom we believe, both in thought and word and work. Consequently, one branch of the worshipping God in spirit and in truth, is the keeping his outward commandments. To glorify him therefore with our bodies as well as with our spirits, to go through outward work with hearts lifted up to him, to make our daily employment a sacrifice to God; to buy and sell, to eat and drink to his glory: this is worshipping God in spirit and in truth, as much as the praying to him in a wilderness.