Consider then our duty,
1. Towards " our brethren" of mankind at large —
[There is not a human being towards whom we do not owe a debt of love : and were it in our power, there is not a pain which we should not alleviate, nor a want which we should not supply. This is particularly noticed in the words following our text : " Whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of com- passion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"
But if this be our duty towards them in reference to their temporal wants, how much more is it in reference to the con- cerns of their souls ! How should we weep over the unhappy state of the heathen world, immersed as they are in darkness, and subjected to the entire dominion of the god of this world ! What efforts should we not make for the enlightening of their minds, and for the discovering to them that love, that stupen- dous love, wherewith our God has loved both us and them ! Say, brethren, do ye not blush when you look back upon your conduct in this respect, and see what contracted views you
a John i. 16. b 1 John iv. 9, 10, c Rom. v. 8.
d Rev. i. 5, 6. e John xiii. 34. and xv. 12. f 1 John iv. 11.
m i John, III. 16. [2448;
have had of your duty towards them, and how little you have endeavoured to discharge your duty, even as far as it has been seen and acknowledged by you? Consider more especially your duty towards your Jewish brethren, from whom you have received all the light which you yourselves enjoy: should it be no grief to you to see that highly-favoured people so blinded by prejudice, that, with the Scriptures in their hands, they contemn, and even execrate, that very Saviour who has shewn such love to them ? Why do we not feel for them ? why do we not exert ourselves in their behalf? why do we not endea- vour to repay to them the debt of love which we have received from their forefathers ? The Apostles, and multitudes of their descendants in the ministry, laid down their lives for us, ac- counting themselves richly recompensed if they might but lead us to the knowledge of the true God, and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. O that there were in us a corresponding sense of our duty, and that we could, with one heart and one mind, rise to the performance of it !]
2. Towards our brethren of the Church in parti- cular—
[There is ah especial duty towards those who are united to the Church of Christ : " We are to do good unto all men, but especially unto them that are of the household of faith." We owe to them a pre-eminent degree of love, because they are so near to us, and because they are so dear to God, and more especially because there is such an identity of interest between Christ and them. They are our brethren in a higher sense than others, being children of the same heavenly Father, and heirs of the same glorious inheritance. From all eternity have they been objects of God's electing love ; and now, the monuments of his grace, the very temples in which he deigns to dwell. Every one of them is a member of Christ's mys- tical body, yea, " one spirit with him :" so that whatever we do for them, we do for Christ himself, as much as if he were personally present with us, and the visible object of our atten- tions. What love then do we not owe to these ? I hesitate not to say, that our very life should be of small estimation with us in comparison of their welfare ; and that martyrdom itself, if endured for the benefit of their souls, ought not to be an object of dread, so much as of desire and joyful self- congratulation. We see this love in Aquila and Priscillag, and in Epaphroditus alsoh; but more especially in the Apostle Paul, who was contented to be " in deaths oft" for the benefit of the Church, and who, in the near expectation of martyrdom,