Thus we see, the genuine virtue consults the honour of others by worthy means, and for the noblest purpose; the counterfeit, sollicits their favour by dishonest compliances, and for the basest end.
By such evident marks are these two characters distinguished from each other! and so impossible it is, without a wilful perversion of our faculties, to mistake in the application of the Apostle’s precept!
It follows, you see, from what has been said, “that integrity of heart, as Solomon long since observed, is the best guide in morals[75].” We may impose upon others by a shew of civility; but the deception goes no farther. We cannot help knowing, in our own case, if we be ingenuous, when this virtue retains its nature, and when it degenerates into the vice that usurps its name. To conclude, an honest man runs no risk in being polite. Let us only respect ourselves; and we shall rarely do amiss, when, as the Apostle advises, in honour we prefer one another.
SERMON X.
PREACHED MAY 6, 1770.
John xiii. 8.
—Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
To comprehend the full meaning of these words (which, as we shall see, are of no small importance) we must carefully attend to the circumstances of the history, which gave occasion to them.
The chapter begins thus—Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them to the end.—
We are prepared by these words to expect something, on the part of our Lord, very expressive of his love for his Disciples.
The season, too, is critical, and must excite our attention: it was before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world to the Father; in other words, just before his crucifixion.