And, lest different sentiments in lesser matters should cause divisions amongst christians, he commands, [[402]]“to receive him that is weak in the faith, not to doubtful disputations,” not to debates, or contentions about disputations, or disputable things. Upon account of such matters, he orders that none should [[403]]“despise or judge others, because God had received them;” [[403]]and because every man ought to be “fully persuaded in his own mind,” and because [[404]]“the kingdom of God was not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the holy ghost;” and because every one was to [[405]]“give an account of himself to God,” to whom alone, as his only master, he was to stand or fall. From these substantial reasons he infers, [[406]]“We then that are strong,” who have the most perfect understanding of the nature of christianity, and our christian liberty, [[407]]“ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves;” and having prayed for them, that the God of patience and consolation would grant them to “be like-minded one towards another,” according to, or after the example of Christ, that, notwithstanding the strength of some, and the weakness of others, they might, [[408]]“with one mind, and with one mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ;” he adds, as the conclusion of his argument, [[409]]“Wherefore[“Wherefore] receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.”
In his letters to the [[410]]Corinthians, he discovers the same divine and amiable spirit. In his first epistle he beseeches them, “by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would all speak the same thing, and that there should be no schism amongst them, but that they should be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment;” i. e. that they should all own and submit to Christ, as their only lord and head, and not rank themselves under different leaders, as he had been informed they had done; for that they were [[411]]“the body of Christ,” and all of them his members, and ought therefore to maintain that charity to one another, “which suffereth long, and is kind; which envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things; which is greater and more excellent than faith and hope, which fails not in heaven itself,” where faith and hope shall be at an end; and without which, though we could [[412]]“speak with the tongue of men and angels, should have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and could remove mountains; yea, though we should bestow all our goods to feed the poor, and give our bodies to be burned, we should be only as sounding brass, and as a tinkling cymbal;” nothing in the account of God, nothing as to any real profit and advantage that will accrue to us. And, in his second epistle, he takes his leave of them, with this divine exhortation, and glorious encouragement: [[413]]“Finally brethren, farewell; be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind,” be affectionate, and kindly disposed to one another, as though you were influenced by one common mind: “Live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”
In his epistle to the Galatians,[[414]] he gives us a catalogue of those works of the flesh which exclude men from the kingdom of God; such as “adultery, fornication,—hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings,” and the like; and then assures us, that “the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance, against which there is no law:”[law:”] and, after having laid down this as an essential principle of christianity, that [[415]]“neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature;” as it is expressed in another place, “Faith which worketh by love;” he pronounces this truly apostolic benediction, [[416]]“As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
The same divine and excellent strain runs through his letter to the Ephesians: [[417]]“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace;” and the term of this union, which he lays down, is the acknowledgment of one catholic church, one spirit, one Lord and Mediator, and “One God, even the Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in all.” The contrary vices, of [[418]]“bitterness and wrath, and anger and clamour, and evil-speaking and malice, are to be put away,” as things that “grieve the Holy Spirit of God?”[[419]] and we must “be kind one to another, forgiving one another even as God, for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven us;[[420]] and be followers of God, by walking in love, even as Christ hath also loved us, and hath given himself for us.”
His exhortation to the Philippians,[[421]] is in the most moving terms: “If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy; that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
In his exhortation to the Colossians, he warmly presses our cultivating the same disposition, and abounding in the same practice: [[422]]“Put[“Put] off all these, anger, wrath, malice;—put on as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, even as Christ forgave us. And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness: and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body.”
In his directions to Timothy, he gives him this summary of all practical religion: [[423]]“The end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned;” and he ascribes men’s turning aside to vain jangling, to their having swerved from this great principle.
And, to mention no more passages on this head, I shall conclude this whole account with that amiable description of the wisdom that is from above, given by St. James: [[424]]“The[“The] wisdom that is from above is pure, and peaceable, and gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. But if we have bitter envying and strife in our hearts, we have nothing to glory in, but we lye against the truth,” i. e. belie our christian profession; for whatever false judgment we may pass upon ourselves, this “wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish; for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
I have thrown all these excellent passages of the sacred writings together, that it may appear, in the most convincing light, that the scriptures have nothing in them to countenance the spirit, or any of the methods of persecution; and to confront the melancholy account I have given before of the progress and ravages caused by this accursed evil. Good God, how have the practices of christians differed from the precepts of christianity! Would one imagine that the authors of those dreadful mischiefs and confusions were the bishops and ministers of the christian church? That they had ever read the records of the christian religion? Or if they had, that they ever believed them?
But it may be objected, that whatever may be the precepts of the christian religion, yet the conduct even of the apostles themselves gives some countenance to the spirit and practice of persecution, and particularly the conduct of St. Paul; and that such powers are given to the guides and bishops of the christian church, as do either expressly or virtually include in them a right to persecute. Let us briefly examine each of these pretensions.