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LOVE TO CHRIST:
A
DISCOURSE,
DELIVERED AT COVENTRY, JUNE 11, 1811,
BEFORE THE
Unitarian Tract Society,
ESTABLISHED
IN BIRMINGHAM,

WARWICKSHIRE AND THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTIES.

By JAMES HEWS BRANSBY.
 l&*~

Love him; and then your obedience will he no burden to yon. Th«
commands, of Christ must: be obeyed: but you may be eased of what fa
troublesome and difficult in this obedience, if you can get y^our heart
touched with this divine affection. Ocean.

Birmingham,
PRINTED AND SOLD EY J. BELCHER AND SON;
Sold also by W. H. Smith, Union-street;
AND BY
J. Johnson & Co. St. Paul's Church-yard, London; and W. Waurict, Dudley*
18-11.

TO
The Rev. JOSEPH BRETLAND,
ASD
JOSHUA TOULMIN, D. D.
WHO HAVE ABLY TREATED ON THE GROUNDS OF LOVE TO
CHRIST;
AND WHO, HAVING*, IMBIBED MUCH OF THEIR
MASTER'S SPIRIT,
ARE CREEMB,
ZS THE EVENING OF LIFE DRAWS OJV,
BY THE
PROSPECT OF EVERLASTING COMMUNION WITH HIM,
IN THE PEACEFUL MANSIONS OF HIS FATHER'S
HOUSE;
THIS DISCOURSE
IS INSCRIBED,
AS A TESTIMONY OF CORDIAI. GRATITUDE AND
AFFECTION.

A SERMON,

John xxi. 17.
And he said unto him, " Lord, thou knowest
all things; thou knowest that I love thee."

WHEN our Saviour, a few hours before
his apprehension, and in the near view of those
awful trials towards which the providence of
God was leading him, told his apostles that
they would forsake him that very night, Peter
immediately cried out, " Though all men
should forsake thee, yet will I never forsake
thee." Ofthe sincerity of this profession there
can be no doubt: the event, nevertheless, fur
nishes a melancholy proof that Peter was a
stranger to his own heart; while it forcibly
proclaims the too general consequences of
self- ignorance and presumption. Io the season
A

( 6 )
of alarm, his courage, his resolution failed Iiim,
and he parted with his integrity; he not only
turned away from the Master whom he had
just been declaring himself ready to follow to
prison and to death, but denied, three several
times, with solemn execrations and oaths, that
he knew him. The most approved of human
characters may here learn an instructive lesson.
— " Let him that thinketh he standeth, take
heed lest he fall."
Jesus, we are informed, after his resurrec
tion from the dead, shewed himself to some of
the apostles, at the lake of Tiberias. They
seem to have known their illustrious visitor;
yet, wrapt in admiration of his affection
ate and unabated kindness, or overwhelmed
with shame in the remembrance of their own
cowardice, none of them could venture to say,
"Who art thou?"
Having partaken of refreshment with them,
the meek and forgiving Saviour turns to Peter,
and addresses him in language which no person
of taste and sensibility can read without a very
lively interest : — " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me more than these?" 'more than

( 7 )
thy companions love me* ?' He alludes, there
is reason for believing, and that with unexam
pled tenderness, to this apostle's protestation
of superior attachment, and to his more
public and conspicuous apostacy. The full
import of the inquiry was not perceived; and
Peter answers^ " Yea, Lord, thou knowest that
1 love thee." You observe, however, the con
sciousness of his former frailty puts him on
his guard ; and he presumes not now to utter a
syllable which might lead to a comparison with
those who were standing near hira.
In order to direct Peter's eye to his three
fold denial, and make him the monitor
of himself, Jesus thrice proposes the affect
ing question. You cnu-not wonder that the
application at length reached the apostle's
heart, and stirred up emotions of godly sorrow

* There is an ambiguity in the original words:
ayairag (t£ v\nov toutwv ; Some commentators suppose
the meaning to be, Lovest thou me more than thou lovest
tltese things, that is, -thy nets, thy boats and thy worldly
employment. In this sense the passage was understood
by Dr. Whitby, Bishop Pearce and Mr. Kenrick. The
a2

( 8 )
and repentance there. <c Peter was grieved
because he said unto him, the third time,
Lovest thou me ?" The conversation was too
much for his wounded spirit; and he replied
with fervour, " Lord, thou knowestall things,"
thou art acquainted with the feelings of my
soul * 4f thou knowest that I love thee."

other explanation, Lovest thou me more than these (thy
fellow disciples) love me, appears better to suit the context
and the circumstances of Peter. See Rosenmuller, in loc.
Jortin's Sermons, vol. i. p. 382, and Wakefield's Evi
dences, p. 137. 2nd ed. Dr. Campbell, in his valuable
note on the passage, has stated the arguments for each
interpretation, * In justification of the restricted sense in which
the phrase, " all things" is here explained, we may
observe that the same expression is applied to the
disciples in general of the apostolic age, 1 John ii. 20.
*' Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all
things." Our Lord, in his conversation with the woman
of Samaria, had alluded to a few circumstances only of her
domestic history, and yet she says of him, (John iv. 29.)
" Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I
did." Compare Matt. xix. 27. John xiv. 26. xv. 15.
2 Cor. v. 17. vi. 10. Philip, iv. 13. 1. Tim. vi. 17.
1 John ii. 27.

( 9 )
Honoured and happy were the first teachers
and professors of the gospe\, that they enjoyed
the personal society of this friend of man, be
held his works of grace and mercy, listened to
the heavenly accents that fell from his lips, and
shared in the tokens of his regard ! Well
might "their hearts burn within them," and
well might the " Beloved of the Father" be dear
and venerable in their eyes.— Our lot has been
cast in a later age, and from the circumstances
ofthe case, it is impossible that Jesus should
be the object of our senses : yet happy and
honoured are we too, my brethren, that it is
permitted us to see him. in the written records of
his life and actions ! And who can see him there
without feelings similar to those of his imme
diate disciples ?.-
As love to his divine Master is an indispens
able requisite in the character of a Christian,
it concerns us carefully to examine into it's
true nature; and J hope 1 shall lie entitled to-
your indulgence, sf 1 nmke tiiis affection the
subject of my discourse.
- The New Testament is here our only safe
guide:. 1. shall, therefore, first endeavour to
a 3

( 10 )
bring into one view the passages that immedi
ately relate to the duty under considera
tion, taking them in the order in which they
are presented to us in the sacred volume itself.
We shall afterwards, I trust, be better enabled
to ascertain what is the ground of love to Christ
and how it should be expressed.
I. In Matt. x. 37, Jesus himself says, " He
that loveth father or mother more than me, is
not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me."
The sense is, ' He who means to be my genuine
disciple must be prepared to resign every
earthly interest, and to detach himself from
every tie, that might interfere with his profes
sion of the gospel ! In the peculiar circum
stances ofthe first converts, it would sometimes
be- necessary to make even these precious sa
crifices. The import of our Lord's language in John
xiv. 15. — " If ye love me, keep my command-
ments"-r-is too plain to be mistaken.
In the twenty-first verse of this chapter,
he delivers the same sentiment : '' He that hath
my commandments and kcepeih Ihern, he it is
that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be

( 11 ) w
loved of my Father; and I will love him, and
will manifest myself unto him." The promise
in the last clause, relates to the extraordinary
gifts of knowledge and of power, which were
afterwards vouchsafed to the first preachers of
the gospel.
The twenty-third verse is expressed in terms
somewhat different, but the meaning is evidently
the same. Our Lord's design was to correct
the mistaken opinions entertained by some of
his hearers that his kingdom would be what
they wished, a splendid worldly kingdom, and
that they should partake of its honours and
advantages. " If a man love me, he will keep
my words ; and my Father will love him, and
we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him."
In thc twenty-eighth verse he says, " If -
ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I go
unto the Father; for my Father is greater
than I." In other words, * Testify your
affection for me, not so much by grieving
at my departure as by rejoicing that I
am about to be exalted iu the favour of
God, who is infinitely superior to myself, and

( 12 >
who will enable me to fulfil the promises that
I have made.'
John xvi. 27. Our Lord, having told his
disciples that the time was at hand, when they
would receive greater miraculous powers than
had been conferred, on them during his minr
istry, and that they were not to pray for these
communications to him, but to God, in his
name — subjoins the reason why they might
hope to be heard. " For the Father him
self loveth you; because ye have loved me
and have believed that I came forth from
God :" — ' that I was invested with a divine
commission.' As we have already noticed the affecting in
terview which gave occasion to the words of my
text, it is sufficient to observe that when Peter
exclaimed, " Lord, thou knowest that I love
thee!" Jesus said unto him " Feed my sheep;"
f I know thy sincerity; enter,. as it were anew,
upon thy apostolic office, and prove thyself
a vigilant and tender pastor of my flock.'
When Paul triumphantly asks, in Rom.
viii. 35. — "Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ ?¦" — it appears from the context
that the reference is to the love manifested,

( 13 )
by Jesus to the world *. As if the apostle
had said, 'Can the vicissitudes of life or the
terrors of death deprive the conscientious be
liever of his interest in the lessons, the example
and the discoveries of his compassionate Sa
viour ?'
1 Cor. xvi. 22. The apostle, in allusion
to some false teacher, against whom he had
been cautioning the disciples at Corinth,
closes his epistle with these words : " If any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ" — be not
supremely attached, that is, to the simplicity
of the gospel — " let him be anathema" — dis
owned and separated from your community—
" maran-atha" — ' the Lord is at hand'— he
will decide on his doom +.
* The same remark is applicable to John xv. 9, 10.
" Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my command
ments, ye shall abide in my love." See Campbell in loc.
f Is it not probable that in the phrase " Maran-atha,"
the Lord is at liand, Paul refers to the destruction that
was impending on the Jewish state ; when such as bad
corrupted and dishonoured the doctrine of Christ would be
overwhelmed in calamities which those who had cordially
embraced and steadfastly professed it, would escape?
This interpretation seems to be favoured by a comparison

( 14 )
From the expression in 2 Cor. v. 14, " The
love of Christ constraineth us" — it is difficult
to ascertain whether the apostle means the love
which Christ manifested to the world, or that
which he claims from his disciples. In either
case, it is represented as a powerful motive to
fidelity and perseverance in promoting the
cause for which Jesus lived and died and rose
again. _
At the conclusion of his epistle to the Ephe-
sians, (vi. 24) Paul gives utterance to this de
vout wish, " Grace be with all them that love

ofthe passage with James v. 7, !}. " Be patient therefore
brethren, unto the appearance of the Lord :" — ' to destroy,'
•as Archbishop Newcome explains it, ' your persecutors,
the Jews, by the Romans.' — " Grieve not for one another,
brethren, lest ye be condemned ; behold the Judge stand-
eth before the door."
Mr. Belsham, in his '* Calm Inquiry" (p. 354) gives
a diffeient interpretation of the phrase in question. Light
foot observes (Works, vol. i. p. 301) " I believe it is
impossible to shew Maran-alha for a form of excommuni
cation in any ofthe Jewish writings." See also Le Clerc
on Hammond in locum. The Latin edition of Lightfoot 's
Works contains a Concio ad Clerum— de Anathemate
Maran-atha — which is not found in the English edition.

( 15 )
©Ur Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity!" — ' who are
faiihful in their attachment to the Saviour and
to his uncorrupted gospel !'
The apostle Peter, (1 Pet. i. 8.) speaks of
the affection borne by those whom he addresses
to their divine Master, as being fervent and
efficacious, although it was neither excited nor
enlivened by a personal acquaintance with its
object — " Whom not having seen" says he,
" ye love."
II. Having examined all the passages in
the New Testament which speak of the love
th.it we owe to the Captain of our salvation,
we may now be prepared <o enquire, what are
the motives from which that love is recom
mended ? These I apprehend to be the unri
valled excellence of his character, his generous
exertions and sacrifices in our behalf, and the
inexpressibly important benefits of which, un
der God, he is the author.
So wisely constituted are man's frame and
situation, that in the nndepraved bosom, moral
goodness, wherever found, renders ils pos
sessor the object of reverence and esteem. Now,
the character of Jesus Christ, as delineated by
his lowly followers, is in this view, without

( 16 )
a parallel in the whole course of history;*
exemplifying whatever can be conceived to
adorn and ennoble a rational being. The man,
therefore, who finds no delight in meditating on
his habitual, fervent and influential piety, on
his pure and exalted benevolence, on the tender
compassion, the meekness, the gentleness of
his life, together with his placid fortitude in
death — who does not glow with devout admi
ration and gratitude while he meditates — and
whose attachment is not strengthened from day
to day by the employment — the man who is
thus insensible, has not imbibed the true spirit
of the gospel ; he is devoid of the best feeling!
of his nature.
Again, Christ is entitled to our affection in
return for his love to us, and especially for that
generous self-denial by which his love was so
conspicuously marked. " Ye know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that while he was
rich, he for our sakes was poor*" He em
ployed his divinely communicated powers for
the benefit of others, at the same time that he
* 2 Cor. viii. £>.

( 17 )
bad not where fo lay bis head. He cheerfully
endureJ the hardships of a mean external con
dition, when the people would have raised
hiin to the highest pinnacle of human greatness.
He meekly met the contradiction of sinners,
the fury of a misguided multitude, and the
gcorn of a cruel world. These indignities
produced no change in his heart. From pure
compulsion to mankind, he yielded himself,
without a murmur or complaint, a willing
victim, to the shame and agony of {.fee cross,
*' He laid down his Ufe, and no man took it
from him*." " He loved us and gave himself
for us+." Sacrifices and sufferings like these
make an appeal to our sympathy and gratitude,
which surely nothing can resist. If we be not
greatly moved and attracted by them, it is be
cause our hearts are harder and more unira-
pressible than the adamant.
But if the lust« of our Saviour's virtues
and the disinterestedness of his love " even un
to death," inspire us with sentiments of esteem,
veneration and delight, what must be our feel
ings when, at the same time, we consider the re-
• John x. 18. -fr Gat. ii. 20. Ephes. v. 3,
B

( 18 )
lation thathe bearsto us an 1 the unspeakable ad
vantages that we reap from his labours and suffer
ings! Is it not to his benevolent undertaking,
through the favour of that merciful Being" who
sanctified and sent hira into the world*," that the
guilty and dying sons of men owe their comfort,
encouragement and hope? He revealed the
Parent of the universe in all his venerable
and engaging perfections ; and proclaimed his
gracious condescension to our weaknesses and
fears. He traced, in his own life, the path of
human duty; and exalted the motives of obedi
ence. He died to accomplish the counsels of
divine love and wisdom — to take away the sting
and bitterness of death. And, because he tri
umphed when he fell, and led captivity captive,
we may rely, on his promise, that he will come
again, to deliver us from the all-devouring
grave. Are these blessings, let me ask, of such
trivial account as to bring us under no obli
gation, to call for no returns of love, to him
who "of God was made unto us wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification and redemp-
tiont? If the benefits that we derive from
* John x. 36. f l Cor. i. 30.

( 19 )
the kind ofluj es. pf each other Jn a ^orhl where
que days are as: the fleeting ?b^ow;}> naturally
impress us with a sense of grande* aa& ^ *
_jvis,t foundation for regard, bxny much xfroxp
does this principle apply <o blessings W^ioh
extend to a glorious and happy eternity of
belfio !
Such I conceive to. he the true a^d °nty
grounds on which love to the author and fin
isher of our faith, is urged by the Christian
scriptures.. Those -^ho frame their Rpinipns. by
human preeds and formularies, recommend this
love from, far different motives, from the. sup
posed dignity of our Saviour's person, and
from what they calj his condescension in leav
ing the blessedness pf heaven , to sojourn among
men. By the advocates of these doctrijn.es, it
is. imputed to us, niy brethren, that the affec
tion pn which I am discoursing eau have lio
place in pur bosoms " because there is nothing
in our religious views to call it (orth." In
refutation of the charge, it might be sufficient
if I appealed to the testimony vfhich has been
already hud befpre yqij, from the historians pf
pu.r kwF? life £$$ the authors of ttie fpjgtlfls.
*9

C so )
But it will not be difficult to shew that, while
in other sentiments Ihere is little that can rea
sonably excite this affection, the principles
by which we are distinguished, lay the very
best foundation on which love fo Jesus can be
p'aeed. If we believe, for instance, that Jesus Christ
is truly God, that he bore in his own person
upon the cross, the punishment due to our sins,
and thus satisfied the Father's justice, it is
scarcely possible but that our sense of obli
gation to him should be such as to overwhelm
all our feelings, and instead of warming our
heats with a sober and chastened affection,
possess them with astonishment and awe. Be
sides, we shall be in no small danger of entirely
losing sight of our beneficent Creator, or re
garding him as the object of dread ; as a cruel,
implacable tyrant, whose delight is to torture
nnd destroy. Granting, for the sake of argu
ment, that this system enhances the value of
the Saviour's services ; to say nothing of its
utter inconsistency with the sentimenfsand lan
guage of Scripture — we may easily perceive
that it render's the sufferings which he under
went no more than a name, and therefore an-

( 21 )
«j«ls his principal claim to our gratitude and
aBectti,«. Is U possible that God could be
•object to temptation or susceptible of pain?
Cou d God be exhausted by abstinence, or
affected with a sense of want ? Could God be
ambitious to display himself before men, that
he might excite their wonder and admiration?
Could the kingdoms of the world and the
glary of their power be objects of desire to
God? Was it necessary that God should be
made perfect through sufferings *? This, in fact,
is not pretended: for, strange to tell, it is
maintained that although the whole efficacy of
Christ's sufferings rests upon their being the
buffering's of a God, his divine nature, never
theless, took no part in themt. Yet if it did
i»M' r n i - i '1 i mi ii i i  t i ¦-
* It was perhaps the absurdity of such a suppo«,
sition, which ted ta the. hypothesis of two natures ia,
Christ. f " The wiferingsjof Christ were not the sufleriagj-
Of hit Deity, of which that was incapable ; but of his hu
manity, unto which that was inclinable.: for the divine
essence suffered not." Pearson oa the Creed, p. 186.
B'3

( 22 )
not, surely* the man Christ Jesus must have
received support from the divine nature with
which he was united: nay, the divine n:iture
must have raised him to an infinite distance
above all human impressions.
To these objections, the supposition that he
left a state of pre-existent glory and happiness
and clothed himself wilh our infirmities, is
scarcely less exposed. A voluntary degrada
tion of this kind, for a short season only, in
order to answer so important a purpose as that
of delivering: mankind from darkness and ruin,
and offering them pardon and everlasting life,
if not attended with personal suffering,' could
prove, in itself, as it appears to me, no source
of uneasiness to a being in whom benevolence
was the actuating principle. The remembrance
of his former dignity, a conseiousmss th:tt he
was still equally dear to God, and the cer
tainty that he shotitd soon be again exalted to
the station which he had quitted, would be so
united and intei mingled with all his oilier
ideas, perceptions and sentiments, as to anni
hilate the sense of pain, and render him totally
indifferent to (he changes, disappointments and
distresses of this mortal state. History brings

( 23 )
us acquainted with persons who have calmly
met the severest afflictions, who have looked
forward without dismay to the most painful
death that violence could inflict, andhave passed
through the trying scene not with unbroken
constancy alone, but with cheerfulness and
joy. This noble elevation of soul they ac
quired from the discipline of a few years,
on earth : they had not before tasted that
heavenly happiness to which their views ex
tended ; yet present sufferings dwindled almost
into nothing, in the prospect of their fu
ture great reward. If then our Lord, pre
viously to his human birth, possessed in
conceivable glory with the Father, if he de
rived from actual experience a clear and
certain knowledge of heavenly bliss, how su
perior must this have rendered him to all feel
ing of boddy pain!
Upon these piinciples, I cannot see that it
would have been any sacrifice for him to die;
because I do not see why he should cling to
life, why he should feel any of those tender
regrets in the apprehension of its close which
are so natural to men, and which render it so
great a trial to their faith and patience. Ta

( st )
die, would be no more to him than to resume
the glory which be before enjayed : and yet
our Lord himself declares that his submitting
to death was tbe strongest testimony of his
love to mankind. And it is worthy of lemark
that as the evangelists and apostles dwell, in
this connection, with particular emphasis on his
** humbling himself unto death*," so not a
single passage can be found in which the
dignity of his person, or his having hum
bled himself to dwell on earth, is either men
tioned or alluded to, in proof of his benevo
lence. Our divine Instructor's own declara
tion is the cleare.t and most unequivocal that
language can convey : " Greater love," says.
he, " hath no nun than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends +/*
If, therefore, the pain and distress endured
by Jesus Christ are any test of his love to us^
the a:Iva itage in this r.spect is vastly in favour
ofthe principles which it is our happiness to
have embraced. Who that regards him as al
together a human being can meditate on the
dosing scenes, in p.uiicul ir, of his earthly
¦ " — *- — ^" r" -1 — ••¦ ' ¦ ¦ " — ' ' '  rl»
» Philip, ii. ft. f John xv. 13.

( 25 )
ministry — can behold him in the garden of
Gethscmane, in the hall of Pilate and on
mount Calvary — without a mixture of admi
ration and sympathy, of tenderness and grati
tude, which no other system, however lofty its
pretensions, can possibly excite ? It was "the
man Christ Jesus*"' who suffered and died
for us ; and while be made the costly sa
crifice he was sensible of its value. The
sufferings of a man in the cause of men are
especially calculated to interest human feel
ings, and awaken human gratitude t. What
reason then have we, my brethren, to delight
ourselves in " the apostle and high priest of our
profession !" and will our consciences hold us
guiltless, if, next to his God and Father, we
give not to " the man Christ Jesus" the chief
and first affection of our hearts ?
III. Let us proceed to enquire what are the
* 1 Tim. ii. J.
¦f It is the remark of a most accomplished writer,
that " we never feel much for those whom we consider as
themselves raised above common feelings."
Mrs. Barbauld's Enquiry concerning Distress.
Miscellaneous Pitces, p. 308,

( 26 )
obvious and proper expressions of kxve tp him
after whose nuhe we are called ? And here w?
may observe that the methods which most ofthe
professors of the gospel have adopted with this
view, have been in the highest degree absurd.
Almost the only thing which they have dis
covered has been their miserable ignorance of
the nature of true religion and its genuine
effects. Thus some, while they daily and deliberate*
ly violate the Christian law, yet fancy that they
manifest an attachment to Jesus, by calling hira
Lord, Lord; by loud and empty professions of
regard. —Dreadful, however, we are assured,
will be the doom of those to whorn, at the
last day, our blessed Saviour will address these
words, " I never knew you : depart from rne,
ye that work iniquity*!" Tiiry will be ra*
jected and disowned as his enemies ; and have
their portion with the hypocrites f .
" I^att. yji. S3.
f One who had led but an immoral life, on his ap
proach to death buoyed himself up with the conceit of an
ardent affection and love to his Saviour; but, probably
from -«ome misgivings, entreated the minister who at-

( 27 )
It has been thought by many that love to
Christ is best evinced by raising him to an
equality with the eternal Jehovah, and repre
senting his death upon the cross, as necessary
and efficacious to appease the anger of God,
and render him placable to the human race.—
These doctrines are so repugnant to our best
ideas of the Supreme being, and fo fhe nature
of the Christian covenant, fhat Jhey surely
should not be admitted unless ¦ upon very
substantial evidence— upon evidence which is
strong in proportion to the antecedent impro
bability :— unless Scripture, in the most dis
tinct and explicit language, affirms them to
be true. But can this evidence actually be
i ,
tcnred him to explain the nature of a love to Christ.
He was wisely answered, almost in the words of Jesus
Christ himself, that a sincere love to such a friend could
only be known by its fruits, by imbibing the spirit of
Christ, by doing the things which he has declared to be so
pleasing to him, by increasing in all holiness. The un
happy man who found not from within, cor from the
review of his life, what answered to this test, cried out,
" Ah ! I must find something warmer than this, this is
cold and comfortless to me. "
Walker's Sermons, Vol. iii. p. 319.

( 28 )
adduced ? and is not the positive and clear
testimony of the sacred writers against them*?
Are they not found moreover, to be in
themselves and in their tendency highly in
jurious?^— impairing the honour of revelation,
throwing a stumbling block in the way of un
believers, and causing the name of Christ and
his doctrine to be blasphemed ?
Others* again, in order to give proof of
their love to Christ, have renounced the inno
cent enjoyments, and abandoned fhe most im
portant duties, of life, and have fled to the de
sert and the wilderness, to gloomy cloisters and
lonely cells, where they have tortured them
selves with every species of austerity.- It is
recorded to the honour pf him whose name we
bear, that " he went about doing goodf."
He courted not his sufferings, although he
meekly eudurcd them: and his precepts offer

* The New Testament throughout represents the
forgiveness of sin a . a voluntary act of pure mercy, on
the part cf our Heavenly Father; and not as a thing for
which an equivalent is paid, and which therefore might
be demanded in strict justice.
+ Acts x. 38.

( 29 )
no viplence to the feelings of nature, dissolve
no tie of friendship or affection. The self-
denial which the gospel enjoins, is abstinence
from sin; and the most generous virtues of the
Christian are matured by being called into
exercise, and fortified by meeting with trials,
in the face of the world, and in open inter-
cpurse with mankind.
The language and behaviour of the large
majority of Christians, whose motives I dare
not presume to question, would lead us to con
ceive that love to Jesus is a sensual passion,
that it consists in strong and fervent emotions,
which are neither pure nor lasting*. — I do not
* " I'll carve our passion on the bark,
And ev'ry wounded tree
Shall drop and bear some mystic mark
That Jesus died for me.
'' The swains shall wonder when they read,
Jnscrib'd on all the grove,
That Heav'n itself came down and bled;
To win a mortal's love." Watts's Lyric Poems.
" A thousand graces ever rise
And bloom upon his face;
c

( 30 )
say that fervency and ardour in religion are
undesirable; but surely the habitual and pre
vailing disposition of the mind is of far greater
consequence. It is not every human being
that is capable of them. There are many
sincere and humble Christians steadily devoted
to their divine Master, and we cannot doubt
accepted in the sight of GTod, who never have
experienced them: and on the other hand,
they may be associated, as is evident from
daily observation, with great practical depra
vity. The state of the affections, therefore,
furnishes no rule by which we can measure
our love to the Saviour, or determine our inte
rest in the promises of his gospel. Perhaps
it is one of the most dangerous and destructive
properties of the popular system that it makes
religion consist in feeling, rather than in that
fixed and permanent principle which manifests
itself in active and uniform obedience, or in
patient suffering. The individual who consci-

A thousand arrows from his eyes
Shoot through my heart with dear surprise,
And guard around the placed' Ibid.

( 31 )
entiously believes such to be the standard of his
duty has a claim to our tenderest sympathy.
His error is so seriously important, that I must
request you, for a moment, to mark its effects.;
A stranger to comprehensive views of God,
he mistakes the illusions of fancy for what is
called " the irresistible operation ofthe Spirit;"
and persuades himself that on a sudden and
withput any endeavours of his own, an entire
change is wrought in his whole frame and tem
per, that he is a monument of transforming
grace, that his sins are pardoned, and that his
title io future glory is sure and certain. Rap
ture kindles in his breast : and poor, weak,
short-sighted mortal as he is, he addresses with
the familiarity of an equal, that august Being,
in whose presence the Seraphim are said to
" veil their faces*;" and at the same time de
nounces all who are not mustered under the
banner of his leader, as the children of dark
ness, error and perdition ; as excluded, be
yond remedy, from the knowledge of the divine
will here, and from the enjoyment ofthe divine

* Is. vi. 2.
c2

( 32 )
favour hereafter. Every noble and generous
emotion ofthe soul is absorbed in selfish arro
gance : and the too probable consequence of his
thinking so highly of his condition, will be
carelessness and indifference as to that righteous
ness which is the only ground of peace and
hope, and for which, whether we argue from
reason or from scripture, it is the clearest and
plainest of all truths, that no substitute will
avail, on the great discriminating day.
But you are not to look for steadfastness
in a character like this. As reasonably might
you attempt to build upon the wave. From
one extreme he soon passes to another : pre
sumption and enthusiasm are exchanged for
melancholy and despair. That reaction of his
passions, which it was not difficult to foresee,
he imputes to the displeasure of an arbitrary,
capricious and unforgiving Judge. Even in
the midst of the world, he finds himself in a
joyless and dreary solitude. Kindred and
friends in vain labour to chase away the clouds
that overspread his imagination, and to open
his heart to better prospects and brighter hopes.
He goes mourning all the day, as forsaken of
his God : and " if he says, < my bed shall com-

{ 33 )
fort me, my couch shall ease my complaint,'
then he is scared with dreams and terrified with
visions*." New scenes of misery are continu
ally rising before him ; nor can he turn his
eye from tbe contemplation of his sufferings.
" To me," he exclaims, '« the door of mercy
is for ever shut: — I am lost and ruined: — how
can I support the burthen of my guilt, or
whither flee for shelter from the living
God?" — At length, he Ipses his power to
struggle in the unequal conflict ; the barrier
is broken down ; and the storm accomplishes
its work of horror. His mind becomes a
desolation. Every thing which constitutes
the glory of a rational and moral being is swept
away ; and he presents one of the most moving
spectacles that human life, in all its forms of
wretchedness, can possibly exhibit t.

* Job vii. 13, 14.
f How affectingly was this tendency of popular doc
trines exemplified in the innocent and amiable Cowper 1
Relieving himself to be " the chief of sinners" and " a.
destin'd wretch," he languished through many years of his
life, in dark, disconsolate and gloomy sadness. His last
c3

( 34 )
But it is time that I should state what are
the genuine expressions of love to Christ.
First, This attachment, if it be sincere, will
disclose itself in unreserved submission to his
authority and cheerful compliance with his
precepts. original composition — " The Cast-away," — was evidently
dictated by the distress.of mind which brought him, soon-
afterwards, to the grave. It expands the pathetic story
in Anson's Voyages, of a seaman who fell overboard, and,
though observed for some time struggling with the billows,
was necessarily left to perish. In this mournful event
Cowper beheld the semblance of his own misery. The
poem concludes :
" No voice divine the storm allay'd,
No light propitious shone;
When, snatch'd from all effectual aid,
We perish'd, each alone ;
But I beneath a rougher sea,
And whelm'd in deeper gulphs than he."
Hayley's Life of Cowper, Vol. iv. p. 182, 8vo. ed. 1806,
The truth of what has been said on this subject,
receives also a most alarming confirmation from the tes
timony of a writer whose veracity is unimpeached. The
reader of taste will wish that he had conveyed his mean
ing in different language. — Haslam's Observations on
Madness, p. 267, 2nd ed.

( 35 )
No motive to obedience operates so effec
tually as love. Every ingenuous heart has
felt its power. Unless therefore we be su
premely desirous of yielding ourselves tothe
salutary influence of our Saviour's doctrine, at
all times and in all circumstances, in retire
ment as in the world, the object of his ministry
is not accomplished in us, and we have yet to
learn what it is to love him.
That spirit which seeks its gratification
in the ways of beneficence and mercyj is pe
culiarly the spirit ofthe gospel, and forms an
interesting part of the Christian character :
in this we shall present the mcst amiable
feature of our Master's likeness; and it is
this which he himself requires of us as the
unambiguous test of our being his true
and accepted disciples. " This is my com
mandment, that ye love one another, as I have
loved you*." In the breast of the Christian,
over whpm Ipve to Jesus has its perfect controul,
every angry and malignant passion is subdued ;
and he orders his whole deportment, towards his
family and friends, and indeed towards the uni-
• John xv. 12.'

( 36 )
versal family of God, from aprinciple of benig
nity and kindness. Such an one, like his great
teacher, beholds, with tender sorrow, the pains,
difficulties and distresses of those around him ;
and recognizes the claim upon his exertions to
relieve, to counsel and to bless : and while he
springs forward to remove or mitigate the
sufferings of the destitute, to give food to the
hungry and raiment to the naked, it is not
less the object of his virtuous care, to feed
their souls with th& bread of life, and
" clothe them," as the prophet beautifully
expresses it, " with the garments of salv
ation*." These are the brightest evidences,
the fairest fruits, of attachment to an unseen
Saviour. The man who has acquired this
heavenly temper, will stand before the pre
sence of his Judge " with exceeding joy."—
" Inasmuch, as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have, done
it unto met."
If, moreover, Christ be the object of our
affectionate regard, neither a criminal love of
the world, nor a false unworthy shame will
* Is. Ixi. 10. f Matth. xxv. 40.

C 37 )
prevail with us to pour contempt on his posi
tive institutions. His condescension in appoint
ing the commemorative ordinance ofthe Lord's
supper, more especially, will engage our admi
ration and gratitude; and we shall deem it a
sacred privilege thus to bring his dying love
to our recollection, to avow our relationship
to hira and to glory in his cross.
In a word, if your love to Jesus be some
thing more than a name, if it be cordial and
sincere, you will receive him as " a teacher
sent from God*," resign yourselves wholly to
him and his gospel, and be active and uniform
in your obedience to his laws. As this is your
duty, so it is your interest ; for without this^
you can have no hope towards your Saviour
and your God; without this, your faith, how
ever pure, loses all its worth, and is insigni
ficant and vain ; nay, your knowledge will
increase your condemnation ; it may be more
tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the
day of judgment, than for you : without
this, you may indeed imagine that you are
Christ's, but — it is his own most solemn de-
* John iii. 2.

( 38 )
claration — Christ is not yours: you have no
part with him. '* If a man love me, he will
keep my words. " Ye are my friends, if ye
do whatsoever I command you*."
Secondly ; Love to Christ, if it really exists
in our hearts, will manifest itself in the culti
vation of his spirit and the imitation of his ex
ample. The character of our Lof d was not merely
without spot and blemish ; it was a model of
sublime goodness : its excellences were all
blended together in just and beautiful propor
tion. It was, in other words, a faithful tran
script of his instructions. This testimony of
our affection, therefore, may be supposed to
coincide with tbe preceding. - I mention it
distinctly, however, because such is the well-
known constitution of the mind, that we
uniformly wish to resemble those who ap
pear amiable in our eyes. Now, we conceive
that our views of the person of Jesus give
peculiar efficacy lo his example. For if, as
some think, he be truly and properly God,
how, without the most flagrant abuse of lan-
* John xiv. 23. xv. 14.

f 39 )
guage, can we speak of him as a paftern of
flevotion, resignation and obedience ? Or even
if he be a spirit of superior rank in the scale
of intelligent existence, it is difficult to imagine
how we can set hira before us as in the same
circumstances with ourselves. The observ
ation of a great critic with regard to the effect
of a popular poem, is full of truth, and may be
applied, in its utmost latitude, to Ihe case be
fore us. " On this scheme, we find no trans
action in the history of Jesus, in which we can
be engaged ; behold no condition in which we
can by any effort of imagination place our
selves: we have, therefore, little natural curi
osity or sympathy*." — Indeed I see not how
we can bring his character intimately home, if
I may so speak, to our feelings : it will-be be-
* " The plan of Paradise Lost has this inconvenience,
that it comprises neither human actions nor human manners.
The man and woman who act and suffer, are in a state
which no other man or woman can ever know. The
reader finds no transaction in which he can be engaged;
beholds no condition in which he can by any effort of
imagination place himself; he has, therefore, little natural
curiosity or sympathy.'" Johnson's Life of Milton.

( 40 )
yond our sphere ; and a model of human virtue
will still be wanting. But if, as in our judg
ment, the scriptures represent him, he was,
with respect to bis nature, " in all points like
unto his brethren*," the excellences which we
behold in him will scarcely fail to encourage
and animate, whilst they delight us. Are there
not before me those who can bear witness to the
truth of my statement ? — who have been sanc
tified and comforted by these views ? and who
are living monuments of their power ? who
have hence been led to make it their care and
ambition to put on Christ, to imbibe his spirit,
to tread in his steps, to go and do likewise ? —
Yes ! I am warranted to indulge the pleasing
persuasion that there are. Oh, that these, the
most glorious triumphs of the truth as it is in
Jesus, may be multiplied without measure! For
if, instead of submitting ourselves to the low and
degraded standard of the world, we give all
diligence that as much as possible ofthe same
mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus, if this
once become the habitual temper of our souls,
the governing principle of our actions, we

* Heb, ii. 17.

( 42 )
dom ? — The precepts of the New Testament, on
this head, are too plain to be mistaken. '* Search
the scriptures." " Prove all things; holdfast
that which is good." " Believe not every
spirit; but try the spirits whether they be of
God*." — " He that hath ears to hear, let him
heart," was language frequently used by our
Lord to awaken the attention of his audience :
and the apostle of the gentiles, acting upon the
same principle, addressed himself to the un
derstanding of his converts ; " I speak as unto
wise men ; judge ye what I say J." A careful
examination ofthe sacred record is therefore the
duty, as it is the right, of every man and espe
cially of every Christian : and for this duty we
must account on the great day §.
* John v. 39. 1 Thess v. 21. 1 John iv. 1.
f Matt. xi. 15. Mark iv. 9. Luke xiv. 35.
+ 1 Cor. x. 15.
§ Mr. Locke's method of studying the scriptures by
making the sacred writers their own interpreters — allowing
the more plain and intelligible passages to illustrate the
more obscure and difficult— has the strongest claim on our
attention. By adopting this plan " we may be said," as
it has been happily remarked, " to make use of an infal
lible comment in the explanation of an infallible text."
Jebb's Works, Vol. 1. p. 16.

( 41 )
need no surer token that we sincerely love him ;
and we may anticipate, with humble confi
dence and lively hope, the hour when he shall
come to Teckon with his servants and to deter
mine the everlasting condition of mankind.
Thirdly ; Sincere affection for Christ will
express itself in our concern to vindicate the hon-
our, and promote the interests, of his kingdom.
The first object undoubtedly should be to
acquire, as far as we are able, a just and com
prehensive knowledge of Christian truth. And
yet, so gross is the inconsistency of human be
ings, many who believe in the divine original
of Christianity, shew no anxiety to inquire
what are its genuine uncorrupted doctrines ;
they even stigmatize such enquiries as trifling
and visionary, if not presumptuous. But has
the Almighty spoken to his creatures, and will
it bear a doubt whether his creatures are in
terested in understanding what he has spoken ?
Has Jesus been empowered to make a reve
lation of his Father's will, and shall we be
excused if we take no pains to ascertain the
import of his message? Would such indiffer
ence betoken either our gratitude or our wis-
D

( 43 )
If Christianity has, for ages, been so dis
guised by the inventions of men, as scarcely to
be perceived in its native lustre— if the tenets
of a spurious philosophy have been substituted
for fhe plain declarations of the scriptures; —
if abuses and corruptions still dishonour the
name, and detract from thc power, of our reli
gion : abuses and corruptions, indeed, which,
no less than the violence and ridicule of its
adversaries, prove the religion that survives to
be from above; — if other objects of worship
are placed on the throne of the One Supreme ;
— if the harmony that subsists between all the
attributes of Got" is forgotten ; — if the righteous
Judge ofthe whole earrh is represented as an
unjust and capricious tyrant, confounding the
innocent with the guilty, and making no dis
tinction between the hardened transgressor and
the humble penitent; — if the extravagances of
error and superstition arc holden forth as the
grand peculiarities of the gospel^surcly it is
incumbent on us, after the example of the first
reformers, to bring the articles of our faith to
the touchstone of scripture, in order to satisfy
ourselves whether what we believe be true or
d2

( 44 )
false : and if the doctrine of Christ be dear to
our hearts, we shall labour, in the spirit of those
eminent confessors, to purify it from the dross
by which it is incumbered and debased. It is
thus alone that, under a divine blessing, we can
carry on towards its completion, the important
work which it was their honour to begin *, and
in the support of which they welcomed insult,
persecution and death. Nor can we act up to
the measure of our duty, unless we avow the
truth, calmly indeed, but without fear, without
disguise, without reserve ; and exert ourselves,
by all ingenuous and honourable means, to
promulgate it. Without this confession of our
Master before men, we cannot hope that he will
confess us before the angels of God. With
out this care to promote the virtue and happi
ness of makmd, we cannot be the disciples of
• The reformers themselves were far from thinking
that their efforts had done every thing. They left in the
preface to one of their service-books, a passage to this
purpose : " That they Iiad gone as far as they could in
reforming the church, considering the times they lived in,
and hoped they 'that came after them would, as they
might, do more."
Peirce's Vindication of the Dissenters, p. 11.

( 45 )
him who " came into the world that he might
bear witness to the truth." There is here no
excuse or refuge for timidity. <« Whoso,"
says our divine Saviour, " loveth father or
mother more than me, is not worthy of me."
If, because you dread contempt, reproach and
suffering, you, like Peter, deny him and say you
know him not, the hour will come, though per
haps too late, when the anguish which Peter
felt will rend your hearts, and you will go forth
and weep bitterly.
There are few, if any, amongst us, who are
-utterly devoid of ability to aid the progress of
religious truth : and though it is not every
one whp can experience the satisfaction of hav
ing rescued multitudes from error, where
error is most unfriendly to happiness ; though
it is not in the power of every individual to
become a Lardncr, a Priestley, a Lindsey, or a
Jebb — men who were as burning and shining
lights in the sanctuary of God, and whose
names will be revered by generations yet un
born — still, where are they of whom it may be
said, that they can do nothing in the cause of
truth, that they have no means of extending
the faith and spirit of the gospel ? The condi-

C 46 )
tion of such persons, if such there be, is de>
plorable indeed. They have no talents and
no virtues. Much, however, as may be done by indi
vidual exertion, it is always found that the well
regulated efforts of men in society are capable
of accomplishing infinitely more. Upon this
acknowledged principle, you, my friends, have
formed yourselves into an association for the
purpose of distributing small tracts which ex
plain the doctrines and inculcate the duties of
what you conceive to be genuine Christianity.
May you find your reward in the increasing
prevalent of pure religion, that religion which
renders those who cordially embrace it " wor
thy of him who gave himself for us to redeem
us from all iniquity !" The object is so great
and glorious, that it more than justifies the
warmest zeal. But ardently as we wish to
promote our cause, let us disdain to promote
it at the expence of charity and candour,
or by methods which" the spirit of Christi
anity abhors. — Happy will it be for us, my
brethren, if while we labour to disseminate
the truth, we seriously endeavour to make it
the rule pf our own conduct no less than of

f 47 )
our belief: we may then indulge the delightful
hope of being associated, above the reach of
temptation, and beyond the possibility of of
fending God, in employment and blessedness
for ever. " Where I am," said Jesus, " there shall
my servants be." The day hastens on, when,
having received power from on high, he shall
return to complete the triumphs of his king
dom, and fully to accomplish the designs of his
Father's government. If we be found faith
ful, with what satisfaction and transport shall
we open our eyes on that morning ! — For then
we shall be admitted to the presence, to the
converse, to the communion and to the friend
ship of that exalted Saviour whom, having
not seen, we have loved, in whom, having
only believed in him, we have rejoiced with
joy unspeakable and full of glory. Then',
our minds being more enlightened and our pre
judices done away, we shall be acquainted, in
all its lustre and extent, with the plan of di
vine wisdom and mercy, which was executed
by his ministry; and shall receive from his
own lips the testimonies of that unexampled
love which induced him to die that we might

( 48 )
live. Then too, we shall take our abode with
the best and worthiest of our race, with all
who have lived and died in the Lord. And
then, — Oh, what a cordial is the hope! — we
shall be re-united to our pious parents, chil
dren, relatives and friends ; shall again meet
the Deloved companions of our youth, those
who were our chief joy, dear fo us as our-
* selves, but who are now numbered wifh the
dead. We shall meet them, even more lovely
and engaging than they were in their earthly
' sojourn, and be for ever charmed by their in
telligence and virfues. — Then shall we join
with myriads, delivered by Jesus from the
bondage of sin and the grave, in songs of un
interrupted peace and triumph, ascribing glory
and honour and thanks unto Him that sitteth
on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and
ever. O blessed day ! Come Lord Jesus, come
quickly !
THE END.

PRINTED BY 3. BELCHER AND SON, BIRMINGHAM.