Be ye

therefore

rain on the just and on the unjust. perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. v. 43-48.) Do not take the rules and maxims you have heard of men, for your directory, but keep your eye single on the character of your heavenly Father, as your standard, and regulate your hearts by that. No matter, to you, what the world calls right; see that you be actuated by the principles which God exercises. Live in his spirit, and be his children by resembling him.

It will be perceived, from the context, that our Saviour enjoined this with special reference to the duty of loving our enemies, because that God loves his enemies, that is, "the unjust," and "the evil." Let us be particular to observe the ground on which this is urged, namely, our natural obligation to conform to the divine example. If God did not love his enemies, it would become our duty not to love ours; for, at all events, we ought to be like him in our disposition and principles of action. "Be ye perfect," or right, "even as your Father in heaven is so," -this is a universal law, binding us in all our moral relations, and extending to every element in our character.

We have introduced these considerations, because they appear to bring before us, in a very forcible manner, the foundation on which all our moral and religious duty rests, and on which it must for ever rest, the immutable law by which we are bound to resemble God, in the spirit and temper of our minds. Religiously speaking, we cannot be his children, any farther than we conform to him in these respects. The purport of our Saviour's injunction is, Love your enemies, that ye may be the children of your Father in heaven; for ye see that he has set you the example, in his own administration: he makes his sun to rise, and the rain to fall, on the unjust and evil, who are his enemies, as well as on the just and the good, who are his friends. We suppose it so self-evident, as to need no labored illustration, that all true righteousness, on our part, consists in our having the same spirit, in some degree, that God has; in our wills being brought into agreement with his; in our acting from the same principles within, that reign in him; in our loving what he loves, and hating what he hates; in our cherishing the same af

fections that he exercises, and thus becoming the moral image of himself. The nearer we are like God, in all these respects, the nearer right are we, and the more approved in his sight.

Having placed this great and fundamental law of duty in open view before us, we propose, now, to show the bearings which it has on certain doctrines, in the Christian church, concerning the divine character and government. We shall find it determines several very interesting points of this kind, which are in question among religious people.

Of all subjects, ever presented to us, there can be none more important than those which relate to the divine disposition towards the world of mankind. How is the Almighty disposed towards us? What is the temper, or spirit, of God, with regard to us? We may answer, in general terms, that the New Testament assures us that he "is Love;" that the gospel, in its very nature, reveals him to us in the character of a Father, of infinite compassion, who so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son to be the Ransom for all, and the Saviour of all. This truth surrounds and encloses all the doctrines of Christianity; it is as the galaxy in that firmament of glory which Jesus Christ disclosed in the heavens above us. But still it is known to be a question, with many, whether this infinite love of our Maker is exercised directly towards the wicked, as towards the righteous, and whether sinners are not in some way excluded from it,-at least whether they are its objects in common with the opposite class. Notwithstanding that St. Paul answers this question, by say ing, that "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," and that "God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins;" notwithstanding that St. John says, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God loved us," and that "we love him because he first loved us,"-still, this is not the prevailing sentiment among religious men in our times. It is one of the most difficult tasks to persuade people that our Father in heaven really loves all mankind, "the just and the unjust, the evil and the good,"-notwithstanding that the whole system of the Christian dispensation, including the authority itself of the gospel, is based on

this very truth. Christ rests his mission from heaven on this one fact, that "God so loved the world," which was then dead in sin, and at enmity with its Maker, yet that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son," the highest act of love which the Father has ever made known. Take away this universal, impartial love, and the gospel falls to the ground at once; the foundation, on which Christ placed it, is gone. And yet, a great many Christians, good Christians otherwise, reluctate at this idea. There seems to be something offensive and shocking to them, in the doctrine that God regards his enemies with the same boundless love that he feels for us.

Now, for the present, we will pass by all the explicit affirmations of the Scriptures to this point; we will not stop even to consider the fact that the gift of a Saviour to the world was an everlasting demonstration of the divine love to sinners in its utmost intensity, and that this love breathes everywhere through the doctrines and the precepts of the gospel ;-set all this aside, if we please. We will only bring the question down to the great law of duty: "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." It is but repeating what we have already observed, when we say that, if he does not love his ene mies, it would be sinful and ungodly in us to love ours; for this would be to go contrary to his example, and to be actuated by a spirit the opposite of his. What is ungodliness? the indulgence of a disposition the reverse of his,-loving what he hates, and hating what he loves. Suppose the popular idea were true, that the just and holy Judge of the universe regards his enemies with abhor rence, such as will lead him to inflict upon them everlasting torment. In that case, we must regard our enemies with the same feeling; for there can be no question that we ought to be godlike. It will be recollected that this is the point which our Saviour enforces, the importance of our being conformed to our heavenly Father's example, in this respect: "Love your enemies; bless them that curse you," Why? on what grounds?" that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Be ye therefore perfect," like him. All the forgiveness that we VOL. X.

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may exercise towards those who wrong us, all the love that we may feel for those who hate us, is but as a drop from that infinite ocean of benevolence which reaches to all who are enemies to God by wicked works. It is God's own spirit in us. It was the spirit of God, in Christ, that led him to lay down his life for the world when it was dead in trespasses and sins. Had it not been for the infinite love of the Father to the ungodly, a Saviour would never have been sent to them from the bosom of divine mercy; nor should we have been called upon to love our enemies, in order to become the children of God. The reverse would have been demanded. And here we may see, also, that the essence of all the commands demonstrates the truth we have presented. They flow forth from the divine nature, and they show what is the character of their source. Our Saviour assures us that they are comprised in love to God, and love to man. The whole law of God is the law of love, and it is therefore like himself. For this reason we are told that, "love is the fulfilling of the law." "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him." How long will it take Christians to learn that truth, which their Master taught by his whole life, as well as by his precepts, and which God is constantly teaching them by his law, and by the workings of his spirit in their hearts!

Perhaps we ought here to throw in a word of caution. When we say that God loves the wicked, we do not, of course, mean that he loves their wickedness, or that he does not punish them for their wrong. He hates their wickedness; and it is our duty also to hate it. He punishes them for their sins; and it often becomes our duty also to punish transgressors, on the same principle from which he acts. But, then, in these considerations there are two important points that must not be overlooked: 1, that to hate the sin, is to love the person himself, and to aim at saving him from it, as God does, and as we ought to do. And 2, that all the punishment which can be inflicted on this principle, is directed to the amendment of the offender. When it is administered for the purpose of making him wretched, without any foresight of his benefit, it ceases to be divine, and becomes diabolical. And we will add a third remark, of equal importance,

that to torment a sinner with the design of letting him remain in his sins forever, and of foreclosing all chance of his reformation, is to punish him, not for his sins, but for the sake of multiplying them, as though he were not yet bad enough, and it were desirable to make him worse. This would be to hate the sinner, and to love his sin. It is a fact, worthy of remark, that every doctrine which denies that God loves sinners,-we mean the persons,necessarily involves the shocking impiety that he loves their sins! that he preserves and eternizes their wickedness as a precious charge, while he destroys their souls!

Let us again bring forward the great law of duty, and see how it bears on a notion not very uncommon, that God is the enemy of the impenitent. If this were the case, the more godly we are, the more inimical should we be to all the unregenerate. Now, let us put the question home: Is it so? By no means. The more we are actuated by the spirit of God, the greater is our love even to the unconverted. We see, then, that the notion begins in mistake, and ends in absurdity. On this ground, also, Jesus Christ would not have been the friend of sinners, as he was called while here on earth, but the greatest enemy to them, that the world ever saw; for he was one in spirit with the Father, the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. Take all the terrible representations that belong to the doctrine of endless misery, such as the vengeance without mercy, which it imputes to the Creator; the wrath that never forgives, never abates, nor pities; the inexorable demand for eternal torment, which it ascribes to his justice; and that implacable resentment which, it is said, is to hold on for ever against millions of souls that he has made, and that he preserves only to suffer, we must consider that, if these were really attributes of the divine nature, they ought to be ours also, and they would, in fact, be those of all true children of God. For this is the standard, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."

We have now pointed out the bearings which the law of duty has on these doctrinal questions, and shown how it decides them. It will not do for us to ascribe to God such a moral character as would be wrong in us. Righteousness is of the same nature, on earth, that it is in