Philadelphia, or, a treatise of brotherly-love Shewing, that we must love all men: love the wicked in general: love our enemies: that the godly must especially love another: and the reasons of each particular love. The manner of our mutual love; the dignity, necessity, excellenc, and usefulness of brotherly-love. That the want of love, where love is due, is hatred, shewed in divers particulars. The greatness of the sin of malice and hatred; with the reasons why wicked men hate the saints: together with cautions against those sins that break the bond of love. Many weighty questions discussed, and divers cases cleared. By William Gearing, minister of the word.

CHAP. VIII. I come now to the main thing in my Text, and that is Christian-Love: And thence shall ob∣serve,

Sect. I.

Observ. THat it is the message and solemn charge of God and Christ, That Christians should love one another. It is not an Arbitrary thing, That we should love one another, but the Command of God; a great Command, and that which is joyned to believing in his Son Jesus Christ, 1 Joh. 3.23. The one is as truly necessa∣ry to Salvation as the other. Let men talk of Believing (while they will) on the Son of God; yet if they have no Love one to ano∣ther, Their Faith is a dead Faith; because God stands much upon this, To have his people live together in Love: At the begin∣ning of the verse he saith, it is his Command∣ment, and at the end of the verse he saith, he gave us Commandment. It is also observable, that he saith of the Commandment of Love, he gave us that Commandment: It is a gift; we

should not only submit to it, as being bound by the Authority of it; but we should open our hearts to it, and cheerfully embrace it, as a Gift from God.

Love is an affection of the Heart, arising out of an Apprehension of God's Love to us, and embracing others in the Lord, 1 Joh. 4.11. If God so loved us, we ought also to love another. He sheweth, whence this spiritual love springeth, even from an Apprehension of God's Love to us. Now from this Love to God, ariseth our Love to others. Ver. 20. If a man say, he loveth God, and hateth his brother, he is a Lyar; and ver. 21. This Commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also. So that, as our Love to God ariseth from God's Love to us; so this spiritual Love to men ariseth, both from God's Love to us, and our Love to God. And it is in the Lord: True spiritual Love, carrieth a respect to God, and not so much to outward things. It loveth others, either with respect to God's Graces in them, or with respect to God's Command; either, be∣cause God hath put his likeness upon them; or because God hath commanded them to love them. In the former respect, this Love em∣braceth the Godly: in the second, All men; be∣cause God hath commanded us to love all, un∣der the name of our Neighbour: For that an∣swer of Saviour to the question, (Who is my

Neighbour?) is appliable to any. And Christ, who speaketh peremptorily, [I say unto you, Love your enemies] excludeth none.

Now that this Love is sound, only in the sanctified Soul, is easily proved by the Descrip∣tion it self; for it ariseth from an apprehension of God's Love to us. Now wheresoever this is rightly apprehended, there is some degree of Sanctification, and the heart is in some measure purified. For God's Love is apprehen∣ded by a sound Faith, and a sound Faith puri∣fieth the heart: Yea the Love of God pre∣vaileth so far, as to brin•• the heart, out of Love with Sin, and so to purge and cleanse out those sinful dispositions and affections of the heart, which are contrary to the Love of God; and so purifieth the heart.

A new commandment I give unto you, saith our Saviour to his Disciples, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another, Joh. 13.34. This is my Command∣ment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, Joh. 15.12.

SECT. II.

THere are two remarkable things, about this: Christ calleth it a new Command∣ment, and he calleth it his Commandment.

He calleth it a new Commandment for these reasons.

1. Because it is given after a new manner. The Law commandeth us to love our Neighbour as our selves. Wh••••e our Love to our selves, is the Rule of our Love to our Neighbour. But Christ in his Gospel commandeth us to love one another, sicut ego dilexi vos, as I have lo∣ved you, saith he: We must Love each other even as he hath loved us. Where Christ's Love to us must be the Rule and Measure of our Love to the Saints, and to all men.

The Law saith, Thou shalt love thy Neigh∣bour: Christ extends it further, and saith, Thou shalt love thy very Enemies.

Our Love must be, like the Sun in the Firma∣ment, that shineth upon the Good and the Bad. Our Love (like the Clouds) must drop on the barren Heath, as well as upon the rich and fruitful Soyl. We must do good to them that do us evil, bless them that curse us.

2. It is called new in respect of the excel∣lency of this Grace, and so it is an Hebraism: It was the Hebrew custom to call excellent things, new: quia nova, aut sunt, aut videntur meliora quàm vetera; because new things, either are, or seem to be better than old. As if our Saviour had said, Many a Commandment have I delivered unto you, but this is instead of all; Love one another. Love will make you to keep all the other. Love is the fulfilling of the Law.

3. It is called new, as Maldonat thinketh, not because it is a new command, or delivered in a new manner, but because our Saviour com∣mendeth this above all, and commandeth and presseth it to his Disciples, as if it were a new command brought from heaven; as if they ne∣ver heard of such Truth before, Love one ano∣ther. Novitas respicit studium diligendi, non man∣datum.

4. It is called a new Commandment, as the Gospel is called a new Testament.

5. Because it must be renued every day; We must love, and yet moreover we must pay this this debt of Love continually, and yet still stand in debt.

Christ calleth it his Command for two reasons.

1. Because among all the Commands of the Moral Law, he presseth this most of all; As if he had said, Moses from God commandeth you many things, I command this, Love ye one a∣nother: This is the Royal Law, which ye must obey.

2. Because he is most delighted in it: It is the joy of Christ, when he seeth Brethren to dwell together in Love and Unity. Psal. 133.1. It is like the precious Oyntment of Aaron; How sweet was that? It is like the Dew of Hermon; How fruitful is that? For there the Lord com∣mandeth his Blessing, even Life for evermore. Eternal Life is the Crown; the Reward, the blessing of Brotherly Love: How pleasant, how comly is that?

This is one of those weightier things of the Law, which our Saviour speaks of Mat. 23. Yea, the weight of the Law lieth upon it, as it were: For the Law is fulfilled by Love; not excluding Faith, but presupposing it. This is the order, first Faith, secondly Love to God, thirdly Love to man. Faith apprehendeth God's Love to us in Christ, God's Love apprehended by Faith, makes us love God: Our Love to God maketh us to love our Neighbour. And where this Or∣der is not framed in the Heart and Soul, there is no right orderly frame of Holiness; but meer disorder and confusion. There may be some confused motions now and then, towards

heavenly things, and some disordered purpo∣ses to lead a new life; but there is not Christ formed in the heart, nor holiness framed there, nor Kingdom of Christ set up there; nor I∣mage of God imprinted there; nor the Law of God written there.