SERMON XXIII.

ON CHARITY.

1st. CORINTH. CHAP. Xiii. VER. 13. And now abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, these three; but the greatest of these is Charity.

HAVING already enlarged upon Faith and Hope, I come now to treat of that which is confessedly superior to them both:-"The 66 greatest of these is Charity." The distinguished excellence of this above all other virtues, has frequently employed the pens of the first writers in every age, ancient and modern, sacred and profane;

the advantage seems to lie in the peculiar blessings it affords us in this life, as well as the foundation it lays for a store of happiness to come. Faith and Hope chiefly respect the life to come, and are to be viewed rather as productive of religious than moral good; this comprehends both, and is not merely a virtue in itself, it is the bond of all virtues.

The common acceptation of Charity is that relief which the superfluity of one man's possessions bestows upon the necessities of another; or in other words, giving alms to the poor. This is a very partial definition of Charity, which confines it to the exercise of one of its good qualities, leaving the more numerous and more material parts unemployed. Charity has a much more extensive signification; her virtues are more excellent, her powers unlimited-it is nothing less than fulfilling in the strictest sense, all the command

ments of God that are comprehended in the second table, according to the Mosaic division; it is the love of our neighbour, and includes under that description, the restraint of every unruly passion that can render us unworthy or unpleasant mem→ bers of society, and the exercise of every virtue and indulgence of every humane affection that may contribute to the general order and harmony, and endear man to man ;-clearly does St. Paul express his liberal idea of Christian charity, in the verses preceding my text-" Though I "speak with the tongues of men and "angels, and have not charity, I am "become as sounding brass or a tinkling ❝ cymbal."

The finest worldly accomplishments upon which men are apt to value themselves eloquence, knowledge, superior talents of any kind, are of little weight in the balance where charity is wanting;

present, that the meaning of charity is not confined to any partial acts of bene volence, but it signifies our good works in general; those actions of a man's life that will be weighed in the balance on the great day of reckoning, to counteract the multitude of sins. It is then, in the

close of life, that hope shines forth in all her glory, and the review of our past life will ever determine the hope of the life to

come.

Miserable indeed is the prospect of futurity to the guilty soul-unsteady in its faith, and void of charity, that sickens at the body's decay, shudders at the recollection of its own unworthiness, and daring not to aspire to hope, sinks into misery and despair. But the good and just view not the approach of death as a scene of darkness and dismay-hope animates them with her reviving influence, sheds her parting ray on the setting sun of life,