Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Union Of Love To God And Love To Man, A Sermon, Preached In St. Andrew's Church, New Town, Edinburgh,
separation by death , we shall meet again in the world above , and be companions for ever . This being the case , we ought surely to consider our Brother as one whom we are not only bound to love , but whom we ought zealously to help forward in his way to the Heavenly Zion , because thither doth he and we profess to bend our course . - Againthe word Brother implies one in whom the infinitelwise
, y and gracious Author of our being has forced us to take a particular interest , by the impulse of some of the strongest princi ples of our nature . To the welfare of his fellow-creatures no man can be indifferent , without incurring much guilt , and without shewing that he has either the baseness to resist the dictates of some of the sweetest and strongest affections of the soul , or that , by a most criminal depravity
of his nature , he has rendered himself callous and insensible to , these . When our Brother is in poverty , that nature which we * , have in common with him , speaks for him . His state is then the direct object of our pity . When we behold' him naked and hungry , without waiting- for any deductions of reason , an advocate spontaneously riseth up in our breasts to lead for him . When he is sickwe
nap , turally wish to visit and comfort him . When he has lost a parent on whom he depended , or a child whom his soul loved , we sympathise with him in his grief ; and , in every case of his great distress , we take part with him in his sufferings , and we wish to poui \ balm into his wounds . In his joy also we rejoice , and his good fortune makes a part of our own . ' . ,-.-,-.
-Instances to the contrary are always justly esteemed marks , of a base and'depraved heart : it is an evidence of a narrow and perverted soul , to be indifferent either to the joys or sorrows of others . Such a man tramples upon those natural powerful Jaws , which , like so . many golden cords , unite the human species , and by which the Gracious Author of our being has , in a certain degree , compelled us to take a warm interest in each other ' s welfareand hasmade it become at once
, our duty and our pleasure to bear one another's burthens , and to . share with each other both in our good and bad fortune . Moreover , the word Brother implies one from whose . society we derive some of our best pleasures and enjoyments . The union and friendship of each creature to those of its ' own species , is one of those general principles upon which Infinite Wisdom has acted , in the great
work of the creation . . Every thing is so formed as to have a predilection for those of its own kind . This analogy runs through all the " works of God , even from-the lower forms of dead matter , up to man ,, whom He has created after his own image . This principle is indeed of no value to things that are void of perception . The brutes , howeverenjoy much happiness from social intercourse with those of
, their own species . But man , as he is the noblest of the terrestrial works of God , so his capacity of enjoyment from the society of his Brethren is by far the greatest . In his case , both his intellectual and his moral powers serve as so many inlets to felicity , arising froth good neighbourhood and social intercourse with his fellow-creatures . P 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Union Of Love To God And Love To Man, A Sermon, Preached In St. Andrew's Church, New Town, Edinburgh,
separation by death , we shall meet again in the world above , and be companions for ever . This being the case , we ought surely to consider our Brother as one whom we are not only bound to love , but whom we ought zealously to help forward in his way to the Heavenly Zion , because thither doth he and we profess to bend our course . - Againthe word Brother implies one in whom the infinitelwise
, y and gracious Author of our being has forced us to take a particular interest , by the impulse of some of the strongest princi ples of our nature . To the welfare of his fellow-creatures no man can be indifferent , without incurring much guilt , and without shewing that he has either the baseness to resist the dictates of some of the sweetest and strongest affections of the soul , or that , by a most criminal depravity
of his nature , he has rendered himself callous and insensible to , these . When our Brother is in poverty , that nature which we * , have in common with him , speaks for him . His state is then the direct object of our pity . When we behold' him naked and hungry , without waiting- for any deductions of reason , an advocate spontaneously riseth up in our breasts to lead for him . When he is sickwe
nap , turally wish to visit and comfort him . When he has lost a parent on whom he depended , or a child whom his soul loved , we sympathise with him in his grief ; and , in every case of his great distress , we take part with him in his sufferings , and we wish to poui \ balm into his wounds . In his joy also we rejoice , and his good fortune makes a part of our own . ' . ,-.-,-.
-Instances to the contrary are always justly esteemed marks , of a base and'depraved heart : it is an evidence of a narrow and perverted soul , to be indifferent either to the joys or sorrows of others . Such a man tramples upon those natural powerful Jaws , which , like so . many golden cords , unite the human species , and by which the Gracious Author of our being has , in a certain degree , compelled us to take a warm interest in each other ' s welfareand hasmade it become at once
, our duty and our pleasure to bear one another's burthens , and to . share with each other both in our good and bad fortune . Moreover , the word Brother implies one from whose . society we derive some of our best pleasures and enjoyments . The union and friendship of each creature to those of its ' own species , is one of those general principles upon which Infinite Wisdom has acted , in the great
work of the creation . . Every thing is so formed as to have a predilection for those of its own kind . This analogy runs through all the " works of God , even from-the lower forms of dead matter , up to man ,, whom He has created after his own image . This principle is indeed of no value to things that are void of perception . The brutes , howeverenjoy much happiness from social intercourse with those of
, their own species . But man , as he is the noblest of the terrestrial works of God , so his capacity of enjoyment from the society of his Brethren is by far the greatest . In his case , both his intellectual and his moral powers serve as so many inlets to felicity , arising froth good neighbourhood and social intercourse with his fellow-creatures . P 2