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Article THE FREEMASONS' REPOSITORY. ← Page 2 of 7 →
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The Freemasons' Repository.
don to offences , may , with a small variation , be applied to the infelicities of lift : ' Brethren , if a man be overtaken with , misfortunes , ye which are prosperous relieve such a one in the spirit of compassion , considering thyself lest thou also be afflicted . ' Should we even in this respect be disappointed in our expectations , should our brethren fail in point of gratitude , and desert us in the needful time of troubleyet have we this anchor of our hope sure and steadfastthat
, , ' God is not unrighteous , that he should forget our work , and labour ' , of love , in that we have ministered to the distressed . ' Amongst the ancient heathens , tenderness of heart towards the wretched , it is true , was no very common virtue ; nor was it veryprevalent among the Jews , though Moses repeatedly and pathetically enjoins it . But our blessed Saviour , who , therefore , recommends this '
as a new commandment , and whose beneficent doctrine is one strong evidence of his mission from God , besides teaching more efficaciously , than ever was done before , the obligation of mutual love in general , hath particularly enforced this duty , by his miracles of healing , by his parable of the good Samaritan , and still more strongly by that , affecting and awful description of his own future accepting or renouncing of us at the iudement of the great day .
Accordingly , from the unanimous testimony of ancient records , as well profane as christian , we learn that the first , professors of the . gospel were the most benevolent of men , and the affection of their ' successors to each other a subject of general wonder . No sooner did the gospel spread abroad in the world , but the love and charity of christians became notorious , es-en to a proverb . They , were united in the most happy fraternity ; they lived as brethrenand
, accounted themselves as such , not onl y as being sprung from one common parent , in which respect they acknowledged the very heathens , to be brethren , but upon much hi g her accounts ; : that they had one and the same God . for their father , drank , all of the same spirit ofholiness , were brought out of the same abyss of darkness and ignorance into the same lip-htpf truth : and that they were partakers of the .
same faith , and co-heirs ofthe same hope . So sincere and constant was their familiarity , that they never met without addressing each other with all the demonstrations of an ardent and unfeigned afFection , whether at home or in their religious assemblies , as a badge andbond , of that christian fellowship and communion which was maintained amongst them . Nor . did the kindness and mutual affection of those christians of old confine itself to a mere compliinental demeanour , a ,
ceremonious respeft , or profaseness of good words , ' Depart in peace , ' be ye warmed and filled , ' but in the actual exercise of mercy and benevolence . Their chief and primary care was , indeed , for the souls of men ; to rescue them from the snares and sedncements ofthe great enemy to mankind , and from the paths of ruin , ib // bringing them to the knowledge and profession of the truth as it h . in Christ Jesus ; but at the same time , in their attention to the welfare of their brethren wey were far from overlooking the necessities of th ; outward life . They secured a competent provision for the poor and indigent ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Freemasons' Repository.
don to offences , may , with a small variation , be applied to the infelicities of lift : ' Brethren , if a man be overtaken with , misfortunes , ye which are prosperous relieve such a one in the spirit of compassion , considering thyself lest thou also be afflicted . ' Should we even in this respect be disappointed in our expectations , should our brethren fail in point of gratitude , and desert us in the needful time of troubleyet have we this anchor of our hope sure and steadfastthat
, , ' God is not unrighteous , that he should forget our work , and labour ' , of love , in that we have ministered to the distressed . ' Amongst the ancient heathens , tenderness of heart towards the wretched , it is true , was no very common virtue ; nor was it veryprevalent among the Jews , though Moses repeatedly and pathetically enjoins it . But our blessed Saviour , who , therefore , recommends this '
as a new commandment , and whose beneficent doctrine is one strong evidence of his mission from God , besides teaching more efficaciously , than ever was done before , the obligation of mutual love in general , hath particularly enforced this duty , by his miracles of healing , by his parable of the good Samaritan , and still more strongly by that , affecting and awful description of his own future accepting or renouncing of us at the iudement of the great day .
Accordingly , from the unanimous testimony of ancient records , as well profane as christian , we learn that the first , professors of the . gospel were the most benevolent of men , and the affection of their ' successors to each other a subject of general wonder . No sooner did the gospel spread abroad in the world , but the love and charity of christians became notorious , es-en to a proverb . They , were united in the most happy fraternity ; they lived as brethrenand
, accounted themselves as such , not onl y as being sprung from one common parent , in which respect they acknowledged the very heathens , to be brethren , but upon much hi g her accounts ; : that they had one and the same God . for their father , drank , all of the same spirit ofholiness , were brought out of the same abyss of darkness and ignorance into the same lip-htpf truth : and that they were partakers of the .
same faith , and co-heirs ofthe same hope . So sincere and constant was their familiarity , that they never met without addressing each other with all the demonstrations of an ardent and unfeigned afFection , whether at home or in their religious assemblies , as a badge andbond , of that christian fellowship and communion which was maintained amongst them . Nor . did the kindness and mutual affection of those christians of old confine itself to a mere compliinental demeanour , a ,
ceremonious respeft , or profaseness of good words , ' Depart in peace , ' be ye warmed and filled , ' but in the actual exercise of mercy and benevolence . Their chief and primary care was , indeed , for the souls of men ; to rescue them from the snares and sedncements ofthe great enemy to mankind , and from the paths of ruin , ib // bringing them to the knowledge and profession of the truth as it h . in Christ Jesus ; but at the same time , in their attention to the welfare of their brethren wey were far from overlooking the necessities of th ; outward life . They secured a competent provision for the poor and indigent ;