SERMON LXXIV.

ON THE MORAL CHARACTER OF CHRIST..

Jesus of Nazareth-who went about doing good.—ACTS, x. 30.

THERE are two great aspects under which we may contemplate the appearance of our blessed Lord on the earth. One is, his coming into the world in order to make expiation to Divine justice, by his sufferings and death for the guilt of the human race. The other is, his coming to act as the enlightener and reformer of the world, by his doctrine and his life. The first of those views is the most sublime; as on the atonement which he made for us, depended all our hopes of the pardon of sin, and of life eternal. In the other view, it is also of high importance that all Christians should frequently consider him, in order to the proper regulation of their conduct: the observation of his example is no less necessary for this purpose, than attention to his doctrine; as by his doctrine he taught us what we are bound to do, so in his example he shewed us what we ought to be.

Hence the example of our blessed Lord has been ever held up by serious writers to Christians for their instruction and imitation. It obviously possesses many advantages above any other standard of conduct. It carries peculiar obligations from gratitude, interest, and duty, to enforce the imitation of it; and it is the only example, in following which we are certain never to err. It has also another peculiar advantage attending it, which is not so commonly thought of; that is, the universality of its use. It evidently appears that our Lord himself had this benefit to his followers in view, from the train of living which he chose to adopt. He had pitched upon any one station of life, the influence of his example would have been much more limited. The integrity, for instance, of Sa

muel as a judge, the devotion of David on the throne, the fortitude of Daniel in the midst of a corrupt court, hold forth indeed splendid instances of virtue, but they hold them out only to a few; whereas when Christ appeared on earth, he confined himself to no one state of fortune or line of life; he did not addict himself to any particular calling; he did not even fix his residence in one place; but he gives us opportunity of viewing him in different places and situations, in all that variety of lights which indiscriminately regard the bulk of mankind: his life was divided between the contemplative and the active; devotion and business equally shared it. We behold him in private life among his disciples, like a father in the midst of his family. We behold him in public life, acting with authority in the discharge of his high commission, assuming the dignity which belonged to his office, and boldly reproving the great and the powerful. We see him sometimes in poverty and obscurity, contemned and persecuted. We see him at other times elevated into public favour, followed by applauding crowds, and entering Jerusalem in triumph. We can challenge all history, sacred or profane, to shew us any eminent personage, saint, philosopher, or hero, whose character was so thoroughly tried, and so fully exhibited to admiration, as that of our Saviour. What adds greatly to the lustre of his example, it was marked by no affected singularities nor peculiar austerities. He did not seclude himself from ordinary society, but conversed among men with that sort of modest piety and virtue which suits itself to the level of human infirmity, and is conspicuous for the discharge of the plain and substantial duties of a good life.

It is not my intention at present to attempt a full survey of all the graces and virtues which distinguished our Lord's life, and ennobled his sufferings and death; as this would lead into a field too extensive for one discourse: I mean to confine myself to the manner in which he fulfilled the social duties, and exercised his benevolence as a man among men. This will afford an instructive view of what may be termed the moral character of Christ in his ordinary intercourse with the world, and will point out a proper model of our behaviour towards one another. The most studied and laboured encomiums never drew a more amiable character than what is contained in the few and plain words of the text; Jesus of Nazareth, went about doing good. Let us consider in what manner he fulfilled this cha

racter.

I. We are to attend to his assiduity and alacrity in seeking out and embracing every opportunity of doing good; this is the most substantial part of the great virtue of charity. There is a sort of negative goodness with which most men are ready to be satisfied; they applaud themselves if they have kept their

hands free from unjust deeds, and no man can reproach them for working mischief to their neighbour; but with respect to his welfare they are totally indifferent. They remain in a sort of torpid apathy about the concerns of others, without either rejoicing in their prosperity, or being affected with their distresses; this is far below what is required of a good man. We were all designed by our Creator to be parts of one body, members of one great society, where every one was to contribute his part towards the common benefit, and to be made happy by studying to make others so. In proportion indeed as our ability and influence extend, the obligation to be extensively beneficial also grows; but hardly is there any sphere so narrow and circumscribed, as not to afford some opportunities of being useful.-In thy humble and obscure station, thou art apt to think thyself entirely insignificant and lost to the world. To thee, indeed, it may not belong to heal the diseased, to raise the fallen, to supply the indigent, or to bring forward the deserving. But is there none whose spirit thou canst cheer, or whose infirmities thou canst help to lighten? Hast thou no parent, no child, no brother, no friend, to whom thou canst speak the words of comfort in the hour of sowrow, whose mistakes thou canst rectify, or whose erring steps thou canst turn into the right path?

Here let the example of Christ, as far as thy sphere admits it, be before thine eyes, to quicken thy activity and animate thy zeal. The whole history of his life is the history of active and diffusive benignity. Wherever he was present, we find him employed in doing good; either relieving men from their distresses, or making them wise and happy by his instructions. The whole country around him seemed to be his family, and if in a literal sense he had been the father of them all, they could not have exercised his care, or shared his bounty more. The hungry were fed, and the sick were cured, the blind saw, and the lame walked, wherever he came. His miracles never were mere ostentations of power, but always expressions of goodness. Often he prevented the supplications of the distressed, and, unasked, conferred his favours; but never did any person apply to him for aid and relief without receiving it, whether he was Jew or Heathen, friend or foe. What is especially remarkable in his beneficence is, that it was continued and persevering in the midst of ingratitude. This is one of the hardest trials of virtue, not to be soured by the perversity of men, and which persons even of generous spirits find it the most difficult to bear. But though Christ had to deal with a most untoward and stubborn generation, whom no evidence could convince, and no goodness could mollify; though of all the great numbers who had been objects of his beneficence, we read of few who thankfully acknowledged, his kindness, fewer who became his followers, and none who

rose up to assert his cause when born down by unjust persecution; yet, seeking to do good only for its own sake, he persevered to the last in unwearied beneficence. He overcame evil with good it had been his principle, and, it would appear, a noted saying of his, which his disciples remembered and quoted after his death; it is more blessed to give, than to receive.*

II. We ought to propose for imitation that humanity of manners, that gentleness and affability which appeared in the whole of our lord's behaviour. This relates to the manner of conferring benefits, which is often as material as the benefits themselves are. These are sometimes conferred so ungraciously, as to carry the air of insults rather than benefits; whereas, when they bear the marks of proceeding from real kindness, their value is heightened, and they are received with double pleasure. There are numberless occasions, when the discovery of a humane temper, and the lesser offices of obliging and courteous behaviour, contribute essentially to the happiness of others, and supply the place of greater benefits, which may not be in our power to bestow.-For this amiable spirit our Lord was remarkably distinguished. He was open and affable to all, and easier of access than his own disciples. On different occasions we find him checking his disciples, when they restrained the forwardness of the multitude who pressed upon him, seeking relief. Nay, he rebuked them for forbidding little children to come to him, whom the fondness of the parents sought to introduce to his presence. He took the children into his arms and blessed them, and propounded them to his disciples as emblems of that innocence and simplicity which are requisite for our entering into the kingdom of heaven.t-He conversed familiarly with all sorts of people, and readily answered the questions they put to him. He had nothing of that haughty and distant reserve which we so often see maintained by men of the world, and which prevents them from holding intercourse with any whom they consider as their inferiors in reputation or in rank. On the contrary, as our Lord was ready to do good to all, so he disdained not to receive kindness from others; complying cheerfully with the desire of those who invited him to their houses, and accepting in good part the proffered tokens of their well intended respect. For such instances of courtesy he was reproached by the Jews as one who wanted that external severity of manners which they imagined to belong to a professed reformer of the world. But He, who knew what was in the heart of man, saw that gentleness and condescension were more effectual methods of gaining men over to goodness, than harshness and austerity; and therefore did not decline all conversation with men of doubtful or ble

*Acts, xx. 35.

Mark, x. 14.

mished lives, as long as there was any hope of making them bet-. ter. It was indeed true that he was, as they reproached him, a friend to publicans and sinners; for he was a friend to every one to whom he could do good.-At the same time, it is of importance to remark, that this benignity of our Lord's manners never betrayed him into the opposite extreme, never degenerated into that easiness of good-nature, which too often leads men to slide into the manners and habits of those with whom they converse, though they cannot approve of them. Wherever the interests of virtue were concerned, our Saviour was inflexibly firm. He boldly lifted up his voice, and testified against vice and corruption wherever he beheld them. He freely reproved the greatest men of the nation for their hypocritical and assumed shows of sanctity; and the civility with which he was entertained in the house of a Pharisee, did not prevent him from inveighing severely against the vices of that sect in their own presence.*

III. WE are to consider our Lord in the light of a faithful and affectionate friend, and his example as the pattern of all the offices that belong to virtuous friendship. The Apostles whom he chose for his intimate companions and friends, were men of honest and candid minds, and of great plainness and simplicity of character; men who, from real esteem, and from conviction of the truth of his mission, had become his followers, and who, notwithstanding the disadvantages of his fortune in the world, continued to follow him to the last. At the same time, together with those essential principles of worth, they had also great defects. They were most of them of timid and fearful disposition, of slow understanding, backward to apprehend spiritual things, and still prepossessed with the favourite prejudice of their nation, that the promised Messiah was to be a great conqueror, who was to rescue their country from foreign subjection, and raise it to empire and grandeur.-Among these men our Lord passed all the hours of his private life, acting every part of an affectionate and faithful friend, commending, advising, and reproving, with great sincerity, and at the same time, with great tenderness. In his manner of living he put himself perfectly on a level with them. Some of them he honoured with greater intimacy than others; but like a prudent father in his family, he allowed none of them to affect superiority over the rest, and checked all that tended to rivalry among them. He never flattered them in their failings. He never soothed them with vain hopes. He never concealed the disagreeable consequences that would follow from adherence to his cause. Again and again he inculcated what they were backward and unwilling to believe concerning himself; and though the questions they put often discovered a de

Luke, xi. 37.