much as possible, and court not the attention of the world to our piety by any vain and offensive ostentation. Difficult however though such a course of charity may be, let us praise God that he hath no where required more of man than Himself hath enabled him to perform, and let us pray to Him to pour into our hearts this most excellent gift in the full hope that the prayer of faith may be heard not only for ourselves but for all those also our brethren for whom he hath commanded us to inter cede. A DISCOURSE IV. CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. (9) MATT. vii. 1. Judge not, that ye be not judged. ONE of the most striking particulars in St. Paul's beautiful description of Christian charity is that it "thinketh no evil." This excellent quality is not however always found characteristic of the conduct of Christian people; indeed there are few of our Saviour's plain positive precepts that are so commonly kept out of sight even by those who in matters of greater apparent solemnity seem anxious to obey his commands. Nothing is more common either amongst the world in general, amongst the more sober part of society, or amongst those who are esteemed of superior piety, than to hear men pronouncing sentence on the conduct of their neighbours with as little hesitation and as much security as if the practice were no where forbidden, as though our Lord and Master had never said "Judge not, that ye not judged." be Let us therefore now consider what kind of judging is here forbidden, seriously call to mind the reasons which should induce us to desist from the practice, and in conclusion endeavour to form a right estimate of that true Christian liberality which is no less conducive to the well-being of society than it is an important part of our duty to God. I. Now the kind of judging here forbidden is undoubtedly not of things but of persons. The passage immediately following the text proves that our Saviour means to condemn the habit of censuring the conduct and pronouncing sentence on the salvation of those amongst whom we live, our brethren in kindred, in society, in nation, or in religion. We may hate sin, but we must not presume to cast the first stone at the sinner; we must exercise a severe scrutiny into our own hearts, but we must not presume to determine what passes in the hearts of others. expressions therefore are here forbidden, and still more all thoughts which proceed on the assumption that the tares and the wheat, the sheep and the goats, can be discerned by mortal eye, or separated before the great day of final account. If this be the kind of judging forbidden, the precept is clearly applicable to the general subject of our consideration, and seems directly at All |