SERMON XII.

I COR. xiii. 13.

AND NOW ABIDETH FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY, THESE THREE; BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY.

WE do not often, I believe, find in Scrip

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ture one virtue fet above another. authority of God, on which they all reft, in fome degree equalifes them. It was under fome idea of this kind, that an inquiring lawyer asked our Saviour, which was the great commandment? Our Saviour mentioned the first: but immediately fubjoined, that the fecond was like unto it; and that equally on these two depended the law and the prophets. Yet, if he had meant to give the great commandment, at the head of the VOL. III. K decalogue,

decalogue, a diftinguished place, it is only an exception we might expect.

Notwithstanding however this general idea of equality, we find, in the paffage I have just read, three Chriftian virtues compared, and one of them placed in a higher rank than the other two.

This is rather fingular, as it does not obviously appear, why charity fhould be placed before faith and hope. I shall endeavour therefore to explain the difficulty. I fhall firft examine the three virtues of faith, hope, and charity apart. I shall, fecondly, endeavour to point out a reason for the apoftle's giving a preference to the laft: and, thirdly, draw a conclufion from the whole.

With regard to faith, fome people include in it the whole range of duty both to God and man. And this is very true: for as all Christian virtues flow from it, they may all be faid to be included in it. In this fenfe, no doubt, every good Chriftian. will fubfcribe to faith, as the fum of religion. But it certainly is not always taken in this enlarged fenfe. St. Paul may fometimes, in a concise argument, confider faith as another word for Christianity; but in various paffages, and particularly in the paffage

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paffage before us, it feems not to be confidered in this comprehenfive light, but as a fimple act, ftript of all its adjuncts, and means only a belief in the life and death of Chrift, and the great work of Redemption. This is fometimes called a mere hiftorical faith: and if it proceed no farther it deferves a ftigma. But the Chriftian life, as well as the natural life, muft have its first principe, or beginning; and hiftorical faith, if it must be fo called, is that first principle.

This feems to be the idea which is adopted in our church creeds. In them we are taught, that the Chriftian's faith confifts in believing the circumstances of the life and death of our Saviour, and in the work of Redemption. Chriftian virtues, no doubt, are fuppofed to follow this faith. All I mean is, that our public creeds fuppofe the faith of a Chriftian to originate from Scriptural evidence.

But we are fometimes told, that faith is the immediate work of God-that it is impreffed inftantaneously by divine infpiration on the heart.

If so, it wants no evidence-Nor was it neceffary, that our bleffed Saviour should inculcate what was fpontaneously given.

Without God's affiftance, every good Chriftian must allow, we can do nothing. We can no more be religious without it, than we can breathe or move without it. But in all these things, our own endeavours must co-operate. He who should fit down with his arms and legs folded, waiting till God fhould put him in motion, would be ridiculous; and he, who should walk about, and say, I move without any affiftance from God, would be impious. It is juft fo in faith. He who fhould fay, my own good works will do nothing for me, faith is all, feems to me an enthusiast: and he who should fay, my own good works are all I want, is certainly not a Christian.

We conclude therefore from the whole, that although faith is sometimes confidered in an extenfive fenfe, as comprehending all Chriftian virtues, it is fometimes confidered fimply in itself, as grounded merely on evidence, and implying nothing more than a belief in Jefus Chrift. In this fenfe I fuppofe the word faith is confidered in the paffage before us. It cannot be fuppofed to include every virtue, for then it would include charity, from which it is plainly distinguished.

Hope

Hope is the next virtue we examine. Now hope, fimply confidered, is no virtue at all. I defire to obtain an advantage. I use the best means in my power; and I hope they will fucceed. But there is nothing here that denominates hope to be virtuous. It is its connection with heaven that gives hope a religious value.

It is fo in other virtues. Men have only one fet of moral qualities: but they differ in value, according to the end they have in view, and the motive that governs them. I am grateful to my benefactor. The affection is amiable. But when my gratitude looks up to God, it is of a much more purified and exalted nature. It is grounded on my trust in an invifible Creator.-I believe what my friend tells me. There is not much in that. But when I believe what God tells me, my belief becomes religious faith, and God is pleased to accept it for righteousness.

It is fo in hope. Though there is nothing valuable in my hoping for any earthly good, which I think it probable may arrive; yet when I transfer that hope to heaven, it takes a religious caft, and becomes a virtue. My earthly hope is grounded

on nothing perhaps but my own prudence, and