LECTURE III.

THE GREATEST PERFORMANCES OR SUFFERINGS IN VAIN WITHOUT CHARITY.

"And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, It profiteth me nothing."-1 COR, xiii. 3.

In the previous verses of this chapter, the necessity and excellence of charity are set forth, as we have seen, by its preference to the greatest privileges, and the utter vanity and insignificance of these privileges without it. The privileges particularly mentioned are those that consist in the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit of God. In this verse, things of another kind are mentioned, viz. those that are of a moral nature; and it is declared that none of these avail anything without charity. And, particularly,

First. That our performances are in vain without it. Here is one of the highest kinds

of external performances mentioned, viz. giving all our goods to feed the poor. Giving to the poor, is a duty very much insisted on in the word of God, and particularly under the Christian dispensation. And in the prim tive times of Christianity, the circumstances of the church were such, that persons were sometimes called to part with all they had, and give it away to others. This was partly because of the extreme necessities of those who were persecuted and in distress, and partly because the difficulties that attended being a follower of Christ and doing the work of the gospel were such, as to call for the disciples disentangling themselves from the care and burden of their worldly possessions, and going forth, as it were, without gold, or silver, or scrip, or their purses, or even two coats apiece. The Apostle Paul tells us, that he had suffered the loss of all things for Christ; and the primitive Christians, in the church at Jerusalem, sold all that they had, and gave it into a common fund, and " said that aught that he had was his own," Acts iv. 32. The duty of giving to the poor, was a duty that the Christian Corinthians at this time had particular occasion to consider,

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not only because of the many troubles of the times, but by reason, also, of a great dearth or famine that sorely distressed the brethren in Judea; in view of which, the Apostle had already urged it on the Corinthians, as their duty, to send relief to them, speaking of it particularly in this Epistle, in the sixteenth chapter, and also in his second Epistle to the same church, in the eighth and ninth chapters. And yet, though he says so much in both these Epistles, to stir them up to the duty of giving to the poor, still he is very careful to inform them, that though they should go ever so far in it, yea, though they should bestow all their goods to feed the poor, and have not charity, it would profit them nothing.

Secondly. The Apostle teaches, that not only our performances, but also our sufferings are of no avail without charity. Men are ready to make much of what they do, but more of what they suffer. They are ready to think it a great thing when they put themselves out of their way, or are at great expense or suffering for their religion. The Apostle here mentions a suffering of the most extreme kind, suffering even to death, and that one of the most terrible forms of death,

and says that even this is nothing without charity. When a man has given away all his goods, he has nothing else remaining that he can give, but himself. And the Apostle teaches, that when a man has given all his possessions, if he then goes on to give his own body, and that to be utterly consumed in the flames, it will avail nothing if it is not done from sincere love in the heart. The time when the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians, was a time when Christians were often called not only to give their goods, but their bodies, also, for Christ's sake; for the church then was generally under persecution, and multitudes were then or soon after put to very cruel deaths for the gospel's sake. But though they suffered in life, or endured the most agonizing death, it would be in vain without charity. What is meant by this charity, has already been explained in the former lectures on these verses, in which it has been shown that charity is the sum of all that is distinguishing in the religion of the heart. And therefore the doctrine that I would derive from these words is this,

THAT ALL THAT MEN CAN DO, AND ALL THAT THEY CAN SUFFER, CAN NEVER MAKE UP FOR

THE WANT OF SINCERE CHRISTIAN LOVE IN THE

HEART.

I. There may be great performances, and so there may be great sufferings without sincere Christian love in the heart. And,

1. There may be great performances without it. The Apostle Paul, in the third chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians, tells us what things he did before his conversion, and while he remained a Pharisee. In the fourth verse, he says, "If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more." Many of the Pharisees did great things, and abounded in religious performances. The Pharisee mentioned in Luke xviii. 11, 12, boasted of the great things he had done, both towards God and men, and thanked God, that he so exceeded other men in his doings. And many of the heathen have been eminent for their great performances; some for their integrity, or for their justice, and others for their great deeds done for the public good. Many men without any sincerity of love in their hearts, have been exceeding magnificent in their gifts for pious and charitable uses, and have thus gotten to themselves great fame, and had their names