Charity and Its Fruits (continued)
make him a king, he refused the high honor they intended to put upon him, and withdrew himself to be out of their way (John 6:15 ), and went away into a mountain alone. And when John the Baptist was so greatly honored by the people as a distinguished prophet, and all Judea and Jerusalem went out to hear him, and to be baptized of him, Christ envied him not, but himself went out to be baptized of him in Jordan, though he was John's Lord and Master, and John, as he himself testified, had need to be baptized of him. And so far was he from begrudging to his disciples any honors or privileges as too great for them, that he told and promised them (John 14:12 ) that, after his death and ascension, they should do greater works than he had done while he remained with them. And, as we find in the Acts of the Apostles, all that he foretold in a little while came true. And,
3. The true spirit of Christian love will dispose us to yield to the authority of these precepts, and to the influence of the motives enforcing them. — And the spirit of love will dispose us to this directly, or by its immediate tendency; and indirectly, as it teaches and leads us to humility.
First, Christian love disposes us to hearken to the precepts that forbid envy, and to the gospel motives against it, by its own immediate tendency. The nature of charity or Christian love to men is directly contrary to envy. For love does not grudge, but rejoices at the good of those who are loved. And surely love to our neighbor does not dispose us to hate him for his prosperity, or be unhappy at his good. And love to God also has a direct tendency to influence us to obey his commands. The natural, genuine, uniform fruit of love to God is obedience, and therefore it will tend to obedience to those commands wherein he forbids envy, as much as others, yea, to them more especially, because love delights to obey no commands so much as those that require love. And so love to God will dispose us to follow his example, in that he has not begrudged us our manifold blessings, but has rejoiced in our enjoyment; and it will dispose us to imitate the example of Christ in not begrudging his life for our sakes,