A SERMON PREACHED On the First of January, 1698. IN THE Parish Church of St. Nicholas Cole-Abby. BEING A New-Years-Gift To the Society of Christians united there, to Worship God in a more Solemn manner, after the way of the Church of England.  
By Robert Howson Lecturer there; Rector of Stanford-Deanly in the County of Berks, and Chaplain to the truly Honourable, The Lady Dowager Seymore, Baroness of Trowbridge.  
LONDON, Printed by W. Downing in Bartholomew-Close, for the Author.   

To the Stewards, Collectors, and the rest of the Members of the Society of St. Nicholas Cole-Abby, in the City of London.  
Dear Friends,  
THE ensuing Sermon came to the Pulpit by your Desire, and by the same it comes from the Press, with no Variation, and but with very little Addition.  
Fine Cadencies of Speech, well clinched Periods, and harangues of Rhetoric, were never my Talon; or if they had, I would have Napkined it in the Pulpit, that the Faith of Christians, should not be thought to stand in Words of Man's Wisdom, but in the Power of God: For which purpose, that most excellent Prelate and Gospel Preacher, Archbishop Usher, laid aside all his Learning, in Preaching the Gospel, as appears by his plain and practical Discourses yet Extant. And (as I have heard) gave it always in charge to such, on whom he laid Hands to Preach, to be sure to remember the Alleys, by suiting their Sermons to the Capacities of their Hearers. A course that for Thirty Years past, I have always found most conducing to the great end of Preaching, viz. Turning Men from Darkness to Light, and from Satan's Power to God. And therefore shall continue in it, till I am convinced that plain Preachers, and plain Hearers, shall be as much decried in another World as they are in this.  
Gentlemen, in this Respect your Lines are fallen in a pleasant place, you have a goodly Heritage, even the Blessing of a learned, pious, practical, and savoury Ministry: May it be therefore a Savour of Life unto Life, unto every one of you, and not of Death unto Death unto any, (for it will certainly be one or the other) is, and ever shall be, the Prayer of  
Your Affectionate Friend, And Faithful Servant In the Greatest Work, ROBERT HOWSON.   
John XIII. Ver. 34. 
A New Commandment I give unto you, That you Love one another.  
THere is nothing that doth more conduce to the Good of Mankind, in general, than being good to, and doing good one for another, in particular.  
This engages the Affections, and excites the Endeavours of all: This monopolizeth all the Strength and Powers of Men, not only for one another, but also for the public Communities and Societies of which they are Members.  
This answers the End of men's Being in this lower World, and glorifies that Eternal Goodness, that is their Being in this Life, and will for ever be their Blessedness in another.  
On the contrary, There is nothing doth more directly tend to destroy the Souls and Bodies, the Liberties and Properties of Men, in particular, and the Good of public Societies, in general, than Selfishness, Pride, and Covetousness: This hamstrings all just Powers, weakens Authority, cuts all the Ligaments of the Body Politic, makes every part lose and independent one upon another, like Bones wiered in an Anatomy: And therefore, our Blessed Saviour foreseeing how necessary this would be in all the Churches of God, to the End of the World, injoins this great Catholic and Christian Duty, To Love one another; which He calls, A New Commandment; that is, the Old Commandment that God gave by Moses, (Levit. 19.18.) renewed under the Gospel Dispensation, for which he proposeth himself as an excellent Pattern, saying, As I have Loved you.  
In speaking to which, I shall show, 

I. What 'tis to Love another.  
II. What are the good Effects of Loving one another, in the Hearts and Lives of good Men.  
III. How it makes Men easy in and to themselves, to the Government, and Communion they are Members of in this World. And,  
IU. How it fits them for the Communion and Blessed Society of the glorified Saints in Heaven.    
By Loving one another, understand that Brotherly Love that the Apostle commends, Heb. 13.1. which is such a Love as Brothers have, or aught to have, one towards another in Nature, who have the same Father, and the same Mother, from whom they derive their Natural Lives.  
Brethren, we have all the same Father, which is God; and the same Mother, which is our Church; and from them we derive our vital Principle of Spiritual Life: And therefore, as they that are Born after the Flesh, do love one another in a Natural manner; so we that are Born after the Spirit, should love one another in a Spiritual manner: For Spirits have their Spiritual Actings and Motions one towards another, as well as Bodies.  
Where the Appearance is of God's Holiness in the Hearts and Lives of good Men, it draws out a Spiritual Love to, and delight in them, one towards another. O my Soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my Goodness extendeth not unto thee; But to the Saints, and to the Excellent that are in the Earth, in whom is all my delight, Psal. 16.2, 3.  
And as the appearance of Goodness, in good Men, draws them one to another in holy Delight and Love; so the Light of the Glory of God, in the Face of Jesus, draws them all to Christ: Because of the savour of thy good Ointments, thy Name is poured forth: therefore do the Virgins love thee: Cant. 1.3. Draw me, and we will run after thee. Therefore, saith our Blessed Saviour, No Man can come unto me, except the Father draw him, and the Father draws (and never drives) by the Cords of a Man, by the Bands of Love, Hosea 11.4. displaying the Riches of Gospel-Grace, viz. the height, and depth, the length, and breadth, of the Love of God in Christ: Love in all dimensions, and all dimensions in their Abstract; so that as many as look unto Jesus, till they love Him, and love Him so as to obey Him, purely from a Principle of Divine Love implanted in them, by the Ministration of the Gospel, shall be Saved by Him.  
Now, as natural Motion is a sure sign of natural Life, so these spiritual Motions of Holy Souls, to desire after and delight in good Men as such, are infallible symptoms of Spiritual Life: For by this we know that we are passed from Death to Life, because we love the Brethren, Joh. 1.3, 4. In which words, by (the Brethren) I humbly conceive such, and all such, and none but such, as have received the Faith of the Gospel, and did publicly profess, and piously practise it, according as they had received from the Apostles, how they ought to walk and to please God; and so were Disciples of the Crucified Jesus, abstractedly considered, without any relation to their being of Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, according as some did most uncharitably and factiously discriminate themselves, 1 Cor. 3.4. which Love to the Brethren, as such was then, is now, and for ever will be an infallible sign of passing from Death to Life.  
Now, may the God of Life and Love, which brought again our Lord Jesus Christ from the Dead, (out of his boundless Love to his Church) persuade us all in this divided Age, to be like-minded one towards another, and towards all that fear God, and work Righteousness, of what Opinion soever we are, in lesser Points of Christianity: But while one judgeth, another despieth; while one saith and swaggereth, I am of Apollo, another I am of Paul, another I am of Cephas, we are all carnal, and talk and walk as Men; For the Kingdom of God is not in these things, but in Righteousness, and Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost, Ro. 14.17. And the same Apostle tells us, as plainly as words can speak, That Circumcision is nothing, nor Uncircumcision, but a new Creature: And that as many as walk according to that Rule, viz. that do not make Christianity to be in one or the other, but in the Change and turn of the whole man to God, which (as that Holy Man of God, Archbishop Usher, hath long since told us) is the new Creature: Peace shall be to them, even that Peace (which our Church teacheth us to pray for in one of her excellent Collects) which the World cannot give, even the Peace of God, which passeth all Understanding.  
Moreover, this vital Principle of Spiritual life and love, is that only, that makes us Christians indeed; For if any Man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, Ro. 8.9.  
This doth not only incline the Soul to God, and to good Men, who bear the Reflections of his Holy Nature, but likewise to the sincere Obedience of his Will and Law; invigorating all the Powers and Faculties of their Minds, in all their Operations and Motions; enlightening their Understandings, by turning them from Darkness to Light, and from Satan's Power to God; delightfully inclining their Wills to Goodness; turning their natural enmity into love; fulfilling that Prophetical Gospel-Promise, To make his People a willing People in the Day of his Power, Psal. 110.3. and according as our Saviour in his most Heavenly form hath taught us to Pray, Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven, even with that Readiness and Alacrity, that Delight and Complacency, that the Angels and glorified Saints do it with in Heaven, and as He did it when he was in the World, Whose Meat and Drink it was to do the Will of him that sent him.  
This divine Principle brings the Soul into a divine frame, and Gospel Temper, making it to be in some good measure of that Heavenly Spirit that our Blessed Redeemer was of when he was upon Earth. And therefore he tells his Disciples, Ye are not of the World, but I have taken you out of the World: If you were of the World, the World would love its own; but because you are not of the World, therefore the World hateth you, Joh. 15.19. Ye are not of the Temper and Spirit of the World: The first Man is of the Earth, earthy, and speaketh of the Earth; but the second Man is the Lord from Heaven, heavenly, and as is the Heavenly, such are they also that are Heavenly; their Conversations are in Heaven, and their Hearts are where their Treasures are; they look and live above. Invisibles are to them the greatest Realities; they antedate the Joys of Heaven: Faith is (to them) the Substance of things hoped for, the Evidence of things not seen, Heb. 11.1. They persevere, as having a respect to the recompense of the Reward, and as seeing him that is Invisible, whom having not seen (as the Apostle says) with their bodily eyes, yet believing on him, are filled with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory.  
This makes Men easy to themselves, in bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, which are Meekness and Temperance, Love, and Joy, and Peace, Long Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, and Faith; against such there is no Law, Gal. 5.22. having by the power of the divine Spirit overcome the corruptions of their Nature, which made them mighty uneasy to themselves; but now, where the Spirit of divine Life and Love dwells, there are these divine and blessed Fruits, which make Men easy in, and to themselves, by giving them the Victory over all their turbulent and disquieting Passions, setting up the Intellectual & Rational power in its due place, reducing the Man to himself, and unto God, which is a mighty point when obtained. 
Fortior est qui se, quam qui tutissima vincit  
Moenia.—  which, to Translate the Poet by the Prophet, is, He that overcometh his own Spirit, is as he that taketh a City.  
So much have our Corruptions and Passions got the ascendant of our Reasons, in this our lapsed State, that the Prophet calls such the Beast of the People: And 'tis not improbable that they were such Beasts with whom St. Paul fought at Ephesus, 1 Cor. 15. which he in another place, calls unreasonable Men.  
Finally, Brethren, pray for us, that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked Men, 2 Thes. 3.1, 2. where unreasonable and wicked Men are put together, because all Wickedness is unreasonable, 'tis the very extremity of Madness and Folly.  
And this doth not only make Men easy to themselves, but to all others: How easily are such Men Governed by the Laws of Civil Government, (which are all grounded upon Reason) who make their own Reason to govern themselves? To them (as the Apostle calls the moral Law) the Law may be as a Schoolmaster to instruct, and now and then to correct some mistakes that must be allowed for the Frailty of human Nature, but it can never be a Judge to Condemn them; for, as where there is no Law, there is no Transgression; so where there is no Transgression, there can be no Punishment: There is therefore, saith St. Paul, No Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; for the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death.  
This Spirit of holy Life and Love, makes all good Men, fit for all humane Conversation in this World.  
All the Commotions and Troubles, not only within ourselves, but within our Houses, our Towns and Cities, our Kingdom and our Church, proceed from our unsubdued Corruptions, our Pride and Covetousness, our Revenge and Malice, and the like. From whence come Warrings and Fightings among you? Come they not from hence, even from your Lusts, that War in your Members? For ye Lust, and have not; ye Kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain, Jam. 4.1, 2. As much as if St. James had said, By these rampant and reigning Lusts of yours, you make all the mischief in the World, and when you have done all, you get nothing by it.  
And then, how fit these good Men are for all humane Societies and Government, who have, by the power of divine Grace, mortified these Lusts of their Members, which make all the Troubles and Confusions in the lower World, you may easily Judge: And therefore, let Brotherly love continue among us, (my Dear Friends) that we may be what we are all Born for, viz. a Blessing to ourselves, and to the best of Governments we live under, and the best of Churches we are Members of.  
This is the very Spirit and Life of Christian Religion, which as St. James saith, chap. 3. ver. 15. Is not earthly, sensual, and devilish, but the contrary, divine, heavenly, and spiritual, coming from above: A Religion, or Wisdom, which is all one, (for Religion is the highest Wisdom) that hath infinite Love for its Author and End, that gives Spiritual Laws to govern the Hearts and Spirits of Men. men's Words and Actions fall under the Cognizance of human Laws, these are things, as Job saith, To be tried by the Judge; but the thoughts, and imaginations of the Heart, fall under the cognizance of the Spiritual Law of the God of Spirits, who will Judge the secrets of all Men according to his Gospel.  
A Religion that exalts and perfects Man's Nature, that gives him true Understanding, Power and Goodness; and that, as Sin hath razed out and defaced the Image of God, impressed upon his Divinely created Soul, this reprints it there, and restores him again in some good measure to his pure & Paradisiacal State; According as his divine Power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto Life and Godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to Glory and Virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine Nature, having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust, 2 Pet. chap. 1. vers. 3, 4.  
This is the fulfilling of the whole Law, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Might. This is the first and great Commandment, and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt Love thy Neighbour as thyself. On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets, Mat. 22.37, 38, 39, 40. Love worketh all Obedience to God, and sincere Obedience is the greatest demonstration of our Love to him: If you love me, keep my Commandments.  
He that loveth God with all his Heart, will never own another God besides him; much less will he make to himself any graven Image, or the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven or Earth; For, whereunto will you liken me saith the Lord?  
He that loveth God truly, will worship him in Truth and Spirit; for he is an infinite, glorious, and incomprehensible Spirit; and therefore he will be Worshipped in Spirit and Truth, Joh. 4.24. All Worship that is not Spiritual, of what Mode or Scheme soever it is, is no more than the cutting off a Dog's Neck, or the offering of Swine's Blood: nay, though it be such as God himself hath commanded, as to the matter of it: To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices to me, saith the Lord: I am full of the  Offerings of Rams, and the fat of fed Beasts, and I delight not in the blood of Bullocks, or of Lambs, or of He-Goats, etc. When you come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my Courts? Bring no more vain Oblations, Incense is an abomination unto me, the New-Moons and Sabbaths, (though I have bid you remember to keep them Holy) are abomination to me, the calling of the Assemblies, I cannot away with, it is Iniquity, even the solemn Meeting. The New Moons, and your appointed Feasts, my Soul hateth; (speaking after the manner of Men) they are a Trouble to me, I am weary to bear them, Isai. 1.11, 12, 13, 14.  
He that worships God truly, thinks it highly reasonable to give Him a Worship suitable to his own blessed Nature; not only as to the matter, but also as to the manner of his Worship: And therefore he strives, and wrestles; he fights, and runs; he is Fervent in Siprit, serving the Lord, Rom. 12.11.  
He that loveth God truly, will never lightly use or Profane his Great Name, neither any of his Divine Attributes, which are himself, nor his Word or Works.  
He that loveth God truly, will honour every thing that hath any relation to, or beareth any reflection of his Holiness, especially his Holy Day, which because of the extraordinary Holiness that God hath impressed upon it, is Prefaced with a Remember; Remember to keep Holy the Sabbath Day; not only in the external performance of external Worship, but in secret Prayer, Meditation, Self-Examination, Holy Conferences, and Spiritual Anhelations, in which, the Souls of good Men have a most Heavenly Communion, and Fellowship with God the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have Fellowship with us: And truly our Fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. The moral part of this Precept is, to keep one Day in seven in this Heavenly Work; and where this is done, it kindles such a sacred fire upon the Altar of the Heart, that burns from Sabbath to Sabbath, which was lively typified by the Fire upon the Altar, under the Jewish Oeconomy, and is always attended with all the Blessings of this Life: If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy Pleasure on my Holiday, and call the Sabbath a Delight, the Holy of the Lord, Honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thine own Ways, nor finding thine own Pleasure, nor speaking thine own Words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the Earth, and feed thee with the Heritage of Jacob thy Father, Isa. 58.13, 14. The Glory of our Law, and of his Day too, Sir Matthew Hales tells us, in his Meditations, That when he had been careful in the Work of this day, he did observe that all his Business the Week following did well succeed; but when he had made a fault in this, he soon found it in that.  
He that loveth his Neighbour, cannot but love his Father and Mother, in the first place, and give unto all Men, especially to the King, and all that be in Authority, that Duty and Obedience, that is due to them in their several places and relations; giving Honour, to whom Honour; Fear, to whom Fear is due.  
He that loveth his Neighbour as himself, can never have or harbour any Malice or Hatred in his heart against him; much less will he defile his Bed, or defraud him in his Estate, or go beyond him in any matter.  
And he that loveth God with all his Heart, and his Neighbour as himself, doth good to himself too; for all Goodness and Virtue reflects itself upon him that hath it; like an Echo, bringing back the Voice to the ear of him that spoke it. Every good Work that a good Man doth gives him that inward Comfort of Mind that the World knows nothing of, and strangers do not meddle with, whereby he receives much more good than he does: In keeping of thy Commandments there is great reward, Psal. 19.11. Were there no such thing as a Heaven, to reward good Men; or a Hell, to punish bad, it were still worth while to live well, and to do good, to have the present comfort of it in this World; for, all the ways of Wisdom are Peace, and her Paths are Pleasantness, which all good Men do experience, better than they can express it. No Man can tell, so well as he can taste, how sweet Honey is; therefore, saith the Psalmist, Thy Commandments are sweeter to me than the Honey, and the Honey Comb, Psal. 19.10. Come, taste, and see how good the Lord is: Truth leaves a Spiritual gust upon the Understanding, which doth mightily influence and incline the Will to every thing that is good; and as Truth is the Object of the one, so Goodness is the Object of the other, both which do most directly conduce to the Comfort and Happiness of a rational Being in this World, as well as in that which is to come.  
Hereby the Love of God is manifested to, and perfected in this good Man. Whoso keepeth my Word, in him is the Love of God perfected; that is, he surely loveth God, and is loved of God. Hereby we know that we are in God; For God is Love, and he that dwelleth in Love, dwelleth in God, and God in him. Hereby we dwell in light: He that dwelleth in Love, dwelleth in light, 1 Joh. 2.5, 10. He dwelleth in the light of God's Favour; And in his Favour is Life, Psal. 30. And in another place 'tis said, That his Favour is better than Life, and infinitely better than all the Blessings of the lower World. There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us. Thou hast put Gladness in my Heart, more than in the time when their Corn and their Wine increased, Psal. 4.6, 7.  
This only fits the Soul for the heavenly Light: Epaphras declaring the Love of the Spirit which was in the Church of Coloss, Col. 1.7, 8. Blessed be God, (saith St. Paul) who hath made us meet to he partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in Light, ver. 12. Where the Soul is joined to the Church of the first born, to an in ●●●…rable company of Angels, to the general Assembly of the Saints, to the Souls of Just Men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator: All which are joining in their uncessant and uninterrupted Songs of Praise, Singing Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, to God, and to the Lamb that sits upon the Throne, and are filled with all the fullness of God, and do for ever admire those Treasures of Light that are beyond them.  
And as it fits the Soul for the Heavenly World, so it fills it with Bowels of Love and Pity to our poor Brethren; for if this be not in us, the Love of God is not in us: If any Man say he loveth God and hateth his Brother, he is a Liar: For he that loveth not his Brother, whom he hath seen, How can he love God, whom he hath not seen? And this Commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, love his Brother also, 1. Joh. 4.21, 22.  
How kindly doth our Blessed Saviour take what is done to his poor Members, Matth. 25.34. Come ye Blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World: For I was Hungry, and you gave me Meat; I was Thirsty, and you gave me Drink, etc. Then shall the Righteous say, Lord, when saw we thee Hungry, and fed thee; Thirsty, and gave thee Drink, etc. Then shall the King say unto them, Verily I say unto you, in as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren, you have done it unto me. And therefore, let me beseech you, my Brethren, to give to Him in his Members, who gave Himself for you, not his Name only, nor his Body, but his Soul too, for that was made An Offering for Sin, Isa. 53.10. Which was the greatest Gift that God could give, or the World could receive, and who is now Praying for you at the Right hand of his Father, to give you a Crown, a Kingdom, and a weight of Glory.  
And if we act like Men, possessed by true Charity, suiting with the Spirit of Christianity, our Hearts and Hands must be always open to our poor Brother's Necessities; our Souls must take pleasure in doing Good, and being Kind: And if we are not able to redress their Grievances, or relieve their Wants, by our Wealth, or Interest, we must ease them by our Compassion, comfort them by Holy Advice and Example, and secure them by our Prayers.  
These are the Treasures which good Men lay up in Heaven, Where neither Moths nor Rust doth Corrupt, nor Thiefs break through, nor Steal; For this purpose, saith our Saviour, you have the Poor always with you, and whatsoever you will you may do unto them, and in so doing, you will well and truly observe those Feasts of Charity St. Judas speaks of, ver. 12.  
Finally, Brethren, be all of one Mind, having Compassion one of another: Love as Brethren, be Pitiful, be Courteous, be of good Comfort, live in Peace; And the God of Love and Peace shall be with you all. Amen.  
FINIS.   

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The Author hereof, to cashier the said malicious and scandalous Report, doth hereby declare, That he is not the same Man, neither did he ever believe any such Doctrine as is therein maintained, nor any other, either different from, or contrary to, The Articles of the Church of England, as by Law Established: Which said Articles, the Author doth Weekly Explain to his Society, to keep them steady in this giddy Age.