17.

7, 4.

I.

prosperous: but where kindred is of use, there it SERM. is seldom found; it is commonly so deaf, as not to hear when it is called; so blind, as not to discern its proper object and natural season, (The time of Prov. xvii. adversity, for which a brother is born.) Men disclaim alliance with the needy, and shun his acquaintance; so the Wise Man observed, All the Prov. xix. brethren of the poor do hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him? Thus it is in vulgar practice: but the pious man is more judicious, more just, and more generous in the placing of his favours; he is courteous to purpose, he is good to those who need. He, as such, doth not make large entertainments for his friends, his brethren, his Luke xiv. kindred, his rich neighbours; but observes that precept of our Lord, When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompense thee; thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Thus the pious man giveth, that is, with a free heart and pure intention bestoweth his goods on the indigent, without designing any benefit, or hoping for any requital to himself; except from God, in conscience, respect, and love to whom he doeth it.

It may be also material to observe the form of speech here used in reference to the time: He hath dispersed, and he hath given; or, He doth disperse, he doth give; (for in the Hebrew language the past and present times are not distin

Β Τῶν εὐτυχούντων πάντες εἰσὶ συγγενείς.—[Menand. Sentent. sing. 510. (Ed. Meineke.)]

h Εὖ πρᾶσσε τὰ φίλων δ ̓ οὐδὲν, ἤν τις δυστυχῇ.

Eurip [Phoen. 403.]

12, 13, 14.

I.

SERM. guished) which manner of speaking may seem to intimate the reality, or the certainty, and the constancy of his practice in this kind; for what is past or present, we are infallibly secure of; and in morals, what one is said to have done, or to do, is always understood according to habit or custom. It is not, He will disperse, he will give; that were no fit description of a good man; to pretend to, would be no argument of piety; those words might import uncertainty, and delay in his practice. He that saith, I will give, may be fallacious in his professions, may be inconsistent with his resolutions, may wilfully or negligently let slip the due season of performing it. Our good man is not a Doson, or Will-give, (like that king of Macedon, who got that name from often signifying an intention of giving, but never giving in effecti;) he not only purposes well, and promises fairly for the future, but he hath effectually done it, and perseveres doing it upon every fit occasion. fit occasion. He puts not his neighbour into tedious expectations, nor puts him off with frivolous excuses, saying to him, as it is in Prov. iii. the Proverbs, Go, and come again, and to-morrow

28.

I will give, when he hath it by him: he bids him Jam. ii. 16. not have patience, or says unto him, Depart in peace, when his need is urgent, and his pain impatient, when hunger or cold do then pinch him, when sickness incessantly vexeth him, when present straits and burdens oppress him; but he affordeth a ready, quick, and seasonable relief.

i

He hath dispersed, and given, while he lives,

Επεκλήθη δὲ Δώσων, ὡς ἐπαγγελτικὸς μὲν, οὐ τελεσιουργὸς δὲ Twν vπOσxéσewv.—Plut. in Paulo Emil. [Opp. Tom. iv. p. 471. Ed. Steph.]

I.

not reserving the disposal of all at once upon his SERM. death, or by his last will; that unwilling will, whereby men would seem to give somewhat, when they can keep nothing; drawing to themselves those commendations and thanks, which are only due to their mortality: whenas were they immortal, they would never be liberal: No; it is, He hath freely dispersed; not an inevitable necessity will extort it from him; it cannot be said of him, that he never does well, but when he dies; so he hath done it really and surely.

He also doth it constantly, through all the course of his life, whenever good opportunity presents itself. He doth it not by fits, or by accident, according to unstable causes or circumstances moving him, (when bodily temper or humour inclineth him, when a sad object makes vehement impression on him, when shame obligeth him to comply with the practice of others, when he may thereby promote some design, or procure some glory to himself,) but his practice is constant and uniform, being drawn from steady principles, and guided by certain rules, proceeding from reverence to God, and good-will toward man, following the clear dictates and immutable laws of conscience. Thus hath the pious man dispersed, and given to the poor: and let thus much suffice for explicatory reflection upon the first words.

The main drift and purport of which is, to represent the liberal exercising of bounty and mercy to be the necessary duty, the ordinary practice, and the proper character of a truly pious man; so that

k

Avarus, nisi cum moritur, nil recte facit. [Publ. Syrus, Sentent. (Poet. Scen. Latin. Vol. VI. p. 227. Ed. Bothe.)]

SERM. performing such acts is a good sign of true piety; I. and omitting them is a certain argument of ungodliness. For the demonstration of which points, and for exciting us to a practice answerable, I shall propound several considerations, whereby the plain reasonableness, the great weight, the high worth and excellency of this duty, together with its strict connection with other principal duties of piety, will appear. And first, I will shew with what advantage the holy scripture represents it to us, or presses it upon us.

I. Head of

7, II.

I We may consider, that there is no sort of discourse. duties which God hath more expressly commanded, or more earnestly inculcated, than these of bounty and mercy toward our brethren: whence evidently the great moment of them, and their high value in God's esteem may be inferred. Even in the ancient law, we may observe very careful provisions made for engaging men to works of this kind, and the performance of them is with huge life and Deut. xv. urgency prescribed: Thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother.— Thou shalt open thy hand wide unto thy brother, unto thy poor, and to thy needy in the land. So did Moses, in God's name, with language very significant and emphatical, enjoin to the children of Israel. The holy prophets also do commonly with an especial heat and vigour press these duties, most smartly reproving the transgression or neglect of them; especially when they reclaim men from their wicked courses, urging them seriously to return unto God and goodness, they propose this practice as a singular instance most expressive of their conversion, most apt to appease God's

17.

18.

I.

wrath, most effectual to the recovery of his favour. SERM. Wash you, saith God in Isaiah, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine Isai. i. 16, eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well. So in general he exhorts to repentance: then immediately he subjoins these choice instances thereof: Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the Isai. i. 17, fatherless, plead for the widow.-Come now, then Jer. vii. 5, he adds, let us reason together: though your sins be 6. as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. When Daniel would prescribe to king Nebuchadnezzar the best way of amendment, and the surest means of averting God's judgments impendent on him, he thus speaks: Wherefore, O king, let my Dan.iv.27. counsel be acceptable unto thee; break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor'. This he culled out as of all pious acts chiefly grateful to God, and clearly testifying repentance; and, So very impious a person was alms able to justify, says the Father thereupon". So also when God himself would declare what those acts are which render penitential devotions most agreeable to him, and most effectual, he thus expresseth his mind: Is not this the fast which I Isai. Iviii. have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thine house? when thou

1 Τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου ἐν ἐλεημοσύναις λύτρωσαι: so the LXX. render those words, reading, it seems, л for p

Η Ναβουχοδονόσορ, τὸν τοιοῦτον ἀσεβῆ, ἴσχυσεν ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη dikaιbσai.—Athan. ad Antioch. Quæst. LXXXVIII. [Opp. Tom. II. p. 288 E.]

6, 7.