[ 1420] Men to be careful of what they promise unto God in the matter of Charity. [ 1420]
IT is usual with Men,* 1.1 that when they are to go upon some long Iourney, or Voyage into a fat Countrey, they promise, that if God be pleased to return them safe, they will give so much or so much to the Poor; Or as a Man pas∣sing by an Hospital, promiseth the poor People, that as ••••cometh back again, he will give them something towards their relief; but when he comes back, he pas∣seth by, not so much as thinking of them. This is the case of many Men in these promising dayes of ours;* 1.2 If they may be but prosperous in such a Voyage, suc∣cessefull in such a design, If God will but do thus and thus by them, then they will do thus and thus unto him, they will relieve the Poor, there's no act of Mer∣cy, but they will be one of the foremost to put it on; yet when their turn is ser∣ved, they never think of their promise at all: But let all such know, that their Promise stands upon Record in Heaven; they may seem to forget it, and sneak away, not paying the shot of their engagement here in this life; but God will call them to a Reckoning for it, and take it upon their bodies and Souls hereafter: Let none think therefore to passe a Vow to the Lord in a good mood for a good purpose, but that he will take it, and exact it at their hands.