Sermons preach'd upon several occasions By John Tillotson, D.D. Dean of Canterbury, preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincolns-Inn, and one of His Majesties chaplains in ordinary. The second volume.

A SERMON OF CHARITY AND ALMES.

Acts X.38.

—Who went about doing good.

WHen Almighty God designed the Refor∣mation of the World, and the restoring of Man to the Image of God, the Pattern af∣ter which he was first made, he did not think it enough to give us the most perfect Laws of holi∣ness and virtue; but hath likewise set before us a living Pattern, and a fami∣liar Example, to excite and encourage us, to go before us and shew us the way, and, as it were, to lead us by the hand in the obedience of those Laws. Such is the Sovereign Authority of God over men, that he might, if he had pleased, have only given us a Law writ∣ten with his own hand, as he did to the people of Israel from Mount Sinai:

but such is his Goodness, that he hath sent a great Embassadour from Heaven to us, God manifested in the flesh, to de∣clare and interpret his will and pleasure; and not only so, but to fulfil that Law himself, the observation whereof he re∣quires of us. The bare Rules of a good life are a very dead and ineffectual thing in comparison of a living Example, which shews us the possibility and practicable∣ness of our Duty; both that it may be done, and how to do it. Religion in∣deed did always consist in an Imitation of God, and in our resemblance of those excellencies which shine forth in the best and most perfect Being: but we may imi∣tate him now with much greater ease and advantage, since God was pleased to become Man, on purpose to shew us how Men may become like to God. And this is one great End for which the Son of God came into the world, and was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and conversed so long and familiarly with mankind; that in his own Person and Life he might give us the Example of all that holiness and vertue which his Laws require of us. And as he was in nothing liker the Son of God than in being and doing good; so is he in nothing a fitter Pattern for our

imitation, than in that excellent chara∣cter given of him here in the Text, that He went about doing good.

In which words two things offer them∣selves to our consideration.

First, Our Saviour's great Work and Business in the world, which was, to do good: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Who employed himself in being a benefactour to man∣kind. This refers more especially to his healing the bodily diseases and infirmities of men. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil. Intimating to us by this instance of his doing good, that he who took so much pains to rescue mens Bodies from the power and possession of the Devil, would not let their Souls re∣main under his tyranny. But though the Text instanceth only in one particular, yet this general expression of doing good comprehends all those several ways where∣by he was beneficial to mankind.

Secondly, Here is his Diligence and In∣dustry in this work, He went about doing good; he made it the great business and constant imployment of his life. I shall propound to you the Pattern of our Sa∣viour in both these particulars.

I. His great Work and Business in the world was, to do good. The most pleasant and delightful, the most happy and glori∣ous work in the world. It is a work of a large extent, and of an universal influence; and comprehends in it all those ways whereby we may be useful and beneficial to one another. And indeed it were pity that so good a thing should be confined within narrow bounds and limits. It reach∣eth to the Souls of men, and to their Bo∣dies; and is conversant in all those ways and kinds whereby we may serve the Tem∣poral or Spiritual good of our neighbour, and promote his present and his future happiness. What our Blessed Saviour did in this kind, and we, in imitation of him, ought to do, I shall reduce to these two Heads. First, Doing good to the Souls of men, and endeavouring to promote their spiritual and eternal happiness. Secondly, The procuring of their Temporal good, and contributing as much as may be to their happiness in this present life.

1. Doing good to the Souls of men, and endeavouring to promote their spiritual and eternal happiness, by good Instructi∣on, and by good Example.

First, By good Instruction. And under Instruction I comprehend all the means of

bringing men to the knowledg of their duty, and exciting them to the practice of it; by instructing their Ignorance, and removing their Prejudices, and rectifying their Mistakes, by Persuasion, and by Re∣proof; and by making lasting provision for the promoting of these Ends.

By instructing mens Ignorance. And this is a duty which every man owes to another, as he hath opportunity; but espe∣cially to those who are under our care and charge, our Children and Servants, and near Relations; those over whom we have a special authority, and a more im∣mediate influence. This our Blessed Savi∣our made his great work in the world, to instruct all sorts of persons in the things which concerned the Kingdom of God, and to direct them in the way to eternal happiness; by publick teaching, and by private conversation, and by taking occa∣sion from the common occurrences of hu∣mane life, and every object that presented it self to him, to instil good counsel into men, and to raise their minds to the consi∣deration of divine and heavenly things. And though this was our Saviour's great Employment, and is theirs more particu∣larly whose office it is to teach others: yet every man hath private opportunities

of instructing others, by admonishing them of their duty, and by directing them to the best means and helps of knowledg; such as are Books of Piety and Religion, with which they that are rich may furnish those who are unable to provide them for themselves.

And then by removing mens Prejudices against the Truth, and rectifying their Mi∣stakes. This our Saviour found very diffi∣cult; the generality of those with whom he had to do, being strongly prejudiced against Him and his Doctrine by false Prin∣ciples, which they had taken in by edu∣cation, and been trained up to by their Teachers. And therefore he used a great deal of meekness in instructing those that opposed themselves, and exercised abun∣dance of patience in bearing with the in∣firmities of men, and their dulness and flowness of capacity to receive the Truth.

And this is great Charity, to consider the inveterate Prejudices of men; especi∣ally those which are rooted in education, and which men are confirmed in by the re∣verence they bear to those that have been their Teachers. And great allowance is to be given to men in this case, and time to bethink themselves, and to consider better. For no man that is in an Errour

think he is so: and therefore if we go violent∣ly to rend their Opinions from them, they will but hold them so much the faster; but if we have patience to unrip them by degrees, they will at last fall in pieces of themselves.

And when this is done, the way is open for Counsel and Perswasion. And this our Sa∣viour administred in a most powerful and ef∣fectual manner, by encouraging men to Re∣pentance, and by representing to them the in∣finite advantages of obeying his Laws, and the dreadful and dangerous consequences of breaking of them. And these are arguments fit to work upon mankind, because there is something within us that consents to the equity and reasonableness of God's Laws. So that whenever we perswade men to their duty, how backward soever they may be to the practice of it, being strongly addicted to a contrary course; yet we have this certain advantage, that we have their Consciences and the most inward sense of their minds on our side, bearing witness, that what we coun∣sel and perswade them to, is for their good.

And if need be, we must add Reproof to Counsel. This our Saviour did with great freedom, and sometimes with sharpness and severity, according to the condition of the persons he had to deal withal. But because of his great Authority, being a Teacher immedi∣ately sent from God, and of his intimate

knowledg of the hearts of men, he is not a pattern to us in all the circumstances of dis∣charging this duty; which, if any other, re∣quires great prudence and discretion, if we intend to do good, the only end to be aimed at in it. For many are fit to be reproved, whom yet every man is not fit to reprove; and in that case we must get it done by those that are fit, and great regard must be had to the time, and other circumstances of doing it, so as it may most probably have its effect.

I will mention but one way of Instruction more, and that is, by making lasting provi∣sion for that purpose: as, by founding Schools of learning, especially to teach the poor to read, which is the Key of knowledg; by building of Churches and endowing them; by buying or giving in Impropriations, or the like. These are large and lasting ways of teaching and instructing others, which will continue when we are dead and gone; as it is said of Abel, that being dead, he yet speaks. And this our Saviour virtually did, by ap∣pointing his Apostles after he had left the World to go and teach all Nations, and or∣dering a constant Succession of Teachers in his Church, to instruct men in the Christian Religion, together with an honourable Main∣tenance for them. This we cannot do in the way that he did, who had all power in heaven and earth; but we may be subservient to this

Design in the ways that I have mentioned. Which I humbly commend to the considera∣tion of those whom God hath blessed with great Estates, and made capable of effecting such great works of Charity.

Secondly, Another way of doing good to the Souls of men is by good Example. And this our Blessed Saviour was in the utmost perfection. For he fulfilled all righteousness, had no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. And this we should endeavour to be, as far as the frailty of our nature and imperfection of our present state will suffer. For good Example is an unspeakable benefit to mankind, and hath a secret power and influence upon those with whom we converse, to form them into the same disposition and manners. It is a li∣ving Rule, that teacheth men without trou∣ble, and lets them see their faults without open reproof and upbraiding. Besides that it adds great weight to a man's counsel and perswa∣sion, when we see that he adviseth nothing but what he does; nor exacts any thing from others from which he himself desires to be excused. As, on the contrary, nothing is more cold and insignificant, than good coun∣sel from a bad man, one that does not obey his own precepts, nor follow the advice which he is so forward to give to others.

These are the several ways of doing good to the Souls of men; wherein we, who are

the Disciples of the Blessed Jesus, ought, in imitation of his Example, to exercise our selves according to our several capacities and op∣portunities. And this is the noblest Charity, and the greatest kindness that can be shewn to humane nature; it is in the most excellent sense, to give eyes to the blind, to set the pri∣soners at liberty, to rescue men out of the saddest slavery and captivity, and to save Souls from death. And it is the most lasting and durable benefit; because it is to do men good to all eternity.

2. The other way of being beneficial to others is, by procuring their Temporal good, and contributing to their happiness in this present life. And this, in subordination to our Saviour's great design of bringing men to eternal Happiness, was a great part of his business and employment in this world. He went about healing all manner of sicknesses and diseases, and rescuing the Bodies of men from the power and possession of the Devil.

And though we cannot be beneficial to men in that miraculous manner that he was, yet we may be so in the use of ordinary means: We may comfort the afflicted, and vindicate the oppressed, and do a great many acts of Cha∣rity which our Saviour, by reason of his po∣verty, could not do without a miracle: We may supply the necessities of those that are in want, feed the hungry, and cloath the naked,

and visit the sick, and minister to them such comforts and remedies as they are not able to provide for themselves: We may take a Child that is poor and destitute of all advan∣tages of education, and bring him up in the knowledg and fear of God; and, without any great expence, put him into a way where∣in, by his diligence and industry, he may arrive to a considerable fortune in the world, and be able afterwards to relieve hundreds of others. Men glory in raising great and magnificent Structures, and find a secret plea∣sure to see Sets of their own planting to grow up and flourish: But surely it is a greater and more glorious work, to build up a Man, and to see a Youth of our own planting, from the small beginnings and advantages we have given him, to grow up into a considerable fortune, to take root in the world, and to shoot up to such a height, and spread his branches so wide, that we who first planted him may our selves find comfort and shelter under his shadow. We may many times with a small liberality shore up a Family that is ready to fall, and struggles under such neces∣sities, that it is not able to support it self. And if our minds were as great as sometimes our estates are, we might do great and pub∣lick works of a general and lasting advantage, and for which many generations to come might call us blessed.

And those who are in the lowest condition may do great good to others by their Prayers, if they themselves be as good as they ought. For the fervent prayer of a righteous man avail∣eth much. The intercession of those who are in favour with God (as all good men are) are not vain wishes, but many times effectual to procure that good for others, which their own endeavours could never have effected and brought about.

I have done with the First thing, The great Work and Business which our Blessed Saviour had to do in the world; and that was, to do good. I proceed to the

II. Second thing contained in the Text, Our Saviour's Diligence and industry in this work, He went about doing good. He made it the great business and constant employment of his life; he travelled from one place to another to seek out opportunities of being useful and beneficial to mankind. And this will fully appear, if we briefly consider these following particulars.

First, How unwearied our blessed Saviour was in doing good. He made it his only business, and spent his whole life in it. He was not only ready to do good to those that came to him, and gave him opportunity for it, and besought him to do it; but went himself from one place to another, to seek out objects to exercise his Charity upon. He

went to those who could not, and to those who would not come to him: for so it is written of him, He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He was contented to spend whole days in this work, to live in a crowd, and to be almost perpetually opprest with company: and when his Disciples were moved at the rudeness of the people in pres∣sing upon him, he rebuked their impatience; and, for the pleasure he took in doing good, made nothing of the trouble and inconve∣nience that attended it.

Secondly, If we consider how much he de∣nied himself in the chief comforts and con∣veniences of humane life, that he might do good to others. He neglected the ordinary refreshments of nature, his meat and drink and sleep, that he might attend this work. He was at every bodie's beck and disposal, to do them good. When he was doing cures in one place, he was sent for to another; and he ei∣ther went, or sent healing to them, and did by his word at a distance what he could not come in person to do. Nay, he was willing to deny himself in one of the dearest things in the world, his reputation and good name. He was contented to do good, though he was ill thought of and ill spoken of for it. He would not refuse to do good on the Sabbath-day, though he was accounted profane for so do∣ing. He knew how scandalous it was among

the Jews to keep company with Publicans and Sinners; and yet he would not decline so good a work, for all the ill words they gave him for it.

Thirdly, If we consider the malicious op∣position and sinister construction that his good deeds met withal. Never did so much goodness meet with so much enmity, endure so many affronts, and so much contradiction of Sinners. This great Benefactour of mankind was hated and persecuted, as if he had been a publick Enemy. While he was instructing them in the meekest manner, they were rea∣dy to stone him for telling them the truth: and when the fame of his Miracles went a∣broad, though they were never so useful and beneficial to mankind, yet upon this very ac∣count they conspire against him, and seek to take away his life. Whatever he said or did, though never so innocent, never so excellent, had some bad interpretation put upon it; and the great and shining Vertues of his life were turned into Crimes and matter of accusation. For his casting out of Devils, he was called a Magician; for his endeavour to reclaim men from their vices, a friend of Publicans and Sinners; for his free and obliging conversa∣tion, a wine-bibber and a glutton. All the be∣nefits which he did to men, and the blessings which he so liberally shed among the people, were construed to be a design of Ambition

and Popularity, and done with an intention to move the people to Sedition, and to make himself a King: Enough to have discouraged the greatest goodness, and have put a damp upon the most generous mind, and to make it sick and weary of well-doing. For what more grievous, than to have all the good one does ill interpreted, and the best actions in the world made matter of calumny and re∣proach?

And then, Lastly, If we consider how chear∣fully, notwithstanding all this, he persevered and continued in well-doing. It was not only his business, but his delight; I delight (says he) to do thy will, O my God. The pleasure which others take in the most natural actions of life, in eating and drinking when they are hungry, he took in doing good; it was his meat and drink to do the will of his Father. He plyed this work with so much diligence, as if he had been afraid he should have want∣ed time for it. I must work the work of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. And when he was ap∣proaching towards the hardest and most un∣pleasant part of his Service, but of all others the most beneficial to us, I mean, his Death and Sufferings, he was not at ease in his mind till it was done; How am I straitned, (says he) till it be accomplished? And just before his Suffering, with what Joy and Triumph

does he reflect upon the good he had done in his life? Father, I have glorified thee upon earth, and have finished the work which thou hast given me to do. What a blessed Pattern is here of diligence and industry in doing good? how fair and lovely a copy for Chri∣stians to write after?

And now that I have set it before you, it will be of excellent use to these two purpo∣ses: To shew us our Defects; and to excite us to our Duty.

I. To shew us our Defects. How does this blessed Example upbraid those who live in a direct contradiction to it; who, instead of going about doing good, are perpetually intent upon doing mischief; who are wise and active to do evil, but to do good have no in∣clination, no understanding? And those like∣wise, who, though they are far from being so bad, yet wholly neglect this blessed work of doing good? They think it very fair to do no evil, to hurt and injure no man: but if Preachers will be so unreasonable as to re∣quire more, and will never be satisfied till they have persuaded them out of their estate, and to give to the poor till they have almost impoverish'd themselves, they desire to be excused from this importunity. But we are not so unreasonable neither. We desire to put them in mind, that to be charitable ac∣cording to our power is an indispensable du∣ty

of Religion: that we are commanded not only to abstain from evil, but to do good; and that our Blessed Saviour hath given us the example of both; he did not only do no sin, but he went about doing good. And upon this nice point it was, that the young rich man in the Gospel and his Saviour parted. He had kept the Commandments from his youth, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adul∣tery, Thou shalt not steal: he had been very careful of the negative part of Religion: But when it came to parting with his Estate, and giving to the poor, this he thought too hard a condition, and upon this he forsook our Saviour, and forfeited the Kingdom of heaven. And it is very considerable, and ought to be often and seriously thought up∣on, that our Saviour, describing to us the Day of Judgment, represents the great Judg of the world acquitting and condemning men according to the good which they had done, or neglected to do, in ways of mercy and charity; for feeding the hungry, and cloathing the naked, and visiting the sick, or for neglecting to do these things: Than which nothing can more plainly and effectu∣ally declare to us the necessity of doing good, in order to the obtaining of eternal Happiness.

There are many, indeed, who do not al∣together neglect the doing of this work, who

yet do in a great measure prevent and hin∣der themselves from doing it as they ought, under a pretence of being employed about other Duties and parts of Religion. They are so taken up with the exercises of Piety and Devotion in private and publick, with Prayer, and reading and hearing Sermons, and preparing themselves for the Sacrament, that they have scarce any leisure to mind the doing of good and charitable offices to others: or, if they have, they hope God will pardon his servants in this thing, and accept of their Piety and Devotion instead of all. But they ought to consider, that when these two parts of Religion come in competition, Devotion is to give way to Charity, Mercy being bet∣ter than Sacrifice: that the great End of all the Duties of Religion, Prayer, and reading and hearing the Word of God, and receiving the holy Sacrament, is to dispose and excite us to do good, to make us more ready and forward to every good work: and that it is the greatest mockery in the world, upon pretence of using the means of Religion, to neglect the end of it; and because we are al∣ways preparing our selves to do good, to think that we are for ever excused from do∣ing any.

Others are taken up in contending for the Faith, and spend all their zeal and heat about some Controversies in Religion; and there∣fore

they think it but reasonable that they should be excused from those meaner kind of Duties, because they serve God, as they imagine, in a higher and more excellent way; as those who serve the King in his Wars use to be exempted from Taxes and Offices. But do those men consider upon what kind of Duties more especially, our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles lay the great weight and stress of Religion? that it is to the Meek and Merciful and Peaceable that our Saviour pronounceth Blessedness? that pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction? that the wisdom which is from a∣bove is full of mercy and good works? These are the great and weighty things of Religion, which, whatever else we do, ought not to be left undone. Do they consider, that a right Faith is wholly in order to a good Life, and is of no value any farther then it hath an influence upon it? so that whatever other Duties we may be obliged to, nothing can excuse us from this. How much better is it to do good, to be really useful and benefi∣cial to others, and how much more clearly and certainly our duty, than to quarrel about doubtful and uncertain opinions? Were men Christians indeed, they would be so much delighted and taken up with this better work, (more acceptable to God, and more profita∣ble

to men) that they could not find leisure, or, if they could, they could not find in their hearts to employ all their time and zeal about things which are at so great a distance from the life and heart of Religion, as most of those Questions are which Christians at this day contend and languish about. Were we possessed with the true spirit of Chri∣stianity, these would be but dry and insipid and tastless things to us, in comparison of the blessed employment of doing good in a more real and substantial way. If the sincere love of God and our neighbour were but once throughly kindled in our hearts, these pure and heavenly flames would in a great mea∣sure extinguish the unchristian heats of dis∣pute and contention; as Fires here below are ready to languish and go out, when the Sun in his full strength shines upon them.

II. But the hardest part of my task is yet be∣hind (and it is strange it should be so): And that is, to perswade us to the imitation of this Blessed Example. Let us go and do likewise; let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Je∣sus; let us tread in the steps of the great God and the best man that ever was, our Blessed Saviour, who went about doing good. Methinks the work it self is of that nature, that men should not need to be courted to it by per∣swasion, nor urged by importunity. The very proposal of the thing, and the Pattern

which I have set before you, is temptation and allurement enough to a generous and well-disposed mind. But yet to inflame you the more to so good a work, be pleased to dwell with me a little upon these following Considerations.

First, It is an argument of a great and ge∣nerous mind, to employ our selves in doing good, to extend our thoughts and care to the concernments of others, and to use our pow∣er and endeavours for their benefit and ad∣vantage: Because it shews an inclination and desire in us, to have others happy as well as our selves.

Those who are of a narrow and envious spirit, of a mean and sordid disposition, love to contract themselves within themselves, and like the hedg-hog, to shoot out their quills at every one that comes near them. They take care of no body but themselves; and foolishly think their own Happiness the greater, because they have it alone and to themselves. But the noblest and most heaven∣ly dispositions think themselves happiest when others share with them in their hap∣piness. Of all Beings God is the farthest re∣moved from Envy; and the nearer any crea∣ture approacheth to him in blessedness, the farther is it off from this hellish quality and disposition. It is the temper of the Devil, to grudg happiness to others; he envied that

Man should be in Paradise, when He was cast out of Heaven.

Other Perfections are (as one says) of a more melancholick and solitary disposition, and shine brightest when they are alone, or attained to but by a few; once make them common, and they lose their lustre. But it is the nature of Goodness, to communicate it self; and the farther it spreads, the more glorious it is. God reckons it as one of his most glorious Titles, as the brightest Gem in his Diadem, The Lord mighty to save. He de∣lights not to shew his Soveraignty in ruining the innocent, and destroying helpless crea∣tures; but in rescuing them out of the jaws of Hell and destruction. To the Devil be∣longs the Title of The Destroyer.

Without this quality of Goodness, all other Perfections would change their nature, and lose their excellency. Great Power and Wis∣dom would be terrible, and raise nothing but dread and suspicion in us: For Power with∣out Goodness would be Tyranny and Op∣pression, and Wisdom would become Craft and Treachery. A Being endued with Know∣ledg and Power, and yet wanting Goodness, would be nothing else but an irresistible Evil, and an omnipotent Mischief. We admire Knowledg, and are afraid of Power, and su∣spect Wisdom; but we can heartily love no∣thing but Goodness, or such Perfections as

are in conjunction with it. For Knowledg and Power may be in a nature most contrary to God's; the Devil hath these perfections in an excelling degree. When all is done, no∣thing argues a great and generous mind but only Goodness; which is a propension and disposition to make others happy, and a rea∣diness to do them all the good offices we can.

Secondly, To do good is the most plea∣sant employment in the World. It is natural; and whatever is so, is delightful. We do like our selves whenever we relieve the wants and distresses of others. And therefore this Vertue among all others hath peculiarly en∣tituled it self to the name of Humanity. We answer our own Nature, and obey our Rea∣son, and shew our selves Men, in shewing Mercy to the miserable. Whenever we con∣sider the evils and afflictions of others, we do with the greatest reason collect our duty from our nature and inclination, and make our own wishes and desires and expectations from others, a law and rule to our selves. And this is pleasant, to follow our Nature, and to gratifie the importunate dictates of our own Reason. So that the benefits we do to others are not more welcom to them that receive them, than they are delightful to us that do them. We ease our own nature and bowels, whenever we help and relieve those who are in want and necessity. As, on the contrary,

no man, that hath not devested himself of humanity, can be cruel and hard-hearted to others, without feeling some pain in himself. There is no sensual pleasure in the World comparable to the delight and satisfaction that a good man takes in doing good. This Cato in Tully boasts of, as the great comfort and joy of his old age; That nothing was more pleasant to him, then the conscience of a well-spent life, and the remembrance of many benefits and kindnesses done to others. Sensual plea∣sures are not lasting, but presently vanish and expire: but that is not the worst of them, they leave a sting behind them; as the pleasure goes off:

— Succedit frigida cura,

Sadness and melancholly come in the place of it, guilt and trouble and repentance follow it. But the pleasure of doing good remains after the thing is done; the thoughts of it lie easy in our minds, and the reflexion upon it after∣wards does for ever minister joy and delight to us. In a word, that frame of mind which in∣clines us to do good is the very temper and dis∣position of Happiness. Solomon, after all his ex∣perience of worldly pleasures, pitcheth at last upon this as the greatest felicity of humane life, and the only good use that is to be made of a prosperous and plentiful fortune, Eccl. 3.12, I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoyce and do good in his life. And

a greater and a wiser than Solomon hath said, that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Thirdly, To employ our selves in doing good, is to imitate the highest Excellency and Perfection. It is to be like God, who is good, and doth good; and to be like him in that which he esteems his greatest glory, and that is, his Goodness. It is to be like the Son of God, who, when he took our nature upon him, and lived in the World, went about doing good. It is to be like the blessed An∣gels, whose great employment it is to be mi∣nistring spirits for the good of others. To be charitable and helpful and beneficial to o∣thers, is to be a good Angel, and a Saviour, and a God to men. And the Example of our blessed Saviour more especially, is the great Pattern which our Religion propounds to us. And we have all the reason in the World to be in love with it; because that very Goodness which it propounds to our imitation was so beneficial to our selves: when we our selves feel and enjoy the hap∣py effects of that good which he did in the World, this should mightily endear the Ex∣ample to us, and make us forward to imi∣tate that love and kindness to which we are indebted for so many blessings, and upon which all our hopes of happiness do depend.

And there is this considerable difference between our Saviour's charity to us, and

ours to others: He did all purely for our sakes, and for our benefit; whereas all the good we do to others is a greater good done to our selves. They indeed are beholden to us for the kindness we do them, and we to them for the opportunity of doing it. Every ignorant person that comes in our way to be instructed by us; every sinner whom we reclaim, every poor and necessitous man whom we relieve, is a happy opportunity of doing good to our selves, and of laying up for our selves a good treasure against the time which is to come, that we may lay hold on eter∣nal life. By this principle the best and the happiest man that ever was, governed his life and actions, esteeming it a more blessed thing to give than to receive.

Fourthly, This is one of the greatest and most substantial Duties of Religion; and next to the love and honour which we pay to God himself, the most acceptable service that we can perform to him. It is one half of the Law, and next to the first and great Commandment, and very like unto it: like to it in the excellency of its nature, and in the necessity of its obligation. For this com∣mandment we have from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also. The first Commandment excels in the dignity of the object; but the Second hath the advantage in the reality of its effects. For our righte∣ousness

extendeth not to God, we can do him no real benefit; but our charity to men is really useful and beneficial to them. For which reason God is contented, in many cases, that the external Honour and Worship which by his positive commands he requires of us, should give way to that natural duty of Love and Mercy which we owe to one another. And to shew how great a value he puts upon Charity, he hath made it the great testimony of our Love to himself; and for want of it rejects all other profes∣sions of love to him as false and insincere. If any man say, I love God, and hateth his bro∣ther, 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?

Fifthly, This is that which will give us the greatest comfort when we come to die. It will then be no pleasure to men to reflect upon the great estates they have got, and the great places they have been advanced to, because they are leaving these things, and they will stand them in no stead in the other world; Riches profit not in the day of wrath: But the conscience of well-doing will refresh our Souls even under the very pangs of death. With what contentment does a good man then look upon the good he hath done in his life? and with what confidence doth he look over into the other

world, where he hath provided for himself bags that wax not old, a treasure in the hea∣vens that faileth not? For though our estates will not follow us into the other world, our good works will; though we cannot carry our riches along with us, yet we may send them before us, to make way for our recep∣tion into everlasting habitations. In short, works of Mercy and Charity will comfort us at the hour of death, and plead for us at the day of Judgment, and procure for us at the hands of a merciful God a glorious re∣compence at the resurrection of the just. Which leads me to the

Last consideration I shall offer to you; which is, the reward of doing good both in this world and the other. If we believe God himself, he hath made more particular and encouraging promises to this grace and virtue, than to any other.

The advantages of it in This World are many and great. It is the way to derive a lasting blessing upon our estate. Acts of charity are the best Deeds of Settlement. We gain the prayers and blessings of those to whom we extend our charity; and it is no small thing to have the blessing of them that are ready to perish to come upon us. For God hears the prayers of the destitute; and his ear is open to their cry. Charity is a great security to us in times of evil: and that not

only from the special promise and provi∣dence of God, which are engaged to pre∣serve from want those that relieve the ne∣cessities of others; but likewise from the nature of the thing, which makes way for its own reward in this world. He that is charitable to others, provides a supply and retreat for himself in the day of distress: For he provokes mankind by his example, to like tenderness towards him; and pru∣dently bespeaks the commiseration of others, against it comes to be his turn to stand in need of it. Nothing in this World makes a man more and surer friends than charity and bounty, and such as will stand by us in the greatest troubles and dangers. For a good man (says the Apostle) one would even dare to die. 'Tis excellent counsel of the Son of Sirach; Lay up thy treasure according to the Commandment of the Most high, and it shall bring thee more profit than gold. Shut up thy alms in thy store-house, and it shall deli∣ver thee from all affliction: It shall fight for thee against thine enemies, better than a migh∣ty shield and strong spear. It hath sometimes happened, that the obligation that men have laid upon others by their Charity, hath, in case of danger and extremity, done them more kindness than all the rest of their E∣state could do for them; and their Alms have literally delivered them from death.

But what is all this to the endless and un∣speakable Happiness of the Next life; where the returns of doing good will be vastly great beyond what we can now expect or imagine! For God takes all the good we do to others as a debt upon himself; and he hath estate and treasure enough to satis∣fie the greatest obligations we can lay upon him. So that we have the Truth, and Good∣ness, and Sufficiency of God for our securi∣ty, that what we scatter and sow in this kind, will grow up to a plentiful harvest in the other World: and that all our pains and expence in doing good for a few days, will be recompensed and crowned with the Joys and Glories of Eternity.

FINIS.