Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	gospel_n	law_n	require_v	2,556	5	7.4237	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A97258	The poores advocate in 8 parts. Shewing, what an incomparable favour it is to the rich: that there are poor to accept of their charity, had they the wit to know it. Wherein is also made plain, that bounty and frugality is the best and surest way to plenty: with many other rational, and strong inducements to make men liberal; were it but for their own ends. Being enough (with the blessing of God) to change even a Nabal into a Zaccheus. By R. Yonnge [sic], florilegus. Who most earnestly begs of all rich men especially, and that for the poors sake, for Christs and the Gospels sake, but most of all for their own (even if their bodies, names, estates, precious souls and posterities) sake; to lay to heart, what is herein propounded to them out of Gods word, touching the poor: and then certainly, they will neither spend so excessively, nor heap up wealth so unmeasurably as they do; when millions of their poor brethren (for whom God would become man and die to redeem) are in such want, that I want words to express it.	Younge, Richard.	1654 (1654)	Wing Y173; Thomason E1452_3; ESTC R209561	58,165	58

principal aime and end Heare what the Lords answer is Because this was in thine heart and thou hast not asked riches wealth or honour nor the life of thine enemies neither yet hast asked long life but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thy self that thou mightest judge my people over whom I have made thee King Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee and I will give thee riches wealth and honour such as none of the Kings have had that have been before thee neither shall there any after thee have the like c. 2 Chron. 1.7 to 13 14 15. Lo the true way to wealth honour and happinesse is to desire grace that we may glorifie God and d● good for cleering whereof I le give you a similitude A man spies a fair apple on a tree hath a longing desire to it whereupon he falls a shaking the tree with all his might at length it not only comes down but many other come down to him together with it Which point being dispatcht I should in the next place shew why the godly are not alwayes nor often rich notwithstanding these promises and why God with-holds these outward blessings from his own people in great love only affording them all things that they have need of For our heavenly Father who knowes us better then we know our selves and what is good and fit for us even as the Nurse knowes better then the Childe and the Phifician better then the Patient knowes too well how apt we are to abuse these his mercies and that we cannot abound with earthly blessings but we grow proud and surfet of them a● we see Solomon himself did who was the Wisest next to Adam in his innocency that ever lived And likewise how happy it is for them to be kept short And contrarily how God gives them to the wicked in his wrath whereof Eccles 6.1 2. is one instance And how miserable they are who swim in wealth want ng grace and Gods blessing upon what they do possesse But of these and many the like I shall speak afterward In the next place my endevour shall be to shew Rich men what rare opportunities they have to do themselves and theirs good with their goods if they had but an heart And I wish in the words of Jotham to the men of Sechem Judges 9.7 That all Rich men would now hearken unto me as they would have God another day hearken unto them For certainly if they would but seriously consider what rational and strong inducements what rare and remarkable benefits temporal spiritual and eternal propound themselves to those that according as they are commanded will do good with their goods while they live for of all other grace● the grace of Charity and Bounty hath the most and primest promises of reward to us and ours both here and hereafter I should not doubt of prevailing with the flintiest heart under heaven to delight as much in giving as ever he did formerly in getting were it but only for his own ends for which see Part 4. for what concerns the reward of this excellent vertue I intend to keep till toward the conclusion of all as a dainty dish for the closure of a homely feast CHAP. IV. NOw because method to the matter is as fashion to apparel and form to building As also for my better proceeding and the Readers more cleer understanding of what follows I will reduce what I have to deliver upon this Subject to one of these heads Viz. 1 The necessity of this duty 2 The persons of whom it is required 3 They to whom it must be performed 4 What we are to give 5 How we are to give 6 How much we are to give 7 When we are to give 8 Why we are to give 9 The means enabling to it 10 The ends to be propounded in it 11 The impediments that hinder it 12 The Remedies 13 The Uses These thirteen comprize the whole matter and therefore shall limit my speech and your patient attention So the journey being made known we set forward in order The first particular that requires to be taken up and viewed is the necessity of this duty Now that to give to those that are in want and to help and relieve those that are in misery and distresse is a duty enjoyned and not left to us as a thing arbitrary and indifferent appears in many particulars First these works of mercy are absolutely required and straightly enjoyned in the Law of God which is the rule of righteousnesse and with great earnestnesse pressed and urged in the Gospel as the fruits of our faith and testimonies of our love to God and our neighbour Precepts out of the Old Testament enjoyning the same are such as these Thus saith the Lord Deal thy bread to the hungry leave for the poor that he may eat Bring the poor that are cast out into thine house when thou seest the naked see that thou cover him and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh If thine enemy hunger give him bread to eat and if he thirst give him water to drink Thou shall not harden thine heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother yea though he be a stranger or a sojourn●● but thou shalt open thy hand wide unto him and shalt surely give or lend unto him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth that he may live with thee Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart or that thine eye be evil against thy poor brother and thou givest him nought and he cry unto the Lord against thee thou shalt surely give him and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him Deut. 15.7.10 to 16. Levit. 19.10 23.22 25 35. Isai 58.6 7. Prov. 25.21 with many such places And the like in the New Testament as Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away Give alms of such things as ye have c. He that hath two coats let him impart to him that hath none and he that hath meat let him do likewise If thine enemy hunger feed him c. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self See that yee abound in this grace also namely in a liberal contribution towards the poor Luke 3.11 6.34 11.41 Rom. 12 20. Matth. 5.42 2 Cor. 8.7 to which I might adde plenty for the Scriptures no lesse abound in precepts of this nature then silver did in the dayes of Solomon Yea this duty is charged upon us with such strictnesse that if we have not any thing to bestow we must by our labour get somewhat to give unto our poor brethren whereby they may be relieved in their necessities And if we have no superfluity we are charged if their wants be extream to sell our goods and possessions that we may have to give unto them Luke 12.33 As we see it also practised in the Primitive Church Acts 4.34 Now hath

say Si non pavisti occidisti Thou hast killed the Poor if thou hast not f●d them And aga●n This is to kill a man when we deny unto him the means of preserv●ng his life For he is alike the cause of the faling of a staff who p●lleth away his hand which held it up and he who ●●keth and casteth it down● he alike is the cause why the fire goeth out that withdraweth the 〈◊〉 which should nourish it as well as he that casteth water upon it The Lamp is put out as well by not putting oil into it as by blowing it out and a●●n is as w●ll guilty of his brothers death if he feed him not in his necessity as if he should kill him by violence He that can save his neighbour from drowning and will not is a wilful murtherer Many of these have not bread enough to heal their hunger take heed thou be not guilty of their famish●ng Yea look upon their necessities as thou wouldst have God look upon thine Here ends the first PART the other seven follow Imprimatur Thomas Gataker If any shall ask why this Treatise is cast into so many several Divisions and sold single I answer even for her sake that sells them and others that buy them it faring with Books offered as with Briefs for let the charge be great or small mens bounty shall be still the same and many peny-Books will sell for one of two pence or three pence price These Books are to be had at James Crumps in Little Bartholo mews Well-Yard And at the blue Pales over against the High Constables short of Shoreditch Church THE POORES ADVOCATE The second Part. By R. Younge Florilegus Imprimatur Thomas Gataker CHAP. IX ANd so much touching the necessity of this duty I come now to the second Part or member viz the persons of whom it is required For I take it for granted that what hath been said will be sufficient to perswade some to give as being so necessary a duty and therefore it is meet I should next prescribe a few Rules touching it Viz. Who what what time and where How why what helps there are In which particulars they may be pleased to imitate Zaccheus in his living Legacy which was 1 Free I give 2 Present I do give 3 That which is worth giving goods 4 Just my goods 5 Large half my goods 6 Well to the Poor How be it for the more full discharge of what I promised in the beginning I will follow the order therein laid down in thirteen particulars whereof one is already dispatcht namely the necessity of 〈◊〉 duty Secondly the next is The persons to whom the duty of giving appertaineth and they are all of any estate and degree whatsoever when they meet with poorer then themselves at some times and in some cases But principally this duty belongeth unto Rich men Charge them saith the Apostle that are rich in this world that they do good that they be rich in good works ready to distribute willing to cōmunicate 1 Tim. 6.17 18. The more God hath bestowed upon thee the greater is thy debt of thankfulnesse and the greater thy due of obedience Rich men must not only give a portion of their wealth to good uses but also in some fit proportion to their means For the Apostle would have Rich men charged to be rich in good works even as God hath given them all things richly to enjoy 1 Tim. 6.17 18. None are so bound to be rich in good works as those that are rich in the goods of this world For God hath given them all sufficiency in all things that they may abound to every good work The thicker and greater the clouds be the more rain descends from them and unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required Who were ●i●ter to entertain strangers then Abraham and Lot whose substance was so great that they could not dwell together And which of the Bethlehemites should have been kinde and bountiful to poor Ruth if not Boaz a mighty man of wealth Job in his great estate had been unexcusable had he suffered the stranger to lodge in the street and not opened his doors to the traveller And it had been no small shame for the great woman of Shunem and for her husband if they had not shewed themselves hospital to Elisha as oft as he passed by And if Gaius was such a one as they say a most wealthy Citizen of Corinth he had good reason to be the host of Paul and of the whole Church that is to entertain usually in his house all Christians resorting to that City And hence it is that the Apostle would have the Corinthians out of their abundance to supply the wants of the faithful that were in poverty 2 Cor. 8.14 And that Saint John saith Whoso hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother hath need and shutteth up the bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him 1 John 3.17 CHAP. X. BUt forasmuch as men are rich or poor not alone simply but in relation unto others a man is to be esteemed rich not only when he aboundeth with worldly wealth but also when he is compared with one who is much poorer and accordingly is to communicate of that which he hath to the relief of those who are in greater necessity As for example he who is of a mean and poor estate must give alms when he meeteth with those that are in greater need and even those that are in great need must communicate such as they have unto them who are in extream necessity and in danger presently to perish unlesse they have some help from others Thus he that hath but a meer competencie to supply the necessity of nature and estate is to give something out of it to relieve those who want necessaries belonging to nature and those who have only sufficient for nature are bound to give unto them who are in great and present extremity unlesse the like necessity be imminent to them-themselves For the rule of justice and charity requiring that we should love our Neighbours as our selves and do unto them as we would have them do unto us Doth in the equity thereof require that we prefer the life of our brethren before our estate and that we should endure small wants to preserve them from suffering those which are great and dangerous So that not only they who abound in riches but even those also who are of mean estate are bound to perform this Christian duty as appears by the Prophet Elias who required it of the poor Widow of Sarepta and by the Apostle Saint Paul who among the good works and qualities necessary to a widow that would be maintained out of the Church-treasury requires this in expresse terms If she have lodged strangers And albeit he did know and acknowlege that the Hebrews had been spoiled of their goods yet neverthelesse he sent them this exhortation Be not forgetful to

entertain strangers thereby shewing that poverty did not dispense with them or free them from the performance of this duty but that they were still as before obliged to practise the same according to their present ability The deep poverty of the Macedonians kept them not from sending to their power yea and beyond their power a liberal and rich contribution to the poor Saints at Jerusalem And the Baptist requireth that those who have two coats part with one and that they who have meat do likewise That is if he meet with those that are in extream necessity these things being not necessary to the preserving of his own life and estate he does not say he who hath but one coat must leave himself naked and give it to him that had none before but he that hath two not only be that hath five or six or half a score or one out of a whole Wardrobe but one out of two He that hath one more then his own need requireth And our Saviour commandeth us to give alms of such things as we have be they more or less better or worse Luke 11.41 And if we have nothing to spare out of superfluity we must sell that we have and give alms in cases of great necessity and if we have nothing to sell we must work with our own hards that we may have to give unto him that needeth Ephes 4.28 An example hereof we have in the poor widow which was so much commended by our Saviour Christ for casting into the treasury her two mites which was all her substance Mark 12.43 Here as Angustine speaks was a very little money but a great deal of charity Likewise in the Apostles who wanting silver and gold gave such as they had to the poor Criple restoring him by miracle to the use of his limbs that so by his labour he might get his own living Acts 3.6 And in our Saviour Christ himself who though he were so poor that he lived upon what others out of their love and duty ministred unto him as appeareth Luke 8.3 yet he himself gave alms to those who were in greater want as we may gather Iohn 12.6 8. To which purpose Ambrose saith That the commandement of mercy is common unto all Offices and degrees neither is the Publican or Souldier the Husbandman or Citizen the Rich or Poor excepted but all are to be admonished that they be ready to give unto him that needeth CHAP. XI ANd therefore let none excuse their neglect of this religious duty because their means is small but rather let this move them the more carefully to exercise it as being in respect of them an act not only of charity but also of Christian policie seeing this is the means whereby being poor they may become richer For there is that scattereth and is the more increased and there is that spareth more then is meet and commeth to poverty Proverbs 11.24 And our Saviour promiseth that if we give it shall be given to us again good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over Luke 6.38 Whence it is compared to sowing of seed 2 Cor. 9.6 and to trading Luke 19.13 Now no man will in seed-time excuse himself for not sowing his seed because he hath but a small quantity to spare above that which he is to spend for his sustenance that yeer but this maketh him the rather to cast it in to the ground that being multiplyed he may have also enough the yeer following There is none refuse to trade because their stock is small but so much the more diligently they do it that it may be increased And therefore seeing almes giving is our Christian sowing and trading let not our small means make us neglect it but to practise it with more cheerfulness And so much the rather because we shall not only reap an earthly crop but have also an heavenly harvest which will never fail us of which in the reasons Neither let any man say that this only belongeth unto those who have much to give for that their almes are so small by reason of the meannesse of their estate that they have no hope it will be respected for the Lord saith not Give much but he commandeth to open the hand wide whether it be great or little and he measureth the deed by the will and the outward act by the habit and internal vertue he looketh not so much Quid datur as ex quo not to the greatnesse of the gift but to the quantity of the store out of which it is given and the largenesse of the heart which out of a little can spare somewhat And therefore the affection of the giver maketh the almes precious and estimable or vile and contemptible in Gods sight in which respect no mans gift as one saith is accounted small who giveth it out of a great and liberal minde seeing our piety is not to be measured by our outward wealth but by the inward riches which lieth hid in the heart It is true indeed that rich men give greater gifts and mean men lesse in respect of the matter or thing given but there is no difference in the fruit of the work where there is no want in the affection of the workers For as Ambrose saith It is the heart and minde of the giver which maketh the gift rich or poor and that sets the price upon all these spiritual wares An example whereof we have in the poor widow who casting into the treasury two mites was adjudged by our Saviour to have given the greatest gift because she had the largest and most liberal heart which made her to give not like others out of their superfluity but even out of her penury all she had as also because the rich giving out of their superfluity relie upon their own abundance as sufficient to bear them out in their bounty whereas they who being poor and yet give out of their penury do in their almes-deeds by a lively faith and affiance depend wholly upon Gods providence and promises So that as the Apostle speaks if there be first a willing minde liberallty is accepted according to that a man hath not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. 8.12 As what was Rebekaes hospitality so much extolled by Chrysostome but water cheerfully afforded to Abrahams servant for him and for his Camels And what doth Christ require of them that can give no more to his poor strangers but a cup of cold water only protesting withall that if they give but so much they shall in no wise lose their reward Matth. 10.42 If but water but a cup of water but a cup of cold water be not slighted as a cold entertainment of a stranger but be thought enough to make a poor man bountiful even by the best prizer of all things and actions who can exempt himself from this duty under pretence of disability Is not water a cheap provision a cup of water a small quantity and a cup of