principles as might accommodate them for those works to which they were appointed And he Governs all things by such Laws as are suited to those several natures which he had at first implanted in them The most universal principle belonging to all kinds of things is self-preservation which in Man being a rational Agent is somewhat further advanced to strong propensions and desires of the Soul after a state of happiness which hath the predominancy over all other inclinations as being the supreme and ultimate end to which all particular designs and actions must be subservient 2. By Moral Duties I mean such Habits or Actions as are the most proper means for the attaining of this end About these we have a liberty of Acting to which we are to be induced in a moral way by such kind of Arguments and Motives as are in themselves sufficient to convince the Reason So that self-love and the proposing of happiness as our chief end though it be the Foundation of Duty that basis or substratum upon which the Law is founded yet it is not properly a moral duty because every Man must do it necessarily nor can he do otherwise Now to suppose that the Holy and Wise God should impose any thing as a duty upon his Creatures which is inconsistent with those principles that he himself hath implanted in their natures in their first Creation is an apprehension as absurd in it self as it is unworthy of God This natural Principle of endeavouring after happiness is the Foundation of all Moral Duties For the highest moral inducement or motive to perswâ—de men to any thing is to represent such a thing as necessary to their happiness so that our Obligation to Duty is from the Law of God but the great motive to it is Love to our selves and a natural desire of happiness 2. From the chief scope of all those promises and threats so frequent in Scripture which are certainly intended for this very purpose to excite and quicken us in our Obedience Now it cannot be denyed but that 't is our duty to make that the aim and end of our actions which the Scripture it self proposes to be so namely to avoid the evil and obtain the good therein mentioned Deut. 30.19 20. After that large Catalogue of Mercies and Judgments before recited Moses puts them in mind that he had set before them that day life and death blessing and cursing therefore chuse life that thou and thy seed mayest live c. Upon this account it is that several precepts in Scripture are press'd upon us with so many affectionate insinuations taken from the consideration of our own good Deut. 5.29 Oh that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me and keep my Commandments always that it might be well with them and their Children after them And Chap. 6. v. 24. The Lord Commanded us to do all these things for our good always that he might preserve us alive c. Now I say it is not only lawful but 't is our duty to serve God upon his own motives and encouragements and to make that a principal reason and end of our obedience which he himself proposes to us under those Considerations 3. From the nature of that Principle which hath the chief influence upon the very life and actions of every Religious Man and that is Faith The just shall live by Faith As Reason is the Foundation of all humane actions so is Faith of Religious dutys And every one under the notion of just or Religious is acted by this principle of Faith as brutes are by Sense and Men by Reason Now Faith v. 1. Is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen Where among the things hoped for and not seen are clearly meant the happiness and salvation which we expect hereafter the rewards of a better life which Faith doth as realy discern in the promises as if they were actually present to the Sense Hence it is that Salvation is said to be the end of our Faith receiving the end of your Faith even the Salvation of your Souls 1 Pet. 1.9 So then if all Religious actions be derived from Faith as the main root and principle of them and if Faith doth chiefly refer to the rewards hoped for and not seen then it must needs follow that it is as necessary for a believer to have a principal aime at the rewards as it is for him to live by Faith And that he may as well pretend to be above the life of Faith as to be above the help of those encouragements of the rewards and promises proposed in Scripture and so far as Faith hath an influence upon our Religious actions so far must we respect the recompence of reward 4. From the nature of our Love which is another Principle whereby the Soul is acted and carried on in all its attempts and prosecutions Now the proper object of Love is not so much that which is absolutely good in it self as that which is relatively so to us And this being rightly understood will give very much light unto the chief difficulties about the Point in hand 'T is true indeed there are in the Deity attributes of such a superlative goodness that of themselves they do deserve infinitely more than the best of our affections but yet they prove effectual to the winning over of our love and desires so far only as they are apprehended to be convenient for us And therefore the exactest Schoolman who spends most of his time and endeavours in the contemplation of those transcendent excellencies which are to be found in the Deity after all his Studies may find his heart as cold and stupid as the most ignorant man These things may raise his wonder but not his affections or in the phrase of a good Divine they may dazle his understanding into a more distempered ignorance but will never be able to ravish his Soul with those angelical flames of love which sanctified men do feel on Earth and the glorified Saints do fully enjoy in Heaven Hence is it that though the Devil doth understand those absolute perfections in the divine nature better than any man in the World as that God is most wise most holy most glorious yet he doth not love him because he himself cannot receive any benefit by him And upon the same ground is it that though a man should be sufficiently perswaded that his neighbour hath more grace than himself and so is absolutely more lovely yet he is not bound to love his neighbour better than himself because it is not absolute but relative good that is the surest ground of love And therefore the beloved Disciple who had most skill in the nature of this grace tells us that we loved God because he loved us first 1 Joh. 4.19 Implying some kind of necessity of apprehending God under the notion of a Friend or a Saviour before we shall love him He that comes to God
richly i. e. bountifully that others might be supplyed out of our store to enjoy not to hoard up or waste upon our lusts but to dispose of to their proper end and use For ye know the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be made rich 2 Cor. 8.9 And there is all imaginable equity in this consequence why God should require this of us having done so much for us Suppose a man ransomed from death and slavery and want and put into the possession of a great estate by the bounty of another who thereupon should make it his earnest request to him that for his sake he would spare some little of that plenty he had now conferred upon him towards the relief of some friends of his who were nearly related to him upon whom he might have bestowed all that wealth which he had chosen rather to confer upon him And should adjure him to this by all the entreaties promises and repeated importunities that could be would not Heaven and Earth cry shame against such a vile ungrateful wretch as should in so small a matter neglect so great an obligation would not every mans heart rise up with much keenness and indignation against the very mention of such a monster But you will say are there any such vile wretches in the world I Answer all those that are rich and not bountiful upon good occasions they are such And if any such there be in this place I would say to every one of them as Nathan did to David Thou art the man 2. 'T is equitable in respect of the Poor who by reason of their relation to us and their need of us may reasonably expect assistance from us God could have provided sufficiently for every one But his providence hath so ordered it That there shall be alwayes poor in the Land to prove us in this kind that we might have fit matter for the exercise of this grace that we might have some visible examples of what he can reduce us to when he pleases Nor are dignities or riches upon any other account desirable but as they afford means and opportunities of doing good to such as stand in need of our help So that the different states and degrees amongst men as to riches and poverty seem by the Providence of God to be purposely designed in order to the exercise of this Virtue 3. 'T is equitable in respect of our selves We are miserable despicable creatures and can hope for nothing from God but upon the account of Bounty without his mercy we are all of us lost and undone Now the rules of congruity will require that we should be as ready to shew mercy to others as to expect it for our selves there is no man so absolute and independent as not at some time to stand in need of the help of others Humane Society could not subsist without the mutual offices of kindnesses and nothing is more sutable to natural reason than that we should be ready to do as we would be done unto That 's the first argument upon the account of common reason and ingenuity 2. This is not only equitable and fitting and the not doing of it an incongruous unreasonable thing But 't is likewise just and the omission of it an injury or sin 'T is observed by some learned Criticks That in the Hebrew and the rest of the Oriental Tongues this virtue of Bounty and beneficence is styled by the name of Iustice or Righteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this being the word most frequently used for it and is accordingly often so rendered by the Septuagint in that forecited place Psal. 112.6 The Righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance Where the context will make it evident that by righteous is meant the bountiful and charitable man So Psal. 37.12 The wicked borroweth and payeth not again but the righteous sheweth mercy and giveth And in several other places Though one man cannot implead another before the bar of humane Law for not doing him a kindness for not being liberal to him The end of the Law being to preserve men within the bounds of justice to keep them from doing injuries to one another w ch is more immediately necessary to the peace of Societies Yet in Gods Law the not doing a kindness when we have a fitting occasion is counted injustice and he will arraign us for the omission of such occasions The Apostle having said Rom. 13.7 Render to all their dues pay to every man your debts subjoyns in the next verses Owe no man any thing but to love one another Implying that in the Scripture sense Charity is a debt and the not paying of it an injustice 'T is such a debt as we can never fully discharge but though we are alwayes paying of it yet we must still be in arrear whilst there shall remain any ability and occasion for our exercising of it Prov. 3.27 Withhold not good from him to whom it is due or from the owners thereof speaking of works of bounty When there are fit objects proposed to us that need our help they have a just title to it and the not assisting of them is withholding from them their due We are but Stewards of our estate and are to lay it out for such uses of the Family as are most agreeable to our Masters will and the neglect of this is styled being unfaithful in that which is another mans God himself is the great Soveraign and Proprietor of the world all men are but his Subjects and Tenants there is a Tribute or Rent which he requires from them upon the non-payment of which they forfeit their Tenure and afterwards do but usurp being in his sight without any lawful title to what they possess And he hath appointed two kind of Receivers for this tribute or rent which we owe to him his Ministers and the Poor the not paying to one of these is expresly styled robbing of God Malach. 3.8 't is so likewise in the other case Pauperibus non impertire rapina est Nay it may prove much worse a kind of Murther which is the highest kind of injustice Because not to save when we may is to destroy as is implyed by our Saviour Luke 6.9 That 's the Second Argument upon the account of justice or duty 3. 'T is highly advantageous to us which is the last Argument upon the account of interest By liberal things shall we stand 'T is the best means to improve and confirm a mans condition in all the felicities of this life and a better 1. For this life 'T is the most effectual way both to improve and preserve our estates and to render us honourable and amiable in the esteem of others 1. For the increasing of our estates The Apostle compares it to sowing which refers to an harvest The Husbandman would never scatter his seed upon the ground if he
is plain that the Scripture doth impose it as a necessary duty and esteem the omission of it an injury And though we cannot be accused for our neglects in this kind before mans Tribunal yet God will pass upon us our final Sentence according to these works 4. If this be so sure a means for the securing and improving our estates and that by liberal things men shall stand This may afford some ground for our enquiry Whether the neglect of this duty may not have some influence upon the general complaints in these times of want of money and trading and of mens failing in their estates This is plain enough that there is no age to be mentioned wherein the generality of persons of all ranks and conditions have been more profuse and extravagant as to those particular expences that concern themselves in all respects Buildings Diet Apparel c. And it may justly be feared that this excess in private expences may occasion a defect in their publick bounty And then no wonder if men by neglect of liberal things do fall and break 2. By way of Exhortation We may from hence be excited to these two things 1. To give honour love and respect to liberal persons This is as much due to them from others as their bounty and charity is due from them to others And it cannot be less than an injury to detain from any one what is his due It was an usual form amongst the Iews upon the naming of worthy persons deceased to add this clause to the mention of them whose memory is blessed And hence was that custom in the Primitive times of appointing Anniversary Memorials and Festivals in honour of the Worthies deceased to recount their good deeds celebrating the praises due to them that others by their example might be excited to do the like And here I cannot in justice omit the mentioning of a late publick good Work not sufficiently taken notice of though redounding much to the honour of our Nation and Religion I mean the Redemption of so many Captives from Slavery and restoring them again to their native Countries which certainly ought to be commemorated with praise as a work of a sweet savour both to God and men and a further addition to that double honour which was before due to such as were the chief Promoters of it I mean the Clergy of this Church in gratitude to God for his gracious and wonderful restitution of them to their just Rights and Revenues And I may truly speak it to the everlasting honour of this famous City that it hath afforded as many liberal worthy Benefactors for publick good works and that too since the Reformation whatever the Papists suggest to the contrary as any other City in the Christian World And which ought further to be acknowledged to their deserved praise the several Companies of it have generally discharged the trust committed to them by the Legacies of others with much more honour and fidelity than particular men use to do Having of their own accord without being necessitated to it by a course of Law observed that fair ingenuous equity which is proper in such cases by augmenting the allowances bequeathed in some proportion according as the price and value of things hath increased This I know hath been done in some cases and I am sure by the rules of equity it ought to be so in others That what was at first designed by the will of the Donour as a meet and liberal maintenance and now by the rising of the value of things falls short of it if the revenue will bear it ought to be augmented in some proportion to what was first intended Such persons cannot justly pretend to this Character in the Text of devising liberal things themselves who are not free and generous in the right disposal of the liberality of others 2. Which brings me to the second branch of Exhortation with which I shall conclude That as we are now convinced of so should we be affected with and accordingly practise this excellent virtue of Liberality And as we abound in every thing in Riches Peace Faith Knowledg that we abound in this grace also It may seem superfluous to add any thing further to that great cloud of Testimonies and Arguments which I have already urged to this purpose Without this bounty and pity to others we can have no good assurance of Gods favour to us nor any grounds to expect it With what face or confidence can any man ask mercy for himself who is not ready to shew it to others 'T is this that must add an efficacy to our prayers as it did with Cornelius that must sanctifie our possessions our unrighteous Mammon which otherwise will not be clean to us 'T is the parent of honour safety prosperity without us of joy peace confidence within us the greatest comfort both in life and death as being the surest evidence both of our grace here and our glory hereafter 'T will be but a little while before every one of you shall be called to give an account of your Stewardships and would it not be your wisdom before that time to have a right state of your accounts and to examine how they stand I am sensible that I speak to men of experience such as by their constant way of dealing must needs be well versed in things of this nature and do thoroughly understand what belongs to the making up and adjusting of Accounts how to put together the charge first of what they have received and are responsible for and then the discharge how it hath been laid out and expended And I appeal to your Consciences can you think this would be a good account at the last day to say Lord thou hast intrusted me with so many Talents such a revenue in land such a stock in money and commodities such an income by Trading or by Offices to the value it may be of some thousands or hundreds by the year Of which receipts I have expended Imprimis for my own use in buildings furniture apparel feasting recreations law suits and perhaps some more vicious way of expence so many hundreds Item for thy use and service towards the relief of thy poor members to works of devotion or publick bounty either so many blanks or so many pence If men would deal impartially with themselves putting both these together and compare them with one another would not this be enough to shame and confound men if they were but serious in Religion and did in good earnest believe what they profess When we come to die the remembrance of those sums though but small ones which we have sent before us to heaven in works of bounty and charity will be a greater comfort and support to our minds than all those vast treasures which we must leave behind us upon earth If men do not believe these things why do they pretend to be Christians If they do believe them how is it