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are enjoined also works of charity towards the poor, which though they have an immediate reference to the poor, yet God looks upon them as given to himself, Prov. xiv. 31. xix. 17. Matt. xxv. 40. Hence it is that God accepts of such works as these also, for part of the tribute which we owe him; whereby we acknowledge the receipt of what we have from him, and express our thankfulness unto him for it, without which we have no ground to expect a blessing upon what we have, nor that it should be really good to us. For, as the apostle tells us, every creature of God is good, if it be received with thanksgiving, not else, 1 Tim. iv. 4. But no thanksgiving is acceptable but that which is expressed by works as well as, words. And therefore it is necessary for us to pay this duty and service to God out of what we have, in order to the cleansing and sanctifying the residue of our estates unto us, without which we have not the lawful use of what we possess; but every thing we have is polluted and unclean to us, as our Saviour himself intimates, Luke xi. 41. A thing much to be considered. For I verily believe that the "great reason why so many estates are blasted so soon, and brought to nothing amongst us, is because men do not render unto God his duty and tribute out of what they have, and therefore it is no wonder that God in his providence turns them out of possession, and gives their estates to other persons, who shall be better tenants to him, and be careful to pay him the duties which he requires of them. And therefore, in order to men's securing their estates to themselves and posterity, it is absolutely necessary that they observe the duty which we are here recommended to charge upon all that are rich in this world, even to do good with what they have, and not only so, but

II. To be rich too in good works; that is, not only to do good, but to do as much good as they are able with their riches, so as to proportion their good works to the riches which God hath given them wherewith to do them, according to the apostle's direction, I Cor. xvi. 2. Thus

in the place before quoted, Luke xi. 41. where our Saviour bids the Pharisees to give alms of such things as they have, his words are τὰ ἐνόντα δότε τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην, give alms as much as ye are able, for so the words properly signify. And verily whatsoever we do, unless it be as much as we can, God will not look upon us as doing any thing at all: for we must not think to compound with him. When he hath given us all we have, he expects that we render all that he requires of us, that is, as much as we are able to pay unto him. As if a man owes you money, you will not accept of part instead of the whole; so neither will God from us; we all owe him as much as we are able to devote to his service and honour, and we must not think to put him off with part of it; for he reckons that he receives nothing from us, unless it be proportionable to what he hath bestowed upon us. But how little soever it is that we give or offer to him, if it be but answerable to our estates, it will be accepted by him. This our Saviour himself hath assured us of, Mark xii. 43, 44. From whence we may certainly conclude, that there is not the poorest person whatsoever but may be as rich in good works as the richest, because God doth not measure the goodness of our works by their bulk or quantity, but by the proportion which they bear to our estates: so that he that gives a penny may do as good a work as he that gives a pound, yea, and a better too, because his may be as much as he is able, whereas the other's is not. I wish all men would seriously weigh and consider this, lest otherwise they go out of the world without ever having done one good work in it for we may assure ourselves, he that is not thus rich in good works, doth no good at all with his riches.

But it is farther to be considered here, that this expression, rich in good works, implies that good works are indeed our principal riches; and that men must not compute their riches so much from what they have, as from what they give and devote to God. For what we have is not ours, but God's in our hands; but what we

give is ours in God's hands, and he acknowledgeth himself our debtor for it, in that he tells us that we lend it to him, and promiseth to pay it us again, Prov. xix. 17. And therefore they who cast up their accounts to know how rich they are, ought not to reckon upon what they have lying by them, nor upon their houses and lands that are made over to them, nor yet upon what is owing to them by men; but should reckon only upon what they have given to pious or charitable uses, upon what treasure they have laid up in heaven. For whatsoever they may think at present, I dare assure them, that will be found to be their only riches another day. And therefore if any one desires to be rich indeed, let him take my advice, do what good he can with the riches he hath, and then he will be rich enough: for this is the way to be rich in good works. But in order unto that, he must likewise observe what follows, to be

III. Ready to distribute; that is, ready upon all occasions to pay his tribute unto God, whensoever he in his providence calls for it; taking all opportunities of doing good, and glad when he can find them, Gal. vi. 10. Thus therefore whensoever any opportunities present themselves of expressing our thankfulness unto God, by works either of piety or charity, whatsoever other businesses may be neglected, we must be sure to lay hold on that. For I dare say, that there is none but will grant me that there is all the reason in the world that God should be served in the first place, and that he should have the first fruits of all our increase, Prov. iii. 9. Exod. xxiii. 19. Deut. xxvi. 2. And therefore we cannot but acknowledge, that works of piety towards God and of charity to the poor, or as the Scripture calls them in general good works, are always to be done in the first place; and whatsoever other works may be omitted, be sure they must not. But we ought still to be as ready to pay our duties unto God, as we are to receive any thing from him, as ready to give as to receive; and by consequence as men let no opportunities slip wherein they can increase their

estates, they are much less to let any opportunities pass wherein they can any way improve their estates for God's glory and others' good; but they ought to be ready upon all occasions to distribute what they can upon charitable and pious uses.

IV. Willing to communicate; as we must do it with a ready hand, so we must do it with a willing heart too. Thus we are enjoined to serve God willingly, 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. and cheerfully, 2 Cor. ix. 6, 7. Indeed God accepts of none but free-will offerings. If we be not as willing to do good works as we are to have wherewith to do them, we may be confident God will never accept of them. And therefore in plain terms, if any would be rich in good works as becometh Christians, and as it is our interest to be, they must not stay till they be compelled, persuaded, or entreated by others to do them; but they must set upon them of their own accord, out of pure obedience unto God, and from a due sense of their constant dependence upon him, and manifold obligations to him; yea, so as to take pleasure in nothing in the world so much as in paying their respects and service to Almighty God, 1 Chron. xxix. 14, 15, 17.

Now to encourage the rich to employ their estates thus in doing good, the apostle adds in the last place, that this is the way to lay up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. A strange expression! yea such a one, that had not St. Paul himself spoke it, some would have been apt to have excepted against it for an error or mistake. What, good works the foundation of eternal life? No, that is not the meaning of it; but that good works are the foundation of that blessed sentence which they shall receive who are made partakers of eternal life, as is plain from our Saviour's own words, Matt. xxv. 34, 35, 36.

And verily although there be no such intrinsic value in good works, whereby they that do them can merit any thing from God by their doing of them; yet no

thing can be more certain, than that God of his infinite mercy in Jesus Christ will so accept of them, as to reward us for them in the world to come. For this our Saviour himself doth clearly intimate to us, in the place before quoted, as also, Matt. vi. 20. Luke xii. 33. xvi. 9. that is, distribute and employ the unrighteous or deceitful riches you have in this world in such a way as is most pleasing and acceptable unto God, that so he may be your friend, and receive you into everlasting habitations, when these transient and unstable riches fail you. From whence I beg leave to observe, that to do good with what we have is the only way whereby to improve our estates for our own good, so as to be the better for them both in this and also in the world to come. The Rabbins have a good saying, that pop in good works are the salt of riches, that which preserves them from corruption, and makes them savoury and acceptable unto God, as also useful and profitable to the owners. Unless we do good with our estates, we forfeit our title to them by the non-payment of the rent-charge which God hath reserved to himself upon them; and therefore we may justly expect every moment to be cast out of possession; or howsoever though he may forbear us a while, yea so long as we are in this world, what good, what benefit, what comfort shall we have of our estates in the world to come? certainly no more than the rich man in the Gospel had, when he lay scorching in hell-fire, and had not so much as a drop of water to cool his inflamed tongue. Whereas on the other side, if we do good with our estates, if we devote them to the service of God, and to the relief of the poor, by this means we shall not only secure the possession of them to ourselves here, but shall also receive comfort and benefit from them in the world to come; so that our estates will not die with us, but we shall receive benefit by them, and have cause to bless God for them unto all eternity: the apostle him

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