our Lord, to the young Man, who came to enquire of him, what he fhould do, that he might inherit Eternal Life ; and who was thus anfwered by our Saviour, That though he had kept the Commandments, yet he wanted one Thing to make him perfect, (that is, to make him a true Chriftian) and that was, To fell all that he had, and give to the Poor, and come and follow him; and then he fhould have Treafure in Heaven, Mat. 19. 21.

Thus have I given you a brief Account, of each Particular of the Rich Man's Duty, as it is fumm'd up in the Text; and fome perhaps will think it is fevere enough whether it be fo or no, I now difpute not, but I am fure it is feverely required of them. This we may gather from St. Paul's way of urging it, Charge them (faith he) that are rich in this World, that they be not high-minded, &c. He doth not fay, Recommend this to them, as a Thing that is very reafonable in itself, and will highly become them; he doth not fay, Put them in mind of it, as a Thing by which they may gain a great deal of Honour and Reputation to their Religion; he doth not fay, Exhort and perfwade them to it, as a Thing that will at laft conduce to their own Advantage: But he faith, Charge it upon them, intimating, that there was a Neceflity they should thus practife; it was a Duty indif penfably incumbent upon all of them; and this is the Second General Point I am to infift on.

And certainly this Order of St. Paul to Ti mothy is a ftanding Warrant, a perpetual Com

miffion

miffion to all Minifters of the Gofpel, to charge the fame Thing upon all rich Men in all Pla ces and Times. But in the preffing and enforcing this Charge, I fhall not fo much have regard to the Three former Duties, as to the laft, which concerns the doing Good with our Wealth, the exercifing Acts of Bounty and Charity as we have an Opportunity. Charge them that are rich in this World, that they do good, that they be rich in good Works, ready to diftris bute, willing to communicate.

Now in Four Refpects efpecially, rich Men are thus to be charged, and a Neceffity lies upon them to practise accordingly, › vid.

If all these put together do not make the Obligation indifpenfable, I know not what will. I will fpeak briefly of each Particular."

First, If rich Men do not thus employ their Wealth, they are guilty of great Ingratitude. That is the leaft evil Imputation they fall under, and yet to any ingenuous Man it is hea vy enough; for to call a Man Unthankful, is as great a Reproach as you can caft upon him.

Whoever acknowledgeth the Being of God, and owns his Providence in the World, must neceffarily believe, that all that Portion of good Things which he enjoys in this Life, doth proceed from that God as the Author

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and

and Fountain, though they be immediately conveyed to him by the Miniftry of fecond Caufes; and his Reafon and Humanity will fuggeft to him, that there are fome Returns of Gratitude to be made to Him, that of his free Bounty hath thus obliged him; but what Returns can he make to God for his Bleffings, other than in communicating thofe Blef fings among his Fellow-Creatures? To think that a verbal Acknowledgment of God's Favours is a fuitable Return, is against the common Senfe of Mankind, who know that there goes more to a Man's being truly grateful, than the entertaining the Perfon that obliged him with fair Speeches and Profeffions of his Obligations and on the other Side, to think of requiting God in a proper Senfe, by returning real Kindneffes to him for thofe he hath done to us, is equally abfurd; for all the Services we can pay to him, cannot add any Thing to his infinite Bleffednefs. How then muft we exprefs our Thankfulness for the Wealth that he hath beftowed upon us? Why he himself hath prefcribed the Way to us. He hath devolved his Right to our Kindness upon our Brethren: He hath deputed them to receive the real Teftimonies of our Gratitude to him, and whatfoever Obligations we put upon them, he takes them as an Expreffion of our Love and Thankfulness to him.

This our Saviour himfelf hath told us in exprefs Words, in St. Matth. 25. Inasmuch (faith he) as ye have done it, i. c. done Acts of Kindnefs and Charity, to one of the leaft of

thefe

thefe my Brethren, ye have done it unto me. And the charitable Contributions of the Hebrew Chriftians to their indigent Brethren, is by St. Paul, ftyled a Work and Labour of Love shewed to God himfelf, Heb. 6. If therefore rich Men would not be unkind and ingrateful to him that gave them all they have, there is a Neceffity they fhould do good, &c.

Secondly, The Practice of this must like wife be charged upon them in point of Justice as well as Gratitude; it is a Piece of Dif honefty not to do good with the Wealth that God hath given us; for it is falfifying our Truft, it is an embezling our Mafter's Goods, and putting them to quite other Ufes than thofe he gave us them for. We are not to think that God ever made a Man rich for his own fake alone, for the ferving his own Turnings, and the Satisfaction of his own private Defires, without refpect to the Community. No, at the beft, we are but the Stewards of God's Bleffings. A Stock of Ta lents he hath committed to all of us, to fome in greater, and to others in fmaller Proportions, and out of this Stock he hath given us leave to make a Provifion for the Neceffities and Conveniencies of ourselves and our Families; but we must not think all our own that accrues to us, fo that it is at our Liberty, whether we will hoard it up, or fpend it profufely. No, we must have regard to the reft of our Mafter's Servants. After we have served our own Needs, we muft difpenfe the Surplufage among the Family of God, other

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wife

wife we are falfe and wicked Stewards, we abuse and mifemploy our Mafter's Talents, and a fevere Account we fhall one Day ren dor for fo doing.

Thirdly, Mens Religion and Christianity are alfo deeply concerned in this Point. Works of Charity are fo effential to all Religion, and more especially to that which we call Chriftian, that without them it is but an empty Name in whofoever profeffes it. Let Men pretend what they will, let them be never fo orthodox in their Belief, or regular in their Converfation, or ftrict in the Performance of thofe Duties that relate to the Worship of God, yet if they be hard-hearted and uncharitable, if God hath given them Wealth, and they have not Hearts to do good with it, they have no true Piety towards God. They may have a Name to live, but they are really dead. An unmerciful Chriftian, or a religi ous covetous Man, are Terms that imply a Contradiction. For the fatisfying you of this, I fhall but need to put thefe following Queftions.

Can that Man be accounted Religious, that neither loves God nor his Neighbour? Sure he cannot; for thefe Two Things are the Whole of Religion, as the Holy Scripture often affures us; but now the covetous Man neither doth the one, nor the other. His Neighbours he doth not love, that is certain; for if he did, they would find fome Fruits of it; unless this be to be accounted Love, to give them good Words, to fay to a Brother or a