WELL and Wisely has the Piety of those that went before us, (a Piety worthily follow'd by the present Noble Senators of this Great City) Ordain'd and Appointed, that these Holy Festival-Days, which wait upon Easter-Day, should be Honour'd with these solemn Assemblies, and that in order to these two Great and Good Ends; in the first place, That of Praising God with the rest of the [Page 2] Christian World, for the Glorious Resurrection of our Blessed Lord and Saviour; in the second place, That of stirring up our Affections to such Good Works and Alms Deeds, as shall not fail to obtain their Ample Recompence at the Resurrection of the Just.

Now both these weighty subjects, the Resurrecti­on and Charity, which shall then receive its Ever­lasting Rewards, are joyn'd in my Text, and it will challenge your best and most awful Attention, if you will but consider how Christ has put them together in another Text; where he gives us the same comfortable Expectation as he does here; but also a terrible warning that the particular Test and Tryal of all men at the General Resurrection shall be, their having perform'd or neglected these Offices of Charity to the Poor, the Hungry, the Naked, or any way distressed Christians.

To find out and shew you the full extent and design of our Saviour's words in the Text, 'tis necessary to look back and lay before you the Occasion upon which they were spoken; Our Lord you know was so Charitable, so Condescending as to make himself Familiar, and in a manner Domestique to those that were none of the best, because he was still in hopes of doing them some good; and having been re­flected upon by the Pharisees for Eating with Pub­licans, now to prevent their Murmuring he suffers himself to be over-entreated and invited by one of the Chief of the Pharisees to Eat Bread in his House; [Page 3] where it quickly appear'd they had at least as much need of his Advice to Cure the Distempers of their minds, as had those whom they contemptuously stiled Sinners; for presently 'tis sed, that against all the Laws of Hospitality, they watcht Him, that was, to steal His Words, or to find somewhat in his Acti­ons to Accuse and Defame him; the Bait they had laid as most likely to take him, was a Work of Charity, A Man to be healed of a Dropsy; But it was their Saboath-Day, and when he puts them the Case of Conscience, Whether it were Lawful to heal him then or no, they held their Peace, but with intent to make noise enough of it afterward, in case he proceeded to work the Miracle of Mercy, which nevertheless he did with a generous undaun­ted freedom, and then what he had done he main­tain'd with that strength of Argument, as he re­duced them to an absolute Incapacity of Answering him again to these things.

Now though they had utterly spoyl'd the Grace of the Treat they had given him, by making his Table a Snare to him, yet he whose Meat it was to do the Will of him that sent him, and to finish his Work; resolves to make a Spiritual Entertainment for them, who had pretended to oblige him, by In­viting him to partake with them their Corporal Food; and first he gives them to understand, That he would not Abridge their just Liberties of Enter­taining, nor even of Feasting one another; but he would Regulate these Civil Meetings of theirs, when [Page 4] he markt how they chose out the Chief Rooms; he di­rects them how they may turn such Commerces and Correspondences as are necessary to support the Dignity and Comfort of Human Society, into the Exercises of Virtue, of that fundamental Virtue profound Humility, if they will change their Pra­ctice which savour'd too much of Pride, and if they will take his Counsel, To go and sit down in the lowest Room.

And having Preach'd to them Humility at their Publick Feasts, then he goes on to Teach and shew them a more Excellent way, as the Apostle calls it, that is Charity; Addressing himself to him that bade him to Dinner, and with him probably many other Guests, Friends, Brethren, or Kinsmen, or rich Neigh­bours, with an eye to some mean Advantage or pitiful Interest, that they should make him a suitable Return either in the same kind, or in equal value; he does not forbid this mutual kindness be­tween Relations, as if it were a Crime in it self, but he puts him in mind, that all this may be no Virtue, that this may be nothing to Charity, nor yet advance one step in the way to Heaven. But if in sted of the Rich he would Call the Poor, in sted of his Kindred the Stranger that is in Want, in sted of his Friends and Neighbours that do not need a Meals-meat from him, and can afford him as good Cheer again, he would make much of those that can do nothing to help themselves, The Maimed, the Lame, the Blind, such as cannot Retribute any [Page 5] thing to him their Entertainer and Benefactor: then would the Hospitality be of the Noblest Kind, it would be perfect Charity, and he should be Recom­pensed at the Resurrection of the Just.

The words then are easily divided into these four Parts:

First, Here is a general express Precept for Alms-Deeds, A Charge to them that are Rich in this World, that they be ready to give, and apt to distribute, Call the Poor: 'Tis spoken to the Master of the House, and in him to all others of the like Ability.

Secondly, Here is matter of Precept mixt and joyn'd with matter of Counsel and Advice, con­cerning the Manner, the Measures, the Rules of Proportion and Decency to be observ'd in doing our Alms-Deeds: Here are excellent Directions given us to do them presently, and with our own Hands rather than leave them to be done by others after our Deaths, to do them Diligently, Chearfully, Plentifully, nay Openly sometimes, as well as Secretly at other times; to do them with all the Conde­scending Kindness of Entertainers, for such good natur'd qualifications as these are implied in these words, When thou makest a Feast, Call the Poor.

Thirdly, The Choice of fit Objects for the Cha­rity of the Rich is here determin'd, they must be such as are Poor indeed, for such they are not, nor are they properly so call'd that are in condition to help themselves, they must be really helpless Crea­tures, the Maimed, the Lame, the Blind. [Page 6] Fourthly and Lastly, Here is set before us the most forcible Inducement, the strongest Motive to Charity, the great Reward of it, and the greater by far the later it is Repay'd; the Danger is only least a Recompense be made thee too soon; but if thou canst be Contented to stay a while, here is offer'd the sirmest Security, that thou shalt be Recom­pensed at the Resurrection of the Just.

First here is a general express Precept for Alms-Deeds, A Charge to them that are Rich in this World that they be ready to give, and apt to distribute, Call the Poor: 'Tis spoken to the Master of the House, and in him to all others of the like Ability.

For as Christ made this Exhortation to one of their Chiefs, so by parity of Reason it extends it self to those, and to those especially that bear Rule, Men Renowned for their Power, Leaders of the People by their Counsel, Rich Men furnisht with Ability, living peaceably in their Habitations; These are the Titles of Honour which the Book of Wisdome bestows upon you, and to such as you is this word of Com­mand given by the Lord of Life, that ye consider the Poor; for to this the Providence of God in the Beautiful Ordering of the World, and Ranging Mankind into several Degrees and Ranks, has giv'n you a special Call, to look down from your High but Slippery Places, with an Eye of Pity upon those that lye at your Feet and can fall no lower; such is the wonderful and useful variety of Gods Dispen­sations to Men, that some even hired Servants in [Page 7] our Father's house have enough and to spare, while many a Son (and he not always a Prodigal) is ready to perish with Hunger; and though King David after very long Experience was able to say, I have been Young and now am Old, and yet saw I never the Righ­teous forsaken, nor his Seed begging their Bread, that is, not Abandoned to a state of Beggery or craving of Alms without finding Relief, such a heavy Curse as that was denounced by David only against the Children of the Traytor Judas, to be Vagabonds and begg their Bread, to seek it also out of Desolate Places; yet that there should be some in a mean and low Condition, is as necessary as that others should Abound; for an equality of Wealth and Honour would be impossible, and a Levelling Prin­ciple can never be reduc'd to practice: For if all Men were Princes whom should each Govern? if none were Poor, who shou'd do servile Offices, and who shou'd then supply the Necessities of the Rich? I am apt to think that the greatest Alteration that ever happen'd in these Western Parts of the World, except when Christianity came in, was, when That by degrees turn'd out Slavery, the Roman Absolute Slavery, under which an incredible number of Men were subject to their Masters as to so many Monarchs that had Power of Life and Death▪ over them; but what a Change would it be, if not only Slavery were gone out of the World, but Service also and Dependance of Inferiors upon those [Page 8] that are Exalted with Honour, of the Needy upon those that live at Ease and in Plenty; All those who know not now what it is to want, the Scene being so chang'd, would stand more in need of help than any do now of relief; Consider it then as a Bounty of God to the Rich, that the Poor shall never cease out of the Land, 'tis a Promise, a Gra­cious Promise, Deut. xv. 11. And Bless Almighty God for providing you these, not only as hewers of wood, and drawers of water, not only as helpers and supporters of your Temporal State, for the daily pressing necessities of Human Life, but as im­provers of all your Spiritual Graces, Objects of your Comiseration, such as may call incessantly upon every tender Passion within you, such as may stir up Resentments of Gratitude to that Good and Gracious Master, who might with perfect Justice have laid you as low as others whom you see in the Dust; such as may excite you to produce con­tinual Acts of Love to that Blessed Saviour, who shed his most precious Blood, the Blood of God, for the very least of these; and has prepar'd a Re­ceptacle in some of the many Mansions in his Father's House, for many a wretch who during his Pilgrimage here, takes up that Lamentation, I have no place to flee in [...]o, and no man careth for my Soul; yet 'tis most dear unto God, and precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of any Saint; tho' he be as contemptible as Lazarus was in the Eye of the Rich Man, yet the Angels of God are to carry his better [Page 9] part into the place of Rest, if he be Rich in Faith, if he well perform that Part which God has Ap­pointed him in this Life; for as Human Life is aptly enough compar'd to the Acting upon a Stage, so he that Acts the Beggar well, and throughout maintains the decorum of the Person whom he sustains, deserves to be sent off with as great Ap­plause, as he that stands for the Great Man in the Fable, since he is only the Richer Pageant of the two, and if it be truly said by the Psalmist that every Man is a Lye, then it may not be altogether im­properly said, the Greater Man the Greater Lye. But if on the other side you see yet a sadder Spe­ctacle, that is pinching extream Poverty with lewd manners, for alass desperate wickedness, and cruel want, are often found to joyn their hands, how useful is even such an Object of Sin and Misery together, in those whom the Psalmist describes, that will run here and there for Meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied, 'tis well if they do not Curse too, how instructive are such miserable sights to make us pray heartily with the Son of Syrach, Give me neither Poverty nor Riches, feed me with food con­venient for me; not Riches, fore-seeing an evident Danger of Luxury and Epicurism leading to direct Atheism, lest I be full and deny thee, and say who is the Lord? and Danger too on the other side, lest I be Poor and steal, and take the Name of my God in vain; either forswearing himself to get off from Punishment, facing Almighty God when he sneaks [Page 10] and shrinks from Man, or else 'tis meant of habitual common Swearing, which heretofore few would be guilty of (so Abject a Vice it was thought) but the meanest People of as little Honour as Conscience.

But besides such Reflections as these, which the sight of the miserable will suggest to raise and keep up Piety, 'tis our Advantage on another and greater Account, that the Poor we have always with us. Our Saviour has said it as it were Congratu­lating us the never-failing Opportunities of Exer­cising our Charity; for were it not in Charity to us as well as to them, that we may do our selves good, has God any need of our Aid to provide for those whose Condition seems so necessitous? Thou Lord of thy Goodness hast prepared for the Poor, says the Royal Prophet, 'tis his Goodness to those that give and not only to them that receive, that he will convey his Largesses through our hands to theirs, for all the Beasts of the Forrest are his, and so are the Cattel upon a thousand Hills: If I be hungry, (says he the Great Creator, and so if the least of his Creatures be hungry) I will not tell thee, for the whole World is mine, and all that is therein: Is there not Silver and Gold enough in the bowels of the Earth, and Pearls in the bottom of the Sea enow to satisfie all Mens wants, and leave none to com­plain in our Streets: or is God's Hand shorten'd that he cannot rain Quails again with Manna every Morning? so all Men shou'd Eat Angels Food, and have Meat enough; but the Divine Wisdome is not [Page 11] wont to be lavish of Miracles, and 'tis perfect Good­ness to make us Men, God's Instruments, good An­gels as it were to Guard and Assist our fellows in their Extremity; nor is this left to our Choice to do it, or not to do it. I call'd it a Precept or a Command to the Rich, and it was the very form of Asking an Alms by the Poor among the Jews, Give me as God has appointed or bidden you to do.

'Tis an affirmative Precept, Call the Poor, and being such does not oblige ad Semper, as the Schools use to speak, that is, it does not bind us to do it at all times or without any Intermission, whereas Negative Precepts as, Thou shalt do no Murther, does so perpetually oblige, that we may at no time break them; but perhaps there are few more dangerous fallacies, yet none more common than this, because I cannot Charge another for wanting Charity, tho he be not opening of his Hand, and giving every minute of his Life, the Man, but 'tis the Old Man still within us, will be apt to Conclude, if the duty of doing his Alms takes no fast hold of him now, nor to morrow, nor at any set time hereafter, then when does it lye upon him? on this supposition i [...] will be very rarely or never Practis'd: It gives little less than a general Dispensation, tho not by Absolving a Man from any Tye upon him, yet by representing it as no moral sin to defer it as lon [...], as he pleases; yet all this while his Conscience may quiet it self: This was the Case of the Rich Young Man in the Gospel, All the Commandments, saith he, [Page 12] have I kept from my Youth. St. Chrysostome and most others are of Opinion that he was no Hypo­crite, yet we are sure that he was not sincerely a Saint; but he did not lay his uncharitable Omissi­ons to Heart, for he that lov'd his Mony better than Christ, must needs have been guilty of shutting up his Bowels of Compassion many a time, when he saw his Brother have need, tho' his own memory could not perhaps reproach him with any one Odi­ous Instance of having deny'd an Alms, when he thought himself strictly bound in Conscience to be­stow it. But now to state our own Obligation.

First you may set it down as a certain Truth, that our Saviour here calls upon us to get the Habit of Charity, for the Habit of Uncharitableness is utterly inconsistent with a state of Grace: Now a Habit of this nature cannot be gotten but by many Acts; and to think that one or a few inconsiderable Acts in the course of a Man's Life, will suffice to acquire and confirm this excellent Grace of Charity, 'tis as wild Divinity as that in the Jesuits Morals, where they have the hardiness to maintain, That one such Act of Love to God, tho' no more be exerted by one Man, may serve his turn and Save him: Once then for all, we may take the perfect notion of this or any other Acquir'd Habit, from the great Philosopher, who if he were not more a Divine, yet was less a Heathen is then many of those Romish Casuists. A Habit is then atrain'd when we have gain'd the Point upon our selves, to work as we [Page 13] ought, with li [...]tle or no difficulty; If then we give not easily, willingly, constantly, or at least very frequently, we are still to learn and to seek for the Habit of Charity.

I must needs say in the second place, That some extraordinary Object of Compassion may be so pressing and lye so hard on the Conscience of any Christian, as to bear it down, and the feed of Grace the Vital Act in the Heart may be utterly destroy'd for the present, if he turns away his Face and does not put forth his hand to save his Brother, for whom Christ was pleased to Dye. The Priest and Levite who past by the Poor Man that had fallen among Thieves, and left him there weltring in his Blood, they drew it no doubt upon their own heads, and are Condemn'd by the Mouth of our Blessed Lord, for so not loving their Neighbour, as if they had been Accessories to the killing of him: nay Principals not only in mortally Wounding his Body, but their own Souls.

But I must also offer this as my Third Conclusi­on, That a Passionate, a Vehement, an Affectionate, or for want of an English word to hit my Concepti­ons fully, give me leave to call it an Affectuous setting the Heart upon Wealth and worldy Goods, more than upon Heaven and the way to Heaven by Charity, is a state of Sin and of Death: tho the Conscience like his who had great Possessions be so partial to its self, as being not throughly Ex­amined, to make a Return not Guilty of any Gross [Page 14] Omissions in this kind, or of any notorious Act of Uncharitable dealing, or of any Habit to make one appear Hard-hearted, yet if your Treasure be upon Earth and your Souls be set upon it, they must needs be stak'd down here too, and mount no higher; for it is a Judg'd Case, and with all the Reason in the world, That where your Treasure is, there will your Hearts be also.

But it may be Objected and Thoughts may arise in your Hearts, if there be so much danger of doing too little and too slender Alms; then What is enough for the Rich to bestow upon Charity? shall I say, whatever they can spare from their own Occasions? that will not advance one foot toward stating the Question; 'tis only raising another, a harder Que­stion, which the best Casuists will never be able to settle. De abjiciendo Superfluo, of the parting with our superfluity to relieve those in need or necessity. But what is superabundance to some, is scarce a Com­petency to others in different Circumstances; Upon the whole matter, no precise bounds and limits can be set for all Men, nor for any two Men in the World, tho we could suppose them exactly alike in Minds, Bodies and Estates; It must be when all is done, in taking the measures of this or any other Christian Graces, prout vir prudens definiverit, as Old Philosophy could never otherwise assign the constant Exercise of moral Virtues its just Amplia­tions and Restrictions, but only as Prudence should define them in particular Cases; indeed to suit this [Page 15] with Divinity it must be Christian Prudence, that is well guided Piety or Conscience wisely directed; Nor do's the Apostle St. Paul go very much farther towards fixing the definite Proportions of Charity in the almost infinite Circumstances of men, than the Masters of our morals had gone before him, in describing the Lines and Limits of what they called Mercy; only St. Paul seems to enjoyn one thing necessary to Enter and Engage good Christians in a Course of Charity, that they all should have set times as they are the Stewards of God, to make up their Accounts for Pious Ʋses, that these set times should be so near one another, as to keep the Trade of Charity quick, upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store; But when it comes to naming the Sum that every one must allow, St. Paul himself could not offer any common measure, he does not decimate or call upon them for a Temh, nor yet for a Twentieth Part, or Exact upon them at any determinate Rate, But let every one lay by him in store as God hath prospered him.

If it be Reply'd that this is to leave our Duty at such Uncertainty, as makes it hard to know when our Righteousness, that is, our Charity exceeds theirs who shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: my Answer is, All such Scruples are easily removed, if insted of disputing how much 'tis our Obligation to give, we fall to practising and aboun­ding in the Work of the Lord, this is to take the safe and the high-way to Heaven. And this falls in [Page 16] with my second Part: Here is a matter of Precept mixt and joyn'd with matter of Counsel and Advice concerning the Manner, the Measures, the Rules of Proportion and Decency to be observed in doing our Alms-Deeds, Here are excellent Directions given us to do them presently, and with our own hands, rather than leave them to be done by others after our Deaths; to do them Diligently, Chearfully, Plentifully, nay Openly sometimes as well as Se­cretly at other times, to do them with all the Con­descending Kindness of Entertainers, for such good natur'd Qualifications as these are implyed in these words: When thou makest a Feast, Call the Poor.

This saying differs much from that other saying; Sell what you have and give to the Poor, so says our Blessed Saviour, St. Luke xii. but it is a plain Case, That was only propos'd and advis'd to some, never impos'd by Christ upon any but one, that Rich Young Man we spoke of; His Case was singular; Our Lord discerned him to be as worldly as wealthy, therefore it was necessary for his Eternal Salvation, to part him and his Great Possessions; But good Amends would have been presently made him, he would have been admitted to be one of the Peculiar Followers of Jesus, and probably the Power of working Miracles would have been given him: But for the Generality of Mankind they are left free, and forced upon none of these Extraordinary Attainments, whether they will or no; He that lyed to the Holy-Ghost in the matter of Alms was told [Page 17] by St. Peter, While the Land remained was it not thine own, and after it was sold was it not in thine own power? that is to do what he pleas'd with the Money paid fot it. And yet such as sould their Lands, and laid the prices at the Apostles feet, and Distribution was made unto every man according as he had need, these have that Character immediately given them, that Great Grace was upon them all. Notwithstanding which, to say that our Saviours words in St. Luke, Sell what you have and give to the Poor, obliges the Rich to part with all, or as Zacheus did, (and it was well done of him) with the one half of his Goods to the Poor, this was one dangerous part of Pelagius'es Heresie. Therefore Christ did not pr [...]ss that Publican to so vast a Pro­portion of Alms as he gave unaskt, and then Christ Graciously Accepted it; nor does Christ Labour the Pharisee in my Text, to devest himself of his whole Estate at once; But implies sufficiently that it was Lawful for him to keep up some port, and to abide in a Condition of sometimes making a Feast; Nor can I think it unlawful for you that are Mana­gers of useful Bounties, to keep up the Honour of this Renowned City, as well as you are Stewards and Governours of Publick Charitys, that you maintain these your Hospitable Feasts, to encourage more such Charitable Benefactions, by the memo­rial of those whose Names are as precious Oyntment; nor will I go about to stint the Allowance of your domestick friendly Meetings by the Fannian Law, [Page 18] which permitted the Citizens of Rome in the height and flourishing of their Empire, to spend no more at a Feast, and the Sempronian Law no more at a Marriage Feast, than would amount to a Crown of the Sun in the modern Coin; I will not presume to contract your Entertainments by so strict Laws as those, any more than I would confine your Estates by that Agrarian Law which the Common-wealths-men (that wou'd gladly have a share in your Lands) would fain intro­duce upon you; But tho' I do not prescribe to your Liberality at the Table, hitherto shalt thou go and no further; for abundantly enough and to spare is allow'd to a Feast, as our Blessed Lord approv'd by his own Practice, when he Treated the Multitude, there were taken up of the Fragments twelve Baskets full: tho' I do not offer to set you such bounds as you shall not pass in your Civil Entercourses, yet I must needs Add, there is danger enough when the Rich do but Feast one another, else it wou'd never have been given in Caution, When thou shalt have Eaten, and art full, then beware lest thou forget the Lord; whom they are least apt to remember, who lye upon Beds of Ivory, and stretch themselves upon their Couches, and Eat the Lambs out of the Flock, and the Calves out of the midst of the stall, that drink Wine in Bowls, but they are not grieved for the Af­fliction of Joseph: there is hazard also of feeding the disease of our nature, too worldly Affections in Treating our Friends and Relations. The first great Feast we Read of was Gen. xxi. A better [Page 19] Man than he that made it, or a juster Occasion of Feasting could scarce have been found, Abraham the Father of Isaack and of all the Faithful, kept it in Token of Gratitude to God for the Son of his Old Age, and the Heir of Promise, yet it prov'd of Melancholy Consequence; it ended in Abraham's Sorrow and Ishmael's Banishment. But if our Feasts bear no resemblance with the Ancient Feasts of Charity, if there be no Consideration had of the Empty Souls, while we have enough and to spare, if God were Angry with his Peoples Fasts in Isaiah, for want of Alms joyn'd with them, then how much more will he be with our Feasts, if we let our Brethren starve while we are indulging our selves; But if to keep far enough from that uncharitable wasting Sin (as Divines call it) we aim at Charity in an Heroick Degree, Christ here chalks out the way to it, When thou makest a Feast, Call the Poor, that is make it sometimes on purpose to Solace and Relieve them; wherein there is

First imply'd a Seasonable Advice for those who have not the Courage to give as long as they have the Power to keep any thing, but talk of Bequeath­ing much when it shall be no longer their own; they are Fools if they do not know what they Tempt those whom they pinch, to wish and pray for, and they are the greater Fools if they deny the Poor and themselves too, yet so do most of the Covetous, but he that Counsels us here to Feast the Poor, in­tends we should do it before there is nothing lest [Page 20] us but to feast the Worms; I confess if men have a fixt and sincere Intention of giving all in a lump to some very great and good Work for which they gather, God may be honour'd by such a whole free­will Offering from them Living or Dying; but yet 'tis surer a great deal which is so given already as to be without power of a Revocation; 'tis safer to di­stribute with your own hands, than to trust in others what you could not obtain of your selves to per­form; 'tis greater consolation to see with your own Eyes so many of your good Works upon the sile, and it is more efficacious than any thing to encrease your Charity, or even to inflame it, when the Head, the Hand, the Heart, is constantly exercised and yet never weary of well-doing; This is to keep up a Trade of Charity, where it may be truly said, that the light Gains make the heavy Purse, continual Acts of Mercy and spreading our Alms thin on many lesser Objects of our Compassion: This is most properly Sowing, and sowing plenteously, 'tis laying up a growing Treasure in Heaven, 'tis gathering to ones self a good Reward against the Day of Necessity, and think what a folly it is to leave the Torch be­hind one, being to go through a dark and dismal Passage, what madness to leave what thou lovest so well in the place from whence thou art going, in­stead of sending it before to that abiding City.

Again, When thou makest a Feast, Call the Poor; it supposes a carefulness for them, a double-diligence first to find out and invite them, then to receive [Page 21] and refresh them; This is so extremely far from turning away thy face front any Poor Man, as rather to travel in quest of such pitiful Objects, this is what David calls, Considering the Poor and Needy, Laying out our Thoughts for them, and sending out our Messengers, as did the Venerable Hospi­table and Charitable Old Man; When I saw abun­dance of Meat, said Tobit, I said to my Son, go and bring what Poor Man soever thou shalt find out of our Brethren, who is mindful of the Lord.

Again, to Feast them means to Relieve them Plentifully, tho' it does not mean a Miser's Feast, for one Luxurious Meal, nor should the Poor be Treated with meats compounded and metamor­phos'd by the Rules of Irregular Gluttony: yet let it be a Feast, a frugal one but still a Feast to them, enough to satisfie the Soul of the Hungry should be sometimes prepar'd on purpose for them, and thus has God provided for them, that some of the best and most delicious Meats are the very cheapest and easiest to be had; since it was not only the Privilege of the Land of Promise, but a Common Blessing almost upon all Lands, to flow with Milk and Honey.

Again, When thou makest a Feast, Call the Poor, and if this can hardly be done so silen [...]ly, but that some little Notice will be taken of it, then be not Asham'd of seeming to do that Good which really thou do'st; as this is a common Fault, now Piety is driven into Corners, and Charity it self is [Page 22] become a pusillanimous, a blushing thing before the Men of a Giant-like mind, who make a mock of Sin and of Virtue too; nor be Afraid to let thy Light shine before Men, since all manner of Good-Works that happen to be seen of Men, are not there­fore unpleasing to God, but only such as are done with so vile a principal End as to be seen of Men, and not with a primary Intent, that those Men may Glorifie thy Father which is in Heaven.

Lastly, When thou makest a Feast, Call the Poor, that is Call them to be thy welcome Guests, thy humble Friends, thy Spiritual Kindred; since Christ has Call'd them his Brethren, since he has made them Heirs and Coheirs with himself and thee; Lay aside thy supercilious Demeanour toward them, nay put off now and then that Awful Distance which Decency requires thee to keep at other times; Let some of them at these good Times be seated at thy Table with thee; thy Betters have us'd them more familiarly, they have girded themselves and served them with a Real not an Affected Humility; The Greatest Kings and Queens have not thought it too little for them to wash and kiss their Feet, in Imitation of him that introduc'd the same significant Ceremony, proposing it for a Pattern to his Follow­ers; and where can even Royal Dust and Ashes lay themselves low enough in an Office of Devotion to him in the Proxies or in the Persons of those that are his, when he the Son of God, he who thought it no Robery to be Equal with God, yet took upon him [Page 23] the form of a Servant, and was content to Abase himself, even to kiss the Feet of the Traytor Jud [...]s. But tho we are not obliged to fall so low to the Poor as always to set them above us, yet there is one Complement essential to make it a Feast, in all thy Gifts shew a Chearful Countenance, says the Wise Man, for God loves a Chearful Giver, says the Apostle; and then there is felt and enjoy'd true pleasure in the Act of Charity; when Chearfulness dilates and enlarges the Heart of the Alm'ner as well as the Soul of the Alms-Man.

But now 'tis high time for me to interpose one Caution, and that Caution will naturally meet me upon my third Head of Discourse: That fit Objects for the Charity of the Rich must be such as are Poor indeed, for such they are not, nor are they properly so called that are in condition to help them­selves, they must be really helpless Creatures, the Maimed, the Lame, the Blind.

For to nourish Idleness, the certain fore-runner, if not the Companion of Wickedness, is but mista­ken Charity, and those that have two hands left them to feed one Mouth, are to be counted with those that are Rich enough, if they are no way disabled; from such our Alms would be more kindly withdrawn than extended to them; or ra­ther instead of these External Works of Mercy, those which the Schoolmen call Internal, should be applyed to them; such as Good Counsel, with As­sistance toward their Settlement, to make them [Page 24] some way useful to their Country, or at least no longer Burthens of the Earth; or if Advice be lost upon them, another Office of Charity to their Souls at least, even Castigation and Compulsion upon them is but their Due as well as our Duty to solicit it. I must have leave in this place to lament the miserable Abuse of so vast a Fund for Charity, as perhaps no Kingdom under Heaven can boast the like, I mean that Yearly Treasure rais'd by virtue of that exceedingly well meant and ill manag'd Act for every Parish in the Nation to maintain their Poor, who thereupon make themselves such on pur­pose, and are become perfect Oppressors in the Land, which they will not set their Hands to Cultivate, how low soever the Husband-man's Trade is grown for want of Labourers, that Honourable thriving Profession heretofore, but now decayed and fallen together with your Rents; which is all for want of Executing with that wholsome Statute-Law, the same in substance with that Apostolical Canon, If any one would not Work neither should he Eat.

But on the other side I must needs highly com­mend and congratulate this City, so many Work-Houses to Chastise and Reduce the Vagrant and Vicious Poor; so many Late useful Inventions to Employ the Willing-Poor, and to put even such as are half Cripples in a way of getting their Bread; so many worthy Active Undertakers to find'em work, that they may Eat the Labour of their Hands, who­ever they are that Engage in this Labour of Love, [Page 25] to Gather the Dispersed from door to door, and to make 'em live by themselves and their own handy­works, they do as it were treat them every day, and may the good Conscience of their own deeds be to them­selves a continual Feast! But the most goodly sight of all in this noble City are so many fair Hospitals, either to i [...]close those whom the Hand of God has toucht with Lunacy; or to breed up poor Children abandon'd to the narrow mercy of the wide World; or to keep those from starving that are poor indeed, the Maim'd, the Lame, and the Blind: Let me but Read you a true Report, &c.

Now I hope Strangers when they survey these M [...]numents of Antient and Modern Piety, will not say that the Church of England owns any such Solifidian Doctrine, as tends to the Disparagement of Good Works, none will imagine that our Refor­mation is not a Soil for Charity to prosper upon, where has it grown or flourisht more than it has among us both heretofore, and of late? I have been Askt abroad by way of Reflexion, Who Built our Churches in London? I have Answered, The Old ones were most of them built before the Corruptions of Rome, and since the Fire of London we know who Rebuilt 'em. But no where does the City-Charity look more hope­fully, nor promises greater Advantages to the Publick as well as to the Poor, than it does in those several Royal and Ample Foundations lately Repair'd and Restor'd to receive those wretched Infants, expos'd to a Condition well nigh as deplorable as that whom [Page 26] the Prophet describes; to these the King is insted of God, and not only says unto them when they are as it were in their Bloud, Live; [...]ut takes such honou­rable Care of their Education, that they may not live in vain; may God Almighty add to the King's Life those Years which the King by his Bounty and Good­ness has prevented from being cut off, from the Lives of these Little Ones; or from being so misemploy'd as would in all likelihood have brought 'em to shameful Deaths.

And may his Majesty live to perfect his other most Royal, most Christian Design in the Neighbourhood of this City, that stately Pile whose Walls are now happily rising for the reception of Lame and Maimed Souldiers; that after Brave Men have serv'd the King in his just Wars, they may not want a provision and place of Re­tirement in their Old broken Age, where they may end their Days in serving God, and still praying for the Life of the King.

Such as these be they Young or Aged, as long as they are uncapable of subsisting by themselves, our Saviour in the words of my Text, effectually recom­mends them to be treated with all Humanity and Ten­der Mercy; such Poor as these are the Wealth of a Christian Corporation, as that holy Deacon S. Laurence Answered that Cruel and Covetous President, who de­manded of him the Gold and Silver rising from the great Oblations at the Altar where he Ministred, he muster'd up a vast number of Poor Saints, some without Eyes, some whose Arms were quite wither'd away, [Page 27] others decrepit with Age, who had lost the use of their Feet, and ranging all these miserable creeping things so as the Governour migh [...] have his full view of them, Behold (said he) these are the Churches hidden Treasure: but I may say these are not only as the Publick Stock of your City, but as its Walls and Bulwarks: and the mercy ye shew to such as these, is as one of the Orna­ments of your Power, like one of your Gold Chains, 'tis Solomon's Comparison and not mine, Let not Mercy for­sake thee, bind it about thy Neck. Prov. iii. 3. as if Solomon himself for outward Glory had never been arrayed like one of those, who shine within and without by their noble Acts of mercy.

And thus I am coming into my fourth and last part, the Glories of this Grace or the great Reward of Charity, so much the greater when it comes the longer it is a coming; And thou shalt be blessed for they cannot recompense thee; they whom thou choosest to Relieve in thy dis-interested Charity can­not if they would repay thee, but he that Assuredly can, Infallibly will; so this is placing our Charity as Usurers do their Mony, most willingly on good Secu­rity to those that will keep it longest, so they shall be certainly paid Ʋse upon Ʋse for it, and consider'd for the very forbearance of their Interest: Not that the Charitable Man goes without a Blessing in this Life; the Poor have a special Prerogative from God to Bless; and as Rich as Job was before his Adversity, he was highly pleas'd to receive their Benedictions; When the Ear heard me then it blessed me, because I delivered the Poor that Cryed, and the Fatherless, and him that had none [Page 28] to help him, the Blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; And well may their Blessings be desi­rable, when on the other side their Curses are so formi­dable; for sure the Son of Syrach knew what he said, Turn not away thine Eye from the Needy, and give him none Occasion to Curse thee; for if he Curse thee in the bitterness of his Soul, his Prayer shall be heard of him that made him: Strange that an Imprecation should be called a Prayer [...] such a Prayer as is turn'd into Sin upon him that puts it up, and yet is received by God as a Petition or Charge upon him that provokes and extorts it; But on the other side, how many are the Blessings that are even heapt upon the Liberal Soul that deviseth Liberal things, and by Liberal things shall he be establisht; If Blessing him in his Person that considers the Poor and Needy, If delivering him in the time of trouble, If pre­serving him and keeping him Alive that he may be bles­sed upon Earth, if Comforting him when he lyeth sick upon his Bed and making all his Bed in his sickness, if these are mighty Blessings, all these are put together in one place, and a Concordance would help me to a thousand more such places, full of Blessings as great and as certain as these, and all these on this side Heaven: But the strongest motive of all is that in my Text, the most unresistible Argument for giving Alms, tho 'Hoping for nothing again in this world, is That thou shalt be Recom­penst at the Resurrection of the Just.

It is not said thou shalt merit Heaven by thy Good-Works, the best, the noblest Act of Charity must needs be that, to lay down our Lives for our Brethren; yet [Page 29] Martyrdome it self ought not to be put into the Scale, as if it were Weighty or Worthy enough to deserve an exceeding and eternal weight of Glory; for I reckon (says St. Paul) that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be Compared with the Glory that shall be Re­vealed in us, yet, says the same Apostle in an other place, our light Affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory; so our Doing Good as well as our suffering Evil are a sure means to Obtain though not to Merit, and as the certain Recompense in the World to come is here made a most forcible Argument for Charity, so the Charity that some Exercise without receiving their Recompence in this World, is an invincible Proof of a World to come.

For now suppose a man with all this heap of pitiful Accidents upon him which our Saviour puts together in the Text, Poor, Maimed, Lame, and Blind, add to these the Torments of Cramps and Stone, to keep him perpetually on the wrack from his Child-hood to ex­tream Old-Age; and yet this poor man perseveres in the Fai [...]h, and practises more Charity even that of Alms, than do all the Rich, parting with his two Mite [...] (as the Widdow did with all her Living) when he hears of one in more immediate danger of starving than himself; he will trust to him that feeds the Ra­vens, to supply his next days Exigence; tho his patient Continuance in well-doing may qualifie and enable him to cry out, Centuplum in hac Vita, that God has given him a hundred fold in this Life, of Joy in the Holy-Ghost, [Page 30] and Expectations of Bliss, yet it can never consist with the Goodness of God to suffer any per­fectly good Man feeding himself with such Expectati­ons, to be at length defrauded and disappointed; and the Justice of God requires that he be one day recom­penst, seeing it is a Righteous thing with God, says the Apostle, to recompense Tribulation to them that trouble his Saints, And to those who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels: And seeing it is a Stoical or rather a Chimical, an Empirical Divinity, that by making Virtue its own Reward, prepares a great Dissolvent to Annihilate Virtue it self, and bring it to nothing, then since that God is Just and most perfect Justice it self, there needs must be a Day of Recompense, a Time of Refreshing, a time when every Lazarus that received his Evil things shall be Comforted, and when every Rich Man that has already Received and Abus'd his Good things shall be Tormented; But this Time and that Recompense cannot be to a Man in such a Case as I have suppos'd, till after this Life, therefore it proves sufficiently that there is a Life to Come.

But if such a practice of Good Works in the midst of such almost insupportable Evils of this Life, be a Rea­son strong enough to prove there's a Life to come, so that a Man shall say verily there is a Reward for the Righteous; then such a Life and such a Reward once prov'd, is the strongest Argument in the World, and the most persuasive to the Practice of such Good-Works: only to mention this Argument of a Recompense at the [Page 31] Resurrection, were Charity never so cold, were sufficient to raise it up from the dead again; to think that many a poor Good Man, whom you have seen frozen almost to Death this last hard Winter, and have sup­plyed him with the means to warm him till his loyns blest you, many a Blind, Maimed or Lame, whom you have as it were led by the hand out of his present mise­ry, shall one day become a Guide to you as you were to him formerly; that he shall have the Agility of a Spirit, and the discerning power of a Spirit of a Just Man made perfect, to behold you coming toward the place of Bliss, and to call you as the good Angel did the Apostle, Come up hither; if this will not prevail with you to Call the Poor, and give them a little Com­fort in this World, nothing will ever move you: this is that Powerful Motive our Saviour uses, to make our Selves friends in Heaven, by giving Alms upon Earth, that when we fail they may receive us, that the Heirs of Salvation may be allowed and sent forth by God to meet us when we enter into the New World, that they may Conduct us into their Everlasting Habitations; for as St. Chrysostom Argues upon that place, If we go to a strange City we need a Guide, much more to another World, when the Soul is torn away from the Body, the staff upon which it lean'd, then it has Dreads and Hor­ror (say he) when it quits this Flesh. And if you will forgive me the laying of one Quotation upon ano­ther, St. Cyprian speaks so pathetically to the same Pur­pose De Morta [...]l­tat [...]. how they shall welcome us into the Other World, for whom we had Charity or Kindness in this, that with [Page 32] a Lively Description and Discourse of His, since I can­not with a better, I shall Conclude mine. Who is there (say he) who being to sayl homeward to his Friends does not make wishes for a prosperous Gale, that he may quickly embrace those whom he loves so dearly? Let us account that Paradice is our Country, as we have look'd upon the Patriarchs to be our Parents; why do we not hasten and move forward apace to see that Country of ours, and salute those Parents? there are a vast num­ber of Persons very dear unto us that expect us, our Forefathers, our Brethren, our Children, a numerous Company that long for our coming to them, being secure of their own, and still solicitous for our Imortality: to see them again and grow into Embraces with them, How will it Affect and Transport both us and them? what kind of Bless is there in those Heavenly Kingdoms, which consists with no fear of Dying, with an Assurance of Living Eternally? there is the Apostles glorious Quire, there the Prophets honourable Senate, there the Legions of Crowned Martyrs that Dyed and Suffer'd Valiantly, there the Triumphant Virgins that have subdued and tamed by the mighty hand of Continence the Carnal De­sires of the Body, there the merciful Men who have dealt their Doles and Largesses to the Poor and Needy; Let us hasten away to these, wing'd with a fervent desire to be with these, to be with Christ. Let this be the Aim of all our wishes, Let God see such thoughts in us, Let Christ see the Travail of our Souls, the Intent of our Faith, who will assuredly give them larger Rewards, whose Souls are more enlarged toward Heaven and Eternity.

Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, &c.