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SERM.
IX.

SERMON IX.

PRO V. iii. 27.

Withhold not Good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the Power of thine Hand to do it.

HOEVER confiders the W true State and Condition of Man, how fubject he is to an infinite Variety of Accidents in Life, and how liable to the Frowns as well as the Smiles of Providence, will not wonder at the Precept of the Wife Man in the Text, nor be at all furprized to find, that it is a Duty incumbent upon all Men to do all the Good they can, according to their Circumstances and Abilities in the World. For befides that kind of Debt, which by the Laws of our Country we are obliged

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to discharge, there is another Sort, whichSERM.

IX.

we are obliged to the Payment of, over n

and above what thofe Laws have made
any Provifion for; which is that of Cha-
rity. From the Words of the Text I shall
endeavour to prove,

First, That Charity is a Debt, which we
owe Mankind.

Secondly, I fhall bring fome Arguments to

perfwade you chearfully to discharge it. First then I am to prove, that Charity is a Debt. To do good, and to affift and help our Fellow-creatures, which I here mean by Charity, and which I apprehend is implied in the Text, is no more than what we owe each other; as is plain both from the Old and New Teftament. "Tis what the Law teaches, and the Gofpel excels in. To do good and to communicate forget not, is a noble Precept of Christianity; and to do unto all Men, as you would they fhould do unto you, is the Law and the Prophets, The Jews are commanded in Leviticus to be compaffionate towards thofe that were in Diftrefs. If thy Brother bẹ waxen poor, and fallen in decay with

thee

SERM. thee, then thou shalt relieve him; yea, IX. tho' he be a Stranger, or a Sojourner, that

he may live with thee. And to take in a ftill greater compass and extent of Charity, they were to love their Neighbours as themfelves. Now Self-Prefervation, and a natural Care and Concern for ourselves, every one knows, is one of the first things we discover any Apprehenfions of; and to owe our Neighbour a Love like this, is a Debt of no fmall Confequence; a Debt it is, which we shall always owe, as long as we have a Being. For though there are some Duties, fuch as the Relative Duties fubfifting between Children and Parents, Mafters and Servants, &c. which upon the Death of either do immediately cease and become void, because the Reason of them ceases with them; yet as long as there are any Men in the World, that have any Wants to be relieved, fo long will Charity be a Debt by the Law of God. St. Paul, teaching the Romans to render every Man his Due, tells them, that they should owe no Man any thing, but to Love one another: So that after we have discharged all

other

other Debts, yet Love and Charity is a SERM. And our Bleffed IX.

Debt we shall still owe.
Saviour puts it out of all doubt, in that re-
markable Paffage in St. Luke, where hav-
ing been talking of the unjuft Steward, he
thus concludes, And if ye have not been
faithful in that which is another Man's,
who fhall give you that which is your
own? From which it is evident, that the
good things of this Life are not properly
our own; and that we are only Stewards,
and are accountable for them to our Ma-
fter, from whom we received them: For
though that which is tranflated another
Man's, is rendered by fome, Things foreign,
or without us, yet both Interpretations
will amount to the fame thing in this cafe;
for it will follow from both, that we are
not Proprietors of thofe good things, but
are only entrusted with the Care of them,
to dispose of them to those that want; the
Neglect of which is here made a manifest
Breach of Truft. And indeed this is the
voice of Nature likewife, as well as Scrip-
For what can be more reasonable,
than that, as every thing we have comes

ture:

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IX.

SERM. from God (for what have we that we have not received) we fhould be always ready to make a grateful Return. As we have freely received, we fhould alfo freely give, Not that we can give any thing to our Maker, whereby he may receive any Advantage; for a Man cannot be profitable to God, as he that is wife may be profitable to himself; but we are to give it to the Poor, whom God has taken under his Protection, who are the proper Perfons appointed ro receive it. But further, it is certain that we were born for the mutual Help of each other, not to moleft and disturb, but to aid and affist one another and whoever does not do fo, when it is in his Power to do it, acts contrary to Nature So that it is plain, that Charity, or the affifting our Fellow-creatures, is a Debt, and that too by the Law of Nature, antecedent to any written Law whatsoever.

"

Tho it be certainly true, that Charity isa Debt, which we owe all Mankind, yet it is true likewife, that this, as well as any other Duty, how univerfal foever it may Seem to be, is Subject to Limitations and

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