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tells us, Luke xvi. 9. I fay unto you, make to your felves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fhall fail (that is, when you fhall leave this world, and the enjoyments of it) they may receive you into everlafting habitations.

At the great day of judgement, when we fhall appear before God, and according to our Saviour's reprefentation of the proceedings of that day, fhall hear him thus expoftulating with men, I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat; thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; naked, and ye clothed me not: fick and in prifon, and ye vifited me not; what would we then give, how much of our eftates, if we had them then at our command; would we not be willing to part with all, to have that comfortable fentence paffed upon us, Come ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world? But if we be found among thofe who would fpare nothing out of their abundance to any charitable use and purpose, I have not the heart to tell you how miferable the condition of fuch perfons will be, and how dreadful a doom will be paffed upon them.

It is a fad confideration, that there are fome perfons in the world, who feem to be only defective in this duty; like the young man in the gospel, who lacked but this one thing to make him perfect be had kept the commandments from his youth, and preferved himself from thofe grofs fins which the law did plainly forbid; and yet for want of this one thing, he parted from his Saviour, and, for any thing we know, fell fhort of eternal life. There are many who are very devout and religious, much in prayer and fafting, and all the other frugal exercifes of piety,. which coft them no money; but yet are very defective in alms and charity, which in fcripture are fo frequently joined with the faftings and prayers of good men; and by this means, all their devotion and diligence in the other parts of religion is loft, and will not bring them to heaven. And is it not great pity, that they who are not far from the kingdom of God, fhould fall fhort of it? that they who in most

other.

other things bid fo fair for heaven, fhould break with God upon this single point?

I know men have feveral ways to deceive their own hearts, and to defend themselves against all these affaults.

First, They fay, they are injurious to no man in not being charitable. And it is true, that in human courts the poor can have no action against the rich for want of charity to them; but yet for all that, they do injuriously detain that which doth not of right belong to them. They are cruel and hard-hearted, and they are guilty of high breach of truft, in refpect of God, whofe ftewards they are, and who hath dealt. fo liberally with them in the things of this. life, on purpofe to oblige them to be fo to others. That which thou ftoreit up, without regard to the necesfities of others, is unlawfully detained by thee, fince God intended it fhould have been for bread to the hungry, and cloaths to the naked, and for help and relief of those who are ready to perish. For why art thou rich, and another poor; but that thou mighteft exercife thy charity upon thole fitting objects which the: providence of God prefents to thee? It had been: eafy for God (ince the earth is his, and the fulness thereof), fo to have contrived things, that every man fhould have had a fufficiency, and have been in a moderate condition; but then a great maay virtues: would have been fhut out of the world, and loft, for want of opportunity to exercife them. Where then had been the poor man's patience, and the rich man's pity, and the contentedness of men of moderate for tune?

Secondly, Men fay, that they have children to proa· vide for. And do fo in God's name, for he allows us to do it liberally; but unless their condition and wealth fet them above an ordinary calling, do not chufe fo to provide for them, as to take them off from all employment, left you put them in the readys way to be undone. Have a care of leaving them no other business, but to spend what you have left them if you do fo, they will in all probability do that. work very effectually, and make as much hafte to be:

I. 3.

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poor, as you did to make them rich. If men could: be but contented to do that which is best for their children, they might do a great deal better for them felves, by difpofing what they have to spare in charity.

Thirdly, Others would fain excufe themfelves from this duty at prefent, by telling what they intend to do when they come to die, that is, when they can keep what they have no longer. It feems then thou wilt leave it to thy executor to do good in thy ftead, This fhews thou haft no great heart to the business, when thou deferreft it as long as ever thou canft. But why wilt thou truft another with the difpofal of thy charity, rather than thy felf? This is hardly to offer either a reasonable or a living facrifice to God, to do good only when we are dead. It is well that God hath made all men mortal, and that it is appointed: for all men once to die; otherwife fome men would never do good at all.

Wherefore fetting afide thefe, and all other excufes, which will not be admitted, nor will any of us have the face to plead them at the day of judgement; I fay, fetting afide all excufes whatfoever, let us refolve to do good with what we have whilft we can; and to that end let us lay afide fome portion of what God hath bleffed us withal, for the ules of piety and charity, and let it bear fome decent proportion to what God hath given us..

There is never want of proper objects for our lar geft charity; and now, lefs than ever. Befides thofe at home, which prefent themfelves to us in great. numbers every day, God hath fent us many from a-broad, who call loud upon us for our pity and help, both as they are reduced to the greateft extremity,. and are fufferers in the beft caufe, that of our common religion, which ought now to be dearer to us than ever. Let us fhow mercy now, as we expect mercy from others, in any day of our diftrefs in this world, and as ever we hope, whenever we come to appear before the judgement-feat of Chrift, to find mercy with the Lord in that day.

Confider what I have faid upon this argument,

and

and let this extraordinary kind of caution, which our Saviour here gives, make a deep impreffion upon your minds: Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man's life confifteth not in the abundance of the things which he polleeth.

SER MON

XCIV.

Religion our firit and great concernment.

MATTH. vi. 33.

But feek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteouf nefs; and all these things shall be added unto you..

EN the latter part of this chapter, our Saviour doth` in a long difcourfe caution his difciples against an inordinate care about the things of this life, which he concludes with a strict charge to make religion their firft and great concernment, and above all things to take care to fecure to themfelves the happiness of another life: But feek ye firft the kingdom of God, and his righteoufnefs, &c. In the handling of which words, I fhall do thefe four things.

First, I fhall explain what is here meant by the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.

Secondly, What by feeking of thefe.

Thirdly, I thall lay down fome neceffary and plain directions, which if we obferve, we cannot mifcarry in this matter.

Fourthly, I fhall fet before you fome of the most proper and powerful motives and encouragements to the minding of this great intereft and concernment; among which I fhall particularly confider the argument or encouragement here ufed in the text: And alt thefe things fhall be added unto you.

First, I hall explain to you what is here meant by the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. 1. What

1. What is meant by the kingdom of God. And there are two famous acceptations of this phrafe, and both of them very frequent in the New Testament. Sometimes it is used to fignify the ftate of the gofpel, or the Chriftian religion, which by the Jews was called, the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of the Meias : As, Mark i. 15. The kingdom of God is at hand; that is, the ftate or difpenfation of the gospel is now ap-proaching, and ready to take place, Luke xvii. 20. The Pharifees demanding of our Saviour, When the kingdom of God should come? that is, when the reign. of the Meffias fhould commence; he anfwers them, The kingdom of God cometh not with obfervation; that is, not with any temporal pomp and fplendor, fo as to draw the eyes of people after it, as the Jews did vainly imagine; but the kingdom of God lords ipäv iswv, is among you; not within you, as our tranflation hath improperly rendered it: the kingdom of God (he tells them) is already come unto you; the Meffias is among you, and ye are not aware of him. In the like fenfe this phrafe is fed, Matth. xxi. 43. The kingdom of God (that is, the gofpel) fhall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And. fo likewife the phrafe of the kingdom of heaven is ufed, Matth. xi. 11. where fpeaking of John the Baptift, our Saviour faith, that among them that were born of quomen, there hath not arifen a greater than John the Baptift; that is, there was no greater perfon than he under the Jewish difpenfation; and yet he that is leaft in the kingdom of heaven, that is, under the difpenfa. tion of the gospel, is greater than he.

Now though this fenfe of the kingdom of God be not wholly excluded in the text, yet there is another fenfe of this phrafe very ufual likewife in the fcripture, and which is more agreeable to the fcope of our Saviour's argument and difcourfe; and fo it fig nifies, that future ftate of happiness and glory which good men fhall be advanced to in another world, in. oppofition to this life, and the enjoyments of it,. which our Saviour had before forbidden his difciples. to be fo folicitous about: Take ye no thought, fay

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